It Became a Time-Stop Slit-Eye

123 – Side Story. Epilogue (2)

Let’s briefly go back two years to revisit the situation: the incident at Shingu was resolved, but the atmosphere at Karakura High School had turned for the worst.

It wasn’t chaos due to a meteorite falling on the school.

It was simply that one person went missing, causing cracks in everyone’s hearts.

Sawamura Sento pondered and stayed away from school for a while, Kenichi drifted off during classes as usual, not thinking about the boy manga he saw yesterday but contemplating how to become stronger.

Ichinose Hotaru, sitting right behind them, felt melancholic when her two closest friends disappeared, while Tachibana Sawako, forming a pair with Sento, initially grieved over Shiki’s disappearance and ended up not coming to school.

Two delinquents were suddenly produced.

“…Damn it.”

With the class president and her best friend missing, the vice president Eris Betelgeuse also felt troubled.

Damn Ichimaru for disappearing; it wasn’t just them feeling sad, why was everyone leaving the school in chaos.

The blonde little wizard spent a year murmuring without confiding in anyone and finally finished the year.

As the new year arrived, the delinquents seemed to have calmed down and slowly returned to school, and Eris’s sorrow lessened a bit.

Looking back, the connection with the doomed Ichimaru Shiki hadn’t even lasted a year, so the aftermath wouldn’t be prolonged.

“Ah.”

Certainly expected, yet life this year was no different from the last, leaving the school oddly empty.

Eris Betelgeuse absentmindedly blinked and gazed at herself in the mirror.

The girl with golden hair reflecting on the glass surface was somehow crying.

One part of her heart felt empty.

“Eris, when are you coming to England? No matter how much you like Tokyo, visit home at least once.”

During her first year of high school, she was determined to stay in Japan-Tokyo, but after moving up to the second year, the reason became unclear.

She did not find the school’s learning and enjoyment significant enough to endure being far from her beloved family.

Why was that so?

About a year after Ichimaru Shiki disappeared, Eris visited the memorial tablet erected at the Shei Mansion and sought advice.

Asking a deceased person with a ruined personality would only bring back mocking responses.

Eris Betelgeuse just kept questioning endlessly in her mind.

What should I do?

The person who could give a clear answer had vanished. The guide who gave her the medicine to heal her parents and showed her how to become stronger had left her behind.

As she entered her third year, the confused star lost her way and still couldn’t find a reason to stay in Japan.

Running straight to England right after finishing the final high school exam was also for that reason.

The man who gave her a reason to stay was no longer there.

Eris Betelgeuse headed to England, the root of magic and her homeland.

“Eris!”

Her healthy family welcomed her, and Eris closed her eyes and embraced their warm embrace.

It was clearly a sight she had dreamed of.

Their warmth was comforting, and happiness filled her, yet a part of her heart still felt empty.

“Miss Betelgeuse! You’re truly excellent!”

To forget such doubts, in the magical school’s tasks and research she started as a distraction, she received praise almost every day.

Although she was only nineteen, the achievements she had made in Japan set her apart from her peers, so it was natural.

Receiving praise day after day to the point where it seemed intentional to boost her self-esteem, she eventually received a proposal.

The wizard of the stars, Eris, blinked in bewilderment for a long time.

“…You want me to become a professor?”

“Well, Miss Betelgeuse, you are more than qualified. Your skills do not fall short of the professors, and your background, being from a distinguished family of the stellar school, is impressive.”

“No, what is this about…?”

Being so direct about her family background and origin, Eris, who had lived in Japan for a while, was taken aback.

Should I be so blunt, or should I say it’s rude? Apart from Ichimaru Shiki, someone so direct was quite rare in Japan.

“Why am I still thinking about that person at a time like this?”

Furrowing her brow, Eris pressed her golden hair and replied.

“If that’s the reason for your proposal, I won’t accept it.”

“Oh, don’t misunderstand. Your school and family are just endorsements, but ultimately, I’m offering you the professorship because of your skills.”

