Shield Kid's Bizarre Adventure!

by Allen Blaster

Collaboration with RLTygurr. Naofumi Iwatani was your typical 10-year-old kid. Young, energetic, and so done with boring old school. Now, he's been summoned to another world as the Shield Hero! Watch as our innocent young hero goes around in this new world. Causing all sorts of trouble on this adventure alongside his kid friend Raphtalia! Ch. 31: Epilogue (Complete)

31. 31: Epilogue

Yep, this is long. I had a lot to cover. Hope you're able to read through to the end!

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Chapter Thirty-One: Epilogue

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"Ha, and do you also remember that time when you first entered my shop and-"

"Uncle Bald Guy! Enough! I'm already embarrassed enough as it is!"

"You say you're embarrassed, yet you still call me Uncle Bald Guy!" Elhart roared with laughter.

"That's because you're like an uncle to me. And you're still as bald as the day I met you." Naofumi grinned despite his blushing cheeks.

Elhart took the Shield Hero into a headlock, rubbing his callused fingers into the Shield Hero's raven-black hair in his best attempt at a noogie. This caused the Shield Hero to laugh along with the older man.

"I daresay, I don't think you'll ever change, Prince Naofumi." Shadow followed behind the two openly, sighing while shaking her head.

"Is that such a bad thing?" Naofumi asked with a smile.

"... Maybe not."

The ninja woman, Naofumi's 'former' babysitter, didn't speak further as she melted back into the shadows to observe.

It'd been ten years since Naofumi had been summoned to this world as a Cardinal Hero. And there was quite a bit to note that'd changed in that time.

The first immediate change was Naofumi himself. He now looked like his canon counterpart. Though, instead of wearing armor that made him look like a bandit, he was now arrayed in a military vest and cloak just like his father's. As well as that, he also had a small crown on his head, denoting his status as a prince of Melromarc.

It took a while for his mother to convince him to wear it in public. But after Raphtalia had taken to wearing a tiara and found out how much she loved it, he couldn't exactly deny her request to also wear his crown wherever he went.

Uncle Bald Guy had also changed, but not too much, thankfully. He was still the same playful, kind, sometimes bloodthirsty, but caring old man he'd first gotten to know after being summoned to this world. He only had a few more wrinkles on his face now from the passage of time. And the smile wrinkles were much more prominent than the scowl wrinkles.

Even if Naofumi still enjoyed teasing him every now and then.

"Oi, what the hell are you thinking about now, brat?" Elhart asked with narrowed eyes as he began to scowl.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about what errand I should have mine and Raphtalia's personal bodyguard run for us next." Naofumi said with a teasing expression on his face. "Maybe I can have you go visit Romina for us again since you've been seeing more of each other lately."

"Ha! I thought you were going to order me to do something embarrassing like having me sneak out of the castle to buy you two more protection." Elhart said with a wink, causing Naofumi's face to blush nearly tenfold as the bald blacksmith turned Naofumi's tease back on him. "Man, I always knew that you two were going to be the future King and Queen someday, but I'm still surprised that I ended up walking in on you two that one time and-"

"AGAIN, PLEASE DON'T EMBARRASS ME ANYMORE WHEN TODAY IS MY CORONATION DAY!" Naofumi pleaded in a high-pitched tone.

"YOU FIRST!" Elhart ended up laughing harder than he ever had. And after a little bit of pouting on his end, Naofumi ended up chuckling too.

There really had been a lot that changed in those ten years. And Naofumi hadn't even started mentioning the major changes yet. Like Elhart's potential blossoming romance with Kizuna's blacksmith friend. Or the families the other Heroes and their friends were raising right now, amongst other stuff.

Should I prepare for another time skip monologue from you, Naofumi? Sassy text written in italics appeared on his HUD.

"Not really, Shield-Chan. I'll try to just give it in bits and pieces as we go along." Naofumi smiled down at the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist.

It had a small plushie of a green-haired girl attached to it, wearing a green dress while holding onto a plushie version of his shield. While she continued to deny it, her cheeks were definitely blushing on the plushie, and it was definitely Shield-Chan herself.

It was strange seeing how [Weapon Synthesis] had combined the Plushie Shield he'd gotten from S'yne together with a bracelet form he unlocked later on to unlock the Plushie Bracelet Shield. But hey, Shield-Chan had at least mellowed out from her tsundere days when he was young and stupid.

For the last time, I was NEVER a tsundere! And you're still young and stupid!

"Whatever you say, Shield-Chan," Naofumi smirked.

Reeeeeeeeeeeee!

"No matter how much time passes, I still can't get used to how you talk to your shield every now and then," Elhart said dryly.

Naofumi shrugged. "Raphtalia talks to her weapon sometimes too, you know?"

"Yeah, but she never claims that it ever 'speaks' to her. It connects to her through her feelings or whatever that mumbo jumbo she's talking about means." Elhart rolled his eyes, causing Naofumi to laugh.

They continued on down the hallway, only briefly being waylaid by Marx, who appeared to direct them to the proper room so they could finish getting ready. But the two continued their small talk with each other, Shadow silently trailing out of view up till the moment when they reached the room. And then-

"Naofumi!" As soon as the door opened, Raphtalia tackled the Shield Hero happily.

"Ack, Raphtalia! Careful!" Naofumi complained.

"Ehehehe." Raphtalia couldn't stop giggling though as she helped him to stand up straight before adjusting his uniform.

Like Naofumi, she also looked like her canon counterpart now, except she was also arrayed in royal attire. And unlike Melty and Malty's dresses, hers was a light auburn, just like her hair. It matched well with the sheath on her side, which had the hilt of a katana with a green gemstone embedded into it sticking out. She also had a small tiara resting on her hair.

"Anyway, thank goodness you're here!" Naofumi said with relief after she'd finished fixing his vest. "Uncle Bald Guy's been torturing me ever since I woke up this morning!"

"Awww, Uncle Bald Guy, I thought you promised to save some of the teasing for me." Raphtalia pouted up at Elhart.

"Huh- who's side are you on anyway?!" Naofumi asked his best friend in shock.

Elhart grinned widely. "Sorry, I know I promised, but the kid just makes it too easy after all these years!"

"I guess that's true. Naofumi never did learn how to develop a poker face." Raphtalia giggled.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Shadow said quietly from the side.

"Oh yeah! Watch this!" Naofumi proceeded to turn towards Marx, who had just arrived behind Naofumi's group and begun to deliver all of his carefully prepared instructions for how the two should act accordingly during the coronation, as this was definitely going to be seen as a momentous occasion that the whole world would be watching.

"And you should not slouch when Her Majesty gives her crown to you! And you should remember what to say! To always smile, but not in a carefree way, but one that showcases your power, and… … …"

His voice faded away into background static as Naofumi showed off his perfected thousand-yard stare poker face. It was almost like he was actually paying attention to what was being said. But not even those closest to him could tell what he was thinking at that moment.

"I'll be damned. He actually did manage to develop a poker face after all." Elhart said in disbelief.

"Prince Naofumi has been practicing in private." Auntie Shadow said. "I may have helped him out a bit here and there."

Yes, she might have still not liked the title of Auntie Shadow. But as Naofumi and Raphtalia's secondary bodyguard and the new head of the Shadows in Melromarc, she'd helped her charges out here and there with the affairs of politics. Including the perfecting of Aultcray's penchanted thousand-yard poker face stare.

She could at least take pride in that.

Raphtalia sighed as she rolled her eyes. She took it upon herself to grab Marx by the shoulders, cutting him off mid-sentence. "Marx, I understand you're nervous too. But you don't have to worry. We know what to do."

"A-Are you sure?" Aultcray's head advisor asked unsurely.

Raphtalia smiled genuinely. "Of course. You need to relax a little. Her Majesty was the one who personally tutored us for all these years, after all. And she knew this day would come eventually. She made certain not to slack on any of the details."

"I, well, yes, I suppose you're right." Marx chuckled a little bit, his body finally relaxing. If only a little.

Naofumi came out of his trance, smiling as he saw that Raphtalia had successfully defused the situation for him once again.

His best friend was truly something amazing. And their journey from becoming childhood friends to lovers and fiances and, after today, husband and wife, was something he'd never want to trade for anything else.

She might have gotten jealous a few times when they were kids. But then again, he'd also gotten jealous as they got older and she began to talk with other guys at the village or at the castle.

He still didn't understand why it'd happened when they slept together every night. But eh, their teenage years were definitely a wild ride.

Especially since, as Elhart discovered to his utter horror, they advanced from childhood friends to lovers during that period.

"Man, how you two avoided getting kids before I discovered your relationship, I will never know," Elhart said blandly.

"And here I knew all about it, but chose not to involve myself since even I have standards." Auntie Shadow agreed beside him dryly.

"Oi! Enough with the teasing Auntie Shadow! As for you Elhart, don't you have your own love life to concern yourself with? Go bang Romina already before you croak from old age, old man!" Naofumi shouted angrily. Even Raphtalia was blushing super heavily in embarrassment now.

Elhart merely continued to grin. "Fine then, I'll be looking forward to meeting you in the throne room later, brat."

Naofumi's face did a double take. "Wait, are you actually-" He tried to ask.

"Come on, Marx, Shadow! Let's give the two some alone time before their coronation ceremony!" Elhart directed Aultcray's blue-haired former advisor towards the door. Shadow rolled her eyes behind her mask as she followed the bald man as well.

"Oh, right! I must make sure everything else is ready!" Marx said excitedly.

The three quickly left the room, with Auntie Shadow slamming the door shut behind her so the two Heroes would be left with some privacy. Elhart was still laughing as he left though, much to Naofumi's irritation.

…

…

"So, um… you nervous?" Naofumi asked after a moment of calming down.

"About becoming the rulers of Melromarc, or marrying you?" Raphtalia fidgeted in place slightly.

"Eh, I've felt like I've been married to you for a long time now." Naofumi smiled as he took her hand in his. "This just makes it feel more… official, you know."

Raphtalia giggled, even though an embarrassed blush began to appear on her cheeks. "I was so possessive of you as a child."

"Understandable. I was too dumb to notice your advances back then." Naofumi smiled.

"You saying that you aren't that dumb anymore?" Raphtalia stuck her tongue out at him.

Naofumi laughed as he grabbed her and lifted her off the ground, causing Raphtalia to shriek in surprise. "Naofumi! Put me down! PUT ME DOWN!"

"Ahahahahaha!" Naofumi continued to laugh as he spun his fiance in the air above him. And after several seconds, Raphtalia couldn't help but laugh as she decided to go along with the fun.

After nearly a minute of spinning, they both collapsed together on a nearby couch. Panting while still chuckling here and there after the burst of fun they'd shared.

"We're not going to be able to do this nearly as often after we're crowned, are we?" Naofumi asked after catching his breath.

"We… we'll be in charge of the rules then." Raphtalia giggled again. "I'm sure, we could think of something."

The two continued to giggle and chuckle as their hands became interlocked between each other again.

…

…

After a moment, the two stood up. Looking far more relaxed and ready than they had before. "Thank you, Raphtalia." Naofumi said sincerely. "Even if others might view this as a royal wedding to allow us to become the rulers of Melromarc… I still love you as much as I did when I was a child."

Yes, even if he hadn't been aware of it at the time, he'd come to understand that he loved Raphtalia almost from the moment they first met. He didn't know when these feelings had first surfaced. Or if they'd simply developed over a long series of moments they'd shared with each other. Those feelings of care that'd led him to take her in. To help her become strong and fight together to overcome those early challenges with Uncle Bald Guy and the others.

Naofumi simply smiled. "I have to be the luckiest guy in the world right now."

"Cheesy much?" Raphtalia asked teasingly.

"Only when I'm with you," Naofumi answered sincerely.

Raphtalia closed her eyes and moved her face closer to his. "I guess that must also make me the luckiest girl in the world since I ended up with you."

Naofumi smirked. "And who were you just calling cheesy miss-"

He didn't get a chance to finish, as Raphtalia's lips pressed against his.

And honestly, despite not being able to tease her back like he wanted, he didn't particularly mind as he and Raphtalia shared a loving moment together in the privacy of that dressing room without anyone else to disturb them.

---

"Shall we begin?"

Naofumi and Raphtalia were now kneeling in front of the thrones of the new and massive renovated throne room. Looking out over a crowd of subjects and international leaders who were there to witness the event.

The room was far bigger than before, being able to fit at least five times the amount of people than it'd been able to previously. The pillars that still lined the sides were marked with the royal colors of Melromarc. Portraits of past Queens and Kings hung from the walls, and knights stood at attention, ready to swear fealty to their new leaders.

A woman with strawberry blonde hair stood at the forefront as their new commander, ready to welcome in the new King and Queen.

A large window had been made behind and above the thrones, allowing the country's resident dragon emperor to fly in and out as he pleased. Said Dragon emperor was currently sitting off to the side, allowing the children around him to play with him as well as several other creatures. One of which was a penguin wearing a Santa hat on its head that was surprisingly expressive.

Please pay attention Naofumi. This part is especially important.

Naofumi smirked down at the plushie of Shield-Chan. Who's pout only seemed to grow a little bit more as he did so. But since Mirellia and Aultcray were approaching, with the King holding a cushion that had his and his wife's former crowns resting on it, he'd be a good boy and pay attention for once.

You can learn after all.

Aultcray paused a few feet behind his wife, who stopped just short of the two of them. "We are gathered here today to mark the ending of an era." Mirellia began to speak in a loud and authoritative tone, bringing silence throughout the large hall. "And the beginning of a new one. A better one, in many ways.

"A better era for Melromarc, and for the nations of our world." She continued to speak as Naofumi's gaze slowly moved over the crowd before them.

There were humans and demi-humans, of course. But on top of that, there were Spirit People, Gem People, Dwarves, Elves, Librarian Rabbits, Gem Cats, and even a few Yetis along with many other races that'd appeared after his world combined with Kizuna's world over nine and a half years ago.

He could recall most of the time spent leading up to that either staying inside and learning, or going out with the Heroes and their friends to areas affected by famines, earthquakes, and other natural disasters to help the people out. Just as Fitoria had promised, she shared her experience and expertise in handling the aftermath of the waves, and the damages were kept to a minimum in both worlds.

Fitoria herself was there now actually, standing alongside his older sister and smiling at him and Raphtalia. She looked a lot more relaxed and at peace, compared to ten years ago.

Anyway, after the two worlds had merged, Naofumi and Raphtalia got to travel with Mirellia. Meeting the new nations and peoples. Establishing friendships and trade deals and land borders and other such things. A lot of it was boring stuff he didn't really need to cover. But they'd accomplished a lot in those ten years, as evidenced by the new throne room inside the renovated castle.

