Chapter 89
"Even if I defy the sun and moon, I cannot defy your love."
As I blearily awoke, I felt as though I heard that chant lingering in my ears.
I wobbled and blinked for only a moment before the warmth of healing magic enveloped my whole body and snapped me fully awake.
"Iruma... no, Hiyori—huh? What?"
"Dairi!"
Though my head was clear, so much had happened that I couldn't take in the situation. Hiyori tightly embraced me in my confusion.
Great, fat tears poured down her face.
Hiyori was smiling more happily than I'd ever seen her while crying harder than I'd ever seen her. Wow, it was textbook crying and laughing.
As she rubbed her face vigorously against me and soaked the front of my clothes with tears, I patted her back to comfort her and tried to trace my memories to figure out what had happened.
Um?
I'd heard from Hiyori's eyeball familiar that a zombie panic had broken out in town in the middle of the night.
I hurriedly pulled out my zombie manga and reviewed what I knew about zombies, but I was still sleepy, so I went to bed.
Then I woke up and there was something right in front of me...
......!?
......
...Right.
No wonder people called the Wizard of Iruma the worst, strongest wizard ever—a garbage scumbag of a wizard.
I remember everything.
I remember every single thing that happened while I was being turned into a puppet.
I remember having affection implanted in me and being made to think Iruma was my best friend without sensing anything wrong.
I remember him destroying my house while claiming it was a fake setup. He even bullied the fire lizards.
A shudder ran through my entire body.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! Gross, gross, gross! I got goosebumps.
That guy was way too disgusting! His face was all stitched together and creepy, and he spoke in this gentle voice like some incredibly fresh-faced little boy. That was instinctively repulsive, too.
I can't believe that garbage bastard! Gross! I hate him!
"D-Dairi...? Did you dislike me touching you...?"
"Ah, sorry. I just got goosebumps remembering Iruma."
Hiyori was still crying as she asked in a trembling voice, so I hurriedly shook my head.
It's okay, it's okay. Hiyori, you're warm. Iruma's the only one who's ice-cold.
I went through all kinds of awful things and was forced to say all kinds of awful lines, but Iruma definitely died from Great Glacial Magic, so I feel a little better.
Serves you right! Don't ever show your face in front of me again, scum!
However, even after remembering all that, my memories and the situation still didn't quite line up.
I should have died caught in the collateral damage of Hiyori's ultimate magic.
I suppose that couldn't be helped. Even if I were in the opposite position... If I were in the opposite position...
...No, I don't know. But if my life had ended with Hiyori killing me in that situation, it would have felt strangely acceptable. Like, Goodbye, Hiyori! Be happy!
But the curtain hasn't fallen, has it?
I was absolutely sure I'd died. Yet the curtain is still up.
When I calmed down and looked around, all kinds of things were off.
Hiyori looked normal, but now that I looked closely, her robe had become tattered.
Of course it would get torn up after a big fight with Iruma, but it didn't look so much damaged as old and worn. Robe, haven't you faded?
The riverbank was strange, too. The huge willow tree that had grown on the opposite bank was gone. The undergrowth and trees had all changed.
The biggest rock on the riverbank, Tsubaki's favorite place to nap on the very top, was nowhere to be seen, either. If anything, the river itself seemed to have changed shape. Has this bank gotten a little narrower?
The waterwheel was gone. The bridge was gone, too. The general store that should have been visible from here was nowhere to be seen. In fact, all the houses were gone, or had been replaced by woods.
I had a bad feeling, so I asked Hiyori, who apparently had assumed a stance for continuing her endless hugs while crying.
"Hey, Hiyori."
"Mm."
"What year is it?"
I never imagined I'd seriously have to say a line like some kind of time traveler. You never know what life has in store for you.
"April 8, 2111."
"Oh, that's all? I thought it would be the year 3000 or something... Wait, the century changed! We're in the twenty-second century! Eighty years? That means eighty years have passed, doesn't it? What!?"
I felt relieved for a moment, then realized the truth and was aghast.
You idiot, that's too long! Eighty years is too long!
"Hey, this is bad! I haven't fed the fire lizards in eighty years! I've neglected Fuyo's education for eighty years! The nukadoko must be ruined! The rice paddies must be gone, too! Oh, and I'm eighty years late delivering the university's wands! This is bad, this is bad! Right, the university! Professor! It's been eighty years, hasn't it? Could they have died of old age!?"
"Kei-chan's aging slowed down as a result of becoming a half-beast. Kei-chan is alive. Don't worry—that's what I'd like to say, but... Yes, you must have all sorts of questions. Shall we sit down and talk?"
"What about the Spider Witch? Is the spider alive, too?"
"Alive, alive. Come on, let's sit down. You just came back to life, so don't push yourself."
"I came back to life!?"
Hiyori took a golden ingot from her robe pocket and tossed it. It instantly transformed into a fluffy, comfortable-looking bench.
Hey! Don't add to my list of questions! I've never seen that magic before!
Hiyori sat down with me, still confused by all the questions I wanted to ask. Pressing her body tightly against mine and holding my hand, she explained what had happened.
After killing the Wizard of Iruma along with me using Great Glacial Magic, Hiyori had apparently set off on a journey to search for resurrection magic.
Magical linguistics held that resurrection magic existed, but no one had discovered it. Hiyori went searching for it for my sake after I died. Apparently, Great Glacial Magic has a cryosleep effect, so I was able to remain dead and fresh for eighty years.
