The Legacy of Babylon Part 2

Elze took me to the third training ground of the royal army. Elze and General

Leon often used this place to spar, and Elze, despite being an outsider, was able

to come and go here as she pleased. We had no trouble getting in thanks to

that.

It was still early, so nobody was training. Besides the odd bird's chirps, the

place was enveloped in absolute silence. Elze led me to the training grounds,

and I saw that we weren't alone.

"Yae? What are you doing here?"

"...Touya-dono. I have been waiting for you, I have." Yae sat in the middle of

the training field. Her blade was in front of her and her posture made it seem as

though she had been meditating for some reason. Suddenly, she opened her

eyes, grasped her blade, and stood up. She seemed slightly different to her

usual self.

"You're taking Linze as your wife, right?"

"Ah... Yes, indeed, that happens to be the case..." I turned around to see Elze

staring at me.

There's that glare again... Just how many times and from how many girls have

I received this glare in the last day or so? Then again, it's a matter concerning

her little sister, so it's not surprising she's so serious.

"So that makes you my brother-in-law, then?"

"Aha... Yes... I hope we get along well, indeed..." I hadn't really thought about

it, but she was right. Elze as a sister-in-law... Something is just plain off about

that.

"What do you think of Linze, then? Do you really like her?"

"...To be completely honest, I'm still unsure about that. I don't think I can say

that I love her, but the same goes for Yumina, too. Still, I definitely like her as a

person, and she's very important to me."

"And did she agree with that?"

"She did." Elze let out a sigh.

Is she disappointed? Shocked? At a loss for words? I can't tell... Elze briskly

scratched her head and repeatedly, but lightly, kicked the ground with her toes,

clearly irritated. Whoa, she's scaring me!

"That girl always had this side to her... Despite being such a scaredy-cat most

of the time, she's always been the type to be bold where it counts. She's the

complete opposite of me when it comes to that..."

"I am not too different in that regard, I am not. I am unable to become

determined without a proper push..."

What are they going on about now? Elze equipped the gauntlets she had on

her waist and smacked her fists together. The clang that echoed out was quite

noisy. Yae, too, placed her sword through her sash and fixed its position.

"Touya... I want you to fight us."

"Huh?!"

"If you win, we won't say anything about your relationship with Linze. But if

we win, you'll have to listen to our request." Wait, what?! How did it come to

this?! Am I being punished for something?! Yae unsheathed her sword,

seemingly ignoring my confusion.

"I borrowed this sword from Viscount Swordrick, I did. The edge of the blade

is rounded off. It should not be able to kill or even cut you, but shattering your

bones is well within the realm of possibility, it is." That information does

nothing to calm me down!

"Touya, use [Modeling] to dull Brunhild's blade as well."

"Wait! Before I do anything, can you tell me why I have to fight you two in the

first place?!"

"To be frank, Touya-dono. The both of us are the type of girls who need to do

this, we are. It's a matter of confronting our feelings. If you wish to call it

cowardly, so be it." I had no idea what she was talking about, but they clearly

had no intention of backing down. Alright, all I have to do is lose on purpose,

and...

"If you hold back, I'll never forgive you. I won't accept your relationship with

Linze, either. I'll never allow my sister to be with a man who refuses to get

serious when it matters."

Crap. She warned me against doing exactly what I was planning... Guess Elze

knows exactly how my superficial mind works.

Reluctantly, I did as I was told and used [Modeling] to round off Brunhild's

blade.

Guess I have no other choice, I'll just cast [Slip] the moment the fight begins,

and then...

"No Null magic allowed. You can't call it a fight if we just drop to the ground

the moment the battle starts. I won't use [Boost], either."

How the hell did she know exactly what was on my mind?! Holy shit, women

are scary!

"Touya-dono can use elemental magic, as well as ranged and melee

weaponry. We can only use melee weaponry, but there are two of us. That

seems fair, does it not?"

That means the only bullets I can use are the normal rubber ones. The impact

from those things can really rattle your bones, though, so it's not like they're

bad.

"I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage, though..."

"I am fully aware that we are asking a lot of you, we are. However, we need

an opportunity to take the next step." Once again, I had no idea what she was

saying, so I just sighed and steeled myself. I figured I'd play their game as long

as they needed me to.

"Are you ready?" I simply nodded, afraid to ask what I had to be ready for.

The next moment, Yae and Elze split up and closed in on me from two

separate angles. A pincer attack? Already?!

"Blade Mode!" I extended Brunhild into the shape of a blunted longsword,

then ran toward Yae. I could have easily parried her blade, but the same

couldn't be said of Elze's fists.

After crossing swords with Yae, I used the momentum to slip past her. I

turned around, took the New Model Army into my left hand, and fired all six

bullets at her.

I was brimming with confidence, certain all six shots would find their mark on

Yae's back, when Elze jumped into their path and held her left hand up high.

The gauntlet she wore was shining an emerald green.

A moment later, the bullets scattered into several uncertain directions.

"As long as they aren't magic, ranged attacks don't work on me." Crap, I

forgot! Her emerald gauntlet was imbued with a wind-type, barrier spell that

deflected all physical ranged attacks!

"Gun Mode! Reload!" I barraged them with all twelve bullets from both of my

guns in a desperate attempt to distract them and buy some time.

But Elze didn't seem to care. She charged at me while holding up her left

gauntlet.

"Blade Mode!" Elze's right fist closed in on me, but I was able to evade it. I

quickly changed Brunhild into a longsword again and launched a horizontal

slash at her. She evaded it, too, but it bought me some time to back away and

fix my stance.

"You are a naive fool!" Yae came lunging at me from right behind Elze. I had

no chance to distance myself. Hold on a sec! That'll definitely cut me, dulled

blade or not! I dodged to the side, preventing the tip of her blade from digging

into my shoulder. Then, I quickly turned around and tripped her over with my

leg, using her own momentum against her.

"Kuhh?!"

"Reload!" As Yae fell to the ground, I quickly aimed at her with the New

Model Army.

However, before I could pull the trigger, Elze attacked me with a kick, leaving

me with no other option than to back away.

"Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!" My spell made the ground

beneath their feet begin to freeze.

"Agh!" They deftly escaped and split up, coming at me from two angles again.

The rimy binding didn't even have a chance to take hold.

Crap! I'm at a clear disadvantage here! After all, it's not like I can do anything

that could seriously hurt them or anything!

"Whoa!" I evaded another straight punch from Elze. Yae was closing in on me,

too. At that moment, I closed my eyes and cast a spell.

"Shimmer forth, Light! Dazzling Brilliance: [Flash]!"

"Kh?!" The sudden burst of bright light made Yae stop in her tracks. I used the

opportunity to back away from them again. It was best for me to keep my

distance in a battle with those two. I was at the greatest advantage at longrange.

