Prologue

"From this point forward, I'm sending you to the world of a social game."

"Huh?"

Wait. Did I somehow skip the first chapter? This development is so abrupt that I can't even keep up.

A social game's? World? Reincarnation? Why? How? Me???

More importantly, where the hell am I? At some point, I ended up in this white space, didn't I??

Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be a dream. There's some strange sense of reality to it... Or perhaps it's more like an inexplicable certainty that this is actually happening...

"Obviously, that's not much of an explanation. ...I'm really bored right now, you see. I was thinking, 'I wonder if there's anything fun to do~?' And then I heard that 'reincarnation into another world' has been pretty popular lately, so I thought I'd give it a try~. And that's how I ended up choosing you from among all the countless humans out there! Congratulations~!"

"Huh?"

That was supposed to be an explanation? I don't really understand what's going on, but I should be allowed to punch this guy, right? Well, I can't, since all I can hear is his voice and there's no actual body in front of me to hit...

No, come to think of it, the voice sounds like it's echoing from the space itself. So if I punch the space itself, maybe I can hit him...?

"Why are you flailing around like a bug drowning in water? Are you stupid? Are you trying to die?"

That didn't work. God, this guy is annoying.

"Ah~. Is that it? Did you think you could attack me by punching the space itself? You really thought that? Good effort~."

This guy might just be the most obnoxious person I've ever encountered in my entire life. Including whatever remains of it. I'm sure of it.

But if I don't do something, I'll be forcibly dragged off to this so-called game world. I hate the idea of bowing my head to someone like this, but I might as well beg and see if it works.

"Please. Send me home. I'll do anything."

"Hm? You just said you'll do anything, didn't you?"

"I did. So what?"

Go ahead. Ask me for anything you want. If it'll get me home, I'll do whatever it takes.

"You really want to go home that badly? You get to go to another world, you know?"

"I can't deny that the prospect of it gets my heart racing. Even so, I want to go home to my family and go back to school where my friends are."

That's right. Sure, it'd probably be amazing if I could really go to a fantasy world of swords and magic. There'd undoubtedly be plenty of hardships, but that was part of the appeal. I'd get to experience a kind of extraordinary life that I could never experience by simply living normally. Of course I'm curious.

Even so, I'd choose the world where my family and friends are.

That's the world I was born in. I've spent more than a decade of my life there.

"Yeah, yeah. Well, that's exactly why I chose you~."

"Huh?"

"I wanted someone who'd desperately try to return to their original world no matter what kind of world I sent them to."

"Why?"

Why go out of his way to choose someone who wants to return home? Wouldn't someone who's all, "Hell yeah, let's enjoy another world!" be more fun?

"Because someone like that would accomplish anything I threw at them, no matter how unreasonable, if it meant getting back to their original world, right? Wouldn't it be super fun to watch them struggle?"

I see.

He's just a complete bastard.

"You're one of those guys, aren't you? You don't have any friends."

"You'll be my first friend~!"

"Absolutely not."

"Too bad. This is mandatory. If you want to return to your original world, you'll have to acknowledge me as your friend."

"What kind of friendship is mandatory?"

This guy really knows how to piss me off.

"Now, now. It's not like there aren't any benefits for you, you know?"

"...Such as?"

"First, you'll get to enjoy life in another world. That's one. And the second is... Hmm, let's see. Ah, I've got it. I'll cure the illness your little sister is suffering from."

"What!?"

He can cure my sister's illness?!

"It's a rare disease for which there currently is no known cure. All they can do is slow its progression, and doing that requires frequent hospital visits and medication, which puts a considerable burden on her. Your mother is raising both you and your sister on her own, so I imagine every day must be difficult for her."

"...You can cure it?"

"Of course. I can create a space like this, can't I? For someone like me, curing a disease like that is child's play. Though I've never had breakfast before. Come to think of it, I've never eaten anything at all."

"............Fine. I'll do what you say."

"Yaaay! Contract established~!"

Even if everything this guy is saying is a complete lie, nothing would change. We'd simply be back where we started.

But if he really does have the power to cure my sister's illness, and he'll actually cure her if I do what he says...

Then it's worth a shot.

And now that that's settled, there's something else I need to know.

"By the way, what's the name of this social game? Is it one I know?"

Information gathering comes first. I need to squeeze as much information out of this guy as possible.

"Let's see... It's called War Fairy. You know it?"

"I literally play it."

