After the funeral.
The duchess seemed to be conversing with her relatives, and we brought Liana to the annex, concerned that she might catch a cold. We had her take a bath with warm water.
We said nothing. We didn't know what to say.
Discussing why the Demon King had done such a thing was not appropriate here.
Knowing the truth, I felt a heavy burden.
The revolutionary forces had not vanished.
They had fallen into Owen's hands, and he was a sly one.
The unbelievable situation where the revolutionary forces would be used lay before us.
A faction aiming to overthrow the regime enters under its control. Could this be fair?
The situation was bitter, but one couldn't help but agree that Bertus had been extraordinarily clever.
If the revolutionary forces were mishandled at a strange time, the worst outcome could occur: the entire empire would be thrown into chaos with the revolutionary forces running rampant in exchange for eliminating their leaders.
Bertus devised a plan to annihilate the leaders of the revolutionary forces, disguising it as a demon attack.
He then arranged for Owen to become the next leader of the revolutionary forces, anticipating their confusion.
Owen would turn this incident into a matter of force used due to problems at the negotiating table with the demons. Thus, the internal turmoil would be quelled.
In the long term, he would either gradually weaken and extinguish the revolutionary forces, incite internal strife to disintegrate them, or handle matters according to his taste.
They had been perfectly exploited.
There could hardly be a better way to bring down the revolutionary forces without significant upheaval.
The ability to utilize the name of the demon forces was not exclusive to me. The empire, which held demon prisoners, could also disguise their actions as those of the demons.
Bertus had been inspired by my act of killing Riverrier Lanze.
"Be careful."
"Mm..."
Liana descended to the annex's reception room in light attire.
Liana sat on the sofa, hugging her knees, staring blankly ahead.
For a while, none of us could speak.
No one could open their mouths.
Late at night, the silent hours passed, and everyone went to bed. In the space where, not long ago, we had gathered for a warm and lively party, only silence lingered.
Most friends couldn't leave the Grantz Ducal House's annex, feeling responsible to look after Liana.
A cold winter rain fell at night.
-Crackling! Fizzling!
Cliffman awoke to an unfamiliar sound coming from somewhere.
No, in truth, he hadn't been asleep. He was in a state of wandering between sleep and consciousness.
Cliffman rose from his bed and headed for the hallway.
He knew whose sound this was.
In the darkened annex's first-floor reception room.
-Crackling! Fizzling!
Liana, sitting blankly, repeatedly generated lightning in the empty air.
"...What are you doing?"
At Cliffman's words, Liana slowly raised her head and stared silently at the staircase where Cliffman stood.
"...Just."
Liana, with a somber expression, replied while lowering her eyes.
The confident, lively, and always playful Liana de Grantz seemed to have disappeared.
In her place was Liana with a face full of despair and frustration.
Cliffman cautiously descended the stairs.
Then, he sat down opposite Liana.
Liana looked at Cliffman and faintly smiled.
"You must be tired."
Cliffman was shocked by Liana's smile and words.
It wasn't a situation where she should be able to laugh.
It wasn't a situation where she should be able to speak kindly, yet Liana smiled in this situation.
Cliffman found this side of Liana unfamiliar.
But in such a situation, he did not know that people could actually become kinder.
There had always been someone unconditionally on her side.
She had not treated that person with care.
She thought it would last forever and took that person for granted. It was only after that person disappeared that Liana became sincere towards others.
Regretting it deeply.
She realized that no one could be forever for her and that she could not be forever for anyone.
She learned to cherish people.
"Today, I'm grateful to everyone."
That's why Liana became kind.
Regretting all the days she wasn't kind.
"..."
"In a little while, I'll feel better. Don't worry too much."
Cliffman quietly observed Liana, who seemed like a completely different person with her changed tone.
Cliffman had never been good with words.
He was clumsy at dealing with people. He had hoped that by being pushed around by this strange girl, he would improve, but he always seemed to be stuck in place. He was still awkward around people and especially so with girls.
He hadn't improved.
Cliffman didn't even know how to treat people casually, as if everything was normal.
And now, Liana wasn't her usual self. In this situation, Cliffman knew even less about what to say.
But it was strange.
Initially, he couldn't even look directly at Liana's face.
When someone stared at him, he would break into a cold sweat and hurriedly avert his gaze. Liana, in particular, had a piercing stare, and Cliffman found it unbearable. She would even scold him, asking why he kept avoiding her gaze and demanding that he look her in the eye.
He didn't know why, but when Liana looked at him, it felt like someone was squeezing his heart, causing great pain.
But now...
Cliffman looked at Liana, but she couldn't meet his gaze.
It wasn't awkward to look at her.
In this situation, he couldn't tell what to say.
He didn't even know how to act normally, let alone how to comfort someone.
However.
Not knowing didn't mean it was impossible to do.
Even if it's uncertain, one can still try.
There are things you can do to treat someone ordinarily, and things you can do to comfort them.