Once she recovered from the blinding flash, Yae reached for her hip, took out

her shortsword, and placed it in her free hand. What...? Yae lowered her

posture and charged toward me. Right when I was about to fire a feint or two

so I could make her back away, she actually threw the shortsword at me.

Whoa?! Who the hell throws their weapon like that?! Doesn't the sword

represent a samurai's soul?! Do shortswords not count or something?! I barely

dodged it by slightly moving my pelvis to the side. Ugh! It grazed me! Before

she could fix her posture, I fired all twelve of my loaded bullets at her. There's

no way she can dodge at this distance!

"Gah!!!" The strong rubber rounds made Yae fall to the ground. Despite that,

she was still able to launch a horizontal slash at me. It was something I could

easily evade, though.

But Elze was waiting for me, right at the spot I had jumped to. Crap, she's too

close! Her fists are way faster than my aim. Elze went all out and attacked me

with a right hook. I don't have any other choice! I bent my body and somehow

dodged her fist, let go of my guns, and grabbed her right hand. I used my

momentum to spin her around with her back facing toward me. Then, I put my

right elbow into her armpit and raised her up.

"Wha—?!" I threw her to the ground, and she made a noise that sounded like

a scream. I hadn't done a shoulder throw since school, but my body seemed to

remember the motions.

"Gah...!" Apparently, my technique wasn't good enough to properly damage

her. Elze quickly rose to her feet.

But by the time she was standing upright again, I had Brunhild trained on her.

We were so close that she couldn't redirect the bullets even if she wanted to.

It has a classic hold-up.

"Reload. I win."

"...Why aren't you shooting?"

"Because if you accept defeat, I won't need to." Firing at someone dear to me

didn't make me feel good. I made a mental note to apologize to Yae after the

battle.

"You're stupidly kind. Do you really think you can protect Linze and Yumina

with that mentality?"

"...That's just who I am."

"Heh, it sure is. Guess it's part of the reason why me and Yae fell in love with

you."

"...What?" What did she just... say? I, uh... What? My brain functions froze

up.

Just as I snapped out of my trance, I realized that Elze's right hand — the one

clad in the red gauntlet — was emitting a light. That gauntlet's ability was...

increasing destructive power, wasn't it?! Alright, if she really doesn't want to

fold, then I guess I can't go easy on her either. I aimed at Elze and pulled on

Brunhild's trigger. The battle was finished. Or so I thought.

"Wh—?!" I pulled the trigger a second time. It didn't fire. As it turned out, it

wasn't even loaded. What? Why? I'm pretty sure I reloaded... Oh...

Yae's actions from earlier finally made sense to me. The shortsword she threw

at me. She hadn't thrown it in order to harm me. When I dodged and it grazed

me, the fastener on my waist pouch had been sliced open.

My bullets had scattered out of it as I moved, and they had all ran out. My

reload was meaningless if there weren't any bullets within a radius of one

meter... I've been had.

With lightning-fast speed, Elze stepped to the side and launched her fist into

my chest.

"Gghuh?!" I tumbled to the ground, my consciousness fading.

◇ ◇ ◇

"W-We want you to treat us the same as Yumina and Linze!"

"...Huh?" I came back to my senses and, since I had lost, readied myself for

whatever their request was, but no amount of preparation could've been

enough for what they hit me with.

"W-Well, surely you understand th-that we... We do... Ohh... Y-You should be

the one to say it, Elze-dono!"

"H-Huh?! B-But I...! Ohh... W-Well, f-first up, uh... I-I-I also love you, Touya!"

"I-It is the same for me, i-it is!" They looked down, their faces flushed red.

...What the hell? Weren't we just fighting a moment ago? Now I'm being

confessed to? By two girls at once, even. What exactly is this?

"Treat you like Yumina and Linze...? What do you mean?"

"W-We also want to become your... w-wives... we do."

"Y-Y-You have to agree to this, you know?! Y-You lost the fight, fair and

square!" I pinched my cheek.

Well, that hurt. Not dreaming, then. Guess I've got four incoming brides, huh?

Wait! No no no no! Isn't that a bit too many?! But wait, Tokugawa Ienari had

more than forty concubines and over fifty children... Compared to that, I guess

that I... Wait! Comparing myself to him is insane! Seriously, that guy used to

harvest the... you-know-whats... of fur seals, turn them into powder, and drink

them for sexual vitality! He was even nicknamed the "Fur Seal General" because

of that. I don't want to be grouped with a guy like him! Damn it, Touya, stop.

You're going off on a stupid tangent.

"Are you two... really okay with that?"

"I don't mind. Nothing's gonna change my feelings for you, and if I can be

happy and others can be happy while loving the same person, then it's all good,

isn't it?" I remembered that Linze had said something similar the day before.

Those girls really were twins. Their thought patterns certainly matched up

sometimes.

"I love them all about as much as I love you, Touya-dono. If we can all become

your wives, then all is well, it is."

Man, the girls of this world sure have a low desire to monopolize their man.

Hmm... did they grow up to be like this because polygamy is the norm? Or wait,

maybe these girls are just odd? Normally, this would be the perfect setting for a

catfight... They don't really seem to be displaying much jealousy though, so it's

kinda weird. Well, not that it didn't exist. There was some slight envy, as

evidenced yesterday. Come to think of it, Linze might be the most jealous person

among them.

"S-So? What about you...?"

"Huh?"

"I-I'm asking about what you think of us!"

Oh, that. The recent barrage of romantic events made me feel a bit numb,

and that wasn't a good thing.

I had to tell them exactly how I felt.

"If I was forced to say whether I like or dislike you, then sure, I do like you.

You're both cute and have good personalities. But even so, I'm not sure if I can

say that I love either of you. Just as I said before, the same goes for Yumina and

Linze. I'm happy that you confessed your love to me, but I'm not sure if I can

accept you on good conscience with my feelings being so vague."

"But you accepted Yumina-dono and Linze-dono, did you not?"

"I wasn't lying when I said that I liked them, and there's no doubt that they're

important to me. They said they were fine with that, too."

Honestly, the concept of marriage is still pretty unreal to me. Hell, we aren't

even dating, so marriage shouldn't even be on our minds. My cousin skipped

through the whole dating process and got married because he knocked up the

girl, too. Now I have a closer glimpse into that poor bastard's situation.

"So, that means that Yumina and Linze are fine with us too, right? Then it's all

fine."

"But I have no idea what they'll say about this..."

"There is no need to worry about that, Touya-dono. The one who invited us to

become your wives was Yumina-dono, it was."

...Pardon me?

"Right when the king gave you the mansion, Yumina secretly approached us.

