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The same was true of Tragula, who heard the answer.

“…nothing happened.”

His low voice, which answered with a quick bow, still looked dazed. It was an awkward atmosphere.

“Ahem.”

So when everyone was celebrating their safe return, I coughed a little and evoked the atmosphere.

It was necessary to conclude thoroughly and surely.

With everyone focused, I solemnly declared the victory of mankind.

“The Demon King died at the hands of the Black Knight Meyer Knox…. The Demon King who has terrorized mankind for the past thousand years no longer exists. From now on, the demon world will never again threaten mankind!”

The expedition members who accompanied me to the battle against the Demon King, and the Black Knights who were guarding the capital.

Despite the fact that everyone was surely familiar with the contents of this speech, as soon as my assurances were gone, all those in the positions cheered.

Finally, and now.

It was the moment of true liberation for which I had waited so long.

***

Victory Day.

There could have been festivities day and night for three days in the excitement, but everyone had exhausted their strength to the bottom and had no time to do anything.

All the expedition members who returned to the Imperial Palace collapsed and buried themselves in their beds to relieve their fatigue.

There were those who could not rest even in such a situation, and they were the very priests.

The demons retreated and the Demon King disappeared, but a mountain of wounded remained.

As soon as they recovered even a little, they went from place to place to treat the wounded, but even though they were busy, everyone had a smile on their lips.

After a day’s rest like that, everyone was fine.

The expedition members, who were well resilient and monstrous, wandered about in search of a drinking table as soon as they woke up, and the emperor, who had come to know more about the habits of such expeditions than anyone else over the past 17 years, had already been preparing a bar for the heroes of the reversal since daybreak.

Most of the banquets were clearly seen rehashing the things used at the previous and performance report banquets, but I thought, well, what the heck.

Because now the fact that the place was laid out was more important than the details of the place.

At the banquet for the performance report, everyone was dressed for the banquet, but now at the victory banquet, everyone was dressed in armor and wizard’s clothes, as if they were expedition members.

As if reminiscing about the last moments as an expedition.

“Hey, I won’t even look at this full-length sheet metal armor for a while.”

“And then as soon as you go home, you’re going to polish it so it’s shiny.”

“How do you know so well?”

“I’ve been with you for years!”

Their giggles and happy voices filled the banquet hall. Everyone seemed uniformly refreshed.

Of course, that didn’t mean we could just enjoy the banquet without thinking about it. It was because a change of regime was at hand.

They had been trying hard to look good to the Black Knights in the past, and now they were even more desperate.

“Oh, thank you for defeating the Demon King, Vice Commander. No, Your Excellency the Grand Duke.”

“I did what I had to do for humanity.”

I shook my glass, heeding their eulogies.

The taste of alcohol after death was especially special. I wondered if they were offering alcohol on the ritual table for this taste.

I said, staring at the amber-colored alcohol.

“By the way, calling me Grand Duke is a bit big.”

“It’s just a matter of time anyway. I think you will be the Grand Duke soon.”

“I haven’t been awarded a title yet. The question of timing is important.”

The middle-aged expedition leader, who was somehow eager to buy my amusement at my dry response, stomped on the ground.

Seeing her laugh awkwardly, I downed my drink.

At that moment, as soon as my cup was empty, a young, crisp man quickly poured me a drink.

My glass was so cheap and natural that I was embarrassed to stop him from doing it.

The man laughed shyly, clutching his liquor bottle. I smiled awkwardly and lifted my glass lightly.

“Thank you for the drink.”

“No, I am happy to serve the Vice Commander’s drink.”

I smiled at that, but it was so blatant that even I, unaware of what such behavior implies, noticed it.

There were so many things…

As expected, I can’t stand it here. I left my position quickly, leaving only one word.

“I’m suddenly reminded of something to do. then, bye.”

“W-wait, Vice Commander!”

It was fortunate that Meyer didn’t see this because he was meeting the emperor just in time.

