032 Aftercare?
Or rather, the aftermath, the epilogue.
Against a dream team of gods that could never have happened in the original story, Babi Niflheim, who was past his prime, stood no chance. He was defeated in less than ten minutes after the battle began.
Until the very end, he refused to admit his wrongdoings, spewing curses as he literally ‘vanished.’ This brought an end to the long-standing issue surrounding the King of the Night Sky. I, too, must have had my tension snap, because I lost consciousness right there and spent a whole week in bed before waking up.
During that time, the gods took care of the aftermath. As a reward for rescuing Iris and defeating Babi, Higaki and I were promised resurrection in the mortal realm. Furthermore, as an additional reward for me, they offered a generous “I will grant you anything you desire,” but honestly, nothing comes to mind, so I’ve asked them to hold off for now.
By the way, as for what happened to my severed left arm, it somehow got reattached.
Apparently, Thoth, the god of magic and a friend of God Anubis, along with nameless, innocent spirits, picked up my severed left arm (soul) and used their power to reattach it. In the process, some of the spirits were absorbed into me as a bonding agent to connect the arm. When I woke up, I saw a log of skill acquisitions I didn’t remember training for at the edge of my vision.
“Being absorbed by a super-strong dude like you is practically the same as the annihilation of their self-awareness, you know? But they still wanted to give you their power as thanks for giving that bastard a taste of his own medicine. Well, there aren’t any bad side effects, so just use it in a way that’ll make them happy.”
…Those were the words of my attending physician, Dr. Thoth. In other words, it’s a bonus skill acquired from clearing the scenario! Satisfied with that, I grinned foolishly, earning a “Ugh, gross” in response. I think it’s important to consider the mental state of a patient who’s just regained consciousness, Thoth-sama? If you were a woman, I would have been seriously depressed, you know???
Well, that’s how all the troublesome matters were resolved while I was unconscious, and now I’m enjoying a leisurely recovery. I was originally planning to spend about four months (four days in the mortal realm’s time) collecting points to exchange for resurrection points, but I received a reward instead, so I’m honestly at a bit of a loose end. Honestly, I never thought I’d get caught up in such a commotion just a few days after coming to the Netherworld… No, it’s impossible to predict something like this.
I’m on strict bed rest until next week, so I can’t move from the bed. The only things I can do are knitting and reorganizing the skills I’ve acquired so far. I’m spending some time relaxing for the first time in a while… but.
“Ugh, it’s so cold, so cold. Excuse me, Sakurai-san.”
“Gah, Ms. Iris.”
“Hmm? What’s with that reaction? It’s rude to someone who came to visit you, isn’t it?”
While saying “It’s so cold, so cold,” Ms. Iris slips into the bed and snuggles up to me. Her soft touch and the sweet scent unique to women shake my reason, but considering the circumstances that led to her being like this, honestly, the feeling of annoyance takes precedence.
Iris Niflheim, who lost her memories.
It seems that the feeling of something being taken away from her, both physically and mentally, during that time has become a complete trauma for her. Coupled with the situation of being imprisoned, a fear of ‘coldness’ has taken root in her heart and body. Therefore, she can’t live properly unless she interacts with people and absorbs ‘fervor’ through her magic eyes.
You might think, “Then just absorb ‘fervor’,” but there are many dead people in the Netherworld, and there are few who possess enough ‘fervor’ for her to warm herself. Even if they do, the majority are criminal candidates with ill intentions. It would be a big problem to be around such people all the time.
That’s where Higaki and I were chosen. We are the owners of ‘fervor’ that Ms. Iris acknowledges, and it was concluded that there would be no problem if it were us, who had worked hard for her sake.
As for me, I’d rather have her cling to Higaki all the time, but apparently, I have the highest ‘fervor’ in Ms. Iris’s eyes. She even openly declares that she wants to warm herself with me at night, which could easily lead to misunderstandings. When Higaki heard that, he supported Ms. Iris’s decision with a malicious smile, going around persuading everyone, saying, “If anything happens, I’ll kill them. No, please let me do it!” As a result, Ms. Iris started appearing in my hospital room at dusk and clinging to me.
As an additional heroine, being clung to by the beautiful Ms. Iris is arousing, or rather, dangerous for a typical adolescent boy. But given the circumstances, and the fact that Ms. Iris is entrusting herself to me without any doubt, I’m conflicted by my sense of responsibility, my male instincts, the difficulty of knitting, the decrease in leveling efficiency… In short, it’s frustrating and troublesome.
“How did it end up like this…?”
In the original story, Ms. Iris didn’t have any trauma like this. She treated the protagonist normally until their farewell, and at the very end, she would casually say something like, “It seems I’ve been affected by your gentle ‘fervor’ as well,” like a typical heroine.
“Sakurai-san, could you get a little warmer? I’m cold.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I’m cold, I’m cold. Please.”
Ms. Iris hugs my waist in bed and looks up at me pleadingly. The room temperature should be warm enough, but it seems that the loneliness of her heart… the ‘coldness’ reacts excessively to even the slightest thing. Sighing at the trembling coming from her arms, I take out my knitting and start leveling up in silence. After a while, I gradually become engrossed in the work and stop worrying about Ms. Iris. The path of knitting has only just begun. I’ll make sure I can earn some pocket money with this by the time I return to the mortal realm…!
Satisfied with the ‘fervor’ of my knitting, Ms. Iris begins to breathe softly in her sleep. I continue knitting for a while, and when the yarn runs out, I realize that Ms. Iris is asleep.
“What am I supposed to do with this… Sigh.”
While worrying about how to handle things in the future, I fell asleep again today, still being hugged by Ms. Iris.