"...Lady, that man—"
"I am aware, he saw me in this form."
"Should we dispose of him?"
The subordinate said bluntly, without a trace of empathy or remorse.
"Not yet, there's something peculiar about him—he is not part of the Golden Messiah yet is strong enough to contend with them. Supposedly, they are about to enroll in the academy this quarter, I'll handle it by then."
Her lavender eyes peeked through the window, looking down at commonfolk below. It seems that after arriving back in the Royal Capital of Lizea, they immediately resumed their operations.
"More importantly, we have more important matters to attend..."
"Yes, my lady, I also believe there is a mole in the city."
"Hmph, those who have opposed me had never met good ends. It seems I have to clean this city again once more."
<<----------->>
"...hmm? Naoki?" A woman groggily said.
"It seems you're awake—you feeling better?"
"Mhm... somewhat, and sorry..."
When they were fighting against the group known as Golden Messiah, Astria had overexerted herself—pushing her soul to the limits. As a result, after the fight, she fainted and suffered from minimal Soul Fatigue. While technically Naoki could help her, he couldn't just do it in the open and be seen by just anyone—which is why they are at the local inn in the capital of Lizea.
"Where is Dorothy...?"
"She went outside to buy some ingredients for cooking, and some supplements for you to take."
"I see."
"I really had a hard time with her—she was screaming all the time when you were unconscious."
It seems that Dorothy was extremely worried this whole time, and could not remain still.
"Ahaha, that girl..."
"Tell me about it." Naoki sighed.
"That's right, if it was not for you weakening the enemies earlier—I think I would have been more in danger."
Naoki could not beat them with Soul Cultivation alone, which is why he had opted to use his [Poison Node] to weaken the enemies—this has made Astria, who was slightly weaker than her enemies, still overwhelm them.
"Well, I at least have to be useful for my dear wife." Naoki proudly said, a grin on his face.
"Stop it..." Astria looked away in embarrassment.
"It's the truth though."
"...!"
"...you really never change, Naoki." Astria placed her hand on his cheek.
"Carol..." They both gazed into each other's eyes.
*Cough*
"..." Dorothy looked down, dropping the bag that she was carrying.
"Ah-!"
At the door was no other than Dorothy Cliffheart—staring at the two lovebirds. Her face is similar to that of someone who had seen a hopeless situation.
"...I was a fool, I shouldn't have left a peasant with Carol."
"Uhh... Dorothy, this isn't what it looks like you see—"
"It is exactly how it looks like." Naoki bluntly said.
"Naoki!"
*Slam*
The door was instantly closed shut, and the sound of running footsteps could be heard.
"Dorothy...?"
"..."
"It seems like we really can't avoid it huh...?"
"Hey... Naoki, you know what I'm thinking..."
"I know, I'll be back."
After Naoki saw that Astria had already fully recovered, he began to trail the running girl—dusk was already approaching, after all.
<<----------->>
Royal Capital of Lizea.
It was a majestic city with walls that stretched over 5 kilometers in radius—it wasn't called the royal capital for show. In its center, lies the gigantic Sky Tower which was the foundation of the Lizea Kingdom. Although on this particular evening, the mood was silent and gloom.
"Rain...?"
That's right—this was Naoki's first-ever experience of rain in another world. It poured so heavily, that Naoki had a hard time navigating around the streets while avoiding the rain.
"Oh, young man, is something troubling you?" A particularly handsome man asked.
"Uh... eh—have you seen a girl with short-red hair and blue eyes?"
"Oh...? Did you get into a fight? Come, sit beside me." He prompted, though his voice sounded genuine.
"Well... something like that." Naoki did as told.
They sat at a stall at the side of the street—the rain wasn't about to stop soon, Naoki thought. Upon closer inspection, the man appeared to be quite fashionable and gave off an aura of mystery. While that was the case, he seemed to be friendly and approachable.
"You see... quite a while ago, my two wives have fought often. One, who was my childhood friend since birth, had accused the other of being too reserved."
"...?"
"I can't blame them though, my second wife is known for being considerate and polite—she was just politically married to me by our partner company here in Lizea."
"Your first wife is not bothered...?"
"Haha, she is, though the two were great friends even before they were married to me—so she eventually accepted it. In fact, she is now more bothered by the fact that my second wife avoids being intimate and is doing most of the house chores without asking for help. Really, I don't deserve any of them."
Somehow, Naoki could feel that this man really meant what he said. It seems that in Zenia, the dynamics of living were way different from back in his own world.
"So, what did you think I did?" The man looked at him and smiled.
"What...?"
"I confronted my second wife about it in private and then have a discussion between the three of us. Because of that, she's gradually opening up and is becoming more honest."
"...!" Naoki realized the implication behind the man's words.
"Did that answer your problem?" The man knowingly asked.
"...I'll go."
"Mhm, use this to locate her. It's a Soul Artifact that can find people you know."
"This is... thank you."
Before leaving, Naoki had bowed to the mysterious man—proceeding to dash towards his destination. He had to find her soon because the rain was seemingly getting worse by the minute.
<<----------->>
"So this is where you were..."
"..."
In one of the isolated alleyways of the royal capital, lies a girl who had sat on the ground—hugging her knees. The storm was not ending soon, which was why she had stayed there to shelter from the rain.
"Come on, Astria is pretty worried you know—she still hasn't thanked you for earlier."
"...no need." she quietly muttered.
"Eh...?"
Dorothy stood up and faced Naoki. He had noticed that she was crying the whole time as her face was quite drenched—though it might have been the rain, he thought.
"...hate me."
"...? Why?"
"I..."
"I-I... I want to discard... these for... As-" She tried to finish her sentence, though each word had only pained her.
"What should I do!?" She exclaimed, tears flowing from her eyes.
"..."
*Thunder*
Naoki could only stay silent—the right words not coming out of his mouth. It wasn't like he didn't understand. In fact, he had just avoided it ever since that night by pretending that everything was normal.
"Dorothy I..."
"Don't say anything more! I...I know I shouldn't be feeling this way. I want it to go away! I want to...I —but I can't! This is too unfair!"
"Why did it have to be you...! Why did you have to save me!? If I knew that I'd feel this way, I should have died!"
Naoki clenched his fist. He knew that what he would say right now would be the most important decision of his life.
"...I don't regret saving you."
"...! That's so irresponsible! You-!"
"What I mean by that is—!" He moved closer to Dorothy.
"What are y-"
*Silence*
Naoki had touched her lips with his own, enveloping her in his warm embrace.
Dorothy had no words. The tears kept flowing down her cheeks—in truth, she had silently hoped for this. She slowly reached her hand behind Naoki's back, a bit frightened, but slowly lost their hesitation.
They stayed like that for a while, releasing all of the things they had held back over the past few days.
"Naoki... why, I..."
"You've stopped calling me peasant." Naoki smiled.
"Is that really what you should be worrying about right now..." She softly chuckled.
"Don't worry, we'll go together and talk everything out," Naoki reassured.
Quite a distance from the two, someone sighed with relief. It seems they needed not to intervene. Giving them their time, the person had walked away in satisfaction.