Inside the Gaderia Lord's Manor office, sunlight refracted through the window and fell squarely onto Aaron's head, turning it into something of a natural spotlight in the middle of the day.
Coffee cup in hand, he watched with mild amusement as Yuna sat hunched over the desk, a look of total despair on her face.
"Ugh..."
Yuna stared at the mountain of documents before her. Annotations and regulations swam before her eyes in a dizzying blur. She had been frozen in place for a good while now, and her pen had not moved a single stroke.
"I give up. Magic suits me a lot better."
Snapping the pen cap shut, Yuna surrendered completely.
"Is that so? What a shame."
Aaron shook his head, not pressing the matter. He had been thinking of grooming Yuna as Gaderia's successor, but the girl was truly hopeless when it came to administration — utterly incapable of making decisive calls.
"Heh. Well, fair enough. Even a magical genius isn't good at everything. Leave it to me."
The two swapped seats.
Aaron cast a brief glance over the documents and picked up the pen, writing without hesitation.
"You seem somewhat rushed today," Yuna observed.
Over the past few days, Aaron had been calling Yuna in to participate in the day-to-day work of the manor, teaching her the ins and outs of managing a territory. Unfortunately, Yuna had yet to grasp the essence of any of it.
Hearing her question, Aaron continued to write as he paused to think for a moment.
"A little, yes. Gaderia is running well enough under my management right now. These years have seen improvements in the quality of life for the people, territorial expansion, trade expansion, agricultural planning, tax revenue — Gaderia is now approaching the standard of the top-tier cities in the Northern Lands."
"And that, ironically, is exactly what worries me more and more. The Empire has been far too quiet these past few years. If they choose to start a war right now, everything we've built could come to nothing."
Yuna frowned slightly at that.
"But we have Lady Nanoda and our Demon companions on our side. And every person in Gaderia can take up arms — our military strength isn't lacking. Surely we wouldn't lose to them?"
"You're thinking about it too simply. Even in the age when the Demon King still lived, the Northern Empire managed to survive completely surrounded by the Demon Race, and even launched successful counterattacks afterward to reclaim territory. That kind of strength is very much the real deal. And moreover..."
Aaron paused, then continued.
"Moreover, I think it's time to cultivate a successor. If anything unexpected happens, someone needs to carry on Gaderia's freedom."
A faint melancholy colored Aaron's words. Ever since the assassination attempt by Duke Wolf, this thought had been sitting in the back of his mind. He was pushing forty now — still in his prime, technically speaking.
But what about another twenty or thirty years from now? By then, he might well have one foot in the grave.
"Have you never considered getting married and having children?" Yuna asked, doing her best to follow along as Aaron marked up the documents — a speed and decisiveness she couldn't come close to matching.
"I'm a bald old uncle. Honestly, I don't have much appetite for that these days. You, on the other hand, young lady — is there anyone you've taken a fancy to? Just say the word and I'll send people to carry him off for you."
Aaron's melancholy evaporated in an instant, replaced by a grin and something altogether more roguish.
Yuna's cheeks flushed faintly red before her expression shifted to indignation, cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
"What on earth are you talking about?!"
"Ahhh, I really just want grandchildren~"
Aaron's clowning around earned him a solid punch to the top of his bald head from Yuna.
"Hiss... you little brat. Just like your father — no sense of humor."
Yuna had been about to wind up and hit him again when her raised arm suddenly froze mid-air. The irritated furrow in her brow smoothed out, and she bolted out of the room at a sprint, leaving behind only a single breathless declaration.
"She's back!"
"Hey — that girl..."
Aaron reached up to rub the slightly reddened top of his head. By then, there was no trace of Yuna left in the room.
---
The coachman brought the carriage to a stop and raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat from his temple. Two years of ferrying these two Demons back and forth across the country — when he got back, he was absolutely going to have Aaron reimburse his expenses, and then take a long, glorious holiday.
The first thing Nanoda saw when she stepped off the carriage was her own bronze statue.
No matter how many times she looked at it, she found the thing mortifying. It had been there long enough that a few bright green vines had pushed up through the earth and climbed the base of the pedestal. In front of it sat what amounted to an offering — a spread of fruit and bundles of flowers.
A handful of children had been sneaking fruit from the display. They looked at Nanoda, then looked at the statue, then seemed to collectively decide they were very frightened indeed — and bolted, taking a couple of extra pieces of fruit with them on the way out.
Dark lines appeared on Nanoda's forehead.
"Finally home. I think this is the first time I've ever felt this tired."
Nanoda made no move to stop Aura, who had already walked off in the opposite direction without a word. Aura had been working against her own will for a long time during this tour — it was well past time she was allowed a proper rest.
Nanoda walked the rest of the way to the Lord's Manor on her own.
Two years away, and the manor looked more or less unchanged.
"Lady Nanoda!"
Arms wrapped around a bright red staff, the girl swung her two green braids and came rushing over. She wore a loose, short floral dress in muted sage-green, black over-the-knee cloth stockings, and breathable all-black sandals — sweet in style, but with a capable edge to her.
Thump.
Nanoda opened her arms and let Yuna pull her into a hug.
Since Yuna had grown a little taller again, Nanoda barely reached the height of her collarbone. Her head went straight into the soft, cushioned valley beneath the floral dress.
At first, it was like sinking into a cotton pillow — plush and perfectly comfortable. But almost immediately, Nanoda realized she was having serious difficulty breathing.
"I missed you so, so much."
Yuna stroked the white hair, entirely oblivious to the fact that Nanoda was on the verge of suffocation.
"Mmph."
Nanoda had no choice but to plant both hands against Yuna and push her away. She finally managed to inhale a proper breath of air.
She looked at the gap between them — the chasm she would never, in any lifetime, be able to close.
"You've grown quite a bit, Yuna. I mean that in... every sense of the word."
"Hehe."
Yuna gave a slightly bashful smile and twirled one of her braids around her finger.
"Do you remember our promise from before?"
"Hmm... a promise? What was it again?"
At Nanoda's response, the bright joy on Yuna's face deflated all at once.
"I'm kidding. In a few days, let's go on an adventure together."
Nanoda rose up on her tiptoes and patted Yuna on the head.
Yuna answered with a brilliant, radiant smile.
---
After chatting with Aaron and Yuna for a while, Nanoda went to check in on Jane, Linie, Lugner, and the other Demons.
In Nanoda's absence, Lugner — as president of the Mutually Loving New Demon Association — had managed the Demon Special Zone admirably well. Things had run smoothly without her, without a single problem. For the most part, the Demons were a remarkably self-disciplined lot.
A few days later, true to her word, Nanoda set out on the road with Yuna.
Aaron's parting words to them were simple.
"Go without worry. Gaderia has me."
And so, an aimless two-person journey began.
____
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