Chapter 376: Alternate Worlds and Modern Ones

Chapter 376: Alternate Worlds and Modern Ones

A few months passed.
The wave, or should I say the bitchy Goddess’s invasion plan, came to an end, and we’ve made some progress on reconstruction.

Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu’s deadline for giving their answers to their weapons is closing in.
My Shield, or should I say Atlas is… well, she teases her brother as she spends her days seducing me.
Though she did talk to me seriously at the time.

“And? Did you guys make your decision yet?” (Naofumi)

I was making preparations for lunch as I talked with the three Heroes.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to stay in this world.”

The one who answered that was Ren.
It seems that he didn’t reach a satisfying conclusion when he went to that other world from his own.
So he prayed to his sword so that he could return when he wanted.

Right now, Ren is working hard with Female Knight to stop the various cultural frictions brought about by the World Assimilation.
Female Knights achievements were recognized, and she was appointed to do diplomatic work with residents of Glass’s world.
To make a world as free of discrimination as possible, she took the initiative, and started acting.

Taniko, along with Rat, Gaelion and Miikun went on a journey to investigate the distribution of Glass’s world’s monster in this one.
Well, when night falls, they do return to the village by portal.

“I never had any intentions of returning from the start! Now that the world’s been saved, as promised, I will devote my long days and nights to winning Firo-tan’s heart!”
“Hmph!”

Motoyasu is… yeah. He plays with his Filo Rials all day.
Though it does seem he’s learned a lot from a Filo Rial Trainer in Zeltburg.
To put it bluntly, I think he would do better on the teaching side.
And as always, his three are with him.

“I too… chose to remain in this world.”
“I see.” (Naofumi)
“Itsuki-sama… let’s do our best.” (Rishia)
“Yes.” (Itsuki)

Itsuki and Rishia plan to go on a journey for world reformation.
A while ago, they met Rishia’s parents, and discussed what they would do from here on.
It seems there was a bit of trouble there, but the matter was peacefully resolved.

I didn’t ask for the specifics.
Well, according to Rishia, her parent were worried whether she was a match for Itsuki, and they quarreled a bit.
Her parents are weak to pressure as well.
If I told them I was going out with her with the intention of marriage as a joke, I feel they would die from shock.

“So everyone’s staying.” (Naofumi)
“What are you going to do, Naofumi? You wanted to return so badly before.” (Ren)
“Well, I already went back once. My determination around that area is… well…” (Naofumi)
“Then will you stay?” (Ren)
“Hmm…” (Naofumi)

What should I say?
Explaining is going to be a pain.

“For argument’s sake… from your eyes, it’s correct to say I’ll be staying. But in exchange, I won’t be able to use a majority of those oh-so-convenient godly powers.” (Naofumi)
“Is that so?” (Ren)
“It’s the result of a certain decision. It’s like a compensation for having fulfilled the Spirits’ wishes. In exchange, the waves will never come again, so don’t worry about that.” (Naofumi)

These powers were beyond me to begin with.
Raphtalia and Atlas thought the same.

–

Yesterday night.

“Naofumi-sama, please make your choice.” (Atlas)

Atlas, or should I say the Spirit of the Shield and the other Spirits gathered to explain the situation.
Raphtalia was also there, and we spoke.

“My decision…” (Naofumi)
“That’s right. What should we do?” (Atlas)

A choice.
The other summoned heroes are each getting different options from me.
I did receive an explanation about that.

I’ve already gone beyond the point of no return that Arc guy said, and now it’s time for me to make a choice.
And wait, it isn’t even a choice anymore.
It’s just a course of action.

The first possibility is… well, to put it simply, stay in the world, and spend my days.
It’s a bit of a hard world to live in, but as long as everyone’s there, I get the feeling I would be able to live a fun life until I die.
If I think back upon it, I can make a Harem, and considering the future, there are a few advantages.
The rosy life I imagined when I first got to this world is before me.

I feel Raphtalia’s going to go through some hardships, but I can’t cast everyone aside.
And I do want to answer the people I trust who say they like me…
It may be my pride speaking, but we saved the world, so I should at least allow that.
And I have Raphtalia’s permission.

The second is… return to my own world, and live with Raphtalia.
With the Shield’s power, our lives will be pretty stable until the end.
And right now, I can make use of that power.
Even if we’re in that world, it’s not like we can’t use magic.

