Published: March 21, 2026
Audience—this is the last one!
"…Huh."
The demon king's words—that the first-generation hero's father was named Oda Tsukasa—hit me like a solid blow to the head. A meaningless sound escaped my mouth; the hero and Kyousuke inhaled sharply.
Oda Tsukasa—it's the same name as my father. If it were just the same name, I could accept it as a coincidence. It's a common unisex name, and the surname Oda isn't as rare as Sato. But to have the exact same name and the father's name match too—what kind of probability is that?
I even recognized the handwriting the first hero had noticed. Ever since I was a kid, because my mother was often ill, my father wrote all the names on the forms and items I needed for elementary school. I still have the handwritten nameplate my father made hanging in my room. Just by looking at the handwriting, one could probably tell if it was his.
My father disappeared one day. I had assumed he’d simply grown fed up—tired of nursing a sick wife, raising two kids, and the endless work to support the family—and left. I thought he was living somewhere far away, having forgotten about us.
And it's been seven years in our world since he vanished.
"This is the proof. It's the original, but Mahiro has translated all the contents, so you don't need that. Take it as a keepsake."
I reflexively caught what was tossed carelessly to me: a leather-covered planner from seven years ago. Opening near the middle, I saw neat, familiar handwriting—meticulous notes of work schedules and children's school events. Then the entries suddenly stopped, and the remaining pages were filled with unreal words like "magical power" and "another world."
Feeling the rough texture, I closed it and checked the back cover. Stamped in gold letters was "TSUKASA ODA." I remember my mother giving this to my father and how he cherished it. I admired the dense, beautiful handwriting and always thought it looked cool.
The first hero must have realized. He knew my father had been in that world. And that he was already dead.
"The father you thought missing in your world was actually abducted by a god of another world and died without realizing where he was. The first-generation hero—already over level 100 in profession and possessing some special skill—learned this, fell into confusion and despair, and his magical power went berserk. The intense magical power present there, the skills and artifact fragments scattered around, the fact he himself was skilled at manipulating magical power—all those factors combined, causing him to evolve as a living being. Even a level-100 hero couldn't just wipe out half a continent in an instant as a normal human. What he evolved into, I still don't know. But I speculate that at that moment he thought, 'If only this world didn't exist.' I believe that feeling influenced the disappearance of the northern part of the Demon Clan territory."
If only this world didn't exist—would my father have stayed, never disappeared? Would I have needed to spend so much time at part-time jobs? Would my mother have never lost her partner and grieved, and would my sister never have come to hate the irresponsible father who fled a sick wife and two kids?
Maybe one thinks that. If only this world didn't exist. Yes, the first-generation hero is me. I lack the memories, and even if I were the hero, it doesn't fit with who I am now. Still—I am that person.
A shadow stirred at my feet.
"During the hero's rampage, the Demon King's castle and the Demon King himself—naturally—were obliterated, and the northern half vanished. The land sank beneath the sea, yet somehow that planner, unscathed despite having been at the center, a few shared research materials, and two swords the first hero reportedly forged and used were later recovered. Those are the black and white blades you possess. If you'd properly examined those swords with your eyes, you would have known much of this by the time Saran gave you the blades. Tools are meant to be used, Akira-kun."