Edge of Middle District, 7th Squad Barracks (Halbert POV)

The screech of metal grinding against metal rang in my ears as my hands shook from the shockwave that blasted through my hands. The silver blade of the greatsword in front of my eyes shifted in a blur as I put strength into my legs and rolled off to the side. Immediately after I moved, the sound of the ground cracking reached my ears and I regained my balance as I saw the flash of an indistinct red figure out of the corner of my eye.

How is she still this fast?

I held my own greatsword up to see the sunlight shine through the crystal clear blade that seemed like it was made of pure glass and I immediately shifted it to my left side before channeling mana into my body strengthening magic while simultaneously activating【Reinforcement】on my greatsword as I grit my teeth and braced for impact. A hazy white light shone out from my greatsword and the crimson red blur stopped in place for a split-second before another heavy shockwave was transmitted into me through my hands. The pure force blasted me a few feet away and I barely managed to flip myself over mid-air before landing shakily. As soon as I stood up again, I glanced around to see if I could catch even a glimpse of the opponent, but this time all I could see was an empty field in front of me.

Damn, I lost sight of her. Where is she?

The sound of a single footstep behind me reached my ears and I immediately swung my head around to see the crimson red blur dash towards me before an arc of silver met my blade in another head-on clash. I desperately pumped mana into my body strengthening magic and pushed as hard as I could against the ground, but after a moment, I was just barely overpowered and my legs gouged out the earth beneath me as I was pushed back while the vague red figure slipped past me using the momentum from the previous swing. I twisted my head around as she disappeared from the corner of my eye again and began to dance around me always attacking from just slightly out of my line of sight. There wasn’t even a moment to reposition or even move my legs as one strong impact after another was barely being blocked by my greatsword after pushing my body to the limit every time just to be able to react.

I can’t keep this up much longer. She’s already in control of my tempo. I need to find an opening. Faster! I need to be faster! I can’t win if I’m this slow! I need to at least be able to see her!

My eyes widened and the mana flowing around my body increased as a good portion of it flooded to my eyes. It felt like I could see clearly again as my kinetic vision was pushed to its utmost limit, and I could finally catch a clear view of Captain Aria as she danced around me. A small sense of confidence built up inside of me as I began to ever so slightly speed up before, there was finally an opening. Another arc of silver clanged against my greatsword as I kicked against the ground with my legs and the momentum from the blade dance stopped abruptly after finally meeting its match as I pushed her back after blocking her swing.

This is it! The opening I need!

I let out a yell as lightning element mana coursed from my body, through my hands, and into my blade. A brilliant blue glow shone out from my greatsword as arcs of blue lightning swirled around it like serpents and I took a heavy step forward before swinging with all my might towards Captain Aria. But, it seems that I was underestimating her a little too much as she instantly reacted by ducking under my blade and kicking off the ground before swinging from below. A solid hit connected with my chest plate and my stomach churned from the impact as I hacked out a cough before being blown into the air again. A moment later, I crashed back onto the ground and barely managed to even get up this time as I gasped for breath and stared at Captain Aria who was standing there with a sharp glint in her eyes.

“Are you giving up?” (Aria)

I felt my strength return a bit as her crystal clear voice rang out in my ears before I looked up and held my greatsword again as I called out raggedly that I could go on.

“I-I can continue.” (Halbert)

This’ll probably be the final strike... I don’t have anything else left in me.

A pair of piercing red eyes just stared at me for a second while I prepared myself for the final attack. I inhaled a deep breath as I grit my teeth and time seemed to slow down. I saw Captain Aria kick against the ground again in slow motion and start to make a straight dash towards me as she readied her sword to swing from below. A moment passed in that sensation of slow motion as I tried to put strength into my legs, but no matter how much I tried, they wouldn’t budge.

Come on! Is this your limit!? You can’t even beat Captain Aria when she’s going easy on you!?

How the hell are you going to be a hero like this!?

How the hell are you going to beat Regnis and Zane like this!?

Just be stronger!

Just be faster!

Just move, damn it!

She’s getting closer! She’s dashing right in because she believes you can continue, so show her that she’s right!