Whether the attempt succeeds or fails is unknown.
It was now Cliffman's turn.
"Liana."
"...Hmm?"
"Would you like to...drink?"
Liana wanted to comfort Liana de Grantz.
Liana looked at Cliffman with wide, surprised eyes, as if she hadn't expected him to say such a thing.
"..."
Drinking in this situation.
It seemed like a moment when they shouldn't drink, but Liana stared intently at Cliffman.
The boy's eyes, which were wide open to the point of being burdensome, were looking at her. Trying not to turn away, trying to do something, at least now.
Looking at the boy's eyes, which seemed to hold the greatest courage he had ever shown in his life.
"Alright, sounds good."
Liana smiled faintly.
In the middle of the night, a boy and a girl were drinking.
Strong whiskey, without any side dishes.
A girl who lost her father was drinking.
The boy who wanted to comfort the girl was also drinking. It was a night when they might get deeply drunk, but it was a night when it might be alright to do so. After all, there were times when one would rather anesthetize themselves and let the moments pass.
There was no real conversation.
Liana looked at the window of the annex every time she sipped whiskey.
The main building was visible through the glass of the window where the winter rain flowed.
Cliffman didn't ask what she was thinking. He just sat across from her and drank slowly, matching Liana's pace.
"My father ran away to marry a commoner he met at the temple."
"...Really?"
Cliffman listened calmly to the story. He didn't stutter as usual, nor did he panic.
Liana bit her lip slightly, as if nibbling on the edge of a secretive laugh, and continued her story.
"Yeah. He was eventually caught and brought back, but if he had succeeded, I wouldn't have been born."
"...I see."
"Neither my mother nor my father ever told me what kind of person that woman was. She was just a mistake in my father's life and a similar mistake in my mother's life. I wonder if she's dead or living an ordinary life."
Liana quietly sipped her whiskey.
"After my father was caught, the family forced him to marry. They couldn't find a good match for him since they had to arrange the marriage quickly and there were rumors. So, he married my mother, a noble with no territory and only a hollow title. The second daughter of the Baron Relayon."
Everyone involved in high society knew the story, but Cliffman was not a noble. Thus, he couldn't know about the disgrace of the family Liana was talking about.
But Cliffman listened to her story quietly.
"Mother must have wanted to like Father, but Father couldn't like Mother. So naturally, Mother couldn't like Father either. Their relationship was shaky from the start."
“I was the glue that somehow kept their creaking marriage going. I don't even know how I came to be born. Anyway, I was born. It's a bit much to call me a sacrificial lamb, but whenever they had a big fight, my name would inevitably come up. For Liana's sake. For my sake. Both my mom and dad would say that. Whenever they were about to make some extreme decision, my name would always come up. So, was there anything more to do with Liana here?”
"I was sick of it."
"Did they think I was the only accomplishment they had in each other's lives?"
Liana gulps down her whiskey.
"Anyway, I hated both my mom and dad. I hated my mom for constantly interfering in my life, and I hated my dad because, although he seemed to let me be free, I could clearly see that he wanted me to live the life he couldn't. After all, if my dad had treated my mom well from the start, she wouldn't have become such a wicked person."
"Mom was obviously a problem, but dad pretended not to be a problem when in fact he was the biggest problem."
"So I hated both my mom and dad. I truly thought I hated them."
Liana pours whiskey into her glass and swirls it around.
"But, I think I liked my dad more than I thought."
Even though I thought I hated him.
Because of the regret that rushes in when he's no longer visible.
Because of the regret and guilt that come from the fact that the last words I unknowingly spoke became my final words.
"I am the worthless child you both said I was."
Liana's eyes were wide, filled with tears.
"I regret... everything..."
Putting her glass down, she couldn't drink and just stared blankly at her glass while crying. Cliffman just watched her silently.
"Why? Why did the Demon King... have to take our dad... of all places... Why did it have to be like that? Why did our dad have to die? Even though he wasn't a good husband, I think he was a good father to me. Even though he couldn't love mom, I think he did love me. I think he loved me at least, and only me. I thought of it as an excuse to rationalize their unhappy marriage. So... huh... well... and... he was a good person, my dad. He was kind to others and didn't do anything bad. He was... a good... person..."
Cliffman silently watched Liana as she sobbed.
The Duke of Grantz was a good person in public.
He wasn't a good husband or a good father, or so she thought, but he wasn't that bad a father either.
Liana says this in a world where her father has disappeared.
What has been lost cannot be regained.
In that case, there's no choice but to hope for something else.
Unable to accept why it had to be lost, she begins to think about the reasons it had to be.
And so... because... I'm a supernatural. Can I avenge? Can I fight? I wonder. How strong I am. If that's possible. I wonder...
Revenge.
Sleepless nights.
Liana vaguely imagined revenge as she played with the sparks of the campfire.
Because she's supernatural.
You can't take back the words you've said, nor can you turn back time.
