ch21-ch40 · 035-ch31

Chapter 31 — Part 1 Epilogue

The new year arrived.

The aftermath of the Shinjuku Majin Frontline, which had occurred in December, caused significant ripples in some circles, but was not disclosed to the public. As a result, the new year passed largely as usual, and Sai enjoyed a relaxed start to the year.

Though Sai had returned to Japan for the first time in thirty years, he spent the New Year's holidays in a hazy, leisurely state. He didn't shout "Happy New Year!" nor did he solemnly celebrate. Just hazily and leisurely.

Whether in his childhood in Japan or in the thirty long years he'd spent in the other world, this feeling never changed.

Sai sat in the living room of his home, leisurely drinking warm sake while watching TV.

He sat in the kotatsu, peeled a mandarin, and enjoyed his warmed sake.

It was one of the things he'd wanted to do since returning to Japan.

"Sensei, aren't you going out somewhere?"

"And you're just drinking alone, huh."

For some reason, even though it was New Year's, Hiyori and Mio were in the same kotatsu.

They said they were on their way back from their first shrine visit of the year.

"It's fine today. This is what I wanted — to just relax like this."

Even though it was New Year's Day, there were people working out in the world, and people fighting at Shinjuku Tower even today.

Grateful to those people, he took it easy. The ultimate luxury.

"Oh, Sensei. If you're going to relax, why not tell us about yourself?"

"About me?"

"I'm interested in that too."

"Is there something you want to ask?"

"Yeah. What you did in the other world!"

"About my time over there, huh. Let's see..."

He poured sake from the warmed bottle into his small cup.

Come to think of it, he'd never told them about his life over there.

Still, how should he describe those dense thirty years?

If he told adventure tales, the day would end. Stories of daily life probably wouldn't be interesting.

Should he talk about his life story?

But his life story was...

"Hmm... it's not really that different, you know."

"Not different?"

He downed the sake from his small cup in one gulp, moistening his tongue.

"I don't really know where to start, so I'll go in order... First, the teleportation was probably a complete coincidence. It wasn't like being summoned by someone or anything like that. I transported while walking home from school, and before I knew it, I was in that world."

Sai began speaking about his time in the other world, bit by bit.

"The place was near a trade city in a kingdom called Tuare. It was really tough at first. For starters, I couldn't understand the language. I was about fifteen at the time, but I apparently looked younger than I thought — they saw me as a ten-year-old kid and let me stay at an orphanage. But since I couldn't speak at all, I was put with three- or four-year-olds, learning words from picture books... That was pretty much my first year. What saved me was that the grammar was similar to English — SVO, subject-verb-object structure — so I gradually analyzed it and learned the language from there."

The first wall of transporting to another world was, without exception, language comprehension.

Remembering the struggles of that time, Sai gave a wry smile.

"Then, after I could speak to some extent, I found out that the other world also had a kind of citizenship registry called a National ID, and without it, you couldn't get any real work.

You couldn't work at a shop, and no one would hire you. Well, either way, back then I didn't know anything about the other world anyway. There were limits to what I could do, so I became an adventurer.

I also needed to contribute money to the orphanage. At first, I was solo, gathering materials... collecting wild herbs for potion ingredients, gathering materials from the field.

I still couldn't speak well back then, so no one would let me join a party.

But someone at the Adventurer's Guild who'd been watching me pulled some strings and got me into a school... a city-run school. There, I learned to speak much better, and they drilled knowledge and common sense into me. Around then, I was invited into an adventurer party... a party of people about ten years older than me. They taught me how to fight as an adventurer, but then the leader got married and retired, and the party disbanded.

I wasn't sure what to do, but I could speak by then, so I decided to look for clues to return to Japan. In my early twenties, I traveled to various places.

I went on adventures in various locations, conquered dungeons... it'd take too long to get into all that, so I'll skip it. I think I was twenty-five, around then, when I returned to the trade city.

At that time, kids from the orphanage and rookies at the Adventurer's Guild begged me to teach them. That gained a reputation, I was asked to become a guild staff member, and I started working as an instructor too."

Hesitating over how to describe his dense life in the other world, Sai spoke as he remembered.

Hiyori and Mio listened without interrupting.

"Then in my thirties, I had my National ID by then, but in the end, it suited me to keep being an adventurer. So I continued adventuring while being an instructor, writing papers and making things in my free time... That's what I was doing in the other world."

He didn't write papers in this world, but those were written at his partner's request, so it was fine.

"...Oh, right. I also had a partner in that world."

"A partner?"

"Yeah. Kind of like you two, Hiyori-san and Mio-san. I'd take them on adventures, or they'd take me on adventures..."

"...I hope you can meet again someday."

"Yeah. It'd be nice if I could."

Thinking it was an impossible wish, he poured more sake from the warmed bottle into his small cup.

He downed the sake straight into his stomach.

...If there was one lingering regret from the other world, it was probably his partner.

He hoped she wasn't doing anything reckless.

The others would be fine without him.

That's what he thought.

Noticing the mood had turned melancholic, Sai gave his conclusion.

"So, what I do hasn't changed, whether in the other world or in Japan."

"You say it hasn't changed, Sensei, but did you want to change?"

Japan had Shinjoku Tower, but it was peaceful compared to the other world.

Even forgetting about demons, if you kept your distance and looked at Shinjuku Tower from afar, you could enjoy a temporary peace.

A tranquil life was right nearby.

"...I'm just doing what I want to do."

But that tranquil life didn't suit Sai.

He remembered the days right after his return.

His curiosity about Shinjuku Tower had overcome the desire for peaceful days.

In the end, a middle-aged man couldn't change, even if he wanted to.

Especially if he was already doing what he wanted.

He thought that as he peeled a new mandarin.

"If you ever want to change, Sensei, we'll change you."

"That's right. We'll... color you in our colors...!"

What was Mio casually saying?

"Haha, I'll count on you then."

He replied, savoring the mandarin he'd peeled.

"Speaking of which, Hiyori-san, Mio-san, what are you going to do after high school?"

"You're asking that now?"

"Actually, we've already decided our future paths..."

The three of them — master and disciples — continued their cozy conversation.

Some things change, and some things don't.

Even if what Sai did didn't change, the situation around him evolved day by day.

If he'd told his past self in the other world that he'd return to Japan from another world, his past self would never have believed it. And by falling into a teleportation trap, no less.

What would Sai's year be like?

What would become of Hiyori and Mio?

Feeling excited about the future, he listened to Hiyori and Mio's words.

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Thank you for reading this far.

This concludes Part 1.

I hope you enjoyed it.

After some interludes, Part 2 will begin.

Please continue to enjoy the story!