What should she talk about?
“Is it because the weather is nice? It feels refreshing! Haha.”
“I was worried there might not be much to see around the Blue Moon Pavilion. I’m glad you like it.”
“No, it’s charming and pleasant.”
Though she had suggested a walk under the influence of the atmosphere, she was at a loss for words.
‘I feel like I should talk about something. But family matters might be inappropriate.’
There was no special reason for suggesting a walk.
She wanted to console Ian.
Though he pretended to be calm, he had been treated poorly by his family.
The emotional wounds must have been deep.
Eri and Igor were already drunk and passed out.
Lia thought she had to comfort Ian herself, so she boldly created this time alone with him.
But what to do next was the problem.
Thud! Thud!
The sound of their steps echoed through the dark path. There was no conversation.
Ian walked absentmindedly, staring into space. All she could do was walk beside him.
How long had they been like that? She wondered if they really needed to talk to offer comfort.
‘Would saying anything really help Ian?’
It was a fact that sincere empathy and comfort could help a troubled person.
But sometimes, just silently being there was the best support.
‘I think now is one of those times.’
Not knowing his family history or his current feelings, saying the wrong thing could have the opposite effect.
Being there quietly might actually be better right now.
Was it because the path was narrow? She felt the warmth of his body next to hers.
Feeling the pleasant warmth, Lia recalled the recent events.
‘I expected that the relationship between Ariel and Ian was strained, but it was far worse than I imagined.’
Ian had suffered so much. When she first saw the Volkanov family, she couldn’t believe it was a count’s household.
Everything was in shambles. The only decent aspects were the agriculture and the knight order.
‘Even the agriculture only improved because Ian took an interest.’
It must have been worse before he got involved.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Ian had saved the family.
He created a new specialty product for the Volkanovs, who had none, drawing the nobles’ money, and even organized the tournament.
With successive successes, he not only garnered the nobles’ attention but could soon elevate the Volkanov family to prominence.
It might seem easy to say, but Lia knew how difficult it was from her experience in the count’s family.
‘Our family took years to create new businesses.’
Ian did it all in a matter of days.
If she were Ian’s mother, she would be immensely proud and want to fulfill his every wish.
However, Leticia was far beyond Lia’s expectations.
‘She makes food Ian can’t eat… What kind of nonsense is that?’
How could a mother not know her son’s allergies when someone she barely knew did?
‘It means she simply doesn’t care enough.’
Frankly, Lia couldn’t understand it.
She had been raised with boundless love from her siblings and parents. It was inconceivable by her standards.
Naturally, she couldn’t fully grasp how much Ian’s heart must be aching now.
‘Despite such a painful past, he overcame it to reach where he is now.’
Thinking that made her heart ache even more.
How hard it must have been.
She felt ashamed of herself for following Ian around, wanting to learn from him without understanding his dark past.
‘It’s not something you can learn just by following…’
No matter how many months or years she spent learning from him, she couldn’t match the resilience he had built through hardship.
From then on, Lia abandoned the idea of following Ian to learn from him. Instead, she made a firm resolution in her heart.
‘Now, you don’t have to suffer alone, Ian.’
It was her task to console him, painting over his painful memories with a brighter future.
‘I don’t ask for much. I don’t even intend to take Eri’s place.’
They were just squad leader and squad member on the surface, but she already knew their relationship was unusual.
She had no intention of taking her place. She didn’t need to be the first in the first place.
All Lia wanted was one thing.
‘Ian, because you saved me back then.’
This time, she would rescue him from loneliness on this deserted island.
That was all.
With determination, she intertwined her hands with Ian’s.
“Lia?”
“Is it too dark…? It’s a little scary. Can I hold on?”
“Do as you please. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“…Thank you.”
Feeling the subtle warmth in their clasped hands, Lia walked on.
The oppressive northern temperatures and eerie forests that had troubled her just moments ago no longer hindered them.
***
After parting ways with Lia, Ian didn’t go to his room. Instead, he climbed the hill behind the Blue Moon Pavilion.
It was already late at night, yet sleep eluded him.
‘Is it because my mind feels heavy…? But it’s not like I can keep holding onto Lia forever.’
She was the one who suggested they walk first, but surely he couldn’t keep holding onto her forever?
After about ten laps around the Blue Moon Pavilion, Ian didn’t forget Lia’s sleepy face.
That was why.
