No, I understood. What Princess Krell was getting at, I understood better than anyone. In fact, that there was no other way to change the present circumstances, and that we were in a state where we could use ‘that’—I knew it all.
Yet I didn’t want to acknowledge it. I didn’t want to admit that was the only possibility.
But reality was merciless.
Princess Krell spoke cheerfully:
“The deadline is approaching. There’s no way to save the capital’s people…to save you. We can’t do anything more—it’s a hopeless situation. When people are in a bind like this, they all think the same thing. ‘Help me, God!’ Right?!”
“I refuse.”
I rejected her at lightspeed.
I knew that was the only way, but I still hated it. Even understanding I served Princess Krell and absolute obedience to my lord was expected, I had the right to dislike what I disliked. Even as a servant I could refuse! That was my stance, but this time Princess Krell seemed unwilling to give up easily either. Circling around to my front, she grabbed both my wrists with her hands.
“Roth, listen. If we don’t take action, you along with the capital’s people will die. Then you’ll never be able to see me again, and I’ll never be able to see you either. Our happy days together that we’ve spent as a matter of course until now will disappear. Isn’t that awful?”
“Yes. Awful.”
“Then—”
Princess Krell showed me a beaming smile, like a fully bloomed flower. In contrast, I said emotionlessly:
“In exchange, you want me to take that form?”
“It can’t be helped for the sake of helping so many! A-and… I really, really love that form of yours! It’s just the best!”
“I see. That’s why I hate it.”
I recoiled a bit from Princess Krell, whose breathing had grown slightly ragged. Pardon me, but could you wipe off your drool, my lady? How unseemly.
…This is bad.
Once Princess Krell forgets herself like this and acts less maidenly, she becomes completely unyielding. She’ll stubbornly continue her verbal barrage until I give in. Having experienced it multiple times, I knew. Troubling as it was, this princess was quite stubborn.
But unconditional obedience was undesirable. If I had to endure unpleasantness, Princess Krell would have to properly compensate me in turn.
Ahh…so it’s the usual pattern again, I see.
“I understand,” I said listlessly, with a somewhat wicked tone.
“As you say, if we do nothing, I’ll die and be unable to see your face again—I want to avoid that too.”
“Then—!”
“However,”
I interjected, raising a finger and declaring,
“You are forbidden from touching me in that form.”
“—!”
Princess Krell made a face like the world was ending. Then she wobbled her body left and right several times, approached me with staggering steps, and gripped both my shoulders tightly.
“Why…? Why would you say something so cruel…?”
“Because otherwise you’ll try to hug me until the time limit, it seems.”
“I won’t! At most…maybe two hours!”
“That’s far too long. We’re facing mortal peril here, so show some more tension. Honestly…”
Was this really an appropriate mood when we bore the lives of tens of thousands?
I wondered, as I summoned my Guardian Shield key and held it out before me.
Then—I twisted it a hundred and eighty degrees counterclockwise, which it could not do while closed.
The sound of something unlocking rang out, and at the same moment, the Guardian Shield key dissipated into particles of light, transforming into a pure silver padlock connecting four chains. Reflecting the moon and starlight, it shone brilliantly without the slightest tarnish.
Ugh, I hate this.
Hatred surged through me to the point of voicing it, but Princess Krell paid my feelings no mind, eagerly bringing her Falling Star God Key near the padlock. Unlike me, she seemed extremely happy. I wanted to slap her.
“Well then, shall we go?”
“Yes, do as you please.”
At my dismissive words, Princess Krell inserted one of her gate keys into the padlock—and unlocked it.
In that instant, the four chains shattered and disappeared, and Princess Krell and I were enveloped in white light. My body grew hot. I felt a strange sensation like I was being remade into a different existence. No, that feeling wasn’t exactly mistaken. My body really was being transformed.
It seemed to take around ten seconds.
The light and heat enveloping my whole body faded, and my vision cleared.
The first thing that came into view was Princess Krell’s form, different from earlier.
Her long, pale blue hair had changed into pure white, and her eyes now harbored an otherworldly allure in faint purple. A pair of wings of light sprouted from her back, and a ring of radiance floated above her head.
Anyone who saw Princess Krell’s current appearance would unanimously describe her as an angel. While beautiful normally, this form had a different charm.
