This is not the date I wanted.

Meng Yue continued.

"If I hadn't had those two chances, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to defeat Takamiya Mio, let alone survive. But I don't know why... the moment I used the Demon King, I felt like I had lost something..."

"..."

“…Hey, Niya, was that just my illusion?”

"It's just an illusion."

"……Um."

Meng Yue smiled slightly and slowly closed her eyes.

"Sorry Niya... I'm a little tired. Let me take a nap first."

"Yeah. Have a good rest."

Not daring to look back at Mengyue’s expression at this moment, Erya just nodded stiffly and buried his head in moving forward.

"Ha... Huh..."

Hearing the even breathing sound on his back, Erya couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after confirming that Mengyue was really asleep.

(Is this the end?)

Walking on the dry wasteland, looking at the airship gradually getting closer and closer, Erya couldn't help but think.

Today, Westcott has been killed, DEM has closed down, everyone who turned around has returned to their original state, and the original spirit Takamiya Mio has disappeared. Although it has gone through a lot of difficulties and sacrifices, it has finally brought a curtain down on this crazy world.

(After that, Meng Yue no longer has to force herself. After everyone wakes up, she can return to her peaceful and calm daily life.)

Erya prayed in her heart.

However, just as she was thinking this, Meng Yue's original breathing sound began to be choked with sobs.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Shidou... I couldn't protect everyone... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Those were the dreams that Mengyue unconsciously uttered after stripping off all her disguises.

Erya couldn't help but hold his breath and pursed his lips tightly.

(Meng Yue really knew...about Ju Ya and Ju Nai...but I...)

Regret. This feeling was like a needle, piercing deep into Erya's heart.

She didn't know how many times she had regretted her powerlessness.

Because of her powerlessness, she allowed the angel to be taken away by Westcott, resulting in Shido's death.

Because of her own incompetence, she could only watch Mengyue bear everything alone and become scarred.

Even at this moment, it is still like this.

(At times like this...how do the supporting characters in boys' comics cheer the protagonist up again?)

——Cheer up, this is not like you at all, Mengyue?

——Shidou definitely doesn't want you to be so sad for him?

——You are not alone, don’t think that one person can bear everything?

——You have done well enough, there is no need to blame yourself like this?

Erya discovered that the inspiring words in these stories were so insignificant compared to what Mengyue was carrying.

She loves her family more than anyone else, and understands the pain of losing a family member better than anyone else.

That's why she would use every possible means, even at the cost of implicating innocent people and distorting her own principles, and she doesn't want anyone to leave her side.

Perhaps for other people, this ending, though not perfect, was acceptable. But for Meng Yue, it was undoubtedly a failure.

(Maybe... for Meng Yue, Ling Yin is also a family member that she wants to save.)

Thinking of this, Erya couldn't help but sigh, his face full of bitterness.

"Ah... This is not good. I'm starting to hate myself."

PS: The writing is not very satisfactory... never mind.

21 Abnormal

==============================

Monday, December 7nd.

A month has passed since the final battle between Mengyue and Takamiya Mio.

The space quake problem was solved, and the elves were confirmed to be completely destroyed. People who had been freed from the nightmare were gradually returning to their peaceful lives.

No one knows what happened in these short six months. The only thing known to the world is that an organization called Ratatoskr saved the world.

To the ordinary citizens who were unaware of the situation, it was just a matter of solving an irresistible natural disaster. To the magicians who had been fighting the elves for a long time, it meant that the battle of more than 30 years had finally ended with the victory of mankind.

Of course, for Honjo Nia, her troubles are far from over.

The elves who were deprived of their crystals are still in a dormant state.

Meng Yue, who had suddenly fallen into a reversal state before.

And Shidao's real sister, Mana Takamiya, who is not an elf but is hidden in the sanatorium.

Whenever Erya thought of this, he felt an inexplicable sense of uneasiness in his heart.

Meng Yue was hiding something. Erya was sure of this, but if you asked her what Meng Yue was hiding, she couldn't give a clear answer.

The clues were so sparse that Erya felt like he was holding three solid-color puzzle pieces in different colors and trying to restore the entire puzzle.

Even if she wanted to try to investigate, Mengyue seemed to have noticed her intention and sealed off the incubator where the elves and Mana were in the name of treatment, not allowing anyone to approach.

As a result, she had no other choice but to give up, and then, in order to numb herself, she devoted herself to the aftermath of Fraxinus Ex.

