AtE Arc 2: The Magical Girl’s Commandments – Epilogue「Good work, cheers!!」
So.
With that, my daily life has somehow finally returned.
Having finished the clean-up of the confusion and clatter, we heroes from the same generation gathered in a private room of the bar "Ritsu", and were currently tilting our beer mugs.
The members were naturally, the leisurely alliance plus one.
Me, Shidou, and Nana – the three of us.
「Bufu-…obscene…exhibitionist…bu-…gu-…hii…hii…hiii」
「Nana! Smear wasabi on Shidou"s mouth!」
「It"s useless, Michi. This person is abnormally resistant against spiciness.」
「Gununununu.」
The moment we talked about the details of the story, this man, Kujou Shidou, held his stomach as he began to laugh out loud.
Even though he"s a chuunibyou with an ongoing illness, how rude of him to still have the capacity to laugh at me. How mortifying. I"m jealous.
In the end, that ritual was ended without us figuring out the purpose for it.
As a result of having liberated Kurume-sensei, time within him regressed. He returned to being the kind teacher that he was before his personality completely flipped when he became a devil. Naturally, his memories were those from before he turned into a devil. He only had memories of the first of the three years he spent here after moving to this post from Kyushu"s Tokusen, his alma mater that he graduated from and was first employed at.
But, as long as he has "reverted", we can make a conjecture. He, who originally worked so that ESPers wouldn"t receive discrimination, was transformed into an advocate of discrimination. It can be a.s.sumed that when he turned into a devil, everything that he desired was completely reversed.
I let out all the unpleasant emotions that had built up in my chest. I tossed a norimaki* that was characteristic of the conveyor belt sushi restaurant/bar, and then washed it down with beer. With my belly full, I felt completely refreshed——is what didn"t happen, of course.
*T/N: Norimaki = vinegared rice rolled in nori (laver)
In order to dispel the gloomy feeling, I glared at Shidou, who was still laughing, but he laughed even louder than before. G.o.ddammit.
The man known as Kujou Shidou may be a self-alleged chuunibyou, but that was only to the guys from the same generation. The people who call themselves his fans, all say things on the lines of "Shidou-san is seriously cool-su", so I was surprised.
No, I also, or rather, Lapi also has fans, you know? But since I"m being treated as "someone who returned to the sky", they"ve gone past being fans, and turned it into a faith. Yup…….yup.
「But, I wonder if you can do something about that restriction.」
「That"s right, Michi. If you wish it as "something that is necessary to save people in public", won"t it work out?」
「……I"ve already tried that. However, though it was a little light, a thought like "shyness is indispensable for a Magical Girl" came from Stick, so it seems it was treated as a selfish desire.」
「……wouldn"t it be better to just break it? That staff.」
「It was impossible.」
「I-I see.」
Even I have thought about breaking it on several occasions.
But this Stick, even though it bends when you wave it around, there aren"t any signs of it breaking. It was just a vicious cycle that pointlessly used up stamina. Just what the heck did I do?
「Uuu…why…why must I be treated as an obscene exhibitionist, called a pervert, and have people falling on their backsides as they draw back! It"s absolutely absurd……」
「Bufu-…ku…kuku-」
「Shidou, shut up for a bit. It"s okay, Michi. n.o.body died, and Kurume-sensei doesn"t remember anything, so didn"t everything work out peacefully in the end? That"s all thanks to Michi, and even if n.o.body recognizes Michi for her efforts, I"ll always praise Michi in their stead, and even beyond that.」
Next to Shidou, who was convulsing, Nana smiled kindly.
What, he really has become a great man, gosh.
「Nana……thanks. Have I…made you fuss over me?」
「It"s because I want to fuss over you that I am. Don"t mind it.」
This isn"t good. Even though I"m the Onee-chan, I"m always the one being consoled.
「……ah, right. Michi, I"m gonna take a bit of a vacation and return "home".」
「Okay, got it……wait, wha-?」
「On that note, while I"m gone, don"t do anything weird, Shidou.」
「Ha ha ha, can"t guarantee that.」
「…….geez.」
Eh? Eh? Home?
Why so suddenly?
「Because of what happened this time, I felt ill-prepared. It"s a good opportunity.」
Seeing me dart my eyes about, Nana gave a wry smile while saying thus.
Ahh, I see, preparation, is it? Preparations.
It"s true that Nana"s the type of ability user that needs a number of those sorts of "preparations". Depending on the presence or absence of those preparations, the breadth of his ability widens considerably.
「For a special type of ability user like myself, increasing the range of my potential support is more profitable after all.」
「Ahh…pretty much. For a manifestation type like me, arranging a certain something and controlling the ability is everything, so I don"t need any preparations.」
「That"s nice……since for a coexistence type like me, all I can do is rely on the evolution of my ability, so there isn"t really much flexibility.」
Ability Users like Nana, whose being had a "special disposition" and upbringing lead to a "special capability", held a "special technical skill", are called "Special Types (Skill Types)".