It was captivating beyond words. The moment our eyes met, Princess Krell—who was emanating such entrancing beauty—charged at full speed and embraced me tightly. It was painful.
***
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***
“‘Ahhhh!! This is it, this form! It’s just so cute…I could eat you up!”
“Didn’t I say no touching?”
She was speaking in a high, childlike voice, but it seemed Princess Krell wasn’t listening to me at all. Like a child given a long-awaited toy, she was absorbed in hugging me tightly.
Disgusting.
While being fondled to Princess Krell’s heart’s content in her arms, I flicked my seven fox tails growing from my tailbone and the large ears on my head to protest and knock against her. But that had the opposite effect, only making her hold me tighter.
Damn it, this is why I didn’t want to take this form… Once transformed, I have to stay like this for an hour.
With a sigh, I turned my body into particles of light and slipped out of Princess Krell’s grasp, moving a short distance away. I materialized there.
“Princess Krell. Right now we should be saving the capital’s people, not fawning over me. Please don’t lose sight of our goal.”
“But…!”
Looking reluctant, Princess Krell took a hand mirror from her pocket—why was she carrying that around—and held it up toward me.
“When there’s a cute beast boy with animal ears and a tail, you just have to dote on him! It’s instinctive!”
“Please don’t have such eccentric instincts.”
clicking my tongue, I looked at my reflection in Princess Krell’s mirror.
Silver hair, a small childlike stature maybe around ten years old. I had large fox ears and seven tails like the mythical fox spirits of folklore. Rather than looking gallant, I gave a weak impression, so I didn’t really like this form… But Princess Krell seemed to love me like this, pouncing and hugging me tightly as she was now. I hated it a lot. Being treated like a child irritated me to no end.
“Stop saying foolish things and hurry up and save the people. I’ll die too at this rate.”
“But…just a little longer…”
Snap.
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I instantly froze the surrounding area and smiled at Princess Krell, radiating anger.
“Did you say something?”
“N-no, nothing…”
“Very well.”
I dispelled the freeze and floated over to the Falling Star God Key in Princess Krell’s hand—and kissed its tip.
In that moment, a massive magic circle deployed above our heads. An intricate gold-glowing array seemed poised and ready, slowly rotating as if anticipating the chance to take effect.
No need to rush, I’ll have it unleash its power soon enough.
Muttering inwardly, I turned to face Princess Krell.
“Now then, Princess Krell. What is your wish…?”
“U-um…you won’t get mad if I say it…right?”
“That depends on the content… Go ahead and tell me.”
“Well…”
Princess Krell’s gaze wandered as she murmured softly:
“Your expression when you kissed the key just now…it was nice~”
“It seems Princess Krell’s mind is quite impure.”
I held my forehead and shook my head left and right.
The moment I take this form, she starts seeking me as if I’m a different person. If that’s the case, I wish she would desire me this much in my normal state too.
It was utterly vexing…but scolding her all the time would be sad. I hated it, but she seemed to like me like this.
Oh well. I supposed I could give her a little treat.
I brought my mouth near Princess Krell’s ear.
“Focus on what we need to do now. When we’re done…I’ll give it to you.”
“…Understood.”
Humans were so simple, loyal to their desires—the mere prospect of a reward drastically boosted her motivation. Of course, I fell within that spectrum too.
As I looked at Princess Krell with an exasperated smile, she closed her eyes, silently voiced her wish in her heart, then spoke the name of the spell.
“Wish Granting.”
In that moment, golden light shone from the tip of Princess Krell’s Falling Star God Key, and the magic circle overhead responded with a dazzling radiance.
The golden brilliance illuminating the capital was unsuited for the quiet night when people slumbered. Eventually it converged to a single point—in a flash, the concentrated light burst, scattering golden particles into the capital’s sky.
Dancing in the air, drifting down onto the night capital, it was like golden snow.
The golden powder snow fell obeying gravity, blown by the wind, disappearing as it melted upon touching the ground. Embodying the principle that all things, no matter how gloriously they reign, eventually decline—it was like watching the vicissitudes of the world.
As I watched, enthralled by the fantastical spectacle, Princess Krell dispelled the magic circle and approached, embracing me from behind while I floated. Why must you hug me?
