Chapter 47: Ais: I Have Someone I Like.
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After informing her former goddess, Astraea, about the completion of her revenge and the full details of the journey, Ryuu underwent her long-awaited status update. The accumulated great deeds from her battles caused her to level up continuously — soaring from Lv.4 straight to Lv.6.
Freed from the chains of hatred, she also awakened a new magic called [Astraea's Memoirs], allowing her to invoke the unique magics of her past Astraea Familia comrades.
News of the Black Dragon's appearance in Orario spread like wildfire across the land. On her way back from the Swordsmith City, Ryuu heard the reports and immediately broke into a desperate full-speed sprint, her heart burning with anxiety.
The moment the battered city walls appeared on the horizon, Ryuu's heart sank into an abyss. Gripping her twin flaming blades, she kicked aside the rubble blocking the gate and charged inside, shouting at the top of her lungs:
"Kihara!! I'm back — I'm joining your familia! Are you still alive!?"
At that exact moment, Kihara — still in his colossal giant form — was sitting atop the headless corpse of the One-Eyed Black Dragon, methodically carving materials from the massive body under Finn's precise instructions. Hearing Ryuu's frantic, emotional roar, he instinctively turned his head toward the sound, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Huh?"
"Eh?"
Ryuu's brain short-circuited. Seeing the bustling adventurers working all around her, she suddenly realized she might have done something incredibly embarrassing.
"Ryuu!! You're back, meow~!"
Chloe came leaping over with a cheerful cry. Thanks to her excited meowing explanation, Ryuu finally learned the full story of the Black Dragon incident.
The One-Eyed Black Dragon, despite its powerful magic and impenetrable scales, had been relentlessly worn down by Kihara — a walking cheat with his weakening barrier, terrifying regeneration, and the ability to manipulate his own size — working in perfect coordination with Orario's elite adventurers.
The grueling subjugation battle had lasted roughly five days. It finally ended when Kihara used the silver blade to sever the dragon's head. He had kept the barrier active the entire time because, without its weakening curse, no weapon could even scratch the dragon's corpse.
"Meow~ By the way…" Chloe tilted her head curiously. "What was that about you shouting that you wanted to join Kihara's Hestia Familia?"
"Ah…"
"Eh?"
"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"
The moment Ryuu realized she had essentially confessed her feelings to Kihara in front of nearly every elite adventurer in Orario, her paper-thin sense of shame shattered completely. She let out a piercing scream that nearly deafened Chloe, then staggered and collapsed to the ground. Soft pink steam continuously rose from beneath her hood as she spiraled into blissful delusion.
"Chloe… just kill me… This is too embarrassing…"
"Meow meow meow???"
After the brief comedic uproar, Kihara spent half a day carefully processing the six-to-seven-hundred-meter-long Black Dragon corpse into usable materials before finally dispelling both the barrier and his giant form.
"Kihara!!!!!!"
Hestia came running with tears sparkling in her eyes and threw herself into his arms. Her swollen, red-rimmed eyes scanned him anxiously. "Does it hurt? Are you hungry? Should I call a mage to cast recovery magic on you?"
"I'm perfectly fine. You saw the regeneration yourself. Other than my skin feeling a bit numb from all the dragon bites, there's nothing wrong. You're the one who cried until your eyes swelled up."
Kihara was the man who had personally taken Wind God's iron fists from Yuuka in the sunflower field. Five days of close-quarters combat with an ancient dragon was nothing to him — at most, he felt a little frustrated that he could only use one hand and couldn't move freely.
More pressing was the side effect of maintaining his great-sin armament for five straight days. Hestia had definitely noticed the dark flame dragon pressing against her chest — otherwise her ears wouldn't have turned such a lovely shade of pink.
"Lili-chan! Come help me support Kihara.
Let's take him to the tent over there to rest!"
"Coming, coming!"
Once they had helped him settle onto the bed inside the specially prepared tent, Hestia blushed furiously, muttered "I'll leave the rest to you, Lili-chan," and hurried out with her face burning.
The torchlight inside the tent cast a huge, ominous shadow across Lili's small face. She swallowed hard, feeling that the dark flame dragon — which had once felt familiar — seemed to have grown even more imposing.
In this life-threatening situation where one wrong move could spell disaster, she decided it was time to deploy her long-prepared surprise. With a flicker of magic, Lili transformed into the exact appearance of the golden-haired Sword Princess.
She placed a soundproofing stone on the nearby wooden table, shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts, and slowly knelt down while brushing her dazzling golden hair behind her ear. She pouted softly and muttered, "The original height was so much better… I didn't even need to kneel."
…
After personally taking part in the subjugation of the Black Dragon — the very creature that had killed her parents — Ais felt both cathartic relief and deep confusion. The single driving force behind all her training had suddenly vanished.
It was like a mountaineer who had been magically transported to the summit halfway up the climb. All that remained was the beautiful view from the peak, with no clear plan for what came next.
Normally, she would have gone straight to Riveria for guidance. But right now, Riveria was swamped alongside Finn, working with the Adventurers Guild to tally casualties and damages across Orario. She had no time to spare.
"Maybe… I should go check on Kihara. I think he's resting in that tent over there."
Still lost in thought, Ais slowly approached the tent. She was surprised to see Lili stumbling out, clutching her stomach with unsteady steps.
"Is she going to the toilet? In that case… this is the perfect chance for me to be alone with Kihara."
Ever the opportunist, Ais dashed into the tent in a few quick strides. Before her eyes could fully adjust to the dim interior, a pair of strong arms pulled her firmly into a tight embrace.
The scorching gaze in Kihara's eyes instantly reminded her of their private training sessions. Half resisting, half yielding, she let herself be pulled down onto the bed with him.
Lili, who had only stepped out briefly to replenish water and food, returned to the tent and felt the world collapse around her. The person she had been magically impersonating was now rolling around with Kihara — and he clearly hadn't noticed the switch, treating it as enthusiastic roleplay.
Should I… quietly slip away while neither Kihara-sama nor Ais-sama has realized?
Lili tiptoed out of the tent, found a wooden sign, and planted it firmly at the entrance with the words: "Kihara-sama is resting.
Strictly no disturbances!" Then she sprinted off to find Hestia and report the emergency.
As the greatest contributor and hero of the Black Dragon subjugation, Kihara's rest went completely undisturbed. It wasn't until three days later that news of Ais's disappearance finally reached the upper ranks of Loki Familia.
Just as Loki dramatically declared she would dig up the entire city to find her precious daughter, Kihara stepped out of the tent with an awkward expression, gently leading the golden-haired Sword Princess by the hand.
Ais's eyes were filled with deep affection for Kihara, and a lingering blush still colored her cheeks. The sight hit Loki like a bolt from the blue, shattering her into pieces like a stone statue struck by lightning.
In a firm, resolute voice, Ais declared:
"Riveria, Loki… I have found someone I like."
"No no no no no no!!!!!!"
Unable to accept reality, Loki's legs gave out and she dramatically fainted on the spot.
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Thank you for reading.