"Looks like Liya won’t be coming back tonight."

After eating and drinking his fill, Muen—thinking that at last he could give his kidneys a break—came out into the courtyard to look at the stars.

It was early autumn now. The moon was bright, the stars sparse, and beneath the gauzy veil of thin clouds, the sky looked lofty and tranquil. A peaceful atmosphere settled over all of moonlit Belrand.

"So quiet..."

He said he was looking at the stars, but Muen’s gaze could not help drifting toward scenery even lovelier.

At his side, An was clearing away the dishes and leaving, while Ariel sat on the corridor railing, her little white-jade feet swinging back and forth. Those steamed-bun-like toes curled and relaxed, more enticing than anything a top chef could plate.

It seemed these past few days of effort had clearly paid off. Even with Liya temporarily gone, the triangle having lost its stability, it looked like the ducal estate would at least avoid erupting into a major war over the life and death of Father’s treasured collection for the time being.

And speaking of major wars...

"I’ve relaxed for so many days. Time to exercise a little. Staying sunk in a bed of tenderness all the time isn’t my style."

Everything required a balance between work and rest.

After working so hard in bed for so long, it was about time he found an opponent to fight and unwind with.

So Muen stretched lazily, pulled his mind away from that specially displayed gourmet spread for the moment, and closed his eyes.

After such a long time...

"Black Book."

Rustle.

The sound of pages turning rang out, and when Muen opened his eyes again, he had arrived somewhere familiar.

The vegetation was lush and green, the temperature pleasantly mild, and the giant magestone, after a thousand years, still gave off a warm and steady radiance.

Within that ancient ecosystem were many rare plants whose names Muen could not even begin to guess, as if he had stepped into a primeval forest untouched by human feet for ages. But when his gaze passed through the dense branches and leaves and caught sight of the heavy transparent wall outside, he could also feel a strange style of fusion that transcended time itself.

The botanical garden.

If there had been a turning point in that adventure story beneath Gutongs Castle, then for Muen, that turning point was undoubtedly this botanical garden inside what had then still been the tower-form Godslaying Mechanism · Kalodis’s Spear.

Not only a turning point between life and death.

Also a turning point in the relationship between a boy and a girl.

"So, if that’s the case, then getting this story this far means you deserve a lot of credit too."

Muen looked up.

Not far away, a tall demonfolk warrior stood armored, spear in hand.

The crimson glow seeping from behind the faceplate was eerie and sinister. Even knowing it was fake, the terrifying aura was still enough to shake the soul.

The First Demon General, Zagu.

This powerful enemy who had driven Muen and Ariel into desperate straits again and again now appeared before Muen once more through the Black Book’s recorded recreation.

The pressure was exactly as overwhelming as ever.

And this time, there would be no help from Ariel. Only Muen alone, drawing his twin blades.

"In that case..."

A faint curve tugged at his lips.

"I’ll reward you with a truly satisfying fight."

...

...

Ariel swung her little feet as she admired the moon reflected in a puddle in the courtyard.

Of course, she would absolutely never admit that what she was really doing was sneaking glances at Muen’s profile in that puddle, almost side by side with the moon.

"He fell asleep?"

But she had not been peeking for long before she noticed the reflection of Muen in the water close his eyes, looking like he had already drifted into a deep sleep.

"So he’s already been squeezed dry? Pathetic."

Ariel mocked him viciously.

But the moment she thought of how much more pathetic she herself had been before, she immediately could not laugh anymore.

To repeat: she was not weak. Compared to Liya and maid An, she was only lacking a tiny little bit of experience, that was all.

But experience was the kind of thing that could be made up for through effort. She was still in the process of learning and growing. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—never mock a poor young girl. The day she took back the initiative and ended up on top again, she would definitely...

"Wait. Talking about studying hard and making effort for this kind of thing somehow feels weird..."

Ariel frowned.

Being this proactive really made it sound as if she were some kind of little—

"No, no, I’m not!"

Ariel shook her head with absolute firmness.

She had only been slightly influenced by the other two juice-squeezing shameless sluts on the bed, that was all. She was not lewd!

"Anyway, enough thinking about things that hurt my morale. Since I’m free now, I’ll go cultivate and improve myself!"

Ariel took a deep breath.

Without even planning it, she and Muen had thought of the same thing.

...

...

"Oh? After all this time, you finally remembered that I’m your teacher?"

In Ariel’s room, a hazy figure swayed into view. The mature beauty with the graceful figure folded her arms across her chest and looked at her disciple, whom she had not seen for several days and whose little face had clearly grown much rosier and more dewy. Smiling but not smiling, she said,

"Sure enough, having a man really does make a difference. The moment you turn around, you forget your own teacher completely. Sigh. So many years of teacher-student affection, and in the end it still can’t compare to some stinking man you’ve only been with for a few days."

"I-it’s not like that."

Ariel’s cheeks reddened slightly, and her small hands caught at the hem of her skirt.

"..."

Peles suddenly froze.

"W-what is it?"

Seeing her teacher stare at her without speaking, Ariel unconsciously touched her own face.

"Is there something wrong with me right now?" 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"...No."

Peles suddenly smiled and reached out to rub Ariel’s head.

"There’s nothing wrong at all. This is good. The change is so big I almost can’t recognize you, but this kind of thing is good in the end."

"Huh?"

"Honestly, before this I was worried you were too stubborn and might walk yourself into some dead end. But now, it looks like that probably won’t happen."

Peles said it with clear relief.

"And even if it really did happen, I think there would still be someone capable of dragging you back."

"What do you mean?"

Ariel only looked more and more bewildered.

