Epilogue: The Bookseller’s Melancholy

It was a room full of books and bookshelves.

The bookshelves were lined up with no particular system to them, with great stacks of books piled up all over the floor.

Amidst them there was a faint light, and beneath it sat a girl reading a book.

She had long, red hair and wore an old-fashioned dress. Somehow, she gave an impression of a worn-out antique.

She sat atop a stack of books, flipping through the pages lightly.

Her name was Ende, and she called herself a bookseller.

Of course, her treatment of the books was a little too rough for her to be a real bookseller, but it was the stacks of unlimited books that made her what she was.

The further she read, the more her expression darkened. By the time she reached the last page, her face was completely frozen.

“How?” Ende gazed at the book in disbelief.

The page detailed Mutsuko and her gang’s escape from the collapsing island, and then, their safe return home. This was not the ending she’d expected.

She had set the stage, even combining alien lifeforms and mythical creatures. Mutsuko should have died in the face of so overpowering a concept. The only valid resolution should have been the complete destruction of the entire party.

But that hadn’t happened. The monster had been destroyed without ever revealing its full power, and even the foreshadowing for its return had been nipped in the bud. After all that, it could never return again.

It was impossible to overturn a story once told, or to force a development that completely defied logic. That was the unbreakable rule.

“Is Mutsuko Sakaki really that powerful?” Ende wondered.

She had twisted the story, forcing it to its least likely conclusion. Ende pondered for a time about what to do next.

At last, she concluded, “Never mind. It’s such a pain...” and she threw the book away. It sank into another mountain of books.

Really, it had just been about Soul Reader from the start. She’d decided to kill Mutsuko Sakaki because the girl got on her nerves, but it was nothing to get obsessed over. Quite the contrary: obsessing over it any further could be the true fatal mistake.

“It passed the time, at least,” she breathed, aware that there was still a hint of strain in her tone. “But that Yuichi Sakaki... he’s trouble, too.”

All he was was physically strong, but that was what made him so dangerous. It was easy to bend logic when it came to hazy, abstract story concepts like magic and psychic powers. Such things could easily be wiped away.

But an opponent who simply trained, day after day, to become stronger, building a power with a foundation in one’s own self-confidence... that was a hard type to crush.

“Well, Yuichi Sakaki’s already mixed up with her, so maybe I’ll just sit back and watch, for now,” she said. “We’ll wait and see... if my story and yours will ever cross again.”

Ende grabbed a random book and began reading a new story.

✽✽✽✽✽

The day after returning from the island, they headed back home.

The trip took several hours, between the local buses and the bullet train, which meant the sun was already setting by the time Yuichi arrived back in Seishin.

There was something reassuring about the site of the old, familiar station. It felt like he was back to his everyday life.

“You’re going to leave your injured little sister behind?!” Yoriko pouted when he said he was going to walk Aiko home.

“You’ve been treated, so now you just need rest,” Yuichi told her. “Go back home and go to bed already, Yori.”

Yoriko grumbled and complained, but he patted her on the head, and she sullenly did as she was told.

As they walked from the station area to the shopping district, the town was the picture of peace and quiet. The sinking of one tiny island, so far away, hadn’t affected it at all.

“Though I still have no idea what happened back there...” Aiko said, looking puzzled.

“Me neither,” Yuichi said. “But maybe he knows something about it?”

Yuichi pointed down, at the wolf striding proudly between the two of them. It was Nero.

They’d known that if a werewolf showed up in town, it would cause a huge panic, so Aiko had asked him if there was anything he could do about it. As a result, he had transformed into this shape.

A wolf-man who had been the size of a large human had become the size of a dog. It was physically impossible, any way you looked at it. But it suggested, once again, that common sense didn’t apply to creatures like him.

“There is no need for you to accompany her as long as I am here, you know...” Nero suggested.

“By the way, you probably shouldn’t talk,” Yuichi said. “You never know when someone might be listening.”

The “wolfdog” form they could explain away, at least. But if anyone saw him talking, they’d really be in trouble.

