“Huh?”
Zeke unintentionally displayed a rude attitude towards the royalty.
“You don’t like it? Zeke.”
“N-no, my apologies. I was just a little surprised.”
“Lord! Please explain what this is about!”
“Haa… Honestly. I told you that you would be acting as an Asgardian from now on, right? So, what about your origins?”
“W-well, that’s…”
“If you’re Japanese, we can just say you don’t have parents. But that won’t work for an Asgardian. Besides, we can’t explain your strength. To be honest, I want to know the reason for your strength right now. But if we’re asked, we can say you received special training from Zeke since you were young. And you have the blood of the War God. It’ll be convenient in many ways.”
“I-I see…”
“Haa… I’m getting really sleepy. I need eight hours of sleep to function properly, you know. I consume a lot more brain energy than you do.”
(Grrr (Anger))
Kenyya was irritated by Lord’s casual remark. Lord, seeing this, further provoked him.
“It’s just a fact, don’t get angry. Haa, I can’t anymore. Let’s leave it at this for today. Zeke, let’s go home. Meet me at Zeke’s mansion at noon tomorrow. We’ll have this machine recovered later. You can come in that vehicle.”
“H-hey!”
“Good night, my ally!”
“Make sure you don’t get caught, Mitsurugi.”
“Good night, Kenyya-kun.”
And with that, Zeke, Reina, and Lord left. Once it was decided, they were very quick and efficient.
“Is Lord always like that? His character has changed too much.”
A solitary ruler.
Noble, with high pride, and yet a genius of war.
That’s what I thought he was, but from the way we talked today, he felt like a friend of the same age.
I’m a loner without friends, but come to think of it, he was a loner too.
“But, this has become quite a big deal.”
“Indeed. I wish we could tell Kaguya and the others about this situation…”
There was no way to contact Kaguya and the others. Tanaka had exchanged contact information with Isshin, but the signal wouldn’t reach if they weren’t in the capital.
In this world, it seems that national communications are not connected via the internet like in the previous world.
In the first place, the Asian Union and the Aasgard Empire are at war, so it would be strange if they could communicate.
In this era, if something happens, they hold face-to-face meetings with representatives.
In the previous world, it was normal for important countries to meet face-to-face, so it’s probably the same here.
There might be a communication method that only the representatives can use, though.
“We’ll be able to tell them someday. If we share the same goals. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about the connections with the Asian Union, I’m sorry.”
Tanaka-san wasn’t in charge of such diplomatic matters, and Isshin was mainly the one who communicated with the representatives of the Asian Union.
“…I see. I want to see Kaguya… Though I shouldn’t say she’s alive.”
I want to tell Kaguya that she’s alive.
But even if it’s directly, I can’t reveal that I’m Kenyya unless it’s a trustworthy method, given what Lord said earlier.
“That’s right. It will be difficult to make it public due to the operation, and if we meet directly… I can’t think of anything right away. For now, let’s sleep and think about the future challenges.”
And so, Kenyya and Tanaka decided to sleep there for the night.
The temperature was pleasant, and they fell asleep with the smell of gunpowder.
◇The next morning, early
The next day, the morning sun woke them up.
“It wasn’t a dream… What happened yesterday was real.”
Kenyya still couldn’t fully accept reality.
Too many things had happened. He looked at the Takemikazuchi next to him and understood that it was real.
“Good morning, Kenyya-kun. Here, coffee. It’ll wake you up.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Tanaka, who had woken up earlier, gave him coffee, and he woke up.
The transport vehicle seemed to have various facilities.
“For now, should we head to Zeke-san’s house?”
“Before that, is it okay if I…”
Kenyya looked at the Takemikazuchi and the victims.
“I see… That’s right. That’s good.”
Kenyya got into the Takemikazuchi and dug a hole.
Then, he buried the victims. He couldn’t do everything, but he wanted to do as much as he could.
Of course, the children from the orphanage too.
The two of them clasped their hands in front of the makeshift graves.
Their eyes were tightly closed, but tears leaked from the gaps.
“Azusa, Midori, Takeru…”
They called out the names one by one, remembering their faces, and wished them peaceful sleep.
I once heard that funerals and graves are for the living, for those who are left behind.
The old, twisted Kenyya used to think, “What are you talking about? That’s just a hassle.”
But now I understand, I understand its meaning.
