Arc 8 – The Hero, Against the Wolf Knight
On the Sky Island, after the incident of the masked thief, Eli and Sakura Dry sat together at a table, nibbling on pastries. The sun slowly sank beyond the horizon, the sky glowing crimson, and the island's peace seemed to make them forget the turmoil of recent days.
Eli broke the silence with a mischievous smile.
"Instead of a magical book, you ended up with two diaries. You really messed that up, my dear friend!" she laughed loudly.
Sakura Dry answered thoughtfully, turning a piece of pastry in her hand.
"But one of those diaries is yours. Doesn't it bother you that he read it?"
"It doesn't matter," Eli waved dismissively. "That's a story from a thousand years ago. With the mind I have today, I could never fall in love with such a pathetic hero."
"Well, yes," Sakura Dry nodded. "A thousand years is indeed a very long time."
Eli leaned closer, curiosity in her eyes.
"What about you? Were you never in love with your own Hero?"
Sakura Dry's gaze drifted for a moment, as though trying to summon memories from the shadows of the past.
"I don't think so. I liked the Hero, and the others too, but only as friends and comrades. I was in love with swordsmanship itself. As for the Hero… I don't know. Looking back, perhaps he felt more for me. Before the final battle, he came to me, saying he had something to tell—but decided he would say it after the fight. I did not survive the battle against the Demon King. What became of the Hero after that, only Uriel knows."
"Don't you want to ask her?" Eli interjected.
"The Demon King was defeated," Sakura Dry answered softly. "That is what matters."
"I see," Eli nodded. "Well, I suppose you didn't leave behind a diary or anything like that?"
"I didn't write a diary," Sakura Dry smiled. "But everywhere we went, we carved our names: Here were the three swordsmen. I remember it as if it were yesterday. Yet five hundred years have passed since then."
At that moment, Uriel stepped over to them, her eyes flashing toward the pastries left on the table.
"Did you save any for me?"
"Well, Saku nearly devoured them all," Eli remarked mockingly.
"I did not!" Sakura Dry protested. "I deliberately left your share untouched!"
"So you would have eaten them, but didn't dare," Eli laughed.
Uriel, however, shifted the topic.
"What do you think of the Young Wolf's masked persona?"
"I thought it was pretty cool," Sakura Dry answered with almost childlike enthusiasm. "Liverpool!"
"Is that some kind of Earth‑world disguise?" Eli asked suspiciously.
"Let's put it this way," Uriel explained calmly, "Earth‑world heroes like to run around in costumes like that."
"Do Earth‑world heroes have something wrong with their brains?" Eli grumbled.
"They are all people of culture," Uriel replied serenely.
Sakura Dry raised her hand with a laugh, as if to toast.
"Magical Masked Thief, Liverpool! Go for it!"
But Eli continued in a more serious tone.
"What is remarkable is that he instantly became the Kingdom's most wanted criminal. His bounty is no less than five hundred gold."
"That's certainly not a small sum," Sakura Dry noted, as the group slowly fell into silence.
On the Sky Island, in a quiet garden, Eli, Sakura Dry, and Uriel sat around a stone table. The sun was already low, the air filled with the sweet scent of pastries, and the group had fallen into lighthearted conversation.
Eli suddenly lifted her head, her eyes flashing playfully.
"Tell me, Uriel, how much was Ironclaw's bounty in the Evil Future?"
Uriel answered gravely, as though recalling an old memory.
"In the Evil Future, Ironclaw's bounty was six hundred gold."
Sakura Dry smiled, then remarked mockingly:
"Then essentially Liverpool lost to Ironclaw."
"Why would he have lost?" Eli protested. "In our timeline, Ironclaw has no bounty on her head. They even let her into the ball."
"Because in this timeline, Ironclaw is just a cute little wolf," Sakura Dry replied lightly. "But since we're talking about the Evil Future—who won the knightly tournament in that timeline?"
Uriel sighed.
"In the Evil Future, no knightly tournament was held. The Wolfwood house perished, its lands became a nest of bandits. Only ruins remained of the castle. The Kingdom was in no state to hold festivals."
Eli leaned back with satisfaction.
"Then in our timeline, this Hero's festival exists solely thanks to our agent!"
"The Young Wolf did his job well again," Sakura Dry agreed.
Uriel, however, furrowed her brow.
"But stealing all of the Princess's panties was going too far."
"If he hadn't emptied the drawer, he wouldn't have found the Princess's diary," Eli retorted with a sly smile. "So I think it's better this way."
"Why, was there something important in that diary?" Sakura Dry asked.
"Isn't it important enough that the Princess is a lesbian?" Eli replied with a half‑smile.
"And what about the Hero? Which way does Eris lean?" Sakura Dry pressed further.
"How should I know?" Eli laughed. "Maybe she's just as obsessed with swords as you are."
Uriel spoke in a serious tone.
"In the Evil Future, Eris showed no romantic feelings toward anyone. For now, in our timeline, she hasn't either—but that could change."
"So who do you think will win the knightly tournament?" Sakura Dry asked.
"Well, theoretically, it should be the Hero," Eli answered.
"I don't know," Sakura Dry shook her head. "Andrea seems pretty strong to me, especially with that trump card the Young Wolf developed so she could defeat the Blue Ogre one‑on‑one."
"The group stage matches will all be interesting," Uriel remarked.
Eli then stood up and placed several mugs on the stone table.
"I chilled some beer, and I've set out some salty snacks too."
"You're the best, Eli!" Sakura Dry laughed. "The pastries weren't enough anyway."
Uriel lifted her head suddenly.
"Shall I hop over to the Earth‑world for pizza?"
"Bring me one from that boot‑shaped peninsula," Eli replied. "They bake the best there!"
"I'll take one from there too," Sakura Dry added.
Uriel smiled.
"I'd be bringing them from the same place anyway. Or do you expect me to travel across the entire Earth‑world just for you?"
"If you're going to the Earth‑world, bring ice cream too," Eli chimed in.
"And for me, that chocolate with big hazelnut chunks!" Sakura Dry requested.
Uriel finally shook her head with a laugh.
"Maybe I should hire a personal maid to do the shopping for me. But alas, only angels can travel between worlds."