I screamed internally at myself as my legs were beginning to give out, but that only served to fuel my rage at my own weakness before finally, I felt a jolt enter me through my hands and spread through my body instantaneously as something inside of me clicked.

A cool feeling flooded out from deep inside of me and I felt strength enter my legs again as a strange sense of tranquility encompassed me.

I need something. Something strong. Something fast. Something to show her that she was right to believe in me.

Should I use a sword technique again? No, she’ll just dodge it.

What I need... is a single swing. The strongest swing I know. One that’s fast enough and strong enough that she can’t dodge it!

I emptied my mind and closed my eyes as I searched deep inside for the form of the strongest sword swing I could imagine. However, what showed up in my head was an unexpected figure.

Captain Aria is the strongest opponent I’ve ever had the chance to cross blades with, and I’ve witnessed her training countless times, so I completely expected it to be an image of Captain Aria that showed up, however, the image I saw instead was of a solitary man.

He had a head full of snow white hair that was tied into a ponytail, along with golden eyes that seemed to see through your entire being. In one hand he held a sword made of pure ice, and in the other, a single piece of chalk. He threw the piece of chalk up into the air, and after a moment he took the sword in his hand and swung it. I couldn’t understand anything at the time. It was too quick and too subtle for me to understand. But now I finally realize just how terrifying that swing was. That single swing was beyond even the level of a swordmaster. It was closer to the absolute peak of swordsmanship. It was a sword swing that had been utterly refined to the point where it was ingrained in his very being, and for the single instant that the sword made contact with the piece of chalk in the air, it felt like even I was being sliced into pieces.

I fell into a hazy trance as I finally opened my eyes to see Captain Aria directly in front of me and every last bit of mana I had left was driven straight into my body strengthening magic as I gripped my greatsword with both of my hands before clumsily imitating that single swing.

The air surrounding my greatsword screeched as I sliced through it, and the sight of the crystal clear edge of my greatsword making contact with another silver one surrounded by a hazy white glow was the last thing I saw before the accompanying burst of wind made me pass out.

***

I let out a light groan and slowly woke up as I felt my body cramp up a bit before taking a look at my surroundings. The familiar sight of the medical bay in the 7th Squad barracks met my eyes as I sat there for a moment before going through my memory.

Ugh, what happened?... The last thing I remember was sparring with Captain Aria. She was completely controlling the tempo like usual, but I somehow found an opening, used a sword technique, and swung at her. Then she dodged it and hit me in the chest, but… what happened after that?

I sat up in the medical bed and cleared my head as I tried to track my memory to no avail. I distinctly remembered what happened up to the point where Captain Aria dodged my sword technique and counter attacked, but all that was coming up after that was the image of an extremely vague, shadowy figure. I held my hand up to my chest as I could still feel a bit of pain from the clean hit to my torso earlier, and I slowly got out of the bed when suddenly I heard the door open.

After turning to the door, I saw Captain Aria walk in and sit down in front of me. The sunlight shone in through the window and illuminated her figure as she looked at me with a slightly concerned expression on her face. She was dressed in her uniform instead of light armor like before when we were sparring, and her beautiful red hair and eyes contrasted with the pure white color of her knight captain uniform along with the small hair clip of a white flower that she’s been wearing recently. I think everyone was a little surprised when she started wearing that hair clip a few days ago since it never seemed like Captain Aria was the type to wear accessories, but honestly, it looked really pretty on her.

“You’re awake, Halbert. Are you ok?” (Aria)

A light afternoon breeze blew in through the open window and made her hair flow in the wind as I couldn’t help but stare at her speechlessly for a moment. My face blushed bright red and a warm feeling bubbled up from inside of me as I felt an urge to confess my feelings for her right there, but after a moment, I suppressed those feelings as I reminded myself about the situation.

No, you can’t, Halbert. I know Captain Aria’s perfect. She’s beautiful, strong, and although she can act a bit cold at times, she’s genuinely kind and gentle on the inside. But, no matter how much you want to tell her your feelings, remember, you can’t.