But Peles had no intention of explaining.

In her eyes, some things were no longer worth saying if they were not going to happen anyway. Still, she had to admit that this love story, which had come on so suddenly, had in some ways filled in one of Ariel’s weaknesses.

Originally, she had thought the one who would solve that weakness would be a certain beautiful girl Ariel had spent so long dreaming about. Who would have guessed that after going all the way around in a circle, it would not be the beautiful girl she had been calling after for more than ten years, but instead a certain yellow-haired bastard she had once hated most?

If the Ariel of one year ago had known this future, what kind of reaction would she have had?

Probably she would have sneered in contempt, shouted something like my fate is mine and not for others to decide, then rushed over and hacked the yellow-haired bastard to pieces.

"All right, all right. There’s no point wasting time on something this meaningless."

Peles stood up and looked seriously at Ariel.

"You’re not going to become so immersed in all that tenderness that you forget to keep moving forward now, are you?"

"As if!"

Ariel let out a cold snort.

"Do I look like the kind of person who’d give up climbing the peak just because of a little love and romance?"

In a certain sense, because the emptiness in her heart had been filled, Ariel no longer had quite as desperate a reason to keep charging forward as before.

But that still did not mean she could stop.

Because over these ten years, no matter what reason had made her take that first step in the beginning, after walking this far, the things that once pushed her onward had long since been carved into her soul like instinct itself.

She had indeed changed.

But she was still Ariel Bugaard.

"I’m going to keep training until that damn yellow-haired bastard can do nothing but eat my dust from behind!" Ariel said smugly, clenching a fist.

"Very good."

Peles smiled and gave a casual wave. A sheet of paper on the table, the ink on it not even fully dry yet, flew into Ariel’s hands on its own.

"That’s my disciple... here. I’ve already written up the thing you wanted."

"This is..."

"The materials for your ninth body tempering."

"The materials..."

Ariel’s gaze sharpened.

She cultivated both magic and martial ability. Her progress in both advanced side by side, and she would not slack off in either. So aside from the accumulation and advancement of her magic, the most important thing for her was the tempering of her physical body.

As for that, Peles, as an excellent teacher, had naturally designed a custom regimen specifically for her. And the crucial points in that regimen were the repeated refinements of her body using large quantities of rare medicinal materials.

The fact that Ariel had previously been able to take one of Zagu’s spear strikes head-on, then fall from a tower a thousand meters high and still end up lively and kicking afterward—aside from her chest being flattened a little—owed a great deal to this tempering method.

"These are expensive all over again..."

But after only a quick glance over the list, Ariel’s little face wrinkled immediately.

The downside of outstanding results was that all kinds of medicinal ingredients in it were incredibly rare. And the stronger she became, the more outrageously expensive the later stages got.

A rough estimate of the things on this list...

There went that half-year in the Abyss for nothing.

"No. Expensive isn’t the materials’ flaw. It’s mine."

Ariel sighed.

"Good thing I managed to save up a little, or this time I’d be scratching my head and eating black bread again."

She grabbed the list and headed out.

"Wait here, Teacher. I’ll be right back."

It was already very late at night, but that was perfect. Many of the things on the list were easiest to obtain precisely in places that never saw the light.

She had done this sort of thing many times already. By now Ariel was thoroughly familiar with it.

"All right."

Peles responded, but did not go with Ariel. Instead, she stayed behind to make some preparations first. By her estimation, Ariel would probably not be back until after dawn, and even then she might not manage to gather everything on the list. A few of those ingredients were so rare that the two of them might have to go to some special region and face some dangerous, unforeseen—

Creak—

Peles was still thinking, still guessing whether this round’s danger would come from some terrifying magical beast lurking where the herbs grew, or from some mysterious expert who had their eye on the same thing...

She had not even finished listing a third possibility before Ariel pushed the door open and came back.

"What happened?"

Peles asked in confusion.

"Did you forget something? That doesn’t seem like you."

"N-no."

Ariel still looked completely dazed.

Then she flicked a finger. A glow flashed from her storage artifact, and a huge pile of things suddenly appeared in the room.

A dense blend of plant scents mingled together into a bizarre smell.

Peles, being a soul, could not actually smell any of it, but her eyes still widened slightly, because what Ariel had taken out was clearly the very batch of materials she had gone to collect.

Not a single one missing.

Including the rarest several.

"What? Where did this all come from?"

Even Peles blanked out for a moment. Having long ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) been used to Ariel’s going through twists and turns and exhausting herself gathering materials, this was the first time she had ever seen everything fully assembled so fast.

It felt like a dream. If she still had a physical body, she might have actually pinched her own thigh.

"I ran into one of the ducal estate maids when I went out," Ariel began.

"And then?"

"The maid asked where I was going, and I told her the truth. There wasn’t any reason to hide it."

"And then?"

"And then..."

Ariel pointed at the pile of materials.

"The maid took me to the ducal estate’s treasury and got all these materials ready for me. She said Muen had left instructions that if I needed anything, I should just take it."

"..."

Peles looked at Ariel, then at the expensive materials on the floor. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said,

"Ariel, honestly, why don’t you hurry up and figure out a way to make that brat marry you, then kick those gaudy sluts to the curb? Feels like that alone would save you at least twenty years of effort."

"...Wh-what?"

Ariel froze, then flared up in embarrassed anger.

"Teacher, how can you have so little backbone? I’m Ariel Bugaard. How could I possibly be won over by something this—"

"So are you using them?" Peles asked gloomily. "These materials."

"..."

Ariel thought for a long time, then ground her teeth hard.

"I am!"