Cote: Parallel World

Epilogue

"Your Majesty"

"What is it?"

"Chief Caster Lord Manabu is requesting permission to enter and talk."

"Is that so? Let him in."

Idling in his rather modernistic but somewhat tenebrous room, the King of Maltris is waiting for a certain person. After being ordered, the guard hurries to the door and returns with a young man who is wearing amour with Maltris emblem on his chest plate.

"Leave."

The guard immediately leaves after a slight bow. The door is closed; a few rays of sunlight that were sparkled inside earlier are no longer visible.

"Your Majesty, you called for me."

The man in question, Horikita Manabu sits down, opposite the King after a deep bow.

"I couldn't have let you go back without meeting me.

The King bites off an apple as he starts talking. Manabu looked at the floor as if he was ashamed 
I am sorry your Majesty I shouldn't have come back without permission. 

it's all good you came back only to check on the new recruits, I should have given you a break myself

your kindness knows no bound your highness 

hahaha enough flattery 

"How are the frontlines? I was getting reports however talking to a person face to face will give me a better understanding of the situation."

It's quite grim, to be honest, only a few months ago we barely would have seen any demons and now it's just one after another attack, last week they managed to get a key point in Angels territory, while it was later recovered, the reports mention quite a lot of casualties for angels

That is quite grim indeed, is there some explanation for this recent activity? 

nothing is confirmed as all we fought were masses of low-level demons, however, to be attacked by demons after so long can only mean he has awakened

Isn't it a bit early? 

According to what we know, we still have a few years left however we cannot be sure as we don't have enough intel and our relations with Angels haven't improved to that point. 

"So by the way, Horikita, you were there with the instructors, what do you think about the new students?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it seems like we have a lot of potential students this time."

"Anyone got your eye?"

"few of them. Princess Arisu Sakayanagi, Kohei Katsuragi and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji"

" hmmm, why Kiyotaka? rest are nobles so extraordinary was expected" 

"His magic type is Dark magic, which is extremely rare for humans, also his control over it was quite amazing, it felt as if he had already grown used to his magic and knew how to properly utilize it" 

"As it is right now, there is no hint of anything suspicious about him, but I have an unease feeling."

"So you also noticed it" His Majesty sighed. "Sure, there is a lot of uncertainty. But, if it's really him, we need to take some precaution."

"I'll keep my eyes on him. There should be no posing threat as long as I'm in charge."

"As expected from you, Horikita." The King continues. "The heavens, have given us a gift. We must not be careless, or the peace that has lasted so long will come to a final. And if war occurs, the winner will have everything; and the losers..., will perish."

....................................

After some moment of silence, the knight stands up.

"Your Majesty, it's my time to leave. Do you have anything else to instruct?"

"You can now leave."

The knight, on his way out, picks the apple that his Majesty dropped earlier up.

"Just put it here." The King points at an empty plate on the table. The knight, after doing as instructed, opens the door and leaves. On the apple, appears a limelight on the bitten part. After a quick moment, it returns to it previous state, the bitten part has returned a red, juicy peel.

His majesty takes a bite.