“Flop.”
Reinhild, who had been in Xion’s arms, turned to the side and lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling.
He spread his arms as far as he could, which ended up taking over the entire narrow bed, but it was no problem for Xion.
If Reinhild turned over, all he had to do was pull him in and hold him.
Xion wrapped an arm around Reinhild’s waist and drew him straight toward himself.
Reinhild let himself be gently tugged as Xion pulled and once more nestled neatly into his arms.
The only difference from their posture a moment ago was that the thing right in front of Xion’s nose was no longer Reinhild’s forehead or lips but his cheek.
Xion planted little pecks on Reinhild’s cheek, which had flushed red from the earlier kiss.
“Take it easy.”
“Just a little more.”
“Is that ‘little’ about two months?”
“If you would permit me to keep Rein in my arms for two months, would that be acceptable.”
If he allowed that, would Xion not leave Root.
Slightly tempted, Reinhild shifted his body and hooked a leg over Xion’s.
It looked like he wanted to make as if to hold Xion so he could not go anywhere else, but he ended up simply clinging to Xion.
“If you reseal me, you said you would die. What made you think of something like that.”
“Did you hear that from Ainel.”
Who was Ainel again? From the context, it seemed to mean the mage with dragon’s blood.
Reinhild nodded.
“I would like you not to do things like risking your life for my sake without me knowing. If this time too you were to die where I could not see you…”
Reinhild could not continue and bit his lip hard.
He had never imagined even in his mind that Xion would die.
Even back five hundred years ago when he went around declaring that he would kill the Hero with his own hands, even when he and Xion became enemies and crossed blades. Even in the very moment he collapsed, pierced by Xion’s sword, he had never once thought of Xion dying.
When he thought “Xion dies,” an unpleasant feeling rose up like something was blocking and squeezing his heart tight.
“That will not happen.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
As the furrow in Reinhild’s brow slowly smoothed out, Xion placed a brief kiss on that spot and explained.
“Before resealing you, I planned to obtain divinity by the same method. If I were to meet death after becoming a god, my body in human form might die, but my existence itself would not be annihilated.”
“I see!”
Of course, there was no proof that this method would work, so it was ultimately a gamble, and at that time Xion would have been in no state to make a proper judgment after having Reinhild torn from his arms, but he omitted that explanation.
Not knowing that far, Reinhild completely relaxed the tension in his body and leaned on Xion.
Xion might be away for a while, but he would return safely to his side.
Because he had promised.
“What happened to the humans who were in the village?”
“They all moved somewhere else.”
“I see.”
“Are you concerned about other people?”
“Of course.”
For such words to come from Reinhild’s mouth, that he was concerned about someone other than himself.
Before Xion could be deeply shocked, Reinhild spoke with a calm face.
“I heard humans are a species that lives in groups, so I worried that Xion might be lonely by himself because of me.”
“… If Rein is by my side, I am not lonely.”
To think that he was startled by the villagers being gone purely because he was worrying about Xion.
Xion found Reinhild so lovable that he felt like if he struck the ground with his fist bearing this feeling, he might split the world in half.
But since he could not break the world that Reinhild needed to live and breathe, he instead brought Reinhild’s hand to his lips and gently nibbled his fingers.
Reinhild knew well that he could not pull his hand free even if he tried.
So he let Xion do as he pleased.
“Are the humans all doing well?”
“…”
Xion could not answer.
He cared about them even less than Reinhild did, so he had never even thought to check whether they were doing well.
In place of answering a question he could not answer, Xion turned his head and kissed Reinhild.
If he did this, Reinhild would not bring up the humans anymore either.
Xion himself had no interest at all, but the former residents of Root Village were living better than one might think.
To remove the residents from the village quickly and easily, Xion contacted the Count of Audrit.
Receiving the order to relocate all the residents of Root Village elsewhere, the Count of Audrit, under the illusion that they were being treated, not disposed of, entertained them with the greatest courtesy.
For those who wanted to keep working the fields he provided houses and fields in other villages, and for those who wanted to live in the city he provided homes and jobs.
So eager was the Count of Audrit to win Xion’s favor that he even tracked down Rebecca and her family, who had moved to another distant city, and helped them settle there even more comfortably.
Their lives changed in an unexpectedly very good direction.
