After that, we stayed in the Demon Realm for about a week. This is to learn how to efficiently use my power from Zefa and the others with the guidance of the former four Demon Kings. Knowledge comes naturally by ascending to God, but experience cannot be gained. That is why we listened to the details and concentrated on getting a feel for our body. As a result, we were able to wield their power as gods in our own way.
“I’m finally back.”
With a plop, Erna lies on the sofa in the hideout. Pero and Freya were lying on the floor, and Liz was already sound asleep on the dark matter. It’s been a long time since the four of them have been at home.
I’ll let them rest for a while.
“Where are you going, Shinichi?”
“I’m going to Mana for a minute, I’ve got a lot to do you see.”
“Oh~, alright, take care.”
She doesn’t seem to want to move for a while. No one said that they want to go with me. As soon as I leave the hideout, I used spatial teleportation. In an instant, the scenery changed. I looked around the ground. It doesn’t seem to be the same as before we went to the bottom of the dungeon.
From there, I float lightly and heads to Mana at the speed of sound. I descended near the city and go through the gate.
“Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you Tanaka-san!”
“Yeah, how have you been?”
The city guard called out to me, so I greeted him lightly and chatted with him.
“Have you been to any of the newly opened stores?”
“Not yet. I just got back from the dungeon. It looks like things have developed quite a bit since the last time I have seen it huh.”
“Yes. Mana now become known as the Food Capital.”
After parting ways with the guard, I strolled around the city. I’ve been busy with the war so it’s been quite a while since I’ve seen Mana. Restaurants are open everywhere and the main streets are full of people. It’s safe to say that my and Kanzaki’s plan to remodel Mana has almost been accomplished.
At the store I stopped by, they were selling Homeless brand soy sauce and miso paste, with a sign saying, “Very popular seasoning!”. It seems that the Japanese food boom has arrived in Mana. This is also the result of the steady advertising in the cafeteria and other establishments I guess.
“Hahaha! Don’t rush out and buy! I have a lot of fresh vegetables and meat, just like my muscles! By the way, as a service, I’ll let you touch my pectoral muscles!”
Arnold is still shouting at the storefront. The supermarket seems to be thriving, and people come and go intensely. However, everyone ignored the owner as usual. I think touching a pectoral muscle is a great service offer. I just don’t get why people avoid doing so.
I then head to the Lord’s mansion.
“Tanaka-sama, welcome.”
“Is Marquis Ryan here?”
“Yes. I will prepare for your meeting so kindly wait in the reception room for a while.”
In the room where I was led to, I enjoyed a cup of tea for a while. Then, the door was opened with a bang. Ryan—Kanzaki—came in.
“It’s been a long time, Tanaka-san!”
He says as he sits down on the sofa across from me.
“So, how is the city going?”
“It’s going pretty well. I think it’s safe to say we’ve hit 90 percent of our goal.”
“Then it’s just a matter of how far it can go huh.”
“Yes. I plan to lower taxes from here on to accelerate the development.”
As expected, even without me, this city has the potential to become a second Royal Capital. It seems that we have taken a course that will surely develop sooner or later. When I think about it, I am both happy and sad.
“I came here today to say goodbye.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
To Kanzaki, who had a puzzled expression, I handed him the digital fit created by my divine qi.
“T-this is our company’s terminal! Where did you get this!?”
“I created it. After a lot of things that happened, I have now joined the ranks of the gods.”
“God??”
I explained the circumstances of the matter to Kanzaki, who ended up more stunned.
“So Miyuki-san was a goddess?”
“Mmm. Well, it’s very unbelievable even for me. So, I’m thinking of leaving this planet to save the Earth in the near future.”
“But Naoki-kun said that Earth is now a dead planet, right?”
He’s right. I can’t save the Earth, which has become a dead planet. Even if I could, it wouldn’t be the Earth it once was.
“That’s why I decided to go back in time.”
“.…..G-go back in time??”
Of course, it is impossible to do it with my power alone. It is only possible with the cooperation of Naoki, who can transcend time. However, even for Naoki, it is not possible to trace back to whatever point he wanted. Naoki can only put a marker on time in each world once. That is also the one time I want to return to. Well, there are many constraints to traveling to the past. Otherwise, this would not have happened.
“So you want to go back to Earth in the past and change history?”
“That’s right. I’ll go back to that day.”
“But….. What happens to the time we have now? Will it disappear?”
“……Unfortunately, yes.”
According to Naoki, by going to the past, the world will be reconstructed. In other words, once I go back to the past, I can’t go back to the same future.
“What time is the marker?”
“Apparently, it was placed a week before Tokyo was attacked.”
“I see……”
He crosses his arms and thinks, looking as if he has something deep going through his head.
“I’m curious. Is there a problem if there are two of the same person at the same time?”
He seems to care about paradoxes. Well, I was curious about that too, so I asked Naoki that question and got an answer.
“It seems to be within the tolerance of the universe and time, and it is said that such an existence is allowed when the future of what should be is uncertain.”
This area is a complicated story, so even though I’ve heard it, I don’t really understand it. To be more specific, it seems that it will be treated as if “such an entity” suddenly appeared. It’s a story that makes sense but is also confusing.