She asked us all how we felt about you, confirmed our feelings, and then

suggested we all become your wives. We weren't so certain about it at the

time, though. But, uhm... little by little... we began to think it'd be nice. Then

when Linze lost her composure yesterday, I finally decided! I want to be by your

side, Touya." Elze looked straight at me. There was no hesitation in her eyes.

Her face was still a bit red, though.

"I began to think that it would be great if we could all live as a family, with

you at the center, I did. In all honesty, I am still unused to Yumina-dono's

leniency, but I have no doubt that I want to live by your side, I truly do."

Yumina was the one who said she wouldn't mind if I had ten or twenty

mistresses... Was that "leniency" just a display of her confidence as the first

wife?

"S-So?"

"...Alright, I understand how you both feel. I like you both, too. Elze, you're

lively and cheerful, albeit a bit obstinate, but I find that pretty cute, too. Yae,

you're diligent, dignified, and very considerate of your family. I'm also aware

that you're gentle and good with children. You two would be excellent wives,

I'm sure."

"Th-Then—" Before Elze could speak, I raised my hand to stop her.

"However, I need some time to think. I'll give you my answer in the evening.

I've got some stuff to mull over first."

"...Alright."

"...I understand, I do." We headed back home. I went up to my room, while

Elze and Yae went to have a talk with Yumina.

I sat on my bed, exhaled a long sigh, and assumed my thinking pose, flat on

my back.

What now? Well, the answer to that question is already obvious. I already

accepted Linze, so refusing those two is out of the question. I like them all about

the same. They're all important to me. I don't want to, nor do I think myself

capable of doing anything to hurt them. But that's exactly what makes me

question if I'm really the right person for them. I'm scared that this situation

might just make them sad in the end. Or maybe I'm just scared for myself...

Marriage is a big deal, after all. It isn't just my own problem. I have to shoulder

the lives of other people. Being cautious is natural, isn't it? Not only that, but the

burden on me is four times heavier. Can I really carry that weight?

"Hmmm... Maybe I should consult someone."

Leim... would surely just side with Yumina. Lapis, Cecile, Crea... I'm somewhat

reluctant to discuss this with women. Renne isn't even an option. Julio... is a bit

unreliable... Guess there's only one person I can count on.

What I did next was something I'd wanted to try for a while. I just hadn't

gotten the opportunity. I don't want to just talk to Him, I should go see Him in

person.

I went to the kitchen and took some baked sweets to bring to Him as a kind

gesture. After I was done gathering bits and pieces, I held the stuff under my

armpit.

"[Gate]." I walked through my shining portal and was instantly greeted by an

ever-expanding, shining sea of clouds. Among the clouds was an old tea table,

neatly placed on a small patch of tatami mats. Ah, now this is nostalgic.

There was an old man sitting next to the table. He turned to me, seemingly

frozen in surprise as he bit into a rice cracker.

"...O-Oh. Oh my. It seems I have a visitor. Hoho, if you were going to drop by,

you should have informed me ahead of time. I'll actually be quite honest with

you, though. I had no idea that you even could come back here of your own free

will."

"It's been quite a while, God." I'd been there before, so I had the idea that

maybe I could use [Gate] to return. I didn't actually expect it to work, though.

"This realm is dense with magic, after all. That is probably why you could

come back. It is also the reason why you could not return to your previous

world. The magic in the atmosphere on your Earth is very thin, I'll have you

know."

"Oh, this is for you. I brought cookies and stuff."

"Oho, thank you very much. I believe that warrants a nice cup of tea." He

began filling a teacup with hot water. And, of course, it turned into tea the

moment it poured from the spout. But what else was I expecting? He was God.

I silently drank the warm tea.

Ah, delicious. It's been a while since I last had green tea...

"Well now, what brings you to my humble abode?"

"Ah, there's something I wanted to consult you about..."

"Hmm? Well, do tell." I began explaining my situation to him. I wanted to

know what I had to do about my circumstances and how I should interact with

the girls moving forward... I made sure to cover all the necessary details.

"Hmm... Are you not simply overthinking things? They said they love you, so

why not just be happy?"

"Well, I am, but I can't help but consider all the things that come with it."

Sharing my worries with God makes me feel like I'm at a confessional. Not like

I sinned or anything, though...

"Very well, then. Let me call in the specialist."

"Huh?" God reached for the black phone at his side and dialed a number.

A few moments later, a woman rose up from the sea of clouds. It looked like

she was in her early twenties. Her hair was as pink and as fluffy as the thin,

white silk she was wearing. She floated through the air toward me. Her wrists

and ankles were adorned with golden rings, and her neck had a solid gold collarpiece around it. I also noticed that she wore no shoes.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" She sat at the tea table after giving a playful

greeting.

"Er... and this is?"

"This lovely lady is the god of love. I thought she would be the perfect person

for your troubles."

The god of love?! Her?!

"Well, well. Lovely to meet you! I must say, I've been watching you every now

and then! You're a very interesting young man." Now that she mentions it, God

did mention something like this once before... Something about a god of love

that had taken an interest in me, if I recall. So this is the woman herself? I never

expected to be consulting a deity about this. God only knows, I guess.

"So, the title 'god of love' means exactly what it says on the tin, right?"

"Yes, it does. But it's not like I control people's feelings, get it? I just do a little

of this, and a little of that... things that set the mood and create those standard,

love-related cliches. I guess you could say I'm the producer of situations like

those!"

"Cliches...?" Oh, I think I get what she means. She's probably referring to those

cases where girls are late to school, hurry there with toast in their mouths, and

run into a great guy who just happened to walk around the corner.

"Yeah! Cliches! All the lovey-dovey ones. If you need a specific example, I'm

the one who seeks out guys who go 'Darling, I swear to you... when I return

from the battlefield, we will finally be married.' And then I make sure they

never ever reach the altar!"

"That kind of thing is your fault?!" By "never ever reach the altar," she clearly

means that she makes them die, right?! Wait, that's a death flag, not a love

flag!

"So, what's up?" I had my reservations about consulting her, but I really had

no other choice. She happened to be the goddess of love, so I figured maybe

she would have some good advice. At any rate, I hastily explained my current

situation.

"Hmm... sounds like things are getting super interesting." The god of love

smiled, reached for the cookie on the table, and stuffed it into her mouth. She's

not one for manners, clearly.

"But I still don't see your problem. It's fine if you like each other, isn't it?"

"But... four girls at the same time?"

"There's your first mistake! You have to discard the common sense of the

world you used to live in! If you only love one of them and consider the others

to be extras, you're not only making them pitiful, but you're also being cruel as

well! But if you love them all and are truly intent on making them happy, then

that's just another form of true love, get it?"

Love... Do I even feel it for them, though?

"Why did they even fall in love with me...?"