She’s just your assigned master in swordsmanship, and you’re just her coincidental student. Your relationship is nothing more, nothing less. And not only that, you’re also the hero chosen by the God of Light. You’re destined to go fight the new demon lord in a few years with Regnis and Zane by your side, and even if you could ignore everything and run away with her, I’m sure that with her sense of justice, she couldn’t. She knows you’re the hero, so even if she felt the same way, she would definitely follow you out onto the battlefront and fight alongside you… but she’s not meant to be out there fighting with her life on the line every day, and you wouldn’t want that anyway. So just be content with this. Just enjoy these carefree days while they still last.

I took a deep breath once I came back to my senses and I looked down before answering her with a slightly melancholic tone in my voice.

“I’m fine, Captain Aria. I just overdid it a bit when we were sparring earlier... but I’m ok now.” (Halbert)

“... That’s good to hear.” (Aria)

“Sorry. To think that I lost the spar badly enough to end up in the medical bay and make you worry about me, even after personally requesting you got a little serious this time… I guess I really am a failure of a hero.” (Halbert)

I let out a disappointed sigh and held my hands in front of me as I stared at them. A moment of silence passed as I looked at the bandages covering my hands before Captain Aria’s voice broke me out of my trance.

“You didn’t lose though.” (Aria)

“Huh?” (Halbert)

I raised my head and stared at Captain Aria in confusion as she crossed her arms.

“The rules were that I couldn’t use any sword techniques, only body strengthening magic up to a certain level and pure swordsmanship, but I used a sword technique to block that last swing you made. So I lost.” (Aria)

“Wait, but didn’t you dodge that last swing and hit me in the chest from below?” (Halbert)

“No, the one after that.” (Aria)

“I passed out after that one though, didn’t I?” (Halbert)

“Do you not remember the last swing you made?” (Aria)

“The last thing I can remember was you dodging my sword technique and hitting me in the chest. What did I do after that?” (Halbert)

“... I asked you if you could continue, and you said yes, so I decided to make the next strike the last one. When I closed in on you though, your last swing at me was unexpectedly fast, enough that I couldn’t dodge it, and strong enough that I had to cast【Reinforcement】to block it. So I did, and you fainted right after you finished your swing. Who taught you how to swing like that?” (Aria)

“Who taught me? I… I don’t know. I don’t remember being able to swing like that, and I genuinely can’t remember anything past your hit to my chest.” (Halbert)

“Well, it doesn’t matter who taught you. Just try and recall the feeling of that swing. It was a swing close to the level of a swordmaster. Maybe one day, that swing will save your life against the demon lord... You have somewhere important to go tomorrow, right? So just rest for now.” (Aria)

I watched silently as Captain Aria got out of her seat and began to leave the room, but when she got to the door, she paused and stood there. I stared at her for a moment as an awkward silence spread through the room before she called out to me in a quiet voice.

“... Someone told me recently that I should be a little more open with my feelings, but honestly, I still can’t communicate them very well, so I guess I’ll be a little blunt this time. Stay alive, Halbert. I would be sad if you died.” (Aria)

Captain Aria left the room and closed the door after she finished what she was saying, but the warm fuzzy feeling came back in full force as I stared at the door for a moment before whispering quietly to nothing in particular with a smile on my face.

“...Will do, Captain Aria.” (Halbert)

The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Eliza’s House (Eliza POV)

My eyes scanned through the page of the book I was currently reading as I laid down on the couch in the living room. A few more moments of peace and quiet passed by as I flipped to the next page, when the sound of the door opening caught my attention. I got up slightly and peered over to see Reina, who was dressed in full cleaning attire, walk into the living room while holding a broom.

“Lady Eliza, I finished cleaning the house, what should I do now?” (Reina)

“Hmm, I think Olivia mentioned that she needed you to do something, but I don’t remember what it was, and she’s not here right now, so I guess you can take a break until she gets back. She’s just at the monthly meeting with the God of Light anyway, so she should be back soon.” (Eliza)

I returned to my original position on the couch and was about to open my book again when I heard someone bust open the front door.