Having spent enormous sums of money and time to do all this, the Count of Audrit waited only for Xion to come and praise him.
Regrettably, Xion would only learn of this far in the future.
❖ ❖ ❖
After that, the two of them made good use of the remaining week.
They ate garlic bread made by spreading butter and finely minced garlic on a bagel that had pieces of blueberry in it and baking it in the oven, while gazing out the window.
They made a snow owlbear together and wandered over the frozen lake testing whether the ice was thick enough to bear the Demon King’s weight.
When they went for walks in the forest together with Xion, owlbears fled making cries Reinhild had never even heard in the Demon King’s castle.
At such times, it felt like they were spending cozy time in the Demon King’s castle five hundred years ago, when there had been no need for Xion to wait alone in solitude, and it put him in a good mood.
By the time a snow demon king and a snow human had each been newly made alongside the clumsily constructed snow owlbear, it was time for Xion to leave.
“Please eat in order from what is on the table to what is in the pantry.”
“Okay.”
“If there is any food that seems spoiled, you must throw it out immediately.”
“Got it.”
“If a stranger comes, lock the door of the house and hide in the basement. You must take the Hero’s Sword.”
“Alright.”
“Even if your demonic energy has subsided a great deal, you must not grasp the Hero’s Sword with bare hands. In preparation for that I have set aside gloves made of dragon leather. You must wear the gloves when you lift the sword.”
“Understood.”
Xion looked at Reinhild with a face mixed with reluctance and worry.
The more it was like this, the harder it would be to take a step, and yet it was hard to turn away.
He wanted to take in Reinhild’s face a little more.
Xion slowly lifted his right hand and cradled Reinhild’s face.
His thumb stroked the snow-white cheek, and the other four fingers brushed the nape.
Only a short while ago, when he did that, Reinhild’s hair had been so long it reached his fingers, but now it was neatly trimmed, and he felt the soft bare skin.
“Xion…”
Reinhild felt just the same reluctance.
They needed to make up for the five hundred years he had left Xion to wait alone, and the recent time when he had shown only wariness while having lost his memory, but now he had to send Xion off so soon.
With regret, Reinhild let out a deep sigh and looked down at the bare ground.
“Rein. Please show me your face.”
At those words, Reinhild slowly lifted his head.
When Xion’s expression came clearly into view, Reinhild suddenly stood on tiptoe and thrust his face forward.
Then he kissed Xion.
Smack.
Rather than a sweet peck, it was closer to simply pressing himself forward, but that alone made Xion feel as if his breath had been cut off.
Because Reinhild was so lovable.
Before Reinhild could lower the heels he had raised, Xion swept him into a tight embrace.
“Is it a success!”
Reinhild’s eyes sparkled.
If he did this, he felt like Xion would change his mind and stay by his side.
As always.
“I will return soon.”
But Xion quickly let Reinhild go and offered a farewell.
So this time there truly was no way to hold Xion back.
He felt aggrieved, but when he thought that everything was for his sake, his heart heaved.
Xion placed a crystal orb in Reinhild’s hand.
“A communication crystal.”
“Even without infusing magic power, the crystal will respond the moment Rein touches it.”
“Is that magic also something the dragon-human set.”
“Yes. I will contact you every day, Rein.”
Reinhild carefully held the crystal as something precious.
“In the unlikely event that you cannot reach me… you must take the Hero’s Sword and hide in the basement.”
“Could there be a time when you cannot be reached?”
“Because there is always such a thing as one in ten thousand.”
Xion kissed Reinhild’s forehead as if to soothe him and drew him into an embrace.
Clutching the crystal tightly, Reinhild leaned into Xion’s arms.
“If you endure there just a little, I will surely come running.”
“I do not like being shut in.”
“If you enter the basement while holding the Hero’s Sword, I have set a magic circle so that you will move to another, larger place. I would never make Rein feel stifled.”
A lie.
Reinhild felt stifled in this very moment speaking with Xion.
It felt like something was pressing firmly on his heart, and he wanted to say something, but he did not even know what it was.
He did not know what he should do, so even now he felt only frustrated, and the problem was that he did not entirely dislike that kind of frustration.
“Then, I will be off.”
“I will wait.”
With that farewell, Xion left Root.
Standing in front of the house, Reinhild gazed endlessly at Xion’s back as it receded into the distance.
It felt as if the day was especially colder.
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