Volume 1, 4 - The Children’s Resolve Will Sometimes Exceed the Adults’ Expectations Part 3

Volume 1, Chapter 4 – The Children’s Resolve Will Sometimes Exceed the Adults’ Expectations Part 3

“That light is-!!”

Madoka, who had been clashing against Alexei in mid-air, stopped moving when she noticed the pillar of light that cut through the darkness. Even Alexei’s Shii had a similar reaction, and its attention was directed towards that light which was like a sun inside this closed world.

“…Hideo”

“Hideo… Hideo…!”

Madoka recalled the times when she used to see that light often, and unintentionally murmured the name of her husband. Now that Alexei had turned into a Shii, what kind of feelings did he have as he called out the name of his old comrade-in-arms?

““Liutberga.””

The voices of the human and the Shii overlapped with each other.

That was the light of hope which had saved a world that was in a place very far away from Japan.

“I need to get a move on as well. It will be very difficult to tell Erize about this encounter with you. I initially thought that your current appearance might have been something created by Kaul or some other evil creature, but that sword technique and that power… It’s really you, isn’t it?”

Madoka muttered that sadly, and then let out large sigh.

“I don’t know how Hideo got here, but now’s not the time to worry about that.”

Madoka looked at her own house, which was a long way below her.

She didn’t sense the presence of Diana and the others there, so she assumed they had got away safely. However, she didn’t notice the other strange presence that had popped up in the vicinity because she was so focused on the battle with Alexei. That showed just how strong Alexei’s Shii was, and how much Madoka’s own powers had declined.

“If Hideo is here, then Yasuo and the others will be safe no matter what happens. In that case, I must take the responsibility and make sure to stop you once and for all. Alex…”

Madoka turned a sinister gaze upon Alexei, and the flames on her fists that had blocked Alexei’s sword strikes until now grew even stronger.

“I can’t let you trouble the children any longer! I must make sure to…”

However, her eyes were filled with tears that were caused by an undeniable sense of sadness.

“I have to kill you. Please forgive me.”

She held up the Holy Staff Marlowe, and began to chant.

“They were unexpectedly weak.”

Even considering that they were taken off guard, the three Shii that appeared to be former Magitech Knights and which had wounded Diana fell to the ground with a mere three strokes of the Holy Sword.

The person who did that was Hideo, Yasuo’s and Nodoka’s father. What’s more, it looked like he hadn’t even moved from his initial location, and his shoes were still as spotless as they had been before.

“I knew they would be no match for you, but to think you’d be this strong…”

William was taken aback by Hideo’s strength, but he suddenly looked up at the sky as if he noticed something. The next instant, the colourless sky wavered greatly, and a black mass fell to the ground.

The black mass struck the road with enough force to make a small crater, but the black space was unaffected by it. However, the remnants of the magical flame, the air, and the dust particles were violently agitated.

“…What is going on? Alex… Just what exactly are the Shii?”

It appeared that Hideo understood the situation immediately after seeing the face of the humanoid monster that had come crashing down. To Hideo, Alexei was a dear friend, as well as being the only person who surpassed him in skill with a sword.

Hideo’s expression was tense as he looked upon this ominous phenomenon that even Alexei could not escape from.

“Diana-chan…”

“…I’m really sorry. I wasn’t able to bring myself to tell you.”

Diana hung her head in shame at Hideo’s unasked question.

On the day Diana had appeared in Japan, she had given a brief summary of the state of affairs to Hideo, Madoka, and Nodoka before Yasuo came home. However, she had not been able to tell them about this.

“Such a mess. I specifically chose this time to act because your absence was a stroke of fortune for me, but I didn’t expect that you would be able to return from such a distance using an unexpected trick like that. My name is William Bareig. Hideo, the Hero, it’s a pleasure to meet you. You unexpectedly look less like a Hero than I expected. You just look like an ordinary middle-aged man.”

At that one word in William’s introduction, Hideo made an unhappy face.

“I was just an ordinary high schooler when I became a Hero, so what’s wrong with me turning into an ordinary middle-aged man after so many years have passed?”

“I see, that makes sense.”

“A Hero just has to save people by defeating the bad guys, but no one taught me how to make a living while leading a normal life. This is actually far more difficult, you know?”

William smiled happily at this statement.

“Even so, you are still the Hero of the Holy Sword, and your wife is a great magician. Judging from how she attacked her close friend with no hesitation, she still hasn’t lost her spirit as a warrior.”

“…Alex is already dead.”

