Episode 152
"...Excuse me."
"What is it?"
"Could you prepare breakfast for me?"
Several months after Frey's trial ended.
"So you want to be treated like a noble after all? Asking for breakfast to be prepared when you never made such requests before."
"...Please."
In accordance with the trial's verdict, Frey, who had been confined to his mansion, sat at the dining table with a haggard expression and ordered breakfast from the person before him.
"Haa..."
It wasn't Kania who used to make delicious sandwiches and warm coffee for Frey, nor a servant who had devoted decades of loyalty living in the Starlight mansion.
"...How troublesome."
It was the female knight assigned by the Imperial Court to monitor Frey, who always looked at him with disgust.
"Well, we won't be seeing each other for much longer... I'll specially prepare it for you."
She, who had been looking at Frey with revulsion as usual today, sighed and moved her feet.
"Before long, the Imperial Court and the Demon King's Army will engage in their final battle. That's why I, a proud knight of the Imperial Court, must also lend my strength."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes, the Hero who has been conserving his power until now is said to be participating in the battle... This time, they'll surely be able to defeat the Demon King."
Saying that, she raised the corner of her mouth with a cold expression and asked a question.
"Ah, is that bad news for you?"
"Huh?"
"You're the Demon King's dog, aren't you?"
The female knight, who had now even dropped honorifics and rebuked Frey, whispered to Frey who was sitting at the table blankly staring at her.
"Despite attempting to kill the Hero, the Empire's and the world's only hope... you're sitting comfortably in this luxurious mansion, wasting food like a parasite."
"...Mm."
"Do you know how many murderous impulses I felt while staying by your side?"
Looking at Frey's expressionless face, the female knight continued speaking.
"It's not just me, all the people of the Empire probably want to kill you. Well, plenty of people have invaded the mansion to kill you, so you must know that well."
The female knight who said that moved her feet with a cold expression.
"Enough, saying things like this to someone like you won't get any reaction. But don't worry, I'll at least prepare your last breakfast."
"...Thank you."
The female knight who was about to leave the room stopped, having clearly heard Frey's words spoken in a low voice.
"Thank you, you say..."
Soon, as Frey checked the items written on paper, she answered in a cold voice.
"...I'm preparing a funeral altar for you."
- BANG!!
With those words, the door was slammed shut violently.
".........."
Frey, who was quietly looking at the closed door, slowly picked up the newspaper placed on the dining table.
[Sunrise Newspaper]
[Is the brilliant sun setting like this?]
[The recent great battle between the Demon King's Army and the Imperial Army has once again ended in defeat for the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army, which has not won a single victory in important battles excluding minor skirmishes, has once again proven its incompetence.]
"Huu."
Frey, who had been reading the grim news written in the newspaper, let out a quiet sigh.
[Meanwhile. For some reason, the Hero has been shutting himself in since the Demon King's Army's invasion began several months ago, and thanks to this, voices from some quarters are saying that the Hero's qualifications should be reconsidered...]
"Finally, the decisive battle."
[In response, the Imperial Court and the Order explained that it was to ensure perfect preparation. In fact, news has spread that the Hero, who has been saving his power until now, will participate in the 'Final Battle' that will take place soon...]
"He was hiding like a rat, and now he finally wants to fight?"
Immediately after Frey's trial ended, Ruby had started a secluded life making various excuses.
Using the fact that he couldn't take out the Hero's sacred artifacts from the mansion's basement until awakening them, from just before he headed to the mansion.
As a result, what Frey, who was being monitored by countless people and magic and couldn't act freely due to system penalties, could do.
Was nothing but waiting in the mansion for the Demon King to start the 'Final Battle' that was scheduled as a main quest.
"...Ha."
Thanks to that, Frey, who was spending the most boring time of his life amidst the fierce and terrible life he had lived without a moment's rest, continued reading the newspaper to relieve his boredom, but.
"To publish something like this."
Discovering that the newspaper's advertisement section was filled with assassination requests for himself, he grabbed his head and muttered.
"Are they not managing it?"
He, who had been blaming the newspaper advertisement manager for a moment, soon smiled hollowly and muttered.
"No, that can't be. It's a message to me in the mansion."
Frey, who had been laughing emptily for a while, soon stiffened his expression in an instant.
- Clang!
"Here, take this."
