When Joshua returned to the Mycrof continent from the turbulence of time and space, it was already the middle of May in the year 835.

Karliss pulled him out of the turbulence of time and space into the Star Dome, the core of the world, where the flow of time became anomalous, whether it was a day, a month, or a moment, which was why ordinary beings could not talk to the Cyborda, and it was difficult for them to maintain self-awareness in such an extraordinary environment. Joshua's luck was good, during the time he talked to Karlis, the time in the Star Dome was normal, but the Steelpython encountered a little accident when he sent him back to the Mycrof continent, and a small outbreak of the Great Demon Tide delayed his departure time a lot.

Anyway, now he's back on the continent of Mycrof, the Great Ajax Mountains, this familiar place.

As the dark blue door was opened, the space-time crack appeared on the most magnificent mountain range in the north, and the obvious extreme space-time fluctuations were transmitted in all directions, attracting the attention of many people who had been waiting here for a long time, accompanied by bursts of magic fluctuations, three mages and two gold-level warriors flew up at the same time, approaching the dark blue space-time gate.

The arrival of the Great Demon Tide has made the strength level of the entire world take a big step forward, and under the baptism of high concentration of magic power for nearly a year, there have been many high-level silver advanced to gold-level existence, but in any case, the existence of gold-level is still a high-level force of the entire world, and the reason why these elites are waiting respectfully here is naturally because they have orders.

Order from the Emperor.

Nearly a week or so ago, the Emperor and his trusted mentor came to the Northlands to meet with two legendary mages who had been lost for a long time, and they exchanged with each other for a long time, from Barnier and William, the two highest echelons of the empire learned most of what happened in the Sixth Abyss, and Israel was not surprised by everything the warrior did, whether it was killing demons or severely damaging the demon army, and Nostradamus was the same, They weren't even shocked or worried about Joshua's sudden disappearance during the teleportation, and the dark-blond-haired Empire Ruler responded with a calm smile in response to Master Barnier's doubts.

"That's Joshua."

When he said this, he only said this sentence without giving any explanation, but this light sentence was actually enough to explain everything, and even the two legendary mages couldn't help but nod in agreement after thinking for a while.

"Yes, if it's that guy, it's really not a big deal."

William recalled what the warrior had done in the abyss, and said with relief, "The first time I've seen someone go to the abyss to slaughter demons—this kind of person will be fine. ”

And the truth is just as they thought, Joshua returned safely, only a little late, and the warrior did not have much emotion when facing these mages and golden warriors who had been respectfully surrounding on both sides since he stepped out of the space-time gate, he just said calmly: "Okay, you go and tell His Majesty the Emperor and Master Nostradamus that I am all right, there is no accident." ”

"In a few days, I will go to meet them, talk about some things, and let His Majesty arrange a time." Joshua deliberately explained to a mage who had the five-star ring sun coat of arms on his body and was obviously a person close to the royal family: "It's best to go to the Void Stargazing Center, where many things can be used. ”

"Yes, Count Radcliffe."

In response to Joshua's request, the royal mage immediately bowed his head and replied respectfully, "I will bring your words to Your Majesty in their entirety - do you have anything else to instruct?" ”

No. Joshua didn't say this, because he had already begun to take a step towards the south, towards the Moldavian Lord, towards the direction where the Lord's Mansion was located, and in an instant, all the people on standby present, whether it was a high-ranking mage or a golden warrior, did not see any process, and the warrior had already disappeared, until the royal mage cautiously looked up at the place where Joshua was originally located, and did he know that he had left.

He went home.

And at this moment, on the roof of the Lord's Palace, Hei was lying bored on the uneven battlements at the edge of the tower, looking at the blue sky. In the past few days, the Black Dragon Girl has been so leisurely, after all, she doesn't need to deal with official business like Rin, nor does she need to monitor the situation in the entire main city like Miss No. 3, and even Hotaru is busier than she is going to come - at least the Divine Machine Girl is also *** servant, and cleaning such an important place as the study bedroom has always been her job.

Only black, because the positioning is a mount, there is nothing to do on weekdays except for being taken out for a walk by the warriors, so there is nothing to do in the days when Joshua is not there, if it is the usual time when the warrior is busy and can't accompany her, the black dragon girl will actually go to the Arctic Ice Sheet by herself, and she will even try to catch fish and eat around the dazed sea, but now, Joshua has not returned for a long time, not only the god machine sister and brother and the artificial intelligence girl are worried, even the always carefree black has no heart to go for a walk.

Fortunately, there is a ball of light. Thinking of this, Hei stretched out his hand and carefully stroked the beige ball of light that seemed to be very suitable between his two corners, and a crisp jingle sound came, proving that the other party was in a good mood.

It's warm and so comfortable. She thought happily. But if I keep touching it, won't it get angry? The black dragon girl was a little worried again.

