The Battlefield after the Battle

“You can visit me and train. Then you will be able to take a human form.”

And so I visited her in that space between the worlds. This place was under her control. Time was stretched out here, which meant that very little time would have passed when I returned. I could concentrate on training without having to make the others wait.

Ultimately, it only took me about ten minutes of training.

As for why, I just had to watch Rachel do it first. Her actual form was that of a Fenrir. And so I watched her turn into ‘Rachel,’ and then ran simulations with ‘Master of all Trades.’ That was all.

‘Master of all Trades’ really was a cheat skill. When I checked my status card, I saw that ‘Human Form’ was now displayed on it. Really, it was like skills appeared every time I did something new. It would get confusing when I started having trouble keeping tabs on them…

Rachel also made me learn another skill. She said it would become useful one day. But I wasn’t so sure about that.

“…Ah, they’re back.”
“Back? They just disappeared and then immediately reappeared. We didn’t even wait.”
“Ahaha…”

Matsumoto and Manager were laughing in the exact same position and pose as when we left. As for Daniela, she promptly inspected me from head to toe.

“…Hmm. Yes, you are back to normal.”
“Yeah. Well, the hair remained the same.”

It was silver, just like Rachel. It was the same color as the fur of a Fenrir. The same color as the fur that appeared on my arms and tail when I was fighting Haidera.

“You looked better with black hair.”
“Yes, you look like some kind of yanky.”
“Yanky?”
“Uh, nothing. Now, let’s go!”

I slapped Daniela on the shoulder as she tilted her head to the side. Then I led the way. I wanted to get out of this underground ruin as soon as possible.

□　　　□　　　□　　　□

We rose up the shaft with Daniela’s wind magic, and then reached the bright surface. The battle had already ended here. As we had expected, defeating the Nova had stopped the supply of magic energy to the Automatas. They fell like puppets who had their strings cut. Now the soldiers were just retrieving the bodies.

“Hmm… There are at least more living soldiers than dead ones.”

Daniela muttered as she used Presence Detection across the field. While I was sad for the losses, it seemed like a good result. Most of them had survived, after all. It was almost miraculous.

We walked through the crowds of soldiers, ogres, and Adventurers as they worked. We were headed towards the frontline base. Suddenly, a pack of wolves spotted us and they bowed their heads. So they could tell… Then Presence Detection told me. A friend was rushing towards us at top speed.

“Asagi!!”
“Ah, I’m glad to see that you’re alive.”
“But you…”
“Ahaha… I guess I wasn’t being careful.”
“…I see.”

After saying this, Beowulf turned his face away. That’s when I saw that Yamato was riding on his back.

“Ah, Mister Yamato.”
“Hey, Asagi. Ah, I see you’ve had a makeover!”
“Makeover…”

Sometimes I wish they talked more like traditional ogres…

“You look strong!”
“Maybe he’s the second strongest in the world now?”
“You don’t say… Maybe we should put it to the test?”

Yamato said as he got down and picked up his giant club. However, he was quickly whacked over the head by Yunagi, who was now standing behind him. Yamato tripped and flailed his arms in a desperate attempt to regain his balance, which ultimately resulted in him falling even harder.

“What are you doing!”
“I should be asking you that! You’re scaring everyone!”

Yunagi’s shouting seemed to bring him back, and he inspected his surroundings. I looked too, and it did seem like the nearby soldiers were eyeing us anxiously.

“Ah…sorry.”
“Really… I’m sorry that he bothered you, Asagi.”
“That’s fine. Were you hurt?”

Yunagi smiled and then flexed her biceps. They were a lot thicker than mine…

“No problem at all! As if mere dolls could hurt me!”
“You are strong. Those arms are huge.”
“Are you mocking me? Eh?”
“Not at all! Not at all!”

Yunagi glared at me from different angles. I had to push her away so we could continue walking to the base. Yamato, Yunagi, and Beowulf followed after us.
Of course, walking in such a large group meant that we attracted attention, and more people came up to us. They ended up being the soldiers from the northern fortress. I was glad to see that they were okay. I waved at them and they waved back.

“Hey!”
“Asagi!”

A low and a somewhat lazy voice rang. When I turned my head, I saw that Gardo and Ness were running towards me. They were both in tatters. I could see blood dripping from more than a few areas. Still, they seemed like they barely noticed this.

“Good work!”
“Good work… Wha happened to your hair?”
“It just kind of happened while I was fighting.”
“What…”

Ness looked a little disgusted. I glared at him and then he looked away and whistled to himself. Well, it was about what I expected. Still, I couldn’t really tell them everything. But I suppose I could give a short explanation. After all, they were like my first comrades.

“…So, that’s what happened.”
“I see…a god.”
“Aye, a god.”
“…As if I would believe something like that!!”

Gardo said as he bashed me on the back. I nearly fell over but managed to catch myself. Yes, no one would believe if you suddenly started talking about gods. Still, I wasn’t lying.

“Oh, I believe you. Asagi wouldn’t lie to us. There really are gods.”
“Ness…”
“Or else he wouldn’t have changed like this!”
“Hey, stop…!”

Ness began to violently tousle my hair. My hair was a wreck after that. Ness just laughed, and Gardo let out a sigh before joining him with a mischievous grin.

“So Asagi met a god then. What did he look like?”
“Uh, she. It was a goddess. I’ve never seen clothes like that before. Uh, she was very godly?”
“What kind of explanation is that…?”

Ness looked at me as if I was crazy. But to be honest, I had other things on my mind than her appearance. Things had been happening so fast. And before I knew it, I just wasn’t human anymore.

“But she was really pretty. Maybe the prettiest after Daniela.”
“Hey, hey. Are you falling for her?”
“Ness. Isn’t Asagi always falling for other women?”
“How dare you. It’s not always!”

I had to protest this undeserved label. But they would have none of it, and it turned into quite the argument. I could see Daniela and the others looking at us with exasperation.

Perhaps we were taking too long, as we were eventually called from headquarters itself. According to the messenger, they wanted an explanation of what had happened. Now we wouldn’t be able to lie. I could be vague about myself and Daniela… But when it came to Haidera…the god of destruction was now related to the future of this world. The only problem was whether or not they would believe us…