Ch.109The Days Ahead

The Gojillia incident was successfully resolved.

As the shadow of the World Tree covered Osaka City, the three of us were able to simultaneously destroy the body of the ultra-large monster.

“Kyokushin Karate – Straight Punch.”

“SCREEEECH?!”

BOOM!

Especially thanks to my full-powered straight punch, Gojillia’s upper body burst instantly, and the creature was eliminated.

As its internal organs spilled out, the deadly gas that could theoretically kill about 100 million people also poured out, but Princess Kurumi’s World Tree had already neutralized it properly.

“W-we survived!”

“We really survived!!”

The citizens who had abandoned Osaka and were boarding evacuation ships to Tokyo.

Those who nearly lost their homes overnight were all cheering and shouting as they saw their city returned to normal.

Of course, there were some buildings that had collapsed here and there due to Gojillia’s appearance.

‘At least there were no casualties. That’s fortunate enough.’

At least the tragedy predicted in the pre-purchased expansion pack 1 didn’t happen.

I was satisfied with that and wrapped up all the stories of the Japan arc, so I slowly returned to the Kitsune Family estate, our starting point.

But had something happened?

“Sophia?”

“Ah, Shinwoo…”

“Lady Head?”

“Mr. Shinwoo…”

The atmosphere inside the estate wasn’t good at all, despite it being a time for celebration.

I was about to ask Jaewon, who had rushed here ahead of us, about what happened when I saw the dejected Sophia and Lady Kurumi, but…

“…? Where did Jaewon go?”

“Ah, that… he said he had some urgent business and left already.”

“Really?”

My son had already vanished.

My head was filled with question marks about my son’s behavior, disappearing without any notice.

Just then.

“Oppa!”

“Lia?”

“I’ll explain instead!”

“Ah, okay.”

Suddenly, Lia appeared dressed like a cat maid and began explaining on behalf of the two dazed people.

But the more I listened, the more I started losing my mind to this storytelling that was incomprehensible, let alone being part of the original work.

“So, you’re saying your future self appeared and caused trouble…?”

“Yes! And I also went to the future for a moment! The children born between you and me were saying they were going to take Sophia unnie away!”

“…??? Were you dreaming?”

“It wasn’t a dream!”

A child who’s barely elementary school age is saying she had children with me, and those children flew back in time to take Sophia away.

The reason being that the future Sophia was already dead.

‘Well, I’m not sure where to begin with this…’

Still, it seemed like a serious story.

To hear more details, I took the dazed Sophia and Lady Kurumi who had been spacing out.

“Shall we both go inside?”

“Ah… okay.”

“Let’s do that…”

We decided to take a break first.

***

Osaka City, which had nearly been destroyed, was miraculously revived.

The world reported that the hero who stopped the Gojillia crisis was Lady Kurumi, the current head of the Kitsune Family who grew the World Tree in Osaka City.

Thanks to this, Princess Kurumi’s support as the next family head became overwhelming, with Japanese citizens actively backing her.

And I also appeared in the news with the title “Jamsil’s Monster Appears in Japan!”…

“He is a hero!”

“We’re planning to make figurines first!”

“Pre-orders are already open!”

Japan, truly at the forefront in these fields.

It seemed they were already turning me, known as Jamsil’s Monster, into a character.

“By the way, I pre-ordered one too.”

“You did, Mr. Katsuo?!”

“Of course I should have a model of the benefactor who saved our family.”

Mr. Katsuo proudly answered that he had pre-ordered a figurine of me in my monster form.

“Hehe… Actually, I bought one too.”

“Even Princess Asuna?!”

Next to him, Asuna, with a slightly reddened face, confessed that she had also bought my figurine while feeling embarrassed.

Meanwhile, in another part of the tatami room where the celebration was about to begin…

“K-Kurumi became the next head of the Kitsune Family?!”

“My, my. Sister Sakura, you’re here?”

Ah, right.

Come to think of it, there was one more direct descendant.

Princess Sakura, who had been hospitalized since getting knocked out by Asuna in the first round of the family head selection ceremony until the Gojillia crisis ended.

Did she come after seeing the news?

She burst open the door where everyone was chatting cozily inside the mansion and looked at Princess Kurumi, who was already essentially the family head, with disbelief.

Grin.

Lady Kurumi smiled with her lips curled up in a somewhat creepy way.

Seeing her, Princess Sakura quickly understood the reality and immediately did several somersaults in the air before landing in a dogeza position.