The female knight who had made breakfast at some point had irritably thrown a plate with food on the dining table.
"...Then, I have some business to attend to."
Seeing Frey still staring blankly at the plate swaying in front of her, the female knight quickly left the dining room as she felt sick just watching him eat.
"......."
And so, Frey, who was left alone in the dining room again.
- Swipe.
Quietly reached out his hand to the food on the plate.
"Sandwich, and... coffee."
Soon, he muttered in a dry voice and picked up the food.
"Rye bread with butter..."
The dish his butler made most often and best, and the dish he liked most when he was young.
Looking blankly at those two dishes, Frey carefully took a bite of the sandwich.
"...Mm."
But the taste he expected didn't come.
Crispy cabbage and salty bacon.
Eggs with remaining warmth and fresh dressing sauce.
And fresh tomatoes.
Instead of those perfect ingredients that Frey liked.
"Munch."
Rotten cabbage and soggy bacon.
Cold and crumbly eggs and watery dressing sauce.
And a sandwich made with wrinkled tomatoes.
It was because it tasted so bad.
"...Bitter."
Frey, who tried a sip of coffee with a small hope, put down the coffee cup with a sigh when he felt a bitter taste instead of the sweet taste he liked.
- Crunch.
With a slightly depressed expression, Frey, who pushed the rye bread with lots of butter into his mouth as a final act.
"Ouch..."
He covered his aching teeth from chewing the rye bread harder than a brick with his hand, and quietly lowered his head.
"Still, I wanted to enjoy some small happiness at the end."
Frey, who had been sitting with his head down after pushing aside the food in front of him for a while, started muttering in a low voice.
"...It was a luxury after all."
"What are you doing?"
Someone approached Frey, who was about to get up after finishing his words.
"Aria."
"Hah."
Frey looked at Aria, who looked just like him and had now shed much of her childishness and matured, and called her name, but.
"You insect bastard."
Aria just responded with an expression of contempt.
"Why are you crawling out to the dining room again? I told you to stay locked in your room, you insect bastard."
"...Sorry."
"Shut up and go back to your room quickly. It makes me want to vomit."
"......."
Aria, who was looking at Frey with an unbearable expression, saw Frey starting to stare at her blankly for some reason.
"...Fuck, seriously."
She spat out curses filled with disgust and left the dining room.
- BOOM!! RUMBLE!!!
"...Eek."
Frey, who was looking at her blankly, started to open his eyes wide as the mansion suddenly began to shake.
[Main Quest: Final Battle]
[The Final Battle has begun!]
[Defeat the Demon King within 24 hours from now!]
"Finally."
The message he had been waiting for so earnestly over the past few months finally appeared before his eyes.
"The end is approaching."
Frey, who jumped up from his seat the moment he saw that message.
"The time to end everything has finally come."
Urgently, he started running somewhere.
"Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally."
After months of depressing life, with a faint smile for the first time.
But unlike that expression, with a trembling voice repeating words from his mouth.
Frey kept moving forward, and forward again.
"...Magic circle."
The place he arrived at, moving passionately for the first time in a long while, was the entrance to the Starlight mansion's basement.
"Now, it won't be needed."
Frey, looking at the quite powerful barrier that the previous heads of the Starlight ducal family had continuously strengthened in case of intruders.
- SLASH!!!
He slashed the barrier greatly with the sword at his waist.
"...Huu."
Frey, who pushed away the quite large dust cloud that rose as a result by waving his hand a few times, took a deep breath and entered the basement.
"Hup...!"
And from that point, he concentrated all his strength and began to emit star mana from his body.
- Fizz...
In the basement, known to be full of sex slaves.
Thanks to which not only the servants but even his younger sister Aria approached with expressions of disgust.
But in reality, the basement was just full of wine barrels and old cheese, and silver barriers began to appear densely.
- You who seek to awaken the sleeping sacred artifacts.
Frey, who was watching that sight indifferently, tilted his head at the voice starting to come from the basement.
- You, for what purpose do you seek to take out these sacred artifacts?
When the voice asked a question, Frey answered without a moment's hesitation.
"...For rest."
And, silence flowed in the basement for a moment.
- It is the truth. You may take the sacred artifacts.
After quite a long time, when the voice that gave an answer finished speaking, sparkling sacred artifacts started to pop out from the magic circle engraved in the center of the basement.
