Chapter 45: – I Knew We'd Succeed But I Didn't Expect We'd Overdo It.
“Ph … Phew. We made it safely this time.”
After a light feeling of intoxication, we returned to the <White World> as usual and checked my neck, shoulders and other parts of my body as I was accustomed to. Mm, of course the body was back to normal this time, too. I would be impressed if I had spent more than a few decades and got younger, but six months or a year since I was 20 years old, I could only feel disappointed over the loss of my muscle strength and stamina…
“… Tia? Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah. I’m fine. …”
“If you feel something wrong with your body, just tell me, okay? Nevermind, I can’t help you even if you tell me.”
“I’m really fine. Unlike Ed, in my case, even going back ten years doesn’t change things that much.”
“I see. As expected, being over 100 years old is different … Owww!!”
Tia’s kick bursted mercilessly into my ass.
“Why!? An elf and 100 years old is not old or anything?!!”
“Whatever! Ed no baka!!!”
“I don’t get it….”
I rubbed my bottom with tears in my eyes, not knowing why she was angry. It was really unreasonable, but … Well, Tia seemed to be feeling a little better, so I guess it was okay.
“So, how was it? Your first time in another world?”
“Yeah. It was a lot more normal than I imagined it would be … but a lot more fun and happy and … a little sad.”
“I see.”
“… Ed is amazing. You’ve done this a hundred times, haven’t you?”
“I guess. Well, you get used to it. There are good encounters and bad encounters, fun times and hard times. There were worlds where I wanted to stay there forever, and there were worlds where I just wanted to go home right now… If there is anything I can say from my experience, it is to enjoy … with an open mind. We are just strangers to any world who come out of nowhere and stay only for a short time… We should enjoy our short time as strangers. I think it’s best to spend as much time as you can so you can remember, ‘Ah, that world was fun,’ don’t you agree?”
“I see. … I guess. I see.”
Tia smiled and replied to me as I said it carefree. It looked like she was pretending to smile, but that was because of the wonderful memories of Waffer and his friends. If that was the case, we should be happy.
“But I wonder what happened Waffer and others after that? Even if it’s a good memory, I’m still concerend about it…”
“Ah, that’s all right. Watch me …”
I turned around and looked at the table and there it was, a flickering crystal ball. If it was the same as last time, then if I touched it, that book would … What was it? Anyway, that thing should fall down.
Then, that was exactly why I carefully reached to the crystal ball and … here it comes!
I quickly turned my body around, perfectly anticipating God’s behavior. But no matter how long I waited, what I was looking for didn’t fall, and my head remained unharmed.
“……………..?”
“What are you doing Ed?”
“Huh? No, there should be a book on my head …”
“Ah!? Hey Ed, there’s a book!”
Puzzled, I looked towards where Tia’s voice was, and saw a book on the table with the title {Records Of the Hero’s Story}.
Eh, why? Wasn’t it supposed to fall on my head? I mean, if it was okay like this, why had it been raining on my head all this time!? Were you harassing me!? Was that it, you were harassing me!!?
“Result book …? What’s this? Hey, Ed, can I read this?”
“…. Uh, yeah. Go ahead.”
Feeling something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, I read the heavily leather-bound book with Tia. Unlike with Alexis, Waffer’s description before we met was less, and after that, we skimmed it because we and Waffer were working together until we reached halfway through the book. I read with immense concentration from the part where we parted ways at the cave … And when the words “final chapter” appeared, I gulped and read each word letter by letter without pausing.
The 002nd world {Records Of the Hero’s Story} Final chapter {The Kingdom Of Edortia}
Thus, the Demon Lord was defeated by the hero Waffer and the hero Doben, and the threat of the Kuronuri slowly decreased from the world. With the extra military power and vast lands of the Demon Lord’s domain, as well as the power of the heroes who defeated the Demon Lord, some Chemonians started a movement saying, “We should take this opportunity to defeat the humans and unify the world with the power of Chemonians.”
But Waffer the Hero responded, “I was able to defeat the Demon Lord because I had an irreplaceable human friend. I will never forget that debt of gratitude and the love of my friends forever!” The hero Doben made a similar statement, and the momentum of the war quickly faded away.
Furthermore, when a Chemonian hero said that he recognized the existence of humans, a movement was born for both sides to recognize each other’s existence, and with the support of the people’s will, the world’s first country where humans and Chemonians coexisted, Edortia, was established in the vast territory of the Demon Lord.
Waffer, the Hero who became the first king of Edortia, and Doben, who became the general, served as his right hand man. Although the two men who devoted their lives to the reconciliation of the two races were never reunited with their “friends,” their pure feelings were still engraved in this country where humans and Chemonians laughed together.
“Wow, that’s amazing. I knew he would be able to defeat the Demon Lord, but I didn’t expect him to become a king…”
“Hey, hey, Ed. The name of this country is …”
“Don’t say it. Don’t even think about it.”
I was glad Waffer and his friends felt the same way as we did, but to have our name used in the name of their country was just … something, eh? What do you want me to do?
No, it didn’t mean I was not happy, okay? I felt honored, and I knew those guys did their best, there were many things I thought about, like how they remembered our promise. … but the name of the country was something …
“Or rather, if we had stayed in that world, we’d be like a major figure in the country, wouldn’t we?” I said.
“Given the country’s origins and political standing, Waffer and Ed would have been joint kings. Fufu. How about you, Ed? Too bad you didn’t get to be king?”
“Don’t be silly, I don’t want to be king, even if they ask me!”
A king of a newly emerging country that kept getting stared at by two major powers would melt my stomach in seconds, you know? I could never choose to give up my freedom in exchange for a little luxury and to live together with people.
Well, that was why I had a lot of respect for Waffer and Doben, who apparently chose to do it and did it. If I had been there, I would have wanted to help, but as far as I could tell from reading … this, everything was already past.
“…It was just a few moments ago for us, but behind that door, decades have already passed.” Tia said.
“Well, it looks like it. But isn’t that usual for a long-lived species like Tia?”
“I don’t think it’s to that extent. But yeah sometimes 10 years or so pass by before I realize it.”
“I think that’s pretty much the same thing. … Well, okay. Here, Tia.”
I called out Tia and closed the book and tucked it away in the bookshelf. The bookshelf with two books lined up was still a bit empty, but that was why I was determined to line up the best history on all of these books.
“Then, let’s move on to the next world.”
“Ah, wait, wait! Let’s see… … Yeah!”
As I got up from my seat, Tia hurriedly touched the crystal ball and then followed me.
“So? What world is next?”
“Ah, … what was it like? I mean, Tia, did you get any skills again?”
“Fufufu, it’s a secret! I’ll tell you later.”
“What? Now I’m curious! Tell me now.”
“No! It would be a shame to end all the fun all at once! Come on, come on, let’s go! The new world is calling us!”
“Yeah yeah. Let’s get going.”
Holding Tia’s hand tightly, I opened the newly emerged 003 door. The first step we took in search of new encounters and new adventures disappeared into the light once again.
(T/N: Give me 2-3 days to prepare for the 3rd world. Hope you all are enjoying it so far.)