“It’s a turning point, isn’t it, a grave? A way to move forward.”
“Yes, that’s right. To move forward.”
And then Kenyya stood up.
It’s not that he wasn’t sad, but now he had found a goal.
So he switched his mind, straight towards a clear goal.
To make Lord the emperor.
And to eliminate conflict from the world.
To make that the meaning of these children’s sacrifice.
That’s the greatest favor Kenyya could do for everyone.
“Well then, I’m going, everyone. Leave the rest to me.”
Kenyya didn’t look back anymore.
But he engraved them firmly in his heart and spun his thoughts.
Connecting to the next, only the heart is eternal.
Because that is the strongest weapon of people.
…
And then, Kenyya and Tanaka, with Tanaka driving, headed to Zeke’s house.
“What are you going to do from now on, Tanaka-san?”
“Well, it depends on Kenyya-kun, but I’m thinking of continuing my research somewhere. This machine should still be able to be upgraded.”
Kenyya and Tanaka discussed their future plans.
However, since the royalty was backing them, they should have a certain degree of freedom.
Yesterday, the discussion ended vaguely, so nothing had been decided about the future.
“Well, we’re here.”
It took about an hour or two by car to reach Zeke’s house.
It was still a mansion, so large that even a military vehicle wouldn’t look out of place, like a hotel’s rotary.
“You’ve arrived, Tanaka.”
“Is it okay to park here?”
“No, the back is better. I’ll guide you.”
Zeke greeted them as soon as they arrived.
“Kenyya-kun. I’ll talk to Tanaka about the future, so go take a bath.”
“Is that okay!?”
“Yes, and Reina is out shopping for various things you’ll need. I think she’ll be back soon, so go ahead and take a bath. Go straight after turning left as soon as you enter the house.”
(Honestly, I was covered in sweat, blood, and sand, so I’m very happy.)
Kenyya went up to Zeke’s house as he was told.
He had been there once, so he had a general idea of the layout.
He had never taken a bath there, but he found the bathroom after turning left.
“Wow, it’s huge. And a bathtub!”
It wasn’t as big as a public bath, but it was a fairly large bathroom.
To give you an idea of how big it was for one person, imagine a round bathtub with a jacuzzi in a luxury apartment.
It was about that size, and warm-looking water was filled with steam, as expected of a noble.
“Thank you, Zeke-san!”
Kenyya took off his muddy clothes so as not to get them dirty and put them in one place.
He charged into the bath.
The warm shower alone felt so good that he could have fallen asleep again.
And in front of him were two types of shampoo.
One was a simple mass-produced one, probably Zeke’s, he didn’t seem to care much about fashion.
He’d probably say that a man only needs a water bath.
And the other was a very expensive and stylish shampoo and treatment set.
At that moment, Kenyya had an intuition.
“That’s definitely Reina’s. That’s right. Reina always takes a bath here.”
Kenyya immediately became excited.
He imagined Reina with her sensual, sexy nape.
The silhouette of her showering flashed in his mind.
Ah, crap.
Kenyya was getting horny.
His body was that of a first-year high school student, the embodiment of sexual desire, every day was every day.
Basically, he was seven for seven at the plate, and sometimes he could get two hits in one at-bat.
“N-no, this is bad. Not here, or rather, precisely because it’s here.”
He shook his head vigorously in denial.
His perversion was too high, his reason, do your job.
Even after what had happened, he felt that his body was honest, but perhaps it was precisely because of what had happened.
It is said that when people are in mortal danger, their libido increases.
It’s an instinctive action to leave offspring.
“B-but just a little of this shampoo… That’s right. Because I wasn’t told which one to use. This is an accident. Just an accident.”
And then he washed his hair with the shampoo that Reina would have used.
It had a pleasant soap scent, it smelled really good.
“Is this Reina’s scent… If possible, directly…”
His head was filled with pink fantasies of Reina.
Kenyya’s reason, whose tension was going crazy due to his physical exhaustion, was broken.
“Kenya…kun?”
“I can even hear her voice, haha.”
My overly powerful imagination successfully materialized Reina’s voice. I got even more excited by Reina’s voice that I heard between the sounds of the shower. If I’m going this far, I might as well imagine her naked, I want to take a bath with her.
Knock knock.
“I’m coming in, okay? Kenyya-kun.”
“Sure, go right ahead, and while you’re at it, how about you wash my back… wait, what!?”