That’s not bad either.
But if I stay in this world, I get the feeling I’ll have to deal with some lustful advances.
Especially around a certain whale. She’s seriously gunning for me, and she asks Raphtalia when she’ll score every day.
I understand that she’ll honor the order, so right now, I can’t lay hands on Raphtalia carelessly, or she’ll come after me in a drunken frenzy.

I’ll have to show my resolve.
So returning to my own world is also… an option.
I mean, I am satisfied with this conclusion.
And it’s already over…

“I–”

I made a decision.

“Understood. It’s a nice decision, befitting of Naofumi-sama. I’m also in agreement.” (Raphtalia)
“That’s right. As expected of Naofumi-sama, I think it’s a greedy option that’ll make everyone happy.” (Atlas)
“Yeah, yeah. Then… do it.” (Naofumi)
“Yes.” (Raphtalia)
“Understood.” (Atlas)

On my choice, both Raphtalia and Atlas nodded.

–

And as a result, here I am.
I decided to stay in this world, and the day after that, I’m here peacefully preparing for lunch.

“Na~ofumi-cha~n? Is it time for lunch yet?”

Sadina appeared.
Recently, she’s started salvaging in the nearby sea, no, perhaps I should call it treasure hunting. She’s also exploring the sea from Glass’s world.
Since she became the Hero of the Harpoon, she’s gotten ridiculously strong. No normal monster will be able to stand on the same level as her.

And, at night, she comes back by portal, and aims for me.
To put it bluntly, apart from Raphtalia and Atlas, she pursues those topics more actively than Firo while in heat.
I often wonder what she sees in me, but perhaps she’s just enamored with my drinking capacity.

“Ah, yes, yes, it’ll be out soon, so just wait.” (Naofumi)
“Ye~s! Now, everyone, prepare for lunch.” (Sadina)
“Ye~s!”

As always, unfamiliar slaves are popping up in my village. It’s due to the Slave Dealer’s kind services.
I think it’s rising from the scale of a village into a town.
People graduate, or more specifically, develop the skills to be self-sufficient and leave as well.
We don’t need to combat the wave, so they don’t have to stay here.
Now, they find employment as soldiers, or go sign up as adventures to do various odd jobs.

With the revived Granny’s training as the basis, the slaves are quickly growing up.
But talent on the level of Rishia, Raphtalia and Female Knight is hard to come by.
Sadina level is completely out of the question.

Well, there are a few who still peddle. Is that my responsibility?
If you think of peddling, you think of Firo.
If you ask what she’s doing, she’s going on a world trip with Melty.
More specifically, it’s Firo’s Idol Tour.
In order to make sure relations with other countries go well, she visits them as the Queen, and as a friendly ambassador, Firo works as an Idol.

Firo has a sort of naïve innocence, so she’s liked by people easily.
And Melty’s idea worked well, so we’re getting some nice results in other countries.
Well, since she’s handling diplomacy for the world’s largest country, the people of Glass’s world are a bit vigilant of her.
Trash and the Queen are also working hard for the country.
The marks left behind by the war are deep, and it’s a bit troublesome.

The revival the Bitch Goddess used was quite crude, so I’m not sure how much longer the Queen and Granny will live.
Even so, Trash, Rishia and the Granny’s grandson are satisfied.
It would be nice if they live a long life.

“I see.”

On my reply, Ren and the others nod, and wait for food.
Oy, don’t just stand there. Help.
Why am I on cooking duty in the first place?

“Naofumi-sama, what do you want to do when lunch is over?” (Raphtalia)
“Let’s see. I think that today’s plan was to go apprehend a reincarnator the Bitch Goddess granted power to.” (Naofumi)

People who that Bitch Goddess reincarnated are still hiding all over the place.
It’s not like we defeated them all.
And now that peace has been obtained, they occasionally go out of control with their dreams to rise to the top.

Is it like training in the mountains to prepare?
Some follow the Bitch Goddess’s words, and lust for strength, while others noticed her schemes, and used tools to sleep.

The last guy we encountered politely tried making a convenient device so he could survive in a destroyed world.
Though it reeked of suspiciousness.
I don’t know how many centuries ago he was from, though.

He’s supposed to have been an alchemist who left his name in the pages of history.
There are many legends like his, which is troublesome.
In all worlds, there are annoying legends of how, someday, this legendary Hero, so and so, will return.
Catching guys like that is one of the jobs of Heroes.

Ah, right.
A little while after the world was at peace, Glass disappeared.
I tried searching for her when I had my godly powers, but I ran into the same wall I did when searching for her friend.
And before that, Glass told me that, no matter what happens, don’t try searching for me. As she was probably hinting to her current situation, I decided not to.
It’ll work out somehow.

