The Hero Who Returned Remains the Strongest in the Modern World - Chapter 119: Magical girl volume: Epilogue, part one.

Side: Morishita Daiki

“Do you know the destruction of the past civilizations? For that reason using dimension travelling selfishly is a crime. Given the effects of dimensional travelling, I’ll be going back soon. But, Daiki? Even I wasn’t able to completely dissolve the curse on your sister in a short time. I was a bit crazy with the disconnecting from the system. No, that was unavoidable. The area of the brain controlling memory was held immobile by magic… That came along with few revived Magical Girls.”

And then, Anastasia returned to her world.

We disbanded after some time then I returned home with Maria in arms.

“Anyhow— I’m tired.”

I swam from Okinawa to Kyushu to save MP but I’m also mentally exhausted.

Then, I laid Maria down on her bed and I returned to my room to lay on the bed.

“Memory loss…”

Tomorrow probably will be troublesome. First, I’ll have to patch things up as much as possible.

I fell asleep while thinking that.

“Kyaaaaaaaa!”

I heard a scream in the middle of the night.

It’s from Maria’s room. I immediately headed to Maria’s room and Maria was sitting upright with a frightened expression.

“Onii-chan?”

“What’s wrong, Maria?”

Maria sighed as if she’s relieved by my appearance.

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“Hm?”

“I had a terrible dream. Hehe, next month I’ll be a junior high school student… I’m sorry.”

“Is that so. It was a bad dream?”

“It was a dream that had Magical Girls and such…”

Her consciousness is cloudy. Besides, her becoming a junior high school student happened several months ago or so.

Well, her memory has been tampered with and from tomorrow it’s going to be rough.

“Hey, Onii-chan? Can you come here? I really had a terrible dream…”

“Sure.”

I sat down on Maria’s bed and held her shivering shoulders.

“I’ve always chased after something and the precious people to me have changed… Despite doing my best nothing changed. And the situation gets worse.”

“…”

“Even so I still persisted. I had no alternative but to run alone in the darkness. Scared, tired, lonely… I was always… crying.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Eh?”

“Everything has ended. Right now, you’re up, right? The terrible dream is over.”

“Is that so?”

Despite that, Maria’s shoulders haven’t stopped shaking.

“Hey, Onii-chan? I’m sorry… It’s still scary. I want us to sleep together… today.”

“I understand.”

And then, I slipped in Maria’s futon.

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What is it?”

“Ehm, before the terrible dream ended.”

“At the end of the really hopeless nightmare an angel like in the West and a shrine priestess a servant of Japan’s God came to help me. But, still nothing has changed.”

“Un.”

“And then light was brimming… At the very end Onii-chan appeared wearing silver armor and a sword in his hands. Just like a hero in games… It’s funny, right?”

I gently stroke Maria’s head while smiling.

“Aah, that’s right.”

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What is it?”

“A while back I drew a manga… It helped a lot to me who was being bullied and called gross.”

“Did such a thing happen?”

Maria giggled.

“Although Onii-chan was bullied by his classmates. I’ll really laugh.”

“But, well, I can’t lose to a female student lower class than me.”

I won’t hit a female student lower class than me in the first place. I’ll just beat her with words.

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“I saw a bad dream at 12 years old and had my Onii-chan sleep together with me…”

Well, you’re 13 years old not 12… I smiled bitterly.

“And at the end of the nightmare Onii-chan saved me. Surely somewhere in the depths of my heart I’ve been relying on Onii-chan since that time.”

“Hey, Maria?”

“What?”

“It’s okay to rely on me.”

“Eh?”

“I’m your Onii-chan, after all. Even when you become an adult, old woman, grandma, I’ll still be your Onii-chan until death. That’s why you can rely on me till death. Because I’m your Onii-chan.”

“Un… that’s right.”

After thinking silently for a bit… Maria’s shaking could be felt even here.

“Hey, Onii-chan? The dream was really scary.”

“…Is that so?”

“Haha, I’m strange aren’t I? I can’t stop shaking. I’m strange, right?”

“You’re not strange.”

I’m sorry that I didn’t notice.

I’m really sorry that I wasn’t able to help you until you were this scared and frightened.

“I’m sorry, Maria.”

“Why’s Onii-chan apologizing?”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, Maria.”

“…”

“…”

After a moment of silence… Maria began to shake again.

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“Haha, it was a really terrible dream. I still haven’t stopped shaking. I’m scared… I’m not able to sleep like this.”

“…”

“Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“Can you hold me tighter…?”

Maria said that to me and while crying she was shaking just like a small animal.

“Just for today.”

I hug Maria more strongly.

“Hug me… tighter…”

As I did Maria’s shaking stopped little by little—

“It’s a wonder. I’m relieved when Onii-chan does this to me. Hey, Onii-chan?”

“What?”

“I…”

“Hm?”

“I surely would’ve taken a liking to Onii-chan if Onii-chan wasn’t my Onii-chan.”

“Don’t talk jokes. Go sleep.”

“Haha, that’s right. But, until I fall asleep, let’s be like this.”

And then, I continued hugging Maria until she had fallen asleep.