Chapter 100: The Hero Who Returned From Another World
The crisis on Earth had passed, but the battle was not yet over.
The aliens were still out there.
Surely, even now, they must be watching us carefully from the far reaches of space.
And, knowing that the pillar of light had been broken, they must undoubtedly be in a panic.
“Phew…”
“You really saved us, didn’t you…”
“Not yet, Momoko-chan. The aliens are still remaining.”
“What will you do?”
“Of course, this time we’re taking the fight to them!”
“Do you know where they are?”
“I put a Marking on their supreme commander, so Teleportation is possible! I’m gonna pop over for a bit! Look forward to a souvenir!”
“Please say a word to the Prime Minister before you go.”
“Roger! Well then!”
Kazuma departed, raising one hand like a boy going out to play.
He truly was an incorrigibly carefree man, but since he was undoubtedly the savior who had saved the world, there was probably no need to worry.
Momoko looked up at the clear blue sky, then deployed her Powered Suit and returned to the base in Hawaii.
“‘Sup! Ema-san!”
“Oh! Kazuma-kun! You were the one who obliterated the pillar of light, weren’t you? Thank you so much. Thanks to you, Earth was saved!”
“We can save that for later, could you listen to what I have to say?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Actually, I’ve Marked the enemy, so I’m thinking of launching an assault on them this time. But, if we go with this many people, I’ll end up having to protect everyone, so I’ll go alone. Is that alright?”
“I don’t mind. Go and wreak as much havoc as you like.”
“Osu! I’ll go blow those aliens’ minds!”
Just as Kazuma, his face full of motivation, was about to Teleport to Kakka whom he had Marked, Ema spoke about the past feud with the aliens.
Kazuma was surprised and indignant to learn that the Ibinom were the aliens’ doing, but it was a story of distant ancestors.
He wondered whether he should avenge them or not, but decided that since they were enemies the moment they came to invade, regardless of any vendetta, no mercy was needed, and Teleported.
Ema and the others, judging that Kazuma would surely be fine, returned to Earth.
“Heeey.”
“Gobo-gaba!?”
At the destination of his Teleportation, Kakka was immersed in what looked like some kind of culture fluid.
Kakka’s eyes widened upon seeing Kazuma suddenly appear before him, and he was panicking grandly.
He was pointing at Kazuma while spewing bubbles from his mouth, “gobo gobo,” but it was impossible to tell what he was saying.
“A recovery device, maybe? Well, whatever. C’mon, give me a little tour of this planet.”
Kazuma had his Powered Suit deployed and was in his Crimson Knight attire, so his expression couldn’t be seen, but Kakka could easily imagine that he wore a devilish smile.
Kakka, who had been resting his body in the culture fluid, had his recovery capsule destroyed by Kazuma and was forcibly dragged out.
“Now then, let’s put an end to this feud of several hundred years, shall we~?”
“…Please. Won’t you spare my people?”
“Are you an idiot? Over here, without any say, everyone—men and women, young and old—was ravaged. And what’s more, it happened suddenly, one day. For your own selfish reasons. Let me also say this: you guys were the ones who picked this fight. ‘We lost, but please spare us’—that doesn’t make any sense, does it?”
“…Are you planning to do the same thing to us?”
“I have that right. Understand?”
“…I understand all too well. Your assertion is correct.”
“Want to try resisting with all your might? You’ll probably just get yourself counter-attacked, though.”
“You’re right. That’s exactly how it is…”
As the defeated one, he had no right to blame Kazuma.
The fact that he had lost weighed heavily on Kakka’s shoulders, making him look as if he could barely breathe.
No matter how many fine words he might arrange, Kazuma’s argument would be the correct one.
Kakka, who knew well that history was made by the victors, thought of his people and grieved, but unable to do anything himself, he lowered his head apologetically.
“Well now, let’s have a rendezvous, shall we? General, old boy.”
Grabbing Kakka, whose injuries hadn’t fully healed, by the scruff of his neck, Kazuma exited the facility.