“Welcome back Lady Olivia. I just finished cleaning the house and Lady Eliza mentioned that you needed me to do something, right?” (Reina)

“Never mind that, Reina. You can do it later. We have a more important issue to deal with right now.” (Olivia)

I turned to the door to see Olivia standing there with a serious face before she ran over to me while holding an envelope in her hands.

“Lady Eliza, I just finished the meeting with his highness, the God of Light, and he told me that we’ll be having some visitors soon. His highness’ chosen hero and two of his allies will be coming over to visit.” (Olivia)

“Eh? The hero? H-He sounds like someone really important. Lady Eliza, what should we do!?” (Reina)

His chosen hero? Was there someone like that?... Oh, right. I remember now. Faust, that old geezer, was rambling about the rise of a new demon lord who would turn against the gods or something like that a few years ago. He even made us all gather up for some dumb meeting to plan for it. I think I slept through most of it, but I do remember at the beginning he couldn’t even tell us any characteristics of this supposed new demon lord or even how they were going to rise to power. Apparently, his visions of the new demon lord were being ‘masked by the power of one of the rogue gods,’ and only the destined hero and his fated allies would be able to stop the new demon lord, but personally, I think he was just making up some nonsense to stay relevant. After all, no one visits that senile idiot anymore after he failed to predict what happened with Ky, so he probably just wanted some company, and what kind of vision can’t even tell us anything about the ‘new demon lord’ except that they’ll exist? Some God of Fate he is. I mean seriously, even if there was a new demon lord, we’re gods for god’s sake! We could just crush the new demon lord the moment they show up! There’s no need for a hero, and I highly doubt anyone on the level of anomaly that Ky was will be showing up anytime soon. After all, I heard that Ky was powerful enough to kill several gods without a divine spark himself, and we still managed to seal him, even after he got one, so what’s a puny little demon lord compared to the former blight of the gods, Ky? And it’s not like everyone who sealed Ky is dead because of it either. In fact, they all lived, and the main guy who sealed Ky, his former best buddy, the God of Justice, what was his name again? Uh… it Kazuki or something like that. Yeah, him. He’s still alive and well. In fact, he’s even stronger now since he got a pretty big popularity boost after everything was said and done, so he took the easy road to becoming a high god a while ago.

“The hero and his allies? Well, what do they want?” (Eliza)

“I’m not sure. His highness, the God of Light just told me to hand you this letter as soon as possible, and that it was your choice whether or not to tell me why after you read it, Lady Eliza.” (Olivia)

Olivia handed me the envelope she was holding as Reina stood next to her with an anxious look on her face. I held the envelope in my hands and inspected it for a moment before breaking the seal on the back and pulling out the actual letter inside to read it.

Dear Eliza,

Hey, it’s me! Long time no see, Eliza. Well, it wouldn’t be so long if you would ever show up to our scheduled monthly meetings instead of just sending Olivia over all the time. She’s been running ragged because of you since I met her, and she still somehow finds the time to take care of everything you won’t do. I heard you hired someone else recently, so just give the poor girl a break, would you? I feel guilty every time I see Olivia come visit then immediately leave after her business is done because she has to get something else done for you by the end of the day. But anyway, onto more important things. Faust told me yesterday that he finally had a new vision on the new demon lord. Apparently, there was still a lot of interference by the same rogue god, but this time it was a little weaker for some reason, so he managed to figure out what he believes is the new demon lord’s alias, ‘The Tyrant.’ Now, I know what you’re thinking, while this alias isn’t exactly the same as the one on everyone’s mind once you hear ‘Tyrant,’ it is eerily similar to it, especially at this time when we’ve just recently released Kyle. So, with this in mind, I, the God of Light, Alba Lux, would like to formally request that the Goddess of Love, Eliza Strateous, grant my chosen hero permission to enter her divine domain and search the former residence of The Tyrant of Eternal Calamity and current True God of Death, Kyle. Look, I know that you might miss him a lot, and I’m sorry if this reminded you of him, but I can’t allow another tragedy like what happened a thousand years ago to happen again and any possible lead is a good one. Don’t worry, we won’t hunt down Kyle again. I promised him his freedom after his sentence, and I will stay by my word as long as he does not violate the terms of our agreement. Kazuki has vouched for his innocence too, and I myself have already seen how much he’s changed, so I believe that he won’t commit the same sins again. It’s your choice to decide whether to tell anyone else about the circumstances, but please make sure that you only let those who are trustworthy know. As of this moment, besides you, me, and Faust, only my chosen hero and his allies, along with a few other gods know about the new demon lord’s alias. Anyway, I’m sure that you’ll understand and accept my request, so I’ve taken the liberty of assuming your agreement. I’ll be sending over my chosen hero and his allies approximately an hour after Olivia returns, so I hope you cleaned up recently. Toodles.