Hiyori discovered resurrection magic after eighty years, promised payment to the witch who wielded it, learned the spell, and returned to Okutama. She thawed me out of cryosleep and resurrected me... That was the sequence of events.
Being kidnapped by dragons, becoming a sleeping princess in ice...
Was I a princess?
"I get it, more or less. Thanks for bringing me back. Really, thanks."
"That's awfully casual."
"No, I really am grateful. Is there anything you want me to do? I'll do anything as thanks."
When I said it sincerely, Hiyori rested her head on my shoulder, closed her eyes, and answered softly.
"I was apart from Dairi for eighty years. Stay with me for the next eighty years."
"O... Oh. Mm...?"
Now minus eighty, then the next eighty added back, for a net zero. It was wonderfully clear and concise arithmetic.
But isn't something weird about that?
I mulled it over while squeezing Hiyori's soft, warm hand, then rested my other hand against my chin and sank into a sea of thought.
After eighty years, I'll be a doddering old man. In fact, nine times out of ten, I'll be dead of old age.
In other words, "Stay with me for the next eighty years" equals "Stay with me until I die."
Applying the theory I learned from Honorary Professor Ohinata Kei of Romance Studies to that equation, "Stay with me until I die" equals a proposal.
Therefore, by syllogism, the conclusion is that Hiyori proposed to me. Q.E.D. Proof complete.
......Wait, was I just proposed to!?
Can that actually happen?
Isn't this weird after all?
No, it isn't weird, is it?
Hiyori already loved me eighty years ago, right? Probably.
My heart started pounding.
With Hiyori's head resting on my shoulder and her face peaceful and utterly trusting, I felt a warm weight as though she had entrusted everything to me.
Isn't that heavy?
Hiyori herself is light, but her feelings are heavy.
When I thought about it calmly, spending eighty years searching for resurrection magic for my sake was pretty incredible. Hiyori could still live for a long time, but for an ordinary human being, that would mean devoting their entire life—from birth to death—to it.
She could have said, I'm tired, so I'm giving up! Or, I can't even remember Dairi's face anymore, and I've found something else I want to do! Those things could easily have happened.
But despite that, she had continued searching for resurrection magic single-mindedly for eighty long years.
Um.
I'm sorry, but I don't have feelings capable of matching the weight of those eighty years...
People's hearts change.
Hiyori had spent eighty years traveling for my sake and proved that her feelings would never change.
But honestly, I'm not confident.
Sure, right now I trust Hiyori more than anyone in the world, think she's the most beautiful girl in the world, and consider her the most important person in the world.
But what about in eighty years?
When I've become a wizened old man like a withered tree, will I still be able to say the same things?
Would I become jealous of Hiyori, who would probably remain young forever?
Would someone I could trust more come along and relegate Hiyori to second place?
Would some beautiful woman beyond my imagination suddenly appear and demote Hiyori to the second-most beautiful girl in the world?
I know perfectly well how bad I am at socializing.
Just as I can trust my own dexterity, I can't trust this side of myself at all.
I have nothing solid enough to match Hiyori's eighty years of devotion.
Hmm. This is a problem.
But I do like Hiyori...
Okojo-sensei said I had to properly return the feelings I received.
I agonized over it for a while, then reached a conclusion.
I told Hiyori my answer, running my Romance Skill Lv1 at full capacity, while pressing myself against her so firmly that we might as well have stayed glued together for another eighty years.
"I can't guarantee we'll be together for eighty years. For now, could we settle for staying together as long as I want to be with you?"
"That...! Dairi, did you understand what I meant?"
"Probably."
When I nodded, Hiyori pulled away slightly and looked straight into my face. Then she smiled brightly.
"Let's do that. Surely that's the right pace for us to walk together. As long as you want to be together, I won't leave your side."
And so that was settled.
Hiyori didn't say it, and I was too embarrassed to ask, but there was a chance we'd entered that urban-legend concept called a "romantic relationship."
Professor Okojo was apparently still alive, so I'd go ask him again someday to teach me, "What is a lover?"
When I asked the suddenly giddy, fidgety, bashful Hiyori about it, she said that while she was away, Fuyo and the fire lizards had protected Okutama.
After Iruma's attack, for some reason powerful monsters began appearing in Okutama just as they did in other regions. Once the Spider Witch had handed over management of her territory, she had also joined the defense of Okutama.
It was a relief. If strong monsters had smashed or melted the ice mountain, I would have died (?) after all.
"What had everyone been up to while I was dead?"
"Ah, I only just got back from my journey, so I don't know much about what happened while I was away. For now, the Spider Witch has vanished somewhere, saying, 'I can't face Dairi.' Fuyo's in the back hills. Fuyo's grown quite a lot, but Fuyo's personality hasn't changed."
......?
I understood Fuyo, but the Spider Witch was a mystery.
Maybe after eighty years, the face carved into the decoy bait had warped into something ugly. I'd have her fix it later. I'd promised to turn that decoy bait into a beautiful girl.
"Also, I didn't see it myself to confirm, but Fuyo said Tsubaki and Sekitan emerged from their pupae last month and the month before and went off to find territories of their own. It will probably disappoint you, but apparently they've taken human form. Mokutan should be emerging soon, too."
"!!!"
I turned pale for a reason probably different from what Hiyori was thinking.
Oh nooo!
The fire lizards really do turn into humanoids when they grow up!
They're definitely going to take after their mama! Whichever mama they resemble, Hiyori will know immediately who Mokutan's parents are!
Aaaaaah!
I just came back to life!
A full-blown romantic disaster is starting out of nowhere!
This is all your fault, Tsugihi!