Damn Reincarnation

that guy was someone with very little emotional expression in general.

…But what about when Noir said that Vermouth’s killing intent hadn’t been so blatant? The only reason she could say those words was precisely because she didn’t know Vermouth all that well.
When he needed it, Vermouth’s killing intent was stronger and more glaring than anyone else’s in the party.

“What are your intentions? Why have you come here?” Eugene demanded.

“Please don’t be so naive, dear Eugene,” Noir said in a soft tone.

‘Dear Eugene?’

Those words sent goosebumps rising across Eugene’s whole body.
A crazy burst of rampaging killing intent washed over Noir.

Fwoooosh!

Noir’s hair was blown backward.
Her whole body went numb as if she had been electrocuted.

Yet, Noir continued speaking in a soft, unperturbed voice, “This is Helmuth.
The land of the demonfolk.
In this country, there is no place that I cannot go.
Could it be that you really haven’t thought this might happen? You didn’t expect that I would miss you so much I couldn’t help but come looking for you?”

Of course, Eugene had considered this.
He hadn’t even donned a disguise, and had instead entered Helmuth with official permission to do so.
So in regards to the Queen of the Night Demons, Noir Giabella, Eugene had thought that there was a chance this insane demonfolk might try to contact them for no particular reason.

Eugene demanded once more, “Why have you come here?”

Noir Giabella was certainly insane, but even so, it wasn’t like she was incapable of holding a conversation.
At the very least, Eugene couldn’t sense any killing intent coming from Noir at the moment.

Of course, the fact that Noir wasn’t showing any killing intent was by far not a good enough reason for Eugene to put away the Holy Sword.
But instead of taking offense at his demands, Noir seemed to have fallen in love with Eugene’s show of blind hostility.

With a grin, Noir peered over the drawn blade to look around their room.
Her gaze first went to Mer, who was openly glaring at her.

Although Noir hadn’t seen Mer in the snowfields, she had heard the rumors.
Originally from Aroth’s vaunted Royal Library of Akron, it was said that the custody of this familiar that had been personally crafted by the Wise Sienna herself was transferred over to Eugene along with Akasha.

“I’ve always said that Sienna Merdein is quite the mystery.
Why did she create a familiar that so closely resembled herself?” Noir winked at Mer.
“Perhaps she wanted to have children? If that was the case, then it’s even more inexplicable.
Why would she need to create a familiar for that? Sienna’s looks were quite beautiful, so she could get any number of men if she only wanted to—”

Noir wasn’t able to finish her words.
The Holy Word sliced through Noir’s neck, sending her head flying up in the sky.

Grit.

Yet, instead of the sound of the head rolling on the floor, the only thing that could be heard in the aftermath of the attack was the sound of Eugene grinding his teeth.

Plop.

Noir’s hands reach out to catch her head as it fell back down.

“Haha—” Noir still attempted to let out a laugh, but even that was choked off as her head fell apart.

It wasn’t just her neck that had been severed, even her head had been split into two pieces by the blow.

Theft is never good, try looking at [ pawread dot com ].

Noir held her bisected head back together with both hands until everything reconnected.

‘It seems like it’s only natural that she wouldn’t die from having her throat cut.
Her regeneration is also very fast.
So slicing her to pieces faster than she can regenerate… probably won’t work,’ Eugene assessed his target.

Even though he had just chopped her head in half with the Holy Sword, Eugene parted his tightly clenched jaws and said, “I asked you, why have you come here?”

Without showing any distress from her injuries, Noir said with apparent contrition, “It seems I’ve made a mistake.
I’m sorry, please don’t get angry, dear Eugene.
I forgot that you are Sienna Merdein’s disciple.”

“You, don’t call me that,” Eugene growled through gritted teeth.

“Are you offended by me calling you ‘dear Eugene’? I don’t know about anything else, but the way I address you, at least, is entirely up to me,” Noir insisted.

Eugene didn’t want to discuss anything more to her.
The door that Noir had wilfully thrown open began to close by itself.
Of course, Noir wouldn’t just let the door close in front of her.
She quickly raised a hand to stop the door, then thrust her head toward Eugene.

“I’m not here to play pranks like I did last time,” Noir quickly explained.
“Really.
I’ve come here in order to help you.”

Eugene coldly rejected her.
“If you want to help me then you can get out of my sight, and just stay there until I come to kill you.”

“You really are saying such ridiculously selfish things with a calm face.
When exactly are you going to come to kill me?” Noir asked, her eyes widening into circles as she stared at Eugene.

Without saying anything more, Eugene immediately grabbed the doorknob in order to pull the door closed himself.

