Type-Moon, Does a Minor Cheat Still Count as a Cheat?

Novia looked at the girl, whose face had already turned utterly red from his kiss and whose expression had gone blank, then held her and said this.

"O-Okay, Teacher. I'll always listen to you..."

For a girl, Nero was incredibly adorable like this, but perhaps she was embarrassed by what she said next, so her voice grew even quieter.

"But, but... if it's like this, I think... you could also pull my hair harder or something. I've only heard about it—I never had thoughts like that..."

She merely wanted him to hold her hair when they kissed in the future. Naturally, Novia did not hesitate and readily granted Nero's request.

A Name for Melusine, and Melusine Alone

The next day, having confirmed that her teacher had no serious problems and received an excellent reward yesterday, Nero naturally stopped hesitating.

That morning, after meeting Novia in the palace and sharing a few more intimate moments, she directly announced that she would head to the Isthmus of Corinth on the Greek Peninsula to carve out a canal.

With Seneca among the civil officials, Lucius leading the Praetorian Guard, and Novia's orders carrying the same weight as the Emperor's, Nero leaving the capital was not much of an issue. Though for Novia, it did not seem much different from when Nero was present anyway.

After all, as long as he brought something up, the blonde girl would agree.

In truth, after establishing the Holy Church, becoming its Pope, and seeing the number of Christians across the country rapidly soar, Novia could be said to have nothing left to do. He only needed to sit back and enjoy himself.

Yet even after learning of the new apocalypse John had spoken of, he had remained extremely busy.

As for the Holy Church, although it already had people from the Burial Agency, and Roman magi stationed across the land had long been helping deal with the local Dead Apostles, it was ultimately a drop in the bucket. They could only wait for the "Bible" foundation Novia had created to successfully come into being. Then ordinary people would be able to defend themselves with rituals, though that would take some time.

Novia had not yet given much thought to establishing an order of knights belonging to the Church. He figured it would be better to train Executors first.

After all, it would be a military organization out in the open. Although Nero would certainly not have any objections, as her teacher, he still had to be considerate.

After dealing with the Holy Church's problems came the problems of the Roman Empire. A few years ago, Novia had practically destroyed every structure in Judea Province except Jerusalem's First Temple. Yet it was necessary to relocate the excessively large population of the province there. Rebuilding the cities and reconstructing the holy city of Jerusalem around the First Temple therefore needed to be put on the agenda.

In Novia's plans, once all of that was complete, the next matter would be Byzantium.

This place was an unavoidable passage to Asia and the only route from the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea.

Furthermore, the nearby Golden Horn was an excellent natural harbor. Since ancient times, merchant ships from all over the world had gathered there. If they began supporting it vigorously now, its convenient land and water transport would rapidly develop commerce, providing the Roman Empire's treasury with considerable income and allowing for more infrastructure to be built.

Beyond that, vigorously developing Byzantium would also make the residents of the major provinces east of the Roman Empire proud of their identity as citizens of the Roman Empire, gradually bringing the people together.

In short, all of these were matters that would take a great deal of time to accomplish. But Novia and Nero were both young, so there naturally would not be much of a problem.

And now, having learned about the new apocalypse, Novia wanted to go somewhere first: Armageddon, eighty kilometers north of Jerusalem.

That was to say, the final battlefield of the great war among nations launched by the "Kingdom of the Beast" in the final days described in the Book of Revelation.

"I'm going out. It'll be a long time before I return."

After bidding Nero farewell, Novia returned home and spoke to the "spear" hanging there. Ever since Albion had forcefully used her uniquely long tongue to lick the inside of his mouth over a dozen times last time, she had vanished at dawn.

From that day onward, no matter what Novia said, she gave no reaction and did not speak.

He could have left without a word now, but he understood that Albion was afraid of loneliness. He should still tell her. As for whether she followed him, that was up to her.

Don't let me see you. I still want to eat you so badly.

Hidden within the spear, Albion felt her instinctive desire and hunger stirring in her body. After eating a piece of flesh from Novia's shoulder and stomach, she had sensed a subtle change in his soul. Thus, instinctively, she wanted more. For some reason, she also hoped that afterward, she would gasp in disorder because of Novia, and that his hands, sticky with blood and flesh, would be licked clean by her.

After waiting through more than ten seconds of silence, Novia found that Albion still had not reacted. He thought he needed to push her a little harder. Tsunderes really were troublesome.

"...I'm afraid of you."

Albion remained silent in response to Novia's sudden words. Although she did not like being hated, she still hoped more that Novia would not be eaten by her.

