Chapter 37

Kade stood in an empty space, a space he had frequented these last few weeks. Only she was there.

“... Did I die again?” he asked in worry.

She looked at him and let out a laugh. “Don’t worry, Kade. You didn’t. If anything, you did a good job surviving.”

“I see… How are the others?”

“Everyone’s alright, thanks to you.”

Kade let out a breath of relief. It was finally over.

“You did good, Kade.”

“... Thank you,” Kade said sheepishly. “Is it… over?”

She nodded. “Yes. You’ve completed your mission.”

It was finally over. The reason he was sent here had disappeared. A sense of bittersweetness appeared inside him. “Thank goodness.”

There was an immense sense of relief; he struggled to believe that it was finally over. The sensation felt unreal, especially after the amount of pain he went through to get to this point.

“... Will this be the last time we meet?”

She shrugged. “Maybe? I mean, you’re not too delighted with the idea of continuously seeing me, are you?”

The first time he met her, it was after he died, so maybe he had correlated her with death. Every time they met, that meant there was trouble, so a meeting with her meant something bad was going on.

At the same time, he was deeply thankful for her help, and the idea of never seeing her again felt sad.

“Hehehe… Looks like I got myself a fan.”

“Maybe.”

“Well, Kade, thank you. Your actions saved the world. Leave the rest to me.”

Kade nodded. He couldn’t see himself as a hero. But, unlike back then, he no longer has to be a hero. As long as he had Meline and his friends by his side, even a normal, boring day didn’t seem too bad.

Although considering Meline’s antics, she’s bound to drag him to some kind of adventure eventually.

“But… if you’re so concerned with not seeing me again… Guess I can stop by for some tea later.”

He had never told Meline about her. He could imagine her surprise when yet another mystery guest popped up on her front door. Despite that, he had an inkling Meline would greet her all the same.

“I’m sure Meline will be happy to cook for you.”

“Or maybe, she’ll consider me a rival,” she teased. The possibility wasn’t zero, but Kade himself couldn’t see anyone but Meline as his partner. He forced a laugh.

“Anyway, I’ll send you back now. Enjoy your lovey-dovey time. Once again, thank you.”

Kade’s vision faded.

•••

“Kade! Kade!”

Kade’s eyes opened. Meline sat right above him, tears in her eyes.

“Meline…”

“Thank goodness!” Meline hugged him tight. “Thank goodness! Kade, you’re alright!”

He pondered what to say and eventually decided to say, “... I’m back.”

“Yes! Welcome home!”

The door swung open. Linda came running in. “Kade!? How are you feeling? Does anything hurt!?”

“Huh? Huh…” He didn’t feel anything wrong with him. The pain from that day had all but disappeared. “How about you, Miss Linda?” Kade wasn’t the only one fighting her, since he collapsed the second he took out her soul; he didn’t see what happened to the others.

“Worry about yourself.”

There was no visible wound on Linda, so either she didn’t suffer anything significant, or they were already healed.

“I’m alright, I think.”

“That’s good to know.”

Kalou and Tila entered after her. Tila was bringing a tray with a cup of warm water. She gave the cup to Kade. Kade accepted and took a drink, refreshing his dry throat.

“How long have I been out?” Kade asked. Based on their reactions and the fact that they were in his room in Nordeux, it should be a while.

“An entire month!”

Kade let out a gasp. The spell must have done more damage than he expected.

“And that with me carrying the burden!” Meline exclaimed. “Did you make a deal with the daremons or something?”

Kade let out a chuckle. He certainly wouldn’t compare her to the daremons. She’s probably the opposite.

“... Wait. You carried the burden?”

“Your strike gave me the chance to retake a bit of my body, then I activated the link between us.”

“Oh… so that’s why.”

She must have felt the sudden surge of terrible pain, and that was enough to break her concentration. Kade couldn’t recall the details of that pain. He just knew he didn’t want to feel anything like that ever again, and that pain was enough to break a soul that hid within a spear for more than several hundred years.

But… it was finally over.

“How… have you been?” Kade asked. Meline smiled and revealed the three spears, now back under her control.

“I’m once again the demon lord!” she said proudly.

Linda snickered. “You sure look happy, Meline.”

At first, Kade thought she meant about how Meline was finally the true demon lord again, but the redness on her cheeks implied something else.

“What are you implying?” Meline glared at her.

“You know, Meline woke up first, and she refused to leave your side.”

“Meline…”

“Ah… don’t mention it!” Meline covered her face. Looking at her, Kade felt grateful that she escaped unscathed. He couldn’t imagine how he would be if he lost her.

“Don’t worry, Kade, everyone is alright,” Kalou added, erasing his worries.

“That’s good to hear.”

They could finally return to their normal lives.

Normal lives…

“Oh dear…”

Kade had just remembered something important. He had completely forgotten about the fact that he had university.

Meline seemed to have realized his concerns and smiled wryly. “We both have a lot of things to catch up on.”

“You’ll still do university, Meline?” Linda asked. There was no longer a need for Meline to be around Kade. She could be doing her demon lord work while Kade remained in Nordeux to study.

“It’s undeniably fun. I don’t mind doing it again.”

“Well… if that’s the case…” Linda headed out of the room, then returned, bringing a huge stack of papers. “Here you go. I’m kind enough to compile all the material the two of you missed for you.”

“I did the same thing, but much shorter.” Meline showed her notebook.

“You’ve already studied!?” Kade was surprised.

Meline flipped open the books, proudly showcasing her work. “Of course! I’m the demon lord! This is child's play for me!”

“Impressive…”

“You haven’t done your homework, though.”

“Can you please not mention that?”

Kade couldn’t imagine returning straight to studying after everything that had happened. He would need maybe a couple of days to unwind. But the fact that he could worry about studying meant that things had gone well. There was no longer a kind of looming danger over their heads. It was truly over.

“Thank goodness…”

•••

Meline had an idea. The end of the battle meant there was time to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than to go fishing?

In the North Sea. Fishing for sharks. Sharks.

“Melineeee! Are you sure this is alrighhhttt!?” Tila screamed, holding onto the walls’ of the vessel. Kalou had collapsed and was now rolling on the floor, going front to back every time the ship hit a wave. It was a pathetic state for the hero, but collapsing probably made things easier. No need to care about the waves if one couldn’t see or feel them.

“We will be fine!”

“I should have known better!” Despite being on her second trip, Linda wasn’t faring any better, either.

“Did you really think this would be a normal trip, Miss Linda?”

“I thought it would, since we have Tila with us!”

“We’ll be fine…” Meline said casually. She had teleported them here; maybe she wanted to see Linda suffer. She didn’t tell her where they would be going. She didn’t ask for opinions, either. Told them they would be going, then straight to the ship.

“How could you be alright with this, Kade!?” Tila asked, still holding on for dear life.

“Eh… I’m used to it.”

“How!?”

After coming on this trip with Meline so often, he was no longer scared. He believed Meline would do something if things got too dangerous. Besides…

“Ah ha! That’s a big one! A big one, I tell you! Kade, let’s go after it!”

The shark mentioned was swimming away, desperate to escape. Kade turned the ship’s wheel in that direction.

If Meline’s happy, then I…

Then I’m happy too.

A large wave crashed into the ship, drowning the mix of laughter and screams that filled the vessel.