Epilogue
Part 1
---[Underwood] Main VIP room, Great Tree Water Gate
Two days later, Leticia finally came to. Perhaps it was the noise of the nearby Water Gate that was so loud that it awoke her.
“……ah, you’ve awoken?”
The person before her, watching over her while she was out of it was Kasukabe Yō who displayed a normal quiet air around her as she sat beside the bed while grooming Calico Cat’s fur.
“……I---“
“There’s nothing out of the ordinary with your body, just that you’ve been sleeping for two to three days.”
Yō gave Calico’s chin a scratch.
“……Could it be that you’ve been waiting here for me to awaken all this time?”
“Not all this time but as much as possible. Since you were out of it, wouldn’t it be really disorienting and worrying if you were to wake up to find no one around you? So we had been taking shifts to sit here beside you.”
“……taking shifts?” Leticia got up slightly from her bed as she asked.
Just then, Kuro Usagi suddenly burst into the room with a “Klunk!”
“Yō-san! I’ve come to change shifts with you……Ah! Leticia-sama! You’ve awoken!”
“Nn. I just did.”
“Is… Is that so….?! Then Kuro Usagi will now call everyone to come over!”
Kuro Usagi gave a happy shout before rushing out of the room.
Watching how lively and noisy she was, Leticia couldn’t help but feel an indescribable sense of nostalgia.
“During the time that I was chained to the throne, I had already prepared myself for death……Really. I’ve underestimated you guys.”
“That’s right. So Leticia must serve us well from now on……for we are comrades of the same Community after all.”
Yō seemed to smile shyly before standing up.
“Oh right, the Harvest Festival seems to be in the process of being re-hosted. Although the Underground city is wrecked quite badly, I heard that the stage will be based at the Great Tree and there will be various Gift Games of all sorts being hosted.”
“……Is that so? Hehe, that sounds promising.”
“Nn. I will also apply to participate in the <Hippocamp Riders>, so I will be leaving for now. I will be back with the others shortly.”
Yō gave a brilliant smile that Leticia had never seen before as she walked out.
Using a hand to cover that back that seemed to shine as bright as the Sun, Leticia’s tears pricked the sides of her eyes.
“……I see. So my Sun doesn’t only exist in the skies.”
Holding onto the fulfilling and blessed feeling in her heart, Leticia entered the world of the dreams once more.
The next time that she awoke was the start of the Harvest Festival. Leticia thought of walking with her comrades who shone as brightly as the Sun towards their tomorrow as she allowed herself to be carried freely into the folds of sweet dreams.
Part 2
---[Underwood] Harvest Festival General Headquarters.
“Izayoi-san! Jin-bocchan! Leticia-sama has awaken!”
*Klunk!* Kuro Usagi pushed open the doors while charging in energetically.
In the General Headquarters, there was still another person besides Izayoi and Jin---the female assistant of [Thousand Eyes] gave a cold glare to welcome Kuro Usagi.
“…… You are still so presumptuous and free aren’t you?”
“Well, just overlook it. After all that is just a part of Kuro Usagi’s charm.”
The female shop assistant gave a sigh while Izayoi had that slight smile on his face as usual.
Not expecting to see the female shop assistant in this place, Kuro Usagi blushed red to her rabbit ears in embarrassment while greeting the female shop assistant:
“It’s…It’s been a while hasn’t it? I didn’t expect you to participate in the Harvest Festival……”
“No. I’ve just arrived at [Underwood] and it’s because I’m being dispatched from [Thousand Eyes] as a special message bearer.” The female shop assistant straightened her posture at that point.
Come to look at it, she did look different today with her resplendent kimono unlike her usual dressing of an apron and dress, and had even put on some light make-up that wouldn’t cause others to feel distasteful when looking at it.[55]
Taking out a classical rolled scroll document, the shop assistant gave an exaggerated clearing of her throat---
“Shiroyasha-sama has decreed ‘For the accomplishments of everyone present here in this crusade against the Demon Lord, I will be gifting you a reward’.”
“What? Besides the subordination of Leticia, there’s still another reward?”
“Yes. Originally, the subordination of Demon Lord Leticia and the Authority over Ophiuchus were supposed to go together……but the Constellation is only something that can be loaned to the [Floor Master] to be used and naturally won’t be given to a mere Community. Hence this reward based on your merits will be a way to compensate for that reason.”
I see. Izayoi nodded his head in understanding. Lazily leaning on the back of the chair, Izayoi had not thought for anything that he really wanted and he turned his gaze to the other two.
“Kuro Usagi and ochibi-sama, do you have anything that you want?”
“Kuro…Kuro Usagi has nothing that she wants. Moreover, this time she didn’t really participate in the Game.”
“Is that so? What about ochibi-sama?”
“Yes there is.”
Jin gave a quick answer, seeming to have awaited for the question. And that caused Izayoi to feel a little surprised and intrigued.
Leaning forward towards the long table, Izayoi asked in curiosity:
“It sure seems rare for ochibi-sama to want a reward. What’s this thing that ochibi-sama desires for?”
“Well…..It’s not like I really desire for it a lot. It’s just that we of the [No Name]s have been building up quite a reputation and I think that it’s about time that we moved on to the next step……”
Izayoi widened his eyes in surprise and the other two in the room were just as surprised as him.
Up till today, the [No Name]’s course of action and the method of reputation building has mainly been planned by Izayoi. And for Jin who wasn’t one who would usually speak up to give a suggestion on the proposed plans to talk about moving to the next step, it really was appalling.
Izayoi who maintained his earlier posture, gave a tilt of his head quizzically.
“……Ochibi-sama? What are you planning?”
The room was quiet at that point for it wasn’t only Izayoi who wanted to know the answer.
Seeming to feel a little awkward at the sudden focus on him, Jin gave a little cough before saying his request of the reward:
“There’s two things that I want:
One, to allow the [No Name] to rise to a six digit Community.
Two, to return the Community grounds and facilities that used to belong to the [No Name] in the Six-digit lands---that’s it.”
The trio frowned at that. Hearing the request, the reaction of the female shop assistant was not only that of a refusal but a stare at him in contempt.
“What a joke. If you wanted to rise to the Six digits, you cannot be without a Flag hanging from your Outer Gate. For a Nameless Community to request for such a special treatment---.”
“No, we will be creating a new Flag and it will not be under the situation where we will need to disband our original Community, but to prepare a new Flag.”
“Hah?” The female shop assistant’s tone and volume had gone up at that. And Kuro Usagi was also confused at that as she tilted her rabbit ears in a troubled expression.
Only Izayoi who had caught on to the plan gave a loud praise, having concurred to Jin’s suggestion:
“I see……you mean that method? Oh my, it might just work now! If it wasn’t for the fame that we have now, there wouldn’t be that method available for us.”
“Yes. It’s by using that method. We can create a Flag without having to disband our current Community.”
The both of them gave a nod to each other that seemed to assent with each other’s thoughts. Kuro Usagi and the female shop assistant who had yet to figure out what they were talking about looked at each other in doubt.
Izayoi gave a hearty laugh while telling the two confused people the answer:
“If we do not have a Flag of our own, we will just have to make one Flag of an organization of Communities to replace that empty space.”
“That’s right. That is our own way for [No Name] to obtain the Flag--- The Creation of an Alliance Flag.”
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