As for Mirellia herself… Ten years hadn't been bad for the former Queen. She not only looked as young as ever but there was a motherly love surrounding her presence that'd barely been noticeable before. One might have assumed it was because of how she'd come to love the two young adults kneeling before her now as her own children, but that was only partly right.

"Yayyyyy! Wheeeeee!" To the side of Gaelion, where some of the kids could be seen playing with Chris, much to his enjoyment, were two noticeable kids around the age of nine to ten. One was a girl, with hair as purple as her mother's. And the other was a boy whose hair was white like his father's. Naofumi and Raphtalia's younger siblings.

The two were completely adorable. And it was easy to tell how they'd been raised with love since the moment of their birth. Even their Father, who stood before Naofumi, ready to give him his crown, could barely contain his smile at seeing his kids play in the corner of his eyes. Having both parents in their lives was helping the kids to grow up well.

What happened to pay attention? Shield-Chan asked sassily.

"We live to serve." Raphtalia and Naofumi both knelt down, showing their respect to their second mother after she'd finished her speech.

… I freaking hate this job. Shield-Chan remained silent as the scene continued.

"Naofumi Iwatani Melromarc." Mirellia spoke again. "After today, you will no longer be a prince. But rather, you shall be known as King Naofumi I. Melromarc the XXXIII. Serving the people of Melromarc and the world faithfully alongside your loving companion. Queen Raphtalia Q. Melromarc of the royal family…"

Naofumi's smile widened just a little as tears slowly formed in the corners of his eyes. And it was clear to see that Raphtalia felt much the same beside him.

"Princess Raphtalia Q. Melromarc, daughter of mine in all but blood," Aultcray spoke next, his voice softer than his wife's, yet filled with authority like hers had been. "From today forward, you shall be known as Queen Raphtalia Q. Melromarc, bound together with your husband in duty and love. Do you accept?"

"I do," Raphtalia said, with no hesitation in her voice whatsoever.

"Son… in everything but blood, do you also accept your new Queen as your faithful companion? To love and to hold through thick and thin. Whatever challenges life may throw at you." Aultcray asked his son in a gentle tone. One that couldn't hold a candle to the amount of love he held for the boy he'd taken in all those years ago.

"I have, and I will continue to do so every day, now and forever, Father," Naofumi said, going just a bit off script to voice the seriousness of his conviction.

Marx eeped in his spot and almost raced forward to correct the young prince. But Mirellia laughed heartily at the Hero's response. "Fine words indeed. It is clear that our kingdom shall be left in capable hands."

"Indeed." Aultcray laughed alongside his wife. "Now rise, Queen Raphtalia Q. Melromarc, and King Naofumi I. Melromarc the XXXIII!"

The two Heroes both rose up together. And with the Staff Hero's magic, their lesser crown and tiara were replaced with ones meant for the king and queen of Melromarc. Alongside that, the gemstone of Aultcray's staff glowed bright, signifying that the two's souls in front of him had been bound to one another for the rest of eternity.

A roar of approval came from the crowd of people gathered in front of the throne. The assembled knights all began to shout and whistle, human and demi-human alike pounding their weapons against their shields while their strawberry-blonde commander proudly cheered for the new King and Queen.

Gaelion raised his head up high, releasing a trumpet-like sound from his snout. And cheers of happiness came from all the kids and creatures around him too.

Naofumi turned his head, seeing everyone who'd gathered for his and Raphtalia's coronation/wedding.

The leaders of Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden. The Heroes of both worlds. Friends and family alike.

Naofumi couldn't take the smile off his face as Raphtalia raised a hand up.

"As my first act as Queen, I say: Let the wedding feast begin!" She declared.

The roars of approval only became louder after that. And the two became lost in a storm of activity after that.

---

"Ren!" Naofumi yelled happily while racing forward and hugging the older, more mature-looking Sword Hero.

"Hey, lil bro, you looked great today." Ren complimented. Thanks to Naofumi's lack of attack (something he was still salty about to this day), the Sword Hero was able to continue to gently rock the tired toddler he was holding in his arms without fear of Naofumi hurting him with the sudden hug.

It'd been a while since the two had spoken. Naofumi had spent most of the last couple of years either at home or abroad, learning the ins and outs of diplomacy with his mom and Raphtalia. And thus, he hadn't had time to meet up with Ren or the others as often as he would have liked.

"Huh? Where are the others?" Naofumi asked, pointing out the child Ren was holding. The toddler looked to be around one year old, and he let out a small yawn as his eyes opened, revealing blue eyes just like his dad's. His black hair was the same color as his Dad's too. In fact, the only real difference in their appearance was the dog ears and tail that Ren's youngest son had.

"Over there. They're playing around with their grandpa right now." Ren said, smiling as he pointed outside the area of the courtyard, where the large wedding reception was being held.

Naofumi's gaze moved over, and a truly amusing sight appeared before his eyes.

Gaelion, the most powerful dragon emperor in the world at that moment, was currently lying on his back. Playing around with eight or so kids at the same time as if he was a dog. The oldest hanging from his head was a girl that looked around the age of Naofumi and Raphtalia's younger siblings, while the youngest was a boy around two to three, sliding down one of the mighty dragon's wings with another one of his older sisters like a makeshift slide. Both screamed in joy all the while as they did so.

The dragon was having the time of his life with his grandkids! A mixture of boys and girls who took after their parents in the best of ways.

"Oh… and is that the last one, or did you and Wyndia-" Naofumi started to ask Ren while pointing at the boy in the Sword Hero's arms.

"No… this little one was born just three months ago." Wyndia, Ren's mate and now wife, appeared almost soundlessly at Ren's side, much to Naofumi's surprise.

The girl had matured herself. She still wore a long white-sleeved shirt, though her brown skirt was more like a dress now. She hadn't grown much taller, but she looked older for sure.

She was currently holding a little bundle in her arms, a bundle that contained a small sleeping baby girl.

She had the same color hair as her mom, but she had normal ears instead of animal ears like her Father's. She was also missing a tail. If she were to open her eyes though, they'd find they had already turned from blue to amber.

It appeared that with these last two kids, they'd taken completely after their parents. With the only exception being the animal features being on one instead of the other.

"... doesn't that make ten kids?" Naofumi asked in shock after counting it up on his hands.

"Yeah." Ren's smile only seemed to grow bigger as he looked at his large family with happiness. "And hopefully, we'll be able to welcome a few more additions in the future."

Wyndia's smile grew bigger as well as she leaned against her husband. "I can't wait."

…

"Whoa…" If you were thinking that Naofumi had grown out of his obsession with Ren's coolness after all these years, especially as the Sword Hero had shown how he was crazy enough to pull a Cheaper By The Dozen move…

"That's so cool! You just keep on being awesome no matter what you do Ren!" Naofumi said with glee, stars shining in his eyes.

… Yeah, you'd be sorely mistaken if you thought this brat ever grew out of that cringe phase of his.

"Oi! Me and Raphtalia want at least seven kids!" Naofumi yelled at his Plush Bracelet Shield. "Ren is a shining beacon for all fathers everywhere!"

"... dear, he's yelling at his Shield again," Wyndia whispered softly to her husband in worry.

Ren sweatdropped but smiled back at her regardless. "It's fine. He's still the same in some ways, and I don't mind that part of him staying the same one bit."

Wyndia sighed, but couldn't help but smile a little bigger as her daughter cooed in her arms. "Alright. Though I'm holding you to your promise of giving me more kids."

"Sure, you can count on it," Ren said cooly, while actually meaning it.

'Happy Ren Noises!' Yeah, he'd managed to restrict the noises he made before when he was super happy to only being inside his mind. Because Ren was just that awesome in real life.

Naofumi would have talked to his cool older brother for longer, but then, a new voice made the group turn their heads. "Hey, Naofumi!"

The Shield Hero saw Motoyasu running up. Laughing happily as he held his own little bundle of joy in his arms.

"I'll talk to you later Ren!" Naofumi saluted the Sword Hero before running to talk to Motoyasu.

Ren and Wyndia stayed smiling together in their spot. Knowing they'd have a chance to talk to Naofumi again later.

Over the coming years, the pair would have another ten kids together. Raising twenty of them in total.

Their lives weren't perfect, and there were genuine times when they struggled through moments of life together. Yet despite all that, Ren never stopped believing that he'd won the isekai jackpot with his wife. And she felt the same way about her husband too.

Their kids, though many, would all be raised with kindness and loving devotion from both their parents, as well as their dragon grandfather and other friends. Thanks to Ren being the Sword Hero, they never had to worry about money. And thanks to Wyndia and Gaelion, the kids grew up learning how to protect themselves and work hard for what they wanted. And Naofumi and their other aunts and uncles would ensure they learned how to have fun and be there for one another.

That same love and devotion would go on to bless many generations of their descendants. And the descendants of the Sword Hero would never be at risk of dying out ever again.

A nice ending to their story indeed.

---

Naofumi smiled as the Spear Hero, his oldest hero bro embraced him in a big hug. "That coronation was fantastic little bro! Great job!"

"Thanks, I wasn't sure if you made it or not." Naofumi chuckled as he teased the older man. While Motoyasu looked much the same as he had ten years ago, he had grown a small goatee beard on his face. He also had smile wrinkles forming on the sides of his mouth.

"Of course I made it! I just wanted to stand next to my other bros to show you how I've made great progress getting over my angel obsession!" Motoyasu pouted at the Shield Hero, causing him to laugh.

Motoyasu, like Ren, had also become a Father. Though, unlike Ren, it hadn't been an easy experience for him and Amber. At first, Motoyasu had to work to make the relationship between the two of them more healthy. So as to win back Naofumi's approval.

After a certain amount of time when that did happen though, the two discovered that it was almost impossible for them to have kids. It just wasn't likely since their DNA wasn't compatible… up until they met a famous alchemist from Faubley, at least. A woman running the world's best academy named Rat.

After meeting with her, she was able to perform some fertility tests and help the two to overcome the species barrier. This resulted in the two of them managing to have five kids.

The first four were two sons named Kou and Kuro, and the other two were girls named Yuki and Luna. These four were busy playing with their mom and family dog, who were having fun with Raphtalia and their awesome babysitter/nanny, Melty.

Oh yeah. Melty was also there. She had become the head of one of the biggest Filolial ranches in Melromarc and was even breeding flying Filolials after hatching a rare egg she acquired from the man who helped her to start up her pasture near Lurolona.

She didn't mind giving up the crown to do so in the slightest since it allowed her to do something she loved.

But as much as she loved her own Filolial flock, which Fitoria herself checked up on from time to time, she loved Moto and Amber's kids even more! And she could currently be seen giving one of their sons a piggyback ride.

"More! More Nanny Mel!" Kou cheered happily.

"Ahahahahaha!" Melty laughed joyously in delight.

She might have still been single, but there was no denying the hot and cold girl was having the time of her life right now… romance would come to her later after she met a nice guy named Javetts.

He was a young man who hadn't been introduced yet. He had long black hair tied to the back, yellow eyes, and was almost always dressed in cool tones. He always looked serious, but was a complete goober to those that spent more than five minutes around him.

It'd be some years before these two individuals met, but Melty would take to his personality quickly, and it wouldn't be long before the two decided to get married to each other and live happily ever after.

Anyway, Moto's youngest child was held to his chest. Wrapped in a bundle of blankets he was holding. "So, is this one also a son, or did you two have another daughter?" Naofumi asked curiously.

"Oh yeah! I want you to meet Filo. I swear she's the prettiest thing you've ever seen!" Motoyasu smiled widely while showing the baby hiding inside her small blankie.

The little girl was awake and stared at them with wide blue eyes. A surprise since neither of her parents shared that eye color. Angel wings like her moms sprouted from her back. Her hair was blonde like her Father's. Upon seeing Naofumi, she curiously reached out toward him with one of her tiny hands. Which Naofumi gripped softly with one of his own.

In case you were wondering how the biology worked, they were technically half-Filolials. However, they matured as fast as a normal demi-human. And they looked human at birth with the exception of the angel wings on their backs. They wouldn't gain the ability to transform into their Queen or King forms until after a certain age when they learned transformation magic from their mother.

As well as that, they also had a level cap of level 60 instead of 40. And their max level without the level cap ritual also turned out to be 120, making them remarkably similar to the elite races of Siltvelt. While there was still little known about the origins of these elite races, it appeared that Rat might have accidentally stumbled onto a way that they possibly came about in the first place.

Something that pissed her off, since she hated researching things others had already researched in the past.

But anyway, that tangent aside, overall, little Filo looked incredibly innocent and playful in her daddy's arms.

Almost like Naofumi when he was younger.

Hopefully, she doesn't grow up to be as troublesome as you.

"Whatever you say Shield-Chan." Naofumi remained smiling as he rubbed Filo's forehead. The girl immediately began to coo more and even smiled at the action. "Hey, I think she likes me!"

"Heh, she loves everybody. She's going to be so much fun to play with when she gets older." Motoyasu sniffled happily while staring lovingly at his child.

It wasn't the cooties' love like before. But real, genuine love for someone he and his wife had brought into their world.

The Spear Hero really had come a long way.

The two talked for a little longer. But eventually… "Oh, I see Itsuki is finally taking a break from the band! I better talk to him while I have the chance! Thank you again for talking to me and showing me your newest daughter Moto!" Naofumi said happily.

"Anytime Shield Bro! Have fun with Itsuki!" Moto laughed, and Naofumi saluted before rushing off to his next Hero brother.

Motoyasu chuckled and rejoined his wife beside their guard dog Bruno. "Did my younger bro like our daughter?" She asked.

"He loved her, just like I promised," Motoyasu said with a smirk. "And she liked him too. You should have seen how much Filo was smiling." Said child now had droopy eyes and looked to be on the verge of taking a nap.

Amber's smile grew just a little bigger as she took her child back from Moto and began to rock her. "I wish I had the time to tell them bedtime stories like before. Raphtalia said they understand that I'm a mother now and how that comes first, but I still feel guilty sometimes."

"Eh, I think they're too old for bedtime stories now." Motoyasu shrugged before putting an arm over her shoulders." But once they have their own kids, then we can bring ours over for playdates and everything! We'll be able to spend more time with them then!" Motoyasu promised.

"... alright. Thank you, Blondie." Amber used her favorite pet nickname for him.

Motoyasu smiled as he kissed his wife on the lips.

They'd only have five kids in total. But their family would be full of love and care. Especially for little Filo.

Their descendants would go on to become a new elite demihuman race that existed in harmony with Filolials. They'd even build a new civilization from the ruins of Fitoria's Sanctuary. Under the Bird Queen's careful guidance and watchful eye.