I shot her a look of protest, but Princess Krell paid it no mind and asked:
“How are the capital’s people?”
“Don’t worry. The wish was granted successfully.”
As I replied, I felt the physical unease from the ‘disorder’ disappear.
With the magic’s effects gone, the people living in the capital would soon open their eyes. Things should return to normal peaceful daily life.
“Oh good… Really…”
Princess Krell heaved a deep sigh of relief from the bottom of her heart. No longer in the angelic form from earlier, she had reverted to her original appearance. I wondered why she could change back immediately while I had to stay a fox spirit for a while. It was far too unequal.
As I inwardly protested to God or whatever, Princess Krell pinched one of my tails between her fingers.
“With this, our recent difficult days have finally come to an end.”
“Yes, my difficult days are over.”
Come to think of it, I really had gone through a lot recently.
After taking on the museum director’s request, I had instructed him on what to do, taken Princess Krell’s verbal poison in her place at the cost of my life, pieced together Erne’s identity from the circumstances, evidence, and her words… And now I had ended up saving all the citizens of the capital along with my own life. Beyond the monthly wages, I deserved additional compensation for working this hard. Specifically, I wanted Princess Krell’s love.
“Particularly in this incident, without me, tens of thousands would certainly have died. By rights, I should get a medal directly from the Emperor for my achievements.”
“Do you want one?”
“I wouldn’t accept it even if I died. Besides, the power to unlock the heavens is our secret.”
As I said this, I placed a finger to my lips.
The final magic that saved the capital’s people—Wish Granting—was power surpassing that of the 7th gate key. By unlocking the seal on the Guardian Shield key with a 7th gate key, one could use this magic. Its effect was literally to fulfill the caster’s wish—an absurd power that even exceeded the principles of this world.
Of course, it couldn’t grant just any wish. To use this magic required massive mana consumption, so there was a limit to the wish one mage could fulfill. Something like immortality was absolutely impossible. It could not make real a wish that defied the world’s principle of impermanence.
Additionally, it could not be activated easily anytime.
The timing when this power could be used was—when I was consigned to an inescapable death.
Only when in a hopeless situation beyond my power, simply awaiting death, could the seal first appear. In other words, Wish Granting was a magic to avert my demise. If I hadn’t been affected by the ‘disorder’ in this incident… the capital would have been destroyed.
Oh, and I had absolutely no idea why I became a fox spirit. This was the one thing I seriously suspected was God or whatever messing with me out of spite.
“I see…a secret between just the two of us, indeed.”
“Yes. If it became known, war would break out.”
While the activation requirements were harsh, if the existence of a power capable of granting wishes became public, war would undoubtedly occur. Humans covered in greed would scramble fiercely for the right to fulfill their desires through conflict. However much one speaks of reason and such, humans are animals—they cannot resist the instinct to satisfy their desires.
And to gain the power to grant wishes, millions would shed their blood, staining the land. Both Princess Krell and I hoped to avoid such a sorrowful outcome.
As the people of the capital gradually began waking up, I urged Princess Krell that we should return home.
“Well then, shall we head back? The townspeople are starting to get up too.”
“Y-yes, I’m exhausted as well, though not like Roth… Ah, but will the museum be okay? I’m sure it’s in chaos.”
“Before leaving the museum, I left instructions on what the director should do next in a memo by his side, so there’s no problem.”
“As expected of you…”
“Naturally, I am a butler.”
“Oh, that reminds me—”
Still speaking, I drew close and kissed Princess Krell’s forehead, interrupting her “Huh, wha—”. For a moment she didn’t comprehend what had happened, then slowly flushed red, hand on the spot my lips had touched.
Our young lady really was easy to tease.
Thinking that, I peered intently into her eyes at close range. With a finger to my lips and a mischievous smile, I said:
“It was a promise that I would give it to you when we finished. You did very well.”
“…!”
Princess Krell, whose mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish, eventually bowed her head without responding. Face completely red, she covered her unseemly mouth to hide it from me.
I would let the issue of her treating me like a child slide with this.
I floated next to my mute master and matched her pace as we headed home.
Thoroughly savoring the sense of fulfillment filling my chest.
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