After the battle at Palma.
Sybil remained in the capital of Palma.
To be precise, she had tried to follow Frondier and the others but had been sent back.
It was because of what Frondier had said to her after returning from Pandemonium.
“Sybil, you go back to the capital.”
“Why?”
“You showed your face in the capital before I appeared. There will be a lot of people who remember you. If you disappear at the same time as me, you might be mistaken for a devil too.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
Sybil had wanted to stay by Frondier’s side, but Frondier refused adamantly.
Sybil had no intention of returning to the capital just because she might be mistaken for a devil, but she couldn’t disobey Frondier when he said it would be helpful if she stayed in the capital.
“You know, it’s almost like magic. The words ‘for me.’ ‘It would make me happy if you stayed here.’ ‘It would make me happy if you did this.’ You know I can’t refuse when you say that, huh?”
And so, Sybil was now sitting on a bench outside a shop in the capital, eating an ice cream she had bought.
It had already been a few days since she had come to the capital and checked into an inn. Her visit to meet Frondier had turned into a sightseeing trip.
Sybil was eating her ice cream when her gaze shifted to a certain spot.
There were two pictures hanging there that had been put up for a vote some time ago. A vote to choose the most beautiful woman in the capital. The two candidates.
Staring at them, Sybil muttered to herself, “I’m not that bad, am I?”
Munch munch.
Sybil felt inexplicably depressed as she ate her ice cream.
“Honestly, I’m not one to be ashamed of myself. I was popular in Constel too, I mean, I was really popular!”
Of course, there were many other exceptionally beautiful people in Constel besides her. Elodie, Lunia, the transfer student Aten, and so on. And after a while, Selena was added to the list.
Even so, Sybil was still Sybil. There was no way her looks or popularity would ever fade.
“You know why I’m like this, don’t you, Frondier?”
A sigh, and with it, her head drooped, her pink hair falling down.
Her hair had grown even longer than when she was a student. It made her, who was already noticeable, even more so, to the point where everyone who passed by would glance at her at least once.
Caw─
It seemed that a crow was among them. A crow flew past Sybil, cawing.
Then it came back and perched on her shoulder.
“Kaw?”
[Sybil, a message.]
“A message?”
[Ah, no. Force of habit. It’s not a message. Frondier specifically said not to call it a message.]
“If it’s not a message, then what is it?”
[He says he has a favor to ask of you.]
Not a message, but a favor.
‘Don’t call it a message….’
What was the difference between that and a message anyway?
What was the big deal about Frondier’s words?
“……What kind of favor?” Sybil asked, her voice uncharacteristically gloomy.
[Is there going to be another beauty contest in the capital?]
“Huh? I heard there was talk about that.”
The mass fainting incident caused by the sudden appearance of the devil.
There was talk of restarting it since it had been canceled due to external factors.
[He wants you to run as a candidate if the contest is held again.]
“Me? As a candidate? Why?”
[He seems to be interested in the prize for the winner.]
A prize, huh? That was a rather worldly thing for Frondier to be interested in.
Sybil asked, “What if I don’t win?”
[He said that would never happen.]
Hmm.
Hmph…….
“Well, why not? It’s not like it costs money.”
[He said he’ll come see you on the day of the vote. And when it’s all over, he wants to go back to Atlas together, if that’s okay with you.]
“Hmm, is that so?”
Frondier had asked her a favor.
To enter the beauty contest and win. Because he knew she would definitely win.
He said he would come to see her that day. And when it was all over, he wanted to go back to Atlas together.
Hmm.
Hmmmmmmmmmm…….
“Why not? It’s not like it costs money.”
[You just said that.]
“Oh, did I?”
***
After the battle in the capital of Palma, it was the Falind Continent, rather than Agoris, that became busy.
The Imperial Palace in particular.
“Most of the Zodiacs are in shock and have ceased their duties.”
“The only ones who returned to work immediately were Osprey and Monty.”
Emperor Bartello and Empress Philly frowned as they received the report.
Since Bartello had recovered, he had begun to take charge of the training of the Imperial Knights and soldiers, as well as the security of the Empire.
The areas that Philly had been in charge of during the long period of his curse were so vast that it would take time for him to recover.
However, this matter was being handled by both of them. This was because the situation was quite serious and it was not something that could be considered to be under the jurisdiction of either one of them.
Philly sighed. “The only Zodiacs who are unharmed are those who weren’t possessed by Gods, or those who managed to regain themselves even after being possessed….”
“It wouldn’t have been so shocking if the Empire was still devout, but the situation has changed.”
If the Empire was still the Empire of old.
If it was before Frondier’s time, when Bartello was still fighting on the front lines.
Even if Gods had possessed humans, no one would have been shocked. They would have probably been grateful, calling it a divine blessing.
It seemed that the Gods had believed that the Zodiacs of the Empire would still be like that.
“Furthermore, there has been no news of Aster Evans or Zodiac Ludovic since they were sighted heading to Agoris. I don’t think they’re dead, but….”
“The people are starting to worry.”
Long ago, after Frondier left the Empire.
Those who had feared and condemned him as a devil had all, as time passed, become gripped by a great doubt.
Because of the actions of the Zodiacs.
Osprey, the headmaster of Constel, did not respond to any questions about Frondier and refused to give any interviews related to him. Zodiac Ludwig was the same.
Those two were still better, but Zodiac Monty would fly into a rage at the mere mention of Frondier’s name, as if he was about to cause trouble.
The one who had the greatest impact on public opinion was Zodiac Ludovic.
Ludovic himself did nothing.
It was precisely because he did nothing that the matter became a big deal.
Ludovic, who was consumed by guilt and despair, shut himself up in his own home. Seeing him like that, the other Zodiacs were the first to be bewildered, for his loyalty to the Empire was greater than anyone else’s.
Ludovic did not try to convince the other Zodiacs that Frondier was not a devil. He was not interested in such things.
He merely despaired at the result of having judged Frondier as a devil and acted accordingly.
Seeing him like that, the other Zodiacs gradually realized that a terrifying truth was creeping up on them.
─What have we done?
─We drove out the devil.
─We drove out the devil that was trying to take over the Empire.
─The devil who had persuaded the Imperial Palace to gather strong individuals, who had predicted the attack of Manggot, who had gone to the very front lines and defeated the Seven Deadly Sins.
─The devil who had done all that in order to take over the Empire himself.
──But what if he wasn’t a devil?
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