Like Ren's family, their story would also end on a happy note. And they'd leave their mark on the world while at it.

Bruno stood to the side, a bored look on his face since the kids were playing with Melty instead of him. "Awww, don't look so down Bruno. How about ol' Moto here gives you a nice and tasty-" Moto, turning towards their pet dog, started pulling a dog treat out of his spear's gemstone.

Clang!

Bruno bit down on the upper half of Motoyasu's head again.

Yep, after all these years, Amber's pet dog still didn't like Motoyasu. And as Motoyasu started screaming while trying to escape, Filo began to giggle at Daddy's cute antics.

Bruno loved Amber and the kids and would spend every day of his life playing with them and protecting them. And his descendants would eventually get completely domesticated and become guardians of the new Filolial demi-humans around Fitoria's Sanctuary.

But as for Bruno himself, he would absolutely hate Moto till the day he died, which would not come to pass for a long time, unfortunately, for the Spear Hero. And even more unfortunately for any future Spear Heroes, who'd find themselves under the ire of Bruno's descendants who'd carry their forefather's grudge throughout the ages.

It was still unknown just what Motoyasu had done to Bruno that night while drunk. And it was a mystery the world would never know. But whatever it was, it was most likely pretty bad.

"Uwaaaahhhhhhhh!" Moto screamed as Bruno began shaking him around like a ragdoll once again.

---

After getting past several different people, Naofumi finally managed to meet up with Itsuki, who was taking a break from playing music with the band to drink some punch. "Bro! You were killing it up there!"

"Thanks. You looked great yourself during the coronation." Itsuki relaxed as he hugged his younger bro, who was now more than a few inches taller than him.

At one point in his life, he might have hated that more than anything else. Now, he was a lot more chill. And as Rishia approached, it was easy to tell why.

"How many instruments did you manage to play this time?" Rishia asked happily.

"Seven. I just barely managed to fit that last one in between my knees." Itsuki chuckled in response.

"Try hard." Naofumi chuckled.

"Bite me." Itsuki shot back.

"Wish I could." Naofumi pouted.

"Sucks to suck then." Itsuki and Naofumi both started to laugh together while Rishia giggled to herself.

Itsuki was, thankfully, still as cool as the day he first spiked that volleyball over ten years ago while in Cal Mira. Cooler in some aspects really, since he married Rishia shortly after the world merger.

They've had four kids since then. Those kids weren't here though. They were back at the vanilla couple's dojo, which they'd named Laglarock Academy in honor of Granny.

And no, she wasn't dead. The old bird was still alive and kicking after all these years. In fact, she looked even younger than before!

While they'd been talking, Naofumi shuddered as he almost thought he heard her Jojo laugh nearby. And the pair in front of him must have suffered from a similar auditory hallucination since they tensed up as well.

"W-Was it really a good idea to have Granny babysit the kids while we're gone?" Rishia suddenly asked nervously.

"I-I mean, she wouldn't train them like she trained us when we were younger while we're gone, especially since we told her not to, right?" Itsuki asked back just as nervously.

…

The couple both sweatdropped simultaneously. "Sorry, Naofumi! We need to go check on something real quick! We'll be back soon!" Itsuki said quickly as his Bow began to glow.

Before Naofumi could even respond, the Bow Hero and his wife had already portaled back home.

The Shield Hero could do nothing but stare for a sec, before shaking his head and chuckling.

Itsuki hadn't lost any of his coolness. Naofumi had the unfortunate privilege of personally knowing what the old woman was capable of, due to her training him and Raphtalia in the ways of life force when they became old enough for it. And the fact that Itsuki survived what he'd termed to be near daily 'beatings' at her hands without the help of the [Energy Boost] power-up method only went to show just how tough he'd become under her.

"Good luck, Itsuki," Naofumi mumbled to himself before moving on to somewhere else in the party.

Itsuki's story would turn out a lot like Moto's and Ren's. He and Rishia would eventually have another kid from adoption. But they'd only have five kids in total.

They'd also raise their kids with loving devotion. And while some of his kids would go on to hold positions of nobility in Melromarc, ensuring that the nation's nobility wouldn't be led astray by hatred and injustice in some aspects, the couple's true impact on the world would come through Lagralock Academy.

Itsuki and his wife would bless the lives of many by teaching Granny's Hengen Musou style of fighting from generation to generation until an academy of life force practitioners was once again flourishing in their world, never to be in danger of being overthrown by one bad apple ever again.

…

Though if Itsuki ever outlived the Jojo Granny or not was up for debate. Even death seemed to fear Granny at this point.

Future practitioners would have to live under the fear that ol' Granny might come for them in the middle of the night if they ever used their knowledge for evil. And thus the legend of the Jojo Granny endured into the future of the world.

---

"Big Sis S'yne!"

"Raphtalia!"

The two laughed happily as they embraced. S'yne's cool outfit hadn't changed much as she'd grown older. But she smiled a lot more naturally now, and as Raphtalia let her older sister go, she almost swore that she saw the remnants of wings fading behind S'yne's back.

"Did Naofumi already talk to you?" Raphtalia asked curiously.

"Oh? No, I just finished putting on a show for some kids earlier." S'yne quickly explained. "Sometimes I forget to cut off the flow of magic entirely."

"Ah, then sorry to ask, but would you mind doing it again for me?" Raphtalia asked.

S'yne thought about it for only a second, then smiled as she pulled back from Raphtalia. Seconds later, a pair of butterfly wings appeared on her back. And she began to hover off the ground before dancing around gracefully in the air, much to the young Queen's delight.

To explain, S'yne was still single. However, she didn't mind as she preferred staying around the castle as a third bodyguard for her and Naofumi. And could appear randomly at a moment's notice by using one of her special needles from her weapon if the two ever found themselves in trouble.

As for her weapon and why S'yne was able to speak normally again; during the merging of their two worlds, her weapon was kind of adopted into the new 8-hero world. She wasn't considered a Vassal in official terms or anything by the other weapon spirits, as she still wasn't able to use any of their strengthening methods. But her weapon had stopped dying and she was able to do everything the normal Heroes could do!

Though, it could have also been because of something her older sister did. Raphtalia wasn't too sure about the details. She still hadn't met S'yne's older sister, who'd taught her younger sister about the powers of the Sky People, the race that S'yne came from. That was how S'yne was using the magic wings on her back right now.

All she knew was that S'yne's older sister was somewhere in their world. And while she wasn't here, the two had reconciled after everything they'd gone through over the last ten years. Which might have also explained why S'yne looked that much happier right now.

When the older girl was finally done with her performance, which had also drawn the attention of others at the party, Raphtalia, and the others all clapped for her. Cheering as she touched down and the wings on her back vanished entirely.

"That was great!" Raphtalia hugged her older sister again happily.

The two continued talking for a while longer, but eventually, Raphtalia saw another one of her older sisters, and she had to cut off the conversation with S'yne. "I'm going to talk to Sadeena now, but I'm going to look forward to talking to you again later, S'yne."

"Of course. I'll see if I can find Naofumi in the meantime." S'yne smiled slightly in response.

Raphtalia couldn't stop herself as she hugged the older girl one more time. Before pulling away to try running towards Sadeena and her husband.

S'yne continued to smile softly where she was standing. Slowly blending back into the crowd around her.

Even if her weapon had been fixed, she still seemed capable of becoming almost invisible to everyone around her if she so chose. Though that didn't seem as much of a curse as before.

While it was unknown if S'yne would ever meet her special someone or not, she was more than happy with her lot in life. Being Naofumi and Raphtalia's third bodyguard, as well as the nanny for their future children, alongside being reconciled with her older sister. Who'd been released from Godworld's Third Army division after what'd gone down in Godworld.

It'd taken them years of heart-to-heart talks, as well as understanding and forgiveness from S'yne to get past the wrongs her older sister had committed. But the two survivors of their world's destruction would be able to live out the rest of their lives in Naofumi's world peacefully with one another. Where, if either of them were ever able to meet that special somebody, they'd be able to repopulate their race of Sky People once more.

It was a long hard road for the Sewing Kit Hero. But, just like the others, she managed to grasp her happy ending in the end.

---

"Hey, would you look at that, Kyo actually managed to crawl out of his hidey-hole and make it!" L'Arc laughed in delight.

"Hmhmhm. Yes, I was unfortunately threatened into coming here at swordpoint by a mysterious green-haired beauty." Kyo smirked back. "I was in the middle of a breakthrough that would revolutionize the world, too. Truly unfortunate."

"Be nice, L'Arc." The green-haired woman in question stood next to the Book Hero and chastised the Scythe King. "You know how much Kyo dislikes being at events like this."

"Hey, it's just some friendly guy banter and-geh!" L'Arc eeped before he could finish his retort, due to his wife Therese tugging on his ear harshly.

"Dear, this is a royal wedding and a coronation event, not one of Kizuna's barbecue parties. Please stay in character as king."

"It's okay. Crowds don't bother me nearly as much these days. But thank you, your majesty." Kyo nodded while looking off to the side. But he couldn't deny the sight of his old friend receiving his just desserts from another one of his old friends made him feel tempted to smile.

"Ow, come on, Therese." L'Arc eventually managed to escape her death grip and pout at her.

Said pout then melted off his face as Therese giggled before pecking him softly on the lips.

"Nevermind, I hate this already, let's go home, Yomogi," Kyo muttered dryly.

"Kyo, you be nice too." Yomogi pouted at her husband. "We've been working on this, remember?"

"..." Kyo froze up hesitantly at her voice but eventually responded. "Sorry, I'll try to do better."

Yomogi began to smile again and pecked her husband on the cheek. Kyo rubbed the spot as Yomogi began talking to their Otherworld friends.

It had definitely been odd for the Book Hero, these last ten years. But odd in a good way, as he was coming to decide.

He'd managed to return to his home in Luvar. Hug his second set of parents for what felt like the first time and thank them for raising him. Then, afterward, he'd gone out in force with his friends to help out the rest of their world.

It'd been hard. Natural disasters had hit his world harder than they'd hit Naofumi's due to their longer exposure to the Waves. But they'd managed somehow. And after the world merger, Kyo kept his position and served as the Book Hero and representative for Luvar as it built itself up again in the newly merged world.

As well as that…

"Kyo! Yomogi!" "Urk!"

Kyo nearly stumbled in surprise as a small body tackled him. Looking down, he found Kizuna hugging him tightly around the chest. "It's so good to see you here!"

"Haha, it's good to see you too Kizuna." Kyo started chuckling as he hugged the smaller girl back.

Kizuna eeped in delight before moving to hug Yomogi with just as much intensity. Before hugging L'Arc and Therese, saving them for last.

"I see you two are still doing well." Kyo turned around at the voice. Glass had been following behind her wife, but had paused to allow Kizuna to greet the others first.

"And I see you're still rocking that Kimono design. Not that it's bad. You look as good as ever." Kyo greeted back with a bow.

"What can I say?" Glass shrugged, a soft smile appearing on her lips. "It seems to suit me just fine, according to Kizuna."

Kyo began to chuckle again. And the spirit woman joined the small group as they shared a group discussion with one another.

L'Arc and Therese had been married and made the King and Queen of Sickle shortly after their return from Naofumi's world. With Kizuna and Glass staying as their loyal retainers/friends.

The royal couple seemed very happy with their three kids. Though they'd only been able to have them recently, as L'Arc and his wife had been busy with politics all over the world until several years ago. It seemed that they were all for having kids though, especially since Therese appeared to be with child again.

As for the rest of their kids, they were currently back at their castle, being watched over by Prime Minister Stone. Who loved being a godfather to such adorable little tykes. He'd probably love the fact that his favorite royal couple would be welcoming another heir soon enough.

As for Glass and Kizuna, they had also gotten married and had kids. Though the children had been adopted for obvious reasons.

Still, they loved them all. And those kids were here now, playing around with Glass and Kizuna's shikigami Chris nearby. And playing along with them was-

"Oi, when is Naofumi going to come over?!" Kizuna suddenly complained. "I've been wanting to see my little bro again for ages!"

"Huh- Oh. Not sure, I think I saw him talking to the other Otherworld Heroes earlier." Kyo quickly said in response as Kizuna grabbed his attention.

"Boo! Why do Hoshi, Daitan, and Akane have to grab all his attention!? I'm supposed to be Naofumi's Big Sis!" Kizuna pouted.

"Well, he never did meet them till much later on, you know." Kyo shrugged. "And besides, they became somewhat more reasonable after the Waves came to an end."

"But I'm still Naofumi's Big Sis!" Kizuna whined.

"Doesn't he consider Glass his Aunt though?" Kyo rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. "Won't that mean his aunt married his sister?"

"BIG SIS!" Kizuna screamed while stamping her heel on the ground.

Their entire group laughed, including Kyo.

Yes, he still seemed a little awkward around others every now and then. But the Book Hero looked far more relaxed than that day when he'd been freed from his contract to Godworld. And while his wife, Yomogi, had been the one who helped him most in fixing his old attitude, Kizuna was also responsible for his change of heart.

He'd finally been given the chance to become a better person. To choose a better life. And he'd not only chosen it but held onto it as tightly as he could.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

And the final reason for why he'd done so… came running up at that moment, having taken a break from playing with his other kid friends.

"Oh, what is that Kaoru?" Yomogi smiled happily as she and Kyo's only son raced up to them. He was holding a shiny glass vial in his hands, something that Kyo hadn't noticed earlier.

"It's a new flavor additive that Uncle Naofumi helped me come up with. It'll help to make ice cream even tastier than what Daddy can make!" Kaoru said happily.

"Ohhhh, I'm so proud of you!" His mother proceeded to shower her kid with lots of love and affection for his achievement, to the point that he began to whine in embarrassment over the display of humiliation he was being put through.

But while the others laughed and were awed over the adorable scene, one would have had to be blind to miss the soft smile that appeared on Kyo Ethniba's face as he witnessed the interaction between his wife and his son for himself.

After he came back with Kizuna and the others, he never would have guessed that he'd accept Yomogi's feelings for him. He'd known for a while that she loved him, and had even let her down gently at one point since he hadn't felt it appropriate to accept her love for him, given that he was actually much older than her. But he never thought he'd come to actually love her in return.

And yet, after he got back, things happened. And seeing how she'd stayed loyal to him all of that time, he couldn't deny the good influence she'd had over him any longer. They'd finally tied the knot only a couple of years after the world merger. And Kaoru had been born soon afterward.

Their relationship still wasn't a perfect one, and Kyo had many things he'd worked on with Yomogi's and the others' help over the years. But out of all the things he'd made… their son was the one thing he was the most proud of.