But dreaming of vengeance on the Demon King who took her father might be possible.
Liana sat in a daze, alone, testing her abilities. She was supernatural, and supernatural powers were incredibly rare.
The Demon King was such a grand name.
Even the name of Duke Grantz paled in comparison before the name of the Demon King.
Hadn't it been mercilessly trampled?
Liana wondered if she could face that great name, the Demon King, on a rainy winter night.
She was a powerful supernatural who controlled electricity, but she couldn't know how strong the Demon King was.
So, in despair, regret, and vengefulness, Liana envisioned herself fighting the Demon King, fear gripping her heart.
As Cliffman watched Liana, he said quietly, "I'll help you."
"...What?"
"I'll help you. Me."
At his words, Liana stared at Cliffman, her eyes brimming with tears.
They were just two people.
Facing that great name together wouldn't change much.
"If we're together, it'll be a little less difficult."
Not that it would be easier, but a little less difficult. The words had a strange sense of realism.
A strange realism because Cliffman's sincerity felt so intense, so genuine.
It wasn't just something he said.
If you're going to risk your life in the difficult task of killing the Demon King, I'll risk mine alongside you to make it a little less difficult, he seemed to say sincerely.
"Why...?"
I can risk my life, but why should you?
To that question, Cliffman downed a full glass of whiskey in one gulp and exhaled a fiery breath.
"We're friends, aren't we?"
That was the first time the word "friends" had come from Cliffman's mouth.
At that, Liana didn't know how to react and stared at Cliffman with a flustered expression.
Liana looked at Cliffman, her face flushed, and finally managed a faint smile.
"There should be something stronger to say than that."
"..."
"But if you've come this far... you've grown a lot."
A stronger word than "friends." At that, Cliffman's face turned red.
"Thanks."
Just as Cliffman had emptied his glass of whiskey in one go, Liana drained the remaining liquor in her glass.
And then...
-Glug, glug, glug
She poured the remaining expensive whiskey from the bottle onto the ground.
Liana wiped the corner of her eye. Her eyes were red, but there were no more tears.
"I won't be able to drink for a while."
Not until the Demon King is dead.
Liana laughed weakly and said so.
The funeral was over, and we all returned to the temple.
Liana had also returned to the temple.
She had not regained her spirit.
However.
“Sigh…”
“If you're tired, take a break.”
“No. I want to do more.”
“No, rest. Forcing yourself will only hurt your body.”
“Still, a bit more…”
“I know better. Rest.”
“Huh...? Oh. Yeah... Alright. I'll rest, then.”
Liana began training at dawn.
Ellen and I watched from a distance as Liana and Cliffman ran together.
Physical strength is a condition with no disadvantages. Strictly speaking, Liana was quite lacking in physical aspects. Although she wasn't as bad as Charlotte, she couldn't compare to a close combat major who trained properly.
Liana was not particularly enthusiastic.
She had a powerful Supernatural ability that grew on its own, and that was enough for her.
Her family was wealthy, so she had no worries about her life after graduation.
She was more interested in idling around and playing, and not long ago, she was disappointed that we were living too diligently.
That Liana de Grantz was gone.
“Hah... Hah…”
“Be careful on the ice.”
“Yeah.”
Liana, her eyes filled with a fierce poison, gritted her teeth and chased after Cliffman, who she shouldn't have been able to keep up with even on tiptoes.
Liana had been the one to forcibly drag the socially awkward Cliffman around and tried to fix his personality somehow.
Now, it seemed that Cliffman no longer stammered or felt embarrassed when dealing with Liana.
Rather, it was now Cliffman who was teaching Liana something.
A common goal had erased Cliffman's embarrassment and Liana's insincerity.
Their inherent problems had vanished.
Through someone's death.
Through the purpose of vengeance.
Ellen and I watched Liana, who gritted her teeth and chased after Cliffman, even as sweat poured down her face in the dead of winter.
"I thought the Demon King would be a distant story," I said.
Ellen looked at me.
The champion of Tu’an.
And the owner of two relics.
She seemed to think it would be a story relevant to us as well.
No matter what the Demon King was, for the majority of people, he was nothing more than a symbol of terror, and it seemed unlikely that they would ever encounter him or that he would have any direct influence on their lives.
But the Duke of Grantz had died at the hands of the Demon King.
Someone nearby had experienced direct sorrow and pain due to the Demon King's actions and had changed as a result.
"Reinhardt."
"Yeah."
"I'm angry."
Ellen's eyes trembled.
Could it be that she had no choice but to acknowledge that the Demon King was truly an evil existence now? The situation was hard for her to accept.
It seemed Ellen was angry at the Demon King who had destroyed her friend's life.
Her anger would have to be different from theirs.
"Me too."
I was the one who could be the angriest.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
We ran together.
Even if the essence of our anger and the true target of our vengeance differed.
We spent our days together.
Everyday life was spent running together until something began at the end of the day.
