Adelio and Ria left [Eldorado].
Before heading to another nation, the two flew to the frozen continent that lay opposite [Eldorado], a land of ice, so they could report to Guy first.
If they used [Spatial Movement], they could have entered the White Ice Palace in an instant. But if they did that, Velzard might regard Ria as an enemy, so flying there in person was their only option.
"...So this is the castle where [Rouge] lives. Hehe, it's quite well made."
Even though they had taken their time on the way, Adelio and Ria reached the frozen continent in only a few hours, and before long the outline of the White Ice Palace came into view.
Looking at the White Ice Palace from afar, Ria gave her assessment while comparing it to her own castle in hell, and to the castles of [Viole] and [Jonne].
If there was one flaw, it was that her aesthetic judgment of the White Ice Palace, one of the most splendid castles in the Central World, amounted to nothing more than "quite well made."
"The idea of spreading a defensive barrier over the entire continent with a True Dragon's demonic aura while also using it as decoration for the castle isn't bad. For everyone else, though, it would be a disaster."
All her other impressions were about combat or siege warfare.
Well, considering a demon's battle instinct, it probably couldn't be helped that her thoughts kept going in that direction.
Back when Adelio had first learned Nuclear Magic from Guy, he had also spent an embarrassingly serious amount of time wondering just how much Nuclear Magic the White Ice Palace could withstand...
"Haha... well, I'm just glad you don't seem to hate it. You'll be living here with me from now on, after all."
And he meant exactly that by "living together."
Since they would be living in the Central World from now on, they had decided to stay together here, in Guy's territory, until that slime reincarnated three hundred years later.
Of course, Guy, Rain, and Misery couldn't exactly be called close with Ria any more than [Jonne] could. Adelio knew perfectly well that if trouble broke out, he would be the only one crushed in the middle like a shrimp caught between whales... but there was no helping it.
It was far too early to break away from Guy and build a new faction of their own.
Ordinary forces wouldn't stand a chance against Adelio and Ria, but compared to the world's great powers—Milim and the Dragon Faithful, Dagruel and the barren giants, and massive factions like the [Eastern Empire]—they were lacking in far too many ways.
That was why he intended to remain by Guy's side, even if it meant accepting the risk.
"Hehe, don't worry too much. If those girls don't provoke me first, then we 'probably' won't have to fight."
"...I really hope that's how it goes."
*
A short while later,
when Adelio and Ria reached the very front of the White Ice Palace gates, they found two demons there, releasing their magic power as if calling them over.
"......"
A blue-haired demon and a green-haired demon.
The owners of those all-too-familiar auras were, as expected, Rain and Misery.
They had only been apart for less than a month, but Adelio felt as though he was seeing them again after a very long time.
And
it seemed the two of them felt the same way.
"Adelio... looks like you didn't get hurt."
"...I'm glad you made it back safely."
Rain sounded prickly as always, but perhaps she had actually been worried, because she looked away and informal speech slipped out before she could stop it.
Misery also seemed calm as usual, but her voice trembled faintly, like someone finally letting herself feel relief.
Seeing such a rare side of Rain and Misery, Adelio gave a faint smile and nodded.
"There were a few problems, but thankfully, everything was resolved."
In truth, it hadn't been just a few problems. There had been a lot.
Still, he had somehow managed to see it through to the end, so it wasn't an entirely bad outcome.
So Adelio thought that if he could just persuade Guy now, everything would finally be fine...
"......But—"
"—why did you bring [Blanc] with you?"
...Apparently, these two were the ones he had to persuade first.
Crackle... crackle...
Their cold gazes swept back and forth between Adelio and Ria, like the anti-personnel elemental spell, strategic magic [Cocytus].
"Hehehe, it's been a while. [Blue], [Vert]... no, I suppose now it's Rain and Misery?"
Ria remained relaxed, much as she had with [Jonne].
Rain and Misery, on the other hand, had no room to feel anything like composure.
"......[Blanc]. Why do you have a body?"
"And you evolved into a [Demon Lord]... Adelio, was this your doing?"
As Misery spoke, her green eyes turned toward Adelio, and Rain soon looked at him as well.
"......"
Their eyes seemed to be begging him to say no, but unfortunately, that was one request he couldn't grant.
He couldn't deny something that had already happened.
"...Yes. I gave Ria her name and her body."
But
Rain and Misery wanted to reject that answer.
"......Why? Why would you do that...? Misery and I could feel your magic power, so we thought—just like Lord Guy said—that you had chosen us over [Blanc]... Then why did you even come back at all...?!"
From the moment Adelio spoke the name Ria, the small hope Rain had been clinging to was swallowed up by two emotions.
Anger and sorrow.
"...If you had chosen to remain in hell... I was prepared to accept it quietly. I knew you missed [Blanc]... But you came back in the end, and so I let myself hope. I hoped that perhaps we had become more precious to you than [Blanc]..."
Misery's voice shook harder and harder.
She was a maid more composed than anyone, but in the end, she too was a person with emotions. In front of the one she loved, she could only fall apart.
All the more so because this was the first person she had ever loved in her life.
"Rain... Misery..."
With the mood shifting wildly from one sentence to the next, Adelio could only stand there in a daze.
When it came to feelings like these, he was hopelessly inexperienced.
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