"Well, that's convenient."

At least it's not a series I've never heard of. Whether or not I can make use of my knowledge of the original game will probably make a huge difference in how difficult this is going to be.

War Fairy. Fans usually call it "WF." There probably wasn't any other sensible way to abbreviate it. "Warfe" sounds weird, and so does "Waha." The developers really should have come up with a name that was a little easier to get people interested in...

That very complaint eventually became a running joke so popular that even the official staff started making fun of the title.

Despite its utterly nonsensical name, however, the game itself is incredibly popular.

The reason is simple and obvious.

It's ridiculously polished as a game.

A vast world filled with countless fascinating characters. A deep story running through all of it, with plenty of laughter and tears. Beautiful graphics and stirring music that bring its grand narrative to life. Even the combat system is unique, and the difficulty is expertly tuned so that clearing the game isn't something you can accomplish without a fight.

It's a game so well-made that even a famously harsh critic once declared it "perfect in every way except the title."

Personally, I like it quite a bit, too.

"So? What kind of role am I going to have? Some random background character? A weak enemy?"

"The fact that 'protagonist' wasn't even one of your guesses shows how well you understand me. That's why you're my best friend!"

Well, obviously this guy wouldn't make me the protagonist just to entertain me.

...Though, considering how brutal the setting can be, even becoming the protagonist would probably mean nothing but hardship.

And I'm just going to pretend I didn't hear him casually upgrade our relationship from "friend" to "best friend." If I call him out on it and he turns this into another mandatory-best-friend situation, it'll be a disaster.

"Anyway, you'll be one of the characters who fights alongside the protagonist's faction."

"So basically, a character you can pull from the gacha? Or maybe a character who joins through the story, or one handed out during an event?"

War Fairy is a social game, and naturally, it has a gacha system.

Actually, calling it a gacha-focused game wouldn't be an exaggeration.

You obtain characters and items through the gacha, build a party with them, and repeatedly throw that party into battle.

So I suppose he's making me one of the characters the protagonist obtains—or, from the perspective of the game's world, one of the characters who joins their party.

...If I'm being honest, that's surprisingly normal.

Of course, I'm never going to say that out loud. If I do, he might decide to change it after all, and I'm not taking that chance.

"Hmm? I'm not very familiar with that sort of thing. I'll leave the finer details to you, since you're the one who's familiar with the game."

"...Details?"

"Yep. Things like your appearance, backstory, abilities, and so on. I want you to decide all the little details. Once you do, you'll become an existence exactly according to those specifications."

Surprisingly reasonable.

Several transparent, high-tech, sci-fi-looking windows appeared in front of me. Some of them even had keyboards.

So I guess I just enter all my settings using these?

Hmm. There's one with something resembling a mannequin displayed on it. This must be the appearance customization window...

But how am I supposed to use it? Do I draw a picture?

I'm terrible at drawing!

"Hey, how am I supposed to customize my appearance with this?"

"Just touch the appropriate area with your finger while imagining what you want it to look like in your mind. It'll change accordingly."

Whoa. This is seriously high-tech.

Well, thinking up every little detail sounds like a pain, so I'll just make the appearance something simple. Full-face helmet and—

"And now, it's time for the big reveal! Here's the condition you have to fulfill to return to your original world!"

...Oh, crap.

I'd completely forgotten to ask about the most important part.

I should make my appearance, settings, and abilities as suitable as possible for fulfilling that condition.

"So, what is this condition~? ...Drumroll, please! You have to rank first in the popularity poll!"

"...What!?"

What?!

I have to become the number-one character in the War Fairy popularity poll?!

A game packed with dozens upon dozens of incredibly cool and adorable characters?!

I can say this with absolute certainty.

It's impossible.

Popular characters are popular for a reason. When an insanely popular character gets a featured gacha banner, there are even players who spend hundreds of thousands on them.

"Oh, and by the way, I won't accept any changes to the condition. So struggle as hard as you can and entertain me!"

You bastard!

Then I'll just make my abilities completely broken...!

"Also, your soul itself will remain unchanged. So if you make yourself too strong beyond what is necessary, your sense of self will collapse and you'll never be able to return to normal. If you don't want to become a shut-in and increase your mother's burden, you'd better give yourself abilities appropriate to your level. Besides, if you're too powerful, the game wouldn't be able to implement you properly, so you'll probably be nerfed when your abilities are translated into the real world."

This guy...!

