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Volume 5 Vampire Tea Party Epilogue Part 5

「Ohhhhh, so Letty is also interested in looking like a cute little girl?! She wants to become Lolicia?! Then maybe we could form a band of Loli girls together?!」

「N-No, listen to me! As I was saying, I am a Demon Lord now, and so it is impossible for me to leave this place until the Gift Game that I have imposed upon the rebels is going to be cleared! Do you not understand what that means. . . . . . . . .?!」

「Believe it or not, we do, actually.」

「That is exactly why we have come prepared!」

The two of them declared that with the same kind of attitude as if they were suddenly crashing into their friend’s house, flipping the game board that said friend has meticulously prepared upside down and declaring it as their victory. That kind of overly confident, cheerful attitude caused Leticia to be come more and more speechless. For her, someone who does not know how the details of how the Game is supposed to be cleared, the words of these two, who were behaving as if they had it all figured out ages ago, seemed to be nothing more than the epitome of pure recklessness. Leticia wondered if these doubts of hers could have been easily red from her face, because one glance at her was enough for Canaria to reach down the pocket of her lab coat and take out the Geass Roll with a mischievous smile.

「You do not have to worry about clearing anything, because you do not have to clear the game at all. It is written right here, see? 「※ However, if the Beast Belt disappears, the game will be suspended indefinitely」.」
「And you know that Beast Belt is another name for the Celestial Equator, or in other words, the Zodiac, correct?」

「Y-Yes, I am aware of that because the Giant Dragon acts as a medium for one of the Sun Authorities, but I do not understand what does that have to do with anything, and what should I do about that fact now.」

「Oh, there is no need for you to be reading too deeply into this. That is because. . . . . . . 」

Canaria and Eury giggled like little girls before they both pointed out to the stars in the sky and then proclaimed:

「「You just have to drop all of the twelve constellations from the sky one after another!!!」」

* * *
The twinkling stars were disappearing from their places in the sky, slowly falling down in a streamlined fashion. That was the signal that the opening act has begun. And now that they have received it, the golden meteors began to shine with a brilliant golden light that was cutting through the veil of darkness sprawled out all across the night sky.

And it was not just one or two of them either. The meteor shower that seemed to be covering the entirety of the heavens emitted the light that could have been easily mistaken for that belonging to the sun itself before all of the meteors slowly disappeared one by one.
The stars that made Leo, Cancer and Sagittarius were the first to be gone, and by the time the same things happened to the stars that made the sixth of the twelve constellations disappeared, the Giant dragon also began to shine with a golden light before it disappeared in a haze. As the leftover light from the Giant Dragon enveloped Leticia, her entire body began to glow, standing out against the dim background of the castle town that was still covered in darkness.

This caused Leticia to feel confused since this was a first time in quite a long while when she was feeling her body being wrapped in such a pleasantly warm sensation, but in the end what was happening to her right now was nothing in comparison to the phenomenon that was happening in the sky right now.

All in all, it was not unusual for the stars forming the Zodiac constellations to be falling from the sky like that. Not to mention that thanks to the rules of Little Garden and the system that has been implemented here, those who possessed the incarnations of those Zodiac constellations could achieve the feats that would normally be possible for only those who have reached the realm of the Almighty to achieve. The woman in front of Leticia was exactly someone like that. Someone who was capable of forcing the Sun Authorities to move just the way she wanted them to.

「C-Canaria. . . . . you, who. . .  what. . .  」

「My oh my, what a splendidly marvelous view! Think everyone would be happy if we did something like that at least once a year?」

「Definitely! You so have my approval to do this kind of thing more often! We could even ask Orpheus to come up with the names for those meteor showers!」

Canaria and Eury observed the spectacle before their eyes while cheering loudly and exchanging such preposterously-sounding ideas. So this not a one-time only thing and they planned on doing it more often just for their own entertainment?! That is what Leticia thought, but she soon decided to abandon such thought, because now was not the time to be thinking about something that she obviously had no way of influencing, so she simply stood with them and observed. Looking up at the golden meteor shower above them, Leticia felt happy. . . . but a part of her still could not become at ease with the current developments. And besides:

「Even though I am free again, that does not change the fact that I am still a Demon Lord. So. . . . . . . what should I do with this kind of freedom that you have given to me?」

「Now that is a pretty dumb question, you know. You have your freedom back, so do whatever you want with it, whether it be rebuilding the Vampire clan and restoring the royal family or going back to your original goal of implementing the 「Floor Master」 system across Little Garden.」

「Yeah! It might even be fun for you to go search for a way to break the curse of the Vampire princess, you know!」

Eury said while showing Leticia a happy face. Certainly, she was right about that. Lamia is most definitely not dead. She has been turned into a monster due to the lies of the wretched Poets and Storytellers, but these curses by themselves did not kill her. And if that is the case, then there might just be a way to break the curses that have been put on her, perhaps by finding an understanding Poet who would be willing to help Leticia save Lamia by singing about Lamia not as a monster, but a hero whom she truly was, not only to the Vampire clan, but to Leticia herself as well. And the closest one to her right now. . . . . .

「If I say that this is my goal from now on, will you help me do it? Will you cooperate with me?」

「The opposite. You will be the one cooperating with us. It might not be immediately because we have quite the trouble brewing ahead of us. . . . . but, well, I am sure that the day will come when I will be able to sing a song about your sister’s heroic deeds. What do you say to this kind of give and take?」

「But. . . but will a Demon Lord like me really will be able to do something like that, Lady Canaria?」

Leticia would lie if she said that the recollection Gift Game and the things she saw in there were not filling her heart with worries still. What happened to Lamia was absolutely horrible. . . . but that woman in front of her had nothing to do with it. And when she hugged her shoulders, her eyes were shining with the power that was as strong as the light of the stars which were now racing across the sky above them.

「You can, but you have to stop doubting yourself and learn to be more cheeky. The road ahead will be hard, but if you shut up and come with me without complaining, then I promise that one day you will see that dream of yours come true.」

「Wha. . . . . .」

「Also, do not call me Lady. I never been good with formalities and titles, and to be honest, they are not needed when you are among friends, so just take it easy. I am sure that our relationship will be a lasting one, and that we will have many occasions to get to know each other better, do you not think?」

She said that to her with a cute wink at the end. Once again Leticia found herself dumbfounded, both at her behavior and her words which were too powerful to resist them in any way, so she just answered with a bitter smile. Just like Canaria said, their relationship will surely be a long and strange one. . . . . but as long as it is her, Leticia thought to herself that this might not be so bad after all.

After all, with someone like her around you, it is hard to stay pessimistic for long.

Letting Leticia go from her hug, Canaria once again asked her what she would like to do in the future.

「So, what would you like to do now? If you want to go to the Vampire village, then I will go with you. After all, we need to bring them the news of your Gift Game interruption.」

「Yes, I would like to do that as well. But. . . . . 」

Leticia stopped herself mid-sentence. She then looked up at the meteors in the sky and then continued:

「But first, I think I should learn how to make black tea.」

「Black tea?」

「Yes. Because if I do not learn how to make it properly, then my sister will surely give me a scolding of a lifetime when she tries it after I will break her curse.」

That was the promise that she made with her sister a long time ago, and she wanted to fulfill it no matter what. So when the time comes for them to meet again, she will welcome her with a smile and the best black tea in the world that is going to reward her for everything that she did for her, and then some.