Stray

Oliver solemnly twisted one of the rings and put it on the ring finger of his left hand.

As a famous jewelry family, the Tristan family was truly good at their craftsmanship. It was just that Oliver has lost a lot of weight during this time, and the ring was a little loose. The one belonging to Nemo was carefully put into the gold pendant by him and hung on his chest.

The Demon King’s phantom stood in front of him, and the translucent shadow glowed dimly.

Like a dream.

Oliver walked forward and kissed the phantom like a dragonfly.

A year ago today, his father hadn’t died. At this time, he would get up early, try the soup for breakfast, and help the kitchen prepare the ingredients for the next day. The businessman who came to deliver fresh meat and fruits would arrive soon, and his father was definitely still in bed— At that time, he was like a pocket watch, like clockwork, he lined up every day, and his life was crammed with trivial chores.

And now, he stepped on a magic array that could imprison the will of the world and successfully proposed to his lover who was above everything.

Maybe the alarm clock would go off in the next second, and he would sit up in bed in a daze, boil milk, and peel carrots and potatoes for soup.

Oliver took a deep breath.

“Don’t make me wait too long, Ollie.” The Demon King obviously found that his fiancé was too dazed. He gave him a smile and reminded him. “I believe you have a plan.”

“Yeah.”

Oliver looked at his left hand with the ring, and the black gem on the ring gleamed dully.

“But if, and I mean if, you’re forcing yourself to do so, remember, my thoughts have not changed— Just because I love you doesn’t mean you have to reciprocate that love, Nemo.”

His right hand squeezed the ring on his finger, and the metal had already been warmed by his body heat.

“The fact that you are still here is enough to stop my suffering… I don’t know how to say it clearly, uh, all your memories should be restored, right?”

There was a gap of countless time between them.

As if by a miracle, the dragon really fell in love with the mayfly. It was all too good to be true, too good to be flustered. With the ring already on his hand, Oliver was instead not quite sure…

Yes, his love for Nemo had never been shaken. It was just that he wasn’t that special, and the feelings they once had were thick and smooth, not as sharp as a knife’s edge.

If Nemo just retained relatively weak feelings, trying to make his small self feel better… This thought was like a piece of ice sliding into his stomach. He couldn’t wait to vomit it out and stomp it to pieces, regardless of the sweet reality that could be embraced.

But he couldn’t do it.

He wanted to be the chains that held the world together, but he didn’t want to lock everything up greedily and indulge in the illusion of self-deception.

He still wanted to walk truly side by side with the one he loved.

“I’ve been chasing your back, and now I finally touch it.” Oliver swallowed. Ecstasy and anxiety intermingled. His head ached as if it had been split open, and countless thoughts of rapid movement almost drove him crazy.

“If you only have a good impression of me, I will pursue you again. With the person I am now, I will start over from the first step. So, if you…”

Nemo stretched out his right hand and let it stay in the air.

Oliver looked at the hand suspiciously for a while, hesitated for a few seconds, and put his left hand on it.

The humanoid Demon King bent down and left a kiss on the ring.

“I understand your concerns, Ollie. Feelings are indeed unfamiliar to me. Strictly speaking, I have only obtained it for less than twenty years, but you made a mistake— As far as I have observed over the years, even a smart child can’t see the world in the eyes of an old man, right?”

His Demon King exuded faint power. It felt very strange. Oliver shook his head— The creature in front of him was clearly a sweat-inducing powerhouse, but it was also the Nemo he was familiar with.

“Knowledge is not equivalent to wisdom. Gentleness has nothing to do with whether you are smart or not. I am still learning how to use my feelings, and my experience isn’t much richer than yours. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m loving you in the same way— The same way you love me.”

Those non-human eyes looked over, and the voice was full of comfort and calmness.

“Listen, Oliver Ramon. As the Pillar of the World, you are the most unpredictable creature I have ever seen. I can’t guess what you think, and I am happy to chase those brand-new intelligence and thrills.”

Oliver’s hands were a little tense and stiff.

