Episode 9
…Being close to Teresia like this always brings back memories.
Back from before she was a saint.
Back then, neither of us imagined we’d end up shouldering something as grand as defeating a demon lord.
We both genuinely believed we’d just live out our lives in this world as the most ordinary, unremarkable people you could find anywhere.
As it turned out, Teresia became a saint.
And I… never became anything at all.
If you’d told either of us back then what the future held, we’d probably have laughed it off as a joke.
That’s how unbelievable a future was waiting for us.
“The sunset’s beautiful, isn’t it.”
Teresia had opened the window and was looking out at the sky when she murmured that, almost to herself.
I followed her gaze out the window, and sure enough, the sky that had been blue was starting to bleed with red — a genuinely dreamlike view spreading out before us.
This too felt like a nostalgic sight, somehow.
…Back when the demon lord’s influence held sway, the sky had stayed overcast for long stretches at a time.
The fact that we now had a cloudless sky like this was, in itself, proof that the world had been saved.
“Hey, Yurina. Do you remember?”
Teresia turned around, her back to the window now, looking at me.
“Back when we were both really little. We used to play together a lot in that park in the capital of the Kingdom of Grandol, didn’t we.”
“Ah — yeah, I remember. It was surprisingly full of nature for a park in the middle of the city, wasn’t it. That was nice.”
“When we played hide-and-seek, you’d climb up a tree to hide, Yurina. And there was that time I couldn’t find you and ended up crying.”
“Hm? I feel like you always found me right away, and then you’d climb the tree too every single time…”
“I’m a sophisticated urban saint, you know.”
“Liar.”
Well — it’s true she used to cry easily, at least.
“Anyway, what brought that up? I get wanting to reminisce about the old days, but—”
“No, it’s just — back then, a sunset this beautiful was completely ordinary. Once the demon lord appeared, it was overcast almost all the time.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“It means it’s all over. We get to walk toward the future under a beautiful sky like this. I think that’s got to be — it’s got to be a wonderful thing.”
I let out a small laugh at that.
“What’s gotten into you? That’s not very you — you sound like some enlightened old lady.”
“Even I get the urge to say something a little embarrassing like that sometimes. I’m at that age.”
Teresia laughed too, as if caught up in my laughter.
I’m honestly glad she can still laugh like that.
At the very least, looking at where things stand now compared to where the original story was supposed to go, we seem to be on a better path, results-wise.
I — the demon lord — am alive.
And Teresia is properly laughing.
…This world’s story was supposed to end with Teresia being deeply, irreparably hurt.
Or rather — that’s how it went, as far as I could observe it in the form of a game.
Within that story, the Teresia who killed me still found the resolve to keep walking forward, but even so, the wound carved into her heart surely never disappeared.
In that sense, maybe this ending was for the best.
That doesn’t mean it justifies what I did.
But still — looking only at the results, it’s not bad.
Looking only at the results, though.
“Either way, we’re going to have to think seriously about what comes next.”
Teresia said, turning back toward the window again.
“Now that the demon lord’s been defeated, this world doesn’t need a saint anymore.”
“Because a saint is someone granted a special purification magic specifically to defeat the demon lord, right.”
“Yes. So I’ll have to go back to being an ordinary girl, and think about what comes next, too.”
“Yeah… I guess so.”
“What do you want to do, Yurina? Is there anything you’d like to do from here?”
“Me?”
“Like wanting to open a sweets shop, or a flower shop — do you have any dreams like that?”
“Me, huh…”
Me.
…The ordinary me. I’d always been fine as long as I could be with Teresia.
I think that’s how I’ve lived, this whole time.
“…Yeah. I guess I need to start thinking about what comes next too.”
“The world’s at peace now, so I think you can do all sorts of things.”
“I think I want to do all sorts of things with you, Teresia.”
“Mm.”
I can’t see Teresia’s expression from here.
What kind of face is she making, I wonder?
The girl who’s always been right beside me is, just for this one moment, facing away from me.
Somehow, that made me feel a little lonely.
“I think I want to do all sorts of things with you too, Yurina.”