At that moment, Madoka, who had blasted Alexei out of the sky and was also known as the Rainbow Sage, Madoka Sugiura, landed lightly next to the Hero, Hideo. In her hand, she held the Holy Staff that was wrapped in flames, and which was almost as long as she was tall.

“Ah, if I remember correctly, the clothes are actually the main component of the Holy Staff?”

“If you say anything more, you’re not getting any birthday presents for the next ten years…. So that guy is the leader behind the current incident?”

“Probably.”

Madoka and Hideo glared at William while tensing their bodies.

“I didn’t expect that we would team up again at this age and do something like this, but it feels a little nostalgic.”

“There are limits to everything.”

At that instant, Kenzaki Hideo and Kenzaki Madoka were once again transformed into the Hero, Kenzaki Hideo, and the Magician, Sugiura Madoka.

Yasuo and Nodoka lost their words and were even filled with awe when they looked at the gaze and appearance of these real warriors who had gone through real battles with their lives on the line.

“I thought I could somehow manage against Madoka Sugiura alone, but the odds are definitely against me if I have to fight both of you at once.”

On the other hand, WIlliam raised both hands and spoke as if he was ready to surrender.

“I’m not as proficient at fighting directly as the two of you. I’ll retreat for-”

However, William was not able to complete his sentence. At a speed faster than Yasuo and the others could perceive, the Holy Sword Liutberga slashed William diagonally into two pieces.

“Ah…”

“I can’t see any advantage in letting you get away.”

Hideo and Madoka didn’t even let their enemy finish talking. No matter how much Diana had attacked him, it had been like trying to hammer a nail into fog. However, a gruesome red light that looked like blood flowed out of his body now, and his body split into two pieces.

Before William could even make a sound after this attack that exceeded his expectations, a pillar of fire that looked like the exhaust of a rocket engine surrounded his body.

“Hearing what you have to say doesn’t seem like a good idea either.”

Madoka, who had stuck the Holy Staff Marlowe vertically into the ground, spoke coldly.

“Ah… Ahhhh…”

A low male voice could be heard within the roaring flames, perhaps it was William’s death throes.

“A-Amazing… I wasn’t able to do anything against him, but he was defeated in a second…”

Diana alone had been able to follow the movements of those two warriors, but even though she had been able to see them, she didn’t believe for a second that she would be able to do the same thing. Despite their appearance, they showed off their battle techniques which made one wonder if the two of them were actually close to fifty years old. Diana once again confirmed to herself that the power of these two people would be required to save Ante Lande during this crisis.

However…

“…So it’s here… this… is the entrance…”

Hideo and Madoka raised their eyebrows as if they were surprised.

William had been split in two by the Holy Sword Liutberga and thoroughly roasted by the flames from the Holy Staff Marlowe, but his voice could still be heard from within the flames that were giving off great heat and light.

The sound was just like what Yasuo and the others had heard earlier, it seemed to come from all directions at once.

“As expected… The Hero… Hideo… Demon King Kaul… Comparing them was a waste of time…”

“What? You bastard, what are you saying- ”

“…The Hero, Hideo. The Magician, Madoka…. Your power is indeed the real thing. Your blood must have some incredible power hidden within…”

At that moment, the ones who saw “that” inside the flame were not Hideo, Madoka, or Diana.

“Ugh…!?”

“Noooooooo!!”

Yasuo suddenly felt nauseous, and Nodoka let out a frightened scream. Inside the blinding glare of the fire, only Yasuo and Nodoka had seen it.

A small, black mass the size of a fist.

And the giant eye that appeared to be devouring it.

“Yasuo!?”

“Nodoka!?”

The father and mother realized the change in their son and daughter, and hurried to block William’s flames from their sight. However, even with the world’s strongest father and mother protecting them, the eye continued to stare at Yasuo and Nodoka.

“Return, and tell Ante Lande’s Magitech Knights… Tell Erijina Radagast that we have set our sights upon the Hero, Hideo’s power, and the power that rests in his blood.”

“Eh?”

Diana didn’t even have the time to react to this sudden declaration.

“There’s something there!!”

Along with Madoka’s cry, something unidentifiable rapidly swelled up inside the flames and exploded.

“Yasuo! Get down!”

“Nodoka! Diana-chan! Over here!”

Hideo protected Yasuo, and Madoka protected Nodoka and Diana, The two of them stood in stood in front of the children while turning their backs to the explosion.

After giving off a scorching heat and explosion, the substance broke out of Madoka’s flames and immediately dissolved into the darkness and became invisible.

