Episode 23
“Teresia—!”
I bolted upright, and the first thing that came into view was someone I hadn’t expected at all.
“Ah, so you’re awake.”
“M-Monica… san?”
She stood there, looking down at me, and I blinked at her a few times.
“Um… have you just been standing there this whole time?”
“That I have. So frankly, my legs hurt. Might’ve been smarter to sit down, but there was no telling when you’d wake up, so.”
“I-I see.”
“Well, regardless — good morning first, Yurina.”
“Good morning, to— you—”
For a moment shock left my vision white, but almost immediately I remembered exactly what had happened to me.
“…Monica-san. Where’s Teresia?”
“And what exactly are you planning to do, once you hear the answer to that?”
Hearing that response, I understood at once she wasn’t uninvolved in any of this.
Well, given that she’d apparently come to see me several times even after I’d woken up before, that tracked.
“Before Teresia does something reckless, I’m going to catch up with her and stop her.”
“But wouldn’t that mean disregarding Teresia’s own will in the matter?”
“I’ll say it plainly — respecting someone’s will isn’t necessarily the same thing as cherishing them.”
“Hmm. I can’t really argue with that.”
But — Monica said, wearing an ambiguous smile.
“I do think you should go right away, but there’s no need to rush, either. More importantly, you’d do better to think through how you’re going to persuade her once you catch up, rather than just racing there.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because to her, an ordinary life with you is worth more than anything else.”
Hearing her state it so flatly, I found myself falling silent for a moment.
I hadn’t expected such a straightforward assessment to come from her, of all people.
“So — before rushing off, you should think about how you’re going to stop her. And what comes after that. Actually — are you able to properly control the demon lord’s power right now?”
“That, yes.”
“For us — or rather, for the kingdom — where the demon lord’s power currently resides isn’t especially important. Given that a risk factor exists, I imagine you can understand the logic behind wanting to eliminate it, yes?”
“That, too — yes.”
“If the demon lord’s power can be eliminated, so much the better. Even if it comes at the cost of the saint’s existence. Do you follow?”
“Um — no, wait, yes.”
I still didn’t fully understand why she was being this cooperative with me, but thinking it over, she’d never actually been an obstacle — just off-putting.
And more than anything, right now, I needed to hurry to Teresia.
“Where is she?”
“A little north of here… hmm. I think it’ll be easier for you if I put it this way.”
Monica wore a slightly mischievous expression as she told me:
“The place where you awakened as the demon lord — and where you tried to take your own life with your own sword. That’s where Teresia is, right now, trying to destroy the demon lord’s power together with her own life.”