Satoru-san…
A person whom I looked up to once.
"Why the late night visit… Satoru-san?"
I started off by asking this question.
"Well, I would know if an interesting guest came." He replied while placing his back on the tree.
Satoru-san lifted a portion of his blindfold. His mystical blue pupils made their appearance. A sense of being examined closely appeared in my mind.
The observation of microexpressions…
Basically, it is Satoru-san's way of gauging a person.
"Your eyes are still as sharp as ever. But yes, I am here to visit my parents. I presume you are here for the annual Goodwill event?"
Hearing this, he flashed a thin smile.
"There's your source of information again. Magicians love to play mysterious, don't they?"
"It's one of our occupational diseases."
In the literal sense, that is.
Magicians literally turn into beings of mysteries. The preference of wanting to be seen as 'mysterious' is purely a tradition.
"Right… So you aren't planning something interesting? Like the extermination of the Time Vessel Association or the three Land Gods you defeated?"
"Unfortunately, there's none as of the moment."
The eradication of the Time Vessel Association was one of the things I orchestrated behind the scenes. To put it in the simplest way, I attacked them from all sides—economically, legally, and physically.
When they are weakened by the first two, I contracted Miss Mei Mei and had her completely eliminate the remaining cultists. That marked an end to the cult that stood tall for more than a thousand years.
I recall Miss Mei Mei complaining about some troubles with the Jujutsu Society. Well, one more zero on her paycheck did the trick.
"...but you can look forward to something big in the near future."
Satoru-san paused a bit as he placed his blindfold back.
"...I see, I see." (Souka, souka.)
With that implication, I managed to heighten his sense of danger. He already knew about the accounts of Magisters as well as the dangers faced by them.
Satoru-san hopped off the tree and started approaching me.
"Well then, I'm off."
Leaving those words, he straight up disappeared. It is the short-distance teleportation cursed technique in action.
Without any more interruptions, I took the familiar path on my way home.
*****
Gojo Satoru.
The strongest sorcerer of the contemporary times. He alone could manage everything that happened in Japan up to this point. His mere presence deters countless rogue 'sorcerers' from causing trouble.
As a proof of it, he alone took down the majority of the special-grade cursed spirits that appeared during the last ten years.
Even in the entire world, he is considered to equal the esteemed Magisters. His strength and power was that strong.
For such a strong person, what comes to his mind?
'If I placed that kid beside Nanamin, there's no difference at all!'
Of course, it is the option that seems fun.
'He grew this strong. Tsk tsk, he's even more of a monster than I.' He mused with an entertained look. 'Wait. If I look at it, aren't his looks also outstanding?'
Upon this comparison, Nobu shared many similarities to him.
In the end, it left him on a happy note.
After all…
'There's someone I could finally talk to!'
He could finally "properly" interact with another equal.
******
I might have been on Satoru-san's 'list' already. With Lord Nestaheim and Nettesheim being elusive, he wouldn't have a chance to have a 'proper' interaction with someone equal in strength.
It is one of his peculiar traits as the strongest contemporary sorcerer.
In the other iterations, he opened this up with the reason of 'having the same vibe as Nanami-san'.
That… is true.
These idle thoughts stopped as I arrived in front of our gate. Just when I was about to press the doorbell, the gate opened.
"—bring this to—"
A black-haired teenager held several manga on his right arm. His vision suddenly shifted to me.
"...It's been some time, Suimei."
"Ah."
He nearly dropped all of the manga due to his shock. His mouth went slightly agape as he couldn't begin to express his surprise.
"I could take a picture of your funny look, you know?"
I didn't choose to do that this time. After all, I am aware how I made everyone worry… for three years, that is. Miku stated that I was gone for three years on this side, though I managed to have a 'vague' sense of communication through my connection with my goddesses.
Even so, that is not enough to explain everything.
"You… You're finally back. You kept us waiting for a long time."
As expected, he regained his composure.
"Suimei? What—"
The voice that came from behind Suimei suddenly halted.
"..."
My emotions began to surge up. All the worries, anxiety, and guilt that I felt over those three and a half years resurfaced. These are not enough to break me, but a bitter taste was left in my mouth.
Tou-san…
His deep maroon pupils stared at me blankly. He still had the same short black hair since back then.
"I'm sorry it took this long, tou-san."
"..."
Instead of responding, he came closer before giving me a hug.
That was enough.
Silence overrode the surroundings for a while.
"...Don't blame yourself. The most important thing is that… you're here."
After the hug, he patted me on the shoulders. He seemingly thought about something before smiling.
"There's your two girlfriends giving us updates regarding you. That's why… visit them as soon as possible."
"I will."
*****
"Two worlds… How did your journey end up that way?!"
Suimei was, of course, shocked as to how my journey to two worlds went.
"Even my trip wasn't all that bad!"
"Luck, I guess."
I was slowly becoming used to the more casual way of speaking.
"I can't tell if you're lucky or unlucky." He wryly said. "You said that you've mastered the Infinite Conversion too?"
"Yes, around three years ago."
"So… How strong are you right now?"
"I am a Magister."
"...That explains a lot."
Tou-san was listening to this entire conversation when he shifted it to another topic.
"How about your girlfriends? And I believe it wasn't just the two of them."
"..."
I was speechless for a while.
When I looked at Suimei, I saw his teasing look.
"Oh, that reminds me. Suimei also has several girls who fell for him, no?"
"Wait, you're diverting the topic!"
