Book 1 Chapter 1033

Seirune opened her eyes lazily and looked at her senior.

Leo, who had been silently enduring Seirune's gaze, finally raised his hand and poked Seirune's eyes with his index and middle fingers.

"Ack!"

"What? Why? What?"

"No! Shouldn't you have said that *before* poking me?!"

Seirune protested, crying out and clutching her eyes, but Leo paid no heed.

Watching Leo, Seirune rubbed her eyes a few times and then pointed her finger at Lumirn, who was talking with Lodia.

"Why did you come with Lumirn? And judging by the atmosphere, your identity as Kyle was also discovered, right?!"

"Yeah."

"Wow! I had faith in Kyle! Why are you so shameless after being discovered… Eek!"

As Leo tried to poke her eyes again, Seirune quickly covered them.

Leo folded down the fingers he had raised and said,

"What do you want me to do? That perverted freak sees through all my moves."

"What?"

Seirune wore a dumbfounded expression for a moment.

Leo scratched his head vigorously.

"He just agitated Luna without any sense. I didn't know he was that kind of guy."

"N-No way!"

Upon hearing about Lumirn, Seirune showed a slightly shocked expression.

"Lumirn never did anything strange like us when conquering Kyle's world and failed!"

"Like you guys? Failed? Did you do something weird when you entered the world of a great hero?"

"……"

At Leo's question, Seirune subtly avoided his gaze.

Leo clicked his tongue at her reaction.

"I get a general idea of what happened."

"Ahem! W-Well, anyway. You've been discovered, so what are you going to do now?"

"What do you mean, what am I going to do? We'll just go on like this. It won't have any immediate impact on the future. And I told Lumirn that I came from a parallel world."

"Aren't you just complicating things? Explaining the theory behind it will probably just make it more complicated."

"He believed me when I just said I came without any explanation!"

At those words, Seirune let out a snort.

"Is Lumirn an idiot? He'll believe it immediately if Kyle says so."

"He did believe it immediately."

"……"

"I also told him that you came from a parallel world."

"No! Lumirn isn't that naive to believe something like that right away!"

"What do you want me to do if he believes it? For now, your past self is completely suppressed, so there won't be any immediate confusion. Since Lumirn agreed to cooperate, Lodia will think you are yourself from this time period."

"That's impossible! Lumirn, you know! He's the most thorough one among us! He wouldn't just believe anything Kyle says…!"

"Hey, Seirune."

At that moment, Lumirn, who had finished talking with Lodia, approached Seirune, who was talking with Leo in the corner.

Since he had taken measures to muffle their voices with magic, no one could hear their conversation.

However, approaching them like this rendered the magic useless.

"Yes, Lumirn. What is it…?"

Thump!

Lumirn placed his hand on Seirune's shoulder.

"Huh? W-Why are you touching me so suddenly…!"

"Seirune, you seem very close to Kyle?"

"Huh?"

Seirune looked at Lumirn's face with a flustered expression.

He was smiling kindly, just like the usual Lumirn.

But his eyes were deranged.

"I'm so jealous."

"……"

Lumirn grabbed Seirune's shoulders tightly.

Then he brought his face close.

"Seirune's direct senior is Luna, right? Then shouldn't you take good care of Luna? Why do you seem closer to Kyle? Huh? Do you have other feelings for Kyle? And in your world, wasn't Azonia flirting with Kyle? Huh? Seirune. Kyle is my senior…"

Bang!

At that moment, Leo hit Lumirn on the back of the head with his scabbard.

Lumirn, who came to his senses, looked at Leo.

"Stop talking nonsense and keep an eye on him so Lodia doesn't notice."

"Yes. Kyle. I won't disappoint you."

Lumirn bowed respectfully and left.

Even as he left, he didn't forget to glare suspiciously at Seirune.

After Lumirn left, Leo scratched his head.

'Is this guy going to be shocked?'

Judging by Seirune's reaction, this side of Lumirn must have been something she had never seen before.

When he first met the heroes of the Great Calamity and heard about Lumirn, they all spoke of him as an ideal hero.

For Seirune, it was bound to be a shock that such a Lumirn was hiding this madness.

Leo, worried about Seirune, approached her.

Seirune, trembling, had her head bowed low.

"Hey, are you okay…"

Leo stopped talking as he tried to speak to her.

"I-It's impossible. This isn't the Lumirn I know… So aggressive and threatening… It's completely different from his usual self…! Ugh… The worst! It's the worst!"

She was muttering in disbelief.

However, her face was flushed bright red.

She looked somehow happy.

Her words and reactions were contradictory.

'This girl is definitely smitten too.'

"Are you happy?"

"I-I'm not happy!"

Seirune said seriously.

But at the same time, she unconsciously caressed her shoulder where Lumirn had grabbed her.

