Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

She was the daughter of a nearby forester. She had originally intended to walk toward the old quarry near the pond, but suddenly saw a fishing rod raised on the bank of the pond below. So she stopped and leaned over a crooked willow tree, parted the branches of the willow bushes, and saw Alexei fishing.

"What are you yelling about? You've scared all the fish away."

"Just your appearance alone would have scared the fish away long ago. Besides, how can you catch fish in broad daylight? Look at you, such a capable fisherman!"

Alexei felt he was trying his best to be polite, but this guy went too far. If it weren't for the teacher... teacher? Strange, where did I get a teacher? The priest at school beat me and Ostrovsky up because I asked each other a question, and later we were expelled for throwing ashes together at Easter.

Shaking his head and deciding not to think about it anymore, Alexei stood up, pulled his hat up to his forehead, and tried to choose the most polite words possible before speaking.

"Miss, would you please move aside?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, smiled slightly, and said, "Am I bothering you?"

"It's nothing. If you want to look, then go ahead. It's not that I'm unwilling to give you a seat."

……

London, Clock Tower headquarters.

That happened several months ago.

Anastasia now realizes that she doesn't really like the silent corridor, and that the lessons taught here are far more safe and health-conscious than those taught by the teacher who never showed up, which frankly makes her feel disappointed.

Where did that guy run off to? He even abandoned his own child, but now he says the child was found...

She has no way of knowing the specifics.

As for what happened that day, he only occasionally thought about it, and a bitter smile would occasionally cross his lips.

"Thank you so much for this transaction. Oh dear, that bastard dad promised to come, but something seems to have happened that caused him and Mom to disappear. But don't worry, the all-powerful beautiful secretary-type rabbit will clean up after that good-for-nothing dad."

"And Eri, what you wanted, I've found Dad's blood. Don't underestimate the sharp teeth of this all-powerful rabbit."

And so, Nikolai's family survived, forgetting everything about being Romanov. And as Novya had predicted, after Skaya consulted with the confused Nikolai, the family was sent to Crimea... not far away in Ukraine.

Perhaps due to the highest-level contract between Anastasia and Romanov at the last moment, or for some other reason, she did not lose her memory. Instead, she came to the Clock Tower to study with the silver-haired Eri. Originally, the two planned to go to the Wandering Sea, but since only one of them could go per year, they decided not to separate for the time being.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Anastasia."

The silver-haired girl who graduated from the basic sciences department called out to Anastasia.

Then, the 'dead' princess smiled and called out the real name that the girl had remembered since that day.

"Yes, let's go together, Chitose."

Chapter 510 The Lonely Eri Se.

It seems some people call me 'Death'.

I've been doing this job for five years now, and countless Servants and Mythical Beings have died at my hands, so it's only natural that I'm called that.

The stars twinkled, reflecting in the night sky, and the dim light of the night shone brightly along the coastline of the tourist city.

Just then, a sea breeze blew by, and Eri pressed her baseball cap tightly to keep it from being blown away. The gentle touch that brushed against Eri's neck was delicate and pitiful, and her bright light blue eyes flashed briefly through her slightly long bangs.

"Team leader, it's time to make a move!"

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Yama, the Indian god of death, let out a muffled groan as he sped towards Eri Se above, pleading for help.

As the first person to die in Hindu mythology, and later the god of death, whose influence extended to the gods of different countries, he has indeed been defeated many times in history. However, from the past to the present, even if a god is defeated, it does not mean that he will be afraid to ask for help.

However, the enemy he now faces—

"Roar!"

With skin so black it seemed to blend into the night, exuding a demonic aura, and roaring with enormous fangs as sharp as blades, the colossal serpentine fantasy species—the Serpentine Fantasy Species Demon Throne from Russia—closely followed behind the running Yama and the canine Anubis.

How could a mere fantasy demon throne manage to catch up with two gods?

That's because they're no different from ordinary people or dogs now, since all their strength has been taken away by Mote. In order to make a living, they formed a night patrol team with Erise and Arisu, which is similar to auxiliary police officers.

The spirit origin of a god manifesting in the world is incomparable to ordinary magic. Although the city cannot detect it, its essence is there. In addition, the two people, who have no power, are like children walking down the street with gold bricks. Therefore, desire and greed become the driving force for the demonic throne that attacks the city, and it closely follows behind the two people.

It was precisely because the two of them were used as bait that Erise, who had a special attack on Servants due to her 'evil spirit', also became a killer of fantasy species.