"I'm afraid of the fact that you want to eat me." Novia took down the spear and stroked it. "Although you are precious to me, you are also terrifying. Right now, ordinarily... perhaps I should destroy you."

As the silver-haired girl inside the spear murmured painfully, Novia did not remove his hand from it. He did not damage his weapon and abandon the dragon, nor did he use the magecraft he knew to destroy the girl's head. He did none of those things.

"...But I want you to live, even if it means devouring my flesh and blood."

"...I can't do it."

Albion finally appeared before Novia again.

"I'm the Strongest Dragon, but I can't control my desire to eat you. Even though I've already been obedient, I would never act willfully."

"...Come here."

Novia picked her up. The silver-haired girl trembled faintly and clutched Novia's lapel with her small hands.

She did not want to leave. The emotion she expressed was very clear.

"If you can't do it, then from now on, let's make a contract. I'll give you a new name. Then whenever you think of that name in the future, it will mean that you belong to me, and it should be able to suppress that desire."

"...Okay."

The dragon girl's golden eyes appeared somewhat hazy at that moment.

"Melusine. That will be the name that locks away your desire to eat me from now on."

"Mm, I understand. I am the Strongest Dragon who belongs to you. I am Albion, and I am also Melusine."

"Then, before the contract is established, this will be the exchange for what you have shown me." Holding her, Novia brought her head toward his shoulder.

"Take one last bite."

In that instant, flying droplets of blood splashed across the girl's cheeks, slightly staining her delicate appearance.

"Novia... it hurts a lot, doesn't it? Bite me instead. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. But I promise that from now on, I'll never do this again. Really, really, I swear it's true..."

Perhaps she knew that even though she had only eaten a piece of flesh from Novia's shoulder this time, it still hurt him greatly. So Albion, now named Melusine, extended her tongue and ate the blood and scraps of flesh on Novia's body that had resulted from her bite.

"...Melusine, have you gotten a little heavier?"

Melusine No Longer Hid Herself, and the Oracle of the Final Place

"Flying really can save a lot of time..."

"Then, Novia, do you still think I, Melusine, am scary?"

The silver-haired girl showed no discomfort or unease toward her new name. Instead, she was incomparably delighted.

Novia was now literally high in the sky, speeding across the seemingly bottomless, endless Mediterranean Sea.

To be honest, this was not his first time flying through the sky. He had not relied on magecraft, but on things like airplanes and gliders.

Not long ago, after using the name Melusine to bind Albion's desire to eat him, the silver-haired girl had voluntarily asked to travel with him.

"Time is of the essence. Where do you want to go, Novia? I'll take you there. I can fly, you know. Mana won't increase if I don't use it anyway, so I might as well use it directly for you."

Melusine made a small jump and wrapped her arms around Novia's neck. Her body weighed only twenty kilograms, practically weightless, and she was even three centimeters shorter than Nero.

"Seventy kilometers north of Jerusalem."

"Oh, that place... Fine. As long as it's somewhere you want to go, anywhere is fine."

The dragon girl lightly kicked off the empty air with her toes. Blue-black wings with a metallic sheen unfolded from her body, and she carried Novia into the sky.

Back to the present.

"I don't like you being afraid of me." Melusine buried her head in Novia's neck and licked it a few times. "I'm not human. It's understandable if you see me as a beast, but I don't want to be friends with you either. I really like you, Novia. In the beginning, I came all the way from somewhere very, very far away to find you all by myself."

The silver-haired girl's voice sounded excited, happy, and elegant.

Novia said nothing. His instincts told him that she did not want him to speak at this moment.

"I was lonely and sad there, and I could only endure, again and again. No, I should tell the truth. I was actually so sad, so sad. I was so lonely that I wanted to cry at any moment. I kept enduring until I heard your voice, and only then did it ease a little. You were clearly just a human. Back then, my thoughts were at most, I wonder what he tastes like? But he's so weak, he definitely won't taste good. But if I ate you, I would definitely be very sad."

"So, Novia, let's stay together forever."

Melusine spoke softly by his ear, her voice nearly drowned out by the sound of air rushing past them.

"I don't want you to leave me. I want you to have only me... Actually, when I first met you, I lied to you... In truth, no one can replace you. Since that's how I see you, you should see me that way too. That's it. Also, I want to possess your body. In human terms, that means mating."

She lowered her eyes afterward, as though enduring something.

"..."

Novia fell silent for several seconds. He had probably never been asked something like this before.

"If you pretend not to hear me, I'll kill you. All right, I'm joking. Three, two, one—answer me already."

