**Chapter 2**
**Episode 13: Mountain of Gold and a Quiet Goodbye**
(≈730 words)
Kururu's Inn, Lisante Highway branch.
A modest room lit by a single magic lamp.
The table was buried under a glittering avalanche of gold coins.
I couldn't help it.
The villain laugh just slipped out.
"Kukuku… hahaha… HAHAHAHA!!"
Eighty-nine million lien, minus taxes and sweets bribes, still came out to roughly eighty-one million.
All in cold, hard, clinking cash.
Luna sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes sparkling like a dragon who'd found a bigger hoard.
"W-wow… I've never seen this much money… I can't even count it…!"
Yuri was already lost in her own world, drooling slightly.
"With this much… I can buy the Demon King the cutest dresses… build a secret love nest… hehe… hehehehe…"
I snapped my fingers in front of her face.
"Earth to Yuri. No secret love nests on my budget."
Luna suddenly stood up, fists clenched with determination.
"Lorey! Tomorrow's the final round-robin, right? Let's bet everything again!"
Yuri's eyes lit up like war drums.
"Yes! Infinite money glitch! We'll never have to work again!"
I raised a hand.
"Final day has no betting allowed. House rule. Sorry, gamble's over."
The two deflated like punctured balloons.
I started shovelling coins into separate bags.
My personal take: about ten million lien.
The rest—roughly seventy-one million—went into two fat sacks labelled "Luna & Yuri Sweets & Clothing Eternal Fund."
Luna noticed immediately.
"W-wait, Reiji! That's way more than our share! We only put in 30,000 each!"
I kept packing.
"You two did the betting for me. Without you, the plan fails. Take it."
"But—"
"I don't need that much," I said, sealing the last bag.
"I just want to laze around in peace. Money above a certain amount attracts trouble like flies to honey."
Flashbacks of past lives: mountains of gold → sudden wars → gold mysteriously vanishing → somehow ending up in debt despite never spending it.
No thank you.
Luna looked at the sacks, then at her tattered clothes, then at Yuri's equally ragged outfit.
Her lip trembled.
"Nobody… nobody's ever been this kind to us before…"
Yuri grabbed Luna's shoulders with scary intensity.
"Dress shopping! Tomorrow! The second the stores open! Demon King, you're getting the frilliest, laciest—"
"Stop pulling! You'll rip my only shirt!"
I watched the chaos with a soft smile.
Yeah. Definitely seen this energy before.
Somewhere.
Probably not important.
Yuri suddenly turned to me, solemn.
"Human. When the Demon King rules the world, I'll make sure you get a painless death as thanks."
Luna smacked her on the back of the head.
"Yuri! Reiji is our benefactor! Be polite!"
She bowed deeply to me, eyes shining. "Thank you… really. After your match tomorrow, we're leaving Magikosmaia by carriage. If our paths ever cross again… call me for anything. I'll come running."
I ruffled her hair once.
"Deal. Take care of yourselves."
I tossed the two giant sacks into my Item Box, opened the door, and stepped into the hallway.
Didn't look back.
Luna ran after me anyway, waving from the inn entrance.
"We'll be cheering tomorrow! Win, okay? Win big!"
I raised a hand without turning.
"I'll try not to lose."
The night wind was cool.
The tournament venue's lights glowed in the distance like a second constellation.
Tomorrow: final four-man round-robin.
No more betting.
No more hiding behind flower glasses and fake names.
Just four monsters trying to kill each other on live broadcast.
And after that?
I looked up at the stars.
After that, I disappear.
New name, new hair, new continent.
Maybe I'll finally open that magic-tool repair shop in some nowhere village and nap for the next fifty years.
I walked toward Char's mansion, hands in pockets, ten million lien feeling exactly the right weight.
Behind me, two voices echoed through the quiet street.
"Dresses first, then cake!"
"Un, and maybe a house with a big bed—"
"YURI!!"
I smiled despite myself.
Yeah.
We probably won't meet again.
That's just how life works.
(But if fate's feeling particularly cruel…
I'll at least buy them cake one more time.)