“…Soot?”

Diana used her finger to rub off a bit of the dirt that was giving off a burnt smell from her cheek, and murmured that.

This phenomenon looked similar to throwing water into a burning fireplace, soot and ash would fly out and dirty the surroundings. Just as the three warriors judged that the large explosion had ended…

“Ah… It’s the sound of a car…”

Yasuo, who was being hugged by Hideo, noticed the familiar sound that was resounding from far away. At some point, the surroundings had changed from that claustrophobic darkness to the usual scenery of the street at night.

Apart from the bodies of the Shii that were lying on the ground near the five people.

“…Father…”

“Alex…”

Diana and Hideo stood beside Alexei’s Shii, which had not moved after it had fallen out of the sky.

“Is it… over…?”

Yasuo slowly stood up as if unwilling to believe that it was true.

“Nodoka…”

“Uuu… *sob*… Mom…”

Madoka hugged Nodoka who was unable to calm down.

“It looks like something unimaginable is happening.”

“Yes…”

“…Hide…o…. The Hero… Hide…”

“Isn’t there anything we can do for him?”

“…No.”

He felt like he could hear Diana grinding her teeth.

“There’s no time. Will you finish it?”

The Hero of Salvation asked the young Magitech Knight.

“Will you curse me, or instead take up the burden of this sin that you will never be able to forget?”

“I will take this sin upon myself.”

Diana replied without hesitating.

“I wasn’t able to protect Yasuo and Nodoka. I wasn’t able to carry out my duty. Even so…. I still said it. That I was full-fledged.”

“…I see.”

“Maybe I don’t understand it yet because I’m still young. But Hideo, Madoka…”

Diana spoke while activating her Techno Weapon.

“My relation with Alexei Krone is far deeper and stronger than yours. That’s why… I need to do this.”

“I see.”

“Yes.”

The Hero, Hideo, and The Magician, Madoka, simply nodded.

“Diana…”

Yasuo realized what Diana intended to do and called out to her before he could stop himself. Diana turned around slightly, and smiled while her eyes were filled with tears.

“It’s okay. I’m Alexei Krone’s daughter. I’m a Magitech Knight of Resteria, after all.”

Compared to her resolve, what could Yasuo, who had been unable to hold his resolve to the end, say in return?

“…Goodbye… Father…!”

Diana’s buried the blade of Pollux into the chest of the Shii.

The flaming red eyes that were the signature of the Shii were now mere flickers, and as they watched, they faded away into the shadow.

Diana stood in front of her father’s Shii that had lost its ominous air, took a deep breath, and tried to sing the requiem. However…

“Oh… wide sky… please–”

She was not able to sing it.

Diana’s heart was not strong enough to sing the requiem for her father, who had just died for a second time.

Her lips trembled, tears flowed from her eyes without stopping, and her sobbing made her unable to keep singing.

At this rate, the Shii would get sucked into the ground, and might appear again someday as a champion of the dead to torment the living.

However, Hideo and Madoka only looked on, and didn’t try to do anything else.

“Oh, wide sky, please welcome him.”

That’s why; Yasuo began to sing that song in a low voice.

Diana suddenly raised her head, Hideo glanced at Yasuo, Madoka looked surprised at hearing the words of the song, and Nodoka remembered where she had heard that song before and looked at the Shii.

“Yasuo…”

“That song… it’s in the language of Resteria…?”

“Oh, wide ocean, please welcome him. Oh, wide land, please welcome him.”

It was a repetition of simple lyrics and a simple melody.

“Oh, loved people, please welcome him. May the one who has gone return again someday. May he return, so he may start his journey anew.”

He had heard that song several times.

After hearing it so many times, he could not call himself the President of the Choral Club if he could not at least replicate the melody and imitate the sound of the lyrics.

“Oh, wide universe, please welcome him. Oh, wide universe, please welcome him.”

As he was singing this song for the first time, it really couldn’t be said that he had sung it well.

However, he sang it in a trembling voice which still showed traces of fear, while relying desperately on his memory and putting his feelings into the song. Perhaps that’s what caused the song to have an effect.

The black bodies of Alexei and the Magitech Knights who had become Shii began to crumble rapidly, turned into fine soot, and vanished as if evaporating into thin air.

“Ahh…”

Diana looked up as if saying farewell to the soot that had disappeared, while having a expression that was filled with mourning, peace, sadness, and happiness. And then she noticed…

“…The sky.”