“As Nemo Light, I used to think that I needed to do what the story said, persevere with the purpose of love itself, and spend time with you… But now, I think I made a mistake. That isn’t a certain ‘task’ that I need to stick to. I don’t love you continuously.”

“If you define ’love’ as a feeling that makes your heart beat faster and makes life itself more interesting, or as instinctive expectation, closeness, and trust— Then I am falling in love with you again each and every day.”

The phantom took two steps forward and made a hugging gesture.

“Love is not my purpose. You are my purpose. Put on your ring. It’s not the end, but just the beginning, Oliver Ramon.”

From this angle, Oliver couldn’t see Nemo’s face clearly. He opened his mouth before he had time to express any emotion…

The warm exhalation blew into his right ear, and Oliver could feel a burst of heat exploding on his face.

“What’s more, in a certain way, you still have a long way to go.” His Demon King approached his ears and muttered mischievously.

“…One day you will regret this statement, Your Majesty.” Oliver rubbed his ears, and his voice finally was relieved of its weight and relaxed.

“I look forward to it.” Nemo let go of that illusory hug.

Oliver finally took his right hand away from the ring. The arm wrapped in armor had nowhere to exert force, and he twisted his face fiercely. After repeatedly confirming that this wasn’t a dream, the leader of Tumbleweed waved to his companions with complicated expressions not far away.

“It’s okay,” he shouted, not trying to hide the joy in his voice.

The gray parrot rushed over first.

Bagelmaurus didn’t fly. It flapped its wrings while it stumbled and trotted close, and finally stop in front of Nemo.

“Are you really not Ulysses?” The gray parrot’s voice was extremely serious.

“I’m not.” Nemo squatted down and poked its head symbolically with his hand, and the gray parrot’s hair exploded a little in an instant.

“… I was the ‘tenth generation’ Demon King who stuffed you with a piece of my flesh, the three-eyed corpse dragon, Zilagrugo. Sorry, Bagelmaruus— but I guess we’re even when you attacked me for the first time,” Nemo said half-jokingly.

“It’s not even!” the gray parrot yelled, immediately tossing away its fear. “Later, I made a great contribution, you can’t just forget it! You have to… You have to—”

It turned its head and thought for a while. “You have to buy me everything I want to eat and want, and then continue to call me Lord Bagemaurus.”

Nemo smiled and sighed, while Oliver stared at him tightly, without looking away, as if staring at a shooting star that would only appear every thousands of years, or a wisp of light smoke that could be blown away at any time.

“Are you sure there is no problem, Oliver?”

Ann was the second to approach, and her expression when she looked at Nemo was a little stiff. “Isn’t it a bit…too hasty?”

“No.” Oliver didn’t feel unhappy because of this problem.

Ann Savage was willing to get close, and with this alone, even if her questioning was a bit rude, he wouldn’t care.

“After the knight’s oath is completed, whether the Pillar of the World wants to study me or orders me to accompany him, I will not refuse— He has no reason to pretend to be Nemo Light anymore.”

Oliver rubbed the ring on the ring finger of his left hand.

“Since the effect of a marriage-like contract already exists, only a rational Pillar of the World wouldn’t bother agreeing to a ‘worthless’ human ritual. Unless he can understand another layer of meaning in it— That layer of emotional meaning that has nothing to do with profits.”

…And Ulysses would never tease himself so naturally, but it wasn’t convenient to say it as a reason.

“Okay,” Ann teased, but didn’t manage to laugh. She looked at Nemo in silence.

“Ann…” Nemo stood upright in place; his expression serious.

“I don’t want to talk to you now— Don’t be quick to apologize. I don’t plan to forgive you on the spot.” Ann raised her face with the same fearless demeanor. “When Oliver pulls you up from below, I have to punch you firmly before we can have a formal chat.”

The muscles of her face twitched a little, as if she couldn’t decide what kind of expression to put on.

“…Make sure I beat you up before your wedding, okay? I still want to go to the wedding for a drink.”