Yours truly,

Alba

I let out a sigh as I stared at the poorly drawn smiley face at the bottom of the letter and after a moment I ripped up the letter in my hands before burning it to ashes using some simple fire magic. I turned to Olivia and Reina as they stared back with concerned faces and let out a tired groan before getting off the couch.

“Is it something we shouldn’t know, Lady Eliza?” (Olivia)

“No, it’s fine. Apparently, that old coot, Faust, had another vision about the new demon lord and found out that their alias is ‘The Tyrant.’ So that superstitious idiot, Alba, is just going to send over the hero and his buddies in about an hour so they can check the basement.” (Eliza)

“...’The Tyrant’... I see, so they want to look through his things, huh?” (Olivia)

Olivia had a bitter smile on her face as she slowly turned towards the door to the basement and I followed suit while Reina looked at us with a confused look on her face.

“Wait, I have so many questions! There’s a new demon lord!? What does ‘The Tyrant’ mean!? And what’s in the basement!?” (Reina)

“Don’t worry, Reina. I’ll explain it all after the hero and his buddies come over. Just change out of your cleaning gear because they’ll be over soon.” (Eliza)

The Goddess of Love’s Divine Domain, Ritual Grounds (Reina POV)

“Augh… I know I’m supposed to be a magical girl, Lady Eliza, but do I really have to wear the outfit?” (Reina)

I let out a whimper and hugged my staff as I turned with an embarrassed blush to Lady Eliza, who was just wearing her pajamas like usual in stark contrast to Lady Olivia who was dressed in a formal robe as she let out a disappointed sigh. The three of us stood in front of the ritual grounds in the backyard while we waited for the hero and his allies to show up. Lady Eliza turned to me with a proud smile on her face before replying to my question with a haughty tone in her voice.

“Of course you do! The outfit is basically half of what it means to be a magical girl! It’s basically your uniform, and I was the one who personally designed it, so there’s nothing wrong with wearing it. What do you have to worry about anyway? Even if you’re only a trainee, you’re still the one and only Goddess of Love, Eliza Strateous’ genuine heroic spirit in name, compared to some no-name hero that Alba picked.” (Eliza)

“But, it’s embarrassing! The skirt on this outfit is too short, and these stockings barely even go past my knees, so my legs are showing! Besides, don’t you think a bit too much of my chest is exposed!?” (Reina)

I cried out desperately as I complained about the amount of skin I was showing, but it was all to no avail as Lady Eliza just ignored me and looked up at the sun in the sky to tell the time before crossing her arms with a confident smile.

“Alright, it should be about time. Stand proud, Reina, and don’t forget to pose!” (Eliza)

“Wha-!?” (Reina)

I let out a surprised yelp as a large magic circle began to form in the middle of the ritual grounds and a bright white light shone out from the magic circle, blinding me for a moment as I heard some strangely familiar voices say a few things before Lady Eliza called out to them in a smug tone.

“Ugh, my eyes. Where are we Halbert?” (Zane)

“Well, I think this is the Goddess of Love’s divine domain, right?” (Halbert)

“It should be, unless something went wrong with the teleportation magic.” (Regnis)

“Welcome to my divine domain, hero and his allies! I hope Alba prepared you well because you’re now in the Goddess of Love, Eliza Strateous’ hands!” (Eliza)

Eh?

