Chapter 19: Return, Confusion, and a Small Reunion
Chapter 19: Return, Confusion, and a Small Reunion
At that moment—the instant I returned with Rafaela to the coordinates of the future—
the underground transfer facility of Shivatown was filled with familiar faces.
Maharaja, Emil, Katie, and Ririka.
All of them had been waiting for us.
It was a place swirling with relief and confusion, too overwhelming to put into words.
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The gate glowed white, and the air trembled faintly.
When that tremor felt like it was ripping open the seam of time itself—we appeared.
Rafaela, Hachiko, and me.
As if we had just landed from the past into the future.
“…They’re here!”
That shout came from Ririka.
In her arms, Fei-taro gave a sudden little leap, and that sight is still burned into my memory.
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Maharaja stepped forward, just a single pace, and stopped.
His expression… it’s hard to describe.
Neither joy nor anger.
It was the face of someone torn between relief and bewilderment—oddly human for a prince.
“I’m back.”
Rafaela’s voice rang out gently.
And without hesitation, she walked up to Maharaja.
He didn’t say a word. He simply embraced her.
I couldn’t say anything as I watched that scene.
No—maybe there had never been any need to say anything at all.
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Beside me, Ririka was handing Fei-taro over to Rafaela.
The moment Rafaela hugged him, he jumped as if he’d been waiting for that all along.
“I’ve been waiting, Rafaela!”
“I’m sorry I made you worry, Fei-taro.”
Watching that exchange, I finally felt it sink in.
That I had truly returned.
For the first time, I understood what the word “homecoming” really meant.
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But reality doesn’t wait around for you.
“By the way, Oliver Jones…”
That was Emil.
He shrugged his shoulders, speaking like he was confessing some prank.
“Something crazy happened. Turns out Zeus’s calculations were off.
The Crystal Gate went out of control. …The power was insane.”
“To put it simply,”
Katie cut in, in her usual tone, with her usual face—but this time, with a trace of seriousness.
“Maharaja’s company built the ‘14-Trillion-Yen’ ship.
Well, it got thrown back into the past, crew and all, straight from orbit.
The company’s taking huge losses, stock prices are crashing.
And at the St. Tosgorn underground facility, Zeus, Barnes Dunn, and three Guardians—all five of them—vanished.”
As I stood there speechless, Maharaja let out a long sigh.
And then—this was the hardest blow.
“…In short, we’ll be sending the damages bill to you.”
That one line haunted my dreams for a while.
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A strange silence fell over the room.
Then Hachiko barked once, sharp and clear.
It was like a cue. Ririka laughed and said:
“…Let’s just start with a welcome back.”
The world was in chaos.
But my friends were here.
And that, more than anything else—was my salvation.
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(End of Chapter 19)