And Atlas can still contact the Spirit of the Fan.
According to it, there are no problems.
Glass was only a representative of her world as a Hero, and it’s not like she represented a country.
When Melty was going around countries, she was just training with a bored expression on her face.

“That’s right.” (Raphtalia)
“Got it. Well then, food’s done. After we’re done with that, let’s go.” (Naofumi)

After I finished cooking, I exited the kitchen, and left it to the others.

“Niichan’s food! As always, it’s great!”

The one who rejoiced was Kiel.
As always, she continues to look after that unnerving crepe tree.
When she’s not doing that, she’s either peddling, or accompanying Fohl.
Though Fohl’s often teased by his sister he’s made looking after the villagers, especially the ones who just got here, his life’s work.
Right now, he’s something of a leader here.

“Rafu~?”
“Ah, yes, yes. You can eat it too.”
“Rafu~!”

Raph-chan’s become the supreme ruler of all Raphs, and he maintains the order of the monsters in the area… it seems.
As the Hero of the Ship, he also helps Sadina in her salvaging work.
Honestly, Sadina’s partner is Raph-chan.

There’s also Fitoria, for an important monster, I guess.
From the start, she had to deal with turf wars, and the sort, so she isn’t here.
Well, that was also Motoyasu’s fault.
She left while running away from the man.

But she occasionally uses Firo to ask me for help.
No matter where she runs, Motoyasu will chase her…?
In his mind, she’s his most-like Filo Rial next to Firo.
Well, I guess it’s something like that.

The Weapon Shop’s Old Man is as busy as ever.
Luckily for me, he moved to the neighboring town, and opened a shop with Imya’s Uncle.
Imya helps out, and they deal in a wide range from clothing, to armor, to weapons.

There’s a lot more happening, but I guess that’s about it with the people I know.
The Slave Merchant, the Swindler, and the Accessory Merchant are just raking in profit as always.
I also carried out my planned harassment of Elena.

Like that, my days were filled with a bit of trouble, but they were fun.
From now on… I’ll just have to pray that they’ll go on like this.

“Ah, right! What should we call this village? You never decided, did you, Niichan!?” (Kiel)
“Name? Now that I think about it, I never gave it one. What was it called before? I’m fine with that.” (Naofumi)
“Eh? Right now, it’s become famous as, ‘The village revived under Niichan’. Let’s think of a new one, right Raphtalia-chan?” (Kiel)
“Yes, let’s.” (Raphtalia)
“Isn’t that fine, though? It is the village revived under Naofumi.” (Ren)

Ren gives a smile as he nods to Kiel’s suggestion.
Even if you tell me that…
As I was thinking of what name to give it, Motoyasu opened his mouth.

“I think Firolove Village is good.” (Motoyasu)
“Rejected.” (Naofumi)
“I think it would be nice if Naofumi-san gave it a name.” (Itsuki)
“That’s right.” (Raphtalia)
“Really?” (Naofumi)
“Eh?… Niichan’s deciding it? Let’s all talk about it together.” (Kiel)
“Why’s that, Kiel? I thought you would agree to that.” (Naofumi)
“But Niichan, you have no naming sense.” (Kiel)
“Ah, that’s right.” (Everyone)

Oy, why is everyone agreeing to that?

“You just took Firo from the Filo in Filo Rial, and you just cut off a bit from my name to get Raph-chan’s…” (Raphtalia)
“Rafu~?”
“So I think it’s going to get quite a lazy name.” (Kiel)
“Kiel, you…”

I’ll remember this. I’ll definitely remember this.

“Then how about we just take the characters in Iwatani, and make it Rock Valley?” (Ren)

As if he had had an epiphany, Ren hits his hands together, and said that.
And are you telling me that name has good naming sense?
No, it doesn’t.

“Oh, that has a nice sound to it. What does it mean?” (Raphtalia)
“In my world, Iwa(岩) means Rock. Similarly, Tani(谷) has the meaning of valley. And thus Rock Valley.” (Ren)
“That’s nice!” (Kiel)
“Ah, right… it was like that in the language of Naofumi-sama’s world.” (Raphtalia)

Raphtalia remembers the time she spent in my world.
And English, apparently.

“Okay~! Then from today onwards, this villiage will be called Rock Valley. Everyone! Is that fine?”
“Yeah!”
“Oy, while you can see cliffs here by the sea, there’s no valley…” (Naofumi)

My opinion was ignored, and this village was given the name Rock Valley.
And like that, my days in the other world… continued.