"I don't know! Sometimes you get the ones who fall in love at first sight, and

other times there are those who don't realize their feelings because the target

of their affections is too close to them. Each person has their own life, and

there's a lot of room for variation there! Love doesn't fly straight like an arrow!

There's many paths to it, get it?" Part of me understood her explanation, but

another part of me didn't. Still, I at least understood the point that there was no

true form to love.

"Interested in what I think? Seems to me that you lack confidence. You're

worried about whether or not you're worthy of responding to their feelings. But

here's the thing, young man! You aren't the one who decides if you're worthy.

They are!"

Damn... Kind of feels like she hit the nail on the head. I was just feeling weird

because I felt like the girls were idealizing me. I didn't believe that I fit the

image of me that was in their heads.

"You should be more honest with yourself and see where these feelings lead.

Sure, it's important to be considerate of how others feel, but you can't just go

and act against your own interests in the process. Doing so wouldn't just be

rude to yourself, but also to the girls who confessed, get it?"

"I see... So I'm allowed to be a bit selfish, then?"

"That's more like it! Love isn't about one-sided happiness! It's meaningless if

you don't become happy, too."

...That's true. I have things I can never let go of. I have to talk things out and

reconcile with the girls. Those reservations might be with me for the rest of my

life, but at the very least, I have to get them to agree to that.

"Did you find your answer?" God spoke up as if he just read my mind.

"I'm not sure, but I think it's in sight at least."

"Very well, then. That is quite good to know."

"Eheh, glad to see the cliche I granted you didn't go to waste!"

...Hm? She said something strange just now... Cliche? One of the things she

manufactures, right?

"What exactly do you mean by that? The cliche you granted me, I mean."

"Oh, just a little while ago, I produced a situation in which you walked in on

them changing and then got really surprised. You should be thanking me, get

it?"

"That was you?!" This god of love seems to be a fan of generic scenarios.

In the evening, I had the girls gather in the living room. Laim, Lapis, and the

others weren't with us. It was only myself and the four girls who had confessed.

The four sat on the couch in front me and patiently waited for my words.

I considered all of those girls far too good for me. That was exactly why I

didn't want to lie to them and wished to let them know my true feelings.

"Alright, well, to start things off let me just say... I have no plans of getting

married."

"WHHHAAAATTT?!!" The four of them leaped off the couch at the same time.

Their surprise took verbal form and echoed throughout the living room.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Wait, what?!"

"H-Have we done something wrong, have we?"

"...You said you'd accept me as your wife..."

"Touya?!" All four girls leaped to their feet at once and closed in on me. Crap,

that came out wrong!

"Okay, wait! I only meant 'right now,' all right! I wanted to say that I've got no

plans of getting married right now!" My words stopped the girls dead in their

tracks. Okay, good. They're at least willing to hear me out.

"If not right now, then at some point in the future?"

"Of course. If none of you are against the idea, I'll marry all four of you quite

happily." I answered Elze's question, and the girls returned to their seats. Good,

they've calmed down a bit...

"I like all of you equally, and I don't plan on breaking my promise to marry

you, but I can't get married right now. I don't want it to feel like we're only

together because I got caught up in the moment."

"...I do not understand what you mean, I do not." Yae tilted her head in

confusion.

"What I mean is, I just don't think I'm ready for a commitment like that yet.

I'm not mature enough to look after other people. I mean, I'm still not fully

convinced I can even look after myself at the moment. So, please, wait until I

am ready to carry the weight of another life alongside my own. If it doesn't

seem like I'll ever become that sort of person, you're free to leave my side at

any moment. Nobody can take that right away from you; not me or anyone

else." That was my own selfish condition to the agreement. I wanted everyone

to be happy, but I wasn't yet sure if I could make them happy. I was still lacking

in so many areas. I didn't have the resolve, the courage, the strong feelings of

love, or the knowledge to make any of them happy just yet.

I knew that I was basically just telling the girls to wait until I felt like I was

worthy of them, but I didn't intend to just lead them on indefinitely until I

suddenly decided that day had come. The condition I'd laid out for them

could've easily made any girl hate me, and I could've accepted it if any of them

decided to call the whole thing off for that reason alone. That was their choice

to make, and I intended to respect their wishes.

"...You really couldn't have worded that any better? I mean, I guess that

makes sense, but still." Elze sighed as she spoke, with an expression that was

somewhere between exasperation and relief. Hell, the fact of the matter was

that the girls had all proposed to me, and what I had said was just as bad as if

I'd never said anything at all. I was unsure of what to do. I would basically be

taking away their choices in the matter for my own convenience. Even I felt like

that was a horrible thing to do to someone.

"You're playing dirty. You already know that we'd never just throw you aside

like that, but you're pretending like we have that option anyway, right?" Elze

shot another glare at me as she spoke. Well, I mean, I don't think that highly of

myself, but it's not like I was expecting you all to just cut all ties with me here

and now or anything.

"Falling in love is never an easy thing, it is not..." Yae gave Elze a pat on the

shoulder. Elze herself turned her head away and puffed up her cheeks.

"...Even if my sister gives up on you, Touya, I'll wait for as long as I have to...

Because I want to be your wife."

"Hey, who said anything about me giving up on him?!" Linze laughed as she

watched her sister panic. Oh good, she was just teasing her.

"I'm fine with that, too. We've already talked this over among ourselves, after

all. Now all we have to do is make you fall so completely head-over-heels in love

with us that you'll be the one proposing to us next time."

"Guess I'll just have to do my best to keep you from falling out of love with

me before then." Yumina's words brought a smile to my face. From now on,

we're not just party members anymore. I'm engaged to these girls. They're my

lovers, and one day we'll all be part of the same family. I need to do my best so

that day comes even a little sooner, and when it does, I'll be the one to propose

to them properly.

"So with that, all four of us are Touya's fiancees. Shall we line up in order and

have him kiss us as proof?"

"WHAT?!" Elze, Linze, Yae, and I were all caught completely off-guard by

Yumina's abrupt suggestion. Meanwhile, it looked like she wanted to give

herself a pat on the back for coming up with such a cunning plan. Why are you

never satisfied with things getting wrapped up semi-normally for a change?!

"W-Wait, umm, d-don't you think it's still a bit too soon for that?!"

"Th-Though we may be e-engaged now, I do believe we should take things in

due moderation, we should...!" Elze turned red as a tomato and broke out in a

panic. Yae was bright red, too. While I could understand Yae's reaction, I

wouldn't have taken Elze to be such a late bloomer.

"But he kissed me just yesterday, you know?"

"Huh?!" As Yumina muttered those words, Elze and Yae turned their heads in

my direction with such speed that I worried they might get whiplash. I mean,

she's not lying, but, uh...

"A-Actually, he k-kissed me, too... On the forehead, I mean..."

