Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (LN) - Volume 13 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue 

Satou here. Whenever I visited my family in the boonies after getting a job, I was always shocked by how much my young cousins had grown. Children really do grow up so fast. 

“Great work, everyone.” 

When I called out to my victorious companions, they all came running up to me. 

I proudly congratulated them on their defeat of the floormaster. 

“Nya-ha-haaa?” 

“We did our best, sir!” 

There was no trace of the Tama and Pochi who had once trembled fearfully in front of a crowd throwing rocks. 

If they came across a situation like that now, I was sure they’d be able to take justice into their own hands. 

“I know. I was watching the whole time.” 

I patted the pair on their heads as Tama grinned and Pochi’s tail wagged. 

Tama rubbed her head into my hand, as if I wasn’t petting her enough. 

“Victory.” 

Mia held up her small hands in a V sign as Arisa had taught her, so I patted her lightly, too. 

“Thanks for taking on such a big task, Mia.” 

Instead of using a powerful behemoth, Mia had used a plain but effective sand giant to block the enemy’s attacks and make it easier for the rest of the group to strike. 

“Mm.” 

Mia nodded, looking satisfied. 

“…Liza, your finger is bleeding.” 

Liza’s pinkie finger appeared to have been injured during her last special move. 

I quickly used Water Magic to heal her wound. 

“Thank you very much, master.” 

As she thanked me, Liza’s tail was waving back and forth proudly. 

I put a hand lightly on her shoulder to avoid making things uncomfortable and praised her efforts. “You’ve gotten really strong.” 

Moments like this are rare opportunities to say that sort of thing. 

“Y…yes, master… It’s all thanks to you.” 

Her voice shook, and I looked over to find that tears were flowing down her cheeks. 

For just a second, I thought maybe I had phrased my compliment wrong, but her expression suggested that they were tears of gratitude. 

“I always feel safe entrusting the group to you, Liza. Keep up the good work.” 

“…Of course. I shall do whatever I can.” 

I handed Liza, still crying, a handkerchief. 

“Master, praise me, too, I request.” 

Nana pushed up close to me next. 

She was still wearing her sturdy metal armor, so having her chest pressed against me wasn’t exactly thrilling. 

“Nana, you did great protecting everyone.” 

“Yes, master.” 

Nana was expressionless as always, but the corners of her lips looked to me as if they were faintly upturned. 

“Lulu.” 

“Y-yes, sir!” 

Lulu stood anxiously at attention, fiddling nervously with her bangs. 

I was a little tempted to tease her by saying, You’ve gotten very pretty, but this wasn’t the time for such a childish joke. 

“Your speed and accuracy were really amazing.” 

If I was speaking to Arisa, I could say something like, ’Grats on the last hit, but I figured the refined Lulu wouldn’t be particularly pleased by praise like that. 

“Thanks for using difficult equipment like the Acceleration Gun so well.” 

“No, no, it’s all thanks to you, master!” 

Lulu covered her face with her hands modestly. 

Maybe I should be complimenting her a little more often to help her get used to it. 

“Arisa…” 

Arisa turned to me, looking dissatisfied. 

Seeing how depressed she was, I couldn’t bring myself to try comforting her on not getting a chance to shine at the end. 

“…You were great at strategizing and giving orders. It’s thanks to your magic and words that nobody got shaken up after the lightning flash.” 

The rest of the group nodded in agreement. 

“Awww, really? Eh-heh-heh, it’s kind of embarrassing to get such a serious compliment…” 

Arisa’s reaction turned silly in an effort to hide her shyness. 

She might be even less used to being complimented than her older sister, Lulu. 

“All right! Let’s check out the loot!” 

“Aye!” “Sir!” 

Arisa made a loud announcement to distract from her embarrassment, and everyone chimed in their agreement. 

Since we were celebrating their victory, I called the elf teachers over to join us in admiring the spoils from the battle. 

“Traaaps…” 

A giant treasure chest had appeared at the altar, but as Tama observed, it was armed with several traps. 

“It’s loaded with paralyzing poison, nerve poison, and regular poison, plus a magical binding trap, an alarm that summons monsters, and even a bomb.” 

What a nasty bunch of traps. 

And on top of that, it was set up so that all the traps would activate if the treasure chest was moved. 

“Geh, it’s like one of those old dungeon-crawler RPGs.” 

