BRAND NEW WORLD

Once again, a teleportation circle appeared, revealing five silhouettes beyond the curtain of light.

One of them stepped out first.

Rima.

Three unfamiliar men followed behind her. Each wore a hanfu of a different design and pattern. For some reason, the sight of them immediately reminded me of martial arts film stars from the old days.

I rose from my seat and was about to approach them when the final figure emerged from the teleportation circle.

My steps came to an abrupt halt.

Oh?

So, this group was the delegation from Kalimantra.

Among everyone who had just arrived, her eyes found mine almost immediately. I hadn’t even had the chance to greet her when a familiar voice rang out.

"Grandma!"

"Raisya!"

Ignoring everyone around her, Raisya hurried straight towards me.

"Grandma! How have you been?"

"Raisya! It’s been a long time."

We wrapped our arms around each other in a tight embrace.

It had been quite some time since I had last seen her. Yet the smile on her face was exactly as I remembered it.

Raisya eventually released me and looked me over from head to toe.

"I heard you were unconscious for seven days. I was worried when I heard about it."

"As you can see, I’m perfectly fine now."

"Thank goodness."

Her smile blossomed once more.

"I didn’t expect you to come here as well."

"I’m the Knight Captain, Grandma. Of course I have to escort the King."

"Ah... right."

Meanwhile, Ringga was welcoming the three men who had arrived with them.

One of them wore a crown. It wasn’t particularly difficult to guess which of the three was the king.

"How is Rama?" I asked. "It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him too."

"Rama’s doing well, Grandma."

"That’s good to hear. Perhaps we should arrange a gathering for the whole family sometime. Hehe."

"That’s a great idea, Grandma!"

The two of us laughed.

"Agreed!" Rima chimed in. She had been standing beside Raisya all this time, smiling as she watched us.

Not long afterwards, Ringga brought the three men over to us. Following a brief introduction, we led the entire group towards the gazebo.

Once everyone had taken their seats, Ringga stood at one side of the table.

"First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the representatives of the kingdoms who have taken the time to come here despite your busy schedules."

Ringga paused.

"As you can see..."

He turned towards me.

"...my wife has made a full recovery. She suffered no serious injuries or wounds that would threaten her life."

I blinked.

My wife?

I glanced at him.

Ringga had already turned back towards our guests and continued speaking with his usual calm expression, as though he hadn’t just said something that left my thoughts hopelessly caught on those two words.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rima covering her mouth with one hand.

Her shoulders trembled slightly.

Hey.

Don’t laugh.

"It is only right that we come to visit Miss Luna," King Siegfried replied. "We are all delighted to see that you have recovered."

I quickly turned my attention to him.

"Thank you very much, King Siegfried."

Afterwards, Shany, representing the Kingdom of Nyrranthea, and Princess Zeba of the Kingdom of Moesram also offered their congratulations.

Last came the delegation from Kalimantra.

"Lun," Rima said, "allow me to introduce King Indra Astrajingga Sastranagara of Kalimantra."

The man wearing the crown gave me a slight nod.

"Beside him are Prime Minister Benny Kartasasmita and Adviser Barnabas Depari."

The two men greeted me in turn.

I responded with a slight bow of my head.

"It is an honour to meet you finally, Miss Lunaria," King Indra said. "But first, please allow me to congratulate you on your recovery."

"Thank you, King Indra."

Only now did I have the opportunity to take a proper look at him.

King Indra’s attire differed somewhat from that of the two men beside him. He wore a green hanfu decorated with golden embroidery and ornaments along nearly every edge. Even among the nobles gathered here, his appearance was striking enough to stand out.

"I would also like to apologise," King Indra continued. "Although Miss Luna has visited the capital, Bhorneo, on numerous occasions, we have never had the opportunity to meet."

"I understand. As a king, you must have countless matters demanding your attention. Besides, why would you make time to meet some ordinary adventurer from the middle of nowhere?"

The three men from Kalimantra stared at me in surprise.

Eh?

Why?

"Is something wrong?"

"No... nothing at all," King Indra replied with a slightly strained smile.

Prime Minister Benny quietly cleared his throat.

Apparently, I’d said something strange again.

"In any case," I continued, "I’m actually the one who should thank Kalimantra for taking care of Raisya, Rama, and Lemurian."