As for Noir, she felt a strong sense of fate coming from Eugene’s words.

Thrusting the tip of her foot between the door and the frame to stop the door from closing, Noir grabbed Eugene’s wrist.

Or rather, she tried to grab onto him.
Eugene naturally had no desire to be held by Noir.
The moment that her fingers were about to close on his wrist, he instantly pulled his hand back.

“Are you really going to kill me?” Noir asked excitedly.

Neither of them was moving from where they were standing; only their hands were flashing quickly through the air as they stood in place.
Noir tried to grab Eugene, while he tried not to get caught.

….Instead of annoyance, Noir actually felt a tingling sense of excitement rising in her heart just from their childish game.

In these three hundred years since the war had ended, Noir had never once failed in getting what she wanted.

“So what, do you want me to not try and kill you?” Eugene challenged.

“No, no, I would be quite happy if you did come to kill me.
When that time comes, I will also happily and enjoyably do my best to kill you,” Noir declared cheerfully.

If this wasn’t a bond of fate, then what else could you call this? Perhaps a grievous tragedy? Noir tried to imagine how one day Eugene, the hero, would come to kill her.

There was no way that Noir could just die easily.
Honestly speaking, her own defeat and death was something unimaginable to her.
If they were to try and kill each other, Noir felt that the only one to survive it would be herself.

She would be left cradling the bloodstained Eugene, or else she might end up hugging his severed head in her arms.
When she kissed his still-warm lips, the smell of his blood would wash over her—

Just imagining it caused Noir’s body to heat up.

Noir suddenly asked, “You want to enter the Dragon-Demon Castle, don’t you?”

Their hand-to-hand game of tag froze immediately.
Eugene pulled his hand back with one clear motion, and Noir stopped trying to grab onto him.
The fun would just have to be postponed until later.

“If you want to enter the Dragon-Demon Castle, I can help you,” Noir offered.

Eugene hesitantly asked, “…Why the hell would you do that?”

“There are several reasons, actually.
First of all, I like you.
The fact that you’re Vermouth’s descendant, as well as the Hero who’s been recognized by the Holy Sword, are nice enough, but… it’s also good to see that you’re a completely different, far more greedy person than Vermouth.
You know what I mean by that, right?” Noir said as she pulled her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose and showed Eugene her eyes.

Her eyes that were filled with the light of countless stars stared right into Eugene’s.

The Demoneyes of Fantasy.

Although he risked being enthralled by those eyes, Eugene refused to back down.
If he really wanted to be safe from her Demoneyes of Fantasy, then he had to avoid even standing in front of Noir Giabella in the first place.
Her strong dark power and those absurd Demoneyes weren’t abilities that could be blocked by mere sunglasses.

“You really are a fascinating existence for me, dear Eugene,” Noir said seductively.

Her voice was horrible, disgusting, and even gave him goosebumps.However, even greater than those sensations was Eugene’s intrigue in Noir’s offer to help him enter the Dragon-Demon Castle.

“…How am I supposed to trust you?” Eugene asked doubtfully.

Noir posed her own question in return, “As a Duke of Helmuth and Queen of the Night Demons, what reason would I, Noir Giabella, have to lie to you like this?”

Noir glanced down at her shoe that was stuck in between the cracked-open doorway and smiled.

“Please, open this door and invite me in,” Noir politely requested.
“I prefer alcohol over tea, but since it seems like you would rather not have drinks with me… why don’t we have a chat over some nice tea?”

Boom.

Eugene gave the door a light kick before turning around.
Noir walked through the now-opened door and followed him inside.
After meeting eyes with Mer, who looked frightened, and Kristina, who was glaring right back at her, Noir smiled.

“Ah, how nice….”

The murmur unconsciously escaped Noir’s lips.

A descendant of Vermouth who resembled Hamel, the Saint of this current era who resembled Anise, a familiar who resembled Sienna….
There were some slight differences, but right now, this place reminded Noir of back then, three hundred years ago.

“Your beds are quite wide,” Noir commented with a glance at the large beds as she walked through their living room.

As a hotel suite in Helmuth, the beds here were tailored to accommodate demonfolk of all different physiques, so they were mostly quite large.

“There’s enough room for three… no, for four people to roll around on.
How about it? Before we talk, why don’t we share a nice dream together—”

“Get lost,” Eugene barked sharply.

“Even your cold rejection is sexy,” Noir said with a giggle as she sat down on their sofa.
“Well then, let’s start our discussion about the young master of the Dragon-Demon Castle… the Dragon Princess.”