A day after he woke up, Hephaestus Familia officially announced Nobu's return. The patrons of his unbreakable magic swords started swarming the northeast shop. The accumulated wealth of hundreds of people for half a year is enough for Nobu to cut off another wave of income.
Things became surprisingly easy with Miku's help. Through the modernization plan she implemented while he was in a coma, many useful precision machines and assembly lines were born. Only, she couldn't fully reproduce the magic swords that Nobu creates with his [Miracle Maker] skill, hence it was only used for personal transactions until now.
Now that he is here, they were able to produce such magic swords with ease.
"...it's done."
Nobu exhaled lightly as he looked at his 50th magic sword on this day. He didn't feel any fatigue at this moment. His natural state as a level five and the dormant dream organs made him far stronger than what he used to be.
Nobu removed the round sunglasses, which removed his personal connection with Miku. It is one of the ways to connect with her processing speed. It is also a way to apply his [Miracle Maker] while receiving her assistance.
After putting his glasses on a special case, he exited the multi-purpose basement. The workbench and the storage area receded on the ground. It reverted to its previous appearance akin to an empty room.
Placing a contact lens on his right eye, his sight was briefly filled with guidelines before the projection of a virtual idol appeared. This time, she appeared in her sakura form. Her long blue hair turned pink as well as her pupils. Her braids were replaced by cherry-themed ones.
"{The daily tasks have been completed. The magic swords are sorted by orders. What shall I do next?}"
"Rest for now."
"{I do not require it, goshujin-sama.}"
Nobu was about to speak when she immediately added:
"{Just for now… I want to assist goshujin-sama as much as I can.}"
"...How about the process of deriving the coordinates?"
Miku's synthetic yet humane voice resounded in his ears.
"{It is 60.77% complete. The cause of the accident was traced into a sudden shift of space. It overran the previous [Point Stabilizer]. According to the data, there would be several dangers that has to be tackled.}"
"Even if Kazamitsu-san was there, things are really unpredictable there…"
Nobu recalled the experience of having your five senses distorted while freefalling through that space. It didn't even take more than five minutes when Kazamitsu rescued him. Yet, it left him with enough injuries to be unconscious for a long time.
Fortunately, the [Point Stabilizer] magicka is one of the things he received from his ninth iteration.
Turns out, it could fundamentally reform the basic [Reinforcement] magicka. From forcing the body's processes to be sped up, one could simply create a fixed space before they strike their enemies. Gojo Satoru does this and so could Nobu.
(A/N: It is similar to the reinforcement-type magic used in Mahouka.)
At this moment, he had too many cards he couldn't wait to test out.
After settling several matters, Miku disappeared from his sight. He also arrived in front of a door to the office.
'It's time..?'
Click-!
*****
Despite six months passing by, everything nearly felt the same. The same went for our usual private time whenever Hephaestus-sama updates my status.
[Level 5]
Strength: I0 → H168 Defense: I0 → H159 Dexterity: I0 → H157 Agility: I0 → H156 Magic: I0 → H198 Hacker: D Ubiquitous: D Luck: G Knight's Body: F
[Orionids • Moon Hunt]
[Memoir Manifest]
[???]
[Miracle Maker]
[Child of Constellations (星座の子)]
[Proof of Combat (D)] (9% to be upgraded)
[Curse Hunter]
[Knight's Resolve]
[Pure Heart]
"Nothing changed." She said. "Your improvements are still the same as before."
"No, not really. Something changed."
I dressed in my black t-shirt once more. When I glanced at Hephaestus-sama, I caught a glimpse of her bashful side. Ever since that day with Artemis, she no longer hid her feelings. She became much more expressive than the previous Hephaestus-sama.
"...You've really changed. Since when are you this straightforward..?"
"I learned new things."
During that recreation of Galahad's life, I came to several realizations—with one of them accepting his straightforwardness. I might have been too passive before. There are things I could've resolved by being more straightforward.
My relationship with Artemis is an example. It took us a month before we came to terms with everything. I was too passive before.
