My talk with the strongest Transcender, Lord Kai, had come to an end. Standing before me now were two men with whom I shared a deep, tangled history.
Having these two acknowledge my past was surely the final trial Lord Kai had set before me.
I had probably handled Tetor the wrong way just a moment ago. That was why he still refused to support me.
I understood now. There was never any point in apologizing to Tetor and Somni for my past. After all, what I did was the ultimate betrayal—something a mere apology could never make right. All I could do now was lay bare everything inside my heart.
"Tetor, Somni. There's something I want to protect now. Please, lend me your strength."
"Where do you get the nerve to spew that crap?! You betrayed us! If Master and Lord Deimos hadn't stepped in, we'd be dead right now!"
As expected, Somni raised his voice, outright rejecting everything about me.
"I feel the exact same way. No matter how much Your Highness claims to regret your actions now, the fact that you betrayed us will never vanish. No, I will never let it vanish! Even if it were the wish of my revered Master, I draw the line there! I cannot accept this!"
Tetor voiced his agreement with Somni.
Their rejection was only natural. I was the one who had written them off as useless and tried to dispose of them. No matter how much I claimed I had repented and begged for their help, they weren't going to cooperate.
Facing two people who knew the old me, no amount of denying my past would ever convince them.
"Don't misunderstand. I would never dare ask you to help me just because I found something I want to protect. All I'm asking is for you to keep watch over me."
From here on, it was half pretense, half truth. I had to win them over with this. If I failed, it would surely lead to the worst possible outcome for me.
"Keep watch? Over whom? The monsters? Or the demon race once they're under your rule?"
Unable to grasp my true intentions, Somni furrowed his brow and asked.
"Over me, of course."
I stated what was, in a sense, obvious.
"Keep watch over Your Highness?"
Tetor parroted my words, questioning the meaning behind them.
"That's right. I'm a cowardly, timid, petty, insignificant, utterly weak human being."
"You got that right."
"A bit late to realize that, isn't it?"
Tetor and Somni answered in unison. Suppressing a wry smile at how perfectly in sync these two polar opposites were, I continued.
"That's why I might make the wrong choice when it matters most again. If that happens, this time, I want you to kill me clean and proper."
Straightening my posture, I bowed my head deeply.
"Huh?"
Somni's eyes widened, letting out an utterly dumbfounded sound.
"No! I refuse to accept something like that!"
Tetor spat out words of fierce rejection.
Tetor's reaction confirmed it for me. This was likely a choice he had already settled on in his mind.
"Lord Kai, what will happen if they don't accept me?"
With an amused smirk curling the corner of his lips, Lord Kai replied succinctly.
"Nothing in particular. You'll simply undergo the trial as planned."
"And if I fail?"
Since I couldn't reach that finish line, my defeat was effectively sealed. Well, having secured an audience with Lord Kai, I probably wouldn't die this time. But that didn't necessarily mean things would end well for me.
"Saying that kind of spoils the game, but I'm in an exceedingly good mood right now. I'll give you a sneak peek at the answer."
Lord Kai looked with amusement at Tetor, then at Somni.
"Every monster here will be protected and have their memories wiped, then sent back across Northground to live their lives as they always have. Ah, no need to worry—I intend to thoroughly punish the shameless bastards currently trying to attack this place, so there won't be any disruptions to their lives afterward. However, that doesn't mean it's risk-free. Naturally, there's a penalty."
He began explaining the details. Just as I expected. I even had a hunch about what that penalty might be.
"You'll reset everything to the way it was before I came, right?"
"Yeah, precisely. I'll have everything restored to before Gil ever set foot in this land."
If so, then what about me—?
"What will happen to me?"
"You'll die. Of course, I don't mean physically, got it? I mean it will be practically the same as death for who you are now."
Lord Kai had a subordinate capable of manipulating memories. Would he have her alter mine, or—?
"Will I lose my memories again?"
"Nah, I wouldn't do something so tasteless. It's just that you, Gil, will be permanently barred from ever setting foot in Northground again. That will be your penalty. Somni, you're fine with that, right?"
Somni let out a long breath.
"Yeah. If I wanted him dead, I would've wished for it back then. I figured Master would choose a method like that."
He gave a firm nod of agreement.
I would be forbidden from ever setting foot in this land again. Retaining every single memory, yet never able to see Char again. Never able to see Kiji, Chato, Tama, Bū, Cyclone, Orgo, or anyone else in this city. Severed from their lives forever. That was the price of failing this trial. For the current me, that truly was as good as death—no, a punishment far worse than death itself.
Then again, judging from Lord Kai's demeanor, the Great One harbored no doubts about my victory. Otherwise, he wouldn't be laying out the terms with such evident glee. Though it hadn't been long since we met, he was fundamentally far kinder at heart than he let on. If he weren't, he wouldn't have tried to snap me out of my rotten ways back then; he would have just killed me on the spot.
I'll do it. To protect this monster city, the New City of Ket Nya. No, that's not quite right. Above all else, I'll do it for myself!
"Gil, I don't want us to be separated!"
Embracing Char as she clung to me on the verge of tears, I gently stroked the back of her head as I always did.
"Don't worry. I will never let that happen."
I made the declaration with absolute resolve.
"Quite the confidence you've got there! I, for one, have no intention of accepting your proposal!"
As Somni shouted dismissively, Tetor raised his voice as well.
"Me neither! I cannot forgive you! That's why I intend to make things as miserable for you as possible!"
