I Was Just Having Fun With The Time Limit – Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Serna tightly grasped Ron’s hand.

“Calm down. Here. Take a deep breath. Follow me. Hoo- Haa-”

He was enraged to the point of losing his reason, but he followed Serna’s “Hoo- Haa-” and took deep breaths to calm down.

The armrests – made of metal – of the chair Ron was sitting on were completely shattered.

Ron’s office was filled with a murderous aura.

However, that aura strangely avoided Serna’s surroundings as it spread.

Ron, afflicted with the ‘inability to direct anger towards his wife no matter how furious he is’ syndrome, took deep breaths and calmed himself.

“Serna, are you not angry?”

Serna saw the back of Ron’s hand.

The veins were bulging more than usual.

It was a secret only Serna knew that Ron’s hands became like that when he was truly angry.

Serna squeezed Ron’s hand tightly.

“I am angry. I’m really, really angry. They crossed the line.”

“Perhaps we have been too peace-loving, Serna.”

“But, Krias is already dead. There’s no one left to be angry at.”

“Serna, do you really believe this was Krias’s doing alone?”

It wasn’t that Serna wasn’t angry.

In fact, she was even angrier than Ron.

That’s why she said they had to prepare more thoroughly.

“I don’t think it was his doing alone either. The Magic Federation must have had a hand in it. However, they’ve declared it to be Krias’s individual deviation. They also said they would confiscate all of Krias’s assets and present them to us as an apology. If we declare war here, we’ll be the ones who look foolish. Not only do we lack justification, but crucially, the people are too afraid. Regardless of the facts, we are the scary and barbaric Sword Demons, and the Magic Federation are the gentle and wise people of wisdom, aren’t they?”

“Who would think that?”

“Most people do. For 500 years, Bilotian hasn’t cared about politics or the media. They said things like image-making are what cowardly petty people do.”

Nevertheless, the fact that they had endured for 500 years was also proof of how strong Bilotian swordsmanship was.

“If this was the will of the Magic Federation, we need to investigate more carefully and subtly.”

“……”

“No. Actually, whether it was their will or not doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“Regardless of the facts, I have absolutely no intention of letting them go.”

She already knew that Isabel had outstanding magical talent.

She also knew that this would continue to irritate the Magic Federation.

Even if it wasn’t for this incident, Isabel and the Magic Federation were bound to clash repeatedly.

Of course, if the Magic Federation was behind this incident, they would take even more brutal revenge.

“I have decided to bring them to their knees. Our daughter doesn’t have much time left. Even if it were filled with only happiness and joy, it would still be a short time.”

“……”

“I want to give our daughter a slightly happier world. I intend to show Isabel’s enemies exactly who Isabel’s mother is.”

Ron looked at Serna.

Within Serna, a flame colder than ice was burning fiercely.

Although the way she expressed her anger was different from Ron’s, Serna was undoubtedly furious.

“Leave it to me. I’ll prepare slowly, little by little, but perfectly.”

Serna bit her lip.

She was a mother who already carried a tremendous sense of guilt towards her children, like a lump of iron in her chest.

Because of the Empire’s affairs being so busy.

She had hardly spent any time with her children, using busyness as an excuse.

She was called the ‘Monarch of Gentleness’ and had been a great mother to the people of the Empire, but she hadn’t been a good mother to her own children.

That guilt had always weighed heavily on Serna’s heart.

And then, this incident had occurred.

Her anger grew uncontrollably, fueled by her guilt towards her children.

Ron, who had read Serna’s mind, nodded.

This time, it was Ron who squeezed Serna’s hand tightly.

“Serna, I trust you.”

“Thank you.”

“And someday, when the time comes, use me at your command. I will become your strongest sword.”

Serna smiled faintly.

It was a warm smile, befitting the Monarch of Gentleness.

“If that time ever comes, please dance with your sword.”

Her father’s sword dance.

✦✦✦✦✦✦

The bombing of Calfoa Village left numerous scars on the residents.

The Magic Federation issued a grand apology at the federal level and declared that they would confiscate all of Krias’s assets and dedicate them to the Imperial family.

They also stated that the Magic Federation would actively participate in Calfoa’s disaster recovery efforts and paid an enormous amount of compensation to the bereaved families.