Then today, a long-awaited good news made Erya, who was in a bad mood in the morning, jump out of bed.

"Hey! Good morning, everyone!"

Arriving at the bridge command room of Fraxinus EX, Erya greeted the crew members with great momentum.

"Hey, Mr. Honjo, you seem to be in a good mood today."

Seeing Niya in such high spirits, the "Dimension Destroyer" Nakatsugawa couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

"Hehe, it's okay."

Erya scratched his head and replied with a smile,

"Because, my sister-chan and the others finally woke up? Of course I'm happy."

"That's right, that's great."

Hearing what Niya said, Minowa, who was under "protective observation", smiled with relief.

"Ms. Erya, you've been feeling pretty low lately, but it looks like you can rest easy now."

"Eh? Is this how I look to others?"

Hearing this, Erya was stunned and pointed at himself with some worry.

"Yeah. It always gives people the feeling that there is something on their mind and they are forcing a smile."

On the side, "President" Gan Ben interrupted and echoed.

"Eh? Eh!?"

Erya couldn't help but scream in surprise.

(Not good. I thought I handled it well enough. But Mengyue might also...)

"Well, I can understand your feelings. After all, a lot of things have happened. How about this? This is a rare opportunity. How about having a girls' party tonight? We can have a good drink. Would Shiizaki like to come too?"

"Um, okay."

"Straw Doll" Shiizaki nodded slowly.

"Um...let me think about it first."

Erya scratched his cheek and said hesitantly.

"How should I put it... I'm a little surprised. I thought you guys would be more excited than me if my sister woke up, and you would want to rush to the hospital right away."

"Yes, I do want to visit."

"But I heard that he just woke up and his mental state is not very stable yet. Let's talk about it when he is more stable."

Shiizaki and Minowa looked at each other and replied.

"Hmm...that's it."

Erya seemed very surprised at the two people's nonchalant reactions.

(Strange... I thought Sister-chan was a spiritual idol for the crew here.)

"Excuse me, Miss Honjo. Excuse me for a moment."

Just then, Kawagoe, who was in the "overload and lazy period", walked past Niya carrying a large cardboard box.

"Kawagoe, what are you doing carrying such a big cardboard box?"

Erya asked doubtfully.

"What are you doing...packing up? Fraxinus is disbanding, so we can't leave our personal belongings on board."

Kawagoe answered as a matter of course.

"I see... Eh? Wait! This airship is going to disband?!"

Erya nodded in realization at first, then half a beat later, he shouted in surprise.

At this time, Niya noticed that it was not just Kawagoe. Others were also packing their luggage.

Seeing Erya’s exaggerated reaction, everyone looked at each other in surprise.

"Could it be that Miss Erya didn't receive the notice?"

"No way, Kannozuki is too careless."

"We have been notified before. Once the work is completed, Fraxinus will be officially disbanded."

"After all, there are no more spirits that can cause spacequakes, so there is no need for Fraxinus to continue to exist."

After hearing everyone's answers, Erya was obviously completely unable to accept it and asked in surprise.

"No, no! This is too sudden. Is this all right?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, this is an order from headquarters. We can't disobey it."

Nakatsugawa leaned back in his chair, shrugged his shoulders and replied helplessly,

"Besides, if the commander is no longer that Kannozuki, in a sense, disintegration is also a good thing."

"……Eh?"

Having heard something so unbelievable, Erya was shocked and fell into a daze.

What's going on? Even if it's an April Fool's joke, you can't do that.

"But it is true that I am a little reluctant to leave. After all, I have been working here for quite some time. And everyone has been assigned to a completely different department."

The crew members started chatting.

"But now that I think about it, it's a relief that we were able to get the elves to open up under Kannazuki's command."

"That is to say, you always do some perverted things."

"Thanks to him, every time I communicate with the elves, I have to suffer a lot."

"When I was frozen by Ms. Yoshino, I thought I was going to die."

"No no! What the hell are you doing!"

Hearing this ridiculous content, Erya couldn't hold back the anger rising in his heart, and slammed the table and yelled.

"I heard you guys say some weird things just now. It was the boy who risked his life to save everyone. Now that he's gone, you guys want to take the credit for yourself?"

"What, what's wrong, Mr. Honjo? You're so angry all of a sudden."

"Date to save the elves? What does that mean?"