Arisa looked stumped as she reminisced about old-fashioned RPGs. 

“True. It might be difficult to disarm this the proper way.” 

“The proper way? You mean you’ve got a sneaky way of doing it, as usual?” 

“Of course.” 

I put the whole treasure chest into Storage, then placed its contents onto a carpet spread on the floor. I even displayed the coins, gems, and normal jewelry in fancy treasure chests. There was a fair amount of cursed equipment, too, so I put those in a separate box. 

For some reason, the shadowfolk Mr. Seoru was holding a bunch of tools, looking disappointed. 

Maybe he had been planning to help us disarm the traps on the treasure chest. 

“Woooow, byooti-fuuulll?” 

“Amazingly amazing, sir! Liza, look, it’s so, so pretty, sir!” 

“Yes, I see that.” 

Tama’s and Pochi’s eyes glittered every bit as much as the treasures they were gazing at. Liza smiled down at them gently, in an almost motherly fashion. 

“Ohhh, there’s some Magic Swords and armor.” 

“Mm. Staffs. Clothes.” 

Arisa and Mia examined the equipment laid out on the carpet. 

There were at least a dozen magic items of all shapes and sizes and magical accessories in similar numbers. 

There were some magic tools as well, but most of them had a limited number of uses, and only a few had unlimited effects. 

“Is this a magic tool, too?” 

Lulu gazed at a statue inlaid with a crystal ball. 

“I detect magic power, I confirm.” 

Nana was right: The item Lulu was holding was apparently a two-way communication device. 

There were other rare objects, too, like one-use item-analyzing papers and charms that could seal cursed objects. 

“Hey, master…” 

As we were analyzing the goods, Arisa came over to me. 

“How did you fight the demon lord? We felt the tremors…” 

“Mostly magic. I used a Meteor-like spell to beat him in the end, so maybe the vibrations from that reached here?” 

“Oh, huh. Meteor…” 

Arisa looked impressed for a moment by my simple explanation; then her face froze. 

“…M-m-master?” 

Her expression blank and voice quivering, Arisa grabbed me by the collar. 

She seemed to want to talk in private. I leaned my ear close to her lips. 

“B-by ‘Meteor,’ you don’t mean…that starfall was you?” 

“Yeah. You saw that, too?” 

“Uh-huh, we watched it from the mountains before we entered Seiryuu County—I mean, hang on!” Arisa’s voice pitched higher. “Master, you can seriously use crazy magic like that?” 

“Sure, but I normally keep it sealed off, since it’s pretty dangerous.” 

I nodded and decided to clarify a little. 

“But that’s the only spell I have that’s that powerful. The rest are mostly intermediate spells I learned from scrolls.” 

I really needed to master “Chant” already so I could use greater spells and the spells I’d developed for myself. 

I’d been practicing every morning and evening, but maybe I should start doing it in my free time during the day, too. 

“Master…are the people aboveground all right?” 

“I am worried about the larvae, I report.” 

Lulu and Nana seemed concerned about the people of Labyrinth City. The other kids felt the same way, of course. 

“I used a City Core barrier to stop the shock waves and sandstorms, so there shouldn’t be any damage to Labyrinth City. I’ll check with Space Magic, just to be safe.” 

As I spoke, I activated Clairvoyance and Clairaudience. 

The young maids in the mansion looked anxious, but Miss Miteruna and the older maids appeared fine, so there didn’t seem to be a problem. 

At the orphanage, while the teachers and young children seemed a little nervous, the older kids were already plotting to go collect pieces of the meteors that had fallen in the desert. 

It sounded like a fun fantasy adventure, but there were dangers on the way, like the forest of evil veria and the mountains at the border. I would have to stop them before they put their plan into action. 

The explorers’ school students and teachers were going about business as usual; they seemed more focused on their training than the distant meteor shower. 

“Looks like everyone we know in Labyrinth City is fine.” 

“Oh, good.” 

“Thank you, master, I declare.” 

Once I’d reported back to the group, I checked in on the rest of my own friends. 

Some of the explorers in the guild were exclaiming that a demon lord had appeared, but the likes of Mr. Dozon and Mr. Jelil kept them in check. 

The sharpshooter Miss Helmina of the Eight Swordsmen of Shiga and her company, who I’d teleported with the City Core, were on their way to Labyrinth City. They were passing right by the overlook tower at the mountainous border, so they must have already reported to the nation. 