He'd never seen himself ever being married. Much less, having a kid. But for a former reincarnator… he'd done good.

"Huh? Where is Uncle Ethnobalt?" The boy suddenly looked around in confusion. "Is he not coming today? I want to show my new formula to him too!"

"Oh, he is here alright." Kizuna's face became cast in shadow while a diabolical smile spread out on her lower face. "But he is being a naughty rabbit and hiding! Not for long though! HYA!"

Kizuna suddenly cast her fishing rod out seemingly at random as the hook shot out towards the direction of a shady spot behind one of the columns.

"Gyaaa!"

The illusory barrier shattered and the white-robed man was forcibly dragged out of his hiding spot while clutching his floating panel. "Ah... haha, hello there Kizuna."

"Hey there Ethnobaaaalt." The Hunting Tools Hero drawled while continuing to maintain her unnerving expression. "Whatcha doing all the way back there?"

"Oh, you know." The wizard began to sweat. "Just enjoying the party and the sights."

"The sights, eh?" Kizuna's smug expression grew. "That column must be a real work of art for you to stand right behind it for so long."

"... Err..." Ethnobalt began to sweat harder.

"Uncle Ethnobalt!" Fortunately, he did not have to bury himself deeper as Kyo's son ran up to him.

"Ah! Young Kaoru, how nice to see you! Boy, you sure grew since the last time we met!" The Boat Hero immediately jumped at the lifeline granted to him, hoping to all that is holy that he would be able to dodge the sword of Damocles hanging over him in the form of Kizuna. "I heard your studies in alchemy are steadily progressing, do you want to show me your new formu-"

"Bunny!" Kaoru shouted and spread his arms out with a smile while stars shone in his eyes.

…

The lifeline that Ethnobalt was hoping for crumbled away before his eyes. He looked up at Kizuna with a disbelieving expression.

The others were holding their hands to their mouths, trying to hold back their laughter. Even Kyo was having to hold back thanks to the deliciously evil smile that was spreading across his friend's lips.

"You… you didn't…" Ethnobalt said, looking as if he'd been betrayed.

Kizuna simply spread her arms out, mirroring Kaoru beside her. "Bunny." They both demanded at the same time.

"Ahahahahaha!" "AIEEEEEEEEE!" The laughter of friends intermingled with the screams of a rabbit man, who was forced to change into his fluffy form due to peer pressure.

"Waaaa...! So fluffy!" Kaoru laughed while rubbing his cheek against the librarian rabbit's fluffy and lustrous coat.

"I know right?!" Kizuna laughed next to her godson.

"Kizuna, aren't you too old for this?" Ethnobalt could not help but sigh while struggling to keep a smile off his face. "You and Glass already have kids of your own, have some shame."

"Never!" Kizuna stuck her tongue out childishly before burying her face in the rabbit man's fluffy coat again with a grin.

The group would eventually finish catching up and move on with the party, trying their best to talk to the new King and Queen as well as meet up with other friends they'd made in both worlds.

As for how their stories would end… L'Arc and Therese would rule Sickle well through an era of unprecedented prosperity for the kingdom. Raising six kids in total, who'd continue the Berg bloodline of royalty for many generations to come.

Kizuna and Glass would stay together their whole lives. Adopting and raising four kids in total. Three girls and one boy. While they were never able to have any children of their own, they didn't seem to mind it in the slightest. And the two would be able to lean on one another through all of life's trials till the very end.

Ethnobalt would become the favorite uncle of all his friend's kids. He liked to think it was because of all his knowledge and ability with magic amongst other things… but in all honesty, it was because they just loved his bunny form that much.

Finally, as for Kyo and his wife Yomogi… The two would only have their one son, but he'd grow up to be as smart as his dad, and as kind and loving as his mom. With their family not falling apart like Kyo had experienced in his previous life.

Kaoru would grow up and help lead a breakthrough in magitech technology to make the lives of people the world over even better than before… and he'd use his new magitech technology to build a factory and become the most famed candy maker and pastry chef throughout the whole world. Surpassing even King Naofumi in skill when it came to making sweets and desserts.

Kyo, unlike his first set of parents, hadn't wanted to enforce any expectations on his son. He'd wanted his son to be happy and pursue his own life goals at his leisure without any pressure, even if they weren't as grand and impactful as the Book Hero's.

And because Kaoru did so, he'd have many friends among the kids of all the Heroes and, overall, have a far more peaceful life and upbringing compared to his Father.

It was more than what Kyo could have ever hoped for his son after the horrible things he'd almost done to his own friends.

…

And in case you were wondering, Kyo hadn't missed out on even one of Kizuna's fishing trips since the day he'd been released from his contract. He might have pissed off the Parliament in Luvar a time or two when he didn't show up for meetings, but if he were to choose between sitting in a boring %$# room all day or fishing with his best friend…

He'd choose the latter any day.

Kyo Ethniba had been truly and fully redeemed as a person and as a Hero. And he lived his life as such.

His Vassal Book had chosen its wielder wisely in the end.

---

Nelshen, the old Genmu Elder, Werner, and other leaders from their world stood talking to Corrin, some of the ministers of L'Arc's council that could make it, as well as other leaders from Kizuna's world who'd come to witness Naofumi's coronation.

"I still can't believe it! After all these years, the Shield Hero himself sits on the throne of Melromarc!" Werner exclaimed in disbelief. "Never in a thousand years could I have predicted such a thing ever happening!"

"Is it really that unbelievable?" An older man, the minister of Label, asked in curiosity.

"Let me put it simply; even after all the work Her Majesty went through to establish peace between our nations, I never expected to see such a thing in my lifetime." The old Genmu turtle smiled softly as he spoke. "The Shield Hero was absolutely hated in Melromarc over ten years ago. And now her people cheer as he takes the crown. It is simply a miracle."

Most of the other leaders from the Otherworld muttered amongst themselves. They'd gotten used to having different types of animal demi-humans around. But even after all these years, they still weren't used to seeing countries that treated Heroes like religious icons instead of political tools.

Though, they were slowly coming around to understanding why, at least.

Werner and the other leaders of Siltvelt were obviously ecstatic about this momentous occasion. The peace between their nation and Melromarc's had proven to be long-lasting, and Siltvelt had really begun to prosper thanks to the peace.

The border wall between their nations had long since been knocked down. And while there existed frameworks within their societies and economies that allowed for racism to persist, the younger generation slowly moving into power was starting to grind down these inefficient barriers in society and replacing them with better frameworks that didn't discriminate based on one's race. Within a generation or so, the bitter hatred and rivalry that'd existed between humans and demi-humans would come to an end permanently.

As for Shieldfreeden, that country was also in a similar boat. The place had really come to blossom under Nelshen's rule over the last ten years. The dragon woman had even helped Mirellia and Aultcray out with stabilizing relations between nations after the world merger. Finally, due to Shieldfreeden's open doors policy, as well as its plentiful natural resources, it'd become a successful economic hub in that part of the world. Helping to pull many people out of poverty and earning her closer ties with other leaders around the world.

This peace and prosperity had really reached deep into the hearts of their people. To the point that they'd even begun to shift to the worship of the Four Heroes Church instead of the Church of the Shield Hero. Though there were still talks about a possible Eight Heroes Church being formed or not.

Kind of hard since the other countries still viewed their Heroes as political tools instead of religious icons. But maybe in a few decades that'd change since, with the exception of Kyo and a few others that also decided to take the chance to have their soul contracts removed, all other reincarnators had been removed from their worlds, or otherwise been taken care of. The governments and organizations of their world had a better chance of adapting and changing now thanks to that.

The only other real hiccup related to the Heroes was the fact that the name Seven-Star Weapons would have to change since they'd learned that there'd been eight of these Weapons in their world all along. And now there were sixteen of these Weapons in total.

Sixteen-star Weapons just didn't have the same ring to it as Seven-Star Weapons. So they were beginning to begrudgingly give up the title in favor of the simpler and cooler term Glass's world liked to use; Vassal Weapons.

…

Just so long as it'd eventually lead to the Eight Heroes Church forming later on.

---

Anyway, while most of the leaders were talking to one another; Corrin, the leader of a country called Lapis, was pouting. "Is something the matter?" Nelshen eventually asked him.

"No." Corrin continued to pout while glaring at the gardens and architecture around him.

"Oh no. Please don't tell me you're becoming envious of another city's architecture again." Another leader, a new representative for the country of Mikikage, sighed in disbelief.

"... what?" Nelshen asked in surprise.

"I'm not envious!" Corrin responded heatedly. "I just… merely wish the golems of my city could be as effective as the boomer-yeti familiars they have here. That's all."

"... I'm not sure what to make of that," Nelshen responded dryly.

"I swear, I don't know whether to beg Kyo to make our city new golems to help us out or to strangle him for just handing over his magnum opus to Melromarc." Corrin suddenly ranted as he clenched a fist at his side.

"Please don't. I've already tried several different times to see if the Boomer-Type Yetis could move somewhere else." Aultcray walked up at that moment. "I even enlisted the Book Hero's help in trying to move them from our city. But they seem content staying here with us for some odd reason."

Yes, those boomer-type yetis from before were still around. They could be found outside the city mowing the grass with their magitech lawnmowers, which they'd been able to improve further after the merging of their worlds. Or otherwise, they could be found inside the city, helping out with the construction of new buildings. The hedging and landscaping of the streets and castle gardens. Etc.

The city's masonry guild had long since gone out of business, but after seeing the ugly parts of the city not only cleaned up but also vastly improved upon, their complaints soon fell on deaf ears. Castle Town was now viewed as the world's most precious gem instead of Lazuli by the people of the new Eight Hero world.

Even the cracked stones in the streets seemed to sparkle like precious gemstones due to the number of times the yetis had cleaned and polished them with small, content smiles on their pudgy faces.

"Sigh, whatever. I'll just have to have my engineers figure out how to improve our golems to be similar to them." Corrin eventually shrugged it off and even smiled as he came to appreciate the beauty of the courtyard around him.

It still felt unfair though. This place didn't even have gemstones! How could it be even prettier than his home?! Lapis was a beautiful country with beautiful cities, yet their beauty paled to the beauty of Melromarc's capital. Hinoka would surely agree with him if she wasn't busy raising their three daughters back at home!

"These strange creatures aside." The minister of Label spoke out before looking up at the sky. "What I personally still can't get used to is seeing airships used so casually."

The rest of the country's representatives looked up as well. The clear blue skies above were starting to become somewhat crowded as of late. The fusion of the two worlds allowed their magic systems to merge together, bringing previously unheard-of breakthroughs and developments in airship design.

Spearheaded by the Boat and Book heroes, as well as some other notable scientists from Naofumi's world, what used to be machines used exclusively for war were now commercially available for all. And they came in all shapes and sizes, from tiny floating platforms intended for moving a single person, to colossal juggernauts that would put Ethnobalt's old Invincible to shame. Those ones were used to transport a vast number of goods from all across the world.

"Hahaha! You at least had them in your old world." The genmu elder chuckled. "We never had any here before in the first place."

"Well besides those grotesque abominations used to by the former prince of Faubley... uhh... what was his name again?" The elder genmu then scratched his chin in an overly exaggerated fashion before glancing at Nelshen with a kind, knowing smile. "Ah, no matter. Such small fries are not worth remembering, right?"

Nelshen smiled back and laughed earnestly as the conversation shifted to other topics, almost all of them positive.

The dragon woman after ten years was still single, and even now she was still hesitant to try and find herself a mate, as she still felt scarred from her time as a member of Tact's harem.

But she'd hopefully meet her special someone one day, just as many of the girls who'd been brainwashed or coerced into Tact's harem had managed to do. While not all of them were well enough to reenter society yet, due to the severity of the situations Tact had put them through before they were brainwashed, they were at least showing signs of recovery.

Their wounds would heal eventually. It'd just take time. But they'd have their happy endings too. They just had to be patient and take life one step at a time.

---

Aultcray frowned as he moved next to Werner. Tuning out the others talking to one another in the group of leaders.

"Have you gotten any word from Jaralis?"

…

After a moment, the Shuzaku man frowned, then shook his head. "I tried sending him a letter about the coronation months ago. He never responded to it."

"... I see," Aultcray muttered. "Do you know if he's died, or…"

"According to the men I have stationed around the mountain mosque. He's still alive," Werner answered. "He just doesn't send letters to anyone except for Sir Naofumi these days."

"..." Aultcray's countenance fell just a little bit at the news.

So the old lion was still in a monastery somewhere deep in the mountains of Siltvelt. Dressed in sackcloth and praying and fasting for forgiveness for his many crimes. Which he'd detailed in his letters to Naofumi, Aultcray, and the other leaders as time had passed.

They were all saddened by some of the things they'd learned about the old war lion. He had done some bad things during his life.

But after all this time, they just wanted him back. To show him that he didn't need to run for his life or plead to some deity up above for forgiveness anymore.

Even Siltvelt's new King, who Jaralis had claimed to kill the Father of long ago, was willing to welcome him back. Maybe at one point, Fohl would have wanted revenge. He'd loved his Father like nothing else.

But after all this time, after reading over Werner's reports of Jaralis's condition as well as Jaralis's letters to him and the others… the half-hakuko just wanted to put it behind him. To have Jaralis return so they could move on peacefully with their lives.

That hadn't happened, as of yet. And Aultcray briefly found himself being saddened by the thought that such a thing would never happen.

"Do not worry." Werner laid a wing on the former King's shoulder. "I'm sure we'll be able to get through to him one of these days. And Naofumi hasn't given up on him yet either."

"... heh. I doubt my son would ever give up on anyone who he thinks is deserving of redemption." Aultcray chuckled to himself. "Next time you write to Jaralis, feel free to include that in your letter. I'll be sure to do that in mine as well."

"We could always just storm the monastery and take him back against his will for old times' sake." Werner joked.

"Tempting. I'd rather not drag him out, however." Aultcray stated in response. "I'd rather he saw for himself that he has been forgiven. I'll see about having Naofumi visit him himself when the country is used to him being the new ruler."

"Fair enough." Werner chuckled, and the two were able to converse peacefully after that.

Honestly, it was unknown if Jaralis would ever be able to get over everything he'd done in his past. And in all likelihood, there wasn't much hope of him ever stepping foot out of his monastery of exile ever again. His crimes had been great, and there was no way he could ever replace the lives he'd cut short with his own hands.

But despite that, Naofumi still believed in the old lion. And wrote him himself, expressing a desire to want to see him again in person.

With how stubborn his son was, Aultcray was sure the old lion would eventually crack. And, maybe then, as the new King of Melromarc, the Shield Hero could convince Jaralis to come back home soon enough.

