by Aneko Yusagi
“Ha!” Rishia threw the ofuda and activated it.
It was a control ofuda, and we ’d already imbued it with a monster. Back in the previous world we called it a Soul Eater.
In this world, they called it a Soul Devourer.
It was the natural enemy of spirits—a monster that fed on souls.
When I thought of Trash #2’s behavior, the concept of homunculi, and that an alchemist could invent spare bodies to be killed, I prepared the ofuda. I had thought, I bet Kyo would make things like that. And I was right!
“Are you kidding me? A dumb monster like that? You think that thing can defeat me?”
The evil spirit—Kyo’s ghost—flew to attack us.
I could see it clearly now. He was nothing but a monster.
“Raphtalia, I don’t know if the vassal weapon will be much use against an enemy with no body.”
“Excellent point. Then I will use a skill, along with the katana I gained from the Soul Eater materials.”
Kyo floated to attack, but he was too slow. I grabbed him, and a pale light flashed from the katana in Raphtalia’s hand.
“Spirit Blade: Soul Slice!”
Sacrifice Aura was still affecting her.
A ghost attack was nothing to worry about. He was just another weakling.
“Cough! I . . . I’ll return. Reborn! Stronger than . . .”
He fell to pieces before he could finish his threat, and the Soul Eaters that Rishia had summoned rushed in for their meal.
The sounds of their chewing and crunching echoed through the room, before they dispersed, satisfied, and floated around us.
He died talking about reincarnation. What a joke.
“Now to take care of this soulless body. If we destroy it, the Spirit Tortoise energy should return to us. “
“Let’s do it!”
“You can do it!”
“Feh . . .”
Uh-oh. Now that the battle was over Rishia sounded just like her old self again.
I was exhausted, and I knew I couldn ’t continue to use the Shield of Wrath IV. I needed to get my strength back, so I switched to the Spirit Tortoise Heart Shield and shouted: “Raphtalia! Filo! Destroy everything!”
They nodded, reared back, and ran around breaking everything they could.
His research was gone. No one would be able to recreate it now.
“Ost. I kept my promise,” I whispered, remembering her.
Epilogue: Kizuna Between Worlds
When we killed Kyo and destroyed the body in the tank that was housing the Spirit Tortoise ’s energy, the energy burst free and went into my shield. It took a while for all the energy to make its way into the shield, but it did eventually.
In the meantime, it looked like Kizuna and the others must have finished the battle with the wave, because our levels returned to the way they were before.
The crystal in the center of the shield was now glowing so brightly that it was blinding.
Duty fulfilled. Spirit Tortoise energy recovered.
Time remaining for special processing to complete repatriation . . . 71:55.
The words appeared before my eyes.
I guess it really was over.
Now that the Spirit Tortoise energy had been recovered, we could only remain in this world for three more days.
When the time ran out, I guess it meant we would be sent back to the previous world automatically.
“Alright then, we’d better get going.”
“Right.”
“I’m tiiiired!”
Everyone seemed to grow even more exhausted at the thought of all the effort it would take to get back to the castle.
“Everyone, what happened?”
“It’s the curse. You’d better not touch us.”
Maybe I was being a little over-dramatic, but using Sacrifice Aura really had lowered all our stats significantly.
Luckily for me, the curse didn ’t touch my defense rating—but all my other stats had fallen. Judging from the numbers, they seem to have fallen to about thirty percent.
Had it only affected me, it would have been the same as Blood Sacrifice, but this time it had affected Raphtalia and Filo too. With how things were, I didn’t think we could survive another fight.
“There’re monsters on the way home, aren’t there?”
“Yeah . . . there are.”
And I didn ’t want to meet them. What if we came all this way, only to die on the way home?
Maybe it would be better to stay where we were until we felt better .
I didn ’t have time to worry about that though, because I suddenly found the book and mirror vassal weapons floating in the air near us. It looked like . . . well, it almost looked like they were thanking us.
They ’d either fly off to find new masters, or stick themselves somewhere and wait for someone worthy to appear, like Excalibur had done.
They floated softly out of the room, stopping and turning to us, as if they were trying to show us the way. Sometimes they would float in front of a doorway and block us from passing through it—but why?
Luckily, we didn ’t run into any of Kyo’s holy beast copies.
We slowly made our way up from the basement and back down the path we ’d used to enter the laboratory.
“Can you use Portal Shield?”
I tried to use it, but it was still being blocked by something.
Wandering around and drawing attention to ourselves wasn ’t smart, so we took our time, moving cautiously. Probably two hours or so had passed when we entered a room with a mirror on the wall. The mirror vassal weapon floated into it and disappeared.
A second later . . .
“N . . . Naofumi!”
Kizuna and the others all stepped out of the mirror.
What had just happened? Had it flown to where they were and brought them to us?
“This mirror just appeared in front of us and . . . Is that Kyo’s laboratory? What happened to Kyo ?! ”
“If we’d lost, you’d probably be fighting him now, no?”