“It feels refreshing.”
To have climbed the mountain alone in the dark night.
Before him stretched a field of hyacinths shimmering beautifully under the moonlight.
‘In the diary, it said Ian used to come to see hyacinths whenever he was feeling down.’
When he was cut off by Celia.
When he was abandoned by Haley.
Or when he felt sad because he couldn’t eat certain foods, Ian said he spent time in fields full of hyacinths.
Of course, it wouldn’t be here, but rather near the Trishura Mansion. But there were similar places here too.
‘When Alex Volkanov proposed to his wife, he accidentally picked hyacinths nearby because he didn’t prepare flowers.’
It was a shocking event to pick flowers on the roadside and propose, but
The ancestors said they liked it, so they planted hyacinths all over the Volkanov estate so they could always see hyacinths.
‘Even if you maintain it with magic, it’s not gonna wither.’
Even now, in the middle of summer, he could still see the hyacinth he could see in March and April.
“Whew….”
Lying in the flower garden, feeling the cool breeze, Ian fell into thought.
To be honest. It didn’t feel like comforting him.
Simply gazing at the swaying flowers didn’t do much for him. While it might soothe someone more sensitive, it didn’t offer much solace to Ian at the moment.
Still, it felt somewhat refreshing, so he decided to be satisfied with that.
‘Now, the remaining enemies are five, or is it four?’
He had personally confirmed the demise of Asmodeus, Mammon, and Beelzebub, the three great Demon Kings.
‘So, what’s left are five.’
“Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride… and the Demon God.”
He felt excluding the Demon King of Sloth from the list might be correct.
From the reactions of his diary and Lilith, it didn’t seem like the Demon King of Sloth held any enmity toward him.
‘ In reality, I’ve never seen the Demon King of Sloth in the original. When we went to kill the Demon God, he just cleared the way.’
Originally, in order to face the Demon God, one had to defeat the seven demons. However, strangely enough, the Demon King of Sloth did not reveal himself even when the Demon God was being defeated.
The reason is unknown. What exactly was he thinking? Was there really a transaction between them?
But one thing was certain: he didn’t seem to harbor the intense hostility that the other Demon Kings did.
‘ So, the enemies I should be thinking about are Envy, Wrath, Pride, and the Demon God.’
If they followed the order of appearance in the original work, Envy would be next.
‘Envy. Caught the most annoying one.’
Thinking of the Demon King of Envy, Leviathan, Ian furrowed his brow.
Leviathan, the Demon King of Envy, was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
‘If we only consider brute force, she’s about on par with Beelzebub. The biggest problem is her underhanded fighting style.’
Leviathan. Ian called her a parasite.
The reason? Simple.
‘Her fighting style is parasitic. Normal demons reveal themselves and fight directly, but Leviathan is different.’
She possesses the bodies of intact characters and makes them fight each other.
Yesterday’s allies become today’s enemies, as they say.
Moreover, the Heroic Academy doesn’t allow you to use characters again after they’ve died unless you reset the data, making her even more villainous.
The only way to defeat her without killing the characters is to defeat her just before she dies, so Leviathan reveals herself.
‘But that’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve accidentally killed my carefully nurtured companions more than once.’
Ian was already furious about her parasitic combat style, but the problem didn’t end there.
‘What’s more annoying is that Leviathan might choose anyone as her host.’
Already a distasteful opponent, the situation of not knowing who she might cling to made it worse.
There was a tricky veteran’s method of ruining the favorability of one of the party members, making Leviathan choose them as her host, but that was only viable in a game. In reality, such actions could ruin relationships.
The risk was too great to take lightly.
‘What should I do…’
Just as he was pondering this, it happened.
Crunch! Crunch!
He started to hear footsteps approaching from behind.
At this time of night, was someone else climbing the mountain besides him?
‘Or are they here to target me?’
Maybe he was being paranoid, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
Considering the possibility, Ian infused mana into his hands and shifted his gaze toward the direction of the sound.
And then he saw her.
A woman with brown hair approaching through the bushes towards the field.
She was someone Ian knew well.
“You’re…”
“Oh? S-Senior Ian?”
She was the daughter of ordinary peasants, but through the teachings of the elves, she would become a Divine Archer in the future.
Reina.
“Why are you here…?”
At a time like this, she should have been beside Ariel, yet she stood there with a look as if she had lost her country.
