Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V4 Chapter 29

Chapter 29: “Man, I’m Just Exhausted.”

“That brat… Yuto Miyahara, was it? Natsuki, sure, but even Haruko-san seemed close with his family. I couldn’t care less about some kid dying, but Haruko-san’s probably taking it hard. —And that’s where I come in! So, I ignored Lucifer trying to stop me, knocked him out, and came straight here.”

“Lucifer-saaaan!”

Hearing that, Natsuki nearly teared up.

Lucifer was definitely suffering thanks to his reckless father.

“How about you start actually doing your damn job?!”

“—Nghak?!”

Koume dropped her heel right onto the top of Satan’s head, making the Demon King let out a bizarre noise as he collapsed face-first onto the table.

Then, she casually kicked her father out of the way, pulled out a disinfectant spray, and started wiping the table down.

“Ugh… the smell of old age won’t come off.”

“…I do not smell old! I’m famously known for my fruity fragrance, okay?!”

“That honestly sounds even worse. Anyway, Mom’s still at the Miyahara house helping out, so she won’t be back for a while.”

“Oh, really? Then I guess I’ll just hang out with you today, Natsuki! There’s this one place nearby with some really cute girls—uh, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

As Koume raised a crackling spear of light and Ginko drew Demonic Sword Taro, Satan immediately shut his mouth in a panic.

“Alright, alright! Let’s get serious. —First off, I heard you fought Susanoo-no-Mikoto and won.”

“Yeah, kinda. But he definitely wasn’t going all out.”

“I peeked in for a bit, and honestly, he seemed pretty serious to me.”

“He didn’t have any real intent to kill. I mean, sure, there was some, but it wasn’t the ‘I must defeat my enemy’ or ‘I hate this guy so much I need to destroy him’ type of thing.”

“And you didn’t have that either, right?”

“Nah, nah. I can go full force and kill without needing any of that. Got trained for it in the other world.”

“…Man, that other world sounds terrifying.”

As far as Natsuki was concerned, Susanoo-no-Mikoto had admitted defeat fair and square, so he had no problem accepting the win.

Nitpicking about it now would just be disrespectful to someone who fought him at full strength.

“Personally, I think Susanoo’s just an arrogant old man, so seeing him lose to you was so satisfying. As expected of my son!”

“I’m not your son.”

“Hahahaha! But if you married Koume, then—ah, right. I’ll shut up now.”

Natsuki just gave a troubled smile and said nothing.

It wasn’t that he was some oblivious, dense protagonist with selective hearing—he fully understood what Satan meant.

After all, Koume had properly confessed to him just the other day.

To be honest, Natsuki liked Koume.

And of course, he liked her as a woman.

But… he also liked Ginko just as much.

And to go even further—he wasn’t even sure if his “like” was the same as love.

Having spent years in another world, one might assume that he had matured emotionally.

But in reality—Natsuki had killed his own heart to survive.

No, his heart had died once.

And something that has died can’t grow.

Natsuki had fought in that world like a machine, systematically wiping out both demons and humans who stood in his way without hesitation, without discrimination.

Someone who lived in an environment like that for years couldn’t possibly understand what love or romance was supposed to feel like.

He hadn’t “grown up” in the way others had.

The only time his emotions had ever truly stirred—was when he found out he could return to Earth.

Everything after that had been a blur.

Unlike Yusuke, he never had time to sit around and be haunted by trauma.

And now, he was surrounded by a warm family and good friends.

His heart was safe.

—So as long as that happiness remained unbroken, that was enough.

—That was all he needed.

■

―After that, Satan quickly changed the subject, and the conversation naturally shifted into a drinking party.

Feeling more exhausted than he realized, Natsuki forced himself to steady his unsteady steps and somehow made it back to his room.

The moment he reached his bed—he collapsed into sleep.

―And then… he dreamt of something from years ago.

〜〜Afterword〜〜

We’ll slowly dive deeper into Natsuki’s emotions over time.

Now then—what could this dream be about?

If you enjoyed this chapter, a follow, review, or comment would really encourage me!

Thank you for your support!