"Well," Chiharu said as she cheerfully dug into the dirt of her ever-expanding farm with a combination of her spade and earth magic. "Getting exiled wasn't fun... and I do miss my old family and friends... but Mineral Town is such a beautiful and friendly place! And now that I'm in a farming game, and not an otome one, I never have to worry about doom endings again. Thank God I spent so much time learning about agriculture!"

Hard at work beside her, her new group of friends chuckled at her words, even as she heard her cows mooing and her flock of chickens clucking in the background.

"Oh Chiharu," Popuri warmly said, even as she scattered grain for the chickens. "Sometimes I can't make heads or tails of the things you say… but I always find them so charming!"

"Me too!" cried Ann, who had stopped by to deliver a free lunch to Chiharu with a smile. "Don't forget that I adore you as well, Chiharu. You know I'd listen to you anytime!"

"As would I," Cliff shyly chimed in, even as he worked at helping Chiharu harvest the crops that had just come in. "I would never have been able to stay at Mineral Town without your help in finding a job, after all. Chiharu, I'm truly grateful to you."

"We all are," Marie – who was here to deliver a new romance novel to Chiharu – said sweetly. "You've really done so much to make us all so happy. And we here at Mineral Town hope you never leave!"

"I won't," Chiharu assured them, even as her heart swelled with gratitude at her finally settling down in a game setting that would not make her a villainess ready to be tossed away because of the plot. "After all that I went through previously, I'm glad to be somewhere where I feel safe."

"Well," Gray said, even as the handsome blacksmith gave her another pretty brooch made from an ore that she had given him before. "I like to think that even if you got lost before, you found your way to a place that appreciates you."

Since Chiharu agreed with that – as being a protagonist of a farming game was far easier and less terrifying than being the villainess of an otome game – she smiled at her newfound friends and went back to taming her field.

And in the end, the new farmer who had come to the warm and peaceful community that was Mineral Town lived happily ever after as well.

Author's Notes:

Welp. Did anyone see that twist coming? ;)

Either way, I enjoyed actually giving Bakarina (i.e., Chiharu) a happy ending that finally took her away from the madness of Sorcier. Reading the light novels and the latest volumes of the Verge of Destruction (aka Bakarina Hard Mode) manga, I honestly felt sorry for how stressed she always became over her impending doom. And when she's dumped into the Fortune Lovers continuity without warning (sorry, girl - blame original Katarina's wish for that one) and realizes that she's somehow come into the original novel and become a villainess...

Well, I honestly saw poor Chiharu just sort of giving up on the thought of staying in Sorcier, staying away from the friends who suddenly don't recognize her, and fully dedicating herself to a peaceful exile abroad. (Which, in fact, is the route she's taking as of chapter 15 of VOD!)

And thankfully - even when FL Jeord pins the blame for Maria's bullying (which happens in every universe) on poor Chiharu, Chiharu has the good luck of having friends like Sienna and Anne on her side. With their help, she's above to smuggle away not to some random exile location but to the peaceful harbor of Mineral Town. And there, she becomes the isekai'd protagonist of a whole new game... and one that has no risk whatsoever of a doom ending for her!

So ta-dah - here's a happy ending for Chiharu. (And even if it seems unfair, for FL Jeord and FL Maria, who basically go onto their canonical happy ending also). I do hope you enjoy the last twist this story served up!

(And if, for some reason, you want to see a Chiharu who is experiencing *far* more stress in her struggle to survive, you can read my other Chiharu-series, Verge of Injustice. Let's just say that VOI's Chiharu would kill for as peaceful an ending as the one this Chiharu encountered...