I Became a Dark Knight the Empress Is Obsessed With

199 – Side Story: Afternoon in Freesia – (7)

“It was my first time.”

“… … .”

“You said it was your first time?”

When I spoke to Fried, who was walking ahead, his shoulders shook as if he felt a sting.

Millia liked that reaction quite a bit, so she lifted her finger and poked his halo. Every time she did, his sturdy back twitched, and today, it felt especially cute.

“Excuse me? You’re still being so dismissive even after having your first experience?”

“Hey, this isn’t your first time!”

“It’s similar. Everything has meaning at first. This was the first time a man put his mouth on my naked body.”

“… … .”

Only then did Fried turn his head with a trembling expression.

And then I looked at Milia, who was smiling brightly, and sighed deeply.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I lost too much blood and needed to replenish it.”

“Your fuel efficiency is not good.”

“Ugh.”

A little while ago, at his request, Milia gave Fried her blood.

At first, I tried to refuse, but Fried’s complexion was too bad. He looked haggard, as all the blood in his body had been sucked out due to his excessive use of blood magic.

In the end, he gave up his neck, but when he imagined the scene of a grown man burying his face in the collarbone and sucking blood, Fried couldn’t help but laugh as it reminded him of a baby sucking its mother’s milk.

“Oh, Sir Fried. Do you know that?”

“huh?”

“My blood is very precious.”

“… … .”

“That’s right. I am the Grand Duchess of Hylings. If I sucked the blood of such a noble woman, especially her first blood, shouldn’t I be held responsible?”

“You hate your family.”

“That’s… … true, but anyway.”

When Millia finally opened her eyes and looked at Fried, he let out a deep sigh as if he had given up. Of course, there was a faint smile on his lips.

It’s a common joke that can be found anywhere, but it takes on a different meaning when said to someone you haven’t seen in years.

“Okay. I’ll take responsibility as you said. What do you want me to do?”

“The store I went to last time. I’ll go there sometime after work.”

“……sighe.”

I still vividly remember wearing a dress and enjoying the royal holiday.

After everything was over, I wanted to visit again, but it fell through for various reasons.

“Okay, let’s do that. If you ever come to the capital, let me know.”

“yes.”

After those words, the sound of footsteps continued.

The clanking of Fried’s boots is followed by the clanking of Millia’s boots.

and.

“… … What is this atmosphere?”

Merta was watching the two with a puzzled expression.

A thousand thoughts were already running through her head.

The attitude that Milia showed toward Gukseo was more like that of an old friend… … and more intense… … and sweet yet stimulating, forbidden… … .

“Uhhh! No! Don’t imagine anything weird, Merta!”

Eventually, Merta stopped her fantasies and buried her head in the staff.

*

As we proceeded a little further through the passage created by Merta’s spirit magic, the campsite where the advance party had set up came into view.

The campsite, half-buried in snow, had already been raided. The tents and pavilions had all been turned upside down.

“Oh my… … .”

Merta fell down. She looked at the stone that had caught her ankle as she swept her buttocks.

And asked about the bubbles.

It wasn’t a boulder. There was a corpse there with its limbs cut off.

“… … .”

Milia narrowed her eyes.

Beneath the knee-deep snow, there were several more corpses.

“Is this the work of the devil?”

Fried said as he looked at the cross-section of the severed limb. In fact, the condition of the corpse was so bad that it looked like someone had torn it apart.

“I guess there are no survivors.”

“… … This is horrible. Why would you do something like this?”

“I guess they have no intention of taking away the Manwolhwa. Those guys are using their evil hands.”

Fried’s face twisted into a look of displeasure.

I picked up the sword that was rolling around on the floor. The blade had Elvish inscriptions on it.

“Is this Rihanna’s sword?”

“yes.”

Fried looked around at his sword and sighed.

She must be practically dead, for a well-trained knight to drop her sword.

“Tsk. To a knight, a sword is more precious than life.”

“… … Ugh.”

At Fried’s sigh-mixed muttering, Milia turned her head sharply.

“… … That’s not what you said.”

“Oh, I know.”

Millia simply hugged the bundle containing the torn runesword tightly.

Fried smiled faintly at the sight, then raised his head and looked up at the sky.

The weather still showed no sign of abating, and if anything, the snowstorm only grew more intense.

“……what?”

Millia was observing Fried like that, and his condition was quite strange.

Fried was staring at a point in space with his eyes wide open, as if there was something great there.

Millia followed his gaze, but all she saw was fluttering snow.