Where he'd be able to live out the rest of his life, maybe not happily, and maybe not ever escaping the weight of his sins.

But at least he'd be able to find peace, surrounded by his people… and his friends.

---

"Hey, Raphtalia, Sadeena!"

Just as the Queen was walking up to her older sister, a familiar dog girl ran up to her best friend and tackled her in a jarring hug.

"K-Keel?" Raphtalia said in surprise.

The girl's hakuko husband came racing up behind. Trailed behind by his blind sister.

"K-Keel! What the heck!? You're royalty now! You can't just run away during important conversations, especially since I don't want to lose my sister in a large crowd like this-" Fohl started to whine to his wife.

Pow!

The hakuko male collapsed to the ground in pain.

"In case you forgot, I can see around me with life force just fine now." Atla pouted at her older brother while folding her arms across her small chest. "I didn't go through all of Granny's harsh training for nothing."

"O… Ow…" Fohl moaned in pain on the ground.

Raphtalia giggled as her best friend smiled happily to herself.

Change had also come to the group of three, as the conversation had already indicated. Atla was the least changed of the group, due to her genetic disease having stunted her growth. She was barely taller than she'd been before and still looked like a child in most aspects, but at least she could bear herself with confidence despite being blind.

It turned out she'd had an innate ability for Hengen Muso, just like her older brother. Granny had helped train her to use it to better sense her surroundings. She didn't even walk into trees or other objects anymore and could eat without anyone helping her.

Though, if she ever tried to so much as peel an apple, she'd get nothing but ineffectual Clanging! as a result. So she still had to rely on others for some things.

As for Fohl, he'd really grown a lot in the last ten years. Now towering as a tall hakuko, he was dressed in royal robes signifying his status as Siltvelt's new King. Raphtalia wasn't entirely sure of the details of how that happened, outside of the fact that Fohl and Atla were the apparent grandchildren of the former king.

It might have helped that Fohl had been chosen by the Vassal Gauntlets in the last ten years. So he was a Hero just like her.

Keel showed the most change of all of them, having grown up quite a lot since her teenage years. Her assets had really grown out, finally giving her body a womanly appearance. Her smile and face had also become more feminine.

Though, she still kept her hair short, since her hero husband had a thing for tomboys.

"I don't. I just like short hair is all." Fohl complained to himself as if he could tell the narrator was mocking him again right now.

"Want to tell me again why it took almost ten years for you to give in to your feelings? Brother?" Atla pestered him teasingly.

"Just drop it already, won't you!?" Fohl yelled back at her angrily.

Keel giggled again. Yes, it'd taken almost ten years, but the stubborn tiger boy had finally given in and went back to Lurolona on a visit last year, asking Raphtalia's tomboy friend to be his Queen.

Keel had accepted, obviously, as she'd waited all that time for him to come and confess to her. The fact that he'd spent all that time wondering if she even returned his feelings or not still made him embarrassed to this day.

Raphtalia's happiness shot through the roof with her friend's sudden intrusion. Before she could even think about what to talk to Keel about though…

"Ara Ara. Looks like we're having fun over here."

The familiar voice immediately grabbed Raphtalia's attention. She quickly turned, her eyes shining with delight.

"Big Sis Sadeena!" "Big Sis Sadeena!" Both she and Keel nearly tackled the tall orca woman at the same time.

"Oh dear, do be careful, Big Sis is in a delicate state, you know." Sadeena winked at them mischievously.

"Eh?" Keel tilted her head confusedly.

Raphtalia studied Sadeena more closely though. And eventually, her eyes widened as she finally noticed the bulge Sadeena was sporting in her belly. "You're pregnant again!?"

Sadeena giggled happily to herself. Nearby, her husband could be seen distracting their six-month-old daughter. A happily screaming baby girl with hair as dark as her mother's, and eyes as light as her father's. The baby also had a tiny little green gemstone embedded in the back of her tiny right hand.

You see, sometime after the world merger, Sadeena hooked up with a guy named Cole after attending a conference of nations. He was a Gem Person and one of King Corrin's royal advisors. He had a fair skin complexion, short-styled brown hair accentuated with green tips, black-rimmed glasses over his green eyes, and an emerald gemstone shaped like a teardrop embedded in the back of his right hand. He was currently wearing a refined grey-black suit over a dark green turtleneck sweater, something which had been tailor-made by the Jewel Hero Akane.

Anyway, while they'd met before at previous conferences, they hadn't really had much chance to talk to one another. However, after that particular conference, Sadeena ended up meeting him in a bar. And had felt playful enough to challenge him to a drinking contest.

To her surprise, after dozens of mugs of beer, he almost managed to outdrink her. Only passing out before her on the second to last drink.

He'd seemed saddened by the loss, but Sadeena had nonetheless been impressed. And eventually, one thing led to another, and the two were now married, with one daughter together and another one on the way.

While they chatted for a little while, the original group of three seemed to sense that Sadeena had been Raphtalia's original objective. Barely a minute passed before the group of three continued on toward Aultcray and Mirellia.

Raphtalia shook her head after they left. "Honestly, Sadeena, I still can't believe that you used that drinking standard of yours to find yourself a husband."

"Well, lil' one." Sadeena started in a teasing manner. "Because of that 'standard', I now have myself a husband who is Kind, Loyal, Scholarly.

"Humble, Altruistic, Caring, Compassionate, Dedicated, Dignified, and above all, Hardworking." Sadeena smiled softly towards the end, rubbing her pregnant belly as she did so. "It might have not been the best means to go about it. But I found someone I could be happy with. That's what's important to me."

Raphtalia sighed again. "At least promise me that you're not drinking while you're pregnant."

Sadeena began to laugh. "Of course not! I might love my booze as much as the next person, but I'm smart enough not to put my own kids in any danger."

Raphtalia sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"If anything, I'm more worried about you." Sadeena suddenly said, her face becoming unusually serious. "You're going to have a lot of stress as Queen. Are you sure you'll be able to handle that alongside becoming a Mother? I know from all our talks how much you want kids. But that might be hard to do when you have an entire nation of people depending on you."

"Hmmm…" Raphtalia thought to herself for a moment.

Looking over at her family again, she saw that Naofumi had joined them. He was laughing at something Atla had said, while Fohl was pouting once more. Aultcray and Mirellia were observing them though with loving and tender smiles on their faces.

"I mean, I know it's going to be hard. But I'm ready to face it." Raphtalia nodded her head to herself, before smiling at her big sis. "And if I ever struggle, I have plenty of people I can ask for help! Like you!"

Sadeena briefly looked surprised at her response and then started to laugh. "I don't think you'd want lil' ol' me helping you out… but give me a call and I'll come over anytime."

"Yay! And then our kids can play with each other while we go out to have some fun!" Raphtalia said cheerfully.

The two continued to laugh and smile together. Hugging more than a few times before Raphtalia was inevitably pulled elsewhere to another part of the party due to her status as Queen.

"Ah… how you've grown, my sweet little Raphtalia." Sadeena sniffled softly to herself as her tall and proud younger sister moved away. "Your parents would be so proud of you…"

…

Sadeena had often felt tempted to reveal to Raphtalia her true heritage. About why she'd been able to fit into the role of a princess and now Queen so naturally. But after all this time, she'd decided to just avoid it, believing it was for the best.

After all, for some reason, Q'Ten Lo had never come to bother them. Despite Raphtalia not only becoming royalty for another country but having extremely close ties to the Shield Hero.

Sadeena had looked into her former country herself at one point to figure out why Q'Ten Lo hadn't sent assassins after the young girl to kill her, though she'd only looked into it after receiving a surprise visit from her younger sister (who'd gotten lost while trying to explore the world, like usual).

Apparently, over ten years ago, Q'Ten Lo experienced a massive Civil War, which had resulted in the death of Makina, the woman who'd driven Raphtalia's parents and Sadeena out of the country in the first place. And the country had been at peace ever since, though it still maintained its isolationist policy for the most part.

While Shildeena hadn't known what sparked the conflict in the first place (or, more likely, she couldn't remember what'd started it), Sadeena had two theories. Either the Shadows that'd been assigned to track Raphtalia had a change of heart after witnessing her interactions with the Kid Shield Hero. Or their reports had caused the military, Shildeena included, to turn against Makina and the rest of her regime.

Either way, all Sadeena knew for sure was that the country had fallen into Civil War. The evil woman who'd been responsible for a lot of trouble and heartache in her country was dead. And Raphtalia's cousin Ruftmilia now sat on the throne. Having been guided by Shildeena and those who'd survived ever since. Raphtalia would never be in danger ever again.

Still, she did sometimes wonder if Raphtalia would ever like to see the place her parents had come from or not…

Sadeena turned, finding Cole standing behind her. "Googah!" Their six-month-old daughter reached out to her mama, looking absolutely adorable as she did so. After her husband approached, his hand began to instinctively rub her pregnant belly. "Everything good, my love?"

…

It took a few seconds for Sadeena to compose herself. But when she did, she gave her husband a soft smile. "Yes, dear. Everything is perfect." She then proceeded to kiss him, while their daughter sucked on her hand below their heads.

It was unknown if Sadeena ever would tell Raphtalia about her hidden background or not. But regardless, the orca woman lived a very happy life with her husband. With them raising five daughters together in their home in Lurolona Village.

They'd spend time between Lurolona and Lapis, growing up to see both their parent's home countries. But the children would be raised with love and affection from both their kind and caring parents. They'd get to know their cousins and friends very well.

And as for Sadeena herself, she'd never find herself having to touch the booze that comforted her from the loss of Raphtalia's parents ever again. Having finally found peace with her lot in life, and feeling a sense of love and comfort whenever the two who'd taken her in as their daughter came to mind.

…

She only touched the booze now whenever she and her husband wanted to get frisky in bed.

Yep. Some things would never change. And for the orca woman that'd lost everything before in her life, that was more than enough for her.

---

"Huph! Finally!"

Naofumi quickly took his chance to sit down after meeting with so many different people. WOW, there were a lot of people here! So many to catch up with, and it felt like others had to do the catching up for him!

Meta much? Shield-Chan sassily commented.

"Oh, bite me, Shield-Chan. You'd be exhausted too if you were the one doing this." Naofumi rolled his eyes at his Shield.

Oh well, at least he'd had a chance to talk to Atla there. As well as Fohl and Keel and his mom and dad and several others.

He'd seen most of his family by now, with the exception of Malty. Though he was pretty sure that she wasn't here.

Yeah, his cool older sis had somehow become even more cool over the years. She ended up saving his and Raphtalia's lives several times from would-be assassins. Eventually becoming prominent enough after the world merger that a prince from Kizuna's world had asked for her hand in marriage.

Her husband was here, chatting with Corrin and the other Otherworld leaders. But Malty herself was back at home, taking care of her kids and pets as any good mother would. Naofumi at least hoped that she was doing well. It'd been a while since she'd last visited the castle.

---

'WHY!? WHY DO ALL MY SCHEMES KEEP ENDING WITH ME BEING THE ONE ALMOST GETTING KILLED?!' Malty screamed insanely in her mind while her body lovingly nursed the daughter she was carrying.

Visually, she was like a completely different person. Her two oldest were playing on the floor in front of her, while she went from feeding her youngest to burping her on her shoulder. She was perfectly at home as a mother, and all three of her kids hadn't shown any psychopathic tendencies like their mom's in the slightest.

It seemed they'd inherited her husband's warm and cheerful personality instead. Which would probably be for the best. One Malty was bad enough as it was.

'STOP MAKING FUN OF ME! I WILL BECOME THE QUEEN OF MELROMARC YET!' Malty internally screamed again.

Not that she'd only turned out to be a good mom, mind you. She'd also ended up starting a nonprofit organization that helped out homeless people in her country. Bringing homelessness and unemployment where she was at an all-time low compared to the rest of the world.

'I ONLY WANTED TO HOUSE MY FUTURE ASSASSINS SOMEWHERE WHERE I COULD KEEP AN EYE ON THEM! I DIDN'T THINK IT'D MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY!' Malty internally screeched again.

She'd also tried to poison her city's water supply but ended up inadvertently revealing how outdated the city's pipe infrastructure had been, saving the city from a flood in the process. Her actions had also shown how government funds for subsidies were being embezzled by government officials, exposing a major fraud ring in the city that was subsequently taken care of.

And to top it off, while the poison she unleashed did cause a few mild cases of diarrhea, the chemical compound turned out to be highly effective in destroying a deadly disease that'd been infesting the water supply for years.

On a smaller note, it also enriched the water, making it a great source of Vitamin C.

'NO! STOP IT! I REFUSE TO BECOME A GOOD PERSON! I WILL MAIM AND KILL MY WAY TO THE TOP YET!'

"My Lady, is everything-" A woman servant walked up behind Malty.

"Leave me alone!" Malty shoved the woman hard with her free hand, causing her to collapse back against the ground.

The woman seemed very surprised. But then, she felt her shoulder in shock. "Oh my goodness! My lady, you just fixed my aching shoulder!" The maid started to sob in gratitude.

'GOD DAMN IT! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Malty didn't even notice as her daughter spat on her shoulder.

Yes, she was still resisting the Shield's brainwashing to this day… and had long gone insane because of it.

---

Naofumi smiled.

Man, he couldn't wait to see his oldest sister again.

…

Though, he found it strange that one really important family member hadn't shown up yet, and-

"Hey, Naofumi!"

Naofumi sighed in both relief and annoyance as someone very important finally came bolting through one of the courtyard entrances towards him. "Is there a reason why you're late to join us, Jun?"

Naofumi's younger brother from his original world smiled mischievously after he stopped in front of the King. He was breathing in and out heavily, and the Vassal Mirror could be clearly seen on his arm. "Hey, someone's got to keep an eye out on the cooks in the castle's kitchen, lest they ruin the feast. And since you were obviously not available..."

Naofumi sighed, but then Jun gripped him in a big hug, and he just couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed by his younger brother's antics any longer as he embraced him back.

To explain, after the world merger, Naofumi's shield rewarded him with a wish he could use since he'd helped save the world. He'd had the option of going back to his old world and bringing one person along with him, or staying in this world.

He still recalled how, early on, he'd missed his home and family. Raphtalia had certainly helped him through his feelings back then.

But after all that time, Melromarc had felt like… well, home. And even if he'd been able to bring Raphtalia with him, he hadn't wanted to abandon everyone else.

Ren, Moto, and Itsuki had also gotten the same deal from their weapons. But all three of them hadn't even hesitated when they chose to stay with their spouses and families here in this world.

So instead of going home, he wished for one person, his younger bro, to be transported to this world instead. And his kid brother was thus summoned via the Vassal Mirror.

