An Unexpected Gift
Nahen did not head straight for Hell after parting ways with Seere. Instead, he made his way to the 70th Floor, toward the forge responsible for weapon production—the core enterprise of the Devata faction.
“Lord Nahen!”
As Nahen approached the forge, someone was already waiting outside to greet him. It was Doomgrik, the troll blacksmith whom Nahen had left in charge of the entire operation.
“Doomgrik. It’s been a while. How is the work progressing?”
“Smoothly, as always.”
“Let’s go inside. I have something to discuss.”
“Understood.”
Doomgrik guided Nahen to the finest office available. He offered Nahen the head seat and took the one beside it before asking, “What brings you here?”
“There is something I would like you to craft personally. Without informing the other blacksmiths.”
“Pardon?”
“It is not a dangerous item. I simply intend to give it as a gift.”
As he spoke, Nahen placed a bead before Doomgrik—the Mystery of the Moon he had secured from the Bismarck Empire’s imperial palace.
Doomgrik sensed something unusual the moment he laid eyes on it.
“What is this… Lord Nahen?”
“You need not know.”
Nahen dismissed the question lightly. Though Doomgrik’s natural curiosity as a blacksmith surged, he understood that Nahen’s refusal to answer meant there was a reason behind it. He nodded in acceptance, and Nahen smiled with satisfaction.
“I want you to fashion this into a brooch.”
“You wish for the bead to be set into the brooch, then.”
“Yes.”
Doomgrik examined the bead—the Mystery of the Moon—with evident fascination. Watching his reaction, Nahen asked,
“Doomgrik.”
“Yes?”
“Are you trying to identify what it is?”
“Pardon? No. On the contrary, I was studying it closely because I could not discern its nature at all.”
“I see.”
As expected, it seemed the game items were beyond their ability to properly analyze. They could only sense that it felt different.
“Should I preserve the bead’s spherical shape when setting it into the brooch?”
“Yes. Once it is finished, do not send it to me. Deliver it directly to Seere.”
“To Her Majesty?”
“It is a gift for her. If I say I sent it, she will accept it.”
At Nahen’s words, Doomgrik nodded.
“You seem to care for and look after Her Majesty a great deal, Lord Nahen.”
“Of course.”
Doomgrik was slightly taken aback. Nahen wore an expression he had never seen before—gentle and benevolent, unlike his usual cool and resolute demeanor.
“She is my only disciple. How could I not cherish her?”
“What color would suit the brooch best?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment’s thought, Nahen answered simply.
“Silver would be best.”
He was picturing her snow-white hair.
After Nahen departed the human realm, Dane continued his routine of gathering information and returning to Eri. Eri, too, appeared to have grown accustomed to their shared life. She got along well with the neighboring women, and shopping or handling household chores had become quite familiar to her.
Dane felt considerable relief; he could now entrust many tasks to her and focus solely on intelligence work.
Of course, the notion that she had truly grown used to living with him was nothing more than Dane’s own misconception.
“Dane… lately, it feels as though you have become quite familiar with everything…”
After finishing the laundry and sitting alone at the table, Eri rested her chin on one hand and pouted.
These days, whenever Dane touched her—whether hugging her or anything else during their husband-and-wife act—it all felt perfectly natural. It seemed the pretense of being a couple had already become second nature to him.
Eri found that dissatisfying. She still grew so nervous that her heart pounded with every embrace, and holding hands always stirred something peculiar within her…
“Why is he the only one getting used to it?”
She was harboring childish complaints toward Dane, who behaved as though he alone had adapted.
While chatting with a neighboring lady, Eri heard some shocking news.
“Newlywed, is your husband doing all right?”
“Pardon? Why do you ask about my husband?”
“Well, your husband is quite the catch, isn’t he? There are rumors that plenty of women these days are trying to lure away young, handsome men like him.”
“Still, my husband is a married man.”
“That’s precisely why it becomes a problem—they don’t care about that sort of thing.”
“Really…?”
“They even go after married men! Those vixens are absolutely mad. Anyway, be careful, dear.”
Eri only half-believed the rumor she had heard. Like most rumors, it probably contained a grain of truth, but much of it was likely exaggerated.
As she mulled it over, Eri blinked slowly.
“Could it be that Dane has grown so familiar with me lately because…”
He had met another woman?
Once the thought crossed her mind, Eri’s head began to spin. It seemed to explain why Dane had started acting so naturally around her at some point.
And another question rose within her.
Dane meeting another woman—was that something he should not do?
The answer was no. She and Dane were merely acting; they were only childhood friends. Neither had the right or the power to stop the other from dating someone.