“I guess that’s a good point. Are you okay? You all look exhausted.”
“We used the forbidden technique, and the price we paid wiped us out. Don’t make me explain it all.”
“Are you alright?”
“Not really. Our stats have plummeted. It’s kind of serious. We were just thinking of sticking around and recuperating. Without your help, I’m not sure we can do much else.”
L ’Arc reached out and slipped an arm under my shoulder, supporting me.
Therese and Glass were helping Raphtalia.
Filo was a bit shorter, so Kizuna and Ethnobalt helped her stay on her feet.
“You did good, Kiddo. You beat Kyo without our help.”
“The freak had tons of tricks up his sleeve. It was a pain.”
Yomogi spoke up next, softly, “What about Kyo?”
“He’s back in that room, dead. We killed his soul too—the guy had a backup body prepared.”
“Is that so? I wish it had been by my hand, but thank you.”
The book of the vassal weapons flew around the perimeter of the room once, then slipped through the wall and disappeared.
“It looks like the book and the mirror of the vassal weapons protected you until we were able to meet up.”
Glass nodded. I couldn ’t argue with that. We hadn’t met any monsters and the mirror had brought our friends directly to us.
“Yeah, I guess they did. We didn’t run into any of the holy beast copies—or fall into any of Kyo’s stupid booby traps.”
“That mist that barred our entry seems to have dissipated as well. That’s why we were able to get here so quickly.”
The vassal weapons had been a huge help. I guess it was them showing us their thanks for releasing them from Kyo’s control. Those vassal weapons sure knew how to treat a guy right, unlike a certain shield I knew of.
“Let’s head home. I’m guessing you still have some time in our world, since yo
u completed your mission?”
“Yeah. About three days.”
“Three days, huh? Guess we’ll have to say our goodbyes pretty soon, eh Kiddo?”
“I guess so.”
“I’m not sure this is the best place to have this conversation. Why don’t we board my ship and leave this place?” Ethnobalt said, tapping his staff on the floor.
I guess the guy had managed to stay alive. Even after pulling one of those “don’t worry about me! Go on without me!” stunts.
It ’s better that he didn’t die, right? Whatever. I wasn’t about to disagree with getting back to the castle as soon as possible.
All I wanted to do was get some rest.
It had been one fight after another for so long now.
I didn ’t even know where to start counting the battles I’d been in since we crossed over to this world.
We quickly climbed into Ethnobalt ’s ship and returned to safety.
Once we landed, the mirror of the vassal weapons took off, flying away.
Was it looking for a new master? Or would it stick itself in a boulder like Excalibur, awaiting someone worthy?
As for the country that Kyo had manipulated into war, Yomogi went back to meet with their leaders that very same day and exposed all of Kyo ’s misdeeds. As proof she brought Tsugumi and the other women with her. On top of that, the book of the vassal weapons itself appeared in the capital and played back recordings of all the words Kyo had exchanged with us.
Furthermore, when they lost Kyo, they lost a great deal of their technology too. Apparently, the main force of their army was Kyo ’s holy beast copies . They all went crazy when Kyo died. The war was essentially over at that point. They were at a disadvantage. But when Kyo’s most trusted follower, Yomogi, showed up and started telling them all the evil things he’d done, there wasn’t much left for them to say.
The rest of this is hearsay, but when the country lost their puppet leader, the remaining officials all thought it was their chance to seize leadership, and the whole place fell into chaos.
The three countries that had once owned the book, mirror, and katana vassal weapons were all in disarray. But it if I knew Kizuna and her friends, it wasn ’t hard to picture those countries eventually joining with L’Arc’s in a healing alliance.
But enough about all that trouble—what about our curse?
L ’Arc summoned a specialized doctor to have a look at us, and here’s what he said:
“That’s a pretty bad curse.”
I think someone had said the same thing about me after I used Blood Sacrifice.
When I got back to our world, I ’d have to go to some medicinal baths as soon as . . .
“The only thing that will cure it is time. I estimate it will take at least two or three months.”
“What? Hold on there! Isn’t there a hot spring for this kind of thing? Or some medicine I can use?”
The doctor simply shook his head.
“This is a rather particular sort of curse. Furthermore, if it were to be applied again before you fully recovered, I’m not sure that you would survive the ordeal.”
WHAT ?!
That wasn ’t the sort of souvenir I wanted to take home after all this!
To make matters worse, this time it wasn ’t just me: Raphtalia and Filo were cursed too, and they were very sluggish.
In hindsight, I ’m glad I didn’t use it on Rishia. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened to her.
She probably would have died! Whatever made me stop before using it on her , I was impressed .
“Oh no! I guess there’s nothing we can do about it now, but what a pain,” Kizuna said, like she wasn’t actually worried.
Ha! This all should have been HER responsibility in the first place!
Oh well. I knew the risks when I used it.
“This is the result of availing yourself of the cursed weapon—and to think that you took this burden on yourself for the sake of our world. I cannot begin to express my gratitude,” Glass said.
