Hatou howled in agony, her body twisting and dissolving as though being swallowed by a black hole.
Kokkoro's hazy memories of the royal family suddenly snapped back into focus, and she gasped, "I remember now — the Queen's name was Peloto von Astraea, the King's one and only wife. Their daughter was..."
The greatsword in Pecorine's hands hit the ground with a clang as she flung herself into Jhin's arms. Fat tears streamed from her eyes, quickly soaking the front of his shirt, and through her sobbing she mumbled broken words of thanks.
All the sorrow and bitterness she'd buried for so long poured out of her in tears. Among the many novels she'd read on their travels, her favorite story had always been The Princess and the Knight Who Saved Her.
In the story's ending, the knight naturally foiled the Demon King's scheme and brought the princess home as his bride — so now she'd do the very same thing, to reward her own knight.
Pecorine wrapped both arms around Jhin's neck, rose onto her tiptoes, and leaned her tear-streaked face toward his,
but before she could complete her "princess's kiss," the knight caught her soft cheeks between his fingers.
"Let's go check on your parents in the dungeon first, Your Highness."
"Just call me Pecorine. Princess Eustiana never managed to accomplish anything — it was Pecorine who made friends and joined the guild."
Her eyes were a little red and swollen, her voice slightly hoarse, but her smile was still the one everyone knew best — bright, warm, with a magic all its own that drew people in.
Watching the two of them act out the story's grand finale, Kyaru cut in without mercy. "By the usual logic of these novels, don't we side characters just vanish once the princess and the knight get married?"
Megumin nodded in agreement. "Put another way, we're basically Extra A, B, and C."
Kokkoro froze. "But wait, aren't I the knight's guide? Do I turn into a random passerby too in the end?"
They hadn't bothered lowering their voices, so Pecorine and Jhin heard every word. She pulled away from his arms and gathered the three of them into a hug instead. "Oh, come on, you're my most important companions — how could you ever be side characters? Besides... aren't we all good sisters too?"
"Going by when we each joined, shouldn't you be the one calling us big sister?"
"Aww, I'm clearly the oldest one here, though."
"No, no, no, it should be Kokkoro, surely."
"Hey, Peco, which way's the dungeon?"
Kyaru nudged Pecorine with an elbow, a teasing look on her face. "Already shortening it to 'Peco,' huh."
"Everyone's welcome to call me that."
"What I meant was... forget it. Guess it wouldn't matter with a personality like yours anyway."
"Pfft, looks like Tsundere Kyaru just realized she's the only one who cares about that kind of thing."
"Megumin! Don't act like you're not a tsundere too!"
With Pecorine leading the way, the group soon reached the palace dungeon. To their surprise, it held many officials who had once served the royal family. The moment she pushed open the dungeon doors and stepped into the light, the ministers who recognized her broke down in tears of relief.
"It's Her Highness!"
"The princess has come to save us!"
Jhin used the Blade of Resurrection to heal the ministers as he went, though aside from malnutrition and low spirits, none of them had any real injuries. He guessed that Hatou had originally intended to use their lives for something, but What Heads Toward Death had redirected her purpose elsewhere — which was why they, including Pecorine's parents, had all survived.
After healing the King and Queen, Jhin and the other three left the dungeon to give Pecorine time alone with her parents. While the girls were discussing what to do next, the phone he'd left untouched in his storage space for ages suddenly rang, and the entire world's time froze instantly.
Jhin pulled out the phone. Sure enough, it was a call from his Boss.
"Hey, Boss, don't tell me you're about to yank me back already?"
"Hm? Of course not. You've done well. I almost thought this mission was going to fall apart, but I never expected you'd stumble onto such a bizarre anti-virus ability in this world. No cleanup needed afterward now — saved me a ton of time. Nice, nice."
"Heh heh, Boss, in that case, mind if I ask you for a tiny little favor?"
"The world-linking thing? I've already got a colleague handling it. I'll arrange identities for your little girlfriends in the Main World too. Oh, and this time it's just a link, not a merge — think of it as a DLC map in the Main World, exclusive to you alone."
"So can I bring people over there afterward?"
"Suit yourself. It's your own exclusive map — why ask me who you bring back and forth?"
"Thanks, Boss!"
"Yeah, keep up the good work. Hold on — what the hell is this line of garbage data you entered? No... who taught you to write it like this, Employee of the Month? I'm hanging up, my colleague's causing trouble again."
"Ah... sure, go ahead, Boss."
Jhin put the phone away and let out a sigh, feeling like a real pain in the balls had just landed on him.
He just hoped that mysterious colleague of his wouldn't stir up more trouble.
Time began flowing again. Jhin glanced at the three-day return countdown — plenty of time to handle everything else.
With Jhin's Blade of Resurrection healing the survivors, the palace was back in order by the very next day. Just as everyone expected another royal summons to arrive, Pecorine came bursting through the door of the Gourmet Edifice's guild lodge with a huge backpack on her shoulders, shouting cheerfully, "I'm back!"
Kyaru had just come down from upstairs and ran right into her. "Huh? Weren't we supposed to go to the palace to get a commendation before we'd see you again, Your Highness?"
"Heh heh heh~" Pecorine gave a proud little hum. "Standing before you right now is Pecorine. Princess Eustiana's been grounded in the palace for making a mistake!"
Megumin poked half her head out from the living room. "You didn't sneak out, did you?"
"No way. Mom and Dad said I still haven't trained enough, so I came back!"
Not even Kokkoro believed that excuse. After a moment of whispering among themselves, all three said in unison: "You just wanted to see Jhin (Master), didn't you?"
"W-well, that's part of it too, but going back out to train for real is true too, okay! Where's Jhin?"
A large hand landed on top of Pecorine's head from behind her, followed by a familiar voice reaching her ears. "Well, if it isn't Her Highness. What are you doing running out of the palace? Don't tell me you've come to be my wife?"
"Ehehe, I actually brought along the wedding dress Mom got ready for me!" She dropped her backpack and started digging through it to show him, her sheer bluntness and follow-through almost embarrassing to witness.
Jhin quickly stopped her, then turned to the girls with a smile. "Anyone interested in an adventure to Another World?"
____
📢 WANT MORE CHAPTERS? HELP US HIT OUR MILESTONES!
💬 Reviews: Leave a review! For every 5 REVIEWS, 1 bonus chapter gets released. 💎 Power Stones: Hit 100 POWER STONES to unlock another bonus chapter! 🚀 P@treon: Want to read ahead? Join the P@treon (Walnut-chan) to get up to 40 chapters ahead and access 60+ stories!
🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo