episode_0276

In the previous battle with Rahe, Number 13 borrowed the power of Mirae Ashe to regain his former strength.

Originally, it was impossible.

But Mirae Ashe, with her will, exceeded all limits, and even at the cost of her lifespan, forced the 【Time Manipulation】 magic, showing the miracle of returning Number 13’s power.

Thanks to that, Number 13 was able to defeat Rahe.

Thanks to that, the future that was about to lose everything in misery was changed.

Of course, the miracle didn’t last long, and now all the magic has been undone, and Number 13 has returned to his original powerless, third-rate villain self.

Thinking about the future, and considering the actions of the villain organization 【Abyss】, the existence of Mirae Ashe will be very important.

If Mirae Ashe is there to restore his power like this time in times of need, Number 13 will probably no longer be afraid of anything.

Or, without having to reduce her lifespan to restore Number 13’s power… if it’s not against an opponent outside the norm like Rahe, Mirae Ashe alone is enough to defeat almost all enemies.

…Even if not, I just want to keep her by my side.

Ashe is such a good woman.

Mirae Ashe, not the Ashe of the current era, was a woman who was too good for Number 13.

Smart, well-spoken, flexible in thinking, kind, and friendly….

So I wanted to keep her by my side forever.

So I thought it would be okay to continue living like this.

Thinking that way.

Thinking.

And thinking again.

In the end, I decided to make this decision, which was contrary to my wishes.

“…Do what you want, Ashe. After taking the neutralizing agent and returning to your senses… if you still want to stay here, you can stay.”

“If not, if you still want to stay here even after taking the neutralizing agent.”

“If you don’t want to go back to the 『Future World』 that has become a mess.”

“Then, you can stay here as it is. Although I’ll have to feed you the brainwashing drug again just in case.”

Number 13 said so, handing Ashe the vial containing the neutralizing agent.

—Mirae Ashe is definitely a great help.

But, if I monopolize her like that, I’ll feel sorry for my future self.

Moreover, Mirae Ashe has been helping Number 13 and has been on Number 13’s side since the first meeting.

So, I can’t trample on her will and use her as my tool.

In the case of the heroes that Number 13 has brainwashed so far, they were originally enemies who tried to kill Number 13, so I didn’t care much about how I used them.

But in the case of Mirae Ashe, I was reluctant to treat her, who had been on Number 13’s side from beginning to end, the same as the other hateful heroes.

Number 13 also has a conscience.

I’m a villain, but villains have their own philosophy.

So.

“—Drink, Ashe.”

Number 13 commanded sternly.

Right now, Mirae Ashe is brainwashed by Number 13, and she obeys all his orders.

Now, according to his command, she will take the contents of that glass bottle….

“Here you go, I’ll give it back.”

“Huh?”

And.

To the neutralizing agent that Mirae Ashe puts down in front of Number 13, Number 13, who was tilting his wine glass, widened his eyes.

Mirae Ashe got up from her seat with eyes that were hard to tell if they were open or closed, but with a relaxed and cheerful smile.

And she took something out of her clothes, which she had arbitrarily organized and put in a corner of Number 13’s closet.

It was a transparent bottle.

The small, transparent cylindrical glass bottle was the same as the bottle containing the neutralizing agent that Number 13 had just handed over.

The only difference is that it’s empty.

“Don’t worry, I’m not foolish enough to have my woman taken away by a young husband like you——Future Husband.”

At Mirae Ashe’s playful smile, Number 13 clutched his head and sighed.

***

Mirae Ashe crossed over to this timeline and was brainwashed by Number 13 of this timeline.

Number 13 found it difficult to fully believe her words that she came from the future and that she was on Number 13’s side.

So, to make her his ally for sure, Number 13 brainwashed her.

But the Number 13 of the future knew well that Number 13 would do that.

It’s my own business, so it’s natural.

And knowing that it was necessary,

“So, he told me this before I came over.”

Mirae Ashe says, twirling the empty neutralizing agent bottle in her hand.

Number 13 felt a tremendous sense of betrayal, but he couldn’t complain because of what he had done.

“How is it? Future Husband, very smart and cool, right? Amazing, right?”

“…Haa. I don’t know if I’m stupid here, or if the me over there is smart.”

“Maybe both. The husband I first met was really a stupid idiot. It’s all thanks to me that the future husband was able to act like a human being.”

Ashe says so with too much confidence.

Doesn’t she realize that I’m right in front of her?

Anyway, that’s right.

In the end, what Number 13 did just now was meaningless nonsense, just meddling.

The Number 13 of the future had already taken measures to prevent his possessions from being taken away, to prevent the woman he loved from being taken away.

The only consolation is that, according to Mirae Ashe, she took the ‘neutralizing agent’ only a few days ago.

In the previous raid, she maintained her state as Number 13’s brainwashed slave to avoid confusion.

If she had returned to her senses before that, and Number 13 had continued to treat such a Mirae Ashe as a slave.

Then she might have mocked or despised Number 13 inside.

……What’s the point of thinking about that now.

“I’ve been had. By you, and by the future me.”

“It’s okay, Husband. If some time passes like this, the husband here will also become as smart and cool as our husband.”

Ashe says with certainty, as if encouraging him.

I admire my future self for making Ashe so infatuated without the help of brainwashing drugs.

—She’s really a woman that someone like me can’t handle.

Number 13 shook his head, thinking that, and then.

Finally, with a sigh, he asked Ashe.

“Then Ashe… are you going back to the future?”

“I’m going back.”

She asserts.

