Bonus 7 (Rebroadcast of Episode 9 "--No")

Bonus 7 (Rebroadcast of Episode 9 "--No")

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How long has it been since she was gone?

The hero continues his journey, alone, walking the same path he once walked with his companions.

The windy streets, the hills where you can look up at the stars, the back alleys where laughter echoes - but she was nowhere to be seen.

When the villagers are asked, no one mentions her name. It is as if she never existed in the first place, and no one remembers her.

•

•

The swordsman looked up at the sky. The image of the starry sky when she had scattered the clouds with her magic that night was still burned into his eyelids.

Even after he finds out that her lifespan was imbued in the magic... he still thinks the sky is beautiful. Conflicting feelings. But there's no way he can talk to anyone about it.

So today, he looks up at the sky and ask himself this question, still unable to forget her.

•

•

The princess brews tea alone in a garden filled with white lilies. She quietly places the cup across from an empty chair.

She always tear up the "thank you" and "see you later" she writes down on paper because she know that if she put them into words, they won't reach the other person.

•

•

In each of their own places, they were living in a world without her.

They had a premonition that she might never come back, but they still had a wish hidden deep in their heart.

•

•

The meeting room was beginning to take on the colors of the setting sun.

In contrast to the spring light streaming in from the window, the air in the room was heavy.

The three of them met for the first time in several months and barely exchanged a word with each other.

But still—they knew it just by looking at each other face.

That they have come to the same conclusion.

They searched and couldn't find her.

Each of them felt that with each passing day, that child's voice, figure, and even name were becoming more distant. And they lived in that reality.

The princess quietly opened her mouth while staring at her hands placed on the desk.

"...The reason I asked you to come today is to make a decision.

How should we move forward?

I searched. I checked the records. I followed the magical traces. But—I still couldn't find her."

As she paused, the princess looked straight at the two of them.

Her eyes were dignified, but somehow they also seemed a little wet.

"So I'm going back. You guys, go back to where you came from.

And if, in 10 years, you still haven't changed your mind....

Let's meet again!

I think it would be a good idea to talk about her then."

It was a quiet, gentle voice.

But those words meant, "I won't look anymore."

The swordsman said nothing at the suggestion and just bowed his head slightly.

The hero also didn't speak - until then.

"--No."

The atmosphere in the room shook at the clear rejection.

The princess' eyes widen, and the swordsman raises his head slightly.

"It's good to go back. I understand that you have to live in your own place.

...It would be nice to get together in 10 years and talk about her.

But that's not enough. I still want to search."

The hero's voice sounded strained, as if he was gazing off into the distance.

"Something... I must have overlooked something. I've always thought that somewhere deep down.

There must have been something I should have noticed, but I didn't."

It was anger at himself. He was the one who knew better than anyone that he would never be forgiven, and so he spoke these words.

The princess muttered, still looking down.

"...It's too late."

There was no accusing tone in her voice.

Rather, there was a hint of self-repentance.

Then he slowly lifts his face.

"But it's okay. If we're going to do it, let's do it to the fullest.

No one has decided yet that she is not here."

The swordsman narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded.

His hands were unconsciously gripping the edge of the desk.

He didn't say anything, but that step was faster than anyone else's.

And so the three of them stood up once again.

Not to go back, but to go forward.

So as not to pretend that she never existed...

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★★★★★

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212: Anonymous of the Wind

　"Let's meet again in 10 years..."

　The way he says it is too kind and it hurts

215: Anonymous of the Wind

　This is supposed to be the same line as the previous story

　Why is it so heavy?

219: Anonymous of the Wind

　The moment the princess said, "I'm going back," I felt like I could see the end.

　All that's left now is to see that plain.

224: Anonymous of the Wind

　Everyone is quiet here because there's nothing wrong...

228: Anonymous of the Wind

　...Huh? Wait...

229: Anonymous of the Wind

　"....No"!?!?!?

　What?!

233: Anonymous of the Wind

　The lines have changed, right?

238: Anonymous of the Wind

　Huh! Huh! A branch...??

　Did it branch out???

251: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero says, "But that's not enough."

　He just talking about his regrets...

258: Anonymous of the Wind

　"It'll be fine to talk about it in 10 years," he said.

　A hero who can say he's looking for one now, a real hero.

263: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess said, "Too late."

　That's what I really thought too...

267: Anonymous of the Wind

　The swordsman nodded, it was a really quiet "start of battle"

272: Anonymous of the Wind

　That's right

　I wonder who decided that there wasn't one...

