Epilogue

The mysterious continent that appeared in the Pacific was big news for a while, but Kult set up a barrier similar to the one he’d used in his world to make sure that nobody could get in to do a detailed investigation. I asked Lea to keep an eye on the claymen. And at the nine-tailed fox’s orders, the other monsters agreed not to leave the mountain and scare people.

Several days later when I went back to check on things, Kult was ready to say goodbye.

“The repairs on the world door are finally complete. I had to make some substantial modifications to get these three worlds back to their original places, though.”

“But you were able to do it anyway. You’re amazing, Kult.”

We both laughed as we stood inside the partially rebuilt lab.

“All right, then can I leave the claymen to you?”

“Indeed. Just leave them in my care. The monsters say they’ll help too, so I’m sure I’ll be able to come up with some kind of magical science that will keep their children from having different colors.”

These claymen were only the same color because of Kokomo’s transformation spell. But the claymen that weren’t teleported to Earth, as well as any children they had, would still be colored differently. That’s why I’d asked Kult to take care of things.

“It feels kind of lame to leave the last steps to someone else, but thanks for helping.”

“Don’t let it bother you. Thanks to you, they were glad to give us their perpetual motion machine.”

“Well, that’s thanks to Lea, not me.”

They were absolutely convinced Lea was a messenger of their god, and would do most anything she said. Besides, they didn’t need their “Eternal Death Before Defeat” weapon anymore. Kult had taken the perpetual motion machine out of it and had already developed it into a machine to save his home world from heat death.

“I need to hurry and save my world too. I hate to say it, but tonight I’ll be sending each world back to where it belongs, and then we’ll be going back home.”

He turned to his lover, Meifa.

“......”

The now-awakened sleeping beauty smiled gently and bowed. Kult said she couldn’t talk because she’d been asleep for so long that she’d forgotten how. But she would surely remember soon with Kult’s help.

“Yeah... This time, make sure you make her happy.”

Then I said farewell to him too.

▽

Unfortunately, I’d only communicated with the claymen through Lea, so I couldn’t say goodbye to them. In fact, if they’d found out I’d raided their food stores, they probably would have hauled me before a military tribunal, so I decided to skip the goodbye altogether. All I could do was wish them a peaceful future without war.

▽

And so my next destination was monster mountain.

“Rekka!”

A small fox—No, a young boy of about five or six saw me and came running. It was Kokomo, who could now transform into a human.

“Hey, Kokomo. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been great!”

“Good to hear. How’s your mom?”

“She’s still sleeping, but they say she’ll be just fine soon!”

I could tell from the cheer in his voice that things were probably going to be okay.

“You know, you really sound different as a human,” I said.

“Do I?”

“You sure do.”

He wasn’t as panicky as before, for one thing.

“Um... That’s because of you, Rekka.”

“Huh?”

“...”

No, wait a second. Why was he blushing?

Kokomo was a boy, right? I mean, it’s hard to tell whether a little kid is a boy or a girl sometimes... but he was a boy, right?

“W-Well, once you get back to your own world, stay healthy. Both you and your mom.”

“Right!” He nodded with a brilliant smile on his face.

“...”

Part of the reason he couldn’t really use his magic, I’d heard, was that he was still very immature. But Kokomo could now transform into a human, which was a more complex spell than just transforming into a copy of something, because he’d grown mentally. If he could use his spells like this now, he’d probably be fine... but I decided to ask anyway.

“Listen, Kokomo.”

“What is it?”

“If you ever have to fight against a really scary enemy again, what will you do?”

“I know exactly what I’ll do. I’ll grit my teeth and fight them with everything I have.”

I smiled in relief—or maybe it was just a normal smile—when I heard how quickly he answered. I hadn’t been that worried to begin with.

“I see. Okay, well, maybe we’ll see each other again someday. Of course, that might mean you got caught up in another weird story.”

“That doesn’t bother me at all!” Kokomo said, looking kind of sad. “I hope we do meet again someday.”

“Yeah. See you around.”

And so I finished my bittersweet goodbyes with all the characters from this round of stories. That night, Kult’s blue door sent all three worlds back home.

▽

The next weekend...

I was waiting for Hibiki outside a room at a university hospital in the next school district over.

“...”

Her friend had woken up from her coma. I’d gotten the news two days ago. And just like I promised, I came with her to the hospital.

Hibiki had almost given up and gone home several times on the way here. Each time, I pushed her forward until she finally went inside her friend’s hospital room. That was almost an hour ago...