“Since Mr. Ramon is so sure, I am willing to accept his judgment.” Adrian’s voice was as calm as ever.

The former Knight of Judgment looked at Nemo as sharply as when they first met, but his eyes were missing the chill that couldn’t be dissipated at the beginning.

Jesse didn’t say a word. The white behemoth looked at Oliver’s left hand, glanced at the translucent Demon King phantom again, and then turned his gaze back to Oliver’s face again.

Finally, he grunted twice, stuck out his tongue, and licked Adrian Cross’ face who was beside him.

The eyes of those icy-blue beasts were full of superiority.

Oliver: “……”

“Although the atmosphere makes people want to open a bottle of champagne.”

Ann said dryly, grabbing the dishonest pink tongue and flicking it back into the beast’s long mouth.

“But Oliver, what are you going to do next? It’s not easy to fish up the Demon King, right? Are you going to move and live at the bottom of the Abyss?”

She breathed hard. “And I have to remind you both that the next expedition is already in preparation, so you don’t have much time.”

“I know.” Oliver glared at Jesse and nodded. “I have a plan on how to bring Nemo up.”

Having said that, he glanced at his Demon King fiancé, and the tacit understanding in his eyes almost overflowed.

Ann snapped her eyes shut.

“Stop that for a second, will you? Given that we’re not engaged to you, we can’t read the meaning behind your dedicated eyes. Explain.” The Queen of Alban clicked her tongue a few times. “Does… it have something to do with that letter you had the Mercenary Guild collect on your behalf?”

“It’s not something that can be made clear in a few sentences.” Oliver smiled a little shyly. “First of all…”

But a slightly cold and familiar voice interjected.

“I’m very sorry. I think before you start to explain in detail, I have a question to ask. According to Mr. Dylan, if the Pillar of the World is not sleeping, it should know what is happening in the Abyss.”

Telaranea, who had been silent all this time, finally approached, and he looked at Nemo expressionlessly. The early morning sky began to brighten as the real sun was rising covering the starry sky with its faint morning light.

“Mr. Light.” The tone of the Sage of the Abyss remained indifferent. “Where is Aurorae?”

At this moment, in the territory of Praedo, the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild.

Old John walked to the front desk early, his waist straight, and his walking posture was even a bit deliberately ostentatious.

Five days passed, and his pain became lighter, and finally disappeared completely today. He couldn’t wait to finish his final work and rushed to let the therapist do a final appraisal.

“Letters to Tumbleweed, letters to Tumbleweed…Let me see…” he muttered, bending down calmly and burying himself in the hill of envelopes. “Ouch.”

As Oliver Ramon said, a large thick envelope was sent to the front desk. Old John repeatedly confirmed that the name of Tumbleweed was indeed marked on it.

It was just a matter of updating the team information, a job as easy as can be. Old John gripped the letter opener familiarly and opened the sturdy envelope. He took out the paper stuffed inside. In addition to all kinds of documents, there was also a few record crystals in the envelope.

There were not many people in Tumbleweed, and one died a few days ago. Where did they get so much information to update?

Old John picked up the top piece of paper.

Then the small letter opener fell to the ground making a soft clatter.

He quickly flipped through the contents— Tumbleweed wanted to update one person’s information and the rest of the documents were all supporting this. In order to prove its credibility, there was even a signature from the commander of Horizon, Godwin Lopez.

“…Update information. The file of the leader of the Black Chapter team Tumbleweed has been changed—”

He rushed with small steps to the area responsible for information management, no longer worrying about the cumbersome procedures that should have been carried out. In the surprised gaze of the staff, Old John raised his voice that was trembling.

“—From Oliver Ramon, corrected to Oliver Lopez!”

The author has something to say:

Ollie: My Nemo is still there.

Jesse: (Licks the knight commander)

Ollie: Nemo and I are engaged.

Jesse: (Licks the knight commander)

Ollie: …You’re picking a fight, aren’t you?

——————

You can look but can’t touch, Ollie.