Epilogue

“So what do you think of the new king?”

“Hmm. Personally, I always thought he was the rightful ruler. Even if the whole mad tyrant thing was true.”

“You’re saying you would have been fine having a leader like that?!”

“Well last I checked, his father named him as the heir to the throne! It doesn’t matter how they turn out in the end! The heir is the heir!”

“You are absolutely crazy, man! No way I would have been fine with that,”

“You’d rather have a woman as your leader?”

“...I wouldn’t go that far, man,”

“Exactly!”

“But I’d definitely rather have a woman as the leader over a crazy man!”

“Like hell you would! Stop lying!”

“Who says I’m lying?! That’s just common sense, man!”

“If a woman was really made to be our sovereign leader, our empire would be taken as a complete joke! The Lauranians would invade and take us over in no time flat!”

“No way! We’ve still got the strongest military in the world!”

“What’s a couple swords and spears going to do against the onslaught of avatar wielders they’ve got over there?!”

“We’ve got our own!”

“...I’ve heard they have more,”

“From where?”

“From sources!”

“Source it up your ass! You just made it up!”

“I did not!”

“Yes you did! It’s not like this is the first time you’ve been overly dramatic with your information, and end up looking like a fool! That’s why you ended up getting divorced in the first place!”

“Hmph! Some friend you are! Barkeep! Give me another one!”

“Listen man, there’s no way we’re getting invaded. We’re the damn Eydo empire, man! Ain’t no one stupid enough to do something like that.”

“There was one lady I heard that did though. All by herself, too.”

“Oh, you mean the eastern priestess that wanted to kill the king, but ended up fighting alongside him till the end, right?”

“Yeah. Just another clear example of how foolish women can be,”

“What? You’ve got to be joking…she was badass, man! Imagine losing your entire kingdom, and then fighting tooth and nail like that to get revenge!”

“But in the end, she lost, didn’t she?”

“That’s not the point!”

“She should have just packed her things and tried to survive like the rest of us. That’s what a man with sense would do. But because women are so emotional, it was impossible for her.”

“...that divorce is really hitting you hard, isn’t it?”

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“Here you go. Palm wine, on the rocks.”

“Thanks barke-”

The divorced man freezes in place, as he stares into his glass of palm wine..

And sees a small demon child staring up towards him, with its arms folded.

The divorced man freaks out, and stumbles out of his chair. As he stands up, he bumps into a large creature, and only by turning around does he notice it to be an adult oni.

“I would ask if there was anything else I could help you with…”

The divorced man slowly glances over towards the barkeep, and as the barkeep turns around, the divorced man is met with a woman wearing an oni mask.

Kimiko slowly takes off her mask, revealing her ticked off expression.

“But I’m just a woman…so surely I wouldn’t be of any help, right?”

Laughter bellows in the corner of the room, as Monisola, Kayin’s grandmother, claps her hands in amusement.

“That reaction is priceless!” Monisola says as she points to the divorced man, “And hey…you’ve got a pretty decent size! Shed a couple pounds, learn how to fight, and we can do business together,”

Kimiko kisses her teeth, “Must you always try and recruit fighters?”

Monisola stands up and shakes her afro around, “Business is business, baby. You’ll get it one day,”

“Never going to happen,”

Monisola walks over and places her arm around Kimiko, while smiling brightly towards the two men.

“The two of you sure have a lot to say in an empty bar. But you ought to be more careful of who becomes your topic. Because this girl right here…”

“Is the same eastern priestess you fools are conversing about,”

The two men open their mouths in shock.

“W-we thought you were dead?!” they shout simultaneously.

“I may as well be,” Kimiko whispers aggressively to herself.

“Well, as the two of you can clearly see, your queen is still alive and well.”

The mouth of the two men drop to the floor, and beads of sweat rapidly drip down from their foreheads.

“THE QUEEN?!”

“Oh, relax, boys. The matrimonial ceremony hasn’t happened yet. But she is, by all accounts, your queen to be,”

Monisola hugs and caresses Kimiko, which only angers her further.

“Isn’t that right, my grandbaby-in-law?”

Kimiko rips Monisola off, and orders two of her oni to keep her away. In the corner, Izanami sips a cup of tea, clearly amused by the scene before her.

“I haven’t agreed to any of that yet! Just because Kayin named me as his queen doesn’t mean that I accept it!”

“Oh stop running away from your destiny!” Monisola laughs out while the two oni drag her away, “You know you love him!”

“I do not!” Kimiko yells while blushing.

The two men blush while looking at Kimiko’s innocent protest.

Until the divorced man snaps out of it.

“Wait, if that’s the case, then what are you doing all the way out here? This town isn’t anywhere near the palace,”

Kimiko glances towards him, and after a brief pause, she holds out her katana’s edge towards the divorced man’s Adam's apple.

The two men shriek in fright.

“It’s true that I’m running away from the king, but I also have another goal in mind.”

The two men shriek and sweat even harder as multiple large oni appear from the shadows behind Kimiko, causing her intense glare to become even more frightening. Izanami disappears, not wanting to get caught up in Kimiko’s interrogation.

Kimiko grins.

“Tell me…”

“Have you seen anyone who happens to look like me?”