"N-No, not at all!" Prime Minister Benny hurriedly replied. "We should be the ones thanking you. They have contributed tremendously, not only to the development of the capital, Bhorneo, but to the entire Kingdom of Kalimantra."

"Indeed," Adviser Barnabas added. "We must also thank Miss Luna for helping us resolve the bandit problem in Movento, as well as the monster attack on Sivanto Village."

Sivanto Village.

The moment that name was spoken, I felt something clutch at my clothes.

I looked down.

Daisy, who was sitting beside me, had suddenly gone rigid. Her small hand tightly gripped the fabric near my thigh.

Ah...

I understood immediately.

"What has passed should be left in the past," I said before the conversation about the village could continue.

Then I glanced at Ringga.

Ga, change the subject.

Ringga looked at Daisy.

Only for a moment.

Got it.

I reached for Daisy’s small hand and gently held it in mine.

Daisy looked up.

I didn’t say anything. I smiled and gave her a small nod.

Slowly, her grip loosened.

The tension gradually faded from her face.

Ringga immediately clapped his hands.

"All right! Since everyone is finally here, how about we eat first?"

He called for Lusserina, Abiyasa, and Anandhita to bring out the dishes that had been prepared.

Before long, the long table before us was filled with all manner of food.

The atmosphere became considerably more relaxed once lunch began.

The formal conversation gradually gave way to casual chatter. Now and then, laughter could be heard from one end of the table, while Daisy busied herself with the food before her as though the earlier incident had never happened.

Seeing that put me a little more at ease.

After a while, I turned towards Shany.

"Shany, how is Nyrranthea doing after the war?"

Shany paused and glanced at Shana, who was seated beside her.

Shana answered with a small nod.

"After Mother returned and told everyone that we’d won and the war was over, naturally, the entire kingdom was overjoyed," Shany replied. "As soon as the victory was announced, people poured into the streets. They kept cheering until nightfall."

"Oh..."

I could picture it.

"Fortunately, we didn’t lose many people either," Shany continued. "Most of the damage was to the land and several areas where the fighting took place. So for now, we’re focusing mainly on recovery."

"Thank goodness."

Knowing there had been relatively few casualties made my chest feel a little lighter.

"Oh, right."

Ringga suddenly cut in.

"Almost all the players came here to visit you too, you know."

I turned towards him.

"Almost everyone?"

Ringga nodded.

"People started arriving the day after you lost consciousness," he explained. "Even in the days that followed, some still came all the way here just to ask how you were doing."

I fell silent.

"..."

"What Father said is true, Mom," Daisy suddenly added.

I looked at her.

"Really?"

Daisy nodded enthusiastically.

"Mm! There were so many! Daisy didn’t even recognise some of them."

Ringga chuckled.

"That’s because most of them had never met Daisy before. Of course she wouldn’t know who they were."

I lowered my gaze to the table.

Seven days.

For me, that time had barely seemed to exist.

I had closed my eyes in this world, only to open them in the place where Adhama and Hawra awaited me. By the time I returned, it felt as though only a few moments had passed.

But for them...

Seven days had truly gone by.

Seven mornings.

Seven nights.

For all that time, the people in this house had waited without knowing when—or whether—I would open my eyes again.

Without thinking, I reached out and gently stroked Daisy’s head.

The little girl looked up at me in confusion.

I smiled.

"Thank you for waiting for me."

Daisy’s face lit up.

"Hehehe..."

I turned my attention back to our guests.

"What about Moesram and Kalimantra?"

"There is no need for Miss Luna to worry," Prince Hasby replied. "Our territory lies far enough from the centre of the fighting that we were barely affected. Moesram remains relatively stable."

King Indra nodded.

"The same is true for Kalimantra. Although we dispatched a number of troops to assist on the battlefield, all of them returned safely."

He inclined his head slightly.

"For that, we would like to express our gratitude to Lord Ringga and Miss Luna."

"You’re being far too formal," Ringga replied. "Besides, we weren’t the only ones who fought. Protecting this world is a responsibility shared by all of us."

For a moment, the table fell silent.

Then King Siegfried nodded.

"Indeed."

The others followed.

I looked around at everyone seated at the table.

Nuzantra.

Nyrranthea.