He's reading my thoughts one step ahead and using them to kick me straight into hell...!

But I get it.

What he's saying actually makes sense.

Heroes aren't the same as an ordinary person like me. Their very souls are different.

And this isn't simply reincarnation into another world.

It's reincarnation into a game world.

I don't understand the mechanics behind it, but if my existence as a character is going to be reflected in the real world, then I suppose I have to take that sort of balance into consideration, too.

Wait.

Isn't this literally an impossible game?!

"If your character becomes popular, the developers will probably buff you as fan service or to make more money, so the fastest way to get stronger is to become popular! Probably!"

...I see.

If I become popular, there's a good chance the developers will strengthen me simply because I'm a popular character.

They could release powerful limited versions of me, too. A Christmas version, a swimsuit version, a New Year's version...

Then they could rake in the money.

Wait!

I'd need decent abilities to become popular in the first place!

And you're saying I can't make myself that strong because of the size of my soul!

This is an endless loop!

...In that case, I guess I'll have to make up for it with my appearance, settings, and personality.

I pull the window with the mannequin in the center closer to me.

All right. I'll start by placing my finger on the mannequin's head.

Imagine, imagine...

First, gender.

Obviously, male...

Wait.

Hold on.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

In the world of social games, which tends to be more popular: male characters or female characters?

War Fairy isn't simply a bishoujo game, after all. It's not a cute-girl idol game, nor is it, obviously, a male-oriented eroge or romance game. It's an adventure fantasy game that both men and women can enjoy.

And yet. Even so. Even so, wouldn't a BISHOUJO CHARACTER still be more likely to attract people's attention?

For one thing, I feel like male characters would be held to a much higher standard when it comes to combat ability. Maybe I only think that because I'm a guy myself.

But I just can't imagine some random weak male character making it to #1 in the popularity rankings. The only way I can picture it happening would be if internet users were messing around for the hell of it. Something like a "C○○l Shock" situation.

On the other hand, what about a weak, adorable girl who isn't suited for combat and makes you want to protect her for some reason?

...If she had a reasonably solid character setup and enough story content to back it up, I feel like she could become fairly popular.

...In that case.

No, no, no, no, no.

What the hell am I thinking?

Calm down. Think rationally.

There's no way I should voluntarily choose the path of TS...

Even as a male character, there has to be some way to make this work.

.........

.................

.....................

It's basically as good as admitting it, isn't it?

"Even as a male character."

That "even" is doing a hell of a lot of work.

As an undeniable fact, a beautiful girl is almost certainly more likely to become popular than a male character even if they do exactly the same things.

...So, then.

Yeah.

I don't have a choice.

If I want to accomplish my goals—returning to my original world and curing my sister's illness—then this is something I have to do.

That's why.

That's why...

"Hey, when I return to my original world, I'll be back in my original body, right?"

"Of course~."

...Phew.

Sorry, Mom.

I'm becoming a girl...

---

So, I'd made up my mind to change my gender.

But... now that I think about it, I should probably come up with the character concept before deciding on my appearance.

It'd make more sense to design my appearance around the character concept, after all.

Hmm.

Would a tragic backstory that makes people sympathize with me be the way to go?

You know, the whole "pathetic is cute" thing.

A poor, unfortunate girl whose story is designed to stimulate the players' protective instincts to the absolute limit and squeeze some tears out of them.

Hmm... It's not like War Fairy doesn't have characters like that already, though.

The setting itself is pretty brutal, so there are already plenty of characters with tragic circumstances.

There were even some episodes that made me genuinely bawl my eyes out.

I don't think I could surpass those...

Then how about going down the heroine route?

I could make myself a girl who absolutely adores the protagonist and aim for the whole "○○ is my waifu" demographic.

The player can choose between a male protagonist and a female protagonist, so...

Well, there should be demand for a yuri route even with the female protagonist.

But if the protagonist is male...

That means I'd have to go all-out trying to appeal to other men.

The game itself obviously wouldn't depict anything like that, but if I'm actually living in the "game world," depending on how things play out, I might have to get physically intimate with a man...

Ugh.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

Although, if it became necessary, I'd have to do it regardless of how much I hated it.

But that's not even the main problem.

There's already an absolutely untouchable main heroine.

She's got an absurd amount of heroine power, and there's no way I could beat her by desperately trying to imitate a heroine—especially when I'm a former guy who's trying to appeal to someone I don't even like that way.