At some point, the black space that had robbed the surroundings of color had completely vanished, and the usual night sky was once again visible with a few stars showing brightly.

※

“W-What was that?”

Shouko had stood motionless for some time, staring at the sky.

A bright pillar of light had shot up into the sky in the direction of Yasuo’s home that she was trying to get to, and Shouko wondered for a second if there was a pachinko shop in that area. The route to the Kenzaki family house had seemed simple in her head, but it was actually more complicated, and there was a complex network of streets and intersections that all looked the same.

In spite of her efforts, she felt like she had entered a forest that confused her sense of direction, and she was soon completely lost even though she hadn’t walked all that far. It took her twenty minutes after the appearance of the mysterious “spotlight” until she found the house with the “Kenzaki” nameplate outside.

“…Is this the place?”

Shouko had walked so much that she was sweating lightly in spite of the cold weather. As shown on the news, the front door of the house appeared to have been mercilessly destroyed, and a blue vinyl tarp had been hung over the entrance in an attempt to keep some privacy.

There was no car in the parking space, but the lights were switched on on both the ground and first floors, showing that the residents were at home.

All of a sudden, Shouko began to worry if she was being too nosy on top of having crossed a line earlier.

She thought that she had seen Yasuo sitting in the car that had raced out of the parking garage, but she might have been mistaken. After seeing the location of the accident, she had thought it would be easy to make up an excuse for visiting so late, but if Yasuo had really not been involved in the accident, what kind of excuse could she give?

It would be good if Yasuo came outside the house, but what should she do if some other members of his family or that foreigner girl came out and saw her?

Shouko felt like she was doing something incredibly stupid, and she was unable to move her hand to push the intercom button that she had been intending to push just a few seconds ago.

Shouko looked at her mobile phone, and saw that the time was already 10:45 PM. It was quite a problem for a student to be visiting someone else’s house at this time.

“W-What should I do… Really, what should I do…”

It happened at that moment, when Shouko was about to about to lose her calm entirely.

“I wonder what this means. Is it back to normal?”

Along with the sound of a window opening, she heard Yasuo’s voice coming from the veranda on the second floor.

“You’re not going to tell me that I imagined it, right?”

“Of course not… but it looks perfectly fine now, so isn’t that good enough? Come on, Onii-chan, get out of my room already! Mom is downstairs with Diana-san, and…”

“Ah, I understand. You’re right. For now, I should…”

She heard the sound of a window closing, and the sound of Yasuo’s voice and the voice of the girl who seemed to be his little sister were cut off.

“…………”

Shouko had unintentionally held her breath when she heard Yasuo’s voice, and now she felt like all the energy was leaving her body through her legs.

“…What the heck.”

Yasuo had returned to his house.

The girl who seemed to be his sister had said something about ‘Mom’ and ‘Diana-san’, so obviously his mother was at home as well. ‘Diana’ might be the name of the mysterious foreigner girl she had seen the other day.

“…What the heck.”

All the energy and willpower left her body.

Thinking of just how stupidly she had been behaving over the past one hour, she began to cry.

Now that she had calmed down, her body temperature began to fall rapidly, and she started to feel cold because of the sweat.

“…Getting all worked up by myself, I feel like such an idiot.”

It had just been a case of her jumping to conclusions based on mistaken information. For some reason, Yasuo had hurried home after finishing his lessons. There was no car in the house, but that might have been because his father was using it, or they might have sent it out for repairs.

In the first place, if the car she had seen coming out of the parking garage did not belong to the Kenzaki family, then Yasuo was completely unrelated to that accident. True, there was someone out there who had caused that accident, but Shouko had absolutely no reason to track them down.

“…I’m such an idiot.”

Shouko slowly began to walk down the street, leaving the Kenzaki family house behind her.

“I said all those things so arrogantly, but in the end I was just spinning my wheels in the same place… It feels like I haven’t changed at all since middle-school.”

Suddenly feeling even colder, Shouko gathered the material of her jumper closer around herself, and increased her pace of walking. She hurried away as if she was trying to escape from something that was in between the Kenzaki house and her. She turned at an intersection where a yellow traffic light was blinking, and continued to walk without looking back.

A while after Shouko had passed, some black particles that looked like soot could be seen, blown about by the wind and landing at that intersection.

The soot left black, shadow-like marks carved into the center of the intersection.

After a while, the soot started to move in the same direction that Shouko had gone, and disappeared as if it was following her.

