Epilogue

“Tch, so she still hasn’t been found…?”

The room—once Woody’s, one of the largest chambers in the ducal residence.

Now it belonged to Ashid, who had risen to the status of heir apparent as the legitimate successor.

Clicking his tongue and looking thoroughly ill-tempered, he glared at the piles of documents spread across the desk.

As a concubine’s son who had never been educated to become a lord, Ashid was now in the midst of a crash course.

Days filled with study and training had left Ashid exhausted.

Even so, there should have been a reason worth enduring those harsh days… or so he had believed.

Because the beautiful fiancée he had always wanted—the one meant to soothe him—should have been by his side.

“Where the hell are you… Nadjaaa!”

He slammed the desk with all his might.

The ink bottle jumped, spilled its contents, and rolled across the floor.

Ashid hated Woody’s guts.

Despite the world being in chaos, Woody only ever spouted soft-headed idealism.

He hated fighting and kept his mouth shut no matter what anyone did to him—a coward.

There were countless things to dislike… but what irked Ashid most was that the bride of that weakling Woody was the peerless beauty, Nadja.

Ashid had fallen in love with Nadja at first sight when they met before.

So the moment he received his aptitude, he rejoiced.

—Now he could steal her from Woody.

It wouldn’t be that slowpoke marrying Nadja, but him—Ashid.

And yet, look at how it turned out.

Sure, banishing Woody had felt refreshing, but Ashid himself had no time to even breathe between daily lessons and training.

And the thing he wanted most among Woody’s possessions—Nadja—had vanished.

“On top of that, no matter how many inquiries we make in the nearby towns, there isn’t a single sighting…”

Ashid even mobilized his private soldiers, scouring for reports of Nadja.

Relying on hair color, eye color, and height, they searched a wide area for anyone who might be her.

Even so, there was no trace of her whereabouts at all.

It had gotten to the point that he was hearing ridiculous nonsense like she escaped by flying through the sky with a bird.

It made him almost suspect the Tristan family had helped her flee—but there wasn’t a single real trace left behind.

Yet he couldn’t believe the Tristans would deliberately break with House Conrad—an enemy that would inflict a painful blow if war broke out.

“…”

Ashid silently opened the desk drawer.

Inside lay a single letter, its cover marked “Letter of Severance.”

The paper, sent from the Tristan family, had apparently been left in Nadja’s room.

“I will not marry someone I do not love. If you force such a thing on me, I will leave this house of my own accord.”

Summed up, that was the content of the letter.

Ashid didn’t dislike strong-willed women.

The more trouble it took to obtain something, the greater the sense of achievement when it was finally in his grasp.

“I don’t hate feisty women. I’ll find you no matter what… and make you submit to me. I’ll put a chain on your neck and keep you, kukuku…”

Wearing a dark smile, he snapped his fingers.

In an instant, flames roared up and turned the worthless “sighting reports” on the desk into black cinders.

“Hey, you lot—don’t slack off!”

““Y-yes, sir!!””

After yelling at the soldiers who still hadn’t found Nadja, Ashid sat back down in the leather chair with a sullen look.

—He never even considered it.

That the absurd report of a mysterious beauty and a bird flying through the sky might actually be true.

That Nadja had left, chased the man she loved, and headed for the desert.

“Woody, you’ve disappointed me. —Ashid, to the holy altar.”

No… that’s not it, Father!

It’s true my aptitude wasn’t “Great Magus,” but, but—!

“—Hah!”

I jerked upright as I woke.

I was drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Looked like I’d had a nightmare.

…Even now, I sometimes dreamed of that day.

I might not consciously realize it, but I think it left that deep a trauma in me.

“Mm, you’re awake?”

When I opened my eyes, Nadja was in front of me.

She squeezed my hand tightly.

I was definitely sweating buckets.

I couldn’t help worrying she’d find it gross.

“What are you saying? As if Woody’s sweat could be disgusting. I’d sooner lick it clean.”

“Uh, that’s a bit too pervy, don’t you think…? Oh—speaking of which, where’s Aira?”

“It seems some problem arose; she’s gone to deal with it.”

For the record, I still slept together with Aira and Nadja—the three of us.

We’d been allowed to use vacant houses in the village, so we had enough space for one house each… but for some reason, both Aira and Nadja insisted on staying at my place.

So I at least tried to separate the beds, but it seemed that, as on other nights, my resistance had been futile and I ended up sleeping sandwiched between them.

I didn’t have the strength to force those two to do as I said, so I could only keep quiet and accept everything.

In this world of the strong devouring the weak, someone like me without power had no other options…

…Huh?

Sharing a bed with girls—shouldn’t that be every guy’s dream?

N-no way I was thinking that!

…Only a tiny bit.

Today was the day after Shekuri-san’s village became a Sanctuary.

If Aira was needed, it might be a problem like water shortage.

Anyway, my “Tree Planting” level looked close to going up, so I figured I’d plant a few trees while checking in on everyone.

They’d told me to drop dead in the empty desert, but I was managing somehow.

Easier done than worried over.

Maybe that’s just how the world works.

“Urgent news, Woody-sama! It seems sand bandits, suspicious of an oasis appearing so suddenly, have shown up nearby—”

In a panic, Aira rushed into the house.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Just when I thought the food problem was solved, now we had bandits.

Apparently, it would still be a while before I could rest without doing anything.

“Alright, I’m going—there’s no way I’ll fall behind mere bandits!”

“Yeah, thanks. Having the ‘Sword Saint’ say that is incredibly reassuring.”

We joined hands and left the house.

“Ah—no fair! Me too, me too!”

And Aira grabbed my other hand.

Pulled along by the two of them, I headed to where everyone was.

I’d always thought I’d inherit Father’s title and become a duke.

But days like this—weren’t so bad.

My slow life had only just begun—