Seeing that, Leo thought to himself,

'I thought it would be hard to see anyone more crazy and perverted than Dwenno in my life.'

Both in my past and present life.

I thought there would be no one more perverted than that.

But today, that thought changed.

'There were even more extreme ones.'

It was just unfortunate that one of them was his direct junior.

***

Young Luna looked at the vast forest visible beyond the castle walls.

The frozen winter forest was an unfamiliar place for Luna.

The place where Luna was born was a vibrant, lush forest in the southern continent.

The homeland of countless elves.

However, the place the elves called sacred was the northern continent, where Fairy Land was located.

They said the forest cultivated by fairies was far more beautiful and full of life than Luna's home forest.

'I haven't seen it, though.'

But she had heard many rumors and was curious.

Elves are originally a race that cultivates vegetation.

While Luna didn't necessarily love or cherish forests, she was still an elf.

When she saw forests brimming with life, her heart would often be at peace.

But the forest in the northern continent now was far from that vitality.

'Am I an elf too? It makes me uneasy to see the forest in such disarray.'

[Is that so? I don't have much of a reaction.]

Luna, who was a spirit, said indifferently.

Young Luna, who was lost in sentiment, glared at her.

Regardless of how her past self viewed it, Luna silently gazed beyond the forest.

Beyond this forest lay her nemesis.

'Why on earth did he come to the past with such a scheme?'

Recalling Erebus, Luna wore a hateful expression.

Luna's hatred for the primordial evil was no less than Leo's.

Erebus had taken away everything precious to Luna.

Her loved ones, her dreams, and even her future.

And even now, he was trying to steal what was precious to Luna.

'Is he trying to absorb another fragment of the past?'

Erebus's way to quickly return to his complete form.

It was to absorb the torn fragments and become one.

'It's not just that. There must be another scheme.'

There would be a hidden motive.

But Luna couldn't think of anything, no matter how hard she tried.

'Ugh… If it were Lisinas, it would be different.'

Luna scowled.

'Is Kyle thinking something similar?'

At this moment.

Luna's ears drooped as she thought that Lisinas's presence might be more helpful to Kyle than hers.

Rustle-

The sound of footsteps crunching on snow was heard.

Both young Luna and the spirit Luna turned their heads simultaneously.

"Luna. It's cold out here. Have something warm to drink."

Rena, holding two mugs in her hands, handed one to Luna.

"Thank you."

Young Luna received the mug and took a sip.

Then she smiled happily.

"This cocoa is delicious."

It was a drink that didn't exist in the past.

[My granddaughter is so kind.]

'Why is she my granddaughter?'

[You called me Grandma.]

Spirit Luna said nonchalantly, crossing her arms.

'She's happy. To be called Grandma. Ah, well, unlike me, you're old…'

"Ouch, hot!"

Young Luna, who had been teasing her adult self, jumped.

Luna had squeezed her hand and put a mouthful of hot cocoa into her mouth.

"A-Are you alright?"

Rena flusteredly examined young Luna.

"I'm fine."

Young Luna, while saying she was fine, glared at her adult self.

Adult Luna merely stuck out her tongue childishly.

Young Luna, who had been pouting at the sight, said,

"I have a question. Why did you call me Grandma when we first met?"

"Huh?"

"You said Lisinas took care of your mother when she was young."

"Ah, that. I heard that Lisinas often told my mother about Luna when she was young. Because of that, Luna was as familiar to my mother as Lisinas was. So, I naturally came to call Luna Grandma."

Future Lisinas felt sorry for Luna.

And she always grieved for not being able to be with her.

Thinking of such a friend, spirit Luna smiled bitterly.

Meanwhile, young Luna sipped her cocoa and asked,

"Come to think of it, Rena."

"Yes?"

"Wasn't Leo a good grandfather?"

"No, he was a very good grandfather. He doted on me a lot."

[There's no way that brat would do that?]

"He often told me to torment Mother as much as he was tormented by Mother."

[As expected of that brat.]

Luna, who had a suspicious expression, showed an understanding expression at the words that followed.

Young Luna, listening to the story, tilted her head.

"But considering that, you don't seem to be doted on by Leo. It's like, you seem to be quite intimidated by him?"

"……"

At those words, Rena's eyes slightly dimmed.

Then she asked,

"Does Luna think I resemble my grandfather a lot?"

"No, not at all."

[Yeah. She resembles him quite a bit.]

Young Luna and spirit Luna gave conflicting answers.

"Future me says you resemble Leo."

Young Luna, relaying her future self's answer, looked puzzled.

'She's cute, unlike that human. What do they mean she resembles him?'

[Yeah. She's undeniably cute, to the point where comparing her to Kyle would be an insult. But she resembles him.]

'In what way, exactly?'

[Hmm. To be precise…]

Luna said, stroking her chin.

[The point of not giving up?]