Ep 83. You’re Leaving? (2)

  Serenis watched the two deities in front of her.

  Corre. Oy, one enforcer.

  Iris was trembling all over in a panicked fear – while Aldrid’s fiip was slowly closing in on the enforcer’s left eye. If anything, it was the quite eaining sight.

  “Hold still! You don’t want me poking your eyes, do you?”

  “…Aldrid, I don’t think I want to do this anymore…”

  “Is that so? I could stop, but you’ll have to live the rest of your life with odd-colored eyes.”

  When the dragonlord snorted in amusement, Iris – who had recimed most of her appearance as the usual red-haired enforcer – angrily pouted back at the ughing dragon.

  “This isn’t funny, Serenis.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  “…”

  Despite announg that she’d live out the rest of her life as the human enforamed Iris Alpid, there had been tw problems in the enforcer’s statement: ‘Felicis’ actually looked nothing like Iris in her inal state, and she no longer had an unlimited mana reserve to keep her appearance ged. Nobody would reize the girl as their city enforcer, and using a gmour spell would exhaust her mana in under an hour now.

  As, the solution Aldrid had proposed was quite simple.

  - ‘I could permaly ge your appearahat would make things easier, wouldn’t it?’

  …Again, Aldrid was the deity of life. Teically speaking, there was nothing weird about her being able to create – or transform – a human’s body. And that’s exactly what Iris was now: a human.

  What was weird, though, was…

  “…Lady Felicis, I need your eyes open.”

  “…Your finger’s too close.”

  “I promise I won’t poke you. You already did it onore time and we’ll be done.”

  “Ughh…”

  Serenis watched on as the enforcer struggled to keep her eyes open.

  Ohe enforcer had e across as stern, strict, and ruthless to Serenis – but said workaholic was o be found in the deity of life’s presence. Iingly, even though their differen age should’ve been negligible given the millennium they’d spent as deities, their retionship as caretaker and child from the past era seemed to have persisted into the present.

  ‘Despite being so proo ge…some things never do ge.’

  Puzzling as it was, that was how mankind had always been.

  ? ? ?

  When Aldrid was finished with work, the familiar red-haired enforcer was once again in the room with them, rubbing the phantom pain out of her eyes. She rapidly shook her head, f herself to rise before embarrassing herself further.

  “Right, um…thank you, Aldrid.”

  “You’re wele. I suppose I should call you Lady Iris now, hm?”

  “…Please drop the ‘Lady.’ You’re older thaoo.”

  “Oh, we’re both over a thousand years old. What difference does a decade or two make?”

  “…”

  “And besides, you’re a mere human now. Should you really be telling a deity what to do, Lady Iris?”

  As Aldrid quietly snickered to herself, Iris’ expression gradually twisted into bewilderment. The enforcer then turo Serenis, pointing at the ughiy.

  “e to think of it, wasn’t yoal to destroy every divinity? What about hers?”

  “Aldrid and I have already agreed to withhold destroying hers until the other divinities were first dealt with.”

  “Wait, then mine was…?”

  “You wanted yours destroyed, did you not?”

  “…”

  Iris let out a long sigh. Serenis was right: the enforcer had btantly stated so, at least twice, to the dragonlord before her. She’d wao rid herself of that cursed reminder as soon as she could. But apparently, it also came at the hefty cost of being ‘a mere human.’

  After clearihroat, the enforcer iionally ged the topic at hand.

  “…Right. So, Serenis. What do you pn to do from hereon? I do believe you’ve finished what you meant to aplish in Partivine.”

  Upon hearing the question, Serenis briefly closed her eyes. It was a question that had lingered in her mind ever since Felicir had bee with. It was also something she’d discussed ih with Aldrid before.

  At core, her goal remaihe same: eliminating the star of its divinities.

  “I’ll be heading to Astellion.”

  “…Astellion? The northern ti?”

  “Aldrid has informed me of a divinity that sense my presence, and that they reside somewhere within the northern nds. Though, as we do not know their exact location, our first destination will be…”

  The dragonlord trailed off her words, turning her gaze towards the deity of life. Aldrid added on to finish the sentence for her lord.