Sparkling Star Sword, armor, helmet, wrist guards.
And other miscellaneous things were neatly placed in the center of the basement, and Frey, who discovered this.
"Heave-ho."
Slowly, he began to put them on.
- Slither...
Frey, who continued to equip the Hero's sacred artifacts that wrapped around him automatically as soon as they touched his body.
"Let's go."
Muttering that, he came out of the basement.
"Frey-nim! Have you been well during this time!"
But the moment he came out of the basement, someone entered Frey's view.
"...Demirkan."
"Yes, it's me. Your loyal confidant, Demirkan."
He was Demirkan, the former second-in-command of the Demon King's Army, who called himself Frey's confidant.
"As you've probably already noticed, we're just about to launch a full-scale attack. Or perhaps it has already started."
"...Is that so?"
"Yes, at that historic moment of conquering the Imperial Court... wouldn't you lead our army, Frey-nim? So, if you follow me now..."
Frey, who maintained a soulless expression even at Demirkan's sudden visit.
"But, what are you holding in both hands right now?"
He asked a question, looking at the limp Iria and the female knight held in Demirkan's two hands.
"Ah, you mean these."
Then, Demirkan answered as if it was nothing.
"They attacked me when I came to the mansion, so I subdued them."
"Frey...! You son of a bitch...! Finally, finally!! You were really part of the Demon King's Army...!!"
"...I should have killed you without holding back."
Demirkan, who looked coldly at Aria reacting violently to those words and the female knight muttering with a frustrated expression.
"Since Aria-ssi is Frey-nim's younger sister, I'll spare her life. But, this weak knight... doesn't seem to need to be kept alive."
Saying that in a cold voice, he reached out to the female knight.
"Glory to... the Imperial family."
The female knight, who sensed the end upon seeing that, closed her eyes tightly and muttered, but.
"Oh right, by the way, where did you get that armor..."
Demirkan's words, which were asking a question while reaching out to her, suddenly stopped.
And after quite a long time, the end didn't come.
- Rolling...
"Huh?"
The female knight, who opened her eyes slightly with a puzzled expression at that fact, started to make a blank expression seeing Demirkan's head rolling on the floor.
"O, oppa?"
"...Mm!"
Then, she finally discovered Frey, who was emitting intense killing intent in front of her.
"Eek... eeeek..."
Looking at him, who was emitting such a vicious aura that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he walked out of hell.
"P, please... save... me?"
Without realizing it, she begged for her life.
- Shing.
"Ah, ugh. Ugh?"
But looking at her, Frey drew his sword.
"P, please... please I beg..."
And, aiming his sword at her, who was already begging with her hands together and in panic.
"...Hic."
He raised his sword powerfully and brought it down.
- Thud.
"O, oppa?"
Not with the front edge, but with the blunt edge.
".....Aria."
Thanks to that, Frey, who calmly looked at the female knight who fainted and collapsed.
"O, oppa? Just now, did you... save us? But, why..."
Says to Aria, who was asking questions urgently with a dazed expression.
"Sleep here for a moment."
- Flash!!
"...Ah."
Frey, who even knocked out Aria, his younger sister and one of the people he must protect.
"Calm down, I need to calm down..."
He held his hand that was trembling every time he saw the female knight.
"You endured well. You endured well, Frey. In the decisive battle too, you just need to do this to the other heroines."
He muttered with a painful expression.
"...Having come this far, I can't have a retry due to a minor mistake."
Frey, who finished those words, left the mansion with a calm expression and began to head to the Final Battle to end his long and long ill-fated connection with the Demon King.
For some reason, the sunlight of that day was particularly weak.
.
Meanwhile at that time.
"What is... that sound right now?"
"Excuse me?"
"Re, retry? What do you mean retry?"
Irina, who had been watching Frey heading to the Final Battle with the transparent Frey and the main heroines.
"Why is... why is that Frey saying that?"
Asked a question to Pereluche, who had a cold expression.
"Retry? What is that?"
"...Retry? That's the first time I've heard that word."
"......?"
Frey and the main heroines who heard that question started to have puzzled expressions.
"Of course he had to say it."
Pereluche, who had been guiding everyone, glancing at them.
"The 'retry' ability I have..."
Said while looking at Frey, who had become transparent, tilting his head.
"...was originally Frey's unique ability."