Volume 4: Return to Isekai
Seeing the footage Mary had risked her life to send us, we felt as if all the blood had drained from our bodies.
◇Hikari’s POV◇
「Tomoe-chan, Tsuzuri-san. Please upload this video to social media」
「Are you sure about that?」
「I am. This is the chance Yuuki created for us. We have to make use of it」
I was certain that Yuuki wasn’t dead. The ring given by God-sama made me feel sure of his survival.
「Yuuki isn’t dead. I’m sure everyone else senses it too」
「Yeah. I don’t believe he’s dead either」
「Same here… I can feel it」
「Totally. Knowing onii-chan, he’ll come back in some outrageous way」
「W-Wait, you guys… what’s going on with you?」
「Don’t worry, we haven’t lost our minds!」
Still, I can’t stand it. Whoever did this to Yuuki and Mary, I need to punch them in the face or I won’t be satisfied.
As I left the temporary command post, Haruka-chan and Touka-chan followed me.
「I’m coming too!」
「Me too. I’ve gotta punch that bastard at least once」
「What about Tomoe-chan?」
「She’s watching over Mary’s condition and treating her」
「Good. Mary has to survive too」
「Right!」
「Another rival… huh」
「It’s fine. Yuuki will love us all equally」
「Says the one who refuses to give up the main-wife spot」
「Of course! I’ve been aiming for Yuuki for over ten years now!」
「Ahaha…」
「No way I’m winning this…」
As we were laughing, a group of explorers began to gather around us.
「Hey, missy, we’ll help you out」
「We owe brave-sama our lives」
「He saved our comrades, we’ve gotta pay him back!」
One after another, they all expressed their gratitude toward Yuuki.
(Yuuki… your kindness has moved so many people to come help…)
Thinking of the dear person no longer here, I steeled myself to carry on his will.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
Thirty minutes later, the bastard came staggering out, panting. Blood spattered across him, had he killed more people?
「Hey, what’s going on here?」
Ah… that face. That smug face that always mocked Yuuki…
「Hikari, what the hell is this about?」
「Shut up…」
My voice came out lower than I expected. Even Haruka-chan and Touka-chan looked a bit surprised.
「What’s wrong? Why are you glaring like that? Don’t make such a scary face!」
He took one step toward me, and suddenly fell forward.
Looking down, I saw his right leg was gone from the knee down.
Touka-chan’s arrow had ripped it off cleanly. I quickly cauterized the wound to make sure he wouldn’t die.
「Wh… H-Hurts, it hurts it hurts AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!」
He must have realized who the culprit was, because he started yelling at Touka-chan.
「You little brattttttttttttttttttttt! Do you even know who you just shot!? I’ll crush your whole damn house into dustttttttttttttttttttttttttt!」
Just as he tried to stand, Haruka-chan, who had approached him unnoticed, knocked him away with a single blow.
「Ggahyaaa!」
Then, as a follow-up, she used magic to sever his remaining mangled leg and arm.
「Kufuooooaaaahhh!」
He tried to get back up, but with no arms left, there was no way that was going to happen.
I walked up, grabbed his head, and lifted it until our eyes met.
「I’m not going to kill you. But you ‘will’ pay for what you did to Yuuki.」
With that, I picked him up with one hand, stuffed him into a body bag, and tossed it away.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
One week later, we were finally released from police questioning. I mean, yeah, I might’ve gone overboard a bit, but I accepted the consequences.
The incident wasn’t reported in the news. Officially, it was wrapped up as an out-of-control individual being subdued.
Technically, it ‘was’ reported, but Hisazumi’s grandfather crushed the story before it could spread.
「Well, that old man’s become quite the headline himself now…」
Turns out, a flood of information started surfacing about all the corruption and covered-up criminal cases he’d been involved in.
What drew the most attention were the details of the Hamelin Incident, how Hisazumi broke in early just to claim credit and ended up waking the boss, how he failed to report the dungeon, which led to mass casualties, and how he brought in agents from a neighboring country during Yuuki’s assassination, dragging countless explorers down with them.
Hisazumi’s father was also exposed for accepting illegal campaign donations and winning elections with fraudulent votes. The scandal reached the entire ruling party and led to a wave of resignations across both sides of the aisle.
(Thanks to that, the country’s political scene is in total chaos…)
Yuuki and Rinka-san’s bodies were never found. Public opinion is that they were devoured by the dungeon.
But knowing Yuuki, I feel like some god is probably taking good care of him right now. The ring on my right hand makes me feel like he’s still alive, at least, that’s what it seems like.
Since Haruka-chan and the others went home yesterday, I decided to take the train back today.
「I feel like someone’s watching me…」
Well, I guess that makes sense. With everything that happened with Yuuki, my face and name are probably well known by now…
(Yeah… boarding the train like this might be a little awkward…)
Just as I was thinking that, a car pulled up in front of me.
「Hikari-san!」
The one who stepped out was Ootori-san.
「Oh? Rina-chan?」
「Just get in for now.」
Mio-san also stepped out and called to me.
Once I got in, the car pulled away quietly.
「Thank goodness… we went to the police station and they told us you already left!」
「Ahaha… sorry. I got lost in thought.」
「Were you thinking about Yuuki-san?」
「Pretty much…」
「Um… my condolences.」
「Ah, no, no, it’s not like that. Yuuki’s still alive…」
「「Eh? 」」
「Mio-san, let’s head straight to the hospital.」
「Understood. Let’s go to the one you usually use, ojou-sama.」
「No no no, really, I’m fine!」
It ended up taking me several hours to clear up the misunderstanding.
「Hurry up and come home already, Yuukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!」
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