"Will you two cut the crap and speak your minds already?!"
At my words, the composure vanished from both of their faces. Bingo. I had thought their behavior was strange from the start. It was just a hunch, but these two had likely coordinated from the beginning to steer things toward this conclusion.
"And what makes you so sure we're not speaking our minds?"
Somni asked in a tight voice, pressing me on what was, to me, glaringly obvious.
"Somni, you haven't changed a bit! Whenever you're hiding something, the way you refer to yourself starts flip-flopping all over the place!"
"Tch?!"
Seeing Somni's cheek twitch, I broke into a faint smile, certain that my prediction was right on the mark.
Somni, you're far too honest to pull off a lie. Lord Kai probably saw right through your intentions long ago from our earlier exchange anyway. And that was precisely the outcome Lord Kai desired most.
I turned back toward Tetor, who tensed like a hunting hound ready to strike.
"Tetor, you're hopeless. If you're going to put on an act, at least try to make it convincing."
I would have realized it sooner if I had just kept a cool head. Tetor had been adamantly rejecting the idea of me staying in this land from the very beginning. He was chained by Mother's dying words just like I had been.
"What are you talking about? I haven't the faintest idea what you mean."
"Honestly, both of us are pathetic. We took Mother's words at face value back then. But just as I told Lord Kai, Mother's wish was never for me to become King."
I delivered the words flatly, breaking the spell that bound Tetor.
"That's just your own convenient interpretation! Her Majesty told you back then to become King! You're a hopeless person, but now that you've awakened from that aristocratic curse, you could actually make this rotten Holy Amelia Kingdom a slightly better place. As a Prince, you bear that responsibility and duty!"
See? Just poke him a little, and his true feelings come pouring out. He might have been trained under Lord Kai, but inside, he was still so naive.
"I'm never going back to the high society of that kingdom. Frankly, that cesspool makes me want to vomit. Above all, I have them now."
I shouted, gesturing toward Kiji and the others.
These two were trying to bring closure to everything by thrusting the entire Holy Amelia Kingdom onto my shoulders, trusting that I would never stray from the right path again.
However, I wasn't that strong, and frankly, I never wanted to return to the nobles of the Holy Amelia Kingdom. That place rotted people to the core. Perhaps the only ones who could remain sane in that madhouse were people like my elder sister, who sought to tear high society down entirely.
"Do you really think you'll be forgiven for being so selfish?"
Tetor glared at me with an expression of resentment unbefitting of him.
"I will be. I will build a monster nation with them in this land. And that, too, will surely be a legitimate outcome of the Throne Succession War."
"What... do you mean by that?"
"Who knows? If you join hands with me, I might just tell you."
"..."
Tetor gritted his teeth, while Somni narrowed one eye, scrutinizing me.
Straightening my posture, I spread both arms wide before them.
"Let's start over. It's been a long, winding detour, but I believe it was necessary for me. Thanks to that, I've finally become human."
"What a truly self-centered and utterly selfish thing to say."
Somni's words carried none of his previous biting hostility; instead, a wry, ironic smirk played across his lips.
"Yeah, that's right. That's who I am, without a doubt."
Placing a hand over my chest, I bowed deeply to the two of them.
"In the name of Gilbert Loto Amelia, I ask for your help. Please, lend me your strength to build this monster nation!"
I voiced my request.
"So? Tetor, what should we do from here?"
Somni's tone shifted completely, returning to the gentle cadence I remembered from the past.
"Phew... You got us. It seems Master saw through our entire plan from the start anyway."
Tetor's demeanor changed entirely as well, casting a half-lidded glance toward Lord Kai, who was still cheerfully observing us.
"So, you're accepting it?"
"Yes. Even if we forced him back into the Throne Succession War now, he probably wouldn't make the best King. Besides, His Highness said a 'monster nation.' In that case, he hasn't given up on the path of a King. It doesn't go against Her Majesty's dying wish."
"Tetor, not that I'm trying to defend Gilbert, but I'm pretty sure Her Majesty didn't mean it that way either, you know?"
"That is a matter of perspective. What about you? What will you do?"
At Tetor's question, Somni scratched his cheek a few times.
"Same as Gilbert. I don't plan on going back to that rotten society either."
"Then?"
"Yeah."
The two gave a slight nod and extended a hand toward me.
"We're in the same boat now. I'll stick with you to the bitter end, and if you ever stray from the path, I'll kill you clean and proper. Ah, and by the way, I'm sticking to being a bit rougher around the edges from now on. Call it an image change."
Somni joked lightly, while Tetor made an earnest, somewhat absurd vow:
"I, too, shall forge you into the ideal King."
A hot surge welled up from deep within my chest, expanding throughout my entire body.
Feeling the heat of tears gathering in the corners of my eyes, I took each of their hands into my own.
"Thank you. I'm counting on you!"
Once again, I bowed my head deeply.
And in that moment, I reclaimed the two arms I had so foolishly severed with my own hands in the past.
—Notification from the Subjugation Compendium— Soul Synchronization between True Kin Gilbert Loto Amelia and Master Kai Heinemann has reached 100%.
Re-registration request for Gilbert Loto Amelia in the Subjugation Compendium————Approved.
Through the reflective effect of Gilbert Loto Amelia's registration in the Subjugation Compendium, Tetor and Somni Barrel will also be registered in the Subjugation Compendium.
From hereon, their souls and physical bodies will be drastically altered using the magical power of the Subjugation Compendium's Master, Kai Heinemann.