Upon hearing the cries of a person and a dog, Erise sighed deeply, then, bored—

The black-haired girl's leap from the lamppost and the gesture of throwing her baseball cap at the raging demon throne were both clean and swift, without any unnecessary movements. The pitch-black mud wrapped around her arms, which was like blood, was transformed by Eri Sei into gauntlets that covered her arms—the "Branch Fist."

A crimson light flashed in the Demon Throne's eyes—

"Roar!"

The roar of the sea outside Akihabara crashed against Eri's entire body. This was why the previous Servants had been defeated by her. The Demon Throne believed from the bottom of her heart that no human or Servant could remain unmoved by such instinctive fear.

And as it seemed to have expected, this human began to behave strangely.

The massive, three-story-high structure, without hesitation, prepared to smash directly into Eri, who was falling from the sky—

"To be honest, you're very weak, and you look like a monster. Ha, that's just how Russians are. No wonder you don't even have a mosaic city. Your courage is commendable. But frankly, it's very annoying that you think you can defeat me with such methods. It's truly my biggest failure."

In the eyes of the Devil Throne's snake, it seemed as if Eri was the prey, yet even though her fleeting blue eyes reflected the prey, they still showed no emotion whatsoever.

The evil spirits surrounding Erise sensed the cruelty rising within her heart and became excited.

If the Demon Throne could speak, it would surely say, "Impossible, impossible!"

However, it goes without saying that it is obvious.

Now, it is dominated by fear.

"Ahhh!"

It swung its tail and other parts, trying to shake off the black-haired human who was hitting it from above, but its silent screams were drowned out by the noisy sound of the waves. The blood-stained Eri Se shattered the Demon Throne's skull with a single blow, and then tore its limbs straight from head to tail, revealing white flesh and fat.

Seeing Eri Se doing this, Yama and Anubis exchanged a glance, but didn't think much of it; they were used to it.

The man and the dog were just lamenting that they would probably have to clean up the corpses for a long time tonight when suddenly Yama coughed at Anubis. The person kneeling beside him reached out and gently patted his back, meaning that Anubis should just eat him and he would treat him to steak another day.

In response, Anubis shook his body instead of giving a verbal reply, while simultaneously slapping Yama's face with one of his front paws.

"Wait a minute!? Anu, you ran faster than me! I was the one who asked the team leader to save you! If it weren't for me, you would have already kicked the bucket."

Seeing that Yama had no intention of shutting up his incessant chatter, Anubis turned over in annoyance, wanting to retort, but the next second he saw Eri walking slowly over, so he obediently shut his mouth.

"Shut up, don't make any noise."

Eri's words carried an undeniable forcefulness, and just then she reached out and took the flying baseball cap, putting it back on.

"Why didn't that Kuchiki guy make a move?"

The rotten wood is Dionysus, who at this moment appears to be a wandering singer, but in reality, like Yama, he assists the night watchman.

"Of course, team leader. At this hour, even Rottingwood is drowning in his wine. He's sleeping like a log, you can't even pull him up, and you can't wake him up even if Anu bites him. There's nothing we can do about it..."

Before Enma could finish speaking, Eri turned and walked towards the city center: "Oh, it's almost time. I'll leave the rest to you."

A few seconds later, Erise could no longer be seen from Enma's side. She never turned around until the very end, as if she were the Grim Reaper who had been guarding this city.

On the brightly lit street, Eri sighed, lightly touched a strand of bangs with her fingertips, and reactivated the magic circuit that was originally set to reject incoming calls, sending a call to another person.

"...Your work should be finished by now, Kuonji."

"Ah."

This is the most common dialogue between Erise and Kuonji Aratsu over the years.

The subtle vibrations are transmitted directly into the inner ear, where they are perceived as sound. This communication method, which does not involve electromagnetic waves, is derived from the automatic note-taking magic trick. Other citizens do not need it; it is one of Eri's little tricks.

"My Demon Throne is dead, and the servant who logged in without permission on your side should have been driven away as well. I heard it was quite troublesome. If you want to thoroughly scan those improperly used spiritual veins by the sea, I can also lend you a hand."

"The previous scans shouldn't have detected anything, I don't know why, it seems to have been hidden in some way, but it's been resolved now."

"I see... It seems I've been too talkative. I'm so sorry."

"No, we're in the same boat."

