Volume 8 - CH 29

Volume 8, Chapter 29: It seems Like I’ve Become a Legend Again, Final

One of many worlds…… [Tess].

The great “will” of the world, of [Tess], felt like it was relieved.

Although the forms of its thought were so removed from those of living things that there was no way to confirm that it felt “relief”, but the atmosphere that enveloped the world felt gentler than before.

The will of the world was like the “intention” of the planet, something we’ve never been able to confirm is alive.

The world acted like a single living being, and had a kind of [thought] somewhat like a computer designed to perform life support.

But, the [Will of the World] wasn’t the same as a [God].

Human beings and the other living organisms were like the “gut bacteria” of the lifeform called the [World]. If the number of bad gut bacteria began to spread throughout, gnawing at the world, the world would take in [Otherworlders] to themselves just like humans drank “probiotics drinks”.

And in some cases, where the parasites were stubbornly buried within the body, they might take in the “medicine” called [Heroes], which would sometimes act like “deworming pills”, other times, like “laxatives”, flooding everything and rinsing them out.

It would be a burden upon the world, and things would get worse until new gut bacteria regrew, but it was better than falling sick because of an infection from bad bacteria.

Even though it had a will, the [World] did nothing.

It merely maintained life and kept up its internal environment.

It didn’t care if some of the gut bacteria were running rampant. Though it was more like it didn’t notice than it didn’t care.

It’s quite like how humans only realized that something was wrong when their stomachs hurt.

Still, the young [World], [Tess] had been unwell for a while.

The [Spirits], which were supposed to be something like the red blood cells that carried oxygen around its body, had made selfish rulings with the [Gut Bacteria], and caused abnormal gut behavior.

Because of that, it had been very active at first, and everything was in a good condition, but after a while, the blood of the world, [Magic Power], decreased, and it became anemic.

So [Tess] thought.

It was necessary to destroy the rule called the [Skill System] that had spread throughout its body.

But [Tess]could not directly move the world just like humans couldn’t directly manipulate their bodies.

In order to destroy those rules that had been inundating the populace for thousands of years, [Tess] had prepared two things.

The first was a laxative to wipe out all life, a [Large-scale Cataclysm].

The other was the powerful medicine that would completely destroy all civilization, the [True Demon Lord].

Both of them would put a burden on its body, but [Tess] preferred to introduce the [True Demon Lord] into its body first, which would be relatively effective anyway, instead of the [Large-Scale Cataclysms] that would take longer for it to recover.

The [True Demon Lord] was a pretty powerful drug. Those [Self-proclaimed Demon Lords], and the [Heroes], would all be eliminated, and all intelligent life would die in an instant.

But at that time, the otherworld [Tess] noticed that there was a [Poison] that had infiltrated in from another world.

If it could constrain the amount of poison, it would be a good medicine. Even then, it needed to be a [Strong Medicine], but compared to the [True Demon Lord], it felt that it was kind of made only with “50% tenderness”.

But for the will of the world [Tess], it felt that it was worth taking in this [Medicine] that had some of the effect of the [True Demon Lord] into its body.

And as [Tess] expected, the [Medicine] managed to destroy the distorted rules of the world and restored its physical condition.

And that existence would now leave its body now that it was done.

The effect of the [True Demon Lord] had also been handed over to this thing, and unless it tried to, it wouldn’t activate this [Poison].

The world did nothing. It just continued to support life.

* * *

The people living in the world of Tess were confused.

The [Skills] that had been part and parcel of them and their daily lives had suddenly become unusable.

The [Skill System] was such that once you gained an ability it would never fade.

One cook, who had extremely high cooking skills, suddenly became unable to understand the amount of seasoning and how much heat was needed just by waving his hands, and had to lower his head to his apprentice, who had been trying to learn under him.

The noble who relied only on his swordsmanship skill and neglected his body had it disappear on him, and he found it difficult to even keep swinging his sword, finally resigning from the post of Knight Commander.

But only a portion of those who had relied on [Skills] got into trouble despite the fact that everyone was confused.

[Skills] were a system that automatically quantified one’s abilities, and if one put serious effort into their training, there would be little impact even if they had lost this automated system.

But, thanks to the loss of [Battle Skills], humanity’s battle ability was considerably reduced.

It wouldn’t be possible anymore to defeat large monsters with just a few dozen knights like before.

“This might be good.”

muttered Fjord, First Prince of Sail, as he looked upon the blue sea and castle town. His new royal guard perked up.

