My Protagonist (Finale)

In the immediate aftermath of the raid.

"What's the damage assessment?"

"It should be finished shortly!"

Under Vulkan's command — restored at last to his place as family head — the cleanup proceeded with clockwork precision.

"We won't have enough coin on hand to restore everything in one stroke. Prioritize the wounded. Treatment first."

"Yes, my lord!"

Even the slightest injuries were entrusted to the finest physicians they could summon, and they set about repairing the estate's exterior before so much as touching the wreckage inside.

This is going to take a while.

I'd been planning to rest until things settled, say my goodbyes, and head back. But—

"Would you care to look around with me?"

Vulkan, utterly deaf to the mood, invited me on a stroll.

"No thanks."

I refused on the spot, of course. But—

"A shame. Rania was going to join us."

He took Rania hostage, and before I knew it my feet had grown roots.

"Why would you drag out a kid who's supposed to be in bed?"

"...You really are dense at the worst possible times."

"Excuse me?"

Vulkan sighed, walked to the left wall of the family head's office, and knocked.

"Rania. I know you're listening."

"......"

"It's been far too long. Let us walk together."

"......"

I was staring at him, wondering what on earth he thought he was doing, when the office door burst open.

"I-I wasn't... I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. It just... happened."

Rania.

"It's all right. Come here."

Vulkan chuckled and drew the stammering girl into his arms.

"I'm so glad you look well."

"...My lord."

Vulkan stood planted like a mountain, and Rania buried herself in his chest.

Was it because the man was built like a fortress?

Rania, who had seemed impossibly vast the first time I met her, now looked so very small.

Like—

"...Father."

"My. You're not yourself today."

Like a child who had found her happiness again.

...Does Rania know something?

About the original story.

I had no idea why the thought crossed my mind. For the moment, I decided to step back.

"You've been through a lot, Rania."

"......"

Whether she was crying from sorrow or from joy — when the protagonist weeps, pretending not to notice is an extra's duty.

Vulkan and Rania.

"...Eugene. Your face just lit up all of a sudden."

"That's because I'm with Rania."

"...And me?"

"What about you."

And me.

With the reinstated Vulkan at the head, we were touring the grounds around the Vulcanus estate.

It was not, by any stretch, a leisurely stroll.

They'd been reunited after so long, and they'd only just survived a catastrophe — you'd think a little small talk wouldn't have killed them. But no.

"Rania. Do you understand why we repair the exterior damage first?"

"Because of the people of the territory. If the lord's residence lies in ruins, those who live beneath it cannot help but grow anxious."

"Correct."

Vulkan and Rania. The two of them never once let up on the family-head lessons.

"This is pissing me off."

"Hm?"

"Nothing."

At any rate, Vulkan had turned his attention on me for a moment, so I seized the opening and made my announcement.

"I'll wander around on my own."

"Haha. You don't seem to understand. For an outsider to accompany a family-head lesson means—"

"Yeah, shove it."

"...Strange. I keep hearing words I shouldn't be able to hear."

Thanks to Vulkan's bout of cognitive dissonance, I finally got a moment with Rania.

"You feeling any better?"

"Mm... I mean — ahem. Yes. I am well."

"Good. You did well, Rania."

"Ah. Eugene, thou as well..."

Beyond that faintly flushed face, I caught a glimpse of her — not the hero, not the Iron-Blood Knight. Just Rania.

"Looks good on you."

"Ah?"

"I mean I like just looking at you."

Vulkan's reinstatement.

Now that the recluse had shown his face again, monster subjugation would resume. The knights, mages, and mercenaries who had abandoned the Vulcanus territory would come flooding back, and that meant the territory's revival.

In other words, this place becomes too much of a headache for the cultists to invade.

Of course, with the flow of the future thrown off its rails, there was plenty I'd still need to figure out. But—

"...Really?"

Rania was smiling.

For now, that was enough.

The moment I confirmed that smile, I turned toward Vulkan.

"Hug her."

"...?"

Vulkan's face crumpled for a second. Then he sighed and spread his arms.

"Ah, for fuck's sake — not me. Rania."

"Ah. Right."

Vulkan shuffled toward her in a fluster. Rania looked up at him, fidgeting.

"Ahem, ahem! Eugene, I don't think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you quite understand, but embracing a fully grown child is—"

"There he goes again."

I shoved the hesitating mountain in the back.

"W-wait—!"

"Rania. Arms out."

"A-all right."

Fwoomph.

A massive man wrapped his arms around a girl half his size.

A suffocating silence hung in the air for a beat.

"...I'm sorry."

Vulkan was the first to speak.

"Because this father of yours was so inadequate, I put you through so much, Rania."

Rania shook her head.

"...Please don't say that."

She clutched his clothes tight, nuzzled her head against him, and burrowed even deeper.

Then—

"Pfft. What on earth are you two doing?"

"Big sis!! Dad!!"

"......"

Having heard the two of them were out on patrol, the remaining three members of the family came walking up.

"You too, Niel!"

"What's that man even doing?"

Little Raniel and Hestia immediately wrapped their arms around the pair, and—

"Why aren't you joining in?"

"...A grown adult ought, by rights, to leave his parents' embrace."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen this year."

"Kid, the blood on your skull hasn't even dried yet."

"What? Huh?! Aack! B-big brother!! Y-your hand! You're going to break it!! It's actually going to break!!"

I grabbed the lingering Rafael myself and hauled him over.

A somewhat forced family hug.

To them, it might have been nothing more than an awkward, face-burning moment.

Please... please...

But to the hero who had once clutched nothing but ashes, it was a dream she would have given anything — everything — to fulfill.

"...Haha. Well now."

"Huh!? Dad's crying!"

"Honestly. The men in this family."

"Not me, Mother!"

At the noisy heart of that family,

"Ahaha!"

my protagonist laughed, bright and clear as morning.

Rania Vulcanus.

Hemmed in by her family, she watched Eugene's back as he quietly turned away.

And that line came back to her.

The moment she had heard those words, the first thing that rose in her mind was a single question: Why?

Everything Rania knew about Eugene amounted to this:

A powerhouse from the East.

That was all.

They had known each other for barely a handful of days, and after the exam he had collapsed, so they had never even had a proper conversation.

And yet.

He had handed her Vivian's disciple seat. He had helped her family without asking for a single thing in return.

Rania turned it over in her mind.

The reason he had helped her. What he had gained by doing so.

The answer came quickly.

Nothing.

There was no reason to help her, and nothing he had gained by helping.

The only justification she could even stretch to name was that she was Eugene's friend.

And—

Because Rania is the protagonist of my life.

...Because I am his protagonist?

Rania eventually gave up on the arithmetic.

The things Eugene had given her could not be dismissed as simple calculation.

So I'll ask him later.

If she kept turning it over and still couldn't find an answer, she would ask him herself.

Why he had helped her.

Why he called her his protagonist.

Why her heart beat faster whenever she looked at him.

Someday, she would ask him all of it.

And when she understood everything, she would repay every kindness he had shown her.

Until then—

Eugene.

Meanwhile.

"Uh, um, are you sure that's okay?"

"Sure what is."

Eugene, benefactor of House Vulcanus.

"Th-this is a grave, you know..."

"That's why we're digging. What's a dead guy gonna do holding onto treasure? The living should use it."

The treasure of House Vulcanus.

"All right. Let's dig this thing up with some enthusiasm!"

"Ugh. I guess your humanity really does have to be that wrecked to become an evil spirit ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a human body..."

Clang!

And so began the excavation of the family heads' tombs.