“…White-chan, you’re late…”
“Yeah, that’s true. It’s definitely about time for her to come back.”
Deep underground in Holga Village, there are several large cavities. This place is particularly spacious among them.
It closely resembles the location they designated as their land of resolution, built upon despair and determination during their childhood.
A marble sanctuary adorned with a headless statue of a goddess.
The underground sanctuary, a space that only they found while their king was working in the fields.
“Sc, Scarlet-chan… wh, where are the other knights?”
“They seem to be scattered throughout the Empire, active as a front. Well, they probably have their suspicions. My lord intends to step onto the world stage for real from now on.”
Scarlet and Crow.
In the mansion within the sanctuary, the two knights are leisurely conversing.
A round table.
Scarlet and Crow sit across a massive circular table.
Besides the round table, various pieces of furniture are arranged in the room.
Valuable sculptures made of white dragon stone, landscape paintings by a genius artist currently being marketed in the Empire, and a champion’s trophy sword from the arena.
These treasures and furnishings, collected from across the Empire, were gathered by the cursed daughters.
The occasionally visiting cursed king.
To attract his interest, they flaunt the power and wealth they’ve built in the outside world. Every once in a while, the cursed king shows interest in something other than soil and curses.
The words and interests directed at them are the greatest rewards for the knights.
—You’ve gathered good things; just as expected.
All the knights remember the words directed at them. Therefore, as a result of their heated praise battle, this place has accumulated artworks and treasures that far surpass those of the noble collection of the Empire.
“F-fufu… M-master really is like that. Even now, remembering it sends shivers down my spine… to truly repel the divine punishment of the Seven Great Gods…”
“Ah. In history, there hasn’t been a single strong mage who could repel divine punishment. Indeed, my lord is probably the only king who can oppose the gods in this world… What a worthy master to serve…”
“F-fufu. Scarlet-chan, you seem happy…”
“? What’s wrong, Crow?”
Scarlet asks the now silent Crow.
“White-chan is late…”
“Yeah… I wonder if it was a mistake to decide the direct audience with the king by rock-paper-scissors…”
“Snow… the look in the king’s eyes directed at her… was kinder than I’ve ever seen…”
Crow’s words spill out onto the round table.
“Fuh…”
Scarlet also closes her crimson eyes—
“Guh…”
“Ah, Scarlet-chan! Stay with us!”
“I-I don’t want to… my lord… do you really prefer the reincarnated hero? Ah, you’re a cruel person… not even telling us your origins. Just that alone is enough to tear our hearts apart…”
Scarlet quietly exhales a mist of magical power, sinking onto the table. Crow tends to her.
The two who were supposed to become the knights of the apocalypse are exchanging words as if they were just close friends—
“…I’m back.”
“Ah! W-White-chan! Welcome back! Just in time, Scarlet-chan was getting into some poetic, troublesome mode, and… wait.”
“Ugh, Crow, even though you’re shy, you still say what you need to. As expected of the one who covered the darkness of the imperial capital in just one night…”
With the winter wind, White returns to the sanctuary, greeted by the two knights.
But the warm atmosphere vanishes in an instant.
“…”
Crow and Scarlet silently gaze at White.
“…What’s wrong with you two? Ah, the discussion with Kars is done. It seems your worries were unfounded. Kars doesn’t see Snow as a special existence—”
“Your concerns aren’t ours, right, White-chan?”
“You were just as afraid as we were that my lord’s interest would shift from us to the reincarnated hero, weren’t you? White.”
The emotionless knight of hunger and war speaks to the knight of dominance.
“…Was that the case? Well, it doesn’t matter anymore; he’s the same as always—”
White, in her serious knight mode, spreads out documents on the round table.
“White-chan.”
“White.”
“…What is it? You two.”
“Why do you smell like my master?”
“Ah, it’s strong… I almost mistook it for the scent of my lord himself.”
“…I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
White begins to vanish again, swept away by the winter wind—
“Crow.”
“Yeah, Scarlet-chan—‘Wheat is one coin for one denarius. Barley is three coins for one denarius. Do not waste olive oil and wine.’”
A black balance appears behind Crow.
In that moment, the winter wind surrounding White loses its strength and fades.
“Ugh! Crow, you… you’re using the power of hunger on our comrade…?!”
“Those words don’t come from someone who’s getting all warm and cozy after stealing the master’s favor.”
“Exactly. You, White. Although it was the result of rock-paper-scissors, you weren’t sent toward my lord just to be praised, were you?”
The completely unaffected Crow and the excessively talkative Scarlet.
“Ugh!”
White’s battle begins.
Their affliction, the divine curse born to be weapons that destroy the world, has long—