While I was tilting my head, Fried opened his mouth with a much more tense expression than before. Millia also listened to what he said with great tension.

“Milia, listen carefully.”

“yes.”

“The leader of the force targeting this full moon is Sado.”

“……yes?”

Milia opened her eyes wide.

Apostle. Are you talking about the apostle of the church?

“The apostles were definitely all dead… … .”

“That’s right. They’re all dead. I knew that, and it really is.”

Fried continued, his expression hardening.

“This is a kind of ideology. A mission imprinted on the devil of the foreign world.”

“……devil.”

Milia thought deeply.

When I heard the word devil from abroad, only one thing came to mind.

An apostle who commands a semi-solid demon that can expand and divide at will.

It was a formidable enemy that drove Millia to the brink of death.

“Could it be Arwen?”

“Half right, half wrong. You disabled Arwen, and Seira finished her off. The Apostle of Decay is definitely dead.”

“then…….”

“The problem is that the apostle of corruption is dead.”

“… … .”

Millia swallowed her breath.

During the great invasion of the cult, Millia fought off Arwen, even at the risk of suffering irreparable injuries.

And I heard that her sister Seira released her power and killed Arwen.

Yes. Seira killed Arwen after all.

“Sepia, that foreign demon couldn’t be killed.”

Gulp, my mouth fell open.

The devil of foreign news is not dead. That means the danger is not over yet.

“Then what is his purpose?”

“I don’t know for sure. Anyway, I think they’re planning to do something with Manwolhwa. I don’t know what their interests are with the Eisenward lottery faction, but in any case, the two are working together.”

“… … .”

“We have to stop it. That’s why we came here.”

At Fried’s words, Milia looked around.

I feel eyes on me from somewhere.

“There are enemies all around. They could be demons or assassins. We need to move quickly from here.”

“Oh, where to?”

“North. Hilda and her group were probably attacked as well. We have to join them.”

Fried pulled Ernst out, and Milia nodded absentmindedly.

And he woke up Merta by hitting her cheek as she fainted.

*

For Sepia, the extra-dimensional demon, there was no concept of time.

In the dimension of foreign news, there is no concept of time. There is no concept of space, and there is no concept of reality.

Sepia was simply stuck in the corner of the dimension, in the void.

[It’s strange.]

But Sepia, who had been like that, had now become more entangled in time than anyone else.

Even more so than when he became the servant of the apostle of corruption and caused chaos in the world.

The reason is.

“Do you like the body?”

[I don’t know.]

Sepia turned her gaze again as she saw the snow elf bowing its head in front of her.

In front of the full-length mirror is a girl with black hair.

It was a recreation of the childhood of Apostle Arwen, who once had a contractual relationship with Sepia.

It was impossible for Sepia’s aesthetic sense to tell how beautiful this appearance was, but judging from the small gasps of the snow elves who bowed their heads, it seemed to meet the universal standards of beauty.

[I feel strange.]

“That’s because you haven’t been in the hospital for very long. You’ll get used to it soon.”

[How do you open your mouth? How do you move your tongue?]

“I will also contact someone and let you know.”

Sepia was in a state of confusion, unusual for a creature born of chaos.

After Arwen died, he was left alone, cut off from contact with the outside world, and wandered for several years as an idea without substance.

It was these snow elves who elected Sepia as their leader.

If that was the case, then I had to respond to that belief.

Because that must be my master’s will.

[The plan is.]

“It will start soon.”

Sepia turned around.

Moving my first body was awkward, but having spent a long time with Arwen and observing her movements, I didn’t have much trouble.

At the end of Sepia’s gaze, a flower was blooming.

Small flower buds growing on thin stems.

Even though the flower had not yet fully bloomed, it was already emitting crazy mana all around it.

“With that flower, I can strengthen all the demons and soldiers here. It’s not impossible to conquer the world.”

[I don’t care.]

“Yes. The devil is interested in other things.”

The leader of the lottery gang, Regien, raised the corners of his mouth.

“If you help us finish this, we will open the gateway to the outer dimension as promised.”

[promise.]

“Yes. It’s a promise.”

Sepia, who was left alone in the present dimension after losing her only close friend, had only one goal.

Going back to the level of foreign news.

Aiding the Snow Elf’s plans was merely a means to an end.

Sepia slowly approached and tapped Manwolhwa.

The skin that touched it melted because of the deep concentration of mana.

So this is what pain is like. Sepia understood naturally.

[Uncomfortable.]

As expected, the human body was uncomfortable.