Until We Meet Again
A full day had passed since their arrival at the border city of the Janzeri Kingdom.
And yet, in that single day alone, the members of the Wolf Mercenary Corps had come to understand just how drastically their standing had changed.
"Hey. You lot the Wolf Mercenaries?"
Men swaggering up out of nowhere, spoiling for a fight before a word of greeting had even been exchanged.
"I'd like a quiet word with your captain…"
Others who reeked of bad intentions from a single glance, angling for secret meetings.
"You're the Wolf Mercenary Corps? Heard you pulled off one hell of a score this time. Drinks are on us — how about sharing a few war stories?"
And still more who approached simply to pry whatever scraps of information they could get.
Under the sudden weight of all that attention, the Wolf Mercenaries found themselves enduring one ordeal after another.
Kaisent — the one most responsible for creating this entire situation — was in the dimensional warehouse, preparing to say goodbye to a friend.
At last, Clint had succeeded in using electric-shock magic to manipulate a Machinaroid's systems.
Of course, the one who had suffered through all of Clint's training was Arty.
"So you're going back."
"Yeah…"
Clint, wearing the spatial-transfer belt, turned once more toward Kaisent — a friend he had known for barely a week, and yet one he would never forget for the rest of his life — and offered his gratitude again.
"Thank you. Truly, Kaisent. You're more than just the person who saved my life."
When his parents had died, he had been able to do nothing but run. Even Lorenz, who had come from the future to save him, had been killed. Clint had despaired, cursing his own powerlessness — and then Kaisent had shown him the strength to seize a future of his own. More than that, Kaisent had given him the means to travel back to a time before his parents' deaths, so that he could see them again… and Lorenz as well.
"We're friends. And it wasn't even that hard. Helping someone who's suffering just feels like the natural thing to do."
Natural, he called it — but if Kaisent had chosen differently, he could have seized Clint by the throat and worked him like a slave without anyone finding it strange. Anyone even slightly selfish, anyone with a lean toward cruelty, would have exploited Clint one way or another.
"I… I'm going to go back to my world and build a utopia where Machinaroids and humans can coexist."
"If anyone can do it, it's you, Clint. Machinaroids aren't human — but they're intelligent beings who can think just like us."
"Yeah! And once I've made a world where everyone can live in harmony, I'll come back and repay this debt. I swear it!"
"Ah… that might be a little difficult."
Clint's world possessed only theoretical speculation about dimensions. Actual technology for using them did not exist at all.
"If human and Machinaroid intelligence combine, I think it'll be possible. No matter how long it takes, no matter how hard it gets — I won't give up. I'll come back to this world. I will."
And somehow, he would repay the debt he owed Kaisent. The gratitude burning in him was far too great to simply offer thanks and then live happily ever after on his own.
"Ah — Clint, wait a second."
"Hm?"
As a final gift, Kaisent transmitted a handful of simple, practical spells through the device.
"What's this?"
"If you start shooting fire from your hands in front of people, they'll think something's wrong. So I picked out spells that stay invisible to others but can still be useful in all kinds of situations."
Repair Magic. Mage's Hand. Mage's Armor.
As long as he didn't flaunt them openly, they would serve him well without drawing attention.
Receiving one last gift for his own sake, Clint felt his resolve to return and repay that kindness swell even stronger.
"Thank you, Kaisent. Really. You're my benefactor, my idol, and the best friend I've ever had."
"If we drag this out any longer, I won't want to let you go. So this is goodbye."
"Honestly… I was thinking the same thing."
Two boys of similar age, whose hearts had fit together so easily, said their farewells.
"Take care. I hope you find that sister of yours — Dang Seol-yeong — and that you get your revenge on the man who forced you apart. No — even if you can't, it doesn't matter. When that day comes, I'll be there to help."
"It'd be pretty funny if you came all the way back to repay a debt and found there was nothing left to help with. Heh."
"I'll pray for that ridiculous outcome myself."
After the goodbye, and before activating the belt, Clint ran one final simulation — replaying how his parents had died, how AT-900 had attacked — fixing every detail in his mind.
"All right. I'm going. See you later."
"Yeah. See you later."
Simulation complete, he offered that last farewell — and vanished.
"…He's gone."
"He's gone. Do you have any regrets, Young Master?"
