After a few leisurely days, we sent the participants to their respective homes and then we returned to the hideout.
Afterwards, it is time for a major clean up.
“Do we need this?”
“You can throw it away.”
“What about this?”
“We need that.”
We are sorting out what we can take with us and what we can throw away. I plan to keep our luggage as light as possible. From here on, we only need to take the things we needed.
“Father, I’ve developed the pictures.”
“Really?”
Naoki comes over and gives me an album. When I opened it, the state of the wedding was firmly preserved. The back page contains a DVD disc, and the footage taken by Naoki is edited and stored.
“Sorry for bothering you.”
“It’s okay. I was bored and had nothing to do.”
“In that case, I think you can help clean up too.”
“Ge-”
I grabbed Naoki’s clothes as he tries to escape and grinned at him. I told him to mop the floor before leaving. We spend several hours cleaning the hideout and draping dust-proof cloth over the furnitures.
That’s right. We returned the hideout to the same state as when I first came here. The room that had been added had now disappeared and is back to its original size.
“We’re done. Is this okay?”
“It’s perfectly back to normal.”
I felt nostalgic. I remember the day I came here alone.
“But, was it really necessary to restore it to the original state?”
“Well, it’s a sentiment. Because of this place, I’m able to stay here, and I’ve always decided that when I leave, I’ll leave it properly clean.”
We stare at every corner of the hideout. Maybe it’s a sight we will never see again. That’s why we wanted to burn it in our memories.
“Tanaka-dono, it’s about time.”
“Yes.”
When we came out of the hideout, I pressed the lion’s eye. The chains rolled up and the door was slammed shut. Freya and Pero walk first, followed by Liz and Erna.
I am still looking at the door with a feeling of nostalgia, but I followed the four of them with firm resolve.
◇◇◇
We came to a stop in a grassland dozens kilometers away from Mana. The skeleton army was already gathered there in full force. Skeleton Division. Angelton Division. Magical Beast Division. The total number is more than 800,000. This number is the result of gathering together the skeletons of this world and making them into my familiar.
General Suketarou activates his Demonic Divine Attire. A large amount of darkness spewed from his mouth and envelops his entire body.
—A woman clad in armor appeared from the darkness. Contrary to the sinister armor based on black and gold, her face is that of a beautiful young girl who is dainty and fragile. Long silver hair and eyes closed. At her waist was an impressive sword. Then she opened her eyes. Her open eyes are filled with darkness, and the voice she utters does not seem to belong to a person.
“Master, the entire army is here.”
“Un.”
When Suketarou appeared in this form, I was genuinely surprised. It is one thing that the skeleton now has a flesh body, but what was even more surprising is the gender. I had always thought Suketarou was a man. However, it was now too late to change Suketarou’s name so I decided to keep it as it is. Of course, if he, well she-, wants to change her name, I’ll do so.
By the way, I’m going to explain what the Soul Eating skill is. Soul Eating is the act of dropping the target’s soul into a lower dimension. In other words, a simple and incomplete reincarnation.
The creatures that become skeletons continue to grow by feeding on negative emotions, and eventually depart for the Abyss, a lower dimensional world. However, my familiars have begun to express other emotions and feed on things other than negative emotions as well. The best example of this is Suketarou. She has succeeded in raising her soul to a higher dimension, and as a result, she has acquired a flesh body.
“…… Apparently, there are still reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements?”
There were countless black shadows in the sky in the direction Suketarou was looking at. It was a herd of griffons. About 300 heads. The herd landed on the grassland and looked at us. Two gigantic black griffons stepped forward from among them.
“I didn’t expect the familiars I left behind in Dartan to come back.”
““Gururu””
The griffons had grown considerably larger under my influence. Is it easy to understand if you imagine its size that is on par with a large truck. Their eyes were purple, the feathers were as hard and lustrous as metal, and their heads now had something like decorative feathers.
“You rushed to me with your companions huh.”
““Kurururu””
When I touched them, they rubbed their heads on my face whit a whiny sound. Even so, it is surprising that they have grown to a point that they have formed such a flock. I turned their herd into my familiars and incorporates the griffons into the Magical Beast Division.
Kurohime and Eugrapia arrived late. They got down on one knee and bowed their heads.
“Pardon us, we’re late!”
The five members of the Sword of Glory party finally arrived. They had also become my familiars and their appearance had changed. All of them now have black hair and purple eyes. On their back were wings of black light. Their wings can be erased at will, so even if we go to the other side, it seems that they will be accepted. All five of them got down on one knee and bowed their heads.
The last one is my clone. I already absorbed Tanaka β, so the only thing left is α who is acting as King Logas.
“I’m sorry I’m late.”
Ten minutes later, my clone appeared. We shook hands and as I absorbed him, the days he spent as the king flowed into me at once. It seems that he also had a reasonably enjoyable life as a king.
“Looks like you’re ready.”
Naoki appears and smiles at us. I nodded before putting the skeleton army and the other familiars in the bangle.
“Alright, we can go anytime.”
“Then let’s get started.”
Naoki’s body begins to glow and turns into particles of light. Then Erna, Liz, Pero and Freya. My party members also ascends to the sky as particles of light. Then the Sword of Glory party, Kurohime, and Eugrapia disappeared. And finally, my body began to disappear as well.
As I gradually disappears from my feet, I stare at this other world. I’ll surely come back someday. Until then, goodbye.
I also completely disappeared from this world.
◇◇◇
Bang! Crash! Priiiing!
““Gyaaaaaaahh!?””
I woke up with a shock. All I can see is a white wall and several frightened women.
