“Yo, Little Miss, gee, thanks for tossing me away like that.”
“Rave, we can talk later.”
The Dragon God became silent as he was gripped by Hadith in his Dragon Emperor’s sword form.
Appearing from the shadow was a figure that was covered by a glow from top to bottom—
—Geraldo.
Jill shouted in alert—
“—Your Majesty!”
Hadith, holding Jill with his right hand, and a sword in his left hand, didn’t raise a single eyebrow upon seeing the spear inside Geraldo’s hand.
A terrific clash between spear and sword unfolded on spot.
Jill managed to keep track of Hadith’s and Geraldo’s exchange, however, to their surroundings, they must have appeared only as a blast. Thankfully, they were in the fountain square. No one could approach that place.
While holding Jill with one arm, Hadith managed to outperform all of Geraldo’s attacks. He had gained the upper hand in this battle. The only reason Jill couldn’t rejoice was because of his face.
Light had disappeared from his eyes. His expression was blank. It was as if he was suppressing something.
…it’s, it’s the middle of a fight, so why is your face like that—?
Geraldo clicked his tongue.
Geraldo’s black spear was just an imitation of the actual Holy Spear of the Goddess. Nevertheless, it was still crafted by the best blacksmith of the country, and on top of that, was enchanted with Geraldo’s magic. It was no way an ordinary weapon.
Despite so, he was fighting against a sword user. Naturally, his spear became less effective.
However, as if he could give up.
Towards Geraldo, who decided to fight until the end, Hadith raised his chin a little, and his golden eyes shone.
Almost instantly, Geraldo was blown away by the wind pressure, and fell to the ground.
The spear rolled from his hand, then, when he tried to reach for it—
—a sword was pointed at his throat, preventing Geraldo from looking away.
“…What’s this, Your Majesty the Emperor, are you declaring a war on my kingdom, Kratos?”
“Not at all. This is just because—“
—Hadith then gently turned away, his shoulders began to shake.
Both Jill and Geraldo blinked.
“I, I… the Goddess’ spear…”
“…Your Majesty?”
“I’m paying my respect… for the shattered, Holy Spear of the Goddess…”
Jill gapped at Hadith, whom covered his mouth, desperately trying to calm his laughter.
No way—could it be, he was stifling his laughter since a while ago?
Even Rave was turning away to hide his laugh.
“Oi, oi, if you laugh like that, there’s no way I would be able to stop myself from erupting in laughter, too! I’ve been holding it in for a while now… I… it’s, even though it’s a Goddess, even though it’s the Goddess’ spear, it snapped in half…!”
“R, Rave, we, we mustn’t laugh… It will lead to troublesome things… that sacred weapon, the Goddess… it could break like that—!?”
“—So you guys are basically insulting the Goddess of my kingdom—!” Geraldo, with his face turning blue, tried to stand up.
However, his action was stopped midway by the Dragon Emperor’s sword tip.
“When the Goddess revives, say this to her for me—next time, I won’t let my wife be a decoy—because I shall be her partner.”
“…”
“I shall invite you to our wedding. Since the spear is currently broken, there’s no better time. It’s okay for you to come.”
Geraldo rose, his face was stiff.
Not only Geraldo, some people are set afloat and brought over from the military port. They were all from the Kingdom of Kratos.
“I shall seize those who caused this uproar, so please return to your own kingdom with peace of mind. Since it’s a private visit, there’s no need for me to see you off, right?”
“Wha…”
“Told you so, you and I are different.”
To Geraldo, who clenched his teeth, Hadith swung his heavenly sword—
—then, he, along with those from the port, are blown away by a massive wind, towards the horizon where the sun had begun to rise.
“…Umm… that, where are they going?”
“Roughly guessing, the summit of the Rakia Mountains.”
Hadith explained nonchalantly. Because of the current season, the summit of the Rakia Mountains were likely to be covered in snow.
…they will die from the disaster.
If word were to leak that the Crown Prince disappeared after visiting the Rave Empire—
—well, Geraldo exceled in magic, he should be fine.
She could hear noise from her vicinity.
The townspeople had started to gather. Camila came out of the crowd, dragging Marquis Veil. Zeke stood alongside Mihari. The Northern Division, busy fighting the fire, was waving while laughing.
“There were injuries, but no deaths—aren’t you amazing?”
“N, not, really…”
“It’s the truth. Everyone saw you protecting the city from the Goddess.”
Saying so, Hadith lowered Jill to the ground.
Before anyone else, he knelt to Jill.
“Will you marry me?”
She was mesmerized by his honest, sincere words.
“…In truth, I have more to say to you. But, my chest is so full, those are the only words I can think of.”
Hadith lifted his face, showing a bitter smile.
His face, which was gently caressed by the pleasant sea breeze, shone very beautifully amidst the darkness of the night.
Yes, that was exactly the silvery gleam of magic she had witnessed on the battlefield six years later.
“Won’t you give me your answer, Jill?”
Jill took a deep breath, even the mere sound of him calling her name made her heart leapt.
Even though she had decided to not fall for him first, she had no choice but to admit—
“—to be honest with you, I want to break up. But—”
—before Jill could continue with her explanation, the Dragon Emperor had stopped his own heart.