Chapter 22: It Feels Like a Half-Baked Epilogue, Nya.

"So the warp gate still can’t be used?"

After that, we regrouped with Ririka and Natsumi in the forest and returned to the city. There, we witnessed the priests—who had finally gone back to the temple after the blockade was lifted—revive Siegfried and Dom.

When morning came and the sun revealed the city in all its glory—smeared with blood, chunks of flesh, and the corpses of young galms, destruction stretching everywhere—I did feel a little bad for the NPC residents and adventurer players standing there in shock. Still, we went straight back to the inn and slept.

The innkeeper clearly looked like he had far bigger problems to deal with, but we had been fighting since the middle of the night and were completely exhausted ourselves. Neither side was in any shape to care about the other.

We collapsed together in the room and slept in a heap.

By the time we woke up in the afternoon, a faint sense of guilt crept in. While people around town were busy cleaning up monster corpses, we headed to the temple, where Rick was directing the restoration efforts, and heard the details from him.

"Yeah. According to the priests, the gate itself isn’t broken—its functions are intact. But it sounds like the gates on the other side, at the temples in the Kingdom of Larentia and the Aste Empire, have been sealed."

"That’s a problem, meow. You don’t think there’s another Masato over there causing trouble too, do you?"

"I really don’t want to believe there are multiple self-staged vigilante cheaters like that in this world, but… it’s not impossible."

Honestly, if there were several people like that running around, I’d lose the will to live—so please, spare me.

After that, just standing around watching the city’s reconstruction made us feel bad, so we offered to help. Unfortunately, none of us—me, Ririka, or Natsumi—were useful in the slightest. Unable to withstand the wordless looks that clearly said you’re in the way, we retreated almost immediately. The three of us were utterly unsuited for constructive labor.

Rick, who had been overseeing the reconstruction on the adventurer-player side, was soon hoisted up as the representative of the Adventurers’ Guild in Masato’s absence. His level was low, but he willingly took on jobs like sewer repairs, earning deep trust from the members. Maybe because he gave off such a dependable older-brother vibe, he apparently gathered quite the following.

Among the townspeople, exaggerated rumors spread about the mechanical warrior and the mysterious figure in full armor who had appeared that night. Rick—now acting as the guild’s representative—worked to smooth things over.

"According to the guy who was saved, they claimed to be an alien from the constellation Cassiopeia. But maybe they were an assassin sent by the admins who caught Masato cheating with multiple accounts. This world’s full of things we don’t understand, but if you just keep your head down and work honestly, you shouldn’t get targeted by something like that."

What is this, a bogeyman parents use to scare naughty kids?

I really wish he’d come up with a slightly better excuse.

Masato’s crimes were then made public, and it was officially decided that he had been taken away somewhere by a mysterious alien. It wasn’t completely off the mark, and people seemed more or less satisfied, so that story stuck.

Princess Knight Evangelin and several knights under her command—whom people believed had been part of Ririka’s grand magic—also agreed to maintain the narrative after being told that Archmage Lady Ririka didn’t want to be feared any more than necessary. That, at least, should keep things stable.

As for the other Masato clone, the necromancer, the impact of the railgun left no trace of him whatsoever. Masato’s original body—the one I shot—was secretly buried on a hill near the city by Rick and Dom.

Prince Ernest regretted having been deceived by Masato, but he quickly put it behind him and began directing the reconstruction alongside his younger sister, Princess Knight Evangelin. His reputation as a kind, people-loving ruler didn’t seem exaggerated. At this rate, the city would soon return to its former state—or perhaps become something even better.

And so, the three of us decided to set out for the Kingdom of Larentia, both to investigate why the warp gate was sealed and to search for a way back to the real world.

"If you see Dias, give him my regards. Tell him we’ll be waiting for him to come home. Same goes for you. What happened to the city couldn’t be helped, but it’s actually a good opportunity—we’re going to reorganize the districts and build houses for us adventurer players. We’ll build houses for you too, so make sure you come back."

With that, Rick smiled and saw us off, his arm wrapped around Dom’s shoulder as they leaned close together.

"I’d like to set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King too, but I’ve been put in charge of training the lower-level players at the guild. There are some pretty cute girls among them, you know…—ah, no, no! It’s not like I’ll forget about you guys! I’ll whip everyone into shape and catch up soon, so wait for me with peace of mind!"

Siegfried showed no signs of having learned his lesson at all. He seemed far more interested in the girls in his new party than in us. I felt bad for them—but honestly, I kind of hoped he’d forget about us entirely.

"So, you are leaving this country… If I could, I would accompany you, but I cannot leave the castle at present. Lady Ririka, you are the benefactors of this nation. Should you ever need aid, rely on me at any time. I swear I will be of help."

