As expected, the war ended without further incident, but once Charles handed the Grand Professor over to Tsukikage Moya, he didn't bother to follow up on the rest.
At the same time, the island nation confiscated the Tyrant's Device from the Professor.
The moment Charles laid eyes on the blood-red longsword, he felt something was off—and sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed.
He'd already been doubtful when he heard the Professor's plan. While a Device was indeed the manifestation of a Blazer's soul, extracting a soul from it sounded far too extreme.
Sure enough, the Tyrant's Device was unlike others—it contained a complete soul.
Given the Tyrant's array of abilities, it wasn't surprising he could separate his soul from his body and store it within his Device.
Charles even suspected the Professor's plan had been implanted by the Tyrant's hypnosis, the true goal being the Tyrant's own resurrection.
Whether that was the case or not, it wouldn't come to pass now. The Blood-Drinking Sword would be sealed away in the Alliance's most secure vault.
With the Professor captured, the USA called an immediate ceasefire, not even waiting for Tsukikage Moya to negotiate.
Part of it was fear that the Alliance might recruit the Professor to produce more "Abrahams"—one of America's most vital weapons.
The other reason was that the Professor knew the truth behind the Tyrant's death. If the Alliance obtained his testimony, the USA would be setting itself on fire.
From any angle, the war was over.
Charles began thinking about his next move. This trip back to this world hadn't come with a fixed goal.
He did want to spar with Edelweiss again, and felt confident he could defeat her at full strength—
—but what he truly wanted was to win against her swordsmanship using only his own martial skill.
That would take a miracle—unless a stat-boosting system fell from the sky and instantly leveled his swordsmanship to Grandmaster level, it wasn't happening anytime soon.
After attaining clarity of mind in the Twin Star Exorcists world, Charles had planned to relax—but instead, this world had thrown constant events at him.
So now, he planned to explore other worlds—and this time, Stella would come along.
They'd originally returned to the island nation because the new school term was starting, and Stella needed to continue her studies.
But with the Breaking Army Academy having been turned into a battlefield, its facilities were far too damaged to reopen soon.
And Stella hadn't crossed the ocean for a diploma—she'd come to grow stronger.
Given her current power, there wasn't much more the academy could teach her. Another world might hold more room for growth…
That was how she put it, but Charles knew the truth: she simply didn't want to be apart from him.
And Charles felt the same. Besides, this wasn't a one-way trip—they could return anytime.
So Stella arranged a leave of absence and told her parents she'd be traveling with Charles.
Even through the phone, Charles could feel the full weight of her overprotective father's resentment.
But the Queen's parting advice—"Make sure you take proper precautions… though we wouldn't mind having a grandchild right away"—left both Charles and Stella completely flustered.
Regardless, they set out together, their destination: the Danmachi world.
Why there? It started with a game they'd played together.
It was a popular fantasy RPG, and during a boss fight, the exchange went like this:
"Charles, have you ever been to a fantasy world like this?"
"Of course I have."
"Wow… I want to go on an adventure in a world like that too!"
Well, what else could he do? Naturally, Charles had to grant his cute girlfriend's wish.
When it came to that sort of world, Orario was the obvious choice—not just for its many adventurers, but for the Dungeon, the ultimate adventuring treasure trove.
So the two stepped into a radiant magic circle, crossing the space between worlds, flying toward their target destination.
In Orario's industrial district, inside Charles's forge workshop, a magic circle lit up. Two figures tumbled out of it.
Charles steadied Stella. "Welcome to another world."
Her eyes sparkled. "So this is what crossing worlds feels like? Amazing!"
Charles chuckled. "After a few more times, it won't feel so special."
He remembered feeling just like her the first time he used World Magic—but by now, it was second nature.
Stella looked around. "Where is this? We didn't just barge into someone's home, did we?"
"Relax—this is my forge. Why don't you sit for a bit, then we'll go find Lady Hephaestus?"
Stella's eyes lit up. "Hephaestus? As in the god of fire and smithing from mythology? This world actually has gods?"
Charles paused—he'd forgotten to explain the world to her.
"Well, Lady Hephaestus isn't quite what you might be imagining. In this world, there are many things that resemble your myths, but they're also very different.
"For example, Lady Hephaestus is a goddess."
Stella froze, and Charles went on to give her the full rundown on Orario, adventurers, and the Blessing system unique to this world.
She absorbed it quickly—her time in the island nation had already exposed her to enough ACG culture to make Orario's rules easy to accept.
"I'm really interested in this world now! Let's go meet the goddess right away! If I get a Blessing, could I get even stronger?"
Pressed by her enthusiasm, Charles could only lead her toward the Hephaestus Familia's mansion.
He was eager to see Hephaestus again himself—not only to check on what had happened in Orario since his last visit, but also to update his own stats.
He did have a few update potions for refreshing his stats in other worlds, but he'd never remembered to use them.
Now that he was back, why not have his main god do it? Those potions weren't cheap, after all.
Walking Orario's streets, Stella couldn't help but look around with curiosity.
Everything was new and exciting—especially the adventurers.
Amazonesses in skimpy gear, tiny Pallum, stout Dwarves just like in fantasy novels, and most especially, Beastmen with furry ears and Elves with long, elegant ones.
The adventurers didn't find her curiosity rude—almost all newcomers to Orario reacted this way, and those with any patience understood.
Of course, her beauty didn't hurt—people's tolerance for a lovely girl was naturally much higher.
So they walked on, looking and chatting, until they reached the Western-style mansion with a flaming hammer on its sign.
(End of Chapter)
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