"Hephaestus-sama… Do you want to go on a date?"
"..!"
That was all it needed to worsen her occasional flustered look. Seeing her completely detached away from her previous dignified looks reminded me of gap moe. I felt a tinge of embarrassment from seeing her like this.
'Artemis is like this too…'
I couldn't help but think how they are similar in this aspect. It was noticeable with Artemis, but the way I looked at hephaestus-sama gradually turned different… until I reached this point.
I respect her as my goddess. But now, it has become complicated. There is still that sense of respect, though there is something else mixed onto it.
Loving two girls at the same time… it turns out to be like this?
"...Nobu… Honestly, I never wanted to go between you and Artemis."
"..."
Hephaestus-sama calmed down and gave her actual thoughts.
"Hestia thought Artemis wouldn't find her fated lover. When you came… I believed it was best to conceal this thing…"
"That's why you hide your emotions…"
She nodded before continuing:
"Now that we came to this…"
Before she could finish her words, I interrupted them.
"This went well in the future I saw. I could still recall the bits of memories we had during that time."
Occasionally, memories flew on my mind during the combat experiences. These included snippets of my daily life, and one of them is my romantic experiences.
There are times I went on dates with her. I saw a part of her which she hasn't revealed yet.
"I already made you happy once. Among the futures I saw, that is the thing I won't change."
Her eyes widened upon hearing my words.
"...You made up your mind."
"I did." I replied. "Hephaestus-sama…"
Before I could say anything, she approached me. Our lips met at that time. It is very soft. A lingerie fragrance danced on my nose. Was it her natural scent? It smelled of something more mature. Roses? Lavenders?
My mind went into full overload. It was something I couldn't control much when it came to these kinds of situations.
I focused on this moment. We didn't have the profound connection similar to Artemis, but we have something just as crucial—falna. At this moment, it connected me deeply to my goddess. It is a cathartic sensation similar to that time with Artemis.
We separated and repeated it several times. Due to my previous experiences, I wasn't as embarrassed as before. Galahad's aspect helped as well.
Just as we were in the midst of it, my senses picked up someone that was about to open the door.
Click-!
Suddenly, the door locked on its own. The presence also retraced her steps and went away.
'Why would Tsubaki-nee…'
A realization hit me.
'She wouldn't happen to be…'
*****
Tsubaki could be seen walking outside the Hearth Manor with a smug face. It didn't go unnoticed by Brontes. The short-statured dwarf had a dubious look when he saw her face.
"Aye, old man. Only if you knew what was happening…" She suddenly said. "I knew Nobu had what it takes!"
She recalled that exact moment Miku warned her when she was about to go inside the office.
…
"{Goshujin-sama and Hephaestus-sama are currently in an important meeting. You can return later, Tsubaki-san.}"
She noticed the unusual emphasis on the important meeting part. It could only mean a few things.
"{It is what you have in mind.}"
Her face turned to that of shock before shifting to a huge smug smile.
"Kh..! So this was it?! I owe you one, Hatsune-jou!"
…
"We are all prepared for the war, yet we didn't even need to go to war."
"Is this one of your mischief again…"
"Welf is on this, too."
"Wait, that young'un?"
Brontes knew Welf as the stern and serious type. He completely changed from his childish self. Although, there remains childishness within them, and one of them is his blazing desire to forge a masterpiece.
Welf was mostly played around by Tsubaki in the past. Knowing he is a part of Tsubaki's supposed mischief felt quite incredulous in his ears.
"A'ight, I'll stop playing around. T'was somethin' related to Hephaestus-sama."
"Hephaestus-sama?"
"Yeah. She has somethin' going around for Nobu-kun."
"...What?"
Brontes' entire body froze. His habit of stroking his long beard was halted with this revelation. He stared blankly at the streets as thoughts passed by his mind.
A dozen seconds, he seemingly understood everything.
"Ah."
He connected the dots with what Tsubaki hinted at before.