279: Anonymous of the Wind

　"Let's do it to the end," were words of determination.

285: Anonymous of the Wind

　If they don't meet again in this atmosphere, I'll die

　Even if they do, I'll die

　Either way I die

289: Anonymous of the Wind

　Does anyone think there's a "kind branch" in this rebroadcast?

295: Anonymous of the Wind

　It's really unfair that the swordsman can silence everyone with a single nod.

　The silent ones are too strong

299: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero said, "Maybe I overlooked something," and it was a journey to forgive himself...

303: Anonymous of the Wind

　When the hero says "I didn't notice," it makes me want to rewatch the whole episode...

307: Anonymous of the Wind

　If the hero and the wizard don't reunite, I'll set fire to the royal capital.

308: Anonymous of the Wind

　If just one person had stopped it, it might have stopped.

　But everyone starts walking...

313: Anonymous of the Wind

　They know they probably won't meet

　Because she should have been 100 years at this point?

　No matter how energetic the wizard is, the question is how many months she has left to live.

318: Anonymous of the Wind

　There are so few lines, yet so many...

324: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess, the production team definitely intentionally added more animation when her expression changed, right?

329: Anonymous of the Wind

　I'm sure it wasn't my imagination that the silence felt longer than before.

　Everyone had stopped, but one word from the hero changed the flow.

335: Anonymous of the Wind

　The words "10 years from now" sound like both a curse and a prayer...

342: Anonymous of the Wind

　The kindness in the line "I still want to search" really hits home.

　You're really kind...

346: Anonymous of the Wind

　Is this what reruns are like? (trembling voice)

386: Anonymous of the Wind

　I don't think anyone actually believes that they'll meet again.

　But in this episode, they chose to "walk on even though I still can't believe it."

393: Anonymous of the Wind

　Please, find her!

　It's okay if you can't find her, but someone please remember her...

401: Anonymous of the Wind

　"Ten years from now" didn't sound like the past, but rather like a "hopeless future."

　But now, I feel like that has turned into "time to search."

415: Anonymous of the Wind

　I can see the three people standing frozen in front of the wizard's humble grave.

　Because, you know, this production team?

433: Anonymous of the Wind

　Stop it!

446: Anonymous of the Wind

　What should I do, what should I do, what should I do?

　I'm so scared I don't know what I'll be shown next

460: Anonymous of the Wind

　There's no hope for the branching of this work...

471: Anonymous of the Wind

　For now, what is confirmed

　The hero said, "No."

　The princess accepted it

　The swordsman followed silently.

　The gates of hell have opened

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★★★★★

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During his journey, the hero travels from town to town, searching for lost legends and records of magic.

A past that no one knows. An existence that could have been, that remains unrecorded.

Relying only on that feeling, he walked from town to town.

One day, he visited an old library in a small town in the mountains.

At the back of the building, surrounded by trees, in the corner of a crumbling exhibition room, a lone fragment of stone wall remained.

"Apparently, she's the guardian deity of travel."

The old man who was guiding us muttered this. It is an ancient tale passed down in this region, about a small god who would follow travelers from behind.

The hero glanced at it and passed by without saying a word.

The mural looked like it was about to collapse, and the images were barely legible.

Later, while he was resting in the library's reading area, the old man suddenly brought up the following topic.

"...It seems that there are people in this world who are slowly fading away from the world."

"When something is fading, the first thing people forget is its name."

"By the time you realize it, you can't even remember it's name..."

For the first time, the hero felt something cold run down his spine.

Name...

Can he say that child's name?

They traveled together, laughed beside each other, and he must have called out to her many times.

But when he tried to speak it, it was as if it had been lost in the mist.

"...Don't tell me... I didn't know her name from the beginning...?"

That can't be true. They've been together for so long, and they've talked so many times.

However, he can't remember the moment when he called her name.

On the contrary--.

He didn't even remember asking her about her name. That couldn't have been possible.

"...You're kidding..."

Suddenly, he felt as if the ground beneath his feet was crumbling.

If things continue like this, he's afraid he'll never even know who that child was.

For the first time, the hero felt the fear that "something is about to be lost."

Without any idea what it was or why—only a nameless emptiness seemed to slowly spread in his chest. The hero shook his head and asked himself over and over again if he still remembered her.

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★

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Among the luggage the young wizard had left behind were several accessories. Among them, there was one that strangely caught the swordsman's attention. It was a small, geometrically shaped metalwork that fit in the palm of his hand. Even when he picked it up or looked at it in the sunlight, he couldn't figure out what it was for.

So the swordsman took the metalwork to a familiar blacksmith in the royal capital.