"He's right, Nobu. I would just like to hear the number."
As the situation has it, tou-san fixed his glasses.
I couldn't escape, huh.
"I'm not sure. But, if I would include the ones I am aware of, there would be… more than five."
"...My son grew up to be a harem protagonist."
"..."
At this moment, it felt awkward being questioned by tou-san, more so when my best friend is here.
"Suimei is also one."
I pointed out.
"Maybe that's why you two became friends. Isn't there a quote about 'birds of the same feather, stays together'?"
"..."
"..."
Heh.
At least I am not the only one who felt awkward by it.
"Ahem. Kaa-san is still at work?"
"She should be returning by now…"
Click-!
"I'm home, Seiji."
A voice came from the entrance. She walked over to the living room and saw us.
If Ryuu took his appearance from tou-san, my genes mostly came from kaa-san. We have the same white hair as well as a pair of golden pupils.
"Suimei-kun's here? And…"
The second round of guilt began.
"Welcome home, kaa-san."
"...Nobu-kun?"
Kaa-san's voice cracked as she muttered my name.
This time, I was the one that gave her a hug. Due to my height, I found her to be shorter than me.
"I'm back. I'm sorry it took a very long time."
"..."
She replied with nothing but tears as she responded from my hug. It became tighter within every second.
'Kaa-san is really the more emotional one…'
Although she could act strong—even stronger than tou-san—she was like this when it comes to crucial matters.
A while later, she wiped her tears with her sleeves.
"...You shouldn't do something like this again, understood?" She said in a strict tone.
"Yes… This wouldn't happen again."
Tou-san approached us and offered to help Kaa-san calm down in the kitchen. It left me with Suimei.
"I'm sorry if I had to see that. I should've left stealthily." He guiltily said. "Family matters should remain within the family…"
"That's not a problem. Just remember, how many times did you visit this house back then? You're my friend. Don't think much about this."
"...Thanks."
With that, our topic went on a more serious matter.
"You had just returned from the other world, huh…"
"It's not as intense as your journey. It's quite pathetic, actually."
Suimei told me how he lost more than 40% of his power simply due to the differing myths and constellations of that world. He hasn't found the way to retain his strength while being on another world, yet.
"There aren't many innovations either other than the summoning magicka. I… I expected more from it."
"You can give Gekai a go. I am planning to visit it again, actually. You can come with me and test out some things such as falna."
"That was a god's power, wasn't it? Tou-san explained it to me. It's just that… I wanted to be stronger first to have the power to protect myself. I would lose most of my strength when I travel to another world, after all. I'm not like tou-san who could still be strong despite it."
Whenever someone crosses over to another world, they have to 'open' a hole from this metaphysical barrier I dubbed 'World Membrane'. It protects the world from the invasion of another world's harmful phenomena such as when it blocked the Twilight Syndrome that seeped from our world.
Kazamitsu-san could perfectly deal with the seepage through his 'Holy Magicka'. Thus, the only problem was Suimei's unwillingness.
I facepalmed upon hearing that.
"All these times, you still haven't removed that thinking? I thought Kazamitsu-san said that you're strong enough already?"
"Isn't that to comfort me?"
"Man…"
I don't know what to feel for my best friend.
"Defeating a Rank A cursed dragon at the age of twelve and mastering several Grand Magickas qualify you from being 'strong'."
"Didn't you also do the same? You didn't believe yourself to be strong at that time, either…"
"...That was my bad. Still, you should remove that thinking right now. You mastered 'Infinite Conversion' already."
"But, wouldn't it be useless in cases when I go to another world? I wasn't able to use it back then."
Well…
I have to blame myself for not finding that solution when I was in Gekai. I was already sent to the Singularity when I learned about it.
As for getting them through Lord Nettesheim…
It is difficult.
According to Suimei and Miku's database, he became elusive over the past three years.
"You don't have to worry about that anymore. I got that covered."
"You mean—?"
"I have a way to retain your strength in other worlds."
It is my turn to help my friend.
*****
"Going to another country for a girl… You've grown up."
"She's a friend, tou-san."
"I wonder, how many grandchildren would we have?"
"You too, kaa-san..?"
A night had passed since our reunion. We had a long talk regarding many things. Although, they had to be cut short due to me needing to return to Britain.
"We'll continue this later."
"Yes."
I nodded at kaa-san's words.
"You will drop by Ryuu's dormitory, right?"
"Mn. Is there a problem?"
"There is." Tou-san replied. "Ryuu… He was heartbroken once. He's facing some sort of phobia… or anxiety right now. It will be best if he hears your words."
"I will."
The main reason why Ryuu studied in Tokyo instead of Kyoto is due to this reason. Just like Bocchi-chan, he wanted to be away from his past memories that are painful for him to remember.
"Maybe letting him wear one or two combat suits could alleviate that."
Back then, Kazamitsu-san revealed my involvement to the supernatural side. That included the things I did on the company building's basement levels. The development of those combat suits are a part of it.
"...His fear of heights might relapse."
Kaa-san pointed out.
"I'll make sure he enjoys it instead."
After I bid farewell, I kickstarted my flight magicka.
It is time to return to Britain.
*****
A/N: The update schedule should be returning to 1 chapter per 2 days. I finally got through this semester. It was one hell of a ride with all the 2 hour sleep I did for several weeks. Any errors (grammar/story) I made within this period would be slowly fixed starting tomorrow. That's all.
Happy reading~!