For the existence of the ball of light,Whether it's Hotaru or Rin,Or No. 3 have expressed considerable curiosity.,The god machine siblings think it's the same as their psionic body.,It has an almost physical energy body.,And the artificial intelligence girl thinks,The other party's form of existence is very worthy of her reference.,In fact,No. 3 has been in the central control room for several days.,It seems to be trying to imitate this kind of repulsive force field that obviously only has energy.,But it's like a substance that can be touched.。

But no matter who it was, they all thought that this unknown life brought back by the master was absolutely of great value, otherwise why did Joshua of the Abyss of Nuoda bring such a ball back without bringing anything? So, either out of curiosity or out of an enterprising spirit, they began to improve themselves in their own way, intending to show their master when he returned—no doubt, just like Israel and the others, the people in the lord's house thought that the warrior would return safely.

And in this regard, Hei is more powerful, she didn't think about anything. For the black dragon, who was kept by warriors most of the time in the palm print lake of the Nissière Snow Mountain, the owner was often absent.

Therefore, when she saw a red rainbow running through the turquoise sky, stopping above the Lord's Mansion - that is, in front of her, Hei was not too surprised and excited, but only raised his hand energetically and greeted the warrior: "Master! You're back! ”

"Yes, I'm back, are you worried about me?"

Landing in the tower, Joshua smiled and habitually reached out, intending to touch the head of the black dragon girl, but just as Kuroya habitually stretched out his head, he found that his hand touched a soft and elastic existence like jelly - the ball of light emitted a series of crisp wind chimes, as if he was angry at Joshua for not saying goodbye for a long time.

"I didn't leave you behind—it was all an accident." Easily plucking the ball of light from the top of Hei's head, Joshua stretched out his right hand and rubbed the other party's head in the comfortable expression of the black dragon girl, while turning his head sideways to the ball of light in his left arm and said, "How is it?" The Microf continent should be much better than in the Blood Moon, and I thought you wouldn't be able to get used to the air, but now it seems that you're doing well. ”

"Jingle jingle jingle!"

In the wind chimes of the ball of light, a wave of magic power quickly converged in mid-air, and footsteps were also heard at the stairs, sensing the movement and familiar atmosphere on the top floor, the Shenji siblings and No. 3 both reacted in an instant, and then made the most rapid action.

Without speaking, Joshua looked up and looked at No. 3, who had just condensed the magic projection, and Hotaru and Rin, who had walked out of the entrance, and he smiled, and then nodded.

"I'm back." "A little late," he said. ”

"It's too late." The silver-haired girl pouted a little dissatisfied, Hotaru frowned, crossed her hands on her chest, and said a little angrily: "And the most important thing is not this, it's not that you don't take us with you - it's that you leave so suddenly without saying hello!" ”

"Saying goodbye without saying goodbye will cause chaos, master!" Even Rin, who has always been mild-mannered, showed a troubled expression, and the butler, who had been handling government affairs for the soldiers, looked a little exhausted: "God, no one would have thought that you would leave so suddenly, the Black Forest Fortress has already sent three documents requesting additional supplies, and I don't dare to sign it if you are not there, but this matter is urgent, I can only pretend to sign and solve this matter first-you won't blame me, right?" ”

"Of course not, I'm even going to compliment you." Joshua blinked, how could he blame Rin, without this butler, the warrior would have been overwhelmed by the starry government affairs of the Moldavian Lord, you know, he has always been a little lacking in the fact that he is a lord. Joshua's personality is called chic and uninhibited, not bound by trivial matters, but to put it mildly, he can't be a qualified leader, he can command a squad to charge on the battlefield at most, and it is completely impossible to stay in one place to deal with tedious government affairs.

The indignation of the Shenji siblings was mainly due to the fact that they didn't bring them with them on this adventure, as weapons, Hotaru and Rin both felt that they were extremely disqualified, and it took Joshua a lot of effort to solve this problem, such as promising them that if they had the opportunity next time, they would take the two of them out together to go around, chopping something, so as not to make them forget their own duties, and after that, the warrior turned his head and looked at No. 3, who had been silent.

"Why don't you speak?" Joshua asked a little strangely. He knew that in similar situations in the past, Miss Artificial Intelligence had always been the first to speak, but this time she had been silent, and she always felt a little different from before.

“…… You're doing dangerous things again, Joshua. ”

In the face of the warrior's questioning, No. 3 was silent for a while before muttering softly, "You didn't bring Hotaru and Rin because you thought it was too dangerous...... Black is fast and can avoid most dangerous situations, which is why you take her with you. ”

"The abyss isn't dangerous to me, but it's not the same for you."

Regarding the words of the artificial intelligence girl, Qiao Shuya's face couldn't help but become serious, and he replied seriously: "Actually, it's a little inconsiderate to bring black, but everything is fine, and this trip to the abyss also made me discover a lot of potential troubles." ”

Thinking of the divine runes engraved on the bones in his body, Joshua couldn't help but nod slightly. Being able to clearly perceive the influence of divinity on himself can be said to be one of the greatest gains of this trip to the abyss, second only to the information that the steel python told him.

"Speaking of which, No. 3, this is different, you actually care about my safety."

