- 338: Towards a new era
It had ended up in a result that I wouldn’t have even thought.
The behaviour of Mantle, that we Gods didn’t have the ability to correct, was corrected by the human Sasae-chan.
It was unbelievably impossible to manage with logic, but that’s probably why she managed to change that Mantle.
I may have been reminded of the greatness of humans.
Well, leaving that aside, we all were left in the plains after Sasae-chan, Mantle, and Uriel left, and had no choice but to space out.
“In the end, we didn’t do anything!” (Celestis)
“We just left Sasae to rampage as she wanted after all. She came like a storm and left like a storm!!” (Mirack)
Celestis and Mirack were definitely not characters of dim presence, and yet, Sasae-chan had completely taken the spotlight.
Sasae-chan’s fearsomeness gets even more fearsome the more I think about it.
“……Let’s return as well.” (Michael)
Is what Michael said.
“As we go by in the fights with the humans, it feels as if we destroy one wall at a time. The battle of Uriel also felt as if we had gone through another wall and had advanced a step forward.” (Michael)
“Right… Then, the next thing we should do is to progress onto what’s after that broken wall.” (Gabriel)
Gabriel says agreeing.
“Even if we are to learn from the humans and live together with them, we first have to check the thoughts of Lucifer-sama. And so, we will return to the castle.” (Michael)
“? You have a place that’s like the base of the Demon Lords?” (Haine)
I pursue the subject. The big hand of Michael that felt like a shield stopped me.
“I can’t tell you that. Just like how we abide to the moral code towards you people, we also have a moral code towards Lucifer-sama.” (Michael)
“If we were to let you people into Lucifer-sama’s place when he is still in his sleep without his permission, we won’t be able to regain his trust ever again. If you want to avoid battle, this outcome wouldn’t be desirable, right?” (Michael)
That’s true.
To think the Demon Lords would be reprimanding me for my manners!
“Let’s leave things to Michael-san and the others.” (Karen)
Looks like Karen also agrees with the Demon Lords.
“If we want to push the coexistence, we have to trust in the other party or nothing would begin. This is where we trust in the Demon Lords and wait. Just like how Sasae-chan did. Let’s try to straightforwardly trust!” (Karen)
“I think the ‘trust’ of Sasae-chi has pierced through being aggressive though!” (Celestis)
The opinion of Celestis has a point, but Karen-san’s opinion also has a point.
“…Understood. Demon Lords…” (Haine)
I face the tall Michael.
“The next time we meet, it will not be as enemies, but as friends.” (Haine)
“Understood.” (Michael)
The first time we saw each other, I didn’t think things would turn out like this.
What kind of conflicts occurred in my absence?
As I see off Michael and Gabriel who were flying off, we couldn’t help but feel happy at the future that was coming.
****
After that, it was all taking care of the aftermath.
The Muspelheim, Hydra Ville, and Ishtar Blaze incidents that were brought by the Demon Lords were all wrapped up as a series of events, but all of them ended with low damage, so the whole world sighed in relief.
The aforementioned cities will need to clean up after those incidents, but what’s important are the lives.
The material damages can be fixed as much as required. It looks like all cities were in high motivation.
Within all that, Karen-san, me, and the parties related to the Light Church decided on returning to Apollon City for now.
Sasae-chan had dragged Uriel to Ishtar Blaze and Mirack had returned to Muspelheim to reorganize the Fire Militant corps.
Since Celestis was already at Hydra Ville, she had resumed helping on the jobs that had stagnated.
The Light Church was the only one who didn’t get a direct attack from the Demon Lords, so we asked if there was anything to help in, but they told us that we had helped plenty enough and kindly refused.
“We can’t have the hero be absent for so long, so return to your homeland already”, is what they told us.
It is true that they are being considerate.
At any rate, my flying machine had ran through Ishtar Blaze all the way to Hydra Ville without any breaks and at full speed, so it required a complete overhaul at its manufacturer.
Doraha was finally in a state where she could stand from bed, but she wasn’t in perfect shape yet, so we decided on having a slow return by ethereal train.
Karen-san, Doraha, and I…
***
The scenery that can be seen outside the window of the train was a different flavour from that of the flying machine.
The regular method of transportation when moving from one country to another are these ethereal trains.
It was finally possible for us to take it easy and use this regular method of transportation to return to the Light capital.
“Doraha-san, it looks like they are selling a variety of things in the train, so how about buying something to eat?” (Karen)
“Karen-sama, this refrigerated orange thing has captured my heart! Also, this celebratory key holder is worth of notice!” (Doraha)
“No, as I said, something to eat…!” (Karen)
I thought Doraha was slightly colder before, but right now, she is strangely hype, maybe because she is not used to a train, or it might be because she had received some sort of change in the time she was in Muspelheim and Hydra Ville.
Looks like all humans are showing growth in places the Gods don’t know of.Karen-san, Doraha, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and even the Demon Lords.
That’s why humans are great, and that’s why I went so far as to fight the other Gods to protect that possibility.
And then, even those Gods had learned about the greatness of the humans with time- without the need of teaching them- and the world was beginning to gather into one.
This was brought by the strength of the humans, and they have grown to the point where they can overcome their problems by themselves.
It has reached a point where it might be unnecessary for Gods to help humans anymore.
“Isn’t this fun, Haine-san?” (Karen)
Karen-san offers me a refrigerated orange as she says this.
“It is nice to take it easy and be shook by the train like this.” (Karen)
“True.” (Haine)
The fight with the Demon Lords that had the fate of humanity at stake feels as if it might end up peacefully if it continues like this.
This factor made my heart even calmer.
“By the way, talking about fun…” (Karen)
“Hm?” (Haine)
“Your outing with Yorishiro-sama was fun as well?” (Karen)
…
Where did the calming trip go?
My mentality had gone from zero to code red.
“No well…you see, it is kind of like a top secret mission. It cannot be disclosed…!” (Haine)
“It is something you can’t even tell a hero? I am truly interested in that.” (Karen)
Karen-san stands up from her seat and sits by my side, making a heavy sound as she does.
The seats of the train were spacious enough for two people to sit in, and since I am at the window side and Karen-san is sitting by my side, I am now cornered?!