"HUH?!" Linze spoke up, and this time the two turned to face me with even

greater speed than before. I mean, she's not lying either, but give me a break

here!

"A-Alright then, that settles it! You've gotta k-k-k-kiss us, too!"

"I would... like a kiss, too, I would..."

Alright, hold up! Aren't you the very same girls who were just saying that it

was "too soon" or that we should "take things in moderation" a second ago?

What part of this is "moderate" to you?! Elze and Yae locked me down with

their gazes, still blushing up to their ears.

Crap, I can't exactly run away now... Not after I just decided I'd accept

everything about them.

I reached out my hand and drew Elze closer toward me. She jumped a little at

my touch, but she didn't put up any resistance as I gently pulled her body in. I

placed my hand on her cheek, then drew my face closer to hers, when...

"T-Too embarrassing, changed my mind!"

"Ghuoh?!" Leaving me with only those words, Elze's fist came crashing

directly into my solar plexus without warning. The abrupt force gave me no

time to steel myself, so I collapsed for the second time that day. As my

consciousness faded, the only thought to cross my mind was something along

the lines of oh no, not again...

"...Ungh?"

"Have you regained consciousness?" I awoke to find myself back in my own

room, laying on my bed. The sun had long since set. Through the dim lamp-light,

I could make out the figure of Cesca sitting in a chair next to my bed. She was

dressed in a maid uniform, for some reason.

"Cesca...? What's with those clothes...?"

"Lady Lapis presented me with them. If I am to serve my Master, then this is

to be my uniform, so I have been instructed."

...Come to think of it, I just kind of left Cesca in the maids' hands the minute

we got back home, huh? I didn't forget about her or anything, but too many lifechanging decisions kept flying at me one after another, and... Hang on, that's all

this girl's fault, anyway!

"Alright, but what brings you to my bedroom?"

"I have come to make love to you." I leaped to the edge of my bed like I'd just

heard a gunshot fire in my direction. The fog in my mind cleared itself up

instantly. My chastity is in danger!

"That was a joke. I have no plans for that. Not today." Don't just casually stick

"not today" on the end like you think I won't notice! I can never let my guard

down around you for even a second!

"The truth is that I've come to deliver a message addressed to you."

"A message for me...? Who's it from?"

"It is from Doctor Regina Babylon." Hold the phone, what? A message for

me... from that ancient genius doc? The very same person who created Cesca

and the Hanging Garden of Babylon?! But how? Cesca moved her right hand to

her left wrist as if to take her own pulse, only to open her left wrist up and bring

out a cable with some sort of connector on the end.

"Whoa." It's times like these that I have to remind myself that Cesca's actually

a machine.

Cesca took the cable and presented the end of it to me.

"Huh? What am I supposed to do with this?"

"I am unsure. The doctor told me that if I gave this to my new Master, then he

would understand." Instructions unclear. Unfortunately, as a flesh-and-blood

human being, I can't think of any other places that I could comfortably

"connect" a thing like that to... Do I stick it in my mouth...? Wait, could it be?

The shape of this connector looks familiar, but... No, that can't be right!

I went over to where my coat was hanging up on the wall, then took my

smartphone out of the pocket. After that, I took the cable Cesca had offered to

me and tried plugging it in. It fit perfectly.

My phone made a little beeping noise when it picked up the foreign cable,

and the screen displayed a loading bar that slowly filled up with green. When

the loading bar hit 100%, my smartphone's screen suddenly lit up brightly.

"H-Hey, what is this?!" The light gradually died down to reveal a person

roughly 15 centimeters in height standing on top of the screen.

The person was semi-transparent, almost as if to assure me that I was merely

seeing a 3D projected image... which would have been fine, except my phone

wasn't even capable of projecting holograms, to my knowledge.

The holographic person was a lady who looked to be in her early twenties.

She wore a white lab coat and glasses, and had what looked like a cigarette in

her mouth. Her long, blonde hair hung down messily, which I felt was a shame

because it would've suited her perfectly otherwise. The top and skirt that she

wore beneath her lab coat were also creased, adding to her overall slovenly

appearance.

"This is Doctor Regina Babylon."

"This is the doctor...?" The doctor, who had until then been sitting somewhat

listlessly, turned her face up to gaze at mine as she grinned at me. Huh?

"Howdy there. Nice to meetcha, kid. The name's Regina Babylon, as you

know. Before anything else, let me just thank you for taking up administration

of the garden, as well as Francesca. Really, it means a lot to me, Mochizuki

Touya."

"Wait, how did you...?" What does this mean? Why does someone from

almost five thousand years ago know my name?! Not just that, but why does

this connector fit into my smartphone perfectly? It's almost as if it was

specifically designed to be used exactly like that from the very beginning...

"Trust me, I know how you feel. I mean, that's a very good question. Of

course you'd want to know. After all, you're a very special kind of person."

Special...? Wait, does she know that I'm from another world?! Just who is this

Doctor, anyway?!

"Allow me to give you the answer you so long for. Look closely now." The

doctor spoke slowly, and as she did, she raised her skirt up before my eyes.

Black lace panties consumed my vision.

"This is my favorite pair, I'll have you know."

"The hell do I care?!" I threw my smartphone down onto my bed without

thinking. The hell do you mean I'm "that kind of person"?! Don't just lump me in

with you! It's not like your panties were the first thing I wanted to know about

or anything, alright?!

"Ha ha ha! I'm kidding, I'm only kidding. Don't worry about it, that was just

my way of breaking the ice." Or so the good doctor said, still attempting to flash

her panties at me from her new position atop the bed, grinning at me all the

while. I knew it, this person's way beyond your regular eccentric! The

holographic doctor returned her cigarette-like object to her lips, that grin never

leaving her face.

"I'll explain everything to you, so forgive my little prank. Firstly, why do I know

about you? Well, you see, I have a device that allows me to glimpse into the

future." A device for looking into the future? Is it some kind of Artifact? I had no

idea she was such a genius that she could even make something like that... She's

still a weirdo, though.

"I mixed a bit of Space-Time Magic together with some Light magic, and then

used a Null spell called... Well, never mind. That's not important. What's

important is that I made a device that can project the future. The problem is,

the device has a couple of fatal flaws. First, the visions of the future I can

observe are only fragmentary, and second, I don't get to decide how far into the

future I want to look. The device seeks out someone with the same biorhythm

as the wielder from the future, and proceeds to reflect events from that

person's life. In my case, having an affinity for all the base magic elements came

back to bite me, meaning the extremely far-off future that you are in is the only

one I've been able to get a look at." You're telling me I have the same biorhythm

as this nutty professor? I don't even know what that means, but I don't like it. It

feels like she's lumping me in with her as partners in crime or something... I'm

not like that, okay?! We might be the same kind of person, but that only extends

as far as our magical alignments, got it?!

