Evan D. Sherden, Passed Night (4)

Evan believed he had returned unnoticed by anyone in Astray, but…surprisingly, there was a person of ability beyond his imagination. Yeah, maybe just two people in the world and one of them was at the Astray headquarters.

“Is that so…? It must be today.”

High Elf Mirole, who hadn’t heard of Belois’ coming-of-age ceremony before, sat still on the couch in the lobby today. She was waiting for Evan. She saw Evan, who secretly infiltrated the headquarters building with Belois in his arms and muttered quietly and quickly. Soon after, she saw the mighty power of mana throughout the room forming a perfect seal, and she instinctively reached out in that direction with her angry heart but soon desperately stopped herself.

‘I don’t have a hobby of torturing myself. What difference will it make interrupting those people now? It’s just that I don’t look confident.’

While those two were a good couple, she was nothing but a distraction at best. She was now…

“…Yes, I’ll still have to do what I have to do.”

The High Elf murmured and let out a cold sigh so that no one could hear, seemed hesitant about where to go, and soon turned to go to her room. The headquarters was very calm whether they knew Evan and Belois had just returned or not. She wanted to enter Arisha’s room, who always used to keep her in check, and bother her by shouting, “Do you know who Evan is with and what he is doing?” but soon, she stopped thinking about it when she realized that it was just an attack to transmit her suffering.

‘I can’t calm down. I don’t believe that it’s my fault, but just that I had thought… I’m sorry. People in the ancient forests will be surprised to see me.’

She wanted to stay calm, but it was too hard. Now, she needed a drink. It was a bad habit to find alcohol when she was sad and distressed than when she was happy.

“Umm…”

Even before she drank, Mirole shook slightly as if she were drunk, opened her door across the hallway, and approached a small metal box in the corner of the room. It was a small wine cellar. Along with the launch of the Brotherhood Brewery, Evan had prepared the mana tool with high ambitions. It was costly as it was carefully designed to store all the Brotherhood Brewery wines in a perfect environment.

“…Huh.”

She took wine from it, a fine wine produced for sale for top adventurers and aristocrats, unlike the low-end strawberry wine from the Brotherhood Brewery. It was a wine carefully selected among strawberries and fermented with honey, and turned into a very famous luxury brandy on the Silk Line to increase its alcohol content. Like a top alchemist, the tempered wine, which was made with a perfect proportion of alcohol, was named ‘Sherden Wine’ by Evan. And she dared to say that it boasted a sophisticated and luxurious taste that had never been tasted in the world. It had captivated the taste buds of the High Elf who had lived countless years.

‘I can’t believe I got hurt by him, and to heal myself; I take the drinks made by him in the mana tool, which was also made by him…is there anything else so ridiculous?’

Mirole was scorning herself as she headed to the balcony with a bottle and a glass of wine. There were many rooms with balconies beside hers, but no one was out on the patio because it was in the middle of the night.

“Oh…”

When she was in the room, she felt like she was united with the Knights, but when she came out into the protruding outer space, she suddenly felt like she was left alone in the world. It was better to see the loneliness now. If someone else were in front of her, she would vent her anger on them. Mirole, who briefly sat on the balcony railing and was facing the night breeze, soon became stiff with the cheerful voices of a man and a woman mixed in the wind.

“…I hear you.”

Mirole didn’t come out on the balcony with that in mind. She cursed her bright ears after a long time. However, what was she doing by ignoring the great witch’s seal and catching the sound? She didn’t want to hear that.

“Whoa…”

It wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t her fault, so she was frustrated. She just drank alcohol instead. She asked the spirit of the wind to pull out the cork and pour wine into the glass. It was said that there was a set method for pouring wine, but the human way was out of her interest.

‘It smells good. It smells just like the smell from him.’

She gulped down the words that came to her mind with a sip of wine. It was something she couldn’t say to him yet. Not yet, not yet.

‘He won’t understand me. So, it doesn’t make sense for me to blame him for abandoning a woman. But…’

Even though she knew her way of thinking was unreasonable, she couldn’t help but resent him. Until now, no matter how much she disguised her feelings as the whims of the High Elf Princess, she knew this was dangerous. But still.

“Angry…”

Finally, a word came out of her mouth. As the word leaked, the tears leaked a little with it, and her vision was blurred. No one would believe that the Elf princess, who had lived for many years, shed tears.

‘No, it’s about to start. I don’t have time to cry.’

She shook her head to shake her thought off and drank the rest of the alcohol in one gulp. She threw her glass into the air and put her mouth on a wine bottle, and drank.

“…Ah.”

In her vision, when returning to normal after shedding tears…she could see the dark moon waning.

[Oh, my God, there was someone awake.]

A cheerful woman’s voice sounded in her ear. It was an alluring female voice.

[I’m surprised you’re resisting my dream.]

“… I’ve been waiting.”

Mirole answered back to the owner of the voice that was melted somewhere in the night. Yeah, she had been waiting for this moment since the beginning. It wasn’t planned that she would cry here while thinking of him.

[This can’t be happening… that’s fascinating. By mixing my powers with the curse of the eroded world, I’m sure I’ve fallen into a perfect dream around him. It was a terribly elaborate plan.]