The old craftsman picked up his metalwork, lit a fire, and worked on it in silence for a while. The sound of metal creaking echoed through the small workshop.

"This...can't be made with current technology."

The craftsman muttered in admiration.

"The methods of tempering and metal composition are lost today. They are quite old. They may look like this, but depending on the item, they could be a thousand years old."

The swordsman didn't respond, just stared.

"And what's more...."

The craftsman continued, tracing the back of the work with his fingertips.

"Perhaps it's a quirk of the material, but it's structured to store magical power. Fine wires and a hollow space... more like a 'magic formula' than a craft. It's in the form of an intricate work, you see."

The craftsman continued to trace the back, narrowing his eyes slightly at what he felt under his fingertips.

--A few hours later.

When the princess heard the report in her room in the royal castle, she stood up with enough force to overturn her desk.

"It's stored up?! Magical power?! Really?! Is that true?"

The swordsman nodded silently, and after a moment the princess's face lit up and she gripped the craftsmanship tightly in both hands.

"...It'll work. It'll work! That's right, she's a magician too, so she should have a fair amount of magical power!"

The depths of her eyes lit up. The princess gathered up her papers and magical tools, and in the next moment she took off running.

"If I use my magical tuning to create a tracking spell, I'm sure I'll be able to pick up a reaction...! Ufufufu, fufufufufu...!!"

That night, the princess was seen skipping and running down the corridors of the royal castle. At first, the retainers looked suspicious and quietly opened doors to see what was going on, but as the princess made her second round, they began slamming doors shut, and eventually the corridors were deserted except for the princess.

•

•

A few days later.

The princess declared with a look of satisfaction on her face, standing in front of the tracking formula and craftsmanship she had assembled in her room, her hands on her hips. Her eyes were shining brightly, but there were clear dark circles around them, clearly showing how little sleep she had been getting.

"Both of you. This is definitive! This will tell us exactly where she is!"

When the hero simply asked, "Huh? Really?", the princess grinned.

"You're probably thinking that maybe you're misjudging me, right? If you're worried, you can apologize now, okay? Say, 'The princess was amazing, as I thought!'"

The swordsman was silent, but the slight wry smile on his face as he silently gazed upon the excited princess spoke volumes about his state of mind.

The magic formula pointed to the outskirts of a town nestled in the mountains. They crossed a mountain pass in a carriage, and finally walked through the forest. The excited princess led the way.

"The reaction went to the right! This way! This way!"

The princess was sure of victory.

The magical power figures were sufficient. The coordinates were stable. There was no shaking.

"These are... traces of that child...!"

Gently, she hugged the metalwork to her chest and murmured quietly.

"She's still alive. She's still here...!"

Neither the hero nor the swordsman said anything, because that mutter was a wish shared by all three.

They just continues to follow the princess's back quietly.　

•

•

Suddenly, the forest opened up.

In the distance, a stone structure can be seen.

Standing alone in a pathless space, its shadow becomes clearer as we get closer.

It was a grave.

There was only one old grave marker, almost buried in the grass.

The air... stopped.

The sounds of the birds, the wind, and the sound of footsteps on the grass all seemed to disappear.

The needle of the tracking tool the princess was holding twitched, then stopped dead in the direction of the tomb.

"…………Eh?"

The princess's voice stiffened as if she had been hammered with nails. Then, with a grating noise, she turned awkwardly to look at the two people behind her.

"Wait, something's wrong... This, this isn't supposed to happen..."

The princess's face turned pale in an instant, and a cold sweat broke out on her forehead. Imagining the worst, her fingertips began to tremble.

That was when it happened.

"Huh? Hello! What are you doing here?"

A soft voice cut in.

A young local man approaches, pushing aside the grass in the cemetery.

"Ah, that's the tomb of a hero. It's said to be the tomb of someone who protected this area long ago... There aren't any documents left, but he's famous."

The swordsman gently held out the metalwork.

"Ah, that! It's also in the town museum. It's said to be part of the equipment used by that hero!"

The princess was frozen in place.

The hands holding the tracking tools tremble, her eyes wander, her throat moves, but no words come out.

"...N-no... it wasn't supposed to be..."

There were no tears. The princess herself didn't really understand what was different.

All that was left was a cold sweat running down her temples. A mixture of relief at having found her and disappointment at not being able to find her swirled within her heart, but eventually she slumped her shoulders in despair.

The hero remained silent, gazing at the grave.

The swordsman gently picked up the craftsmanship and smiled softly.

