Aquinas guided Hiiro to what appeared to be his room. On the terrace, there was a circular table along with a couple of chairs.

After being offered to take a seat, Hiiro sat down silently.

“Can you drink?” (Aquinas)

After he asked so, Aquinas took out a bottle, which seemed to contain wine.

“Sorry, but I don’t really understand the appeal of alcohol.” (Hiiro)

“Hmm, you’re missing out on quite a bit in life.” (Aquinas)

“Hey, I can enjoy life even without drinking, you know?.” (Hiiro)

“Is that so? Well, pretend I tricked you and you tried drinking some. If it doesn’t suit your taste, you can just leave it be .” (Aquinas)

Then, Aquinas tipped the bottle to the glass and a liquid similar to red wine flowed out.

“I’m telling you in advance, there’s no poison in it.” (Aquinas)

“I’m not worried about that. There is no merit in poisoning someone you are asking a favor from.” (Hiiro)

Hiiro lifted the glass and brought it to his lips.

“Nh?..nh?” (Hiiro)

It gave him a rather unexpected feeling. It wasn’t bitter at all, and if he had to say, it had a sweetness to it that made it rather easy to drink.

“How is it? There isn’t a lot of alcohol in it. Does it suit your taste?” (Aquinas)

“It isn’t as bad as I thought.” (Hiiro)

“Good to hear that.” (Aquinas)

Aquinas sat down, took a small sip, and let it flow down his throat. Then, he silently placed the glass on the table and opened his mouth.

“Hiiro.” (Aquinas)

“....What?” (Hiiro)

“You have my thanks.” (Aquinas)

“......?” (Hiiro)

Hiiro thought he was going to ask his favor immediately but was so surprised at the sudden words of gratitude, that he reflexively responded.

“..What are you thankful for?” (Hiiro)

“Various things.” (Aquinas)

“Various things..huh?” (Hiiro)

“That is right, various things.” (Aquinas)

Hiiro thought that it was for helping out during the war. But, to him, that was work related to the contract he had signed with Eveam. He didn’t remember anything else that Aquinas would be thankful for. As long as he properly received compensation, then he would be satisfied..

“It isn’t just about the war preparations...you know?” (Aquinas)

He said as if he had read Hiiro’s mind.

“Then what is it?” (Hiiro)

“............Prin..it’s about Her Majesty.” (Aquinas)

“The demon lord, whose head is full of flowers, right?” Hiiro said with a slight laugh.

“Fufu. Only you would say something like that about the ruler of a country.” (Aquinas)

Instead of finding fault in Hiiro’s words, Aquinas smiled heartily.

“Aah, that is right, it’s about Her Majesty.” (Aquinas)

“....I haven’t done anything, you know?” (Hiiro)

If he had to say he did something, then it’d be about how he healed her wounds. Nonetheless, he had simply thought at the time that if she died, he would lose his long-sought ticket to the library.

“No, thanks to you, Her Majesty is able to move forward, towards her goal.” (Aquinas)

“..........” (Hiiro)

“During the conflict this time around, we should have suffered a significant amount of damage. But, because of your efforts, we were able to resolve the incident with minimum damage to the country. It was also because of you that Her Majesty gained the determination to fight.” (Aquinas)

“I just explained common sense to her. Besides, if you are talking about the proposal, you are thanking the wrong person. That was just a flash of inspiration I had. I normally wouldn’t think that there’d be people willing to put it into practice nor accept the proposal.” (Hiiro)

“Yet it was proposed to us, and it was accepted by the other side.” (Aquinas)

“....There really is something wrong with the rulers of this world.” (Hiiro)

“Perhaps..” (Aquinas)

Aquinas quickly took another sip from his glass.

“...Hmm, Her Majesty is able to continue down her path in her own way. The one who helped her get to that point was you, Hiiro.” (Aquinas)

They both looked at each other in mutual understanding.

“Her Majesty suffered a blow. Not only was she betrayed by her aide, who was by her side for many years, the peace conference also ended in failure.” (Aquinas)

“......” (Hiiro)

“But you are still here. For some reason, Her Majesty believes in you completely. At the moment, your very existence is a great support to her Majesty.” (Aquinas)

“Even though I find it troublesome?” (Hiiro)

“Hmph, don’t say that. Even though she looks like that, she is genuinely an innocent girl. Her views are still shallow. But just like you, she has something that attracts people towards her.” (Aquinas)

“Even though I don’t believe I have something like that?” (Hiiro)

That was something he truly believed.

“If you say something like that, your companions will get angry, you know?” (Aquinas)

“Why?” (Hiiro)

“......” (Aquinas)

As expected, even Aquinas blinked in disbelief when he heard such a response.

