Chapter 8: And the Myth Laughed
Chapter 8: And the Myth Laughed
The final day of vacation.
Morning sunlight poured down softly, as if nothing had ever happened.
Oliver sank into a chair on the balcony, half-asleep, and murmured,
“…It’s over.”
“It’s such a peaceful morning,”
Rafaela said as she came over with a cup of coffee and sat beside him.
“Yeah, but it’s too peaceful… makes me uneasy. No scent of trouble in the air.”
“That’s called occupational disease, you know.”
She gave a wry smile and opened her tablet.
“By the way, how about making our next vacation a luxury cruise?”
“Cruise?” Oliver raised an eyebrow.
“Yep. I looked it up online—apparently Chappy (ChatGPT) is hosting daily kids’ shows on board.”
“Oh really? What kind of shows?”
“There’s a Sailor Rune ballet, and robot plushies dressed as ‘Disnue’ characters performing puppet theater during dinner.”
“What a world we live in…”
“That’s not all. The Cirque du Soleil troupe will actually perform in the ship’s theater.”
“…Sounds great,” Oliver said, laughing.
⸻
Meanwhile, Mireille and Noah were carefully packing away the Silvamia Family figures they had used at last night’s banquet.
Noah: “I’m taking these guys on the ship next time.”
Mireille: “Yeah, and we’ll do the ‘On-board Authentic Spice Curry Shop’ scenario.”
“You two are more organized about this trip than we are,” Oliver said, half-amused.
Then he glanced over at Emile—
and Mireille whispered softly,
“…Uncle Emile is so cool…”
Noah: “Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing. I didn’t say anything.”
Noah grinned knowingly and fell silent again.
⸻
Emile dozed off, leaning gently on Lyrica’s shoulder,
while Julius and Nero were shouting, “Next time we fight Captain Dragon!”—
riding on top of the suitcases.
Rafaela watched them all with a quiet smile.
“They’re so full of life… I can’t wait for the next trip.”
⸻
On the return shuttle, a message came from Maharaja.
“Your seven-trillion-yen debt? Let’s just forget it.
You’ve earned it through your service as the Lord of Hades.
Also, while you were on vacation, your fake account hit Rank #1.
So congratulations—you’re now officially the world champion.”
Oliver sighed.
“…That’s not what I meant to do…”
“Congrats, World’s Greatest Slacker!”
his whole family shouted, laughing.
⸻
The sky was a gentle blue.
The journey was over—
but somewhere, another one would begin.
Yes… the myth would go on,
and it would be told again—
with laughter.
⸻
(The End)