And it's not just the main heroine.

There are plenty of other unique and appealing heroines, too...

Yeah.

Nope.

There's no way I'm pushing all of them aside and taking the position of the protagonist's one true wife.

At worst, one of them might stab me in the back with a kitchen knife.

All right...

I've got a problem.

For now, I'll try to remember all the characters that had been implemented by the point where I stopped playing.

Then I'll dig through my memories of isekai harem novels, romantic-comedy anime, and the like.

Oh, this window has a memo function!

I'll use that.

Then I can compare those two sets of information and figure out what heroine traits War Fairy is missing.

While I'm at it, I might as well recall the setting of War Fairy itself.

It might come in handy.

◆ War Fairy ◆

The world known as "Chaos" was a world of eternal turmoil.

Over the course of countless ages, numerous worlds had merged together to form Chaos, leaving far too many reasons for people to fight.

Race, religion, language, culture, nations, history, territory, food...

The list was endless.

And so, a world of madness was born, where countless wars were being waged in every corner of the world for every conceivable reason.

Now, yet another world was about to merge with this already chaotic world.

It was a world that had swallowed and devoured countless other worlds.

A world inhabited by beings that could consume entire worlds.

Someone—or something—that loved and watched over Chaos became concerned about what would happen.

"That thing" loved this world.

Even though it was an imperfect world where war never ceased, it still loved the lives that flourished within it, and the stories those lives created.

So when Chaos was destined to collide with that other world, it calculated what might happen.

It calculated it again and again.

And eventually, it uncovered a cruel truth.

—The destruction of Chaos.

Chaos had become a powerful world filled with countless heroes and champions through the merging of so many worlds.

But as long as it remained a world where everyone continued fighting one another, it could never defeat the world that was coming next.

However, if the people of Chaos could join hands...

There was still hope.

And so, "that thing"—a being capable only of watching over the world—committed a forbidden act.

From a world far, far away, from a planet called "Earth," it succeeded in bringing over one ordinary boy (or girl) with a kind heart.

It had to be an outsider.

Someone already living in Chaos wouldn't do.

No matter who they were, they would inevitably be influenced by something within Chaos—bloodline, land, faith, or something else.

Something that was itself a reason for the wars raging across the world.

That's why they needed someone with no connection to Chaos.

The boy (or girl) would dance across the battlefield.

As a fairy who would bring an end to the world's eternal wars—

So, yeah.

That's basically the core premise of War Fairy.

The boy—or girl—who gets brought over is the player.

In this world engulfed by war, the player forms bonds between people.

Because their memories of their original world would only become unnecessary baggage, most of those memories were sealed away, and they were thrown into a world where they didn't know anyone.

There, they help others and are helped in return, gradually expanding their circle of connections one step at a time.

Of course, things don't always go smoothly.

Sometimes those connections lead to conflict.

Sometimes there are genuinely evil beings that simply cannot be tolerated.

Even so, the protagonist keeps moving forward without giving up...

Something like that.

And the various heroes and champions whose paths they cross during that journey are the characters you obtain through the gacha.

Anyway, now that I've got all that organized...

Man, I listed every female character I could think of, and there really are all kinds of archetypes.

The main wife, the tsundere, the yandere, the clumsy girl, the terrible cook, the amazing cook, the big-breasted girl, the flat-chested girl, the tall girl, the loli, the widow, the senpai type, the kouhai type, the beast girl, the monster girl, the elf, the maid, the empress, the princess, the ojou-sama, the tomboy, the tragic heroine, the fallen heroine, the redeemed heroine, the mastermind type, the spy, the shrine maiden, the nun, the doctor, the soldier, the sickly girl, the chuunibyou type, the otokonoko...

And so on and so forth.

I need to avoid overlapping with the existing characters' traits.

Otherwise, the popularity would be divided between them.

But even so...

Isn't it basically impossible to discover some completely new character archetype under circumstances like these?

Think.

Think about all those heroines from anime and games.

There has to be something.

Something...

Something...

...Huh?

Wait a second.

The protagonist was suddenly summoned to another world and had even lost their memories.

...Hmm?

Then perhaps...

Could that particular archetype be vacant?

That's right!

The heroine archetype that is practically mandatory in every romantic comedy!

The "Girl from the Protagonist's Past" archetype!!!

AN EX-GIRLFRIEND, A FIANCÉE ARRANGED BY THEIR PARENTS, A CHILDHOOD FRIEND WHO'D BEEN SEPARATED FROM THE PROTAGONIST!