Naturally, facility security guards who noticed the intruder rushed over, but they were no match for Kazuma, who mowed down the attacking guards with his head-pad.
“Oi, morons! Get outta the way, dammit!”
“Damn it…! Just where did he appear from…!”
“You’re in the way, move! Scum!”
“Ugyah!”
A guard who had fallen in Kazuma’s path was kicked like a soccer ball, sent flying, and crashed into a wall, losing consciousness.
Kakka felt anger at such outrageous and arrogant behavior, but he knew that if he, the defeated one, said anything, it would just sound like sour grapes.
“They just keep popping up one after another…”
“That’s to be expected. For you, this is enemy territory. Everyone around you is an enemy.”
“Well, if they come at me, I won’t show any mercy. So, who’s the most important person in this country, no, on this planet? I’m telling you, you don’t have the right to remain silent, you know?”
“…Her Majesty, the Queen. She resides in the central castle.”
“Lead the way, please.”
Kazuma held Kakka by the neck in an arm lock, as if lightly choking him, and exited the facility.
A large number of soldiers must be swarming outside the facility.
Thinking so, he stepped outside, and soldiers in ostentatious attire were waiting for him.
Apparently, he had been reported.
Kazuma put Kakka down, took a fighting stance, and just as he stepped forward to knock them all down, the soldiers parted to open a path to the left and right.
“Hm?”
Wondering what on earth was happening, Kazuma stopped moving and carefully observed the soldiers’ actions, when a woman, also clad in opulent garments, approached him.
“Your Majesty!?”
Kakka, who was at his feet, cried out in surprise, and Kazuma twisted his lips into a smirk.
To think the enemy’s supreme commander would make an appearance.
Kakka himself had said he was the strongest in the country, but Kazuma didn’t know if that was really true.
Perhaps there was someone even stronger hidden away.
That said, if they were only at Kakka’s level, they wouldn’t be much of a threat; he could handle them easily.
“For the supreme commander herself to show up, you’re quite bold…”
Unleashing his magical power, Kazuma glared at the Queen as if to intimidate his surroundings.
As the soldiers held their breath watching the touch-and-go atmosphere, it was the Queen who moved first.
Kazuma, who had his fists raised, ready to intercept at any moment, widened his eyes at the Queen’s action, dumbfounded.
“Wh-What are you doing!? You!!!”
“It is the highest form of apology from your planet, from your country.”
It was a dogeza.
Moreover, it was a dogeza in the middle of the road, surrounded by a large number of soldiers.
Not the top of the country.
The top of this planet, a figure who could be called its very symbol, was performing a dogeza towards Kazuma.
While the surroundings were in an uproar and people were flustered, the Queen, her face still towards the ground, offered her apology to Kazuma.
“We are truly sorry for this incident. Due to our thoughtless actions, we have caused you immense trouble, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart.”
“Gu… ku…h…!”
Clenching the fist he had raised, Kazuma couldn’t move.
The Queen, the leader of this planet, was performing a dogeza in public and formally apologizing. Kazuma’s magnanimity was being tested.
A feud spanning several hundred years. The prime culprits who unleashed the Ibinom upon Earth and created a hell.
All of that was right before his eyes.
As an Earthling, he shouldn’t be able to overlook this. He shouldn’t be able to forgive this.
However, Kazuma couldn’t bring himself to strike the Queen, who was going as far as to perform a dogeza in such a public place.
“Stand up. We’ll talk after that.”
“Thank you for your generous heart…”
“I haven’t forgiven you yet. Let us talk, just the two of us, somewhere quiet.”
“Understood. Then, please, this way.”
Kakka, who had been rolling at Kazuma’s feet, regained his senses and called out to stop the Queen.
“You mustn’t! Your Majesty!”
“…We are the defeated. We have no right to defy the victor.”
“But…”
“It is our turn now. For what we have done all this time.”