“Do not worry,” Nero assured him. “‘The dog is talking’ is not the first conclusion most people will draw.”

“I guess not, but still...”

It was true that people would typically interpret the things they saw to match up with what they knew to be possible. Almost anyone observing the scene would just assume the conversation was between Yuichi and Aiko.

“I am not the type to consider these things very deeply,” Nero said. “It seems that is how I ended up manipulated by that woman.”

That woman.

Yuri Konishi had made reference to a mysterious woman, as well. Apparently the mysterious woman had thought up nearly all of Yuri’s plan for her.

“You think she was after Noro?” Yuichi asked.

“I am uncertain,” Nero said. “The way she spoke did not suggest it...”

“But we made it safely off the island, so I guess it doesn’t matter,” Yuichi said. In that regard, maybe he was being too optimistic, but he just couldn’t be bothered to think about these things that hard.

“Lady Aiko asked me not to speak of things that do not concern her current life, but...” After a period of silence, Nero spoke up uncertainly.

“What is it?” Yuichi prompted him. He had a bad feeling about this.

“Because it may prove a great threat to Lady Aiko’s way of life, I wish to tell her...” Nero gave Aiko a questioning look.

“Does this have something to do with the princess stuff?” Aiko sighed. After a moment’s thought, she added, “...Well, if it’s dangerous, I guess you’d better tell me either way...”

“Including myself, Lady Aiko, you have twelve retainers,” Nero explained. “Of them, three lost your favor and were cast out...”

“Yeah, I had a feeling I wouldn’t get it...” Aiko said with a wince.

This sounded like something Mutsuko would like to hear, Yuichi thought. A princess of darkness, retainers swearing their loyalty to her... It was all extremely middle school.

“Of course, I do not believe they would bring you any harm, but their affection for you is excessive,” Nero continued. “Those who put your well-being above all will not care what happens to anyone except for you. To be quite honest, I do not know how they might react if they met you now, but they could pose a threat to your current way of life. And to Yuichi, especially. He might be the first one targeted.”

“Well, I’m not too worried about anything coming after me,” Yuichi said. It was hard for him to understand why he might be targeted, but if he was the only one they were after, he could probably handle it.

“Naturally, I am certain you can handle yourself,” Nero agreed. He seemed to acknowledge Yuichi as a superior. He had his memories from the time he was fused with The Head of All, and the fact that Yuichi had been able to defeat it had given Nero a high opinion of him.

“I’m not worried about Sakaki, either... but what should we do?” Aiko asked.

“We’ll just have to be on the lookout, that’s all,” Yuichi replied. “I’ll be with you during school, and Nero will be with you at home, so that should cover all the bases.”

“Ah, I do have a dog, so I hope you’ll get along with him, Nero,” Aiko said. “He’s a Shetland Sheepdog named Marion.”

“A dog, you say?” The thought of being lumped in with a dog seemed to hurt Nero’s pride, and he turned his gaze downward. But it only lasted for a second before he snapped his attention forward again, to something in front of them.

Yuichi’s gaze was drawn to the same thing.

It was a girl, standing in the middle of the throng.

She wore a white blouse, a bowtie, and a dark blue skirt; it was probably an elementary school uniform. She had a dainty build and a ponytail, held in place with a scrunchie, that accented her features very well.

She was quite a pretty young girl, but aside from that, there was nothing unnatural about her. So why did Yuichi feel so unsettled when he looked at her?

There was something different about this girl.

Then suddenly, he realized it.

She didn’t have a label.

He had gotten used to seeing labels above everyone’s heads, but the air above her was blank.

The girl was craning her head around, as if searching for something.

Their eyes met.

The girl brightened with joy, then an instant later, she puffed up with anger.

She barged up into Yuichi’s personal space. “There you are! Hey! Give Soul Reader back! I’m gonna be in big trouble without it!”

He had no idea what she was talking about, but it was clear that it was the start of another bizarre incident.

It seemed Yuichi’s unusual summer vacation wasn’t over just yet.