The Final Obstacle

"So, I'm thinking of finding a master."

I summoned Holkina and laid out my thoughts.

Regret—born as an Eternal Slave, yet never having a master, never able to be a slave. That was the regret.

Dragging that regret behind her, she’s ended up like this.

"Me? You’re saying you want me to be your master?"

Ah, that’s right.

Heh heh heh, fine with me. It’s too late for that now. We’re not Eternal Slaves anymore.

"Really?"

Yeah, it’s fine.

Holkina nodded and declined.

Well, saying no was expected.

"Are you sure this is really alright?"

Uh-huh

“Last time—really, are you sure this is alright?”

I said it's fine, didn't I?

"Yeah, I didn’t really want to use this hand, but..."

Liar.

Holkina refusing was expected.

Other regrets would definitely refuse, but I figured Holkina had a fifty-fifty chance of accepting.

So I asked her first.

The stubbornness common to regretful humans.

It was there in Holkina too.

“This hand… what’re you planning, Akito-chan?”

“Watch this.”

I raised my hand and gave the signal.

Before calling Holkina, I’d already contacted headquarters and set things in motion.

“What’s that… nothing’s happening, is it?”

“It takes time to impact, this.”

“Impact? — Kyaa!”

Right after she asked, the ground shook.

A thunderous rumble. The earth trembled. Holkina lost her balance.

“What’re you doing, Akito-chan?”

“This is the main cannon of the Risha-class ground battleship, the Risha. Number One.”

“A battleship’s main cannon!?”

“Which means—”

The words had barely left my mouth when footsteps echoed.

Soldiers poured down the path carved by the battleship’s cannon fire.

“Your Majesty!”

“Fast work, Svetlana.”

“Hai!”

“Svetlana! What’re you—!?”

"Sorry. It's my master's command."

"Damn it."

Holkina groans.

She’s got a lot she wants to say, but as a former Eternal Slave, she knows the weight of an Eternal Slave’s “master’s command.”

To an Eternal Slave, a master’s order carries that much gravity.

They’d carry out even the order to kill their own parents.

Compared to that, seizing the village she once lived in and standing before her closest friend? Not much of a big deal.

"Yulia, take control of the village."

"Yes."

"The priority is capturing everyone. The top priority is capturing the queen."

"Understood."

Yulia led her soldiers into the village.

No screams. No shouts.

I half-expected some resistance. Even that was gone.

Well, none is none. Doesn’t matter anyway.

I locked the handcuffs—made by DORECA—onto the speechless Holkina.

"Shall we go?"

"Go where?"

"The fate of a woman in a defeated nation? Doesn’t change much, even in this world."

I smiled, said that.

☆

Everyone gathered in the village’s center, the square.

Rigret, who’d offered little resistance, was now all bound and assembled.

At the center stood Holkina—and the queen, Jeyna.

"What do you think you’re doing?"

"A war, sent by one nation to another. Took only a moment. Historians’ll be scratching their heads over whether it even counts as war."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Never fought a war before. Just wanted to try."

"..."

Jeyna stared at me with a flat, unimpressed look.

Of course I wasn’t serious. But she didn’t catch it.

Not even that mattered. She looked at me like it was all the same—like nothing at all.

"Alright, the regret ones are prisoners now. Defeated in war, captured."

"So what?"

"Victorious nations usually make conquered women slaves, you know."

"That won’t happen."

"‘We’re not becoming slaves to humans, not now!’"

Inspired by Jeanya’s voice, the previously listless Regret group suddenly erupted in protest.

Of course it was Regret. Regret and stubbornness always come together.

Well, that was expected too.

"Should be coming soon."

"Coming? Akito-chan, what are you planning?"

"That’s—"

Before he could answer, the ground cracked open with a thud.

From the hole emerged a woman.

A serpent from the waist down—queen of the underground realm, Rira.

"Apologies for the delay, honored messenger."

"Long time no see, Rira. You’re well?"

"Yes. Some children were born. Please visit again soon."

"Got it."

"So, why did you summon me, messenger-sama?"

Rirya tilted her head, puzzled.

I was thinking of boosting your labor power.

"Manpower?"

“The nest’s getting cramped, isn’t it? And aren’t the soldiers due for a little more attention about now?”

"Yeah, but... Ambassador-sama, I'm just a human..."

"Yeah, I know."

I nod.

“Humans are hunting you all to death, so you’re saying no, right?”

Yes

That's why I prepared something not human.

Saying that, she jabbed the bound Regretts.

"That one."

"What’s that...?"

Former Eternal Slave, Regret.

"Ah... not human..."

I'm giving you all of these. Use them well—expand the nest, make it grow.

"Are you sure this is alright?"

“Ah.”

Thank you, messenger-sama!

Lira shot out from the hole and clung to me.

Clung to me just like she did the last time I made her lay an egg.

I gently set her down, then turned to the others—Jenya and Holkina, my Regretts.

“That’s the deal. From today on, all of you are Rira’s slaves.”

“N-no, we—”

“Rira’s not human, as you can see. And you don’t get a choice. You lost the war.”

A farce, really.

But a surprisingly effective one.

Jenya’s icy expression from before? Gone. The other Regretts all had feverish eyes.

“Slave… can I really become a slave?”

“There’s no other way…”

“Slave…”

They murmured it, one after another.

What they all shared—was the joy.

The joy of becoming an Eternal Slave. The very thing they’d once dreamed of.

The ice cracked.

Their stubborn pride—centered on Queen Jenya—melted away, clean and total.

All of them stared at Rirya with fevered eyes.

I slipped away quietly.

Taking Svetlana, who had come charging in, I slipped away from the village.

As if waiting, the Demon God was there.

“Such a remarkable girl… solving it all with such a hand.”

“Good thing it worked out. If not, I’d have had to take on a whole army of slaves myself.”

Still, that was only a last resort. Rirya’s side wasn’t looking promising.

“Lucky girl.”

“Huh?”

“Congratulations. I’m saying it.”

“What do you mean?”

“You cleared every obstacle. Every single one that would’ve blocked the world’s rebirth.”

“Every… one?”

“Rirya was the last obstacle I left behind. And I’m the one you’ve sealed away.”

“…So that means…”

“Sweetheart. No need to fear. It’s just work now. So go on, do your best.”

“…”

I was speechless.

A little of it I’d anticipated.

The obstacle to world rebirth had been the Demon Goddess all along—from start to finish.

After sealing her power, I’d thought it’d just be a matter of cleaning up whatever she left behind.

Risha being last was unexpected, but overall… still within expectation.

“So… that means…”

A bit premature, maybe.

The world— is going to be reborn.