Moesram.

Kalimantra.

Not long ago, people from these kingdoms had stood upon the same battlefield, facing the same enemy.

And now, they were sitting together in my backyard, enjoying lunch beneath a gazebo that hadn’t even existed this morning.

I glanced at Ringga.

He was eating without a care in the world.

...It was still difficult to believe that this gazebo had been built in only a few hours.

Our conversation continued after that. There was no more serious talk of war. Instead, we discussed the reconstruction of damaged regions, trade, and a handful of minor events from the past few days.

Eventually, dessert came to an end.

The representatives of each kingdom began preparing to return home.

We had only just risen from our seats when—

"A-A dragon!"

Eh?

"T-There’s a dragon coming this way!" Adviser Barnabas shouted.

Everyone immediately turned in the direction he was pointing.

Towards the middle of the lake.

And sure enough—

A large silver dragon was flying low over the surface of Lake Dewata, heading straight towards us.

Strangely enough, the dragon was wobbling through the air as though it had only just learnt how to fly.

Several of our guests instinctively took a step back.

The tension that had disappeared moments ago instantly returned to the gazebo.

I reflexively pulled Daisy behind me.

But...

I narrowed my eyes.

That dragon...

For some reason, it felt familiar.

When it finally reached the edge of the lake, someone suddenly leapt from its back.

The man landed calmly on the ground.

"Yo!"

I blinked.

"Ares?"

Ares raised one hand as though arriving on the back of a silver dragon were the most ordinary thing in the world.

My gaze shifted towards the dragon behind him.

Then—

"RINGGA!"

A thunderous voice suddenly echoed inside my head.

I flinched.

And I wasn’t the only one.

Several people around the gazebo wore equally confused expressions, glancing at one another as though they had all heard the same voice.

Only one person didn’t appear confused.

Ringga.

Instead, he let out a long sigh and placed one hand on his hip.

Oh?

I slowly turned towards him.

The silver dragon opened its mouth again.

"You bastard! You moved us while we were asleep! And on top of that, we couldn’t even go anywhere!"

I stared at the dragon.

Then at Ringga.

Dragon.

Ringga.

Wait.

Don’t tell me...

"Ringga."

Ringga’s entire body stiffened.

Slowly, he turned towards me.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Ah..."

His eyes shifted to the left.

Then to the right.

"Well, about that..."

Why are you avoiding my eyes?

Before I could question him any further, Ringga suddenly snapped his fingers.

A magic circle appeared directly beneath the silver dragon’s feet.

Light surged upwards, enveloping its entire body.

A few seconds later, the enormous dragon vanished.

And in its place—

A man stood upon the same spot.

I raised an eyebrow.

Knight Commander Deva.

I knew it.

Somehow, ever since the dragon had started cursing Ringga, I’d had a feeling about its true identity. Ares standing beside it only made my suspicion stronger.

So the sight before me wasn’t particularly surprising.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the two men behind me.

"Commander Deva!"

King Siegfried and Prime Minister Allan shouted almost simultaneously.

Both immediately hurried towards him.

"Y-You can turn into a dragon?!" King Siegfried exclaimed.

"Ah..."

Deva looked at King Siegfried.

Then Allan.

Then Ringga.

"No, well... this is..."

For the first time, I saw a Knight Commander genuinely at a loss for words.

Ringga surveyed the situation before him.

Then he took one step backwards.

Oh?

Wait.

I know that look.

"Ringga?"

"My apologies, ladies and gentlemen," he suddenly said, wearing an exceptionally polite smile. "It seems I’ve just remembered an urgent matter that absolutely cannot be postponed."

What?

"Well then, I’ll see you all again."

"Ringga, wai—"

Snap!

A teleportation circle lit up beneath his feet.

And before anyone could stop him—

Ringga vanished.

"HEY! WAIT—!" Deva shouted.

Too late.

There was no answer.

King Siegfried stared at Deva.

Prime Minister Allan stared at Deva as well.

Deva himself stood there, frozen, staring at the spot where Ringga had disappeared.

A few seconds later...

All three of them slowly turned towards me.

"..."

I stared back.

Then I looked at the place where Ringga had been standing.

A long sigh escaped my lips.

That annoying bastard.

He really ran away and left me to deal with everything.