  “We’ll be heading to see Rozerre first. I do know where the boy is, and he could probably tell us where the other deities in Astellion are.”

  Rozerre. The , deity of emotion, and as Iris k, Aldrid’s only son. It made seo seek him out before meeting the other divinities.

  After nodding towards Aldrid, the enforcer once agaihe dragonlord’s gaze.

  “So Astellion, thehe others ing with you again?”

  Serenis shook her head.

  “For now, only Aldrid will be apanying me. I do pn to inform the others of where I’ll be, but whether they follow or not is their choice.”

  “Ah…”

  A relieved expression dawned on Iris’ face – which didn’t go unnoticed by the dragonlord.

  “And Iris, you especially don’t have to be apanying us; you’ve finally obtaihe life you wished for. Fet about the deities and live your life how you see fit. With the divinity of spao longer present, the city shouldn’t be in any immediate danger.”

  The enforcer lowered her gaze, her head sinking down in shame. Serenis being able to see through her was embarrassing, but the appreciation she felt was far rger.

  “…Thank you, Serenis.”

  It might’ve been odd to thank someone for destroying their immortality. But Iris felt genuine gratitude all the same, and eveer was the sense of relief washing over her. Her shoulders were much lighter than they had been as the deity of mana.

  The dragonlord beamed back a small grin at the relieved enforcer.

  “You’re wele.”

  ? ? ?

  Ahat day, Serenis and Aldrid visited one of the refugee tents outside – the ohat beloo Ilias and Light. As expected, the two were still far from their usual upbeat selves, whily became more evident when Serenis versed with them.

  “…I see. It seems you’re settled on your decision, then.”

  “Sorry, Lord Serenis. I…”

  “It’s nothing to apologize for. I’m gd that you’ve decided to remain.”

  Serenis turned her gaze towards the er of the tent. Light was curled up on a small mattress, hugging her knees while Ilias’ tail ed arouhe half girl’s eyes were red and swollen, and it was all too easy to guess why.

  “I’m sorry, Light.”

  “…It’s okay.”

  Time was barely passing fht; to her, she still felt that she could walk out of this tent and head home, and her parents would be there to wele her back. But whenever she tried to imagine su occasion, their graves would fsh before her eyes to scatter such thoughts away.

  With their little sister so despo, it was only natural that Ilias was eleg to remain at her side. Which robably for the best.

  ‘And from what I’ve heard, Karas will be busy with managing the broken institute…’

  Numerous mages that had gone on an involuntary rampage under Felicir’s will were put under arrest, including the institute’s headmaster; aside from Karas, there were hardly any personnel left to pick up the pieces.

  Of course, Iris was busily running about to prove their innod settle the matter, and said mages will eventually be proven i. Their arrest was a temporary measure in order to prevent any further breakouts while simultaneously firming that they were no longer uhe Reaper’s influence.

  But that didn’t necessarily mean that Gio would return to his previous position.

  Even though they had all been uhe Reaper’s influence, Gio suffered the worst of its sequences. Uhe others, attempts to suppress the archmage failed tless times until Serenis’ arrival; as a result, he’d massacred hundreds of his own colleagues and students, and tless civilians besides.

  It wouldn’t have been odd to see the archmage driven to insanity. Under such circumstances, impriso was the least of Gio’s s.

  ‘I suppose that leaves…Raizel and Patrick.’

  Serenis didn’t have a clue how the two would react to the news of her departure.

  Patrick had avoided his little sibling for the entire week. She couldly tell what was making him avoid her so profusely, but she felt that it was necessary to at least tell her sibling where she was heading.

  As for Raizel…

  ‘…I wonder what she’d do?’

  It didn’t seem like the steel dragon would remain iy; it wasn’t her nature to mih humans, nor did she seem to have grown any fond of this pce. But she wasly the oo follow orders, either – though she did seem strangely ined to listen to her lord.

  ‘I suppose I’ll know in time.’

  Nothing but to talk to them and find out.