The three of them looked at each other, all with helpless expressions that seemed to be a mixture of crying and laughing.

--The sky was still cloudy, and only the wind was pushing the three of them forward.

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★★★★★

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482: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero who continues his journey after that is so quiet.

　The story is so sweet that it makes me cry

501: Anonymous of the Wind

　The scene where the wizard's name isn't mentioned was so crazy

　"...I didn't know her name from the beginning? No way." I fell off my chair

504: Anonymous of the Wind

　Scary

　Stop making it a suspense horror all of a sudden.

507: Anonymous of the Wind

　"That can't be true..." was the saddest thing I've ever heard

　They're childhood friends, so that can't be true

510: Anonymous of the Wind

　The line "Didn't know her name?" is even more effective when it's spoken in a low voice, because the person is afraid to say it aloud.

515: Anonymous of the Wind

　Memories are so fragile...

　Even though he's traveled so much and he remember her voice, he can't remember her name...

522: Anonymous of the Wind

　It's not the first time she's been "lost"

　But this time, it was hell that he didn't even realize she was gone

529: Anonymous of the Wind

　The more monotonous the old man's speech, the more damaging it is.

535: Anonymous of the Wind

　In the swordsman part, the blacksmith was a more important character than I thought.

537: Anonymous of the Wind

　"This could be a thousand years old" made a strange noise

　Why do you have that, Wizard-chan?

543: Anonymous of the Wind

　Princess: "It's stored up? Magical power? Really?"

　This week's most exciting scene

550: Anonymous of the Wind

　Then it was like, "This is going to work! This is going to work!"

　The princess is totally in the zone, lol

553: Anonymous of the Wind

　I thought this was a spin-off comedy lol

559: Anonymous of the Wind

　The scene where the princess is skipping and running down the hallway is sure to be made into a gif.

565: Anonymous of the Wind

　The tempo of the music was so good I cried

　Only the princess had the "victory BGM" playing.

568: Anonymous of the Wind

　The retainers were watching over them only at the beginning, but then they closed the door on the second round, which made me laugh.

571: Anonymous of the Wind

　Hero: Lost

　Princess: Running

　Swordsman: Watch in silence

　If you think about this arrangement calmly, it's just insanity

581: Anonymous of the Wind

　"Hehehehe..."

　This laugh was so intense it was scary lol

589: Anonymous of the Wind

　There's such a big gap between this and the previous episode that I don't know how to feel about it...

594: Anonymous of the Wind

　Thinking about it calmly, the hero was heartbroken.

　The fact that the princess was running wild inside the castle makes me think that it's no good after all.

599: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess's line "I knew it, the princess was amazing!" is so amazing, I love it so much

602: Anonymous of the Wind

　He was silent, but the swordsman's smile really hit home...

　It's still funny

608: Anonymous of the Wind

　After starting the chase, "It veered to the right!" → "The reaction is stable!" → "These are her traces!"

　The princess looks so happy

　Furthermore, after this...

610: Anonymous of the Wind

　Maybe Success Brocken's Derby?

615: Anonymous of the Wind

　So, when she was having a good time, suddenly a grave appeared.

　Stop with the horror

622: Anonymous of the Wind

　The moment I saw the grave behind the bushes, I knew it was over.

　Don't suddenly change the mood

631: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess said, "Wait. This isn't how it should be..."

　It wasn't a disturbance, it was a "collapse."

644: Anonymous of the Wind

　The description of "the needle of the tracking tool stopping in the direction of the grave" is too bad for the heart

651: Anonymous of the Wind

　Local resident: "It's a hero's grave" → 3 people: "......"

　This silence was the best performance

656: Anonymous of the Wind

　I thought I'd seen the princess and the swordsman's expressionless faces somewhere before, and it was the same expression as when Wizard-chan who scored two points and then blew up the wall of the training ground afterwards.

664: Anonymous of the Wind

　It's not an emotional roller coaster, it's an emotional bungee jump

　There's no guarantee they'll come back

668: Anonymous of the Wind

　"That craftsmanship is also available in the museum."

　It's really a very old one after all

680: Anonymous of the Wind

　No, doesn't this mean that it's not over yet?

　We can still do it!

691: Anonymous of the Wind

　"We look at each other with tears and laughter"

　I didn't think it would be that destructive

701: Anonymous of the Wind

　I'm scared after this

　It just looks like it was lifted up a little to drop it hard.

714: Anonymous of the Wind

　Was it going up...?

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Wizard-chan: "My... name...? I have no memory so even I've forgotten it"

Wizard-chan: "Magic powers? I don't have any."