He probably could have at least asked for his mom to come over too. Though she would have faced many challenges with the language barrier and everything. Not to mention, he already had the best mom and dad in the world!

And even though Momellia had given birth to the twins by then, Naofumi had still been missing a younger brother figure in his family. So Jun was perfect!

...

Though, after Jun's summoning, he did learn that his old boring parents were doing just fine without him around anyway.

---

"Honey, why don't the kids ever call?" Naofumi's mother asked in a bored tone.

"I don't know." Naofumi's dad shrugged.

Naofumi's parents weren't even aware that their kids had departed to another world. In their minds, they'd gotten so sick of Naofumi's childish antics that they sent him abroad to a private school where he'd hopefully mellow out. Then, around a year later, they made the decision to do the same for Jun as well, in case he turned out like Naofumi. Even though there'd been no indication of it.

They had grown that fed up with Naofumi's antics and had been positive he'd grow up to be nothing but a leech to society. They'd been determined to make sure the same thing never happened to their second son.

Now, years later, Naofumi and Jun had supposedly graduated and moved abroad, exceeding their parent's expectations as they got married, settled down, and got decent jobs to raise their new families. At least, from what the two parents had heard.

The two wondered from time to time why their kids never visited or, even more importantly, sent them any money since they'd gotten good jobs and were required to take care of their parents in their old age.

Perhaps that could have happened, had they learned to be better parents when their kids were younger.

---

Yeah, Naofumi, now that he was older, realized he and his brother had definitely dodged a bullet with his original parents. Even as strict as Mirellia was, at least she had cared about him as a son and not just as a political tool.

Oh well, their parents probably wouldn't have enjoyed the isekai lifestyle anyway.

Jun eventually eeped and excused himself, likely because he saw his crush and wanted to get out of her line of sight. And Naofumi was left alone in his spot again, sighing once more as he was given the chance to simply watch what was going on around him.

…

Nearby, he saw his and Raphtalia's new Knight Commander, Eclair Seaetto, hitting it off with the new Captain of Fohl's royal guards over an arm wrestling match.

Naofumi was pretty sure the Hakuko's name was Dou-Lon and that he was Fohl's cousin. He'd met him once back when that group of therianthropes met him inside the city. And had finally met him again sometime after the world merger.

He seemed pretty quiet both times when Naofumi met him, almost like he didn't know how to act around the Shield Kid. But eventually, he did open up to Naofumi and the Staff King, turning out to be a pretty cool tiger man.

Naofumi wondered if he might be the one to finally get Eclair interested in something besides sparring matches. Though they seemed to do nothing but spar whenever they met.

"Ack!" Dou-Lon found himself on his back, Eclair's blade hovering over his throat.

"Looks like I win again, Bakako," Eclair said with an evil smile on her face.

"I'll beat you eventually, you crazy swordswoman!" Dou-Lon howled furiously as he got back up and took a ready stance. "En garde!"

The Knight Commander laughed as the next match began in earnest.

…

Yep, both of them were definitely crazy. Meaning they were absolutely perfect for each other.

Don't worry Dou-Lon, Naofumi believes in you!

I know you're really summarizing a lot here. But are you ever going to mention what happened to Godworld? Shield-Chan asked on his HUD.

"And here I was thinking you didn't like me being meta," Naofumi smirked at his Plush Bracelet Shield.

I-I don't! I just think might be the most interesting detail you haven't covered yet! Does anyone even know who Dou-Lon is here?!

…

Right. He really should have done a better job of taking notice of the tiger man sooner. For all he knew, he'd been standing guard at Siltvelt's palace after that one Wave and he never even noticed him!

The tiger man's fun antics really could have added a lot to the story.

Anyway. Godworld?

Right, of course, let's see…

---

As you probably could have guessed, a Civil War did break out on the homeworld of the antagonists. Sun Mask and those few loyal to him on the Board of Directors desperately tried to quench it, but...

It did not turn out well for the leader of Godworld, as he was deposed and killed in a very brutal manner along with all of those who'd been loyal to him that hadn't changed sides. Godworld's monopolistic entertainment company then went through a massive reform during which Moon Mask, Star Mask, and those remaining on the Board of Directors that hadn't been laid off, or otherwise, removed by their shareholders; finally pulled the reins in and directed their efforts to provide what the people were demanding.

Wholesome, adorable content of Kidfumi and of themselves going out and helping other worlds.

Yes, Moon Mask and Star Mask, as well as at least half of the board ended up having a change of heart after Kidfumi's last speech to them. And they were part of the reason why Sun Mask had been overthrown so quickly. His former colleagues ended up turning on him in the end, and they embraced for themselves the wholesomeness Kidfumi brought to the people of their world.

All of Godworld's Conquests around the multiverse had stopped for good. The armies of reincarnators they'd 'hired' had been released from their contracts… with the more violent ones being destroyed to prevent further tragedies on other worlds.

Now, Godworld helped out worlds with trading with one another. They inserted people to help worlds with advancing their economies, sciences, and the like within the bounds of their magic systems. And whenever two worlds expressed a desire to merge together to make trade and the like easier, Godworld used their power to summon the Waves between those two worlds to merge both worlds together.

They made sure that, while that was happening, they had people on the ground to help diffuse the earthquakes and famines, and other natural disasters that resulted from this at the start. Keeping ecological losses and casualties down to a minimum.

They still filmed these projects and streamed them for the people of Godworld to enjoy too. And while it wasn't as exciting or flashy as before, the people of Godworld ate up the vanilla content since it was, by far, leagues better than what they'd been viewing before. The change of venue had the members of Godworld pouring out their hearts and souls like never before!

It didn't just result in a change of heart for the immortals, but led to a cultural and emotional renaissance for the people of their world! Using their untold power and wealth to help others instead of keeping them down and destroying them! This would continue for a long time, hopefully forever if Naofumi had his way.

If not, and if Godworld somehow returned to its roots of going out to conquer other worlds again, well… at least those other worlds would be strong enough to repel them in the future. Heh, they really would be shooting their future selves in the foot with this.

Overall, things had turned out far better even for Godworld. And though their representatives weren't currently at the coronation right now since they were busy helping multiple different worlds to fuse at that moment in time, Naofumi still loved it whenever Star Mask visited to let him play around on his tablet. And whenever Moon Mask stopped by to share knowledge and stories with Raphtalia.

Said knowledge might have helped them to develop airships that ran on gem power, instead of the fossil fuels that one idiot had used for his designs before.

Man, what an idiot. What was his name again?

---

Anyway, that was what happened to Godworld in the last ten years.

Huh.

"Something wrong, Shield-Chan?" Naofumi asked his weapon curiously.

I mean, for some reason, it just feels strange for my thousand-year nemesis' to just… I don't know, fold? That easily.

Are you sure that they'll actually stay goodie-goodie for that long? They could just be waiting for you to die before they go back to conquering the multiverse like before.

Naofumi shrugged. He didn't know. After everything he'd gone through, however, he'd found it better to be an optimist than a pessimist. Just like his dad.

Yeah, it's official. You've totally gone against the route you would have gone had I summoned you as an adult.

"And what would you know about that?" Naofumi asked with a smirk.

I know for a fact that if I listened to the readers and had your canon counterpart react to this version of you that he'd go and bang his head on a pillar until the brain damage kicked in and he forgot ever seeing you.

"I wasn't that bad." Naofumi scowled at his Shield.

Could have fooled me.

"Naofumi."

The Shield Hero was pulled out of his conversation with his shield, looking up at his Queen, who stood in front of him with her arms crossed and a pout on her face.

"What?" Naofumi asked.

"You've been sitting there for the last ten minutes. Don't you realize that it's almost time for us to have our first dance together?" She asked.

…

"Oh… OH! Sorry, I was just lost in thought there, Raphtalia!" Naofumi quickly apologized.

Sure, lost in thought. That's what we'll call these schizophrenic conversations between the two of us.

Raphtalia began to giggle as he frowned down at his Shield again. "Is your Shield making fun of you again?"

"Always." Naofumi drawled.

Hmph.

Naofumi stuck his tongue out at his weapon, causing Raphtalia to giggle even more.

"Do you need a moment to prepare yourself?" Raphtalia asked curiously.

"You say that as if I'll be entirely too nervous for this." Naofumi pouted back.

"Dear, everyone will be watching us dance." Raphtalia batted her eyelashes at him. "They'll get to see your two left feet for themselves."

"..." Naofumi opened and closed his mouth. He was speechless for a moment as he remembered, right, everyone would be standing off to the sides, allowing the Queen and King room to have their first dance.

And while he might have done well in most of Momellia's other lessons, dancing hadn't worked out for him very well. Outside of the nice, peaceful slow dance at least.

"You could use illusion magic to make it look cool, right?" He asked.

Raphtalia giggled. "Are you that scared of doing something besides a slow dance in front of everyone?" She teased him.

"Yeah." He admitted. "And besides, I can't help it. I'd rather hold you close while everyone else is watching us do something else?"

…

After everything they'd been through together, Raphtalia still went breathless at his confession. And then, her cheeks began to brighten from embarrassment. Seeing it, Naofumi began to smile as he patted her on the head. "Sorry, was that too much to ask?"

"No!... No," Raphtalia said shakily. "Honestly, it's… it's perfect." She said, her eyes shining with tears as she looked up into his eyes.

Right, she'd probably been nervous about it too. They weren't anywhere near the level of Moto and Amber, Ren and Wyndia, or even Itsuki and Rishia when it came to dancing.

Naofumi's smile grew just a little bigger. "Think you could pull off an illusion like that then, my love?"

"Darling…" Raphtalia sniffled again and then smiled widely. "I can make fifty copies of myself fighting an enemy simultaneously. I think I could pull off having us do one of Moto and Amber's dance numbers just fine."

"Of course." Naofumi's smile turned into a smirk. "Just make sure to cut out the moments when they share a kiss while dancing. I'll be doing that to you plenty while everyone's focused on the illusion."

"Naofumi!" Raphtalia began blushing heavily again in embarrassment.

Naofumi laughed as he grabbed her hand and kissed her on the cheek.

---

The royal couple walked out into an open square in the middle of the courtyard.

The band was hushed, and the people all turned their heads at the sudden silence.

Naofumi turned to face his wife, who also turned to face him. She opened her mouth slightly, ready to chant an illusion spell to hide in. But then, Naofumi held out one of his hands.

Raphtalia, caught off guard, looked at Naofumi in surprise. Silently asking if he was sure. Naofumi simply nodded with a smile in response, however, and took her by the hand as his other hand rested above her waist.

He might have still been a little bit of a prankster. But he had become more diligent over the years. And he was ready to man up as a real king and do this dance himself.

Naofumi then looked over at the band and nodded to Itsuki. The Bow Hero nodded back and began leading the band in a slow, soft melody.

Naofumi brought his wife close and moved slowly with her. In what looked like a simple waltz pattern, akin to Cinderella's dance with Prince Charming.

Nothing particularly fancy or complicated, mind you. But still something intimate and loving they could share by themselves. Without fear of anyone watching them.

…

This went on for about a minute. Raphtalia found herself smiling in happiness at the moment they were sharing. Naofumi was staring at her with such love and devotion. She almost thought they'd get through their first official dance together without any troubles whatsoever.

And then, as the song took on a high note, Naofumi began to smirk. But before she could read his mind, he pulled back from her, both his hands grabbing onto hers.

As if revealing some hidden signal, Itsuki and the band immediately shifted the song to something more fast-paced. As well as that, people in the crowd began to clap their hands together and join in on the high-energy beat.

Moto and Amber appeared on the stage beside Itsuki. Holding gem-powered microphones up to their lips as they went hard on the vocals together.

Raphtalia found herself almost in a state of shock as Naofumi began leading her around on the dance floor. The waltz from before was now forgotten as he settled into a form of free-form dance.

"N-Naofumi-!" Raphtalia tried to protest, but Naofumi was laughing like a dope as he grabbed his wife and began to lead her through the improvised routine.

"Ahahahaha! Way to go kid! I knew you could do it!" Uncle Bald Guy yelled proudly from the side. Naofumi knew all those hours practicing in secret with the bald blacksmith had been worth it! Not even Raphtalia had been ready for this transformation!

Aultcray and Mirellia were also laughing in delight. Young love was truly amazing!

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi summoned the barrier at waist length, dancing onto it with his wife. "Second Shield!" He then brought them onto the second barrier, putting them higher above the crowd. "Dritte Shield! And last but not least! Float Shield!"

With that, he and his wife were now spinning in the air atop a large moving platform at least twenty feet off the ground while flying around the cheering crowd. Dancing for the enjoyment of those down below.

"What are you waiting for?!" Moto yelled to the crowd. "Join in the fun!"

And with the Spear Hero's words, the ring of space that'd been available for the King and Queen broke. Everyone participated in the dance as Itsuki's band moved to the chorus.

Moto and Amber stood on the Air Strike Shield platform, continuing their duet while Rishia and Itsuki appeared on the Second Shield platform. Itsuki continued to juggle playing multiple instruments at once while Rishia accompanied him with a violin as they played in harmony with each other.

"Ahahahaha!" Wyndia and Ren laughed happily together on the Dritte Shield platform. The two were launching dragon vein spells into the sky nonstop with deafening booms while dancing, creating countless colorful fireworks that awed everyone.

"Ohoho! Now this is what I call a party!" Granny, who'd been brought back along with Itsuki's kids so the couple could keep an eye on them, began shifting through different flashy poses, each one more extravagant and exaggerated than the last. This awed the kids at how an old woman could look so spry while moving around.

Keel laughed as she dragged Fohl onto the dance floor. Causing him to eep in embarrassment as, after all his time spent working to improve his fighting form, he was shown to have two left feet when it came to dancing.

"Nice one, brother." Atla teased from nearby where she was dancing with one of the members of Siltvelt's nobility.

"Aieeeee!" Fohl continued to scream while being put through his worst nightmare.

Uncle Bald Guy continued to laugh as he danced opposite a red-haired, buff-looking blacksmith. She was definitely hot, and he did find himself smiling the more time he spent around her.

Sadeena clapped along with her husband while S'yne danced alongside an older girl that looked like her.

Kyo and Yomogi also danced alongside Kizuna and Glass, while L'Arc and Therese clapped along happily for them. The two couldn't join in since A. Therese was pregnant and B. and more importantly, L'Arc couldn't dance worth ^&%$.

"I'm not that bad!" L'Arc yelled at the sky.

It was almost as bad as his accessory crafting. Like, seriously, it's one thing to blow up an accessory. But how do you accidentally blow up the stage you were trying to dance on?

"Reeeeeee!"

