Chapter 5:
The Couple’s Epilogue
-1-
IT HAD BEEN a week since the banquet.
I told Pomera and Philia I wasn’t actually going back to Earth forever, and also went around to the people I knew to tell them I’d be gone for a bit on a trip to a different world.
At long last, Lunaère and I stepped through a Dimension Gate to Earth.
“This is your world…?” she murmured as she stared around her in amazement.
We were in the residential area I used to live in, somewhere that wasn’t really all that special, a few blocks away from downtown. Lunaère stood on the concrete sidewalk, staring with curiosity up at a streetlight. Everything was new to her.
Obviously, we put away anything resembling a weapon in my magic bag. Things would be complicated if we didn’t.
We didn’t expect people from Earth to be able to feel unholy impurity all that much, but just in case, and because Lunaère’s normal outfit would stand out on Earth, we remade her Impurity Sealing Robe in a more Earth-like style. It still looked a little out of place, but not so bad that anyone would do anything more than frown and think the kids were wearing weird clothes these days.
I’d also changed into something that fit in more with Earth fashion. I had a little money left in my bank account, but I was worried I might not be able to withdraw it. Considering how much time had passed, I wouldn’t be surprised if all the belongings from my apartment had been thrown out.
I was also worried how people would treat me after I’d disappeared for so long.
…But I took Lunaère and we went to the apartment I used to rent. The apartment building had two floors and ten rooms in total. It was pretty small, to be honest.
We stood awkwardly in front of the door to my room, and I heard a voice from behind us.
“I don’t recognize you two. Are you looking for someone who lives here?” There was a hint of warning in the voice.
“Oh, no, I’m sorry, I actually… Oh!” I turned around and realized I knew who it was. It was my landlord.
“Is that you, Kanbara-san? You caused me so much trouble when you disappeared without a trace! Where have you been?” she shouted, red-faced. “I had to talk to the police over and over, the real estate agent chucked the whole mess in my lap and skedaddled! I went and tried contacting your relatives, but I couldn’t get in touch with anyone! I had to get a lawyer!”
“I-I’m really sorry…” She was really ferocious. She might even be scarier than the First Dragon.
“Um, I don’t really know what’s going on, but please don’t blame Kanata,” said Lunaère. “Terrible things happened to him, and when he came back—”
“What are you saying?! I don’t understand English! I’m the one who had to deal with this mess, so don’t butt in!”
Lunaère paled in the face of the landlord’s fury and hid behind me. On Locklore, no one could rival her. But on Earth, my landlord was a high-level opponent.
I remembered now, a bit late, that I’d been given the skill “Locklorian” in the beginning, so Lunaère and my landlord couldn’t actually communicate. Lunaère could only guess that my landlord was yelling at me, and bit off more than she could chew when she tried to defend me. The landlord must have seemed terrifying to Lunaère as she babbled at her in the language of another world.
I made a mental note to teach Lunaère Japanese.
“Um, are any of my things left in the apartment?” I asked, and the landlord scowled.
“What?”
“Uh, well, it’s fine if they aren’t. B-but…”
“I shoved any of the valuables I had an obligation to store in a backpack that was in your room, and then I tossed it in storage! The law kept me from just pawning it off… Such a pain!”
“So, there is something…?” I was relieved. It’d be a win if I could get my debit card back. I didn’t have a whole lot in the bank, but it was enough to pay for a place to stay for a bit.
I followed the landlord down the hallway toward storage.
“This person is terrifying, Kanata…” whispered Lunaère.
“Yeah. And I thought I’d gotten a bit more courageous.” I never thought I’d defeat a Lower God in Locklore, then be scared of my landlord on Earth.
“…And it appears our theory may be correct. She barely seems to notice the unholy impurity. The Impurity Sealing Robe isn’t perfect, but it does seem as if the people of this world have a very low ability to detect the impurity,” she said happily. I smiled back at her.
“What are you two jabbering on about?” snapped the landlord.
“Sorry!” I replied immediately.
“I never imagined when you went missing you’d come back with a cute foreign girlfriend. Is she an actress or something? You haven’t gotten into anything dangerous?” The landlord glared at me from the corner of her eye.
The landlord must have realized from Lunaère’s beauty that she wasn’t just anyone. That did make me happy, and maybe a bit proud, but asking if I was involved in anything dangerous? All I did was fight a god with a world’s existence hanging in the balance. Can’t get much more dangerous than that.
