The Witch's Rightful Claim
Well done, Torare…
As the scene unfolded clearly before her eyes—Shude restraining the man she loved—Aileen automatically began to seethe with a deep, burning rage.
“Shude… How dare you try to kidnap my beloved Torare? And you even disguised yourselves as demons?”
“Kidnap? Don’t you think that’s a bit harsh? I’m simply one of those who holds a legitimate right to him, and I’m only trying to enjoy what I’ve been deprived of all this time.”
“R… right?”
Shude displayed an attitude of absolute confidence. Aileen’s brow furrowed slightly, and Shude responded with a thick smile curling at her lips.
“Yes, a right. Surely you haven’t forgotten already? The day we decided to betray the hero and stab him in the back. The vow the five of us—including Torare—made to one another. That in this world, only the four of us have the right to receive Torare’s love.”
“Ugh…”
Aileen looked momentarily speechless at Shude’s irrefutable logic. Seizing the opening without hesitation, Shude continued clearly and precisely.
“And yet, for the past several months, you’ve monopolized Torare all by yourself. Meanwhile, because of my professional obligations, I haven’t even been able to see his face, let alone spend time with him. At this point, don’t you think I at least deserve the right to spend a similar length of time with him?”
“Th… that’s… mm…”
Shude laid out an argument Aileen could not possibly refute. But right after, Aileen quickly came up with her own counterpoint and glared at the smug witch standing before her.
“Fine. I’ll concede that point for now. But… no matter what, what you did in Thebes was clearly an act of hostility toward our empire! You and your subordinates launched an attack and—”
“Oh my, what are you talking about? As far as I know, the ones who attacked were demons. Why are you suddenly bringing that up here?”
“Wh… what?”
Shude spoke with feigned innocence, not even blinking. Aileen looked utterly dumbfounded and snarled at the brazen woman in front of her.
“Stop with the excuses! I already know that you and your subordinates disguised yourselves as demons to carry out the attack. And you dragged Torare away right in the middle of it!”
“Tsk tsk… I’m sorry to say, but that’s a misunderstanding, Aileen. There’s no way a former member of the Hero Party—a fellow human like me—would attack other humans, not demons.”
Even in this situation, Shude continued to deny everything to the very end. Aileen decided she no longer needed to listen to this woman’s nonsense and began preparing to attack the figure before her.
Yet her stance had nothing to do with the innocent villagers who had been sacrificed. No matter the reason, Aileen simply wanted to prevent Torare from being taken away at all costs. To her, Shude’s moral failings served as a convenient pretext to undermine the contract the two had once shared.
With that calculation in mind, Aileen moved to press Shude aggressively—when suddenly…
“N… no… that’s not… true.”
“…Pardon?”
The next moment, Torare’s voice reached her ears. Aileen turned to him with a puzzled expression. At some point, the ropes that had bound him had come undone, and he now stood freely. With a stiff, tense face, he looked at Aileen and continued.
“That’s… not true. Shude only came to meet me. She saved me when I was being attacked by demons. She has nothing to do with the demons who raided the village.”
“Th… that…”
“See? Even Torare says so. Demons…? The witches here simply accompanied me as my escorts because I came to see Torare. As you know, we’re in a state of war these days, and the situation isn’t exactly safe.”
“So… what you’re saying is… you only came here to meet Torare, and you have nothing to do with the demon attack?”
“Well, to summarize, yes. And if I may add, I was the one who saved Torare with my own hands when you failed to notice and nearly let him die. How about that?”
“Ugh…”
With Torare’s cooperation and Shude’s follow-up blow, Aileen could no longer find any excuse to turn the situation around. In truth, she had only come here chasing someone with immense power. She could not definitively claim that person was a demon. Even right after arriving, she had already sensed something strange when she realized the ones present were not demons but witches.
Perhaps the demons had already fled before she returned to Thebes. And with Torare himself vouching for the story, Aileen had no choice but to give up and remain silent.
“…Fine… Then make sure you return him exactly when you promised…”
“Good, that’s more like it. Don’t worry about that. I’ll return Torare to you without a single scratch after I’ve had my fill of love with him.”
“…”
Aileen turned and left the place, leaving behind Shude, who had managed to irritate her until the very last moment. She walked past the witches who were sending her cold glares and headed toward the soldiers who were waiting.
“Your Eminence, what happened?”
“I’m sorry. It seems I was mistaken. These people appear to be nothing more than travelers passing through and have no connection to this incident.”
“Is… that so?”
“Yes. The demons have likely already fled somewhere else. We must return quickly and prepare countermeasures.”
Having been forced to leave Torare alone for the time being, Aileen nevertheless had no intention of neglecting her duties as the High Priestess of the Falcon Empire.
No matter what, it’s clear that demon soldiers have infiltrated somewhere in the empire. We don’t know what schemes they’re plotting, so we must prepare in advance.
Depending on the situation, the incident in Thebes could happen again somewhere else. Having made that judgment, Aileen immediately left the area with her subordinates and set course for the imperial capital. She needed to inform the emperor and devise countermeasures as quickly as possible.
In the end, Aileen could only grind her teeth and retreat. The witch had stolen her rightful place once again.
“Ugh…”
Shude’s toes gently caressed Torare’s chin. Faced with her actions, he could only lie prostrate on the floor, trembling as he looked up at her face.
“Well done, Torare. Thanks to you, we managed to wrap things up without any annoying complications.”
“Th… thank you… Shude.”
“It really is fortunate. If you had said something strange back there, I would have had no choice but to tell Aileen everything about how eagerly you’ve been cheating on her… That would have put you in quite a difficult position, wouldn’t it?”
“Ugh…”
“Hehe… Anyway, now that we’ve shaken off that troublesome interloper… Torare, shall we enjoy ourselves for the first time in a while?”
With those words, Shude languidly lay back on the bed. Torare slowly rose to his feet and gazed at her as she lay there defenseless, looking up at him. Even in this situation, her body radiated a thick, carnal allure. Captivated by male instinct, Torare began the same act he had performed so many times before… and as she watched him, a deep, satisfied smile spread across Shude’s lips.
On a secluded sandy shore along a long stretch of coastline, a group of demons cautiously disembarked from their boat. They wore their robes pulled low to conceal their identities. At their head, the demon who appeared to be the leader looked at the only one among them whose face was exposed—the current hero, Hector—and spoke.
“Is this place truly safe?”
“It is safe. This area has always had lax defenses. The terrain makes it difficult to approach, and it’s quite far from any villages.”
“Yet you know such a place remarkably well. It seems suspicious.”
The demon fixed Hector with an unfiltered gaze of suspicion. Hector’s face flushed slightly as he answered in a somewhat stiff voice.
“It’s a secret spot I often visited as a child. Besides, with a hostage in your hands, there’s no way I would try anything right now!”
“Hmm… Very well. I shall trust you for now.”
With those words, the demon immediately gestured to the subordinates seated behind him. At the command, roughly thirty demons disembarked from the boat. Their destination—the imperial capital of the Falcon Empire, Olympus.