Watching Emilia earnestly communing with the spirits, Hayashi Maki quietly admired her for a while without disturbing her.
In this world, not many people can contract with spirits. Emilia, as a half-elf, is naturally favored by lesser spirits.
Aside from Emilia, the only other true "spirit user" in Lugunica is Anastasia, who has at her side an artificial spirit calling itself Echidna.
Then there's Anastasia's knight, the "Finest of Knights," Julius. Thanks to his "Spiritual Attraction Blessing," he naturally draws spirits to him—spirits grow fond of him and gather around him.
Because of that, he's contracted with four lesser spirits and fights with a special style of spirit swordsmanship, aided by them.
Of course, even that is nothing compared to the walking cheat code that is Reinhard.
The Finest Knight still can't match the strongest Sword Saint.
With Beatrice, Hayashi Maki could also play at being a spirit user.
And Beatrice isn't just any spirit—she's a great spirit, versed in countless spells. As the guardian of the Forbidden Library, she's long since absorbed all the magic in Echidna's tomes.
Now that Hayashi Maki is supplying her with mana, even the so-called "Final Beast" Puck probably wouldn't be her match.
Puck, known as a calamity-class fire spirit, is actually a former human turned into a spirit. He likely has some connection to Emilia's parents.
But in practice, Puck's more like a "domestic drama god" than a world-ender. In the original story, he never really had many shining moments.
Despite being a powerful great spirit, he basically lives a nine-to-five life with fixed log-in and log-out times.
And if he's offline when Emilia dies, then according to their contract, Puck is supposed to end the world.
The funny part?
Before he even gets the chance to rampage and destroy the world, the kingdom's loyal guardian Reinhard shows up and deletes him.
His big "end the world" buildup ends in a whole lot of nothing—basically just impotent rage that never goes anywhere.
To be fair, that's not entirely Puck's fault.
It's more of a setting problem.
Even though he's strong and commands fire mana, Puck spends most of his time suppressing Emilia's mana and sealing her memories to keep her alive and stable.
Meanwhile, Roswaal's a lunatic who keeps hiring assassins to kill his own people—plus he keeps feeding intel that specifically targets his allies.
So of course it's easy for enemies to time their attacks when Puck is offline and go straight for Emilia's throat.
Add in the Witch Cult's assaults, and Emilia's side has it brutally hard.
But now, things are different.
Hayashi Maki's arrival has already changed the fates of a few key people, and the future itself is becoming harder to read.
The direct result is that the Witch Cult's "Gospels"—their prophetic books—have collectively stopped working.
While Hayashi Maki is lost in thought, Emilia finally finishes her nighttime practice.
When she notices him standing nearby, her cheeks flush slightly.
"Hayashi Maki, when did you get here? And Beatrice too…"
"I just came a little while ago," he replies with a smile, pinching Beatrice's cheek to tease her while he answers. "You were busy working with the spirits, so I didn't want to interrupt."
Beatrice bites his finger in protest, then closes her eyes and nestles contentedly in his arms, looking completely at ease.
Seeing that, Emilia feels a warm, gentle feeling rise in her chest. It looks… really cozy.
"Hayashi Maki really is such a mysterious person," she murmurs. "Even Beatrice is that close to you."
"That's because I genuinely like Beatrice," Hayashi Maki says with a grin. "So of course we get along well. And my feelings toward you are the same, Emilia."
"U-ugh… You keep saying things like that, I… I'm really going to take you seriously, you know!"
As expected, Emilia's entire face turns bright red, looking adorably flustered.
"I am being serious," Hayashi Maki presses on, eyes heating up as he looks at her.
The silver-haired beauty in her white nightgown, with her elegant curves and snow-white skin, looks like she walked straight out of a fantasy illustration—like some fairy bride from a storybook.
Ridiculously cute, pure yet dangerously tempting.
Cute. Very "dateable."
Hearing the sincerity in his voice, Emilia can't help a wry smile.
"I'm a silver-haired half-elf, you know. A lot of people say I'm the reincarnation of the Witch of Envy. They call me half-demon. You know that and still want to be my knight?"
"Of course!" Hayashi Maki replies without hesitation. "In fact, silver-haired half-elves are the best. Emilia—please let me serve as your knight from now on."
He boldly takes her small hand, eyes burning with conviction.
"U-um… then… if you don't mind… Sir Hayashi Maki," she stammers, taking a deep breath as a tender smile blooms on her face, "this unworthy girl… will be in your care from now on."
And just like that, Emilia finally has a knight of her own.
It marks a deeper level of trust between them.
"Then I'll be in your care as well, Emilia—my princess," Hayashi Maki says with a laugh.
He gently sets Beatrice down, then takes Emilia's hand and raises it, placing a kiss on the back of it in a formal knight's gesture.
Emilia feels a sudden warmth on the back of her hand, a strange tingling that makes her heart pound faster.
"W-well… it's getting late. I still have my evening prayers to finish, and then I need to get some rest. Staying up late is a girl's worst enemy."
"Mm. I know. Good night, Hayashi Maki," she says, smiling softly before leaving the pavilion and heading back to her room.
Hayashi Maki then spends a while coaxing a jealous Beatrice, until the little spirit is smiling sweetly again.
After taking a bath, he goes to bed with Beatrice in his arms.
Half-asleep, he suddenly feels black mist filling the room.
A twisted figure slowly approaches his bed…
"You're not him… You're not him…"
The indistinct silver-haired woman mutters in confusion, a hand of blackened mana stretching out to grip Hayashi Maki's throat.
Hayashi Maki opens his eyes and smiles confidently. "I'm not him—that's why I'm the one who can save you. And from now on… he won't exist. Only me."
With that, he breaks free from the invisible hand, grabs the "Witch of Envy's" arm, pulls her into his embrace, and presses his lips to hers.
The veil over the witch's face melts away.
It's a face identical to Emilia's.
With the same features as Emilia, the girl looks at him with tear-filled eyes and weakly pushes him away.
"You'll die… The future can't be changed… If it's you, you'll definitely be able to kill me…"
"…That might be best… I'll leave it to you…"
She speaks to herself, then dissipates into black mist.
Hayashi Maki touches his lips, mood oddly exhilarated.
"As expected… that's the Emilia of the future."
"But there's no way I'm killing such a cute and kind girl. Just wait—I'll save you, and change everything."
[Congratulations, player. You have obtained the Witch of Envy's Blessing, and unlocked the special ability: Return by Death.]