“It’s good to see your sense of comedic timing is still in place,” Nora noted from above me. “A bit dramatic, though, don’t you think?”

  I rolled over a few floorboards to glare at her properly. “Why aren’t you focusing on the important stuff? Like the fact that I’m the villain who started all of this?”

  She took a seat next to me. “You? Evil? Please. Chaotic good, with some above-average collateral damage—at worst. You’re just feeling the gaslighting harder because there are too many self-proclaimed lawfuls around here pressuring you to do it their way.”

  “And you’re just making excuses for me,” I groaned, eyes shut.

  “If I don’t, you’ll keep inventing new ways to punish yourself. I suggest skipping that whole process. You don’t have time for it. Instead, you should probably be thinking about how you’re going to renegotiate your terms and conditions with His Dark Majesty. I doubt arbitration is an option.”

  I rolled my face into the floorboards to hide it. “No clue what you’re on about.”

  “I don’t see you starting with threats,” she continued. “Crucial conversation, then?”

  I sat up in consternation. “Are you kidding me? Why would I even try something like talking—”

  “Isn’t that what you told Amos when you banished him?”

  “Nooo,” I drawled, trying to find something for my hands to do. “I just said I was coming.”

  “And you asked him to receive you properly,” Nora added. “Don’t try to fool me. You wanted to talk back then, and you and I both know that’s still what you want to do now.”

  She was right. That whole expositional dive into our sordid past? Just a way to tame, frame, and maybe shame my feelings.

  And it’d be doubly stupid to think I could get rid of her before the confrontation.

  Dang it all!

  “Do you… Approve of my plan?”

  Nora frowned and stared at me for an uncomfortably long moment. “As long as we flesh it out some and prepare a backup.”

  The backup would have to be violence for dominance. There was no unusual “C” option I could think of, and giving up or failing was entirely out of the question.

  “And… you’re not going to tell Relias?”

  Nora gave me a withering look. “I’m pretty sure he suspects you’ll try talking, too, given how you tried to give the General a way out. I don’t think he could ever imagine it working as intended, though,” she admitted. “So… My best move in all this would be…”

  “Would be?” I prompted after waiting several seconds.

  “I show Relias that I've convinced you not to abandon us or his vision,” she replied. "If I preemptively act in alignment with his personal interests, he might even let me in on what he’s planning to ensure his idea of victory. So, consider me your duplicitous partner in crime.”

  Relief surged through me. “Crime? I thought you said earlier I wasn’t the villain?”

  “Not yet,” she agreed with a smirk. “But there’s still time to grow into it.”

  “Well, what do you think?” I asked, offering up my hachimaki between both hands.

  Relias grasped the fabric with his lithe fingers, turning it back and forth as he considered my request. “To willfully deface such a holy relic…”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Is it really a holy relic, or is it mine?” I asked, unleashing a well-practiced look of innocence.

  “It is both,” he answered, genuinely confused by the question.

  “Then that would mean Rae has ownership,” Nora advised, nodding like she was a subject matter expert. “Holy relics have guardianship, but since it’s Rae’s, wouldn’t that mean she can do what she wants with it?”

  “That’s…” Relias flinched. “Well… I suppose…”

  Nora and I shared a knowing glance before she continued. “Then the question isn’t so much are we authorized to make changes, but would they work? Could we all benefit from its ability if we split it into three lengths?”

  I took a deep breath. “I’d feel a lot more confident, going into battle together, with the knowledge that all three of us had mental protection against the Second of Evil.”

  It was probably an outdated title for him, but it would still check out.

  Relias straightened, his hand clenching around the hachimaki. “Then… you have accepted your Purpose?”

  I let the question hang in the air for a moment.

  “I know what I have to do to make things right,” I answered. “So yes.”

  With Nora’s help, I’d long since rationalized that Euphridia’s final words superseded any previously assigned Purposes. To feel a little better about the whole thing, we’d also requested that NAUGHT’s database be updated, if possible, through a written request in both our journals. I’d added it to some recent prayers in Bastione Bianco’s chapel as a ‘gentle reminder.’

  Of course, it would be nice to know if Clare has approved the request.

  Relias pursed his lips. “Then have you also come to accept that we are to stand with you in the final reckoning? You will not seek to leave us behind on the road to his Sanctum?”

  I hung my head. “Yes. I promise.”

  “Dear One.” He placed a hand on the crown of my head. “I would find greater peace in your answer were you to meet my gaze as you spoke it.”

  I gave him a bit of a guilty grin before taking his hand between mine. “I promise!”

  His eyes widened as a blush spread across his cheeks. After breaking contact, he turned his attention back to the hachimaki in his other hand.

  “Euphridia’s blessing flows through every thread of the fabric,” he explained, his voice warbling nervously. “Though its form may change, with the proper rites, I believe its sanctity can be preserved through all divisions. There is one obstacle, however.” He shifted awkwardly. “I must tell you, in all transparency, I lack the gift of threadcraft.”

  “I got you,” Nora replied, pulling out a sewing kit she’d somehow procured. “You invoke, and I’ll poke.”

  “And I’ll get some bandages,” I added.

  “Hey! I’ll take my time with this one,” Nora objected. “I know the difference between this and last-minute dollar-store cosplay!”

  True to her word, Nora took the task seriously, even measuring the exact amount of fabric needed to cover each of our heads. The hachimaki was quite long, but there wouldn’t be any room for mistakes. Relias summoned a golden magic circle around them, which held steady for the duration of their work. As for me, I supervised, pacing back and forth for a while before realizing I wouldn’t recognize a mistake even if it slapped me across the face.

  “Just sit down,” Nora said as she threaded her needle with a string she’d meticulously pulled from a seam. “You’re distracting me.”

  “Your presence is a blessing to our work,” Relias murmured, holding a ball of gold light between his hands. “Though I confess, even I find it difficult to maintain my focus.”

  “Alright…”

  I complied with a slight pout, which was thoroughly ignored. With nothing better to do, I closed my eyes.

  “Fell asleep on the job?” Nora asked, her face just inches from mine.

  “Gaah!”

  “Called it!” she laughed. “Well? What do you think?”

  In her hands were three blue and gold headbands.

  “Where in the world did you find elastic?” I asked, stretching one between my fingers.

  “Never you mind that,” she replied, a dangerous look in her eye.

  Noting that her outerwear appeared unaltered, I decided not to push the envelope any further.

  “Um, alright…”

  “That one’s yours. Put it on.”

  I slipped it over my head. “It fits!”

  “Of course it fits.”

  She handed another to Relias, who first brought it to his neck, carefully tugging free his long, golden hair. The silky strands fanned out behind him like a curtain of sunlight before he drew the cloth up to rest against his forehead.

  “You’re drooling,” Nora whispered in my ear.

  I fell for it, wiping my dry lips as she laughed silently.

  “The threads carry the blessing of Euphridia,” Relias declared, as a white light flashed from all three bands. He smoothed the front of his cloth headgear, his fingertips briefly resting at his brow. “And now, we are bound not only in Purpose... but in appearance, as well. I would say you are quite ingenious, Lady Nora.”

  Nora merely grinned in response, hiding the fact that it had been my idea all along.

  Post Chapter Omake:

  Nora: Did you have to add that bit about the elastic?

  Rae: Yes, because it was ingenious! It also raises a good question. How many isekai heroes ultimately end up going commando? I mean, modern clothes don’t always hold up so well, especially if you can’t comply with their convoluted laundering instructions.

  Nora: Rachel Emily Smith!

  Rae: Yes?

  Nora: Will you please focus on the plot and not my unmentionables?

  Rae: Sure. I’ve already mentioned them.

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