“All right, I’m counting on you, Shiraishi.”
“Sure thing, Kondou! I’ll make sure to deliver it to your parents in person!”
“No, you can just put a stamp on it and send it by post.”
Dressed in the same high school uniform she was wearing when she first arrived, Yua took Seiichirou’s letter during the ceremony.
In the end, she chose to return to her original world.
But she was not turning her back on this one.
“Yua…” Clad in a formal white outfit, Yurius called out Yua’s name in a strangled whisper.
“Yurius.”
Yua’s expression, however, was bright and jubilant.
Right there in the middle of the Holy Maiden’s returning ceremony, she ran up to Yurius and grasped his hands tightly.
“It’s going to be okay. I swear I’ll come back. When I grow up, I’ll send a signal to this world. Wait for me until then, okay?”
Indeed. Yua’s ultimate decision was to return, and then say her goodbyes to those around her once she had reached adulthood.
It was very much a “have your cake and eat it, too” kind of choice, but Seiichirou thought that she deserved it after being kidnapped as a minor. By “when I grow up,” she was talking about turning twenty, the age of majority in Japan. This was now two years away. Being a high schooler when she left, she had a lot of catching up to do when it came to living in adult society, and she knew it. That was part of what she meant when she talked about “growing up” first.
Bringing her back to this world would cost the same as a fresh summoning. It would be a long while before Seiichirou could realize his plan of traveling back and forth, but he was an adult. He could put up with it.
Meanwhile, Yurius was twenty-two years old, which meant that he would be twenty-four in two more years. That was quite late to get married in this world. Two years was a precarious amount of time for a future king to stay unmarried, but that was his and Yua’s problem to deal with. Seiichirou wished them well. He figured that Yurius would deal with the nobles’ aggressive “advice” to get married with the help of the Second Royal Order’s commander.
Since the Holy Maiden’s returning ceremony required vast magical energy, the Sorcery Department, the Third Royal Order, and even members of the church were present. They’d managed to shave a fraction of the cost with the large store of magic stones they’d received from Egorova over the past year—which also explained why a small group of trustworthy Egorovan sorcerers had joined the ceremony to study it for future reference. The group included Lufina, who was an exchange student at Sigma’s school.
“Stand back, Seiichirou,” Aresh told him, to which he obliged. Although he had a barrier around him, getting hit with a vast amount of magic would render it moot.
Even as Seiichirou moved, Aresh kept a hand on his shoulder. He was pouting, too.
“Does it still bother you?” Seiichirou asked. Over the past year, they’d had many discussions, arguments, and reconciliations.
“I swear… I’ll send you back one day.”
“I know you will. I know it will be a long while yet, but…won’t you come with me, when that day comes? To see my hometown.”
The man in black, known among the gentry as “the Ice Nobleman,” had distinctive purple eyes that went wide at Seiichirou’s comment.
Seiichirou could not help but snort at such an unguarded show of astonishment. “What’s so surprising? I’ve been to your hometown and said hello to your parents, so why can’t you do the same?”
“It’s not so simple…”
“Heh. If you’re talking about the budget, don’t sweat it. I might not look it, but I’m quite good with money.” Seiichirou was quite proud of how he had managed to trim the budget of the returning spell.
Seeing his partner looking so happy with himself, a broad smile came over Aresh’s face.
“I figured that one out a long time ago.”
They were talking about something still far in the future, and which might not even come to fruition at all. But when Seiichirou imagined what it would be like to show Aresh the sky, trees, and land of the world he had grown up in, he smiled.
The other world’s books—and the original world’s books—depended on the bean counter…