I hesitantly lowered my hand from in front of my face as my vision slowly came back to me, revealing three unexpected figures, Halbert, Regnis, and Zane. All three of them were dressed in light training attire with the Church of Light’s symbol on it and Halbert was even bandaged up in a few places. Zane was rubbing his eyes as Halbert wobbled around a bit before replying to Lady Eliza while he slowly regained his vision.

“Greetings, your highness. I am the hero, Halbert Alyon, and my allies and I… Eh?” (Halbert)

Halbert raised his head and stared at me in surprise after he regained his vision and a moment of awkward silence passed between us as Regnis stood there silently and crossed his arms while Zane stared at me too with a surprised face.

“Reina? Is that you? What are you wearing?” (Zane)

“... Don’t worry, Reina, I won’t say anything about your choice of attire.” (Regnis)

I’m finished... My social life is done for. Of all the people who could’ve been the hero and his allies, why did it have to be people I know!?

I dropped down to my knees in defeat while tears ran down my cheeks as Lady Eliza turned to me with a curious look on her face.

“Wait, Reina do you know them? Because they seem to know you.” (Eliza)

“... Y-Yes, Lady Eliza. They’re my classmates.” (Reina)

“... I’m sorry, Reina. If I had known, I would’ve never let Lady Eliza make you wear that outfit…” (Olivia)

“Wait, wait, wait. Can someone please explain what’s going on?” (Zane)

Zane waved his arms around and cried out in confusion as Lady Eliza stared at the three of them before letting out a sigh.

“You three are lucky that you’re also Reina’s friends in addition to being Alba’s chosen hero, otherwise I would’ve made you suffer a bit in place of that idiot for sending you all over without even asking first. Well, I guess you all can come in for now. I’ll explain everything inside.” (Eliza)

“Eh? T-Thank you, your highness.” (Halbert)

Lady Eliza turned around and started walking towards the door with a tired expression on her face as Halbert gave her a deep bow before everyone slowly followed her inside.

A few minutes later, Lady Olivia left to go finish some work in the study room, while I was standing behind Lady Eliza, who was lying down on the couch nonchalantly after explaining the situation to everyone as Halbert, Regnis, and Zane were all on their knees on the floor in front of her.

“To think that you were actually a heroic spirit... I would like to formally apologize for any rudeness we might have committed towards you before, Lady Reina. If there’s anything I can do for you to make up for my earlier discourtesy, just let me know.” (Halbert)

Halbert lowered his head towards me and apologized as I panicked a bit and hugged my staff.

“N-No, you don’t have to be so formal with me. I’m not a real heroic spirit, just a trainee. The only thing I even do around here is clean the house.” (Reina)

“That’s no excuse though. Even if you’re just a trainee, you were still chosen by her highness so you’re on at least the same standing as me, if not higher.” (Halbert)

“See, Reina. I told you earlier. What’s a measly chosen hero to one of my heroic spirits.” (Eliza)

Lady Eliza turned towards me with a smug smile on her face before letting out a pompous laugh and I let out a sigh as I tried my best to communicate my feelings to the trio on the floor.

“Look, I’m not anyone great of anything like that. I was just lucky enough to meet Lady Eliza and Lady Olivia, so if you want to do anything for me, then just treat me like normal... and please don’t tell anyone else that I wore this outfit.” (Reina)

“Will do, Reina. Your secret will go to the grave with me.” (Halbert)

“I won’t tell another soul.” (Zane)

“I promise I won’t say a thing about this, and I’m a man of my word.” (Regnis)

“Thank you.” (Reina)

I let out a sigh of relief as I felt my knees go a little weak from having such a huge pressure lifted off me before I thought about the bigger situation we were in and my knees began to shake again.

“Anyway, now that we’re done with that. What should we do about the new demon lord? Don’t we only have a few years left?” (Reina)

“Don’t worry about it, Reina. Trust me, the gods aren’t so weak that just anyone can come here and push us around, and it’s even not your problem to worry about in the first place, it’s theirs. According to that old coot, Faust, and that idiot, Alba, these three will be the ones destined to take down the new demon lord, not you. So just sit back and relax. Anyway, moving on, even though I don’t want to admit it, I do owe Alba, so you guys can check out the basement, just let me know when you want to so I can open it.” (Eliza)

“Really? Thank you, your highness. If it would be possible, we would like to investigate the basement as soon as possible.” (Halbert)

Halbert smiled at Lady Eliza and was about to get up when suddenly Zane grabbed Halbert’s shoulder with a frighteningly serious look in his eyes.