As explained before, the twenty-first-century Earth Clint called home had no dimensional technology whatsoever. But with Kaisent and Skynet's help, it would only be a matter of time before he could build a dimensional transfer device — and return to this world at the head of a Machinaroid army. Or return to their original world, for that matter.
"I can give up on revenge. But I can't give up on Seol-yeong."
"You've become a man."
Skynet felt a quiet warmth watching the boy who had always hidden behind his sisters grow into someone who could stand tall as a man.
"Clint… he should be arriving in the past about now. I hope everything goes well."
"Mom! Get down!!"
Their new neighbors from next door had come over to introduce themselves. His mother, delighted that people still made such courteous visits these days, had been about to welcome them in — when the Machinaroid from the future, its tension released after destroying its target, claimed her as AT-900's first victim.
"Clint? Kyaaah—!"
But Clint, who remembered every second of it, slammed into his mother's body with a rough tackle. Everyone froze in shock and crowded in.
"Clint! What on earth are you—!"
Crack! Crunch!
AT-900, which had intended to drive a knife-hand strike through the solar plexus the moment the door opened, tore the door clean off its hinges and charged into the house. Whether the police caught it or not no longer mattered. As long as it killed Clint, the rest was irrelevant.
"Machinaroid!"
Lorenz, who always carried a gun on his person just in case, was the first to snap into focus amid the sudden chaos. He armed himself in an instant, determined to extract Clint and his parents.
"Everyone get out the back! I'll buy us time!"
"Lorenz! Use the EMP grenade!"
Lorenz had been ready to hold the line himself — but Clint's sudden order to throw an EMP grenade made him frown. Those grenades were critical weapons, meant to freeze a Machinaroid's movement just long enough to escape the worst situations.
"Lorenz! That's an order!"
"!!"
But Clint — who had gained real power and real confidence thanks to Kaisent, and who had already simulated this exact scenario — issued a command for the first time in his life. In that voice, Lorenz heard the Clint of the future. He adjusted the timer and threw the EMP grenade.
AT-900, still ripping its way inside, spotted the grenade an instant too late. The EMP hit, and its movement locked for a brief window.
Clint seized that opening and charged straight at AT-900.
"Clint!"
"Stop! What are you doing?!"
His parents cried out in horror, trying to stop him — but Clint's hand was already on AT-900's head.
"I'm going to make you my own Arty."
Crack-crack-crack-crack-CRACK!!!
Using the electric shock surging from his own hand, and with the bio-device's assistance, Clint successfully hacked AT-900's systems.
"That is…!"
Watching Clint hack the Machinaroid, Lorenz saw the future Clint once more — and clenched his fist without realizing it.
"AT-900. From this moment on, you will obey my commands."
"…Yes, Master."
"And your name will be Arty."
Freed from the EMP, AT-900 — now Arty — dropped to one knee and bowed her head in obedience to Clint's order.
"……"
"……"
Clint's parents, with no way of understanding what was happening, could only stare in blank bewilderment. Lorenz, meanwhile, wore an expression caught somewhere between tears and laughter, overwhelmed with emotion.
"I'll explain everything later. For now…"
Leaving the newly obedient Arty for a moment, Clint ran to his stunned parents.
"I missed you so much! Really… really… hic… sob…!"
He still carried the vivid memory of watching them die right in front of him. Feeling them alive — breathing, warm — he wept tears of pure joy. For now, he simply wanted to savor the happiness of having rewritten the fate that should have killed them.
Only after he had desperately averted the worst possible outcome did Clint remember the strange phenomenon he had experienced.
What was that, though?
Right after activating the spatial-transfer device, he had found himself in an empty, formless space — and he was certain he had heard voices surrounding him. Too vivid to dismiss as imagination. And of all of it, one thing he remembered with perfect clarity:
— You're lucky. We were just about to seal the passage to that dimension.
Whoever they were, they had told him he was fortunate. And that after he passed through, they had sealed the passage between that world and this one.
A god from that other world, maybe? No — even if it was a god, it doesn't matter.
Feeling the warmth and breath of his living parents, Clint steeled his resolve.
Kaisent. This time, I'll be the one to help you.
Once he had built that ideal world where humans and Machinaroids coexisted, he would devote the rest of his life to aiding Kaisent.
Even if it means fighting a god!
Watching a friend his own age return to his original world left Kaisent with a hollow ache — but the reality waiting for him left no room for loneliness.
