ch41-ch60 · 068-ch60

Chapter 60 — Part 2 Epilogue

End of March.

The cherry blossoms in Tokyo were in full bloom.

If that was the case, then Sai had something he needed to do.

That's right. Cherry blossom viewing.

This was one of the things he'd wanted to do back in Japan, too.

The participants were Sai and Hexaria — just the two of them.

A remarkably leisurely stretch of time drifted by.

"Hmm. Being the city, it's a bit noisy, but this is quite a nice spot."

"Right?"

This was a corner of a park a short distance from Sai's house.

Under the large cherry blossom tree, there was no one but Sai and Hexaria.

They'd quietly put up an exclusion barrier and were enjoying cherry blossom viewing drinks together, just the two of them.

"Saria, what are you drinking?"

"Here, the wine I received from one of the lectures."

Hexaria held weekly lectures on magical power — but they were actually conducted free of charge.

The government covered the venue expenses, but Hexaria's compensation was zero.

This stemmed from Hexaria's philosophy that "it is unthinkable for someone sincerely seeking knowledge to be turned away because of money," combined with the fact that "if one were to place a price on learning the fundamentals of magical power and magical engineering, even hundreds of millions wouldn't begin to cover it."

To put it in perspective — imagine someone from the future passing on useful knowledge used in that future era.

No one could appraise its value.

Hexaria was a misanthrope, but she revered those who sincerely sought knowledge and strove for it.

To those who earnestly applied themselves, learned, and thought for themselves — she opened her doors.

However, there were students among them who felt that "today's lecture being completely free is simply unacceptable."

...More than twice as many as one might imagine.

The wine had been gifted by one such student as "today's tuition."

A student who simply wanted to learn earnestly and sincerely had offered it as, at the very least, a small gift. Hexaria, accepting it on those grounds, had taken it. In return, she told them, "Continue to apply yourself diligently from now on" — and the student rejoiced that she had chosen words just for them.

A slightly strange scene, to be sure.

Having declared monetary exchange unnecessary, wasn't this a contradiction? The thought had crossed his mind.

But if you considered it a gesture befitting someone who once held a position beyond ordinary standing, perhaps it made sense after all.

Now then — Sai, not being much of a wine drinker, could only distinguish between tasty wine and wine with strong astringency.

Even looking at the wine label...

"Let's see... Nope. Can't read it at all."

It was a Bordeaux wine considered a symbol of mythology — a terrifyingly expensive vintage.

As Sai blinked at his complete inability to read it, Hexaria provided an explanation.

"...That's a French wine by the name of —. Why can't you read it?"

"If anything, I wanna know why YOU can read it..."

Sai had already had his fill of foreign languages from the other world.

"But you know, drinking like this, just the two of us, really brings back memories."

"Memories... I see. It's been quite a while since we drank together, just the two of us."

"Yeah. Once we started traveling, there was usually someone else with us. Even in the trade city, whenever we went out drinking, someone would always be around. I think it's really been ages since it was just the two of us."

"Come to think of it, it must be over twenty years."

"That's right — remember? The toast from when your glasses were finally completed."

Gulping down the unfamiliar but delicious wine, Sai found himself lost in old memories.

A mountain recess at the edge of the Elven Kingdom.

Sai had been there on a guild request, gathering materials, when he was caught in a sudden downpour and tried to borrow the eaves of a house he happened to find.

That said, he couldn't just silently take shelter under the eaves, so he called out to the homeowner from the overhang.

That homeowner was Hexaria.

"Come to think of it, Saria back when we first met... you were really, like... brusque, weren't you?"

"It couldn't be helped. In my situation, anyone who heard my voice would do exactly as I said."

The words that came back when he called out were "Begone."

But from Sai's perspective, driven by the thought of just wanting to wait out the heavy rain, he apologized and said, "Just for a little while is fine — please let me stay."

For Hexaria, who possessed the dangerous ability to make anyone obey merely by hearing her words, those were the first words of defiance she had ever heard in her entire life.

"That day, when you defied me. I still remember it well."

"Saria back then really had a dumb look on her face, huh."

"Silence. It was the first time in nearly a hundred years of living. Of course I was surprised."

Through that encounter, as they talked, Sai came to learn about Hexaria's circumstances.

Sai felt a sense of kinship with the loneliness of Hexaria, who said she had always been alone.

Transported alone to another world, he had met many people.

There had been painful times, but he'd encountered kind people and people willing to help.

He'd joined an adventurer party and spent his days gaining all sorts of knowledge.

He'd been protected, helped, and felt warmth.

But even so, deep in the heart of a person transported from another world, there had always been a wall.

The loneliness of having no family, of having different roots. He had even envied the children at the orphanage that had supported him since his transport — thinking, "You were born in this world, so what's the problem?"