While Therese tried to calm her husband down from his random bout of indignant anger, Aultcray and Mirellia simply smiled as they looked into each other's eyes.

And then, to the glory of their youngest kids, they began dancing with one another in an old style many would have considered cringe.

"My eyes!" Melty cried out as she covered them, not wanting to be traumatized by her parents again.

"So cool!" Unfortunately, Amber's kids as well as her little brother and sister found the sight awe-inspiring. And a couple of them even began trying to mimic their grandparents.

"No! NOOOOO!" Melty screamed in horror.

Nearby, where Dou-Lon and Eclair were still sparring with one another as a form of dance, Maya, Itsuki's raccoon friend, danced happily with her husband. Aksel, though embarrassed, was able to at least give his wife a small smile as they moved together. It honestly hadn't taken long to break the man down and accept his feelings thanks to Granny's training, and their four kids were clapping happily to encourage their parents from the side.

Tersia, who'd stood hesitantly on the fringes of the party, watching everything unfold, smiled softly as her husband Welt grabbed her by the hand, leading her onto the dance floor. While it'd taken them years to tie the knot, their friendship, which sprouted the day after their one-night stand, eventually grew to something more. Leading them to have a far healthier relationship today as well as a genuine love not motivated by lust or fear.

The two's young sons continued playing with Kizuna's shikigami as they danced with one another.

…

Yep, you knew it was coming.

"Wheeeeee!" Farrie cheered as she and her husband, Bakta, swing danced with one another. The man was, fortunately, no longer traumatized.

It would take pages to describe the herculean effort and intervention from others to help these two move into an actual good relationship over the last ten years. Especially after Farrie had her first son by Bakta nine months after that night in Cal Mira. But we don't have time to cover all of that, and this ending is stretching long enough as it is.

I'll just say that it involved a lot of relationship counseling and Farrie having to share genuine heart to hearts with her husband which allowed them to be honest and learn about one another. This culminated with Farrie realizing how much she'd hurt her husband with her behavior, as well as Bakta learning that she acted the way she did out of fear of losing him (understandable, considering the Waves had been a world-ending threat back then), though Farrie eventually learned how she should have just been honest with her feelings for the party tank and taken things slow to avoid all that trouble from the start.

Oh well, it appeared they'd both decided to put what happened in the past. And they were able to enjoy the dance alongside everyone else, with their now three kids watching from the sidelines.

Raphtalia found herself getting breathless as the song continued growing in intensity. But throughout it all, Naofumi's eyes never left hers, and they shone with such intensity that she felt like her whole self was being laid bare before him.

And as Moto and Amber's duet reached a crescendo together with the band, Ren and Wyndia raised their hands up toward the sky once more. And this time, so did their oldest children, as well as Gaelion.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

With the power of Earth Vein, fireworks launched from the power family, blowing up spectacularly in the sky in blazes of color. Illuminating the gem-powered airships flying up above to record the spectacular event.

And even higher above, beyond the blue skies where the great vast expanse of space housing countless other worlds began, a pair of godlings wearing star and moon masks were hard at work arranging the stars into a pair of new constellations. The outlines of a shield and a katana were soon made manifest, though they would only be seen by the people below later, once night began. One last surprise gift for those two whose actions had saved everyone.

It was, overall, one of the best dance numbers of all time. Crazy as it was.

---

Sometime later, things had calmed down somewhat.

Itsuki had returned to his spot on the band, leading it through another slow song.

Naofumi and Raphtalia could be seen in the middle of all the dancing couples. Doing a slow waltz together with one another.

However, this time, it was actually an illusion.

Naofumi watched the two illusions slowly dancing with one another while he held Raphtalia close to his chest. "I'm sorry, was that stunt a little too much?" He asked her softly.

"Hold me for at least another five minutes, and then I'll answer that question." His wife's head stayed buried in his shoulder. Her cheeks blushed a bright red in embarrassment.

Naofumi chuckled. "Heh, fair enough."

The two continued moving in place for a while. Avoiding the couples around them while being able to share a private moment with one another.

Looking down, even though she'd claimed to be embarrassed, Raphtalia looked so happy at that moment, so at peace. Was it even taking her any effort to fool the eyes of everyone there?

…

Well, not everyone. Looking behind her, Naofumi could see Aultcray staring directly at the two of them. But as soon as he caught his eyes, Aultcray simply smiled and held his wife's hand next to him. Whatever spell he was using to see through the illusion, he must have used it on Mirellia too since she was also watching them instead of the illusion too.

And yet, the Queen was smiling proudly as well. Unbeknownst to Naofumi, Aultcray had done the same for himself and his Queen at their wedding feast long ago, after their first dance together.

Watching the two of them was like looking back at their young selves…

Naofumi began to blush but continued to hold his wife lovingly. He didn't bother to tell her that their parents could see them, as he was getting lost in the smell of her hair and everything about her.

Time slowly passed. An eternity that Naofumi never wanted to end…

"I apologize in advance for the interruption, your majesties."

Naofumi's head looked up again, almost making him pause in his movements.

A hooded figure stood in front of him and Raphtalia. Naofumi's eyes widened in surprise, and he was about to shout something when the figure's hands slowly went up to her hood and pulled it back.

The face revealed was absolutely stunning. And Naofumi's scream of alarm died before it could even leave his lips.

The woman looked familiar to him. He could swear that he had seen her before. But… where?

The beautiful woman smiled at the Shield Hero. As she approached, Raphtalia's ears twitched and she turned her head around to look at the stranger too.

"I'm sorry, who… who are you again?" Naofumi asked, looking lost and confused. "I'm certain that I remember you from somewhere, but..."

"Wait, those clothes. You are... from the Spirit Tortoise country." Raphtalia's widened in realization.

The woman nodded and stopped before Raphtalia with a smile.

"You are correct your majesty. Your husband saved my life ten years ago." The woman bowed her head deeply. "Do not worry if you do not remember me. I am not going to take much of your time. I just wanted to show my gratitude to you two personally."

"Oh, it was no trouble, really." Naofumi smiled back. "Please, raise your head. And do enjoy the party. Today is a day to celebrate."

"Indeed." Ost straightened up, a warm genuine smile still held on her features. "Thank you very much again. May your reign be long and prosperous, your majesties. And I hope my sons will continue to be of use to you."

"Huh? Sons?" Naofumi blinked in confusion but before he could ask the woman to elaborate further, or even ask what her name was, she was already gone, having disappeared into the crowd of partygoers.

"... … …" Both rulers remained silent at the sudden end of the mystery exchange. They didn't even realize that the song their illusions were dancing to had stopped.

The two of them eventually shrugged and took the spots of their illusory doppelgangers, melting back into reality as Raphtalia pulled away from Naofumi as if finishing some grand waltz with her husband.

"Was that someone from the Tortoise country's nobility, you think?" Naofumi finally asked.

"She was dressed like one but..." Raphtalia scrunched her face in thought cutely. "I'm certain that I know all of them by heart already. But I'm also sure that I've seen her somewhere before. Her eyes looked familiar to me."

"Yea, same here." Naofumi nodded before shrugging again. "Oh well. Even if she is someone who snuck into the party uninvited, it's fine. Everyone's welcome to attend and she looked like a nice person."

Raphtalia smiled with a nod of agreement and hugged her husband again.

…

Naofumi looked over to Aultcray and Mirellia again. But the two were still smiling, holding onto each other's hands as they began making their way to the dance floor.

Odd, even though that woman had appeared directly in front of them, even the Staff Hero didn't seem to realize a mystery guest had made her appearance.

…

"Naofumi?" Raphtalia looked up at the Shield Hero again.

"Sorry, I was just thinking." Naofumi turned to her again. "We really have changed so many people's lives. So many that we can't even recall their names."

"She didn't seem to be offended by it at least." Raphtalia giggled. "Come on, stop thinking so hard already. I want to dance again."

"Of course." Naofumi smiled, and the two began their slow intimate dance together once again.

The Shield Hero had witnessed a lot of weird things since coming to this world. He'd definitely done a lot of weird things too.

But right now, he was just more than happy being in this moment with Raphtalia, as they danced together to a song playing just for them.

---

"So, did he recognize you?"

Ost Horai stopped by the snack table. Four unknown individuals were standing by it, invisible to the crowd around them. Turning her head, the Spirit Tortoise woman took them in.

Two of the four were redheads, a guy, and a girl. They could have easily been mistaken for twins, though the truly strange thing was the phoenix-like wings growing out from their backs.

The other two individuals were definitely twins and could have passed as hakuko easily, if not for the two horns growing out the sides of their heads. One of them was smirking at Ost, having been the one that'd spoken.

Like Ost, they'd also started their mortal lives recently. And while they weren't confident enough to show themselves in front of everyone else just yet, they were there to enjoy the party the Shield Hero and Katana Hero had thrown for everyone.

Ost smiled at them. "No, he did not recognize me."

"Hmmm, that's probably for the best." The other hakuko twin spoke while running his hand over his goatee. "After all, the world no longer requires our grim services.

"So I think it'd be best for everyone that we blend into society and live the rest of our lives humbly and quietly, without anyone learning about our true origins." He finished wisely.

"Ugh, that sounds boring." The female twin for the Phoenixes ruffled her wings before pointing at Ost. "Can I at least blow up one mountain for old time's sake? Hell, I'd even settle for a hill! I'm sure it'd grow back after enough time and nobody would remember that it happened after a couple of centuries!"

"Sister, please, I'm nervous enough about bringing you here as it is." Her twin brother sweatdropped heavily as he quietly pled for his sister to rein herself in.

Ost smiled as the brother tried to talk down his sister. She gave the two hakuko twins a handshake, which they returned with a smile. "Say hi to your husband for me." One of them said.

"Of course. I'll see you all again later." Ost told them. "I'm looking forward to board game night with everyone next week. I hope the Black Tortoise brings those tasty thin fried potato strips with her again. She always brings the best stuff when its her turn to be in charge of snacks."

"Come on Ashe, pretty please!" The girl Phoenix familiar pleaded to her brother with tears in her eyes. "I just want a bit of the action like everyone else! It isn't fair!"

"Char, don't make me take you home." Her brother, Ashe, pleaded again.

One second, Ost had been standing before the group of four Guardian Beast familiars, smiling and laughing at the Phoenix's behavior.

The next, she was breathing a sigh of relief as she entered her body again.

It always took a lot of energy to project her soul over a long distance, but she found it was more than worth it this time around. Today had turned out to be a good day.

"Everything ok?" A voice behind her asked.

Ost turned around, seeing a man named Tadano Hitoshi standing behind her.

"Of course. I just had to make a quick trip is all." Ost smiled.

Tadano tilted his head to the side. "Weren't you standing there for the last ten minutes?"

Ost simply walked up to her husband and kissed him on the lips. His question was soon forgotten as he kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same for him.

You see, after the events of the Spirit Tortoise, Ost not only found that her life had been spared, but that the Guardian Beasts would never have to awaken to gather souls again. She and the others had been freed from their duties to do whatever they wanted because of this.

So the first thing Ost ended up doing was making sure the affairs of the Spirit Tortoise country were in order and that the King wouldn't be led astray.

The second thing she did was find Keichii's old dojo in the mountains. Restoring it to its former condition before making it her home.

She'd planned on living there by herself, going down into the valleys below to help out the people wherever she could… until she met Tadano, that is.

Judging by his name, Ost guessed that he was a descendant of Keichii or another one of the Heroes. When they met, Ost would have never guessed that they'd fall in love. Or that they'd get married to each other.

Years later, however, Ost was extremely happy that it'd happened.

…

Ost had no idea if she was mortal now if she'd be able to grow old and die alongside Tadano. Their efforts hadn't produced a child yet either, which probably meant she wasn't entirely human just yet.

Yet with how much of life Ost had gotten to experience in the last few centuries, she was happy to have the experience of falling in love. As well as having someone who loved her for her. And the two would keep on trying for a child, no matter how long it took.

As the kiss ended, Ost rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

"I love you," She whispered softly.

"I love you too," He whispered back.

She'd make sure to tell him so every day for the rest of their lives, regardless of what happened next.

For the woman whose only purpose was to be hated and scorned by the world… she couldn't have been any happier being loved and held by someone else.

---

Overall, things were far better in the land.

Peace had been established.

The technology of the two worlds had been integrated and progressed rapidly.

Naofumi's world and Kizuna's world had been merged together successfully.

And even Godworld had surprised them with their change of heart.

Things were going to continue progressing like before. Naofumi and Raphtalia would go on to become the parents of eight kids, with their seventh planned child turning out to be twins. While raising their large family, they'd also rule Melromarc justly and fairly all their lives. The two new constellations in the night sky would forever serve as a reminder of the legacy that their lives would leave behind.

King Naofumi sometimes stirred up a little chaos here and there with his kids, having never quite fully grown out of his playful antics from when he was younger. But people would look up to him as much as they did Raphtalia. And their bloodline would continue to bless Melromarc's royalty and nobility for many generations to come.

Life would be good for the young royal couple. Just as it should be.

…

Now with that out of the way, it was time to introduce the reason why Naofumi and his children would be able to get away with their playful antics in the first place!

"Rafu!" An ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE AND CUDDLY creature that looked a lot like a much smaller version of Raphtalia's therianthrope transformation form jumped up onto Naofumi's shoulders. Making her presence known to everyone at long last.

YES! THIS IS WHAT WE'D BEEN WAITING FOR! THIS IS WHAT THIS ENTIRE STORY HAD BEEN BUILDING UP TOWARDS! IT WAS ABSOLUTE PERFECTION! A 10/10 APPEARANCE THAT EVEN HAD THE AUTHOR IN TEARS!

Raphtalia immediately pouted at the shikigami's appearance. "Seriously?! I thought you promised that you'd leave us alone for today!"

"Rafu! Rafu!" Raph-Chan responded happily. "And miss seeing my best friend's coronation and wedding day?! FAT CHANCE!"

Raphtalia couldn't understand what the shikigami had said, but Naofumi was smirking widely. "I knew Raph-Chan couldn't keep herself away from me for long." One of his hands moved to rubbing Raph-Chan below her chin.

"RAFU!" Raph-Chan began accepting the pets happily. "Yes! The Shield Hero is giving me pets too! This IS the best day ever!"

Raphtalia continued to pout. She still couldn't believe after all this time that Naofumi had gone behind her back and asked Kizuna's rabbit friend to make a shikigami for them!

Raph-Chan wasn't even that cute! The Queen was far cuter than this adorable ball of fur could ever hope to be!

HA! FAT CHANCE RAPHTALIA! RAPH-CHAN FOR LIFE NERDZ! Shield-Chan couldn't have voiced her agreement with her wielder louder than she had in that moment.

