Chapter 198
“Melt, if anything happens, come to me anytime. I’ll be at the clan house for a while.”
“Yeah… thank you, Rivana-chan.”
“Melt. Now that you’re home, you should get some proper sleep.”
“You’re right… I think I’ll finally be able to sleep peacefully. My bed is really big, after all.”
Melt had finally returned home after her long journey, to her house located between Lindblum and the royal castle.
After arriving in Lindblum, Rivana had walked Melt home. The reason, of course, was that Melt had occasionally shown an anxious, restless expression along the way, and Rivana couldn’t help but worry about her.
Once she saw Melt safely enter the house, Rivana reluctantly returned to their base, still concerned about the shadow lingering on Melt’s face.
Meanwhile, Melt wandered through her home for the first time in a long while, thinking to herself how “this house is far too big for one person.”
Like a ghost drifting through the halls, she staggered into the lounge and collapsed onto the sofa.
“He’s definitely coming back… it’s just because the dungeon was far away. That place wasn’t normal terrain—it was an extra-dimensional space… that’s why the bell isn’t reacting yet… that’s all…”
Melt desperately piled up excuses as if stacking sandbags around her heart, forcing herself to accept them.
But during the trip home, she couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone around her seemed to be thinking “Shizuma isn’t coming back.”
She feared she was about to accept that as truth—and that fear tormented her even more.
“Everyone’s acting strange, that’s all. Shizuma is coming back…”
She repeated it over and over, half closing her heart.
Yet, because she was so kind by nature, she also understood that everyone was only worried about her—so she couldn’t lash out, couldn’t reject them, and suffered in her own contradictory thoughts.
“He’s coming back… he’s coming home…”
Her home. The home she shared with Shizuma. A home still faintly holding traces of his presence.
Wrapped in that comfort, after days of barely sleeping, Melt finally stopped moving—lying on the sofa, sinking into a deep, exhausted slumber.
The bell she had been clutching so that she could ring it again the moment she arrived home slipped from her fingers.
With a soft chirin, as if responding to her breaths—
The rushing river in front of me vanished.
Instead, what hit my face was a wooden floor. The sudden pain made me squeeze my eyes shut.
More importantly—I definitely heard it.
The bell.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in my—our—home.
Next to me, still asleep on the sofa, was Melt.
“I made it back… she must’ve fallen asleep while ringing it…”
I returned to my original form; I didn’t want her to wake up and panic at seeing a stranger.
I wanted to wake her immediately, but seeing how deeply she slept, I held back. I sat beside the sofa, leaning against it, waiting quietly for her to wake.
“…Sorry for keeping you waiting.”
I gently took her hand—the hand that had fallen over the edge of the sofa.
Much tougher than it looked. The hand of someone who fought, who had overcome so many battles.
Holding it softly, I closed my eyes.
“I’m home, Melt.”
Maybe I should sleep too. I hadn’t slept soundly at all in that forest.
…I hope everyone I left behind on the other continent is okay.
The carriage wasn’t broken, so they probably made it to the port town safely.
Ah… right. I wonder if that little girl’s wound healed properly—
Suddenly, a crushing force tightened around my body, snapping me awake.
“Shizuma! Welcome home, Shizuma! This isn’t a dream!? It’s not a dream, right!? You really… really came back!?”
“Ugh… Melt… good morning…”
“Mm!”
She squeezed me harder, enough that my body protested.
She pressed her face against my chest, rubbing against me, her fluffy ears repeatedly brushing my cheeks—ticklish, yet somehow unbearably cute.
“You’re late! So late! The bell wouldn’t ring! Everyone kept looking at me like you were already dead, and I was terrified! The bell was broken! Idiot!!”
“…I’m sorry, Melt. I’m really sorry I made you wait…”
I gently embraced her head in return.
This was the second time.
The second time I had caused Melt a deep heartbreak.
…Enough. I won’t do this again.
I won’t make Melt suffer because of someone else’s sake ever again.
From now on—she comes first. Before Still’s plans, before anything.
While she cried tears of joy in my arms, I made that vow.
I didn’t care anymore about taking chances to defeat the mastermind.
I just needed to become strong enough to protect everything.
Strong enough to manifest everyone with my own power.
“Melt, can you let go for a bit? I need to go tell the others I’m safe.”
“No! I’m staying like this today!”
“Hmm… at least let me sit on the sofa?”
“…Okay.”
She still wouldn’t let go. She held onto me as if letting go would make me disappear again.
Like a little child.
A very big child, my little fox.
And so, still wrapped in Melt’s tight embrace, I couldn’t move from the sofa for quite a while.
Some time later, a cute little “kyu” sound—her stomach growling—came from Melt, who had been half-asleep, her face buried in my chest. Finally, she lifted her head.
“I-I’m hungry…! I haven’t felt hungry at all recently…”
“Could it be that you weren’t eating properly?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t have any appetite. But now I’m starving!”
Perhaps she hadn’t been eating because she was worried about me.
Alright, then I need to make something easy on her stomach so as not to shock it… Maybe a soft pot-au-feu or bread porridge?
If rice were more common in this world, I could make a shrimp risotto too.
“Alright, I’ll cook, so can you help me?”
“Yeah! I want to eat shrimp! Shizuma, do we still have some shrimp left?”
“Yeah, we do. Then… let’s make a shrimp pot-au-feu. Lots of rich shrimp flavor.”
“Yay!”
I need to prepare it carefully and with love—for this cute family that waited for my return.
Alright… I’ll use not just the dungeon shrimp meat, but also the regular shrimp we bought at the port town.
Roast the shells in the oven to make stock… then mix the shrimp with chicken into plenty of shrimp meatballs, and add them generously to the pot-au-feu…
Sitting here, eating a meal with my beloved family, I’m reminded of how truly happy this is.
…I’m glad I really came back—
The next day, after breakfast (finishing the leftover pot-au-feu from last night), Melt and I headed to the “Underside,” the Killcrawler clan house, partly for a walk.
“Ah… the second day was delicious too! The shrimp meatballs were so satisfying! The combination of shrimp and chicken was so bouncy and filling—it really hit the spot!”
“Yeah. Next time… maybe I’ll gather some seasonings and try making chili shrimp.”
“Chili shrimp? A new shrimp dish? I want to try it!”
Smiling happily, we entered Lindblum together. The southern gate guard seemed to remember us now and greeted us casually. It made both Melt and me feel a little proud, as if we were truly recognized as residents of this city.
As we walked through the streets, the city seemed slightly changed, perhaps because of the long time we’d been on Yasha Island.
Specifically, the residents themselves seemed different.
“Hey, there seem to be more beastmen around town now.”
“Yeah! Maybe people from the frontier villages in Golda moved here?”
“I hope they can live freely here. And once governance in Golda stabilizes, it would be nice if people who want to return home could do so, with government support for reconstruction.”
“Right… okay, let’s head toward the north gate.”
“Eh? Aren’t we going to the Underside?”
“Yes, we are! There’s a big road near the north gate that leads to the Underside, and that’s where the Killcrawler members took the carriage back.”
“Wow! They already built such a proper entrance? Looks like the Underside is truly becoming part of the city.”
“Seems like it. It’s my first time entering too, but I wonder if we can find Rivana’s place?”
“Yeah… maybe the government workers are there; we can ask them.”
We left through the north gate, took the new road, and passed through the entrance to the Underside.
“Whoa… the atmosphere’s really changed!”
“Yeah! There’s more lighting now, and the streets are wider and brighter!”
The Underside had been completely transformed from how I remembered it as Ruhe. Not just the lighting, but temporary housing was constructed carefully to avoid blind spots, making it bright and airy both physically and mentally.
Suspicious-looking people and street vendors had disappeared. Residents—likely refugees—walked freely, without fear or gloom on their faces.
“This is amazing… it’s just like the upper city now.”
“Yeah, soon there’ll probably be lots of shops here too!”
“Sure. Then let’s find the Killcrawler clan house.”
The streets with better visibility were mainly around the site of the explosion incident; elsewhere, lighting had improved, but the area still retained a faintly underground feel.
However, with the criminal group “Abyss Fang” destroyed, suspicious figures had vanished even in the deeper parts.
As we asked passersby for directions, we learned the clan house was roughly halfway between the site of the explosion and the deeper Underside, just ahead along the road we were on.
“This place is pretty complicated, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! I think we should make a map later and post it on the bulletin board.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. I should suggest it to the Killcrawler members too.”
The Killcrawler clan house we found on the way back wasn’t as large as the Glory knights’ headquarters, but it had the appearance of an underground fortress—its exterior was the complete opposite of elegant or luxurious.
“Hello—! It’s Melt!”
Instead of me, Melt knocked on the entrance door and called out. Her cheerful greeting felt just like a small child’s hello, which made the moment incredibly heartwarming.
…This girl really is adorable. I have to stay close to her as part of my family.
“Melt, what’s going on?”
The door opened immediately, and Rivana appeared with a somewhat flustered expression. But it seemed less about panic and more about concern for Melt—
“Something to discuss? Come inside. I’ll listen.”
“Yeah, then we’ll come in! Shizuma, you come too.”
“Ah, then I’ll come in as well.”
When I called out from behind, Rivana’s expression completely froze. She wasn’t particularly expressive to begin with, but now her whole body seemed stiff, as if frozen in place.
“…No way.”
“I-I’m sorry for making you worry…”
“…! Everyone!! Everyoneーーー!!!!”
Whoa! That’s rare! I’ve never seen Rivana shout like that before!
She went back inside the clan house immediately, calling the members together loudly. Meanwhile, Melt and I quietly stepped inside and waited for her to return.
“Shizuma has come back! And he came here with Melt!”
“No way… I need to check this myself.”
“If it’s true—”
Then Araza and Gark also came from the back of the clan house—
…People who are usually quiet or serious really do have expressions that can change dramatically, huh.
Their faces looked like their jaws were about to fall off…