“..Hiiro, have you ever been regarded as thick-headed?” (Aquinas)

“Ah? Thick-headed? Hmm, I remember Aka-loli and the Hentai saying something like that.” (Hiiro)

“Aka....loli? H-hentai?” (Aquinas)

“Aka-loli is the one who glared at you. The Hentai is the old butler.” (Hiiro)

「........くっ」

“....Kuh.” (Aquinas)

Hearing that, Aquinas looked away while his body started shaking little by little.

“......?” (Hiiro)

Hiiro wondered what was wrong with Aquinas as he watched over him. Shortly after that, Aquinas seemed to have returned to normal since he turned back towards Hiiro with a refreshed expression.

“As expected, you are an interesting person. No wonder Liliyn is interested in you.” (Aquinas)

“What are you trying to get at?” (Hiiro)

“Hmph, lets leave that aside. About her majesty..” (Aquinas)

“Oh, alright.” (Hiiro)

“Either way her majesty has decided to fight.” (Aquinas)

“I see.” (Hiiro)

“Up until now she never wanted to fight, but now she has finally opened her eyes to reality. It’s all thanks to you.” (Aquinas)

“Choosing not to fight can be considered a respectable thing. It is a wonderful notion.” (Hiiro)

“Indeed, a wonderful notion.” (Aquinas)

“However, that is something difficult to do in reality. Especially when you live in an era ruled by kings.” (Hiiro)

“That is indeed the case.” (Aquinas)

“Well, isn’t it fine that she is now able to see reality a little? For the time being, you could say that she grew up a little.” (Hiiro)

“But, the biggest question is whether or not her decisions will bear fruit.” (Aquinas)

In other words, he was saying that there was no point if they didn’t win against the Gabranth.

“I see. It seems that the favor you’re planning on asking is just what I thought.” (Hiiro)

“Hou, would you like to share?” (Aquinas)

“You want me to.. participate, right? In the duel with the Gabranth.” (Hiiro)

“......” (Aquinas)

Hiiro considered Aquinas’ silence as acceptance. Rather, when Hiiro told Eveam about the way to resolve this situation, he had predicted that something like this would happen.

And so, while he had found it unexpected that Aquinas would come to ask him for the favor in this manner, Hiiro had already figured that Aquinas had come to ask for his participation in the duel.

It was, of course, in order for them to win. If a person thought about it, everyone would look to Hiiro’s power. Even though he was an outsider, it would be odd if they didn’t use his power when it was nearby.

Nonetheless, Hiiro knew something like this could happen so he had something prepared. He wanted to end the war as soon as possible so he could gain access to the 《Fortuna Grand Library》 right away.

In addition to that, he was also committed to fulfilling Liliyn’s dream. Her dream was to create 【A place that everybody could enjoy】

With the current state of affairs, something like that was impossible. That was exactly why Liliyn wanted to create a new country and establish her dream place; though at the moment that was still a distant goal. (TL: check and make sure)

However, if they continued to lay around doing nothing, even if a hundred years passed, the chances of still being unable to realize her dream were high. That being the case, Hiiro’s idea was to make use of the existing countries.

This world had three countries, each with their own great history. But they fought each other continuously and created extreme hatred against each other. As they were right now, it would forever be impossible to create a place where people from each country could live in harmony.

With that in mind, any country was fine, as long as they could keep the other countries in check. With that control in place, civil liberties could be established and there would be a high chance of them being able to control the opposition.

Instead of domination and servitude, one would seek out freedom and friendship. However, something like that could not be established without resolving the conflicts between the countries. While Hiiro was still unsure how to resolve these, as long as the method used to bring the conflict to an end was agreed upon by both sides, he thought it would be fine.

With that in mind, Hiiro was unsure how he would approach the 『Humas』. However, he figured that for the 『Gabranth』, his proposed duel would work the best. A primary reason for that was that he somehow felt that if it was that Beast King, he’d be willing to take up the offer.

The Gabranth were a group that held the belief that strength was everything. As such, Hiiro felt that if they had a method to show off their power, they would be able to persuade them. If things went well, then both sides would be willing to participate in the battle.

Thus, if the 『Evila』 won, then they would be able to obtain the Beastmen country. Although he might have said “obtain”, what they really meant to do was to finally pave the way for an alliance.

If they could do that, then all that would be left for them to do would be to deal with the 『Humas』 somehow, thus allowing Liliyn to take a large step towards her dream.

Naturally, there were still a lot of uncertainties, but at the moment the only thing he could do was ensure that 【Demon Capital: Xaos】 won. That was why-

“Sounds good. I will also participate in this duel against the Gabranth.” (Hiiro)

This answer was prepared in advance.

Next time, finally....’they’ will appear !?