Henry had a bottle in one hand.
It was empty, though.
He didn't appear drunk, so he'd likely finished its contents and was carrying it along.
Even Henry seemed to be restraining himself from drinking under these circumstances.
"Hey, Chief. Came to say hello."
"Sorry for making you come all this way."
We'd assigned them the same task as Grom.
He seemed to have taken a moment from his brief break, concerned for me.
"Don't worry about it. We're comrades, aren't we?"
"...Right."
Luciana was putting on a relaxed tone.
She wasn't as blissfully unaware as Gwen, but she was maintaining a degree of tension.
I posed a question to Henry.
"How are the Demon Lord's armies holding up across the regions?"
"No problems. I trained them well. They could survive having their limbs blown off."
Henry declared with utter confidence.
If he said so, then it must be fine.
The Demon Lord's army was the strongest fighting force we had.
They had continuously honed their skills even while I was tormented by worry.
They were not so weak that I needed to be concerned.
"I've placed spies everywhere, so there are no gaps in the intelligence network. Leave it to me, okay?"
"That's a relief."
It seemed Luciana was also acting in her capacity as head of the spies.
Because the two of them stood at the top, I could be reunited with him without a care in the world.
I really had to be grateful for that.
As I was thinking this, Luciana asked with a slightly mischievous look on her face.
"Hey, what did you tell Minister Grom? He seemed really pumped up."
"I only told him what was right."
What I conveyed was nothing more than my honest feelings.
It probably hadn't fully dispelled Grom's worries.
But my genuine emotions had been conveyed.
I believed it had contributed to him sorting out his feelings.
Sensing this, Luciana nodded in understanding.
"A bond between men... or perhaps, more like the trust between lord and vassal. Well, it's good. When that guy's in a slump, it becomes a hassle for the rest of us too."
There, Luciana suddenly remembered something and clapped her hands.
She pointed at the remains sealed within the crystal.
"If you become friends with the kid who came back to life, introduce me. I want to be friends too."
"I'll prepare some top-shelf liquor. Let's have a drink together when I get back."
"Alright, I understand."
As I felt the dependability of the two of them, a high-output response began approaching from afar.
It hurtled through the air at tremendous speed and landed at a nearby point.
The ground erupted, sending a plume of earth and dust skyward.
I focused intently on the silhouette standing within the dust cloud.
A sudden gust of wind swept through, carrying the dust away.
The true form of the silhouette was revealed.
Standing at the center of the sunken earth was the Great Spirit.
She, with her majestic presence, was inexplicably carrying Logan over her shoulder.