"...Aren't you just a soul right now, Melusine? Isn't your body already—"

"I don't know. Anyway, I can feel that I'm slowly about to gain a human body. In just a few more years, I'll be able to. That's wonderful, isn't it, Novia? I'm already yours. You can treat me however you want... so, is that... still not... okay...?"

The Strongest Dragon named Melusine pressed her face close to Novia's and brushed against him with her cheek. Because he did not say a word, the girl's voice grew quieter and thinner.

"I'm very sorry... I didn't think it through. Right, I can keep that human of yours, Nero, from knowing. After all, I only appear when I'm alone with you."

That was true. Over the years, aside from the first time Novia had taken her out for a walk and she had met Nero, Melusine had only appeared when Novia was alone.

After that, both of them fell silent. Before long, they arrived at Novia's destination, and Novia had not expended any mana at all.

Melusine, whose face was somewhat pale, trembled involuntarily. Whether it was because he had not answered, because her mana expenditure was enormous, or both, she was trembling now.

"...I-I'm a little tired. I need to rest. Oh, and I'm sorry, Novia. I was only bringing it up a little just now... Please forget it..."

"Is that really okay? Actually, I don't think there's any need to keep it from Nero. It should still be said."

He only needed to nod for everything to work out perfectly, but Novia had always believed that anyone who sincerely treated him should not be met with a sense of superiority just because they favored him, nor should they be the ones most deserving of perfunctory treatment.

Thus, Novia narrowed his eyes as though pondering something and took Melusine's trembling hand.

"Whether it's you or Nero, I will not let go of either of you. Please have faith in that. You will never be lonely again, Melusine, Albion."

"Okay... See you later. I really need to rest..."

Melusine sounded relieved, and the smile on her face bloomed like a flower before she disappeared, returning to the "spear" Novia held to recover her mana.

Afterward, Novia raised his head and looked upon this place: a vast plain woven from patchwork fields of brown and green.

"So this is the final battlefield."

Novia looked at the scene before him and clenched the key pendant on his chest. He fell silent.

The various legends he had heard in the Book of Revelation surfaced in his mind one after another.

The kings of the world gathered under demonic influence, the coming of the Antichrist, the Almighty defeating the devil and the "kings of the world," the destruction of all the earth, the capture of the Beast...

When would the prophetic Book of Revelation John spoke of come to pass? Nero, whom he had encountered, was essentially a beautiful Beast.

Everything he had done was futile. In other words, neither judgment nor salvation existed for her.

As Novia pondered, an earthquake occurred around him. It was a slight tremor, affecting only the patch of earth beneath his feet, followed by a scene appearing out of nowhere, manifested in flames—

Legend said that twin brothers had been raised by a wolf. After growing up and helping their grandfather reclaim his throne, the twins planned to establish a new city.

Yet they quarreled over its location. The elder brother wanted to build it on the hill where they had grown up, while the younger brother wanted to build it by the river.

Thus, from that moment onward, the twins' bond suffered an irreparable fracture.

In the end, it led to the tragedy of the elder brother killing the younger.

From that moment onward, this nation had been destined to persist amid endless bloodshed and conspiracies.

Even though the elder brother, its founder, was like "light," he could not stop the sins and evils that continued to this day.

The flames vanished. Novia looked toward where they had disappeared and discovered the source was a book named—

Sibylline Oracles.

Nero in the Book of Revelation and the Sibylline Oracles

Sibyl meant "female prophetess" and referred to the oracles of ancient Greece. These oracles were created under the influence of divine inspiration, and were recorded as follows:

The Sibyl, with frenzied lips, uttered things that could not be laughed at, without adornment or fragrance, yet with the help of the gods, her voice endured for a thousand years.

The Sibylline Oracles were a collection of prophecies made by the legendary ancient Greek prophetess Sibyl while in a state of frenzy.

They consisted of fourteen books and eight surviving fragments, and were generally regarded as Book of Revelation literature.

The vision it showed Novia was the story of Romulus, founder of the ancient Roman Kingdom, and his younger brother Remus. Just as Divine Body Osiris had once shown him the scene of being killed by his younger brother Set, it replayed itself in Novia's mind once again.

Romulus of the Type-Moon world was a human undeniably describable as "light." He represented the possibilities of humanity after breaking free from the Age of Gods.

His younger brother Remus was the opposite. His mission resembled that of Enkidu in Mesopotamia. After the twins disagreed over where to build their city, a rift formed between them. During the city's construction, Remus crossed the "boundary" marked out by Romulus, which represented seeking a connection between humans and the gods from the divine beings.