"Anyway, that's how I caught sight of you. At first I was only looking out of

curiosity, but then things got more and more fun as time went by. It got to the

point where I was having great fun watching you and your party go about your

wild adventures, but then one day, I wasn't able to see your future anymore.

Why do you think that was? It's because the future had changed. No, that's not

quite the right word for it. I suppose a better way to put it would be that your

future became uncertain." Uncertain...? What's an uncertain future mean?

α (The past) —————————— β (The future)

Let's imagine time moving in a straight line from past to future, like this. If,

somewhere along the line from α to β, an unknown factor named γ were to

intervene, then the new future would change from β to β1.

If the future the doctor had been looking at so far was future β, then some

huge event big enough to change the future, Event γ, must have happened,

creating future β1 as a new possibility... I think.

"I thought it might have been the fall of Partheno... but that event is likely

already set in stone. After all, our civilization doesn't exist in your world

anymore. Anyway, the fall of Partheno was brought about by the enemy of

mankind, the Phrase, and their relentless invasion. That much was already an

established fact in your era, too." The Phrase... Wait, the Phrase?! The crystal

creatures that Leen told me about! So the fall of the five-thousand-year-old

civilization was brought about by that same weird species?!

"We fought back, of course, but the Phrase came at us in the tens of

thousands. Nothing could be done to prevent the fall of Partheno. After that,

the Phrase scattered to all corners of the world. It was truly the end of days. I'm

sure that the reason I stopped being able to see the future beyond that point is

simply that there is no future for the world under those circumstances."

So the flow of events between α (The past that the doctor existed in) and β

(The future that I'm currently inhabiting) was slowly tilting toward β1 (The

future where the Phrase destroyed the world)? But still, that doesn't make too

much sense. The world is fine.

"Right. As I'm sure you've noticed, your future never came to an end. For

some reason, they disappeared from the world before the worst possible

outcome could occur. I don't know how or why, but thanks to their abrupt

disappearance, I was able to see the future you inhabit once more."

That means β1 was ultimately averted. That's good to know, at least. If β1

had been the future of this world instead of β, God might've sent me somewhere

else entirely, and then I wouldn't have been able to meet with everyone here.

Still, what could've made the Phrase just up and vanish from the world one

day...? Were they wiped out by some kind of Phrase-targeting virus like in some

sci-fi novel or something?

"Anyway, that should suffice as an explanation as to why I know all about you.

And naturally, I left Babylon there as a little present for you. Use it however you

like. I've even filled it with lovely girls catered to your tastes. Feel free to use

them however you like, too!" The holographic doctor gave me an evil little

smirk when she said that. Dammit, what's with this feeling?! Her whole face is

just saying "No, no, don't worry. I understand perfectly. You're a boy, I get how

it is," and it's driving me up the wall! This must be what it feels like to have an

older sister who gets her kicks out of messing with you!

"Just in case, I split Babylon up into multiple parts to prevent it from falling

into the wrong hands. Whether you go hunting for the rest of the pieces or not

is up to you, I don't mind either way. It all belongs to you now, anyway. From

what I've seen, it doesn't really seem like you'll be needing anything so absurdly

powerful in your future, anyhow."

Then why did you even build it?! I know they say the line between genius and

stupidity is paper thin, but this person's clearly way over that line!

"Well, I've been talking for a while now, so I'll end the message around here.

Oh, and by the way, when this message finishes playing, Francesca will strip

naked."

"Whhhat?!"

"That was a joke. Anyway, see you around, kid."

I threw my smartphone at the bed again. Ugh! Goddammit, that little Doctor

Panties kept making fun of me right till the end! I don't get her at all! Did she

seriously build all of Babylon for the sole purpose of messing with a kid five

thousand years in the future?!

"...Shall I strip?"

"Thou shalt not strip!" I quickly stayed Cesca's hand.

So the long and short of it was, Doctor Babylon had been peeking in on us

from the past, so she knew all about us. But if she really could see the future,

then why was the teleportation circle for the garden located at the bottom of

the sea off the coast of Eashen? For that matter, why bother splitting Babylon

into several pieces if she knew it was going to me, anyway? It made it all very

hard to believe she was seeing the future perfectly.

No, wait. She said she could only take fragmentary glances into the future, so

maybe she couldn't zoom in on the finer details or something. I really hope

that's the case, because if it's not, then I'll never be able to rest easy again

knowing that someone's peeking in on everything I'm doing all the time.

Another thing that caught my attention was the Phrase. From how she spoke,

it seemed like the Doctor wasn't aware that the Phrase still existed in this world

line.

Maybe that cricket-type Phrase we met at the old capital had actually just

been sealed there this entire time. If so, it would mean that the Phrase invaded

one thousand years ago, too... That would explain why the old capital came to

ruin so suddenly, and why it had to be relocated in the first place. It all makes

sense if I consider all these events to be related.

So if the one that we ran into was probably a survivor from when the old

capital was invaded, then... I'd bet it was originally caught so that people could

research it to try and find some kind of weak point.

But hang on... If that were the case for the cricket-shaped one, then what

about the snake-shaped one that Leen saw? Shouldn't we take this as a sign

that the events that happened five-thousand years ago, and then more recently

one-thousand years ago, are about to happen all over again?

Five-thousand years ago, the world was on the brink of destruction. Onethousand years ago, the old capital fell. Following that pattern, the events

appeared to be reducing in scale. Even if it were to happen again, things likely

wouldn't turn out as disastrous as the last couple of times... Still, it would've

been foolish to make that assumption.

"Is something the matter?"

"Nah, it's nothing..."

This is all just "what if" right now. If my fears turn out to be unfounded, then I

couldn't ask for anything more, but on the off-chance that my guess is right...

"Won't do me any good to keep dwelling on it, I suppose. I'm sure it'd just

make everyone feel uneasy, so I'll keep quiet about it."

"About my making love to you?"

"You'll do no such thing, and that is not what I meant!"

"Understood, Master." This train of events could have easily spiraled out of

control. The last thing I wanted to deal with immediately after getting engaged

was being accused of cheating. I chased Cesca away, since I'd already made sure

that she'd been given her own room, and crawled into bed.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, I paid a visit to the shopping district in the southern part of the

capital.

My destination was a jeweler's. I figured I should, you know, buy engagement

rings for everyone.

I could've easily made the rings myself using [Modeling], but cheaping out on

an important gift to one's fiancee just felt wrong to me, so I wanted to buy

them from the store instead. That said, I had no idea what the going price for

engagement rings even was. I'd heard before that an engagement ring was

normally "three months' wages," but I'd also heard that that was just a rumor

spread by jewelers to make people spend more on them. Not that it mattered

either way, since I wasn't even being paid in "wages" in this world...