Mirae Ashe said so with a warm smile, stroking her lower abdomen.

Ashe is in her underwear, so the shape of her smooth and slender belly that she is touching is clearly visible to Number 13’s eyes.

There is a faint mark left on that belly, and Ashe is gently stroking what is called the ‘pregnancy line’ with her hand.

It’s hard to believe, but…

“Could it be that you have a child with me?”

“……Hehe.”

Ashe didn’t bother to answer.

But that silence, that smile, already told the answer.

Awakened ones cannot have children unless it is with a specific target.

It is expressed as 『fate has given it to you』, but it was not possible to say with certainty as of the current time with so few cases of awakened ones getting pregnant.

What kind of partner is that ‘fate’?

In what situation can pregnancy be reached?

I don’t know any of those things.

But.

At least the future me——seems to have succeeded in making a child with Ashe.

“It’s a child that was barely born after living together for over 5 years.”

“I’ve been in a relationship with Husband for quite a long time, but the child was born 5 years after we met.”

“…Maybe there are other conditions for getting pregnant. So it’s okay. Please fill me here in this timeline with lots of sperm too.”

Mirae Ashe says as if cheering.

However, Number 13 feels like he’s being told 『If you do that, you’ll get caught』.

It’s a tone that is sure that even if Number 13 is a villain, he would take responsibility if he accidentally got her pregnant.

From now on, I’ll have to be careful about contraception when I have sex with Ashe in the current timeline.

“Yeah, there’s a child… then, I have no choice but to go back to the future.”

“That’s right. I want to see my cute child again soon~. She must be very lonely without her mother~♪”

“Is it a son or a daughter?”

“That’s a secret~. Which one do you think it is?”

“……I don’t care which one it is.”

Number 13 jokes that he doesn’t care which one it is, as long as it doesn’t look like him.

Whether it’s a son or a daughter, it’s clear that it will be a smart and pretty child if it looks like Ashe, the mother.

…No, looking at Ashe in the current timeline… when I think of that hot-tempered personality, I suddenly become anxious.

…….

Well… I have no choice but to hope that she raises it well….

***

“—Now, I guess it’s time to go.”

It happened so suddenly.

Ashe’s body began to be covered in golden particles.

Hwaaaaaaaa…

Golden particles rising from her feet as if defying gravity.

Along with that, a small clock made of woven gold from Ashe’s chest was ticking, ticking, ticking, ticking.

It was such a sudden timing.

But considering that her appearance was sudden, maybe now is the natural timing.

Looking down at the golden particles and the ticking clock, Ashe reached into the closet and took out the clothes she had put there and put them on.

It was the white uniform provided to the leaders of the hero unit.

She probably brought it from the future, and she has never worn it in this timeline.

She was naked even when we first met.

But now she confidently puts on that uniform.

With this incident settled, she can comfortably wear that uniform… maybe there has been a change of heart like that.

“Are you going back now, Ashe?”

“Yes. I’m going back to where I originally was, to the place where there are people waiting for me.”

Putting on her pants and buttoning up her uniform.

From the sloppy appearance of a drunken woman in her underwear, she quickly becomes a dignified captain.

However, the clothes don’t fit well, so she undid about half of the buttons of the uniform, revealing her chest.

Ashe sighed at that fact, but she had a relieved expression.

Number 13 put down the wine glass he was holding and approached Ashe.

“…If you go back like this, will your world change a little?”

“Probably not. My world will be the same as I’ve seen it.”

To Number 13’s question, Ashe immediately denied it.

Regardless of how the Doraji sisters of this timeline were handled.

The future that Mirae Ashe came from will be the same as it was ruined by those two sisters.

“But it’s okay. In my world, people who had to die in tragedy are all happy here…. Just seeing that, I’ve been rewarded.”

“…….”

“Now I can go back there too… and look at the future again without regretting my past powerlessness.”

Ashe mutters as if she is immersed in emotion.

The particles of light rising from Ashe’s feet are becoming more and more numerous, becoming like a flood.

Number 13 looked at Ashe, who was being swept away by the gold, with a bitter look.

Ashe’s hand reached out towards Number 13’s mouth and forced him to smile.

“Please smile. Although there was a lot of sadness in that world, I met Number 13 thanks to it.”

“I had trouble with the future you, quarreled, and then fell in love, and gave birth to a child I never thought I would.”

“…And like this, I came back to the past and even finished my revenge.”

“I have no complaints about my life. I have no regrets.”

If she says so, Number 13 can’t make a sad face either.

Number 13 changed his expression and gave a bitter smile, looking at Ashe.

Ashe, who was a head shorter than Number 13, also looked up at Number 13.

“Thank you, Ashe.”

“You’re welcome. I should be saying that.”

The two’s greetings ended there.

It was simple for a last word, but the two seemed satisfied with that.

The golden particles surrounding Ashe soon became a radiance so bright that it was blinding.

And at one point, that radiance revealed its golden light at its peak——and soon disappeared.

In the place where the golden particles were rising until just now, there was only an emptiness as if no one had been there.

She must have returned to the future.

She must have returned to where she originally was.

Number 13 stared at the place where Mirae Ashe had disappeared for a while, then returned to his original seat.

He poured a new wine into the wine glass he had been sipping until just now, and as if he suddenly remembered, he also poured a new wine into her wine glass that Mirae Ashe had left behind.

He clinked his glass against the wine glass that had lost its owner.

That’s the end.

Without any words of encouragement or blessing.

But while wishing for the happiness of the person who left, Number 13, as if in some kind of ritual… drank the contents of the glass in one gulp….