You can't create those with people from another world!

Hahahahahahahaha! Yes! This is it! If I keep thinking along these lines, I can win! I can do it!

"I'm going to take that #1 spot in the popularity poll!"

---

"...Done."

【Illustration】

■Name: Tierra As

■Race: Concept Spirit

■Gender: Female

■Aptitude: Healing　■Attribute: None

■Weapon: Twin Swords of the Married Pair — Funeral & Return

　Weapon Details: A pair of twin swords governing reincarnation and the cycle of souls. The vermilion sword, "Funeral," grants an end to souls that refuse to submit, while the azure sword, "Return," restores all things that have reached their end to the cycle of existence. They are not holy swords forged by the azure star, but rather star・swords・—supernatural blades that transcend human understanding.

■Ultimate: 『You Will Return to the Azure Star』

　Ultimate Description: The blessing of the azure star that was once home, but is now so very far away. Because the two worlds are separated, its power has been drastically weakened. It possesses a wide-area healing effect, but its true nature is the power to protect a single person from every possible threat. The motherly water-covered star still waits for your return.

■Character Details

A woman with long young-grass-colored hair and azure eyes. Her true nature is a Concept Spirit, and the concepts she governs are "The Place You Return To," "Someone Who Cares Deeply About You," and "The Proper Cycle."

She is an existence born when the feelings of someone who deeply cherished a certain "person destined to become the protagonist who would save the world" became a concept and manifested with the power of the azure star.

The thoughts from which she originated may have belonged to one person, or perhaps several.

They may have belonged to parents, friends, or a lover.

The thoughts that crossed worlds and eventually became nothing more than a concept possess no memories, making it impossible to know the truth now.

Even so, one thing is certain.

Someone, somewhere, truly cared deeply for someone else.

――Even across worlds, even after the passage of time, those feelings continued to exist unchanged.

"Well? Do you think this can actually work? The whole 'borrowing the power of the star' thing might have been a little too ambitious. If it's too much for the size of my soul, I'll cut it back and weaken it. Besides, I'm just a newbie when it comes to this stuff, so I don't even know whether the thoughts of people from another world can become a Concept Spirit in the first place."

"Concept Spirits are beings that become important to the story, too. As the name suggests, they're spirits born when some kind of concept gains a will of its own. I could've gone with something straightforward like 'the protagonist's ex-girlfriend,' but it'd be a problem if someone pointed out contradictions in the protagonist's memories.

"Besides, the protagonist of War Fairy starts out as an ordinary, bland boy—or girl—with no distinctive personality, specifically so that anyone can easily project themselves onto them. There's a good chance players wouldn't accept the idea that they had a highly distinctive ex-girlfriend—or ex-boyfriend—in their previous life.

"So instead, I'll make it 'someone who cares deeply about you' and leave the interpretation up to the players. They'll fill in the blanks with whatever interpretation they like."

There were plenty of other details I'd obsessed over for the sake of winning popularity, including all sorts of little pieces of hidden lore.

But I could always go back and check those later.

"I'm impressed. It seems you have at least a little talent for creating things... Although it took you five days in terms of real-world time, so I wouldn't exactly call you a genius."

"Five days!? Seriously!? I don't even feel hungry or thirsty... Actually, what happens to the time I spend here or in the game world when I return to the real world?"

"It all becomes zero, so don't worry. You could spend a hundred years in the game world, and when you returned, you'd still be the same age you were when you left."

"I see... That's a relief."

I had absolutely no intention of spending a hundred years there, but at least this meant I probably wouldn't suddenly disappear from the real world and leave everyone worrying about me.

"Anyway, about the settings you created. They're amazing. With the abilities described here, you'd vastly exceed the size of your own soul.

"But the setting about borrowing the power of 'Earth' works surprisingly well. Every world has its own cycle of reincarnation... It's so obvious that I somehow overlooked it. The game world would presumably operate under a similar principle, and there would naturally be someone who deeply cares about the protagonist."

"So?"

"With a few minor adjustments, you'll be able to become an existence that mostly follows these settings. Isn't that great?"

"Yes! ...Oh, right. Just to make sure: Spirits naturally develop a stable sense of self and gradually learn basic common knowledge and language after enough time has passed since their creation, right? I remember there being something like that in the original game's story."