“You can start by not letting this happen again. There are still three protective beasts in our world. The last thing I want is another Kyo showing up and causing trouble.”
“Naturally, Kizuna and I will fight to make sure this never happens again.”
“Definitely. But you know, Kiddo, I’m sure things will settle down for a while once you return the Spirit Tortoise energy to your world.”
“You think?”
L ’Arc nodded.
“Yeah, at least that’s how it was for us. When the first protective beast fell, there was a while where no waves came.”
“Things won’t go so smoothly if vassal weapon holders invade our world before I get back.”
Why did there always have to be something to worry about?
“Relax. No waves means no visitors from other worlds, so you’ll have a lot less to worry about.”
There were still plenty of things to worry about, but at least I could count on the people back in Melromarc to be on the lookout.
The queen of Melromarc would have spread the word about the Spirit Tortoise ’s possession while I was occupied with Kyo in this world.
“So the Spirit Tortoise is done. I’m just guessing, but that leaves the Phoenix, Qilin, and Dragon. I guess we won’t have any problems until those seals are broken too.”
“Probably. Not that I’m an authority on how your world works, Kiddo.”
That was a good point. Why did I bother asking them anything about our world?
“I guess I’ll just keep hoping that another Kyo doesn’t show up.”
I had no idea how long the Spirit Tortoise energy would keep the waves at bay.
But there were a lot of preparations that we needed to get under way while we could.
We ’d have to collect the world’s armies and find new allies.
I learned a lot of new tactics to counter the threat of the waves during my time in Glass ’s world.
I would have to make sure they were put to good use.
Fitoria was doing all she could to handle the waves that we couldn ’t cover on our own, but if we wanted to survive what was coming, we’d have to find some way to get the world to cooperate.
Just thinking about everything we had to do was depressing.
And worse—we might run into more people like Glass during the wave.
I couldn ’t wait to get back to my original world once all this was over—that much would never change.
The world to which I was summoned was trash, a pile of filth. I couldn ’t wait to leave it—that is, once I remade it so that Raphtalia could live there in peace.
“Sounds good to me, Kiddo! Time for a victory party!” L’Arc said, throwing his hands in the air like a little kid.
“This guy . . .” I sighed.
“What? What’s the problem? Didn’t we just win a battle? Didn’t we just win a war? What’s not to celebrate?”
“Rafuuu!” Raph-chan jumped up on her hind legs and tried to look cute.
I couldn ’t argue with that.
“Fine, fine. You’ll do what you want anyway, so I won’t complain. I’m going to get some rest.”
“Yeah! The soldiers are in the mood for a party too. It’s going to be wild!” L’Arc howled and left.
Whew.
We spent the rest of our time with Kizuna and her friends, drinking the sweet liquor of victory. Actually that ’s just an expression—I’ve never been drunk.
It was nearly time to return to our world.
We made our preparations down in the castle courtyard, and Kizuna, Glass, L ’Arc and Therese, Ethnobalt, Alto, Romina, and everyone else came to see us off.
Kizuna threw her hand in the air and came walking over.
“I guess a lot has happened since we met.”
“It’s only been a month or so.”
“Is that all? I guess it was pretty short.”
“I guess so.”
A holy hero from an
other world was someone I never should have been able to meet, because of the limitations imposed by our weapons. In a way, it was kind of miracle that we ’d met at all.
“I know we live in separate worlds, but I hope we can keep fighting on the same side. I wish we could form an alliance between our worlds.”
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t spend all your time fishing, okay? As for your alliance, consider it a verbal agreement. I don’t have any reason to break it.”
All I could do was protect people, after all.
The things we ’d learned in this world shook the mystery of the waves to the very core.
What was I supposed to make of all we ’d heard? About one world extending its lifespan by destroying another world?
“And you open up a little, okay? You can trust people you know.”
“Oh shut up!”
“Raphtalia, please take good care of Naofumi. Just like Glass and I, I hope you’ll keep him close.”
“Yes, I intend to.”
“Filo, Rishia. I wish you both the best.”
“Yup! I learned a bunch of songs here, so Imma keep singing them when we get back home!”
“Yes, I learned a great deal.”
Kizuna shook their hands and stepped away.
Glass came next.
“First we were enemies, then we became friends. Life can be so mysterious.”
“Sure.”
Glass looked at me very seriously, then bowed.
“Thank you very much for finding Kizuna. I do not know what awaits us in the future, but I will do what I can to return the favor.”
“If you have to fight us, next time stop and explain yourself.”
“Is that really what you wanted to say?” Raphtalia scolded me.
“Things can change so quickly. Why keep fighting in the face of ignorance? I’m just saying that if we have to fight, I at least want to know what I’m fighting for.”
There were so many times that I ’d fallen into situations I couldn’t believe. L’Arc and Therese came charging into the conversation, the adventurer, Boy, as cheerful as ever.
“Anyway, let’s stay friends, eh Kiddo? I can’t wait to see you again!”
“I can wait. I hope it never happens.”