Episode 2

Episode 2

May 2nd.

After school, I packed up my belongings that I had left in the classroom and headed home. Since school was only half a day away, I really wanted to take a detour with my friends, but I realized that it would be impossible with all my belongings, so I decided to go home for now.

My older brother should be at home now. He used to be a reliable and beloved older brother, but now he's a shadow of his former self. Even if he's not good at studying or sports, he's still my older brother. At some point, he stopped listening to me. Whenever I tried to talk to him, he would look at me with a displeased expression, so I eventually stopped making eye contact with him too.

Even if I wanted to do something, there was nothing I could do. The more I tried to get closer to him, the further away he seemed to get.

With these thoughts in mind, I started walking home with a large number of textbooks and dictionaries in hand. The sunlight was piercingly bright, and as I was walking unsteadily in the heat, I heard a sound behind me.

From there onwards, things took a dramatic turn.

Apparently I had been hit by a car and died, and it was some kind of mistake by God or some such. It was just like the online novel I had read because of my older brother.

He, God, started saying the typical thing, saying that he could bring me back to life, but in return he wanted me to save this other world, so I couldn't help but say something sarcastic like, "Do you really think I have to go through all that trouble when it's your fault?"

Then, this so-called god said, "If you save the other world, I'll grant you any wish you have," so we had the usual exchange of "Huh? Anything now," and I succeeded in making a very impossible request to him.

From then on, I defeated the Demon King in another world, cheated with my modern knowledge (the dictionary I had on hand came in handy), and had hard but fulfilling days.

One day, several years later, God finally appeared before me and declared, "The world has been saved."

I kept running with the goal unclear and unseen, and it was the moment when it finally paid off.

And so I left the other world and was returned to my original world, a place not long after I had been hit by a car and died.

I ran home, forgetting how heavy my luggage was. It had been years since I'd been home, and I'd been able to see my family for the first time in years. I was so happy that I just hurried home.

As if by good fortune, I opened the front door and my brother was there. Perhaps because it had been several years since I last saw him, I was overcome with emotion and threw down my belongings, hugging him.

"Onii-chan! I'm home!"

I hugged him tightly, tears welling up in my eyes. I had my real big brother in front of me. That brought me such peace of mind.

However, the way my brother acted was completely different from what I expected.

My brother shook me off and hurried back to his room.

...That's right. For me, it was our first reunion in years, but for my brother, it was like we'd just seen each other that morning.

After that, I almost cried over my mother's meal for the first time in a while, and lying down in a soft bed, and other everyday things that made me almost cry.

After taking a bath, I lie down on the bed, stare up at the ceiling, and daydream.

I was given the right by God to have any wish granted, but in fact I have not yet exercised this right...

"...Precayle, are you here?"

I muttered this to myself. Then, the screen of the smartphone I had tossed next to my pillow changed and I could hear a voice.

["Master, it's Precayle, I'm here."]

"...So you still here..."

["Yes, Master's skill has not disappeared, so I, who am part of Master's skill, have not disappeared either."]

"I see "

Precayle is a special ability I acquired in another world. Precayle itself is not an ability, but rather a support AI that manages abilities. Originally, it could only make internal announcements, but after acquiring a certain ability, I was able to project it's image onto my smartphone and made it speak. He's a butler-like man wearing a suspicious mask, so I didn't really want him to appear in the reality.

With him here, I'm sure it can be done.

"Okay then, Precayle. Find out how to rehabilitate my Onii-chan."

["Yes, please wait a moment."]

This is my, the Demon King's... or maybe it was an evil god's(?). Anyway, it's a special calculation ability I gained when I defeated that kind of being. It allows me to access the Akashic Records and gather information from the future, past, present, parallel worlds, and all of them to derive the optimal answer. That's the kind of power it is. Using a part of that power, I created Precayle, an AI that assists my abilities and calculations.

 ...However, Precayle, who usually gives an answer right away, was slow to respond. Just as I was getting a little nervous, wondering when it would come, Precayle replied.

["Sorry to have kept you waiting. Calculations complete. The results of constructing a rehabilitation program for Master's brother, Kazami Mizuki, have shown all errors, and that everything is impossible."]

"What do you mean?"

I couldn't help but speak louder.

That's true. My brother is currently withdrawn, but for there to be no way to fix that, even with the power i gained in the other world that surpasses modern technology. This is just too much.

["...Master, there is just one way, just one very small way."]

"……What?"

Precayle's voice is mechanical and impersonal, but it sounds like it's trembling slightly. It's the first time I've ever heard anything like that.

"Among the astronomically low possibilities, there is one in which a being identical to Kazami Mizuki is not withdrawn, but is instead smiling cheerfully. This may be the future Master desires."

"What is that?! Tell me, Precayle! Even if it's an astronomically low possibility, I can do it! I can use the authority of God just once, so I can bring out that potential!"

What I received from God is the right to make anything come true in this world, just once. For example, I can bring a dead person back to life, or conquer this world and make it my own. I can even erase all information about myself from this world and return to another world. Most things can come true.

["So, I'll tell you... It's a world where Mizuki Kazami is Master's younger sister, meaning he's a girl younger than Master. In that world line, he wouldn't become a recluse."]

"What's the..."

Then he would no longer be "Big Brother." He's would become something else. There's no way that could save him.

["There are two reasons why he ended up like this. By removing them, he can be saved."]

"What are those two..."

["One is that he is the older brother. Because he is the older brother, he feels inferior in the presence of his talented younger sister. This is an unavoidable fact. And the other is that he is a man. He was not blessed with good looks and a personality as a man. These two factors have intertwined, and have led to the current situation. It is no good to just correct one of them. The solution will not come unless both are corrected. That is the conclusion I have reached from studying the Akashic Records."]

I was left speechless by Precayle's words. It was as if I was tormenting my brother. Or rather, that's exactly what I was doing. If that's the case, then maybe, if I'm not...

["Master. Even if Master is gone, as long as Master's big brother is a man and has that appearance, this will still happen someday. It is an unchanging situation. And Master's disappearance or changing his appearance is incompatible."]

If that's the case, then perhaps we have no choice but to do as Precayle says and turn older brother into a younger sister.

...No, in that case, I'll just have to ask my big brother to try his best. No matter what I do, in the end, it's him who has to try his best. That's why I'll become a demon just this once.

"Exercise the authority of God! The content is--"