　――――――――――――――――――――

Japan, a day in the present era.

“… in Sickness and in Health…”

Today, I held my marriage ceremony with Raphtalia.
We returned from that world, and things proceeded at a tempo so fast that even I was surprised. I quickly found employment.
Right now, I’m doing various work in a large company.

Well, I did always have some connections, and it turned out one of my net friends was actually an executive at a corporation. He insisted that he wanted to scout me.
What’s more, right now in the middle of a recession, while other companies are going pale, our stocks are rising.
I’ll bet it’s the influence on the Law of Cause and Effect.

After graduating college, I got a job, and after one year, I ended up marrying Raphtalia.
Because the experience in the other world bolstered my commercial spirit, I was able to achieve good results in the past year.
We left the godly powers with the other us in that world, and now, we can only use a little bit of magic.

And like that, the Wedding spread out before me.
In the church, the priest speaks out the vows to bind the me wearing a tailcoat, and the Raphtalia wearing a wedding dress.

In the middle of that.
The Church doors slammed open.

What is it!? I don’t want some cliché happening like some guy storming in to steal the bride.
Who is it? Who is it that wants to take away Raphtalia!?
And wait, Raphtalia, are you telling me you cheated on me with another man!?
No, no… with her, that’s not happening.

“I have an objection to this union!”

… I timidly turn around.
There, Atlas was wearing a dress, sprinting towards me.
Her age in this world is recorded as 20.
By her unchanged appearance, I guess that makes her a legal loli.

Right, we ended up returning to modern times, but for some reason, even Atlas was here. What’s more, she screwed around with the order of the world, and inserted herself as my childhood friend.
I imagined a sweet college life with Raphtalia, but Atlas made her dramatic entrance, and put a stop to that.
And wait, because of all that happened in that world, I don’t hate her, I am fond of her.
But still..

“Now, now, Naofumi-sama! Become one with me!” (Atlas)

Atlas grabs me by the hand.
I’m not sure by what logic, but this world’s Atlas’s physical strength is still incredible.
And so, she was able to forcefully drag me along.
It wasn’t the bride, but the groom that was stolen away.

“Wah.” (Naofumi)
“What do you think you’re doing at our long-awaited marriage ceremony!?” (Raphtalia)

Raphtalia comes to her senses, grabs my other hand, and starts a tug of war with Atlas.

“Ow!” (Naofumi)
“Naofumi-san is getting married to me!” (Raphtalia)
“No, Naofumi-sama will be wed to me! I’ll give you plenty of money, so Raphtalia-san, just give up already.” (Atlas)
“Not happening!” (Raphtalia)

Ah, right. I forgot.
Due to all her messings with the laws of cause and effect, Atlas set herself as the daughter of a rich man.
So her assets are much greater than either of us combined.
Why is a commoner like me the childhood friend of someone like that?
I don’t get how this lovecom setting is supposed to work.

“I will not give up!” (Atlas)
“Didn’t you just give up earlier!?” (Raphtalia)
“That was but a lie.” (Atlas)
“I can’t believe you! Just how unfair of a person must you be?” (Raphtalia)
“I’ll say anything I must in the name of love.” (Atlas)
“Ow! S-someone save me!” (Naofumi)
“Niisan.”

My younger brother seems to be directing an irritated glare at me.
He was accepted into a good college, and is in the middle of job hunting right now.
Well, I’m sure he’ll find somewhere nice.

Apart from my brother, my other net friends are in attendance, and my college circle friends are gathered near him.
They started talking amongst themselves, and for some reason, my parents joined them. They all point their thumbs at the ground, and shout out in a large voice.

“All you riajuus should just explode!”
“Why!?” (Naofumi)
“Oh… god. Please offer thy divine retribution unto this sinful riajuu.”
“Oy, Priest, don’t screw with me!” (Naofumi)

The priest here is a foreigner working in Japan, right?
Despite that, the authenticity of that line was quite rare.

“Naofumi-san will get married to me! Please give it up already.” (Raphtalia)
“No, he will to me. It’s not too late yet.” (Atlas)
“GIVE IT UP, THE BOTH OF YOU!” (Naofumi)

My Japanese life is, just as my life back there, full of unfair happenings.
Well, they’re days I look back on with joy, so it’s fine.
From now on, I’ll give it my best at a happy life.

While my body was being pulled in both directions, I let out a laugh.