The department head with a split goatee and a somewhat stuffy demeanor winked with one eye.

“After going home and thinking it over, my offer will still be valid. Thank you for helping with school affairs for a few months. Have a good Christmas holiday.”

Eris Betelgeuse blinked her eyes in bewilderment and replied.

“Yes.”

***

At first, she thought her pride would be hurt by not accepting, but upon careful consideration, it was a rather good offer.

After all, if she wanted to work as a wizard, she had to conduct research, and being a professor at a magic school meant receiving research funding and even a separate salary.

It was easy to recruit graduate students to help with my research as a pastime.

Moreover, if I were to accept the professorship now, it would confirm me as the youngest to take office.

If I were to take on the position of a professor someday, now would be the time when my value is highest in many ways.

Except for the unpleasant look on the department head’s face and the fact that the students at the magic school don’t listen, it was indeed a good proposal.

Anyway, even if I didn’t accept this proposal, there wasn’t a better alternative.

Yes, it truly was a good proposal…

“Why am I not drawn to it!”

Eris Betelgeuse, who suddenly wriggled on the bed, stopped and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Why am I hesitating?

I won’t be assisting my school of thought, and I applied to a magic school that has nothing to do with me, so why am I hesitating to be tied down somewhere now?

To go back somewhere when the opportunity arises?

‘Where on earth?’

Japan? What am I going there for?

Other than visiting someone once a month, there was no reason to go to a place like that.

Although I didn’t lack close acquaintances elsewhere, there was no need to go to Japan, a country where I didn’t even have a job, without a good reason.

Just on the verge of high school graduation, Eris suddenly realized.

I, I’m not particularly fond of Japan.

In my childhood, I simply went there because it was my mother’s hometown, and afterwards, I stayed there because of my parents’ work.

I enrolled in high school to find out the reasons since it was the place where they faced tragedy.

Why did I stay in Japan, and once both parents regained their health, there was no reason to stay.

The reason to go there had disappeared.

Except for paying homage to Ichimaru Shiki, there was no reason to board a plane.

Is it because of being friends during a good high school period that I keep visiting out of affection?

No, even if that were the case, is it worth taking a 12-hour flight every month?

…Just being friends, isn’t it too inefficient, a ‘foolish’ act?

It was indeed foolish to be so entangled with the dead in the eyes of a rational magician.

In fact, I knew it from the beginning. I knew it was a lingering behavior since staying in Japan.

Continuing to be entangled with the dead in the pursuit of truth was not a good thing.

Could I give enlightenment and affection to the dead who had closed their mouths long ago?

No matter how much I sought, there was no merit.

So, even though I knew it was foolish, was my two-year stay in Tokyo to mourn the deceased?

To uphold that etiquette?

Was it just to pay homage to the deceased Ichimaru Shiki so that he could live happily?

“…That’s not it.”

I just went because my heart was moved.

It wasn’t a matter of selfish gain; it was something that put her heart at ease.

Even if I couldn’t answer my question, standing in front of the spirit tablet seemed to fill a void in my heart.

I had been searching for a long time.

Ah, Eris, who lay sprawled on the bed absentmindedly, suddenly wiped her eyes and got up.

Hmm-hmm-

The cell phone was acting up unexpectedly.

The people who would call me were already predetermined to be family and colleagues.

With a puzzled expression, the blonde monk Eris absentmindedly checked her cell phone.

[Ichimaru Shiki]

“Huh?”

It was eerie to receive a call from someone who was supposed to be dead, sending chills down her spine, but Eris, after a moment of shock with her mouth hanging open, answered the call.

“…Have you been well all this time?”

A voice so familiar it was almost unbelievable reached her ears.

One side of her empty heart trembled, unable to be filled, and a sudden reason to head somewhere emerged.

Disregarding all her thoughts until just now, Eris tightly closed her eyes and murmured the man’s name.

Damn it,

Ichimaru Shiki.