"Rafu?" Raph-Chan tilted her head to the side curiously while staring at Naofumi's Shield.

"Come on Raphtalia! You're making Raph-Chan sad!" Naofumi began pouting at her.

"Don't you dare start going into your crazy Raph-Chan obsession mode right now!" Raphtalia threatened him.

Naofumi grinned widely. He couldn't help that he'd found a more permanent solution to being able to cuddle with Raphtalia's furry animal form all the time.

Especially since every bed S'yne had tried making for him over the years inevitably found itself in Bruno's dog house outside the Spear Hero's mansion for some reason.

Raph-Chan continued to coo happily as Naofumi pet her on the head, while Raphtalia grit her teeth in frustration.

But eventually, she grinned as her tail slipped out from under her dress, and before Naofumi could realize what was happening, his other hand was floofing up her tail.

Naofumi's eyes immediately glossed over. "Floooooooof."

Raphtalia giggled as Raph-Chan pouted on Naofumi's shoulder. She'd truly brainwashed her husband well.

With a final pat on the head that Raphtalia gave the familiar herself, she set the shikigami back on the ground so she and Naofumi could continue dancing with one another.

Awkward as it was, with Naofumi's hand still floofing her tail. It also made heat spring to her cheeks for reasons she'd come to understand very well.

Oh well, nobody would mind if they slipped out to consummate their marriage, right?

Was now a good time to note that the pair's first daughter would be born around nine months after their coronation ceremony?

…

Raph-Chan stayed standing in her spot, a soft smile on her face now as she watched her best friend leading the Shield Hero away from the party in secret towards their room in the castle. Since her friend had forgotten to do so, Raph-Chan quickly set up a powerful illusion spell, making it appear that the King and Queen were still dancing among the partygoers.

"There, that should buy you and the Shield Hero plenty of time, Raphtalia." Raph-Chan, or rather, Rifana, thought to herself.

You see, the little weasal girl might have died because of the actions of Idol Rabier. But for reasons pertaining to her race as well as ancient weasal demihuman blood residing in her veins and whatever else that she'd listed in Diligence, the soul of Raphtalia's best friend had managed to persist for years after her death. Eventually joining herself with Naofumi and Raphtalia's shikigami when Kizuna's friend Ethnobalt used a magic ritual from his world to create Raph-Chan.

Because of that, she was now known as Raph-Chan. And the narrator of Naofumi's many crazy and bizarre adventures.

Because yes, even with all the good that'd come about because of the Shield Spirit summoning a child Naofumi to be its wielder, it could have never been the best timeline ever had Raph-Chan never come into existence. And in fact, her exclusion would have automatically made this the worst timeline ever!

Probably a little bit biased, but most likely not.

And as the spirit of Rifana watched the illusion of her best friend dancing in the arms of the Shield Hero, ignoring how said duo was now off to perform the last act of non-PG activities off-scene, the weasel girl smiled.

This truly was, in her humble opinion, the best timeline ever.

…

"Ooh, treats!" Raph-Chan then proceeded to race off to the snack table as she spotted something sweet being set down.

And thus our Heroes and their friends and family all lived, happily ever after with their eternal spouses and families.

---

The End

…

…

…

OR IS IT?!

---

Hero Clips! (Yep, you knew this was coming)

---

BY THE POWER OF CRACK

---

"Ahahaha! Yes, finally! My time to shine has arrived!"

A young man with reddish hair dressed in a ridiculous-looking chef's outfit rubbed his hands together, finding he was alone in the kitchen at last!

It was about time that stupid idiot with the Mirror left! Now he could finally put his grand plan into motion! To use his magical crack cocaine generating cheat ability on the various dishes of the feast to enslave everyone!

You see, his name was Seya, and he was a reincarnator that'd lived in Kizuna's world before the merger. He might have lost his immortality like everyone else, but he still had his cheat abilities since Godworld forgot about him due to how irrelevant he was in the grand scheme of things!

Hell, not even Kizuna's purges, intended to eliminate her world's malicious reincarnators, reached him due to how useless and nonthreatening he was! It was an insult to his ego! He could totally be threatening, and he was going to prove it right now!

Seeing his chance, Seya began to climb a nearby step ladder that was set next to a comically large honey roast. It was absolutely perfect! His super addictive drug would blend in with the spices perfectly, and everyone would have a chance to eat it!

Ahahahaha! It was absolutely perfect! Nothing could stop him now! Nothing could-

As he stepped onto the top step of the ladder, eager to finally enact his plan of revenge (at least, it was revenge in his mind), an inconspicuous pebble suddenly appeared below his left foot.

"Huh?" Seya, confused, found himself falling backward after tripping on said pebble.

He ended up falling right into a conveniently placed and open garbage chute.

"Yaaaaaaa-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!" A weird, goofy-sounding scream came from Seya as he fell and tumbled down the length of the garbage chute. With his pained screams echoing off the walls back up to the top.

Moments later, after a very long fall, he finally hit the bottom of the disposal hole miles below. And it took another moment for him to dig himself out of the pile of trash he'd landed in.

"W-What the &^%$!?" He yelled angrily. "How did that even happen?! Did I trip on thin air or something?!"

"First time?" A new voice made the former reincarnator turn his head, only to find another former reincarnator sitting amongst the dump of trash as well. Kazuki, AKA, Trash.

Yes, that might have been his title in Diligence, but Kazuki translated means scum, so in all honesty, Trash was a major improvement on his real name.

Also, don't ask how he ended up down here. Leave that mystery to your imagination.

"Whoa! Talking garbage! Never would have expected me to find that down here!" Seya insulted his former reincarnator compatriot.

"Hmph, big talk for someone in smiting distance." Fireballs appeared around Trash, who like his compatriot, had also been so unimportant in the grand scheme of things that Godworld forgot to take away his cheat abilities too.

"Bitch please, at least Aneko thought of a name for me." Seya said snidely as mounds of crack cocaine filled his hands. "It took the anime for you to finally get a name. And it wasn't even a good one!"

"Wait, do you mean my name or the anime?" Trash's eyes briefly narrowed in confusion.

"Yes." The cook responded smugly.

The two continued to bicker before eventually starting to fight with each other. Soon after that the top of the trash chute was finally closed, and a former rogue swordsman disguised as a cook dusted his hands off before his signature pebble reappeared in his hands.

"And that's the last one." Karn said to himself.

His head then turned to face the camera, a smirk coming across his features. "By the way, for those folks at home confused about who I am or what my deal is, you better go read "Diligence of the Shield Hero" by Allen Blaster. Coming back from its Hiatus soon!"

Karn then gave the camera a cheeky wink, before carting the comically large, untainted, and delicious honey roast out to the party for everyone to enjoy.

Everyone was able to enjoy it, and Karn lived on to find his happy ending, just like everyone else.

And that was the story of how everyone truly got to live happily ever after… besides the trash reincarnators who lived at the bottom of the trash chute for the rest of their lives.

But then again, since the only thing that'd be dumped down it was castle food, they were probably going to be just fine dining on the scraps of kings and queens for as long as they lived. Ultimately giving them a better end than what they deserved.

The End (For real this time!)

---

Author's Notes:

Below is just a list of some of the things me and my old pal RLT noted that I thought would be funny to include. You all will be able to get a look into our thought processes from years ago, some of which made the cut. Think of it as "Behind the Scenes" content if you will.

(Let's have Raphtalia kinda be the star of any meeting when it comes to Melty. One princess to another, or something like that)

The royal bedroom doesn't have soundproof walls

Traumatized Melty and Meanie

Amber having her outfit. Looking beautiful in front of everyone. Motoyasu gets an extreme nosebleed. (Also omake right here: QUICK, HE'S GONNA DIE! Moto: I LOVE ANGEL GIRLS!) EXTREME NOSEBLEED NOT STOPPING THANKS TO AMBER TRYING TO DO STUFF LIKE MOUTH TO MOUTH TO SAVE HIM)

And during the date, Moto and Amber end up meeting Fitoria

Motoyasu gets the blessing

But he mistakes it for a blessing to marry Amber

"I could never be mistaken about true love! I've never felt this way about anyone before, so it must be true!"

And Fitoria is just like -.- okay

While simultaneously being jealous of Amber's chest size

Ren just wants to beat his head against a log

Fortunately, he is finally being allowed to be his socially awkward self

Since it's only Wyndia with him

Like they sneak off and Melty is the unfortunate victim who has to follow them around

Meanwhile the Shadows are laughing their asses off

So this is a good time for Raphtalia to develop a bit as a character. Kidfumi helped her recover from her trauma, and now she's using him as a role model

Which...isn't always a good idea

The funniest part is explaining to Melty that Aultcray already declared Raphtalia and Kidfumi the next King and Queen

So now Melty is like "Well wtf do I do now"

"How do I act like a normal person"

So the two kids go off to teach Melty how to be a kid

Dadcray praises KidFumi more for his efforts

Meanie runs off screaming in anger and frustration at the little brat having all the attention

Basically we have her accidentally go through a redemption arc

Like she absolutely tries everything she can to screw things over, but in some twisted way she manages to make the situation easier for Kidfumi and the others to handle and she gets praised for it

Changes from Dadcray awakening to Staff again:

So I thought some more about changes that would come from Dadcray waking up and putting more of a hands on approach to the kingdom.

The nobles who supported demi-humans would be brought back to the limelight

The nobles who supported demi-humans would be brought back to the limelight

As he'd find out they were pushed to the outer reaches of the kingdom by the other nobles

He'd also find out by looking through the Church's stuff (abandoned literally overnight) that Lord Seaetto was assassinated during the Wave and not killed by monsters

And that the Church was responsible for the destruction of Seaetto

And he'd publish the Church's crimes throughout the kingdom as validation for moving to the Four Heroes Church, and would have a bounty placed on Balamus and his followers.

After the dragon incident, Aultcray would have the corrupt individuals in the guild ousted

Publishing the Church's crimes would also cause merchants and nobles to choose to support Melromarc instead of leave

Because if they kept any ties to that piece of crap

They could be arrested and tried for treason at worst. Merchants could lose all their customers and go bankrupt at best.

And the people would not like them

Since the people loved Lord Seaetto when he was put in charge while Mirellia was away

not much would be cuter than Naofumi discovering Raphtalia's love for headpats.

Myne would probably have a harder time trying to do away with kidfumi as everyone is highly protective of him

I could see Kidfumi abusing his authority as a Cardinal Hero while Elhart would help him learn the importance of being a Cardinal Hero Of course, it'll likely go to Naofumi's head, but with a little guidance (and maybe a punch on the head or two from Elhart) Naofumi could become a somewhat decent child hero who saves the world.

KidRaph gets comfortable with him and starts to be cutely assertive. places Naofumi's hand atop her head

Do you think Kidfumi would try to touch her tail.

100%

"You're thinking about headpatting me, aren't you, Naofumi." Naofumi denies it vehemently

melty comes home

sees raphtalia & kidfumi and trash taking care of naofumi at that moment

such as teaching him a bit of magic

and how to play chess

melty can't tell if her father has grown sillier or brighter

specially because he is essentially acting all fatherly to naofumi at the same time in political speak

"he is mentoring the shield hero"

"dis my fren, Reptar (points to Tyrant Dragon Rex, idly wagging its tail in the corner of the courtyard) an dis my fren Draco (Gaelion lifts a claw in greeting) and dis my fren Fitory."

"Fitoria."

"Fitato."

No wonder it (Spirit Toirtoise) got up being so cranky

It's had to sleep for centuries without a decent pillow

Inb4 Spirit Toirtoise becomes KidFumi's latest pet

(Essentially using Pillow Shield to help the Spirit Toirtoise go back to sleep)

Ost survives because of Kidfumi

OH MAN

When we get to Kyo, Kidfumi is gonna roast the hell out of him

"Why do you have two pairs of boots? Are you going fishing?"

Kidfumi: "Books are laaaaaaame."

So, in including all of this, part of it is because a lot of it has been at the end of this doc for a very long time. Like, almost since the start of me and RLT writing this fic, so almost three years. This was included with these two snippets from reviews from readers that, somehow, never did end up in omakes of the end product.

A new suggestion for an omake (if that is what they are called) could be Gaelion stalking Wyndia and Ren in order to see how their relationship progresses. Sometimes he adjusts the atmosphere or removes disturbances so his daughter can easier get a powerful mate. Somehow neither Ren or Wyndia noticed the gigantic dragon following them but several people in the area notices the large lizard hiding in the most ridiculous ways like attaching leaves to his face to look like a bush or just trying to hide his massive frame behind a tree. You can also have Ren's party noticing him but ultimately decides to help their leader get a girlfriend.

And so we now have Naofumi's true life-goal for this FF; to make the (LR) Pillow Shield99 of Unparalleled Softness.

Actually, that second one did end up included. I just don't think I ever specified how that became Naofumi's life-goal in an omake, lol.

Anyway, if you've still stuck around to the end of these Author's Notes and are looking to see if I have any deep, thoughtful words to end on… I'm sorry, you won't find any such thing here, kek.

"Shield Kid's Bizarre Adventure" was a blast to write. While I was able to stick to canon and its rules for the most part, I particularly enjoyed bucking the plot off like a wild bull due to, you know, actually sticking to how the setting worked and breaking the power scale early on in a way that made sense. I also enjoyed making surprising yet welcome additions to the cast like Shield-Chan and Bruno (we won't discuss how crack it was to include them, I loved them either way).

I'm so happy I was able to finish this wonderful fic for the Shield Hero fandom. RLT, if you ever read this, I thank you for all the help and love you gave to this fandom and to this fic's first twenty chapters. I couldn't have gotten that far while working on Hope/Diligence without your help and input, and I pray that life is treating you well.

To Norin, thank you for helping me finish Kidfumi. I will look forward to finishing Diligence, and then writing Virtue with your help, as far as real life allows it (oops, is it okay for me to spoil the next grand arc title now? I don't think all of my main fic readers read Kidfumi, kek).

To you wonderful readers, this was certainly difficult to write at times. But you guys made it worth it. Thank you again for your thoughts and comments and going along with all the references I made along the way. Sorry for these later chapters getting longer and longer, but it was just too fun to stop writing at times.

It'd take more word space to include absolutely everyone who's reviewed, followed, and favorited over the years than what I have the time and the patience to write down, but regardless, thank you. All of you.

I hope and pray that life will treat you well, and if it doesn't, I pray that it will get better for you. Regardless of where you are.

Oh, and don't worry, Diligence is next (spoilers)! Yay! Finally, the long hiatus shall end! (And hopefully the chapters won't be nearly as long as these last few were, seriously, 25k words?!)

Till Next Time

Allen