"Yep. Spirits generally acquire a sense of self and knowledge after about three years. Ah, wait. Did you choose the Spirit race specifically because of that?"

"Obviously. Learning a new language would be a pain in the ass.

"Also, can you start me about ten years before the original story begins?"

"I can, but... why? Even if you're going to do that, four years should be plenty, shouldn't it?"

"No. I need to get used to my new body, for one thing. And unless I undergo combat training, I'm not going to be much use in battle.

"I've lived in peaceful Japan and barely even hunted anything. I might get sick just from seeing an enemy bleed.

"And there are plenty of other things I want to take care of while I have the time."

"Ohh~. I hadn't thought that far ahead. As expected of my best friend!"

I'd spent five days working out the settings, and during that time I'd asked him a ton of questions about the finer details of the War Fairy world.

We'd ended up talking quite a bit.

I'd also gotten a pretty good understanding of his personality, and now that I knew what he was like, it was difficult for me to insist that he wasn't my friend.

Sure, he was technically my kidnapper and the one who'd threatened me.

But if he really was going to save my sister, then my gratitude outweighed all of that.

I'd already accepted him as a friend a long time ago.

Incidentally, once we'd become somewhat friendly, I'd asked him whether he could save my sister without sending me to another world.

Apparently, that was impossible.

Not "wouldn't."

Couldn't.

Apparently, all he could do was perform equivalent exchanges.

First, he would exchange my existence for the creation of Tierra As.

Then, Tierra As would go out into the game world, become active, and entertain the players in the real world enough to reach approximately #1 in the popularity rankings.

As Tierra As's value increased, that additional value could then be used to perform a miracle and cure my sister's illness.

"Then let's go with ten years before the original story. Oh, and one last thing. Could you wait about five years before awakening my sense of self—my memories?"

"Hm? Why's that?"

"I've barely ever had any experience pretending to be someone else. I don't think I'd be able to keep role-playing in front of the protagonist and all those other characters forever like this.

"But if I spend several years actually living as 'Spirit Tierra As' without the memories of 'me,' I'll get a real feel for it, right?

"If I have actual memories of being 'Spirit Tierra As,' then role-playing as her shouldn't feel unnatural."

"I see~. But in that case, your memories and Tierra As's memories might get mixed together.

"And since you'll have at least five years' worth of memories separating you from your life here, you'll probably forget things like your friends' faces and what you learned at school by the time you return to the real world."

"I'll remember them again eventually.

"I'm more afraid of failing to reach #1 in the popularity poll because I was too scared of those risks.

"If that happens, I won't be able to save my sister.

"So I'd rather accept a few risks and take the path with the highest chance of success."

That's right.

Even if there were risks, this was a situation where I had to make a decision.

I needed to master both perfect role-playing and competent combat ability.

Without them, I wouldn't stand a chance.

Memory loss and having my memories mixed up were problems I could deal with later.

Saving my sister was obviously more important.

"So that's how it is~. Gotcha~. ...All right, the final adjustments are done. I can send you over whenever you're ready. What do you say?"

"Do it now. I don't want to give myself time to lose my nerve."

"Okay~. It's not really my place to say this, but good luck~."

Right.

There was one thing I'd forgotten.

"Hey, one last thing. I'd like to know the name of my newest friend."

"...! Ha. I see~. But the thing is, I don't actually have a name~."

He'd said earlier that he'd never even eaten before.

Maybe this guy really had been pretty lonely all this time.

"Then can I give you one?"

"Oh, that's a great idea~. Give me a wonderful name."

"...How about 'Terra'?"

"Huh? Wasn't that one of the rejected names you came up with when you were thinking of Tierra As's name? It's the Latin word for Earth, isn't it?"

"Yeah, so what? 'Tierra' and 'As' are both derived from the word Earth. Having them be like brother and sister isn't so bad, is it?"

Though, to be fair, "Earth" in other languages was pretty much outside my knowledge except for "As," so I'd had to ask him about it and have him teach me.

"...I see.

"Yeah. You're right.

"'Terra.'

"Terra...

"That's perfect."

"Then I'm off, Terra!"

"Yeah. Take care, Hoshiji Ryuto-kun."

At the very end, he didn't call me "you," as he'd done countless times before.

Nor did he call me "Tierra As," the name I would soon be using.

Instead, he called me by my own name—the name I probably wouldn't hear again for a very long time.

Somehow, I felt like that was Terra's way of cheering me on.