Afterwards, both Yutaka Kuonji and Erise fell silent, leaving much to the imagination.

A strange atmosphere filled the space between the two.

For Erise and Arisu, transmitting images to the communication loop was certainly possible; not only images, but even sensory sensations could be transmitted directly. However, neither of them liked this kind of work method that offered no privacy.

"I understand. We can discuss the details of the report in person later."

"I am on my way back to the Kuonji residence, and I will be there soon."

"...Is this so?"

For some reason, Eri felt that Kuonji Yuzu had paused for a moment to calm her breathing. "I'm a little inconvenient right now and won't be able to get home for a while. By the time I get back, it will probably be quite late. If possible, let's report back tomorrow."

"it is good."

"Thank you for your hard work this time, Eri. Good night."

"Ah."

After shutting down the communication, Eri walked towards the dark mountains.

Kuonji Yuzu was always polite to me. It was rather strange to return the courtesy of saying "Goodnight" to someone who didn't know what real sleep was. I was used to staying up late, sleeping two or three hours every day and then sleeping in the lecture hall until school was over. But that wasn't the point. Actually, I wanted to get along with her and have some heartfelt words, but... for some reason, it was a bit difficult. Over time, I just didn't care anymore. If that girl were still here, things would probably be much better.

"Haha, Eri, you can actually fight?"

"because……"

Before meeting the Demon King, Eri had a big fight at school.

As the only human without Command Seals, her classmates and teachers indulged her. Even so, she still beat someone up because she misunderstood her classmate's good intentions, got into an argument, and beat the person up. Afterwards, she was not blamed at all, and the people around her were willing to accept this outcome.

The classmate, who was clearly the victim, bowed his head and apologized to Erise, saying that he hadn't thought things through.

Eri didn't even have a chance to come up with an embarrassing reason to defend herself. At that moment, she really felt like she had been hit hard by a hammer. Everyone was willing to hurt themselves in order to make her try to fit in, as if whatever she did was right.

However, the Demon King is different.

Only the Demon King understood her regret.

"Okay, when we win the championship, I will use your body to apologize to the classmate you misunderstood."

"Are you kidding..."

"This is one of the wishes of the followers."

"But you are not a Servant."

"If I say so, then so be it."

Even if you're not a Servant, it doesn't matter. As long as you say that, I can keep going. I'm not lonely at all.

Although the Demon King is not a Servant, Eri believes he will always be by her side until that day—

"It seems the Demon King has disappeared. I'm sorry, Eri."

The girl then knew that separation would suddenly arrive on an ordinary day.

She couldn't say anything, and remained silent as if she had been mentally prepared for it all along. In fact, she wanted to cry, but the tears just wouldn't come out, just like when she was four years old and her grandmother, Chitose, accidentally cut a big slit in her ear.

Gradually, Eri became extremely uneasy, wondering what she had done to the Demon King.

He has no friends, and in daily life, he always argues with Ye, always quarrels with him, and does everything against his wishes to make him feel uncomfortable.

Am I far from the child I envision? Behind every joke he makes, does he think I'm a nuisance?

Anxiety and fear easily overwhelmed Erise's lonely heart, and her distress led her to imagine the worst in every possible way.

The day you went to Kuonji, was it because you thought I was annoying? When you were with Kuonji, was it simply because you didn't want to see me? Being cold and willful to the person who was watching over you is just what you deserve. I see, it's normal for me to be lonely.

Her last memory of the Demon King was of him fighting with his own body.

She did nothing, feeling ashamed to offer encouragement, so she did nothing and turned her back to the Demon King who had always supported her.

Why did I... do nothing back then...?

Over the years, Eri has been internally blaming herself: the Demon King must have been disappointed by her lack of response, so he chose to leave, secretly cursing her to die, so that he could truly obtain a body that could walk in the human world.

Eri doesn't want to die; she wants to live on, no matter what happens. So sometimes she asks herself, when the Demon King reappears and prepares to kill her and take her body, will she fight back? Or should she just die now? But is choosing to die like this really the right thing to do?

At that time, the haggard girl could only hug herself, curl up in bed, and make hollow sounds that blended into the lonely darkness.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to... die."

In the dark and profound infinite universe, under the shimmering night sky, Eri walked through the shadowy mountains toward the Kuonji residence. She couldn't help but look down; there was still no Command Seal on the back of her hand.

From the time I was born until now, from the time the Demon King disappeared until now, it has always been like this.