From what I'd read online, an engagement ring was something a guy gave to a

girl upon getting engaged. This was the one that was supposed to cost "three

months' wages." And then separate from that, there was the pair of rings

exchanged during a wedding and then worn all the time by a husband and wife.

Because these rings were left on all the time, they didn't have to be overly

expensive, apparently. It also seemed to be the norm for wedding rings to come

without jewels attached.

For a normal wedding, I'd only need to buy three rings. One engagement ring,

a wedding ring for my wife, and a wedding ring for me, but in my case I had four

wives, so I'd ultimately need four engagement rings for the girls, four wedding

rings for the girls, and a wedding ring for myself, for a total of nine rings...

Hang on, is that even how weddings work over here? I only just noticed, but

that's just a custom from my world. I don't even know if things work that way

over here. I mean, wedding rings are probably the norm at least, but...

Unsure of the local customs, I decided to ask the person who worked in the

jewelry shop when I got there.

As I walked through the shopping district with my head full of such thoughts, I

happened to overhear an argument going on. Curious to see what kind of

trouble was brewing, I went over toward the food stall that the voices were

coming from. When I got there, I found the stall manager standing with his arms

crossed, angrily eyeing the customer in front.

"Look, kid. I don't know where ya got them coins or what they're worth, and I

don't really care. Ya can't pay with them here. We don't take 'em. Capisce?"

"That's troublesome. I'm afraid these are all I have, you see..." The customer

was a boy around the same age as me. He wore a black top over a white shirt,

black pants, and had a long white scarf around his neck. His color scheme was

perfectly monotone. He stood there scratching his head, clearly troubled. Even

the hair he was scratching at on his head was pure white. In his hands he held

two crepes, one half-eaten.

"Eeehh, can't I just pay with this, though? This is money too, you know?"

"If you don't got any money, then that's the same as stealing my food. Don't

make me hand you over to the guards, kid. I'm tellin' ya, we don't got no weird

coins like that in this country!"

"Uhh, excuse me..." I couldn't help but stick my nose in. From what I could

gather, it seemed the boy didn't have any of this country's currency, but he

went and accidentally took a bite out of some food without realizing that he

wouldn't be able to pay for it.

"Yeah? Whaddya want?" The shopkeeper barked at me angrily.

"I'm just passing through, but if it's just about the money, then I can pay for

his share. Would that be alright?"

"I ain't complainin', just so long as yer payin'." I handed the man one copper

coin, and he gave me two more crepes. Four crepes for one copper seemed a

reasonably decent price. With that matter sorted, the boy and I left the stand

with food in hand.

"Thanks. You really helped me out of a bind there."

"Don't worry about it, really. But I've gotta ask, do you really not have any

money you can use around these parts? Like, none at all?" The boy thanked me,

and I had to check with him just to make sure. I couldn't help but wonder where

in the world he'd come from. After all, even Eashen used the same common

currency as Belfast, and those places were almost on the opposite sides of the

world.

"See, I was able to buy stuff with this money before, though..." The scarf-clad

boy took a handful of silver coins out of his pocket.

"They've got a pretty weird shape to them." The common currency in this

world was chiefly round as far as I understood it. This was true for gold, silver,

and all other types of coin. In comparison, the coins the boy was holding were

8-sided. They were octagonal-shaped coins. I'd never seen their kind before. I

picked one up out of his hand so that I could examine both sides properly.

"If they've caught your eye, then I'll give you a few as thanks for earlier. It

doesn't seem like I'll be able to use them here, anyway."

"You sure? Alright, I guess I'll take just enough to cover the cost of the crepes,

then." Honestly I didn't really want them that much, but I figured accepting his

offer would keep him from getting hung up over it, so I took a few of the coins

from him.

"My name's Touya. Mochizuki Touya. What's yours?"

"Ende. It's a pleasure, Touya." He extended his hand, and I gripped it in a firm

handshake. I remembered thinking at the time how unnaturally cold his skin

felt. That was a fateful day, the event that served as the first meeting between

myself and the boy named Ende.

◇ ◇ ◇

"Hmm, what should I do? It's gonna be tough not having any money." Ende

tilted his head while eating his crepe. I bit into mine, too, and we gazed on at

the crowds of people coming and going in front of the water fountain.

"Yeah, no kidding. You're probably just gonna have to get a job for now."

"What's your job, Touya?"

"Mine?" My job... My job, huh? I've never thought about it much before, but

what is my job, exactly? Adventurer, I guess? I mean, technically most of my

work is done through the guild and all.

"I do odd jobs here and there as an adventurer with the guild. You know, stuff

like hunting monsters or guarding caravans."

"Ah, I see. Sounds like something that'd work for me." You make it sound so

simple. Well, I guess there's no massive risks of danger at the lower ranks, so it

should be fine.

"You thinking about getting registered? What are you gonna do about getting

a weapon? Well, you could always just do plant-gathering quests for the time

being, I guess."

"Why would I need a weapon? It's not like I'm going to be off slaying Dragons,

right?" Is he planning on going at it barehanded? Is he a brawler like Elze? Then

again, he could also be a mage. Something caught me about the way he had

said that, though. Almost as if he was saying that even Dragons would've been a

piece of cake for him if he had a weapon.

"Well, alright. I can lead you to the guild office, then. I had some business

there today, anyway."

"Please do. Sorry for all the trouble." I threw the empty crepe wrappers in the

garbage and made my way over to the Guild. I needed to withdraw money to

buy the rings for the girls, after all.

Ende was a little bit taller than me. Around 170 centimeters, give or take. His

looks were fairly androgynous, too, like one of those pretty-boy characters.

Damn it, I'm not jealous or anything, you hear me?!

My eyes couldn't help but be drawn to his white scarf, how it trailed almost

all the way to the ground. It wasn't even winter, so I had no idea why he

needed such a long scarf anyway.

"It was a gift from someone precious to me." When I inquired about it, that

was how he answered with a smile on his face. He kind of missed my point,

though. Did he mean that his girlfriend gave it to him? His tone of voice sure

made it seem so. The guild's sign came into sight before too long. The hustle

and bustle around the quest board was as lively as ever.

I took Ende up to the counter and had the receptionist run him through the

registration process. While he was busy with that, I went to withdraw some

money from the adjacent counter. This was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, or so I

wanted to believe, so I wanted to splurge on the rings.

When we met back up, I had my money ready and Ende had his brand new

Black guild card in hand.

"No troubles with your registration, then?"

"Went just fine. All that's left now is to start doing quests. I didn't know the

guild had offices all around the world, though. That saves me a lot of trouble.