“Great work, Succubus Queen.”

Why did those, who failed to operate their mission, tell the contents to others? There was always someone interested in it. Mirole, who recalled her appearance, fortunately, succeeded in making a better face before it was too late.

“If it weren’t for me, it would’ve been a great success. I liked the part where he attacked the curse he carried. But if you made one mistake, it means you didn’t know me very well.”

[…Ugh.]

It hit the mark. And more so for Evan, because he had never really revealed his true identity to anyone but a tiny number of people. Mirole was Evan’s hidden card in the real sense. Evan, of course, just hid her because he didn’t want things to get complicated.

“I won’t hurt you if you go back, Succubus Queen. So, back off. I can’t touch him.”

Evan would never have dreamed that Mirole was protecting him now. No matter how great he was, he didn’t know all the mysteries of the world. Mirole had come to Evan from the beginning to fill such shortcomings. A prenatal system? Crack? That was only an additional reason. Mirole came to Sherden to protect Evan, to be by his side…though she could never be honest with him.

[Oh, my God, so you weren’t crying out loud after leaving your crush, were you loyal to protecting his honeymoon room?]

The provocative voice of the woman, who Mirole called the ‘Succubus Queen,’ penetrated her ears, but Mirole, who knew it was a common trick of the Demon race, wasn’t agitated. She was right; Mirole was on the balcony to protect Evan.

“That’s a shallow provocation. Are you upset that you made a mistake?”

[…]

She knew the Succubus Queen would come to visit today. To be exact, the Succubus Queen knew that and was aiming for the moment he lost her sympathy. It was the time when the Succubus Queen, who was seeking a scapegoat, became the strongest. It was the time when Evan, the sacrifice, became her sacrifice when Belois became defenseless. That was this moment, and Mirole came out because she knew it. It was the reason why they were holding out while listening to the sticky voices of the two, which were faintly hearable in the night wind.

[Whoa…okay, I’ll admit my failure. But I can’t back down. If you want, why don’t you join me from now on? It’ll be much more fun here than just drinking alone like that.]

“But if it’s a dream, I don’t need it.”

[Whoa, no need to worry. If the Succubus Queen rules the dream, the Queen can rule the dream and erode reality. If you want, you can bring it all to reality…]

“I’m sorry, but that bluff doesn’t work for me.”

At that point, Mirole snapped.

“I didn’t stop you. I wouldn’t have been able to control him. Are you looking down on his anti-magic skill and curse tolerance?”

[But I’ve already confirmed that I can pierce it.]

“You can’t get him to that extent. You’re only going to do him some negligible damage, leave a terrible scar on his mate, and then you’re going to die to pay the cost.”

When Mirole finished speaking, silence fell over them. As she ignored her dream owner and was drinking what was left in the bottle, a slightly trembling voice soon rang in her ears again.

[…You sound like you’ve seen the results.]

“Well, I don’t know.”

The other person’s expression, which was scattered in the night and couldn’t be seen, seemed visible in front of her. Mirole continued with a smile around her mouth.

“But I’m sure you knew. No matter how perfect the plan is, it will be incomplete, and it will eventually result in the disappearance of only you.”

[…]

“So, in the end, you’re here to kill yourself. Isn’t that right?”

[So, what if? Are you going to stop me because suicide is terrible? I’m sorry, I’m under the order of the Devil! There is no way to reject it. If I refuse, I’ll end up dead…!]

The Devil was the most sinister and strongest being after God. In particular, the beings who were directly injected with the power of the Devil were no different from dolls that moved at the will of the Devil. Mirole knew it well. The Succubus Queen, was also likely to be in that situation.

[Now get out of the way…I need to see him.]

“I told you, I’m not sending you.”

[I know you’re a High Elf, but don’t make fun of the Succubus Queen. The Demon King can’t ignore me either.]

“I see, but I don’t care about the Demon King. I don’t know if you’re caught in a dream, but you can’t be my enemy anymore.”

[Hahaha…!]

At that moment, the cool night air suddenly began to tighten around Mirole’s neck. This area of space was under the control of the Succubus Queen. But the very next moment, it disappeared as futile as it was when it started. Mirole’s power was strong enough to overcome the entire space easily.

[Ha…hahaha]

Dry laughter echoed through the air. The short exchange was enough to prove that Mirole didn’t care about the Demon King.

[What the hell, it’s out of specification…]

“I’m glad you realized it right away. I don’t like to struggle.”

[Oh…yeah, that’s enough. It’s a shame I couldn’t even say a word correctly, but maybe this is better.]

Instead, the opponent seemed somewhat relieved and began to unite in the air and create her image. It wasn’t very familiar to Mirole, but it was a human figure.

[Come on, kill me. It’s the job of a hunting dog to bite and kill an intruder. It’s not hard for you, is it?]

“Yes, of course, it’s easy.”

She was in a position where she could only follow the spell of the Devil. However, why did she take such an attitude when a gatekeeper blocked her after failing to properly carry out the operation on which her life was at stake? Trying to guess what the Succubus Queen felt like…

“So, I suggest.”

[As I have already said, I have no other choice…]

“Your death, won’t you reserve it?”

The High Elf was willing to throw herself into a dream.