Ability Users like Shidou, who manifested various phenomenons by themselves, and by understanding and controlling that ability, were able to increase their application of it, are called "Manifestation Types (Ability Types)".
Ability Users like me who manifest a special existence from within, or perhaps have a parasite that grows together with them and evolves, are called "Coexistence Types (Carrier Types)".
The seven heroes were divided into types with a relatively good balance.
That was why they rose when the world fell into crisis – or so it may have been.
「Michi, your pace is too fast.」
「It"s fine. When I"m drinking with you guys, there"s no need to worry about it.」
Even if I have memories from my previous life, my body still got relatively strained by emotions and other things.
Since a really young age, during the lonely times, the sad times, and the happy times, I"ve always been with these guys. So on the contrary, putting up my guard with them would be difficult.
「Ahh, geez, it can"t be helped. I"ll try to make it so that you don"t end up with a hangover, so rest for a bit.」
「Uu-……kay.」
Nana who nestled close to me, and Shidou who watched over me.
Although it felt like I ended up sleeping through things every time, I wish that this alone would be overlooked for a bit.
Because I"m sure that other than by their…by the side of my friends, there was no place where I could feel calmer.
When Michi lay her head on the table and began to gently snore*, Nana took off her gla.s.ses, and put a hand on her head.
*T/N: For lack of better word. She"s not actually "snoring" per se, but sleep breathing? Basically just the gentle slow breathing one has when they sleep.
By adjusting the "flow", Nana"s power was capable of removing the negative effects of alcohol.
「So? How was it really? Tokusen, that is.」
Shidou"s atmosphere changed, but Nana didn"t show any signs of being perturbed as he shrugged his shoulders.
「It"s strange. The "flow" is fluctuating. It"s as if fate itself has been predetermined.」
「Tsk……I wouldn"t really care if it was the other guys, but for it to happen to Michi out of all people.」
「With her in the centre, a new flow is trying to begin………it hasn"t started yet.」
「Is that why you started working there? Nana.」
「Pretty much.」
Saying that, Nana looked at Michi lovingly.
However, within the depths of his eyes were sadness and a hint of pity.
「I also want to help out but……for 3 heroes – two according to the public – to gather in a single place will take some time. Until then, I"ll be leaving it to you, Nana.」
「Well, the "flow" hasn"t become that rough yet. Before then, finish up your preparations, Shidou.」
To Nana, Shidou was an irreplaceable comrade.
But when it came to Michi, he held both vigilance and trust towards Shidou.
That was surely the same for Shidou as well. Though he had enough trust in Nana to leave things to him for now, he wouldn"t stop trying to intervene himself, even if it was rash.
In that sense, the two truly were rivals.
「I"ve talked to Hiroto. Well, we probably can"t expect him to settle things too quickly, so the others will probably work to adjust the balance for that part.」
「For a "Tripper", that"d be the case. But it"s rea.s.suring. On this side, I"ll at least try contacting Tokiko-san, but since she"s a busy person, we"ll see what happens.」
「Ahh, Anego*, is it? I"ll leave that to you. All that"s left is the Old Man but……well, I"ll at least try telling him. Probably won"t be able to reach him anyhow.」
*T/N: Anego = older sister (much more casual form, often used by gangsters)
「I"ll leave it to you.」
They were trying to gather the seven people who once saved the world.
Whether he liked it or not, having been made aware of the world"s changes, Nana restrained his restless heart.
「Michi. I won"t let you carry the burden alone. We"ll definitely——together, let"s break apart destiny.」
Sealing a single promise in his chest, Nana gripped his fist strongly.
It was as if he were a n.o.ble warrior, pledging to fight against fate——.
Translator Comments:
Where do I even start…? Well, maybe a screenshot of this would explain my biggest grievance.
Did you see that? You saw that, right? That’s right, it’s GREEK. FREAKING GREEK. The Katakana was literally GREEK!!! It took a while to figure out, but thanks to XCrossJ and Google-sensei, we somehow managed to figure out it was (supposed to be) Greek. Funny thing is, the j.a.panese doesn’t really correspond to the meaning in Greek, but it also kinda does…but doesn’t…you get the point. *sigh* What’s worse, not all of Nana’s spells are in Greek. The last one he uses, Attourini, is probably just random gibberish, seeing as I didn’t see it in any j.a.panese-Greek site. Not that there are many of those to begin with. But hey, if any readers that perhaps know Greek can recognize whatever it’s supposed to be, please help.
I sincerely hope the author doesn’t start pulling out other languages for the spells of other characters…even j.a.panese spells are a pain to translate. But hey, hopefully if the author does do that, it’ll at least be a language I know how to type in. Something of Latin origins, please! No wait, just stick to English…or j.a.panese… *sobs*
Well, enough of that rant. I hope everyone had a great Lunar New Year, and perhaps a great Valentine’s Day(riajuus explode!)/Singles Awareness Day!
For this time’s discussion, hmm……well, go wild~