Many thoughts flashed by, Joshua came back to his senses, he looked at No. 3, who was still a little worried, and said with a smile: "You obviously had full confidence in me before this, how could you suddenly care about my safety?" ”

When Joshua said this, she was in a very relaxed mood. He just instinctively said it casually to Number 3, which didn't even go through the brain's thoughts, but on the contrary, Number 3 thought carefully for a while after listening to Joshua's question before answering.

"Joshua."

When she said this, the tone of the artificial intelligence girl was very sincere and very serious, and this emotion was so obvious that even Hei, who was constantly stroking the ball of light on the side, making it make a jingle bell sound, subconsciously stopped the movements in her hand, not to mention Hotaru and Rin, who were very serious from the beginning, No. 3 seemed to be considering her words, and after a few seconds, she said softly: "Now, we are all happy." ”

"Hotaru, Rin, Kuro, this ball of light, Old Bishop Atanis, Mr. Brandon, Lady Verdany, the two young ladies of the Scarlante family, Master Nostradamus who doesn't come often, and His Majesty the Emperor."

Number 3's voice was not loud, but it was very clear, and she glanced around at everyone present, and then continued in a calm voice, "A year or two ago, everyone's faces were not good-looking. They, we, are worried, because there are so many things that have not been resolved. But now it's different, our lives are on track. ”

Hotaru and Rin have adapted to their roles as head maid and butler. The silver-haired girl is no longer the ignorant god who didn't know anything about anything, but a leader who can skillfully handle housekeeping and coordinate problems in the lord's mansion. And the boy has also become a housekeeper who can take charge of himself, and Rin's government affairs are getting better and better day by day, which is enough for anyone to trust his work with confidence.

The Black Dragon Maiden has learned the human way of life, of course, she prefers to play in the wilderness as a dragon, but this cannot be denied her efforts, and the elderly Archbishop Atanis is no longer presiding over the work of the church, and several of his former apprentices and current students have begun to preside over Mass and prayer in his place, leading the clergy to patrol the traces of the cultists.

Not to mention the Brandons and their daughters, as well as Israel and Nostradamus, the former of whom had a happy family and were no longer harassed by beasts and cultists, while the latter had advanced to the level of legends, and nothing in the entire empire could sway their minds, and they all got the life and power they wanted.

"The world has become stable, so why put yourself in danger? It's obviously no longer necessary. ”

Whispering all this, Number 3 and Joshua looked at each other, her eyes flashing with a pale blue light, and the artificial intelligence seemed to be a little puzzled: "Just because it's perfect, Hotaru and Rin and I both hope that you can be safe...... Because without you, it would all be meaningless. ”

Faced with a sharp question that No. 3 had never asked before, Joshua was silent for a while. Of course, he knew that his actions would not be understood by acquaintances, and in the eyes of everyone, all dangers were gone, the orcs were extinct, the dragons were defeated, the cultists were banished, and the demon cultists were silenced in the mountains. The entire Mycrove continent has ushered in a long-awaited true peace, and even those who know the truth know that the flames have been rekindled, and the problems that have plagued these powerful people for thousands of years have been solved by him. Solved by him Joshua.

Indeed, the era of unprecedented stability has arrived, and all you need to do is enjoy the happiness you have not seen for a long time, especially for the artificial intelligence girl who has been driving in the ruined world of Karliss for thousands of years, and she is looking forward to a quiet and boring daily life instead of a legendary adventure with ups and downs.

Why did Joshua deliberately put himself in danger? She couldn't understand this, she wouldn't have asked this kind of question in the first place, but an unknown impulse—an impulse that artificial intelligence would never have—drove her to ask this question abruptly.

“…… You're right. ”

Yes, number 3 is right. The world has ushered in a stable and prosperous era, and even demons will never invade after more than twenty years, according to the previous history. Joshua closed his eyes and opened them again. He didn't know how to explain what he knew to his family, who were more like relatives than they were, even if they weren't related by blood.

What to say? The Abyss is nothing more than an evil neighbor to be vigilant against, and the real threat is an evil god that will only come in a few decades? It's ridiculous, and I can't say it, but this is information about the evil god, and I can't say much about anyone.

Thinking of the profound evil, indescribable horror god that made the whole world tremble in the memory of the steel python Callis, Joshua couldn't help but sigh deeply in his heart. It is precisely because he knows more that he thinks more and does more. Even if what he does seems unnecessary to others, it must be done. A few decades may seem like a long time, but for the gap between a legend and an evil god, it seems unusually short.

Not enough, far from enough. It is because you are feeling happy now. That's why I have to do these things as soon as possible.

Somehow to say this, Joshua could only take a step forward and give a hug to No. 3, who was floating in mid-air. Under the power of the warrior, the ethereal projection of magic was embraced by him like a physical object.

"I was reckless this time, but it's okay." He said this, then let go of his hand, turned around, and gave Hotaru and Rin, who were already close, a hug as well, and the warrior thought about what Karliss had told him, and said seriously, "From today onwards, I will not let you worry. ”