Which might explain why the politicians and priests who’d received their report were causing a far bigger uproar than the citizens on the street. 

At any rate, it would probably be best to relate the appearance and subsequent defeat of the demon lord to the top brass as soon as possible. 

“Your Majesty, do you have a sec?” 

I used the Space Magic spell Telephone to connect to the Shiga king and spoke to him in the tone of Nanashi the Hero. 

“Ances—I mean, Lord Nanashi!” 

As usual, he still seemed to think that Nanashi and the ancestral king Yamato were one and the same. 

“Sounds like you already know that the Dogheaded Demon Lord appeared in the desert, then?” 

“D-Doghead?! The demon lord that appeared is that legendary devil?!” 

The king of the Shiga Kingdom sounded like he might faint. 

“Yeah.” 

“S-so the beginning of the end of the world has come…” 

He choked back a sob of despair. 

Oops. I should’ve opened with the fact that I’d won. 

“Don’t worry about it. I already beat him.” 

“…Pardon?” 

“Remember? A demon lord appeared, so I took him down like I promised.” 

“What an incredible feat! Only you could accomplish such a thing, anc—erm, Lord Nanashi. How am I ever to express my gratitude?” 

“A simple thank-you would suffice.” 

I didn’t need any money or peerage. 

“Well, see ya next time I’m in town.” 

I cut off the Telephone spell without waiting for the king’s response, lest he try to talk my ear off. 

It was certainly rude, but that was the personality Nanashi the Hero was supposed to have, so it shouldn’t be a problem. 

At any rate, that should take care of the politicians. 

“What do you want to eat to celebrate your victory?” 

We would have to cover up the time saved with teleporting and other shortcuts before we returned to the surface. I figured we should wait at least five days, so I decided we could have a celebration at the labyrinth hot springs with only close friends until then. 

“Meeeat?” 

“Meat is the best, sir!” 

Tama and Pochi piped up cheerfully. 

“Mrrr. Mushroom steaks.” 

“Omelet rice, I declare.” 

“Perhaps fried chicken or chicken skewers would be appropriate?” 

“I want sukiyaki and tuna and blowfish sashimi and matsutake rice!” 

“Tama wants fried shrimp and hamburg steeeaks?” 

“Pochi wants Mr. Hamburg and a thick Mr. Steak, too, sir!” 

When Mia, Nana, Liza, and Arisa all proposed specific dishes, Tama and Pochi hurriedly added on their own requests. 

They sure knew what they liked. 

“What about you, Lulu?” 

“I-I’d eat anything you make for us, master!” 

I pressed Lulu for her request, but that was the most I could get out of her besides a sheepish smile. 

“Of course, I’ll make it myself. We’re celebrating your victory, after all.” 

At that, the other kids cheered excitedly, not only Lulu. 

It wasn’t a bad feeling to get a reaction like that. 

At this point, Lulu’s cooking was just about as tasty as mine, but I decided to really flex my cooking muscles and make them a true feast. 

“I’d be happy to help!” 

“Tama too!” 

“Pochi will help, too, sir!” 

When Lulu offered to help, Tama and Pochi quickly posed behind her. 

“Please allow me to take care of the dishes and vegetable peeling.” 

“I shall cut out star shapes, I declare.” 

Liza’s offer was one thing, but I wasn’t sure if Nana’s was actually helpful or just her personal preference. 

“Well, I’ll cheer you all on with Mia.” 

“Mm. Concert.” 

“Live music from Mia? Now, that’s a treat.” 

“Maybe I’ll sing along, then?” 

It wasn’t exactly chill beats to work and study to like on a certain video website, but a song from Mia and Arisa would definitely make cooking fun. 

“Are we celebrating in the vacation house?” Arisa asked. 

“Yeah, I thought we could party with friends in the labyrinth hot springs.” 

“Master, I wish to celebrate with the larvae as well, I report.” 

“Don’t worry. Once we go back aboveground, we’ll have another celebration.” 

We wouldn’t be returning for at least five days, so I figured we could celebrate and relax in the labyrinth hot springs for a while to recover from all the training and battling. 

“All right, let’s get going, then.” 

My companions and I joined hands, and we teleported with Return away from the battlefield and back to everyday life. 

After all was said and done, nothing beat a nice, relaxing time with friends.