"Ye two… are plannin' to support them? And it succeeded?"
"We didn't directly support them. They went off on their own."
"From what I've heard, the boy already got another girl..?"
"Well, he must've sorted things out. He won't do that without Artemis-sama's permission."
The two paused for a bit. Brontes knew Nobu personally. He is aware how he wouldn't do something that drastic unless Artemis gave her permission or something. He is not the type to hurt the girl whom he loves.
"What're ye plannin' to do now?"
"Hm… I don't wanna go ahead Hephaestus-sama. Let's keep t'is a secret for now."
"If that's what you want."
*****
Kyoto, Japan.
The tightly-secured laboratory welcomed an unexpected guest.
"{Greetings, Lord Nettesheim.}"
"Hello."
The head of the Magician's Society—the number one Magister in the world—made a sudden appearance. He possessed short-cut black hair and a pair of mundane brown pupils. He wore the standard uniform of magicians. However, he possessed a different aura compared to any other magician.
At times, he felt mundane and average. On other times, a sense of mystery could be felt upon him.
"You already made contact with Nobu and are planning to connect to that world again, no?"
"{That is correct. Kazamitsu-san is estimated to arrive within the next hour.}"
"I see. You completely derived the necessary coordinates. You are truly talented."
"{It is due to my creator that I could act like this. Goshujin-sama should be the one to be praised.}"
"You deserve credit as well. Nobu surely believes in this."
Nettesheim chose to converse with the miracle manifested by Nobu. Miku is similar to the homunculi yet she is also vastly different. The latter are all imbued with knowledge and spirituality by the Lapis Philosophorum. However, Miku did not rely on it. She is purely a creation of Nobu.
Although, there remains an underlying possibility beneath her complexity.
'To have the power to cross the gaps between parallel worlds on the future...'
It is precisely due to it that Nettesheim praised her and Nobu as such. Nobody in their world managed to accomplish what they had done.
"I suggest you move this operation back for around three months. Nobu should still be a bit busy about certain important matters."
"{...}"
Miku assessed his statement. One of the directives she received is to trust Nettesheim's words. That was how much Nobu trusted him—as he saw how Nettesheim defended the world. In each iteration, he kept on disappearing while bringing down a significant enemy—be it killing the strongest Demon or delaying the Twilight Syndrome by a huge degree.
"{Understood. I shall inform Kazamitsu-san of this change.}"
Surprisingly, he made a bow to display his gratitude. A moment later, he couldn't be found within the room. The detection devices couldn't find anything.
Witnessing such a thing first-hand, Miku understood how it was to be the world's strongest magician.
*****
A burnt battlefield.
Craters were scattered all around the place. Dried-out blood could be seen everywhere. Anyone could see that it experienced a world-ending battle. In particular, the deep chasm made by a certain power is extremely noticeable.
'This…'
The memories of that fight entered my mind. I recall going to sleep before I…
'Is this a dream or something else?'
The weak distortion wrapped around me made me realize something.
'It's the grail… but why..?'
Whenever I try to recharge or use my cheat, it comes off as unresponsive. Galahad also didn't show up in my mind. I thought it was slumbering due to the huge effect I caused on another parallel world. Yet, here I am.
I tried to interfere with the matter in this world, only to fail. Everything came off as a failure. It could only mean that… my existence in this world is extremely weak. It is a concept often found on astral projection.
During that state, a weak projection makes you unable to interfere with the known reality. You are virtually unable to do anything in that state.
'What is my purpose here..?'
Just then, I heard a low buzzing sound within my mind. It sounded extremely faint to my ears.
"...jin-sama."
"..!"
Darkness overcame everything.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself inside the bedroom.
"That one… It's Miku…"
*****
A/N: To be honest, Miku's endgame lies in (none other than) a certain concept found in a certain light novel (which has a certain interesting character). That was how I envisioned her from her creation. I needed an AI and the first thing I thought of is Miku, so why not?
PS: If you caught up in my puns, that's I do hope you find it funny ;)