“What is affecting you, my liege?”

This was the knight who had been the first to challenge the Golden Saint, and at that time, lost horribly to the soft toy. It seemed that being healed directly by the saint had changed him, and he had begun to practice his swordsmanship seriously, so when the skill system vanished, it hadn’t affected him much, and he had been newly promoted to being the captain of the royal guard.

“Well, even if the [Skills] are gone, the commonfolk still live the same. The damage from monsters has increased, but thanks to that, we were able to make peace with the [Forces of Darkness].”

“I see……”

The reason why the humans, who formed the core of the [Forces of Light], had fought so many wars with the demi-humans who formed the [Forces of Darkness] was simply because they had never had to fear an [External Threat] thanks to the power of their skills.

Ironically, the [Skill System], which had been made to help mankind, had instead caused conflict for them.

The skills had all disappeared, and now, humanity no longer reigned supreme, and joined up with others once again to protect themselves from the other threats.

“Maybe it’s all because of her……”

The golden saint, who had brought the world together by threatening mankind as the true [Demon Lord], had been rescued by the new heroes, and disappeared with her attendants from her hospital room, refusing all visitors.

Those [Heroes] who had fled were the real [Demon Lords]. The battle had been fierce, but the damage had been surprisingly limited…… no, rather, it was unnaturally few.

It seemed that the pure and quiet saint had fought desperately with the Demon Lord even while she had been under its thrall.

After she disappeared, the minstrels sang that she had left with soldiers and the common folk to completely eradicate the [Demon Lord].

Was the skill system’s disappearance also because of that……?

Perhaps the battle between the true demon lord and the golden saint had been fierce enough to break the world.

“Princess Yurushia…… I would love to see you again.”

As Prince Fjord unintentionally let slip his intentions, the knight smiled.

The world was changing rapidly.

The heroes had become the traitors of the world, and the standing of the four great nations who had summoned [Heroes] worsened, and it was no longer possible to call [Heroes] from other worlds.

In Sail, His Majesty had collapsed from anxiety, and the second princess Bianca who had been in charge of the hero had been forced to take responsibility, banished to the borderlands, and stripped of her rights to the throne, leaving young Fjord to rebuild the nation.

With the disappearance of the heroes, the commonfolk were exposed to the threat of monsters, but the new [Heroes], who belonged to no nation, travelled the world to save people.

Those heroes……

“Daichi, those were my donuts!!”

“EeehHH??! Touka, didn’t you say you were going on a diet?”

“I was going to eat that later!!!”

It seemed that she didn’t want to think about it, and that somehow going on a diet didn’t mean enduring against sweets.

Watching the two of them chase each other on the forest path, Futa and Mizuki looked at each other’s faces in amusement, laughing out loud.

Mizuki and the others, who saved people during the battle they now called the [Great Demon Lord Battle], and rescued the saint from the Demon Lord, had been named the new heroes.

Their achievements were also recognized by the [Forces of Darkness], and together with the wishes of the twin princesses of the Dark Elven royalty, they had signed a ceasefire agreement, bringing the millennia of war to a close.

As the new heroes, they refused to side with any single state, and wandered around the world as a team to save everyone, human or demi-human.

“Yuru-chan protected us when we were abandoned and gave us the power to live in this world. So, we will carry it forward to everyone else.”

The people in this world remembered what it meant to [Fear], and this otherworld, [Tess], slowly had its [Common Sense] returned to normalcy.

* * *

“Lady Yurushia, Lord Rinne, we have been eagerly awaiting your return.”

As Rinne and I returned from that in-between place, the attendants all came out to greet us.

As expected, the spirit world was dangerous to even [Arch Demons]. It seems that they had been quite worried waiting for us.

“Lady Yurushia, since I had time, I tried making something like “Ramen”, would you like to try some?”

“…… I’ll eat it later, Fannie.”

It’s worrying, you know……? I’m terrified of “what” went into that black soup.

[Gauu] […… (wave)]

Onzada-kun and Geas seemed perfectly alright. But the two of them were still stuffed toys because they made a mess of that plan. It seems their human forms are still a while off.

Well, that’s fine too……

“……Tina?”

“What do you desire, My Mistress?”

…… Tina was being strange. More accurately, a certain part of Tina is very strange.

The attendant gang was investigating the replica of the [Skill Usage Agreement] while the two of us had been there.