"It pains me as well to see young girls like you set out on such a harsh journey. You may return to this country whenever you wish. Do not push yourselves. And Clarice, as the First Prince, I swear to transform this nation into one where delicate young girls like you need not suffer—where everyone can live happily. When that day comes, please meet me again."

Princess Knight Evangelin and her brother, First Prince Ernest, bade us farewell with great fanfare—largely based on a misunderstanding.

We passed through the castle gates and began walking out of the city.

Toward a journey of adventure, without knowing what awaited us ahead.

"Somehow, we couldn’t help with the reconstruction at all, and after going on a rampage in a robot, it feels awkward to stay. I thought we were just leaving town until things cooled down… but now it feels like a manga that suddenly got axed, meow. Everyone said all these dramatic lines—it’s like a half-baked epilogue, meow."

"Don’t say things like that. You’re the one who said you didn’t want to stay in town because there’s monster blood and guts everywhere and it’s gross."

"But everyone saw us off like we’re heading really far away. Feels like we did something wrong. Isn’t it about time to call the plane?"

"We don’t know who might be watching, and since we have the chance, let’s walk a bit farther away from town first. Erika, set the Hummingbird down in an open area in the forest north of here."

"Roger. However, I am not enthusiastic about allowing those native life-forms aboard. Would it not be acceptable to leave them behind?"

"Erika-nyan, that’s cruel, meow! It’s about time you acknowledged that Ririka is a Space Force Major, meow!"

"I-I’m okay though, right, Erika-san!? I’m a pure and righteous boy elf, so you’ll let me ride the plane properly, right!? I was better at piloting the robot than Ririka-san, wasn’t I!?"

『Letting native life-forms use Space Force equipment is, in principle, a serious violation! Allowing the use of the Crusader IV Kai was an exception of exceptions! Cat ears! There is no record anywhere—neither in the Einferia databank nor elsewhere—of you ever being affiliated with the Space Force! Long ears! Just because you were a little good at piloting a walking tank, don’t get carried away!』

"Now, now. Just giving them a lift to the destination should be fine. There was that mission where we escorted prisoners to a penal planet—this isn’t much different. And I told you to try to get along, didn’t I?"

『Hmph… Master, you are far too indulgent toward those native life-forms. If you’re not careful, they are exactly the type who will keep pushing their luck.』

"That’s not true, meow! Ririka was always told she was a quiet, well-behaved girl, meow! My grades weren’t bad either, meow!"

"And in real life, people always said Arisaka-san was so quiet it was like I wasn’t even there, you know!?"

Dragging out what were probably childhood memories from decades ago to protest—inside that cat-eared, twin-tailed, panty-flashing maid was an old man who was starting to lose the ability to distinguish between reality and settings. Watching a middle-aged shut-in cling to praise he once received as a child was painfully hard to witness.

Then there was the hot-tempered cross-dressing shota elf, casually letting slip her own bleak real-life circumstances. She seemed feminine enough that I’d let my guard down, but apparently she too was deeply lonely and emotionally repressed in reality. On top of that, she was probably rotten in that way as well.

Compared to those two, I could at least tell myself I was relatively well-adjusted. Even so, I was someone who had been transferred into this world of S Sword B Blaze Online as a character from a completely different game. Now I was a TS blonde bishoujo. I didn’t feel like I’d ever truly fit into crowded cities.

So I supposed I had no choice but to look after these two social misfits for a while. If left alone, who knew where they’d go—or what they’d end up doing.

"Clarice-nyan! Why are you grinning like that, meow!? Is the old man inside you thinking dirty thoughts again, meow!? You’re falling behind, meow!"

"Please walk faster! Let’s hurry up and fly to Larentia already!"

They were ridiculous—but still, they were companions I had made in this world.

I broke into a light jog and caught up to the two of them, who had somehow wandered ahead of me.

Deep within a dense, shadowy forest nestled among mountain ranges.

"Haa… haa… damn it…! Why does a level 230 guy like me have to go through this…! Hey! You’re too slow, Claw! Move it already!"

Trying to avoid being seen.

"Shut up! Even with healing magic, my arm won’t fix itself! Damn it! Damn it!"

"By now, the people in the city have probably noticed we escaped… If we don’t make it to Larentia soon, this is bad…"

"Schneider! Aren’t we in Larentian territory yet!? How long are we supposed to keep walking through a place like this!?"

Four men and women could be seen pushing their way through the undergrowth.

"Shut it, you tranny freak! We should’ve left you behind! Stop whining and keep moving!"