“When are you leaving?”
“I’m thinking about a week from now. I’m looking for someone to take with me during that time. I want to ask you, what are you going to do?”
Kanzaki smiled and shook his head. As expected, the answer is NO. It seems that he has no intention of returning to Earth.
“In exchange, I have a request.”
“I’ll listen as much as I can.”
“Please let my past self be reincarnated as Ryan too.”
His eyes were looking right into mine. If he has regrets in his life, he won’t be able to look at me like this.
“Don’t worry. The only thing I will change is to avoid the destruction of Earth. I’m not going to alter the fact that we died.”
“I’m relieved. I can be myself.”
Kanzaki is a clever man. At the same time, he has a broad perspective for the bigger picture. Even if he is to disappear now, he is willing to agree if it saves hundreds of millions of people on Earth. I profusely apologized to him.
“I deeply apologize. I don’t mind if you resent me for being only able to do this.”
“Haha, I won’t do that. Instead, please make sure to develop Mana in the next world just like what we have now. That is my request as your City Lord.”
I vowed to him that I would do so and shook hands with him.
◇◇◇
My next stop is the Forest City of Zara.
I visited the Frederia family and met with Erna’s parents.
“What do you want, human?”
“Dear! That’s rude of you to say that.”
“This guy is a thief who wants to steal Erna from us! Just letting him inside the mansion is enough to give him special treatment!”
Erna’s father is as perverse as ever. Erna’s mother does not change her expression and looks as usual.
“Zara seemed to have recovered a lot.”
“Yes, thanks to the great support we received from various kingdoms, but the center of the city has become very lonely….”
The towering World Tree Treant had disappeared, and the blue sky was visible from the window of this mansion. I certainly feel lonely. Only its remaining stump indicates that there was once a giant tree there.
Oops, it’s time to finish the errand that I came here for.
I stood up, knelt on the floor, and sat down with my forehead touching the floor.
“Please give me your daughter!”
““Huh?””
I finally made up my mind. I will marry Erna.
“D-don’t mess with me! I won’t allow it! I won’t let you have Erna!”
“Dear, calm down!”
“You’re telling me that a mere human is going to marry an elf? And a daughter of a Frederia at that!? That’s impossible! Absolutely not!”
Erna’s father stomps on the back of my head. I just let it happen without doing anything.
“She’s my sunshine! No matter how much my wife and daughters ignore me, she’s always been on my side! No matter how hard things get at work, she’s always spoken kind words to me! Are you going to take that away from me?”
“…………”
“Then she has changed since she met you! It’s all your fault! Give me my daughter back!”
“…………”
I was beaten with a staff, trampled on, grabbed by the hair and beaten again, but I continued to do dogeza on the ground. Then, Erna’s father dropped to his knees.
“Kuu……….What a stubborn man…… Alright, I’ll accept it.”
“Is it really okay?”
“Okay? To be honest, I hate it to death! But as a father, it would be a disgrace to be the only one that can’t accept the man she loves. I hate it to death but I’ll approve of your marriage.”
“Thank you, Father-in-law.”
Without looking at his face, I kowtowed again. I could feel the teardrops dripping on the floor.
“So, when are you going to have a ceremony?”
“Three days from now.”
“That’s a bit in a hurry. I still need to prepare a dress and stuff.”
“I’m sorry about that, but I can’t take it easy as long as the battle with the angels continues, so I wonder if you can leave all the arrangements to me?”
“Mmm, I don’t mind that, but are you sure that you have the funds?”
She must be worried about the Frederia Family’s face. Gods no longer need money. I have the confidence to prepare the best ceremony that no nobleman can do.
“No problem. You can invite everyone you want. I am also planning to bring the best to the guests.”
“Then we won’t interfere. Right, Dear?”
“Hmmph! Do as you like, but if you’re going to have a poor ceremony, I’ll ask you to redo it. Keep that in mind.”
Erna’s father stomped out of the room. When I finally looked up, I took a big breather.
“Well done. You endured well.”
“I thought I should do that if I care about Father-in-laws feelings.”
“Fufu. Let me tell you, he doesn’t really hate you, he just can’t help but think about Erna more you see.”
I feel like he’s going too far for that though. That said, I’m glad to have been recognized by him. By the way, I’m keeping this marriage matter a secret from Erna. If the proposal didn’t go well, I’m sure I would have cried.
“Well, why didn’t Erna come here?”
“I’m thinking about a surprise wedding and I haven’t even proposed to her yet.”
“You’re pretty brave for that. But then I guess it’s okay because she’s in love with you.”
Erna’s mother smiled at me. She seems to know her daughter’s feelings as if she were holding it in her hands.
“Also—”
I told her something, she then smiled and nodded.
“It’s a common thing in the nobility, so I don’t think it will be a problem. I’ll tell him about it.”
“I’m a little worried though.”
“Don’t worry about it. We are a more special group in Sanargia after all.”
I’m pretty worried. It’s my fault for forgetting to tell Father-in-law about it. I then told her about the general schedule. After that, I bowed saying, “I’m counting on you, Mother-in-law”, and left the mansion.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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