Whether Dane met and courted some woman… that was none of Eri’s concern.
“But still, we have to keep pretending to be a couple right now…?”
Even for the sake of the act, shouldn’t they avoid such entanglements?
With her mind in turmoil, Eri could not focus on housework. In the end, she failed to finish her chores before Dane returned—a rare occurrence. Once her worries began, she could not even bring herself to touch the tasks.
Imagining Dane with someone else sent her thoughts into complete disarray. It bothered her far too much.
Eri trembled alone for a while before suddenly rising with a loud cry.
“Aaaah! No!!”
“No to what?”
“Eek!?”
Eri spun around in shock. Dane had opened the front door and stepped inside without her noticing.
“Wh-when did you get here!?”
“Just now…”
“At least make some noise when you arrive.”
“…I greeted you. But you did not react—you seemed lost in thought.”
At Dane’s words, Eri merely rolled her eyes. He regarded her with a puzzled expression.
“Why? Do you have something to hide?”
“E-eh!?”
“…What is with that reaction.”
Dane narrowed his eyes at her, his gaze clearly asking whether she truly had something to conceal. Faced with that look, Eri felt a surge of defiance instead. The one actually hiding something was…
“A-are you the one hiding something, Dane?”
“…What?”
“Your… your heart, I mean.”
“……Huh?”
Dane looked flustered. Seeing his reaction, Eri instantly became certain.
‘Ah.’
So Dane had a woman he liked. Someone who made even that cold man react so visibly—someone he cared about deeply.
The clever Eri grasped the truth at once.
Her mood showed plainly on her face; her expression grew visibly gloomy. Seeing the change, Dane grew slightly flustered. Yet that very reaction only strengthened Eri’s conviction. Was he not behaving exactly like someone caught in an affair?
“……Sorry, I think I will go to bed early today.”
“Wait, Eri.”
“Eat dinner without me.”
“No, hold on. It seems there is some misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding?”
Eri, about to enter her room, lowered her eyes slightly.
“No, I have not misunderstood anything.”
“…Your expression says otherwise, Eri. I have known you for years.”
“…Eep.”
It seemed everything had been exposed. Embarrassed that her emotions had been discovered, Eri lowered her head a little further. Then Dane spoke.
“That…”
“……”
“…When did you notice?”
At Dane’s question, Eri’s mouth fell open. She stared at him with an incredulous expression.
‘Was he trying to confirm the kill just now?’
Eri let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity. Yet Dane regarded her with an expression that showed he did not care in the slightest. It seemed he was expecting something.
Eri could not understand what he wanted from her.
“…I heard it while talking with the ladies today.”
“What?”
“They said there are crazy women who even target married men! Dane, the reason you have grown so familiar with touching me lately is… because you have a lover, right! You were practicing, weren’t you!”
Eri spoke with conviction, her voice brimming with confidence. However, the one who heard her words was Dane…
“…What??”
He looked utterly incredulous. Eri flinched, her shoulders trembling at his reaction. For a moment, she wondered if she had misunderstood his words.
Her thinking had been accurate. Dane spoke irritably to the woman laboring under a strange misunderstanding.
“No, what lover did I get? Why would I do something so troublesome? We are spies! What about when we eventually leave?”
Hearing that, it made sense. Eri and Dane were currently infiltrating the human realm as spies. Starting a relationship here would only create troublesome complications later.
But then, why had Dane seemed so familiar with physical contact lately?
That question still lingering, Eri tilted her head.
“Huh?… So it was not because you got used to the physical contact?”
“Haah, what are you talking about? The reason I have been trying to act natural lately is because you are putting your all into the act for Lord Nahen’s sake…!”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“What? Have you not been telling me to hug you even when no one is watching since last time, genuinely acting for Lord Nahen’s sake?”
At Dane’s words, Eri fell silent. A heavy quiet settled between them.
Eri was clever. And so was Dane. Quick-witted, quick to read the atmosphere, and quick-thinking. Even seeing Eri’s misunderstanding and her reaction, Dane was not so dull as to miss what was happening.
Dane’s eyes widened, and Eri noticed the change—her face flushing crimson.
“…Eri?”
“N-no!! It is not true!!!”
Eri flung open her bedroom door and slammed it shut behind her. The sound of the lock clicking followed.
Dane stared blankly at the empty space she had left behind.
“……Hah.”
At first, a hollow laugh escaped him. The laughter that began as disbelief soon turned into uncontainable joy.
“Ah… haha, hahat…”
Dane’s gaze shifted slightly.
“There was no need to hide it.”
Dane realized the truth.