“Wait. Before we investigate the basement. Halbert, Regnis, don’t you think there’s something even more important we need to do? We’re sitting in front of the Goddess of Love, so we should take this once in a lifetime chance to have our luck in love be read!” (Zane)

“I don’t need anything like that.” (Regnis)

“Well, just because you don’t need it, doesn’t mean that we don’t! Right, Halbert?” (Zane)

“Well, for me... even if I do get mine read, I don’t think it’ll help much…” (Halbert)

Halbert replied with a slightly sad tone in his voice while Zane slammed his head down onto the floor as he begged Lady Eliza to read his fortune, but Lady Eliza just took a casual glance at Zane on the floor before getting off the couch and walking towards the basement door.

“Please, I’m begging you, your highness. Tell me, will I ever get a girlfriend?” (Zane)

“Not likely.” (Eliza)

“Eh?... Wait! You didn’t even do anything yet! Don’t you have to read my palm or something!?” (Zane)

“Who do you think I am? I don’t even need to do anything to tell that you’re not the type who’ll get a girlfriend anytime soon. Trust me, I’m the one and only Goddess of Love, and when it comes to matters within my expertise, my word is the hard truth, so if you can’t handle it, then don’t ask.” (Eliza)

“Damn it! Damn it all! Am I really going to be a wizard for the rest of my life!?” (Zane)

Zane slammed the ground with his fists in despair as tears poured out of his eyes and a few moments passed before he got up with a depressed look on his face and joined the rest of us following Lady Eliza to the basement door as Halbert patted him on the back while letting out a dry laugh.

We walked up to the entrance to the basement together and Lady Eliza held her hand out towards the door as we all took a step back. A large magic circle that glowed with a hazy white light appeared on the surface of the wooden door for a moment before a sound akin to glass breaking resonated in my ears and the magic circle shattered into bits of light.

“Alright, there you go. It’s open. Might be a little dusty down there though.” (Eliza)

I looked at the door curiously as Lady Eliza opened it slowly to reveal a staircase down into a room with stone walls.

“Speaking of which, Lady Eliza, what’s even down there? The door’s always been locked even when I clean, so I’ve assumed it was something important, but it doesn’t look like there’s much there, so why are we even searching it? Is it something related to the new demon lord?” (Reina)

The moment after I finished asking, Halbert, Regnis, and Zane all put on serious faces as the atmosphere turned grave and I got a little scared as Halbert asked Lady Eliza a question in a serious tone.

“Your highness, does Reina not know?” (Halbert)

“I-Is it something I’m not supposed to know about?” (Reina)

“No, it’s fine. You’re trustworthy enough, so I’ll tell you about it right now. There’s nothing down there except a jail cell with a small bed, a wooden desk, and an old clock. It’s just that the person who used to sleep in that bed, use that desk, and tell the time with that old clock was a bit... extraordinary.” (Eliza)

“W-Who was it?” (Reina)

“The current True God of Death, also formerly known as The Tyrant of Eternal Calamity.” (Eliza)

“E-Ehhhh!!? W-W-Wait, what do you mean the current True God of Death!? Why was he living in the basement!?” (Reina)

I started panicking as Lady Eliza closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to me with a narcissistic grin and laughing evilly.

“Muahahaha! Are you scared, Reina? Well, don’t be. After all, you’re my heroic spirit, and have you forgotten who I am? I’m the one and only Goddess of Love, and even the True God of Death had to submit to my infinite power! Now, come on, follow me. I’ll show you around the basement.” (Eliza)

Lady Eliza confidently strode down the stairs into the basement and led the way as Halbert, Regnis, and Zane followed behind her before I shakily made my way down after them.

C-Calm down, Reina. Lady Eliza’s right, you have nothing to be scared of! You’re the one and only Magical Girl of Love, Reina Sylfey, and you can do this!