Externally, it was announced as ‘a mistake caused by Krias’s misunderstanding and hasty sense of justice’.

Two days after the attack, Isabel regained consciousness.

“Your Highness?”

Someone embraced Isabel tightly.

Although their physique was much larger than Isabel’s, at this moment, they were smaller than her.

“I thought I had lost you again.”

“That……”

Isabel pushed Viaton, who was hugging her, away.

“Wait a moment, Teacher. Please let go of me.”

“……”

Viaton moved away from Isabel with an expression as if he had lost the entire world.

“Does my body smell that bad?”

He had rushed here as soon as he heard the news.

He didn’t have time to clean himself or apply fragrance.

“That’s not it. Teacher’s feelings are being conveyed to me, and it’s too much for me to handle.”

Viaton had said “again”.

The immense despair of possibly losing a precious person twice was transmitted to Isabel’s heart, and it was too much for her to bear, having just woken up.

“It’s not because my body smells, right?”

“No, absolutely not!”

For reasons she didn’t quite understand, Viaton always had a refreshing scent.

Although it was incredibly cheesy, it was to the point where she wanted to bury her face in his back and smell him.

‘He would hate it if I actually did that, right?’

She decided to hold back.

Viaton replied.

“……I understand. Then I’ll wait a little.”

Viaton had also regained his composure.

And he heard the details of what had happened from Armitel and Isabel.

“So, you’re saying that you don’t know exactly what happened, but when you came to, Krias had collapsed?”

“Yes. He was already dead when I checked. And as you know……”

They couldn’t gather any proper evidence.

Because when the investigator urgently dispatched from the Empire touched Krias’s body, it vanished like smoke.

“Did you confirm for certain that he was dead?”

“I thought so when I saw him. However, since he was the Creation Mage, he might have played some other trick.”

So, just like Wilhelm, Krias was also declared missing.

Viaton looked around the scene to see if there were any other clues.

There were also some useless testimonies.

『I protected Isabel.』

“Alright. Let’s say you protected her, Kim Weakling.”

『Not Weakling.』

『King Real Deal.』

『I defeated him.』

“According to Lieutenant General Armitel, you fainted as soon as Krias appeared?”

Honey Badger, sensing Krias’s aura, bristled his fur and bared his teeth, but he fainted, overwhelmed by the murderous aura emitted by the Creation Mage.

Honey Badger’s presence in this battle was very insignificant.

“Or how about your name, Kim Fainty? You fainted right away, you know?”

『Liar!』

『Honey Badger didn’t faint!』

Kyaak!

Honey Badger curled his lip and growled at Viaton.

Outwardly, he acted like that, but inwardly, Honey Badger was also feeling conflicted.

He felt like he kept hearing hallucinations.

━━You saw it too, right? That scary guy?

Honey Badger answered inwardly.

As the mysterious voice echoed, Honey Badger became capable of higher-level thinking and conversation.

━━Honey Badgers don’t get scared.

━━That dragon violated the laws of our kind. That power was definitely the power of a dragon, a power that shouldn’t be used when in human form.

━━Honey Badger didn’t understand. What are you talking about?

━━Remember. How that dragon drew out the power of his true form during play. If that dragon can do it, we can do it too.

Honey Badger closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

He didn’t know why, but he felt like he had to.

━━If we don’t figure out how, we’ll forget Isabel. That someday, we’ll have to leave Isabel.

Honey Badger shot up.

『No.』

Tears like chicken droppings streamed down Honey Badger’s eyes.

Parting with Isabel, that was too horrible to imagine.

Honey Badger ran to Asellia, who was lying in bed, and jumped onto her stomach.

『Teach me.』

Startled, Isabel rushed over and lifted Honey Badger.

“Honey Badger! Lia is a patient. You have to be careful.”

『Teach me!』

Honey Badger’s eyes were slightly out of focus, but Isabel didn’t notice.

The only one who noticed that subtle difference was Viaton.

However, Viaton remained silent and just watched Honey Badger, and Isabel asked again.

“What do you want me to teach you?”

『How to do bad things!』

Having said that much, Honey Badger suddenly came to his senses.

Honey Badger didn’t remember what he had just said at all.