“K-Kurumi! No, Lady Head! I know I’ve bullied you a lot since we were young! I won’t do it again! Please forgive me!!”

“Sigh…”

“Sister Sakura…”

“…It feels a bit shameless for you to suddenly appear and say that, Sister Sakura.”

“Eek?! I-I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again! I’ll be good from now on, so please forgive me… okay?”

Princess Sakura, in a dogeza position, wriggled like a worm and somehow grabbed Lady Kurumi’s ankle, looking up at her with a pitiful face.

Is she really a princess? She didn’t show an ounce of dignity, but…

“Please~ Please~ Okay?”

How desperate can a person become when they want to live?

Perhaps both Lady Kurumi and I were dumbfounded by her attitude that seemed to demonstrate this.

“Sigh… I never intended to kill you in the first place. So just don’t do it again. Sister.”

“…! Yes, yes! Of course, Lady Head!”

Lady Kurumi no longer addressed Sakura as “Sister” with that sense of distance, seemingly forgiving her.

Happy to be forgiven, Princess Sakura quickly adopted a sycophantic attitude, saying “Yes! Yes!” with joy.

“Hehehe. Lady Head, let me massage your shoulders~”

“…No thanks.”

Social skills like Princess Sakura’s.

While thinking that, I suddenly became concerned about two people who were still not visible at the place where delicious osechi dishes were being prepared to celebrate the defeat of Gojillia.

“By the way, where are Sophia and Mr. Rokyu?”

“Those two? Come to think of it, they left together.”

“Together…?”

“Yes. I saw them going to the back of the estate together a little while ago, saying they had something to talk about.”

Mr. Lorensky, who had been enjoying the beer he’d been looking forward to, saying Japanese beer is delicious.

The Villain’s Troupe members had long gone elsewhere with just some food, uncomfortable with such an openly celebratory atmosphere.

Even Yoo Sihyeon, who had been discharged from the hospital with Princess Sakura, was here.

‘Why would those two be together…’

Between the future story I heard from Lia and everything else, I felt uneasy and finally got up from my seat.

***

Surprisingly, it was Sophia who first asked Rokyu to go out together.

Thump thump-!

‘Lady Sophia asked me for some time first… Could this be what I think it is?!’

Of course, it might just be wishful thinking.

But there weren’t many reasons a woman would call a man to a secluded place late in the evening.

In this situation, a little wishful thinking was allowed!

It really seemed like a proposal, and Rokyu was trembling with excitement, ready to start dating from today if she confessed first.

Even if she was a future married woman(?), Rokyu was confident he could love her children as his own.

After all, they would be the children born by Lady Sophia!

“Young Master Rokyu.”

“Ah, yes! I’m here.”

“The reason I called you out separately is…”

“…!!”

“To return this ring to you.”

“W-what?!”

But contrary to his expectations, it was essentially a rejection.

Rokyu, receiving back his parents’ heirloom from Sophia’s finger and wondering if he had done something wrong, tried to say something.

“I-if I did something that displeased you…!”

“No! That’s absolutely not why I’m returning it!”

“Then why…?”

“Well, you see…”

When she first received this ring, she had looked so serious.

It was like watching someone going off to die, so Sophia had reluctantly accepted it.

But after going through a major ordeal, he was still alive, so…

“Actually, there’s another man I want to receive a ring from.”

“…! Even though I’m a Beast Hunter?”

“…Yes. Rather, because you’re a Beast Hunter, I absolutely cannot compromise on this.”

Rokyu, also a Beast Hunter, immediately understood the true meaning of her words.

Beast Hunters, born as humans yet destined to hate their own kind, living what could be considered a cursed existence.

There are rare moments when such Beast Hunters truly see a human, and that is the only sanctuary allowed to them in life.

When they meet their destined partner connected by the red thread of fate.

For Rokyu, that destined partner was Sophia, but for Sophia, that destined partner had been the man who had been with her for the past 10 years.

“I, actually already have someone I like.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yes, so I’m really sorry, but I can’t accept this ring.”

Thinking of Shinwoo, Sophia bowed deeply in sincere apology, feeling like she had caused Rokyu great pain.

And Rokyu also felt that saying anything more would only make her uncomfortable.

“I understand. Then I’ll take this ring back.”

It takes courage to hold on.

Conversely, it also takes courage to let go.

Rokyu decided to accept Sophia’s apology for the sake of the person he loved.

And beyond the gaze of these two people…

“Sophia…”

Shinwoo, who had somehow ended up hiding, was there.