“Yeah. See you soon.”

But now the door opened from the inside and Hibiki came out. She glanced my way and walked right past me. I followed without really saying anything.

“...”

“...”

We walked silently down the hallway for a while, then down the stairs, past the front desk, and out of the building.

Only then did I finally ask, “How’d it go?”

“Well... She says I can come see her again.”

“I see.”

I hadn’t done anything rude like listen in on their conversation, so I didn’t actually know what had happened. But looking at Hibiki’s face now, the answer was obvious.

“Even someone like me... can have friends, huh?” Hibiki whispered to herself reverently. “Hey, why do you think that is?”

“Only she knows that,” I said. “But... her desire to be friends with you probably far outweighed any concern she had about you being dangerous, right?”

“...Is that a roundabout way of complimenting yourself for all the girls in your life?”

“I didn’t mean it that way!”

That was absolutely not what I meant!

“I think you could let it all go to your head a little more, Rekka. Particularly if that drives you to hook up with one of the heroines...”

Shut up, R.

As always, she was floating in the air around me. Deciding to confront my lineage head-on instead of running eventually included facing her future and the “War of All.” Maybe it was time to start taking what she said seriously...

“Doesn’t every man want a harem of his own?”

...Or maybe not.

I sighed and scratched my head as I walked with Hibiki to the station. She lived nearby, so it was where we would part ways.

“All right, I’ll see you later,” I said.

“R-Right.”

“Call me again if you ever need help,” I said as I waved and headed into the station.

“W-Wait!” Hibiki grabbed me by the sleeve.

“H-Huh? What is it?” I staggered a little and turned around.

“L-Listen...” Hibiki was unusually mumbly. “Th-Thanks! ...For today, I mean. For coming.”

“What, is that all?”

I guess she just wanted to thank me for going with her to the hospital. But I’d promised her I would. It wasn’t that big of a deal. Even so, she didn’t seem like she was done yet, because she didn’t let go of me.

“Can I... come to your place once in a while?” she asked, looking up into my eyes.

“Yeah, sure. We’re basically relatives, so come over whenever you want.”

“I see... Yeah, you’re right.”

“Is that all? I think my train’s coming soon.”

“O-Oh, and...! And...!”

I guess she still wasn’t done...

“R-R-R-Re...”

“Re what?”

She was trying to say something but was tripping over her words. Her face was getting redder and redder. Was she embarrassed because she was having trouble talking right? Before long, her face was as red as a ripe tomato, but then she closed her eyes tight and took a deep breath.

“Re-Re-Re-Rekka!”

She said my first name.

“Yeah, um...” I almost asked her what she wanted, but then I realized something. “Huh? Didn’t you say you were too embarrassed to call boys by their first names...?”

“—!”

A moment later, it felt like a bomb exploded in my gut.

“You really are an idiot!” she yelled, and then ran off.

That little... She really didn’t have to punch me in the stomach.

“You haven’t grown up at all, huh?”

R looked down at me and sighed as per her usual.

▽

I spent the weekend feeling like someone had jammed a heavy rock in my stomach.

But come Monday, my kitchen table was loaded with the breakfast that Satsuki had made for me. There was rice, kimchi, natto, root vegetable soup, and then spinach salad. The soup was leftover from the Otomo household’s dinner last night.

“Let’s eat!”

“Dig in.”

Satsuki, Harissa, and I sat around the table, talking about nothing in particular.

Harissa finished eating first. She got up and put on her apron as she went into the kitchen. Since Satsuki had made breakfast, it was Harissa’s turn to make lunch. It sounded like a lot of extra effort to have two people making separate meals, but they had worked this out, so I wasn’t going to say anything. The last time I did, I got my cheek pinched for my trouble.

After breakfast was over, I got ready for school.

“Rekka, you’ll be late if you don’t hurry.”

I could hear Satsuki’s voice from the front hall. It wasn’t that late, but she’d known me long enough to know that I would take my sweet time without any motivation.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

“Here you go, Sir Rekka.”

“Thanks, Harissa.”

I took the lunch Harissa prepared for me and put on my shoes in the front hall.

“Did you forget anything?”

“Of course not.”

Satsuki really was naggy, but she opened the front door for us. And outside, I saw a scene I knew quite well.

It was time for school.

These stories, the bloodline of the Namidare, even going to school... Once I decided to accept them, they became a part of what was normal for me.

“Okay, we’ll see you later.”

“Bye!”

Harissa watched us go as we headed out the front door.

—Fin—