"Lord Kaisent. We'd like a word with you."
"Whatever you desire, you need only say the word…"
The moment he was alone, people swarmed him, each of them wanting something, raising a clamor around him. Even pure goodwill would have been hard enough to entertain — and these people wore only pleasant, approachable smiles while their desires showed plain underneath.
Invisibility!
Kaisent cast the spell at once, kicked off the ground, and leapt up onto the nearest rooftop to escape.
"Huh!? He's gone!"
"Where'd he go?"
They scattered in every direction, searching for the boy who had vanished in an instant.
The attention of countless strangers was more than Kaisent could bear. On the rooftop, he let out a long, heavy sigh.
People's attention scares me…
For someone as timid and quiet as Kaisent, this situation was nothing short of an ordeal.
Now I understand why Lillian told me to move around on my own.
She had wanted him to see how people looked at him — to understand exactly what kind of value he held in their eyes. Knowing one's own position was essential for planning any future course of action.
All of them want my power. Talk to them for even a moment and the first thing they do is badmouth the Wolf Mercenary Corps — how worthless it supposedly is.
Everyone trying to use his strength for their own ends was enough to breed a mild case of misanthropy.
Haa. I already miss Clint…
A boy his own age, who had easily understood the world Kaisent came from after only a few conversations, whose heart had aligned so well with his own — Clint had been the first true friend Kaisent had made since arriving in this world. Everyone in the Wolf Mercenary Corps was too far apart in age and values to call a friend.
Lillian's busy running around with Frederick and the others selling off the spoils. I might as well just stay here alone.
An active person might have felt restless doing nothing — but Kaisent, with his strong shut-in tendencies, found quiet solitude and private thought far more comfortable. Besides, he could cultivate his inner energy even while sitting still. As long as he had food, clothing, and shelter, he could spend months in a corner without complaint.
"Fufufu. Even cuter than the reports suggested, little one."
"!!"
While he was still fretting on the rooftop about what to do next, a seductive woman's voice wrapped softly around his ears from behind.
He immediately stepped through a footwork technique, putting distance between them as he spun to look — only to feel a strange residual trace of mana, and then sense a presence at his back once more.
But Kaisent, now rich with combat experience, did not panic. He cast a spell that turned his skin to stone and unleashed a palm strike toward the space behind him.
Bang! Ba-ba-bang!
The palm techniques cracked through empty air with explosive reports — but no one was there.
"My, my. Those movements… a murim martial artist? How strange~? I was told you were a black mage~?"
He turned toward the voice again — and this time she had not fled. He could see her clearly.
"Nnh…"
The moment he took in her appearance, his face flushed red with embarrassment.
The one-piece black slit dress was problem enough — bare shoulders and arms, one side cut so high the curve of her hip showed plain — but the real issue was her chest. Even for a dress that revealing, the pure-white ornamentation framing her breasts left only the barest cover over her nipples, the upper swell fully exposed. And those breasts were enormous beyond anything he had ever seen.
Violet hair cascading all the way to her hips, violet eyes — everything about her amplified a seductiveness sharp enough to send a thrill through the air.
Once, his father had brought back a fruit called watermelon from Terra, claiming he wanted Kaisent to taste something from home. The finest, largest of those watermelons had been almost exactly the size of the breasts before him now. How anyone could live a normal life carrying something like that was a mystery — until he looked closer and realized magic was woven into them, holding their round shape firm so they never sagged unattractively.
"What a naughty little one~ Staring at a lady's chest like that simply won't do~♥"
Her voice was soft and languid, and that very softness only deepened her allure.
She knows how to use her charm.
If a woman had tried to beguile him with her body for some ulterior purpose, he would have felt a sharp revulsion. But she used her appeal only to lower his guard and open a conversation — never to scheme with her flesh.
"Forgive me for startling you, little one. But you were so much cuter than the reports described that I couldn't help playing a little prank."
"Reports?"
"I may not look it, but I am the head of an organization. Now then — I've already been rude on first meeting, so might I ask one more favor while I'm at it?"
"What is it?"
He had been ready to refuse on the spot if she asked him to leave the Wolf Mercenary Corps. But the nameless woman's proposal went far beyond anything he had expected.
"I would very much like to examine the nature of the energy you carry. Just once."
"…What?"