I'm never in one place for very long." That so, I thought. For a traveler, he sure

was dressed rather lightly. Hell, I was impressed he'd been able to make it so far

as a traveler with no usable money to his name. He had this sort of blissfully

ignorant air about him, too. I thought for a moment that maybe he was some

runaway prince from a distant land.

I had my suspicions about the guy, but I decided not to pry. Everyone had

their own circumstances, after all.

"Well, I should really get going. Try and stick to the simpler quests at first,

yeah? Don't push yourself too hard now."

"Got it. Thanks for everything, Touya. Hope we meet again somewhere."

"Yeah, I'll see you around." I parted ways with Ende and left the guild office.

He really was an odd one.

With that out of the way, I made for the jewelers.

Each of the four girls in front of me sat with their rings, and gazed at them

with great big smiles on their faces. Their design was a fairly simple platinum

band with a diamond on each, but they still cost me a pretty penny. Looking

back on it, from the moment I told the lady that I didn't know the standard

price for these things, I should've expected that she'd try to overcharge me. I

mean, once I'd decided on a design and heard the cost, I asked for four of them

and the lady's eyes went wide.

The rings I'd chosen were enchanted ones, with a spell that let them naturally

adjust to the size of the wearer's finger. In addition to that, I'd included some

enchantments of my own.

"Each of those is enchanted with [Accel], [Transfer], and [Storage], by the

way." I figured [Accel] was a good battle choice, [Transfer] would let the rings

work as spare magic batteries in case they ever ran out at a critical moment,

and [Storage] would be a handy spell for any girl to have.

"Thank you so much, Touya." Yumina held her left hand in her right, and

smiled as she gazed down at the ring on her finger.

Next up, I took out a mithril chain necklace.

"Here, Elze. This is for you."

"For me?" Elze took the chain, seemingly a little puzzled.

"Well you can't really wear that ring under a gauntlet, right? I figured a

necklace would let you keep it on even if we got into any fights."

"Oh, gotcha. I never thought of that. Thanks, Touya." Elze put the ring on the

chain and wore it around her neck to see how it looked. I felt it really suited her.

Since the chain was mithril, there was no chance of it breaking, and as long as

the ring was somewhere on Elze's person she'd be able to make use of the

magic it'd been enchanted with.

With the rings handed over, I realized I still had something in my pockets. I

reached in and took out the silver coins that Ende had given me, and placed

them down on the table.

"What are these?"

"Earlier today I met this weird guy called Ende, and I got these from him.

Apparently they're some country's currency. Recognize them at all?" Linze took

one of the coins and began inspecting it with great interest.

"I've never seen anything like this before... They have a very elaborate design

carved into them, so I can only imagine that they're considerably valuable..." I

sure hoped that wasn't the case, because I'd basically taken them as payment

for two whole crepes. I began to wonder if maybe taking Ende to get them

converted into usable currency would have been the better idea. Thinking

about it, even just taking him to a pawn shop would've gotten him at least the

price of the silver they were made of.

I took one of the coins and gave it another good look over for myself. I heard

a knock at the door, and Renne popped her head into the room. She held the

door open for Cesca, who brought with her a teapot and some cups.

"I've come to serve you tea." Cesca said, as she placed the cups onto the table

and began to pour tea for us. As I was watching her do that, Renne came up

beside me acting all fidgety. It looked like she had something to say. I wonder

what's up...

"Um, Touya... er, sir. Can I getcha to... Um, I mean, I do indeed have a

request, sir..."

"You don't have to force yourself to speak politely when Leim's not around.

What's up?"

"Well, y'see, I wanna ride a bike, too..." A bike? I guess I don't really see

anything wrong with that. I dunno how I'd feel about her riding it around town,

but it should be fine if she's got someone with her at the time.

"I wanna practice, but my feet don't reach the danged pedals! Sue said you

made a littler bike for her before, and, uhhm..." Aha, now I get it. The only bike

we have at home is an adult-sized one. Renne's still too small to ride a bike like

that. I should've noticed without her having to point it out to me.

"No problem, Renne! I'll make one especially for you, then. What color would

you like?"

"Really? Yer not havin' a laugh?! Then... a red one!"

"Your wish is my command, little lady."

"That's spot-on! Thanks a bunch!" Renne leaned across the sofa and hugged

me tight. C'mon now, if Leim were here he'd be furious, you know? Still, I'm just

happy if you're happy.

I wore an awkward little smile and just let Renne hug me, when my eyes met

with Cesca's.

"...So you're a pedoph—"

"Hey there, nice weather we're having today, am I right?!" I can't let you

finish that word, Tin Can! I'm already self-conscious enough about that kind of

thing thanks to Yumina, so don't make this any worse for me! Cesca gave me a

suspicious stare for a while, but eventually went back to pouring tea like the

little outburst had never happened. After she was done, she caught notice of

the coins laying on the table and tilted her head slightly.

"I didn't think this currency would still be in use after all this time."

"What do you mean, after all this time? Cesca, you know where these came

from?"

"Yes. These particular coins are Partheno Silver. They were first minted

exactly five thousand two hundred and eighty four years ago, and were used

commonly around this region, too. I'm amazed that they're still in circulation."

That long ago?! Cesca's words made me pick the coin up once more and

examine it even more intently. It definitely didn't look that old in the slightest.

Hell, it looked almost brand new. Why would Ende have been carrying

something like this around...? Hang on. What was it he said back then?

"See, I was able to buy stuff with this money before, though..."

Before? What did he mean by "before," exactly? Is there really anywhere in

the world that might still be using a currency from the days of old? I had an idea,

but it was a ridiculous one. It almost seemed to me as though Ende were a

human who had time traveled here from the past. Either that, or he could have

been one of Doctor Babylon's android creations like Cesca.

"Cesca, out of curiosity, were there any males among those of you made by

Doctor Babylon?"

"Males...? No, none at all. The doctor never bothered making any males.

There were a few with more masculine personalities, however."

More masculine, huh... Come to think of it, Ende did strike me as rather

androgynous. Looking back, I can't really say for sure that Ende's really a "he" at

all. I mean, I highly doubt that's the case, but... Cesca watched as I became lost

in thought and shot me an even more suspicious glance. What is it this time?

"...So you're a homos—"

"Alrighty, that's enough! Stop! Please, for the love of God, don't go there!"

That's not what I was asking, and I certainly don't swing that way! I'm straight

as a ruler! Man, I just really love girls!!!

"Do not worry, Master. Be it young boys or big, burly-armed men, I will try to

adjust myself to better suit your tastes. Shall I wear short shorts from now on?"

"Thou shalt not!" Man, why is she strangely knowledgeable about these

things in particular? Is she just taking after her creator like kids take after their

parents? Look. Go on, look at what you've done. Everyone's confused now...

Except for Linze. Why's she blushing?