Despite yelling at each other even as they fled, they eventually emerged from the forest into a small, meadow-like clearing nestled between the mountains.

"Haa… If we’ve come this far, the people from the city won’t chase us anymore… We’re only about halfway to Larentia, though…"

"Oh my, oh my. For a level 230 party, you all look pretty pathetic."

A boy suddenly spoke up.

When had he gotten there? Had he been standing there the entire time?

Schneider hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence when they exited the forest.

"Who the hell are you!? Since when were you there!?"

"This brat a player? You’ve got some nerve…! I’m in a bad mood! I’ll kill you!"

Claudia snapped right after Schneider, but the boy didn’t seem fazed in the slightest.

"Looks like there still aren’t any players above level 230. Maybe I made the level-cap conditions a bit too strict."

"What the hell are you babbling about!? Don’t get cocky, you little shit!"

"I’m glad you enjoyed playing the game so thoroughly, but it’s a shame the contents of your head seem so poorly made. You should really look at who you’re talking to and choose your words more carefully."

"The hell are you acting so relaxed for—"

Schneider lunged at the boy, but the two behind him cut him off with frightened voices.

"S-S-Stop…! Th-That guy…! L-Level 500…!?"

"H-His job class is… ‘God’…!? W-What the hell is this…!? Is he cheating too…!?"

Schneider froze, staring at the boy in disbelief.

In contrast, the boy looked at the four of them with eyes full of pity.

"Sorry to disappoint veteran players, but idiots like you tend to disrupt the field far too quickly. I’m afraid you’ll have to exit… Hmm. Killing you would just revive you at the temple, which is a hassle. Let’s do this instead."

The boy closed his eyes and murmured something. Instantly, cold spread from Schneider’s feet, rapidly freezing upward.

Panicking, he glanced at his companions, but all four of them—including himself—were being swallowed by ice rising from the ground.

"Claw! Yukari! It’s a freezing spell! Dispel it!"

"I-I can’t! Dispel and Clear don’t work! What the hell kind of magic is this!?"

Their resistance was futile. The two in the back—Justin and Yukari—were completely frozen, sealed inside icy coffins.

"Damn it! Don’t screw with me! I’m not dying in a place like—!"

Before long, Claudia too was encased alive in ice, her body locked in place.

"Absolute Coffin. It can be undone with a high-tier full-release spell learned by priest-type classes at level 300. Hopefully, someone will eventually come to free you. Though whether anyone will ever come to a place like this is another question."

Leaving Schneider—now fully sealed in ice—behind, the boy tilted his gaze up toward the sky.

"So someone managed to spawn Galmgriff… and even defeat it. I don’t know how they did it, but cheating in my world’s game is something I’d rather not tolerate."

There was a smile on his face.

At the entrance to an inlet surrounded by sheer cliffs, a young man dressed in luxurious robes adorned with golden decorations stepped down from a carriage and entered the cove with several attendants in tow.

The moment he set foot inside, the surrounding scenery warped, revealing a gigantic structure of iron.

"So this is that person’s illusionary barrier. To completely conceal something this massive… truly impressive."

As the young man murmured while surveying the area, an intricate pattern of glowing light appeared on the ground nearby. From it emerged a figure clad in a long robe, their hood pulled low.

"Your Majesty the Emperor, thank you for coming all the way to such a remote place."

Even the voice itself seemed magically camouflaged—it was impossible to tell whether the speaker was male or female.

"After hearing about this, how could I not come? Is this the same as the object said to have fallen from the sky off the coast of Grand Seal in the south?"

"It does not appear to be exactly the same… but it is close. Inside, I found a plate engraved with the language of a nation from the world I once inhabited. Nekoneko… a foolish name, but… SPACEFLEET… it reads ‘Space Fleet.’"

"Sp-space… fleet…? Then that means this is a ship!? This enormous mass of iron!?"

"Precisely. And not a ship that floats on the sea. It is a vessel that flies through the sky. The object witnessed off Grand Seal was likely the same. These are probably… visitors like myself, from a world different from this one."

"…On the day this appeared so suddenly, everything changed. And then you appeared. I cannot help but feel anxious when I think about what has become of the world I once knew."

"There is no need for such fear. Though this is damaged, if we investigate it properly, we may obtain power beyond imagination. With my knowledge, it is possible."

"I am truly glad you appeared within my territory. Once again, I ask you—please lend us your strength."

"Raise your head, Your Majesty. Your empire and my… em-pire… working together, there will be no enemy we cannot overcome. Even toys like this are no threat. Let us make both your name—and mine—resound across this entire land."

To Iolaos VIII, Emperor of the Aste Empire, it looked as though the hooded figure smiled.

Part One — End