‘Meyer gets rather jealous, so that might make the banquet hall look like a dungeon.’

Maybe they all knew Meyer was gone and they all jumped on me like leeches like this….

I didn’t disclose my relationship with Meyer, but it seemed as if everyone noticed by implication.

‘Indeed, he made that mess at the trial of Countess Nerus…’

Thinking about it that way, I also thought that the spirit of the expeditionary crew, who were able to drink alcohol, was great.

I struggled to move forward, beating out those who tried to say a word.

Everyone in the banquet hall talked about the last seven members of the Black Knights. Some people reasoned about Meyer’s sudden change of hair color.

“I think he must have used too much energy in the Demon King battle and his hair has gone completely white?”

“I think it’s more like silver than white… That’s certainly the same old-fashioned way he was in the days of the previous Grand Duke.”

Since the Black Knights did not disclose the exact reason, everyone wrote novels.

Of course, reality was more than fiction, and fortunately no one thought Meyer’s hair color was magi.

Tired of people approaching me, I looked around with the feeling that if I stayed with the other Black Knights, the approaching would be a little less frequent.

In the distance, I could see the Red Wolf unit surrounding Sevi and the special unit.

Looking particularly amicable and noisy, I approached with a quick foot, with the intention of sneaking in.

Sevi’s voice, which was not heard well in the distance because of other people’s voices, could be heard clearly as I got closer.

“Wow… Even in front of the Demon King, she swore and argued…”

“The Vice Commander is quite capable of it.”

“That’s what I’m saying. And then she said, ‘I’m not sure if St. Marianne would have chosen me, I chose Meyer Knox.’”

“Wow… That’s the spirit of the Vice Commander of the Black Knights.”

Hmmm, still no good over there. I put my body back where it was going.

Behind me, I could hear Sevi talking about a saga in front of the Red Wolf unit and the rest of the crowd.

“I saved Axion.”

“Really? How?”

“We were in the dungeon and Axion got surprise attacked by a demon.”

“Wow, what a shame. I shouldn’t let him say that he’s the commander of our Red Wolf unit.”

Began giggled and raised the board. I shook my head and slowly moved away from it.

So, where is Axion, the protagonist of those words?

As soon as I looked around, I saw him sitting in a circle far away, among the wizards, immersed in the study of magic as always.

I could not help but laugh at the sight of the discussion while laying out side dishes on the floor of the banquet hall.

‘They’re just joking around with food…’

“Oh, I can’t believe you could use that kind of magic!”

The theme of the seminar was August’s protective shield in the dungeon and exploding Meyer’s holy power.

“I need to do a lot of research besides increasing mana to make it more efficient than the existing mana.”

“Since it is impossible to level up from now on, I think it would be desirable for us wizards to pursue greater efficiency in order to survive on a limited level and with limited magical power.”

I didn’t want to be involved in any other way. Eventually, I took a sneak out onto the balcony.

“Oh, August?”

I blinked in surprise. I didn’t expect him to be in the banquet hall, always absent from the banquet and offering prayers.

“I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“I didn’t think I’d be here either.”

August murmured so bluntly, gazing silently over the balcony window, into the noisy banquet hall. He wept silently with downcast eyes.

“It doesn’t feel real to be in the prayer room.”

“I think that’s why they’re all gathered in the banquet hall.”

I laughed a little.

Everyone acted more boisterously than usual, perhaps because they wanted to feel that their tediously tenacious battle with the demons was finally over and that they had indeed survived.

I was glad to see August on the fold. I sneakily brought up a question I had been putting off.

“Right, August. There’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“How His Excellency saved sister?”

“How did you know? That’s perfect.”

Surprised, I rolled my tongue with admiration.

Wow, it seems like you really use the interest method in these situations. You have to polish something, whether it’s holy or moral…

“If you dare to ask me, it would be about things that you cannot ask His Excellency.”

August added as if it were obvious. He sighed softly and told me gradually about the situation after my death.