We were studying if we could only use some of the skills that were useful on that stone slab, or if we could handle things ourselves……

“What is that?”

“……What are you talking about?”

Tina’s chest was already at the watermelon level, much less regular melons.

Fannie was large for her age, but Tina’s chest was just unnatural.

“Did you find Sefira’s skills?”

“……I didn’t do anything.”

Hohoho, is that how it is?

“There!”

“Aaaahhhh!”

As I poked them with my crimson nails, Tina’s chest deflated.

…… What is this skill?

“I’ll do it for you, so just wait, and don’t rely on strange things like this.”

“……yes.”

Tina’s reply was barely a whisper as she fell to her hands and knees on the ground.

I’m not just consoling you, I am going to do something about it.

Just like how I treated scalps with the application of [Sacred Magic] with my modern knowledge, chest-growing magic has finally reached a practical stage by applying the [Hero’s Secret Arts] that were cultivated in this world.

When we return to the Holy Kingdom, we’ll be making another killing.

…… But well, since everyone’s slightly different, it’s not certain that everyone will grow to that extent.

“So have you all found the coordinates to the Holy Kingdom?”

It’s time to get down to business. I don’t know why, but when I talk to these children, the conversation gets lost.

“Yes, Lady Yurushia. After examining all of the stone tablets in the old castle, there was a record of them trying to summon heroes from places other than earth in the past.”

As I asked, butler Noa put on his glasses and unfurled the documents. …… wait, those are just decorative glasses right?

“There seems to be a description that matches that of the world with the Holy Kingdom, [Atra], and the coordinates have been determined, but we can’t confirm that it’s [Atra].”

Noa gave me a fleeting look as he finished his sentence.

“I see. I’ll go make sure of that.”

Only I could confirm that it was Atra. Just as Fannie, who was better at spatial magic, taught me, I turned my attention towards the world.

……… Yep. There’s the Holy Kingdom. And there are at least two people connected to my [Soul]. My [Name-givers].

“Father, Mother……”

My father had thought of my name, and my mother had given it to me. And so I could find them just like I could find Rinne, who I’d named.

…… But the signal’s so weak that I can barely tell where they are.

“Now then, we’re finally returning to the Holy Kingdom.”

“Ah, Lady Yurushia, please wait.”

As soon as I tried returning home, Nea’s relaxed callout gave me pause.

“Hnn?  Why?”

“Actually, everyone prepared these for you.”

It seems that several months have passed in this world while we were in that in-between space near the Spirit World where time flowed strangely.

In the Holy Kingdom, it seems that I’ll be turning 13 soon in autumn.

I fought with the [Demon Lord] for half a year while I was 11, then I was trapped in the past for nearly half a year, and then after that I came to [Tess], and two years have nearly gone by.

“Everyone……”

They thought of celebrating my birthday in this different dimension before we returned to the Holy Kingdom, and while the birthday cake wasn’t exactly correct, but with the knowledge of Earth from Onzada-kun, they were able to make some “semblance” of it.

[……oOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOOOOoOOOOOOooOooOooOooOo……]

There were the countless whispering roars coming from that black soup with countless faces, where thirteen candles had been set into the [Ramen].

“…………”

This ramen, that was being served by the {Ramen-shop Onzada-kun} was delicious.

“Let’s go, Yurushia.”

“Yes!”

This time, I held onto Rinne’s proffered hand, that was firmly grasping mine without considering the mood, and stepped through the dimensional door that my attendants had opened.

We are finally returning to the Holy Kingdom of Tariterudo.

I will finally be able to meet all of my friends and family again.

But…… I hadn’t noticed.

I might have noticed it if I had looked at my status.

In addition to the titles like [Devil], [Demon Beast] and [Saint], there was one other……

The title of [True Demon Lord] that heralded the destroyer of worlds……

Author’s Notes:

Thank you for reading with me.

This is the end of the isekai tours, and we return to the third part in the Holy Kingdom.

As to the third part, I was really struggling to write this second part since I had come up with things as I went along, so I’m going to only resume this series after taking some time to write a bit more out.

That’s how things are, so I’m probably going to put in a few slice-of-life stories along the way.

The second part will also have a few more side stories.

Thank you for your continued support.

App’s Notes:

Aaaah, it’s an actually good ending! So happy to have made it this far.

I hope everyone’s ready for the end, we’ve got a couple weeks of side-stories, then Piro and I will be taking a vacation from the series before coming back for book 3!