Wrong. I’m now lying on the ground. When I slowly got up, I realized that I had been lying down on a broken table. Nearby were broken plates and there were scattered pasta everywhere. There were other broken glasses and mug that should have contained coffee lying around.
I checked my surroundings. There are only female customers in this small shop. A young man, who was probably a waiter, looked at me in shock and was frozen in his tracks.
“Did it work? But why can’t I see my companions here?”
I tilted my head in confusion and placed my hand on my chin. Then screams rang out again.
Hmm? This-?
When I posed, they screamed. I posed again and then they scream again.
I see, they were frightened by my sudden appearance.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll leave right away.”
“W-what is this guy talking about? Hey, does anyone speak English?”
A question mark appeared in my mind and I tilted my head in confusion again.
They don’t understand the language?
Oh, I got it. It seems that I was inadvertently speaking in an otherworldly language.
“Ahem.” I’m speaking in Japanese for the first time in a long time again. “Don’t be scared, I’m going to leave right away.”
I repaired everything I broke with the divine qi. In addition, I cast a spell on the people in the store to erase their memories. Now everyone is standing in a daze, but there is no problem because soon their consciousness will become clear.
Should I leave the store now?
Just as I was thinking so, I noticed that someone is knocking on the window. It was Naoki dressed casually. He wears headphones around his neck and looks like a teenager. He immediately walked into the store.
“You finally arrived.”
“Finally? What do you mean?”
“We’ll talk about it later. But first, we need to do something about that outfit.”
Hmm, that makes sense.
I removed the robe and put it inside the bangle, I then transformed my clothes into a suit. I didn’t wear a tie because it was in the way.
“That’s an outfit that Dad would wear indeed.”
“I used to wear it often you see.”
We left the store before the customers regained consciousness then a familiar sight jumped into my field of vision. There are countless skyscrapers. Cars were coming and going on the road, and people were walking busily and briskly. Tokyo Tower can also be seen in the distance. Without a doubt, this is Tokyo.
“This way.”
Guided by Naoki, we walked for a while.
“What about the others?”
“There are already there, Dad is the last one to arrive.”
“Why was the time shifted?”
“My skills are meant to be used by one person, and I used them with a lot of people, so it seems that the arrival was uneven. But there’s still plenty of time, so there’s no need to rush.”
I see, that’s why I didn’t have any comrades nearby huh.
However, judging from Naoki’s attitude, it seems that the gap is not more than an hour or so. He led me to a small building, we went up the stairs and then he opened the door. It seems to be the office of a company that has collapsed. There was a table and two sofas in a small room. Sleeping bags are laid on the floor, and my comrades are playing games or reading manga on the sofa and doing whatever they want.
“This is so delicious. I can eat as much as I want!”
“Erna, you’re eating too much. Give me some.”
“No! This is mine! I’m not going to give you any!”
She holds up a bag of potato chips to protect it from Liz. I reached into the bag and took out one.
“It’s calbee huh. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten it.”
“Shinichi!!”
Erna and Liz rushed to hug me. When I hugged them, I felt my heart soften.
“Father!”
“Pero arrived safely as well huh.”
When I looked for Freya, I saw that she is playing a certain famous puzzle game with falling objects. Since the computer is stronger, stones are dropped one after another and gradually piled up. As she can’t get rid of it, it’s soon game over.
“Uwaaahhh! I lost again!”
“Freya, Father is here! Freya!”
“Eh? Oh, Tanaka-dono!”
When she finally noticed me, she stands up and bows as if nothing had happened.
“Naoki, I don’t seem to be able to find Eugrapia and Kurohime, and the five of the Sword of Glory members.”
“They’re getting some cash, and the others are doing some shopping.”
Getting cash? Are they robbing a bank?
As if reading my thoughts, Naoki answered,
“Dad, do you know that there is quite a bit of cash buried here in Japan?”
“I’ve never heard that before. Is there really such a thing?”
“When there’s a lot of money that hasn’t been publicly disclosed, people want to hide it somewhere you see. But knowing that if they put it near them, they’ll be found out for sure so they bury it in a secluded place.”
When he said that, I was convinced. It made sense.
“The people in this world are too weak. Just a little push can make them flip over.”
“Please remember to go easy on them though.”
Liberto and the others are back. They smiled as soon as they saw me.
“Master! You’re finally here!”
“Yes, just a while ago. Did something happen?”
The five of them put down their shopping bags and took a breather.
It was Dominique, rather, Catherine —who answered.
“Please listen, Master. When we were walking around city, this strange guy suddenly approached us and said some weird stuff like, if we formed a group, we’d definitely be a hit, and he tried to ask us where we lived and our names. I wonder if it’s because we’re too beautiful.”
Catherine wriggled and looked happy. That guy should be a scout from an entertainment agency or something. All four of them had good looks, so them walking around city together must have caught their eye. However, the solicitation was so bad that Tina drove him away.
“We’re back.”
Kurohime and Eugrapia emerged from a hole in the space. I was impressed by the square lump that she dropped to the floor. It was a pile of bills covered in a transparent plastic bag. It is likely roughly around 100 million. If we have this much, we can spend as much as we like.
“Oh, so Master has arrived huh.”
“You’re quite late, aren’t you?”
“Mmm.”
I noticed a newspaper on the desk, I sit down on the sofa and opened it.
The date is…… February 20, 2041. No mistake. This is the time I’m aiming for. I’m sure I died on February 26th that time.
Wait, wasn’t the supposed arrival time on the 19th?
“Dad came a day late and it seemed like the location missed a bit as well.”
“So that was why I ended up at the café huh.”
Well, I was a little bit surprised. I would have liked to have appeared in a less crowded place. I quickly stand up and put on a serious expression.
“Alright, let’s go to 〇Kame Seimen!”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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