──Several days had passed since Meiko was released.
The underworld had been devastated by Meiko's overflowing spiritual power, and there was a flurry of work to repair the damage.
At the same time, while we were dealing with Meiko, Reimei-sama was able to reestablish the boundary with the present world, so it seems that no more demons will appear in the present world.
However, it seems that Reimei-sama and the others cannot directly go to the present world to deal with the demons that had already escaped, and those demons could only be dealt with by people like me in the present world who possessed spiritual power.
Since demons could harm people and damage things if left unchecked, they cannot be left unattended and… must somehow be found and defeated.
Also, Reimei-sama said that only the boundary between the present world and this underworld could be restored and that other boundaries with other worlds that have disappeared could not be restored… but to be honest, I didn't really understand that part of it. What are the boundaries with other worlds…? And I also didn't really understand what would happen if those boundaries disappeared.
At any rate, peace has finally come to the underworld, and there have been major changes for me as well.
One of them is──.
"Master. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"U-um, it's okay… Meiko."
──Surprisingly, I had absorbed all of Meiko's spiritual power, and she had become my subordinate.
I didn't understand the meaning at first, but it seems to be similar to the so-called tamers in the other world, and it seemed that by accepting all of Meiko's spiritual power, a soul connection was created between Meiko and me, and she was tamed by me.
I immediately tried to free her, but I changed my mind because I knew that if I did so, the power I had accepted might return to Meiko.
And then, the very same Meiko insisted on making me her master and tries to devote herself to me while dressed as a maid.
But when I asked her why she dressed as a maid, she said──.
"Is it… strange? I was taught that a servant is supposed to dress like this…"
"H-hmm… I guess you're right but also wrong… Where did that perception come from in the first place…?"
"…As you know, Master, I was born from the negative side of the great sinners trapped in this underworld. And the knowledge I possess was also obtained from the souls of those sinners. Therefore, I think that this current knowledge also came from one of the deadly sinners from whom I was born… This is the underworld──the Maid of the Underworld… Doesn't that sound perfect to me?"
"I don't think that's how the word 'maid' came about…"
What kind of a great sinner would have such biased knowledge of maids in the first place… and it's too silly…
Putting that aside, Meiko seemed to like the way maids dressed and the way they acted as well.
I told her softly that it was fine, but I didn't think it was right for her to serve me, and I didn't feel comfortable, so I asked her if she could stop, but…
"Understood. If there is anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."
…Like this, she shows no sign of stopping at all. Well, maybe it's my fault for not stopping her earlier.
But, in this way, Meiko was released from the seal and became free. I'd like for her to do what she wants and… well, all I can do is be patient.
At any rate, Meiko no longer needs to be sealed.
And the other big change is… about my spiritual power.
I absorbed Meiko's spiritual power in a way that Kuuya-san prohibited me from doing, and if I hadn't been able to absorb it fully, my body would have exploded.
But as it turned out, I had succeeded in taking on all of Meiko's spiritual power.
I later heard from Kuuya-san why I was able to do this, and it seems that even before I leveled up in the other world, I was already a world-class holder of spiritual power, but after I leveled up and my body changed, I became an even more excellent reservoir of spiritual power.
However, since Meiko's spiritual power was originally born from the malice of the great sinners, it should have had some effect on me if I accepted it normally, but… I was able to manage that as well.
I originally had a similar power called 'Evil' in my body, and thanks to the fact that I was able to control it, I was able to control Meiko's negative power with relative ease.
I had fainted right after freeing Meiko from the burden of the spiritual power, but in the past few days, my body and mind have recovered, and I have completed everything I needed to do in the underworld.
…In other words, it is time to say goodbye to everyone in the underworld.
Ikkaku-san made a black vortex appear, just as he did when I arrived in the underworld.
If I dive through this vortex, I will be able to return to my home.
Not only Zenovis-san and the others, but even Reimei-sama came to see me off.
"Yuuya. This was our second time fighting together, and it was a lot of fun."
"I'm glad to have met you too, Yuuya-chan. Please take good care of Yuti from now on."
"This is the last time I can be with you… But I still haven't taught you about sorcery yet. Please ask me in the present world about it."
As I exchanged farewells with each of them, Reimei-sama approached me.
"Reimei-sama!"
"Yuuya. You really have… saved me. I almost made her… lonely again."
"Reimei-sama…"
Reimei-sama looked at Meiko, who was standing behind me, and then they smiled softly at each other.
"Yuuya. Please take care of Meiko, okay?"
"Yes!"
I finished greeting Reimei-sama and turned to face Grandpa for the last time.
"…Grandpa."
"Yuuya. Even though it was only for a short time, I was happy to be able to spend time with you again like this. More importantly, Yuuya grew up to be very honest. That alone is enough for me."
Seeing Grandpa with a radiant smile on his face, I just didn't want to leave him… I thought.
But…
"…I'm still inexperienced in everything, but… I'll do my best from now on."
"It's okay. You can do anything you want. Don't be in a hurry. Take your own pace."
"…Yes!"
I stood in front of the black vortex with my grandfather's words engraved in my heart once again.
And then──.
"Goodbye, everyone!"
──I dove through the vortex in front of me and returned to my home.
＊＊＊
──When Yuuya was undergoing training in the underworld.
The influence by the soul of the false god had spread far beyond the underworld where Yuuya was.
The soul of the false god had annihilated the boundaries between various worlds, in addition to the boundary between the underworld and the present world where Yuuya was.
And this time, thanks to Yuuya's cooperation, the crisis in the underworld controlled by Reimei was resolved, but there was nothing Reimei could do about the effects that had spread to the other worlds.
Reimei was only the master of one underworld and did not control the time axis or the parallel worlds.
The boundary between the underworld and the present world, where Yuuya was, had been restored, but there were still many problems to be solved.
"──That world, if we don't take it over…"
──And that problem was steadily approaching Yuuya and the others.
＊＊＊
Meanwhile, at school…
"Listen up, everyone! The stage has been decided!"
Kitaraku said happily in front of the student council officers.
The officers' eyes were all dazzled by his words, but Nekota was the first among them to come to her senses.
"Huh? The stage? W-what are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about, huh? Of course, it's about the school idols."
"Huh? Didn't we just decide on the members the other day? How can you be so sure that the stage has already been decided?"
"A-as expected, I think it's a little too early to say… We haven't even decided on the costumes or songs yet, have we…?"
"It's okay! We'll do something about that!"
"Can you please stop involving us so casually?"
No matter how much Nekota complained, as long as Kitaraku had made the decision, it was almost a given that the student council would be pushed towards dealing with these things.
However…
"Let's say we could arrange costumes and songs by the time the stage is set up. Even so! Even if we could arrange the costumes and songs before the stage, the idols would still have to sing and dance on stage, right? Do you really think the idols who have agreed to participate in this event will be able to prepare so quickly?"
"That's where those girls will take care of it."
"And yet another victim…"
Everyone was getting more and more overwhelmed by Kitaraku's momentum.
The one at the center of the commotion, Kitaraku, just laughed happily.
"It's alright; it's alright! The stage is still a long way off, even though it's been decided! We'll just have to make it work by then!"
"Huh… are you sure everything is going to be okay…?"
Despite Nekota's anxiety, Kitaraku is extremely optimistic.
Thus, even at Ousei Academy, it was only a matter of time before Yuuya would be assigned the ridiculous task of being in charge of the school idol project──.