※

The window glass, the floor of the room, and even the wall in between the rooms had mysteriously reverted back to the state before the fight with the Shii. After confirming this fact, Yasuo and Nodoka came back downstairs to see…

“What should we do… The car… What should we do…”

They had no idea what to say to their mother who was sitting on the sofa while holding her head.

She had dispelled her Magical Lady uniform, but she had forgotten to change out of her burnt clothes, so it appeared that she was pretty agitated.

At her side, their father’s hand was emitting a faint light and he was holding it above Diana’s injuries. It was probably some spell of healing or some similar sorcery, but it felt extremely strange to see a middle-aged man in a suit cast a spell of healing on the female Magitech Knight.

“Would it be useless to file a report with the police that the car was stolen earlier?”

“The parking garage opposite Yasuo’s prep school has surveillance cameras. I didn’t come out even once after I parked the car there, and I’m sure they’ve also recorded Yasuo coming back inside after his lessons were done.”

The wife instantly destroyed her husband’s naive question.

“On top of that, now that I think about it about it, I sped out of there without paying the parking fee…”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Yasuo remembered that the rear wheels of the car had made an incredibly loud noise and jumped upwards when they left the garage. That had probably been caused by the car hitting and destroying the barrier meant to stop the car from moving.

“Ah, but I made sure to vaporize the number plates of the car right after I defeated the Shii.”

““……””

Yasuo and Nodoka didn’t know how to respond to this statement that would even surprise a band of thieves.

True, it would probably be a simple matter for their mother to vaporize the number plates of a car using the power of her magical flames, but to think she would actually use that otherworldly power to conceal the evidence of her crime…

After that, their father began to speak.

“Just getting rid of the license plates isn’t good enough. The body of the car and the other components each have their own serial numbers, and they can easily be used to identify the owner. Really, we seem to be in a fix.”

He made a grave face.

Both Yasuo and Nodoka felt like their parents were going about it the wrong way, but it was not like they had any better ideas, so they refrained from commenting on this issue.

“…The top floor looks fine, nothing seems to be broken.”

The two of them just reported in this way, and upon hearing that,

“…Thank goodness.”

Yasuo heard Diana whisper that to herself.

“Yeah, that’s good, but I wish that weird man had done the same during the incident with the front door too.”

Perhaps because their father still felt guilty at not being reachable during the first attack by the Shii, he immediately added his own comment after Yasuo.

“At any rate, if the police get involved again, it might become a problem for me at work. Diana-chan, do you mind if my wife takes over the healing? I’m going out for a bit, I’ll be back soon.”

“Eh? Ahh, sure.”

Diana had received some serious wounds, but the bleeding had stopped now. After confirming that, their father put his down jacket back on and prepared to go out again.

“Ah, Dad, where are you going?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just going over there for a bit.”

“…Dad.”

Even Nodoka didn’t know what to say to her father in such a situation.

Their father probably intended to use his Hero’s power to completely destroy all evidence of the accident that their mother had left behind.

Are there two really saviours of Ante Lande? Yasuo felt like he could not understand the thought process of his parents at all.

After his father left the house, his mother gave a small sigh, stood up, and continued healing Diana. Diana bowed her head slightly to Yasuo and spoke.

“Yasuo… Thank you so much. You sent my father off in my stead.”

“…Ah, that.”

Yasuo looked away uneasily, and sat down on the sofa.

“But was that really because of my power? It was just rote memorization. I didn’t really pay attention to the pronunciation, and my voice was trembling like mad…”

“No, that doesn’t matter.”

Diana gently shook her head.

“I don’t know if you have any power of sorcery, Yasuo. But… you grieved for my father…. a monster from a different world, even after he caused so much trouble for you. That alone makes me very happy.”

Grieving for the Shii. Did he really have such a lofty emotion in mind when he had done that?

Yasuo had still not completely shaken off his fear of that man called William, and he honestly didn’t think that he had sung while having such a pure emotion.

He had just not been able to stand there and watch without doing anything.

Diana had suffered so much, and yet she had tried her hardest to use her own blade to send her father off, who was facing death for a second time. When Yasuo saw that, he wanted to do the only thing he was capable of doing, and that was singing the requiem song of their world.

He had not sung for Alexei. He had sung it for Diana’s sake.

He had sung it for his own sake, as he could do nothing else.

However, explaining this to Diana now would be pointless. He had no reason to refuse Diana’s gratitude either.

Perhaps Diana had sensed something of Yasuo’s thoughts, she was hanging her head and had stopped talking.