The woman known as Hexaria had been recognized as "the former Third Princess of the Elven Kingdom. However, she possesses the troublesome ability to make anyone and everyone do exactly as she says. Therefore, she is a troublesome being who must not remain at the heart of the nation." Of her own volition, she had gone into exile, living alone for nearly a hundred years.

"How should I put it... for someone living all alone, you seemed like you were having fun. ...Now that I think about it, you were scowling the whole time."

"That was because you were there. I couldn't fathom how you could stand beside me so casually."

Sai's existence — for some reason immune to her charm, capable of conversing without any issue — was less "precious" and more "a symbol of the incomprehensible" to Hexaria.

For Sai's part, the impression Hexaria left on him was one of admiration and empathy for her proud, solitary way of being.

Not long after, Sai ended up moving into Hexaria's house at the time.

"Well, it's because I was right there beside you that we could develop those glasses."

"Indeed. Material sourcing, constructing the foundational theory... those days were... hehehe."

"Something funny happen?"

"No. These glasses truly caused me an enormous amount of hardship. The intricate enchantment formula on the frame, finding materials that could withstand the load... There's a part of me that never wants to do it again, and a part that thinks I'd like to try once more. A most curious feeling."

To suppress Hexaria's ability, mechanisms to contain it had to be placed on her eyes, her mouth, and her brain. In the end, they concluded that glasses were the optimal solution, and it took about a year to complete.

"And then, when the glasses were finally done, we cracked open that special bottle of wine for a toast, right?"

"Indeed... nostalgic days."

With those words, she poured wine into her glass, just like that day.

The two drunkards drank without a care for the price tag.

"Seeing the wine reminds me — we got a message through the magical communicator the other day..."

"Ah, about Serin having their baby, I assume."

Serin was an orphan Sai and Hexaria had found during their travels together.

Once Hexaria began wearing the glasses, her charm was suppressed.

She was in a position to return to the Elven Kingdom, but she was still a High Elf who'd been treated as trouble.

Various things happened in the Elven Kingdom, but Sai also had his wish to return to Japan, so the two of them set out traveling together.

The two toddlers they met on that journey.

Those were Serin and Shilia.

They ended up bringing the two along on their travels, and when Sai and Hexaria entered into a fake marriage for various circumstantial reasons, they quietly adopted both of them.

"Those two finally had a kid, huh. We set their age at three when we first met them, got married at seventeen... No wait, Shilia got married at seventeen... Huh? Nope. Can't remember anymore."

The memories were there, but the ages at the time escaped him.

A drunk middle-aged man's memory was not to be relied upon.

"Hmm. What I remember is that at Serin's wedding, you were bawling like a baby. Serin and Shilia were both completely dumbfounded by how hard you were crying."

"That was one of the top one or two happiest things in my whole life..."

Children he could proudly say he had raised, even if not by blood, were getting married. Taking root in another world... The day he resolved to live and die in that world was probably that day.

There was no way he wasn't going to cry.

"Still... so I have a grandchild now, huh..."

By the sensibilities of a modern Japanese person, having a grandchild before even turning fifty was a somewhat surreal feeling.

"A few years from now when we see them, that grandkid'll be calling you 'Grandma Saria,' huh."

"If we're going there, then you'll be 'Grandpa Sai' too."

"I'm a High Elf."

"Isn't that cheating?"

"Silence. If you think so, then at least try to live as long as I have."

A rather harsh demand to make of a human being.

While they were busy sharing conversation, the wine glasses emptied.

They'd polished off the expensive wine in no time at all.

They'd overdone it.

"Seconds..."

"Yeah, this one's on me."

With that, what Sai produced was sake.

Its name carried the meaning "live this very moment to the fullest."

When one looks at the past, the present, and the future.

When the world transforms, it does not arrive abruptly.

It changes gradually, but surely.

There are those who notice the change, and those who accept it without ever noticing.

Just as the Japan Sai returned to after thirty years had been living in the future.

Building upon the past, ever changing.

"A different flavor, for a palate cleanser."

Saying that, Sai poured sake into her wine glass.

Since he poured without washing it, a hint of the wine's flavor still lingered.

As if to seize the moment, the cherry blossoms in full bloom shed their petals, adding a colorful accent to the wine glass.

Hexaria took a sip.

"This isn't bad either."

What Sai and his partner Hexaria did hadn't changed.

No matter how the world changed, they would simply live life to the fullest.

================

Thank you for reading.

This concludes Part 2.

As for what comes next, starting 3/6, there will be about five interlude chapters posted daily.

After that, Part 3 is scheduled to begin in mid-March.

I apologize for the wait, but I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.