Chapter 243: Returning Home + Sophia’s Point of View

“I have a lot to say to you.”

“Hahaha ……”

I had to laugh and cover it up. Surely there are a lot of things to say. It is unheard of for a man to make a contract with a beast and a devil when he has already made a contract with a spirit.

“Are you going to do what you did today tomorrow?”

“Ah.”

I tried it today in order to do it tomorrow. If I don’t use it tomorrow, it will be useless.

“Then other people will see you tomorrow and ask you a lot of questions, so I’ll ask them then too. It would be tedious to say the same thing over and over again.”

“Thank you?”

And that day I returned to the capital without being asked anything by Elira. Then, I left her and went home. If she wasn’t right after entering King’s Landing, she was probably at home.

“Welcome home, Zero-niisama.”

“I’m back.”

Sophie was resting in the living room. As I had expected, she wasn’t on an urgent errand.

“What’s the reason you called me home?”

“I’ll tell you after tomorrow’s game.”

I guess she wanted me to concentrate on tomorrow’s match for now. Sophie told me that and went to her room. She seemed to be thinking about something. If it weren’t for the match tomorrow, I’d have asked her without hesitation, but the timing is not good. If she was worried about tomorrow’s match, I wouldn’t be the one to ask her.

After that, I went to bed without any problems. It’s still a little early, but I’m already asleep for tomorrow.

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<<Sophia’s point of view>>

“What I can do for Nii-sama at tomorrow’s match.”

That’s what I kept thinking about when my brother came home. At first I was shallow and self-centered, thinking about winning the bet. But that shouldn’t be the case. My principle of action is only to Nii-sama’s benefit. Even if I won that bet, I don’t think it would be for his benefit. I really want it to be, but…. Then what can I do for him in tomorrow’s match?

“To make Nii-sama give it his all…”

In the past matches, Zero-niisama hasn’t been able to show his true powers. Even in today’s match, he won without even trying out his new sword. My role is to bring out his true spirit and power beyond his limits. This can only be done in tomorrow’s match. In a mock battle, there’s a possibility of death, so Nii-sama can’t really show his true potential. Then he has no choice but to give it his all tomorrow, when he will not die. It’s something that must be done before the battle against the heroes, who still have many uncertainties.

“Then it is out of the question to seal his spirit user skill.”

If Nii-sama is going to get serious, he’ll definitely need his spirit user. And it’s also a spirit user that’s needed to tear the spirits away from the heroes. It’d be meaningless to seal it tomorrow, when it’s also a rehearsal for fighting the heroes. If I did that, he would end up not being able to give his best. By that theory, I can’t block enchantment and other skills that are essential in battle.

“But I want to win…”

I want to win after doing everything I can for him. It can’t be helped because of the stakes and my aversion to losing. I may not really care about my aversion to losing. But I really want to win the bet. I want to be forgiven for that, because I love him. So even if I seal it, I can make my brother give his all, but it has to be a skill that gives me an advantage.

“I wonder if that would work…?”

If it’s that one, it shouldn’t affect Nii-sama’s ability to give his all. And when it’s gone, it should be to my advantage. To be honest, that skill is annoying. There were many times when I wished I didn’t have that skill.

“Devilfication…I’m going to have to use it.”

In order to draw out more power than his limit, I have to push him somewhat. I would also need to be devilfied when it comes to that. But I have to stop when he starts to push himself beyond his limits. The question is whether or not I’ll have any reason left when I’m devil-possessed and devilfied at the same time. But I have to do something about that.

Having settled on what I needed to do, I went to sleep for tomorrow, even though it was still a little early.

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