"Huh?"
After maintaining a silence that lasted for a long time, as though he were waiting for something while staring at the night scene that had returned to tranquility before him, Hachiman asked in confusion: "Generally speaking, shouldn't we be entering the victory results screen at a time like this?"
"There is no such segment."
Asakura, whose attempt at acting cool had failed to receive a response, reset his posture and said with utter nonchalance: "It's not like this is some game."
"Then..." Komachi asked, sounding slightly unsure: "is it just over like this?"
"Pretty much."
Asakura tilted his head toward the bottom of the mountain to signal to them.
The Hikigaya siblings looked down toward the direction below the mountain together.
Within the town that was originally a blanket of pitch-black, lights suddenly began to kindle in a slow progression.
It wasn't merely the streetlights; it was exactly the same even inside those residential buildings that appeared rather ancient.
Having originally been enveloped by the night, giving off an atmosphere that felt quite like a horror movie set, Itomori Town instantly became entirely different, taking on a vibrant and thriving sensation.
Whether or not it was just his imagination, Hachiman felt that he could even faintly hear the warm yet noisy conversations drifting up from the households down the mountain.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
Gazing at the scenery below the mountain, the Musubi let out a sound from her mouth that felt as though she were sobbing.
"It's back... everything has returned..."
Tears streamed across her heavily wrinkled old face as she spoke with a trembling voice: "The past Itomori Town... which I originally believed I would never lay eyes upon again... has completely returned..."
Startled by the elderly person's overreaction, Hachiman listened to her muttered soliloquy and couldn't resist casting his gaze down the mountain once more, a faint realization dawning within his heart.
Although looking down upon the small town from a height of this caliber yielded a view that could indeed be considered quite nice, it hadn't reached a level that would make someone feel so deeply moved. Yet the moment one recalled that the Itomori Town in reality had already been obliterated by a meteor, a topographical alteration of that magnitude was clearly not something that could be repaired on a whim.
Taking a step back, even if the municipal office truly possessed the funding and manpower to carry out a restoration, the final result would definitively no longer be considered the exact same entity as the original Itomori Town.
For the Musubi who had continuously watched over this land of Itomori from the distant past, seeing the object she had constantly gazed upon through the long passage of time vanish just like that must have brought immense sorrow. Consequently, even if it wasn't reality, being able to witness the Itomori Town of the past once again triggering such a massive emotional response from her couldn't be counted as strange at all.
Meanwhile, after gazing infatuatedly at the small town down the mountain for a period of time, the old woman turned her eyes back toward the casual Asakura: "It was you..."
"I'm not actually omnipotent to that degree, you know."
Asakura waved his hand: "I simply reinforced this space a little bit along the way. Your being able to witness all of this is purely because of yourself."
It was a technique pretty much identical to when he had wrapped that invisible shrine of the fox monstrosity with the spell [Scale], severing it away from reality back then.
After wrapping this space of Itomori, this pocket area—which originally had been continuously mending with reality and was even on the verge of 'collapsing' into the real world—successfully achieved independence.
Not only that, but largely because she no longer needed to expend extra energy to sustain and control the survival of this space, the power the old woman—which was to say, the Musubi—had utilized for that portion was restricted within this space by [Scale], responding to the old woman's inner desire to see the Itomori of the past one more time in a phenomenon akin to an echo.
Thus, a miracle of this nature was produced.
"Now that the issue regarding the meteor has been resolved, you also have much more time to properly revisit the memories of the past."
Seeing that the old woman looked as though she were about to let her old tears stream down once more, Asakura hurriedly shot a meaningful glance toward the Hikigaya siblings to signal them, saying: "In that case, they and I won't disturb you any further..."
"This old body understands... however, it is already enough. To be capable of seeing the Itomori of the past once again, this old body is already exceptionally satisfied."
The old woman shook her head gently: "Since this space... has lost the original purpose of its existence, this old body no longer possesses the power to continue maintaining its survival within the manifest realm... Furthermore, you also mentioned that certain innocent people would be drawn into this place... You saved this old body, so this old body must fulfill my own responsibility as well, allowing those travelers who have lost their way within this distorted space to return to their original world... It is pretty much time for this old body to take my leave as well."
"Take your leave? Old lady, where are you going?" Komachi blanked for a moment and asked.
"Naturally, it is to embark upon a brand-new journey after concluding my own mission... Although that is a trek destined to be a point of One Goes Without Return, the moment I think that I might perhaps run into friends from a very, very long time ago... it makes this journey feel not that unbearable..."
The elderly person answered with a soft smile.
Komachi immediately looked toward Asakura, using an imploring gaze to ask Asakura if he could urge the elderly person to stay.
But this time, Asakura merely shook his head.
The three of them accompanied the old woman in silence, gazing together at the small town below the mountain dotted with shimmering, brilliant lights.
For a long, long time.
☆
"Uwah! Pa?!"
"To think we actually returned to reality, Komachi is so moved... Huh? Where's Brother? He clearly should have come out even earlier than me."
"If it's Hikigaya, you can see him if you look downward." Asakura's figure manifested immediately afterward, speaking to the girl who was currently looking all around.
Komachi lowered her head, only then catching sight of Hachiman, who had presumably been tripped up by something and was currently rolling around on the ground.
"So that sound just now wasn't a sound effect from Asakura-nii using extraordinary power, but merely Brother's wailing..."
Komachi murmured under her breath.
"Could we talk about this kind of thing after letting me get up?" Hachiman said: "Komachi, you are stepping on my back, I can't quite pick myself up..."
"Ah, sorry, sorry..."
Komachi hurriedly moved away from her older brother, who had served as a meat cushion.
Following that, she looked back toward Asakura: "So that old lady in the end still..."
"Yeah, she will likely perish along with the space."
Asakura took out his phone, speaking casually while simultaneously reconnecting to the cellular network signal.
"Setting that aside, where exactly is this place?"
Hachiman asked with some confusion while patting the dust off his body and looking at the surrounding thicket that carried quite a natural flavor—although it hadn't reached the extent of a primeval jungle, it clearly didn't give off a sensation where humans would frequently visit: "Is this place still Chiba?"
"Itomori is definitely not in Chiba; this place ought to be Hida."
Asakura stated.
"Hah?" Hachiman stared at Asakura, completely dumbfounded: "Wait a moment, my geography is rather poor... How far is Hida from Chiba?"
"If it's a straight line, it's roughly less than four hundred kilometers," Asakura checked his phone and replied, "but if you count the driving route, it's going to start at four hundred kilometers minimum. Yep, happy trails."
"No-no-no, no matter how you look at it, this isn't an issue that can be brushed off with a simple 'happy trails~', is it?! How are Komachi and I supposed to get back!"
"Compared to that sort of thing, I feel you ought to care about a far more critical question."
"What?"
"You and Komachi," the smile on Asakura's face made Hachiman feel a sudden pang of apprehension.
He spoke thus: "Who is going first for for neuralyzing?"