Some time after the duel, I returned to my own time period. The excess Namidare power within me that was originally from Sith’s world was now gone, and it had taken a great deal with it. For example, the destruction wrought on my hometown by the extremists was completely undone.
Several days after I returned home, the doctor sent me a sitrep. While I personally hadn’t ever engaged with her as a heroine, I knew her as the king of Laputa in my timeline. Thanks to that, she remained one of future Rekka’s heroines even after his past normalized. Now, as for the sitrep she’d sent me, it contained all kinds of news. And I was grateful to get it since I didn’t have any other way of knowing what was going on in the future.
First and foremost, the War of All was over. More precisely, it was gone. Like it never happened. Iris’s father was alive and well, and future Rekka was never kidnapped by Yuuhi. He was, however, frequently absent because he was using the time translocator nearly every day to save the heroines he’d lost. He was still immortal because of the vampire blood he’d taken in, but he was pushing himself beyond human limits to get everyone back as soon as possible. To ease the burden on him, future Satsuki and many of the other future heroines were lending him a hand.
Then there was Yuuhi. After everything that had happened, she crossed back into Maine’s world once to visit. Apparently both she and her world had undergone massive changes too. According to the doctor, Yuuhi was a lot more feminine now. She’d been through a lot because of losing her Namidare power... And, well, now that all that had been resolved, I guess certain changes were to be expected.
She still seemed to retain at least vague memories of what happened, however, which was why she’d come to Maine’s world to thank everyone. The doctor even mentioned that she wanted to visit my timeline sometime to thank me too. I personally thought it was enough for her to thank my future self, but I was looking forward to seeing her again when she did drop by.
As for everything else, the various other effects of the alterations were vast and complex. Listing them all out would take far too long and be far too difficult to explain, so they were thusly omitted—that’s what the doctor said. And that was the extent of her report.
“Well, I guess this counts as a happily ever after.”
“Sure seems like it.”
After I finished reading the report, the words I muttered to myself were met with a retort from the peanut gallery. I mean, she was the one who’d delivered the report, but still.
“Hey, R...”
“Yes?”
“Why are you still here?”
“Wow!” she exclaimed, reacting with exaggerated shock to my rather reasonable question. “To think you’ve become such a cold-hearted man... Would you really abandon a little girl like me after everything we’ve been through together?”
“Um, I didn’t mean that,” I relented, scratching my head. “But the War of All is over, right? So you’ve been relieved of your duty, right?”
R’s original mission was to get me to settle down with a heroine in order to prevent the War of All. But now that the War of All wouldn’t happen, she should be free. So what was she doing here in my house, visible to only me and wearing her typical military uniform?
“You even said I could come visit every now and then.”
“Yeah, I know I did, but... No matter how I look at it, you look like you’re on duty right now, you know?”
I’d happily welcome her for a friendly visit, but I really couldn’t get over the way she was dressed. Nothing screams “serious business” quite like a military uniform.
“Oh, I wanted to inform you of that myself, so I asked the doctor not to include it in the report.”
“Huh? Inform me of what?”
R wanted to tell me something herself? Curious as to what it was, I sat back in my chair, ready to hear her out.
“Ahem,” she coughed, clearing her throat before beginning. “In short, the agency held a meeting the other day.”
“The agency did?”
“Indeed. And at said meeting, it was decided that the surveillance of Rekka Namidare would continue. Congratulations.”
“H-Hah?” I could barely comprehend what she was saying, and my stupefied voice reflected that. “Wh-What do you mean?”
“Well, you know how you got that outrageous new power at the end of the story?”
“Y-Yeah? You mean the power to pull other heroines into my story, right?”
“I mean that exactly. As it turns out, it’s actually a bit of an issue.”
“How so?”
“Well, to put it simply, now that you have this new power... You could end up with the same number of heroines that future Rekka did, or perhaps even more considering the discovery of Sith’s world.”
“...So what?”
“So you’ll likely save more heroines than anticipated.”
“...And?”
“How dull do you have to be to not see where this is going?”
“...”
Truthfully, I had an idea of what she was getting at. But I didn’t really want to hear it. Nevertheless, R pressed onward.
“In essence, with a surging number of heroines and a cowardly Rekka who can’t necessarily manage them all... Chances are higher than ever that the War of All will break out after all.”
“Is the agency stupid?!”
Their insulting conclusion on the situation made me reflexively spit words of insult right back.
“How the hell did it come back to this?! Do they not realize everything we just did to make sure the War of All wouldn’t happen?!”
“Now, now... No one’s denying your accomplishments,” R said like she was trying to calm a raging bull.
“And besides, Yuuhi’s not meddling in things and trying to make our world miserable anymore. No matter how many heroines end up by my side, the War of All will never happen again.”
“It’s true that last War of All originated from Yuuhi meddling behind the scenes...” R clasped her hands behind her back with a mysterious look on her face. “However, discord and envy need not be sown by a third party. In fact, they’re a rather common occurrence between two people who like the same person.”
“Ugh!”
“In other words, whether Yuuhi is around or not, the greater the number of heroines you save... the greater the chances are the War of All will still occur. You’re already responsible for one little apocalypse.”
And by that, R was referring to the time Rachelle nearly incited the apocalypse by fanning the flames of jealousy between the heroines and turning them against each other. And Yuuhi wasn’t even around back then... I was loathe to admit it, but maybe the agency was on to something after all.
“Hey, wait just a minute! If you have to keep someone under surveillance, shouldn’t it be future Rekka?! How fast is he saving heroines now?!”
“Don’t worry. L is keeping tabs on him as well.”
“O-Oh...”
Someone had already anticipated that objection, apparently.
“Incidentally, she was quite unhappy about her assignment. She was adamant about wanting to be here instead, so she and I may switch places from time to time. Nothing permanent.”
“Okay... Fine.”
I had no energy left to object and raised both my hands in surrender. Seeing me like that made R giggle.
“I’m looking forward to working with you again, Rekka.”
“Likewise, R.”
As soon as I said that, the doorbell downstairs rang.
“Oh, it sounds like someone’s come calling right away,” R mused, encouraging me to go answer the door. “I wonder if it’s Satsuki or one of the other girls. Or perhaps it’s a new heroine who’s already found her way to you.”
Things were back to normal... No, R was revolving around me in circles, seemingly more excited than she’d ever been before. In the end, we were only separated for a few days, huh? Truth be told, I’d gotten pretty used to her being around since this spring... I didn’t mind having her back at all.
“Coming!”
Harissa was out shopping at the moment, so I went to get the door. Who would be on the other side? I wouldn’t know until I opened it, just the same as I wouldn’t know what the future held in store until I met it.
And so I opened the door like flipping the page of a book. After all, we were about to start the next chapter in the story of Rekka Namidare.
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