Extra 8: Bonus Anime Episode (First Part)

Bonus Anime Episode (First Part)

Ever since returning from the village where Mia and the leader were, everyone has been acting strange.

Now we were all at the princess's seaside villa, but at first it was normal.

I don't know why, but the hero gets teased a lot. The princess puffs out her chest and says, "This is my villa and the kingdom's! You should be grateful!"

However, after a while, everyone except me started looking at each other with serious expressions on their faces. I casually asked if Mia's hard bread had upset their stomachs, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

In this kind of atmosphere, it's hard to say, "Let's go play ball outside!" I can read the mood well enough.

Hmm. In a case like this, the best thing to do is to ask clearly. So, who should I ask? If I ask the hero, he'll probably just dodge the question. The princess or the swordsman... Since it was the princess last time, I'll ask the swordsman next time.

I immediately saw him in the hallway, so I ran over to him.

"Swordsman! Why is everyone so depressed?"

"That's... you..."

The swordsman stopped talking midway and held his temples. "Maybe a headache? Take care of yourself."

"Your name is Filina?"

"Ah, that's a temporary name given to me by the commander... hmm?"

I replayed the conversation we had just had in my head. The swordsman had called me by the name I had when I was a cool lieutenant. In other words, he recognized me as that cool lieutenant. So, was that it? Everyone was discussing with such serious expressions about all the things I'd done as a cool lieutenant...?

At that moment, an imaginary meeting began in my head.

A heavy silence fell over the room. The princess, with a serious expression on her face, spoke.

"She always seemed to have a frown on her face, I wonder what that was about...?"

The swordsman replied in a heavy tone.

"What do you mean, 'yoroshiku?'"

The hero folded his hands on the table and muttered in a gloomy voice.

"Pan'nomimi?"

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"What up⁉"

The next thing I knew, I was screaming loudly as I rolled across the floor, banging my head against a pillar.

I dusted myself off and stood up with a calm face. My forehead, where I had been hitting it earlier, was stinging, but I was an adult so I endured it.

That's right, Kaya had said that the only place to roll around in your dark past is on your bed in your room, and only when you're alone. I knew that, too, this was in the hallway, not my room.

"Ehhh, sorry. I made a mistake."

"What did you do wrong? Tell me."

"Huh...where...? I can't show you what I mean."

Rolling around screaming down the hallway and being seen by your friends is probably a dark memory. A dark memory only breeds more dark memories. I think this is what they call a perpetual motion machine. An old acquaintance of mine used to say that.

...I wonder if he's still alive? He was the longest-lived person I've ever known.

"Does your body hurt?"

"My head and heart hurt a little..."

"I see... is there anything you would like me to do?"

"Um, can you tell me why you thought I was Filina?"

"The hero said so."

"I see... Thank you very much."

I was furious. I had to punish that talkative hero. Just wait and wash your head.

I ended my conversation with the swordsman and immediately grabbed my favorite wand and charged into the hero's room.

I burst through the door and rushed in - for some reason the princess was there too, so I quickly turned off my wand and whistled. I hoped she hadn't seen it.

"You just walk in like normal! Doors are there to be opened!"

"This is my normal."

"I've never seen anyone enter like that before! I mean, didn't you have your wand with you just now?"

"If you look, you'll see that I don't have anything."

"...Can I ask you something? There's something I'd like to ask you. Let's talk with the swordsman too."

The princess's serious voice had the same air of the meeting I had imagined, and it made me shiver.

"First, let me confirm. You're Filina, right?"

"That's the old name, right?"

In the dining room, the three of them were facing each other across the table. I tried to stand up as straight as possible and looked at the princess with a smile.

"So that means..."

The princess stopped talking and looked troubled. I wondered what dark secrets she would have to face, and a cold sweat ran down my spine.

An oppressive silence reigned over the room for a while. Then, perhaps unable to bear the sight any longer, the swordsman spoke.

"How much life do you have left?"

……What?

The life I have left, well, that's just a setting, right?

I think... I was around 20 years old (in the setting) when I was with Mia... that was 60 years ago...

So I met the hero when I was 80 years old? Then I used up about 80 years of my lifespan, slept in a cave for 10 years, and was about 170 years old now...?

The average human lifespan is 80 years, and in the setting, my lifespan is twice that... 160 years. So...

160 (lifespan) - 170 (elapsed) = -10 years...?

I was about to say, "I have minus 10 years left to live," but then I thought better of it.

What's minus 10 years?

That means I'm dead already.

Is that it? Is this what everyone was worried about? Like, "Hey, that girl is supposed to be dead now, but she's still moving around." That would certainly be scary.

After thinking about what to do, I decided that since I had come this far, I should tell them the truth.

I could say to them that the leader lived to be 100 years old, and that I had a lifespan of 200 years, but then we'd have to have this conversation again in 30 years later.

It took me about a minute to reach this conclusion. The calculations were difficult. But all three of them waited in silence for me to explain. How kind.

I took a deep breath, looked up, and saw the three of them. They all had serious expressions on their faces. ...Hmm, this is no good.

I deliberately started the conversation in a light tone to convey that there was no problem.

"I'm sorry! I was talking about lifespan before... but what I said back then was a lie..."

I stopped talking here, looked down apologetically, and clasped my hands together in my lap. I'm a good actor.

Then, I suddenly raised my head and announced with a big smile.

"Actually, it seems like my lifespan is countless. So, there's no problem! Anyway, look, the weather is nice, let's go play at the beach!"

...　

...

They cried!!

Three grown adults gathered around the table and cried.

I was confused. If telling the truth would lead to this, then what on earth should I do? Perhaps I should have said something like, "How much time do I have left? Three minutes!" But that seemed like a bad idea...

Alone, I looked out the window, trying to escape reality. Outside, the sun was shining brightly and the weather was beautiful, although pitch-black clouds were slowly approaching from the distance.

...I think it's a perfect day for swimming in the sea...

★★★★★

[The Runaway Wizard] Bonus Anime Commentary & Impressions Thread

3: Anonymous of the Wind

　Well, this is a thread about the bonus anime that is broadcast on video sites.

　There are many things that concern me.

　The group is excited when they arrive at the seaside villa.

5: Anonymous of the Wind

　From the looks of it, it seems like everything has been sorted out.

　See, it looks like so much fun!

8: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess kept repeating "It's a good kingdom!" lol

15: Anonymous of the Wind

　Maybe it's a happy future that has been reached?

　It's a "worldview that is wrapped in kindness" after all

18: Anonymous of the Wind

　Is it true? Because I believe it?

　Okay everyone, come back! It'll be okay this time!