It felt like he was being shown some drama unfolding before his eyes, but as far as Kazuma was concerned, it didn’t matter.
“Enough with the pointless exchange, hurry it up.”
“Yes. Immediately.”
Kazuma addressed the Queen as if ordering a servant.
The Queen obeyed Kazuma’s words and guided him to the vehicle she had arrived in.
Riding in a vehicle he had never seen before, Kazuma muttered.
“…The civilization level is on a completely different scale.”
“However, we lost.”
“That’s right. You all are the losers, and I’m the winner.”
“Yes. It is as you say.”
After a while, they seemed to have reached their destination, and the Queen alighted from the vehicle.
When Kazuma followed her out, a futuristic building, the likes of which he had only ever seen in fiction, towered before him.
“Are we going in there?”
“Yes. Now, please don’t stray from behind me.”
While being glared at by the soldiers standing guard at the building’s entrance, Kazuma followed behind the Queen.
They moved to the top floor using something like an elevator, and Kazuma was prompted to sit on a large chair, facing the Queen.
“Now then, we can talk calmly like this.”
“Yes.”
“First… regarding this incident, what kind of reparations do you intend to pay?”
“We are prepared to offer everything we possess.”
“So, the reward is the safety of your person? Of the entire nation?”
“Yes. If at all possible…”
“You understand that’s the most difficult thing, right?”
“Yes. Considering the entanglements from the past, I believe it’s only natural…”
“That’s right. I have the right to take everything from you, from technology and property to dignity and even life.”
Kazuma had won the war.
And the aliens had lost the war.
It’s a natural right for the victor to take everything from the defeated.
Of course, sometimes it might end with just money and goods, but considering the scale of the war, money alone wouldn’t compensate for what Kazuma and the others had lost.
“…Yes.”
Naturally, the Queen understood.
That’s why she wasn’t negotiating, but pleading.
At least, for the sake of guaranteeing the safety of her people.
She didn’t care what happened to herself; she desperately wished for her people to be spared.
“…The grudges from the past. And this invasion. Let me be clear, you wouldn’t have any grounds to complain even if I destroyed you, right?”
“…That is correct. However, please, spare the lives of our people—”
“Isn’t that a bit too convenient? I said it to the last guy too, but we were suddenly killed, regardless of age or gender, without any explanation. And all because you wanted to use Earth as a business tool.”
“Y-yes… I understand. How much pain our actions have caused you.”
“Ha! Don’t make me laugh! Don’t act like you understand when you weren’t even involved! Want me to recreate it for you? On this planet!”
“I-I’m terribly sorry! My words were excessive… Please forgive me.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“I am grateful for your mercy…”
Kazuma also had his own thoughts about the grudges of the past.
But from Kazuma’s perspective, it was still something that happened hundreds of years ago.
He had no intention of bringing up the past and blaming them now.
More than anything, it was just too much of a hassle.
“Haa… Fine. There are many things I want to say and ask, but I have only one request. Stop meddling with Earth.”
Hearing those words, the Queen was stunned.
They were the defeated, and Kazuma was the victor.
She was prepared to accept any demand, but she hadn’t expected such a proposal.
In the first place, they had no intention of getting involved with Earth any further, with an existence like Kazuma who was beyond all standards. Rather, they didn’t even want to be involved.
After all, their weapons were completely ineffective, and Kakka, who boasted being the strongest in the star, had lost without being able to do anything.
“U-um, is that all you require?”
“Hmm? Well, I’m not very good at these kinds of negotiations. But this is just my opinion. I’ll go back to my country and discuss it.”
Saying that, Kazuma stood up, turned his back to the Queen, and was about to teleport.
The Queen had something she desperately wanted to ask before the end, and she called out to Kazuma.
“P-please wait! Who… Who exactly are you?”
“Me? Let’s see…”
It wouldn’t be interesting to just give his name, so Kazuma grinned mischievously and revealed his identity to the Queen for the first time.
“I’m the Hero who returned from another world!”