“Ha ha ha…” I laughed and avoided the question, and the landlord let out a sigh.
We came to the storage area, and the landlord took out my backpack.
“I’m really sorry for all the trouble…” I said.
“Yeah, because it was a lot of trouble. Here,” she said, then she handed me the key to my old apartment.
“What’s this…?”
“A feral cat’s living in there. I keep chasing it out, but it sits at the window crying all night. Even when I rented the place to someone else, they couldn’t stand the noise and they left. Get that thing out of there.”
“A feral cat? Why should I have to deal with a…” I got that far, and then I realized. “Oh! Thank you so much!” I hoisted the backpack in my left hand and grabbed Lunaère’s hand with my right. “Come on, Lunaère-san, my family’s waiting!”
“F-family…?”
I put the key in the lock, turned it, and opened the door. Inside was a black cat sitting in the middle of the room like it owned the place.
“Kuromaru! I’m back!” I said.
“Meow!” She called back to me when I called her name and came running straight toward me. I picked her up and cuddled her, and she laid her head on my chest, looking up at me with blame in her eyes. “Meow…”
“I’m sorry, Kuromaru. I didn’t abandon you,” I said, gently stroking her head.
“There are cats in this world too? The cats in Locklore are much larger and fiercer… Earth cats are small and cute,” said Lunaère, looking at Kuromaru with anticipation.
“You can pet her too, Lunaère-san. Kuromaru is my precious family. She’s supported me for such a long time.”
I held Kuromaru out to Lunaère, and she slowly reached toward Kuromaru’s head. But as Lunaère came closer, Kuromaru lashed out with a quick slap.
“Hiss!”
“Wh-what’s wrong, Kuromaru?” I asked while Kuromaru struggled to reach me. I pulled her back in close and hugged her. She laid her head on my chest again and closed her eyes like it was comfortable. “…I’m sorry, I guess Kuromaru isn’t good with strangers,” I said with a wry smile as I stroked her head.
“So, Kuromaru’s a girl, right?”
“Yeah… Why?”
Lunaère glared right into Kuromaru’s eyes and said, “Kuromaru… I’m sorry, but Kanata is mine.”
“Hissss!” Kuromaru responded with another swipe of her paw.
“Don’t start a fight with a cat!” I said, sitting in the middle of the room, stroking Kuromaru. “You know…there’s a lot of things we need to deal with. I disappeared for a year, you’re a foreigner who randomly appeared, and you don’t have any identity here. And I don’t really have that much money in this world. We have to find an apartment that allows pets and isn’t too expensive. And since it’s the two of us now, we need a decent amount of space.”
“Are all those things really that difficult?” asked Lunaère timidly.
“They’re nothing compared to attracting the attention of a crazy god. There’s a lot of fun things in this world that only exist here. Locklore can’t beat Earth in terms of food and entertainment, and it’ll all be new experiences for you, Lunaère-san.” I smiled at her.
“I look forward to it. Noble wanted to come too. I’d like to bring him someday.”
“Uh, well…let’s try that out once you’re more used to things here,” I said, avoiding the topic. A lot of things could go wrong if Noble came to Earth. “Speaking of entertainment,” I said, changing the subject, “I promised Kotone-san I’d bring back some manga for her. I’ll need some money for that too…”
When I told Kotone I was going back to Earth for a bit, she got down on her knees, sobbing as she begged me to bring her manga. Obviously, I couldn’t turn her down, but she asked for more volumes than I expected. She even asked me to get whatever manga were bestsellers right now.
“I’d like to bring Kotone-san here some time as well,” I said.
“I’m…not sure how I feel about her. She always acts so friendly with you. Do you think she likes you? She has to at least have some little feelings for you, I would imagine.”
“Don’t worry.” I smiled at Lunaère. She was a bit of a worrywart, and she could be a little jealous…but I thought that was cute too. “Lunaère-san. Just you and me, we’re going to see everything Earth has to offer. We’re going to make memories together… I want you to come to love the world I was born in.”
“I’m really looking forward to it, Kanata.”
Her smile was full and radiant.
We had to quickly come up with a way to make money on Earth and think of a way to deal with Lunaère’s lack of an identity. There were so many problems to deal with, and so many things I wanted to do, but I knew we would handle it.
And so, the story written by the higher beings came to a happy ending. But the end of my story was just the beginning of our story.