“In any case, Dad might actually have to quit his job in order to protect our neighborhood, even without considering the situation on Ante Lande. We’ve found out that Mom and Diana-san can’t handle the situation by themselves, after all.”

Nodoka said that in an intentionally dry tone, maybe because she couldn’t handle the uneasy atmosphere anymore.

“Diana-san’s Techno Weapon didn’t work against that William at all, so even if other Magitech Knights are sent here, we won’t be able to feel at ease.”

“Uu… T-That’s…”

“That’s true.”

Neither Diana nor her mother rejected Nodoka’s words. Although Diana was able to fight against the Shii, she had been completely helpless against William. If some powerful Shii on Alexei’s level appeared again, or William came back, there was no way to assure Yasuo and Nodoka’s safety if Hideo wasn’t present and their mother was fighting.

This time, they had been able to use Yasuo’s “space-time-transcending complaint to the parents” chant to call Hideo here as reinforcements, but they didn’t know if Nodoka would be able to call for help in the same way. In the worst case, their mother might be forced to make a decision to protect one child while giving up on the other.

As a result of that decision, Yasuo might be the one to die. Or it could be Nodoka. Or it could be Diana.

Most importantly, people who had nothing to do with this situation might also die.

“That would be bad.”

Why did this have to happen right after he decided to live his life earnestly as Kenzaki Yasuo, a student who was preparing for exams?

“No matter what the circumstances are, I probably won’t be able to make that choice. In order to do my best, there is no other choice.”

“Eh?”

“Onii-chan?”

“Ahh… I’m back. It was easier than I expected it to be…. What’s wrong?”

His mother, Nodoka, and his father, who came back looking like he had accomplished something, all looked at Yasuo who was talking to himself.

“Dad, Mom… and Diana as well.”

Yasuo held his breath for a second and went over his idea once again.

There was nothing that he could do. This was such a pain. The future that he had envisioned for himself would be destroyed beyond repair. Don’t do it. Nothing good will happen even if a social outcast like himself takes action.

“I…”

Know your place. Doing something so troublesome will only result in getting hurt, physically as well as mentally. Such things should be left to the professionals. You don’t even have any experience, what can you do? You couldn’t even protect the place where you live, all you did was to complain about others while letting your opportunities slip out of your fingers.

“I…”

If you try to act cool, you’ll regret it later on. Have you even achieved a single thing worthy of note until now? Hard work means nothing, only people with talent who have lived in a blessed environment can do something like this. Do you think you’re special in some way? Are you actually an idiot?

“I know it’s too late… and nothing can be done…”

“Thank you so much, for believing me!”

“I don’t know anything about you right now, Yasu-kun, but I’m sure you’re still giving it your all.”

He was just someone who would complain about things while looking at the setting sun. Compared to the girl from another world who held such strong conviction, he was worth nothing. That’s why…

“I… want to protect Diana.”

“Yasuo!?”

At his sudden proclamation, Diana shouted out in surprise while blushing furiously.

“I want to protect Nodoka, and if possible, I want to protect this place that I was born in as well… But as I am now, I can’t do anything. That’s why, I feel sorry for Diana, but I don’t want you to go to Ante Lande yet, Dad. Right now, I still need to be protected by you, Mom, and Diana. That’s why…”

“Y-Yasuo, you don’t mean…”

“Onii-chan, what are you talking about all of a sudden?”

Unlike his mother and sister who spoke up because they sensed something strange about Yasuo, his father stayed silent.

“Can you, Diana, and Ante Lande… Can you all just wait for another year? I know I’ll probably cause a lot of trouble for everyone, but in that time, I will grow stronger. I’ll grow strong enough to protect everyone, like Dad did in the past.”

Yasuo looked straight at his father, the Hero who had once saved a world.

The Hero looked back at him with regret, and just a hint of happiness mixed into his expression.

Just how did his father live and fight in the past, and how did he manage to come back?

How was he working now, how was he earning money, and how was he able to provide for his family?

Right now, Yasuo was not able to find the answers to these questions.

However, if he intended to listen to his father’s true feelings some day, he must now take a step forward.

Encouraged by the look in his father’s eyes, Kenzaki Yasuo felt that the old version of him who had turned his back on the brass band and the invitation from his friend to join the Theatre Club and walked into the sunset had faded, and he could once again look forward to his school which was supposed to be filled with hopes and dreams.

“Once I get into college, I’m thinking about becoming a hero in another world.”

Born as the son of a Hero, but raised without knowing anything. For the first time in his life, this young man picked the path that he would follow in life, of his own volition.