Chapter 49
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: Epilogue
Chapter Title: Because Everyone is Different
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Because everyone is different.
If there's someone who can pull Senyora out of the darkness, it would be best if that person were Rika.
The structure where she receives help from Rika, whom she had helped before, feels right.
Karen was the same. Senyora had first helped Karen escape her predicament, and in the end, Karen had aided her in her darkest hour.
Now it was Rika's turn to help Senyora.
The real world had shifted far too abruptly.
The novel I created had intertwined with various factors to wield an enormous influence.
I believe beastkin perceptions would have improved eventually even without this novel.
The Great War was so long ago that fewer and fewer humans harbored outright hatred for beastkin themselves, and societal movements were leaning toward supporting them.
It would have taken time, of course. With that time and effort, things would surely have gotten better someday.
But my novel had skipped all of that time and effort entirely.
I don't think this is entirely a good thing.
A more solid foundation should have been built step by step. Now, having leaped over all those processes, everything feels flimsy.
It looks plausible and impressive on the surface. But in reality, it's a precarious state that can't bear the load and is on the verge of collapse.
And if conflict erupts again between beastkin and humans because of this?
Could they reconcile once more, or would it create rifts as deep as before—or even worse?
No one knows. I can only desperately hope for the former.
To steer toward that outcome, I'll borrow Rika's voice for a moment.
Rika asked.
Humans and beastkin are different, sure—but don't they share a lot in common too?
So couldn't they understand each other and move toward something better?
Senyora replied.
That child and she had understood each other, but there were limits.
In the end, she grew exhausted. No matter how close they became, no matter how free of ill will they were toward each other, this was the result.
Rika asked.
Wasn't it because they were too young back then?
Now that they're more grown up than before, wouldn't it be different?
Senyora replied.
It wasn't about growing up or not. The problem was their fundamental differences.
An issue that could never truly be resolved.
Rika nodded vigorously.
I see. So because beastkin and humans are different, you think you can't get close to humans.
That makes sense. In that case, she had nothing left to persuade her with.
It makes sense, but...
"Then, if we just become the same?"
"...?"
"If we can't be friends because we're different, then being the same would fix it? That's weird. Even humans who are the same are different from each other."
"Humans aren't as different from each other as humans and beastkin."
"Are they that different?"
Rika tilted her head.
She didn't seem eager to argue against Senyora's words.
She just seemed genuinely puzzled by what Senyora had said.
"Very different. For starters, we look different. It's beyond just appearances."
"If you have ears and a tail, you can't be friends?"
Rika asked.
Ears and tails were a big visible difference, but weren't they really no big deal?
And Senyora couldn't refute that.
But there were still other reasons.
"It's not just appearances. There are way more differences. We have animal traits and instincts..."
"That's a good thing, though."
"...What? How many humans actually like people acting like animals."
"You just use it well. Last time, I helped an old man carrying heavy luggage. Rika's strong and quick on her feet."
"You're only looking at the good sides. There have been beastkin who get drunk on blood and harm people sometimes."
"Humans and beastkin both hate that."
"...?!"
Rika asked.
Beastkin did have animalistic instincts and traits.
It was true they could succumb to those instincts and commit misdeeds.
...But wasn't that just deserving punishment? Not something to pity beastkin over.
Beastkin didn't excuse it as unavoidable. They just clicked their tongues and cautioned themselves to be careful not to do the same.
It was no different from humans blinded by inevitable selfishness doing evil.
Who pities someone for succumbing to their nature? They just get cursed out.
Beastkin or human, everyone has a dark side they can't avoid. Good people are those who suppress it.
Senyora couldn't refute this either.
But there was still the most crucial reason.
"Setting aside all else, we're different species. Human and beastkin."
"Yeah."
"So what do we do about that? No matter what, being different species means we'll end up fighting."
"That's true."
Because even without dragging species into it, we fight over so many things already. We'd fight over species differences too.
"What...?"
"Men and women fight because they're different, adults and kids fight because they're different, people fight over different hair colors, beastkin and humans fight because they're different."
"...What are you trying to say?"
"There are so many reasons to fight, but we end up reconciling anyway. Because fighting gets more tiring in the end."
Reconciling gets tiring too, but distancing ourselves completely isn't possible. We live together, after all.
"Humans and beastkin are different, that's true."
"... ."
"No one's exactly the same to begin with. Being different is what we all have in common, right?"
"... ."
"And if everything were exactly the same, wouldn't it get boring...? Or is that just me...?"
Rika finished speaking.
Senyora said nothing.
Rika gauged her reaction. Had she said too much?
She added that it was just her personal opinion.
Still, no response.
Then, explosions and cheers rang out from outside.
Rika's head whipped around.
It sounded like a street performance outside.
Magic. Fireworks of various colors burst into being and popped in the air.
"Ooooh...!"
Rika let out an excited sound.
Amazing. Cool. Sounds fun. She wanted to go see it.
...But she couldn't.
Senyora had said she hated going outside.
Rika would rather stay and endure than see Senyora suffer.
So she decided to hold back. It was fine. There would be other chances later.
Then, Senyora's voice reached Rika's ears.
"Shall we... go see it... together...?"
"?"
Rika's expression shifted to surprise for a moment, then bloomed into the brightest, happiest smile.
She nodded her head furiously as she spoke.
And that's the end. No next scene.
Rika's words ultimately mean that our differences aren't strange, nor are the conflicts that arise from them.
There's no need to attach grand meaning to it. No need to declare that humans and beastkin can never be friends.
Because we share as much as we differ, we'll reconcile in the end.
The key is simply the mindset and effort to do so.
We'll close it out with Senyora mustering the courage to step outside.
The rest is up to the readers' imaginations.
I think this is better than spelling out every single reaction in detail.
I've described Senyora and Rika's personalities well enough that it's easy to picture how they'd respond to things.
This leaves more of an aftertaste. I usually prefer tightly closed endings over open ones, but...
As I said before, even if this novel concludes, Senyora will keep living on.
In a way, it's a new beginning. The end of Senyora of the Back Alleys—now she'll live simply as Senyora.
Now that the direction is fully set, I can just reinforce the descriptions...
And for the time being, I really need to rest.
I'd originally planned to take it even slower...
No plans for a sequel. Might not write one at all. This was the most fun I've had so far, though.
...Well, if I do write another, maybe make an elf the protagonist this time.
[Volume 4 is out!]
Aren, what's gotten into you?
Why's the serialization speed suddenly so fast?
Love it~
Now that it's like this, let's keep this pace until we hit 10+ volumes!
Fuuuuck
Why
Why are you like this...?