Chapter 49 49: Afterword: Letter from Fraxinus 3

The exact moment the spacequake was about to drop, Mikoto raised her hand. As if answering the young girl's call, the shrine doors within Tsukuyomi opened, and a glowing mirror flew out, landing squarely in her hand.

Mikoto held the divine mirror, aiming its reflective surface straight at Kurumi. Kurumi, instantly on high alert, raised her dual guns in response. The two stared each other down, bracing for the exact moment the spacequake would detonate.

However...

The air buzzed and vibrated violently, but that was it. The anticipated destruction never came.

"What exactly did you do?"

Kurumi glared at Mikoto. The spacequake that should have erupted vanished without a trace. The only logical explanation was that Mikoto had done something with that mirror.

"I should be asking you that. Don't tell me you failed to summon the spacequake?"

Holding the mirror, Mikoto looked equally confused. The spacequake she was bracing for just refused to happen. The only logical explanation was that Kurumi simply failed to summon it.

Just as both of them assumed it was the other's fault, a voice echoed from above them.

"Oh my, didn't you know? A spacequake can be canceled out by colliding it with another spacequake of equal magnitude."

Everyone looked up and saw a fiery red sky. It was a scenery far more dazzling than a normal sunset. Hovering in the sky was a young girl wearing a kimono-like Astral Dress, its sleeves fluttering like actual flames. Horns grew from her head, instantly reminding anyone who saw her of an Oni from a fairytale.

A Spirit. Anyone could instantly recognize what she was. But to everyone except Kurumi, this girl had a name they were far more familiar with—Itsuka Kotori, Shido's little sister.

"Ko... tori..."

Shido stared at the girl in the sky and muttered in utter disbelief.

"Mikoto... I leave my idiot Onii-chan in your hands. Right now, Shido can die very easily."

"...I understand."

Mikoto nodded. She had vaguely suspected that Kotori might be a Spirit. Back when they were conquering Yoshino, Kotori had mentioned that Shido's regenerative powers were the effect of Spirit energy. But it wasn't Tohka's Spirit energy, and it wasn't Mikoto's.

When you think about it, why was a middle schooler like Kotori the Commander of Ratatoskr? And how did Ratatoskr know that Shido could seal Spirit energy? If Kotori was a Spirit, the answer was obvious—Shido had sealed Kotori's powers in the past, and that might have been how this all started.

But right now, none of that mattered. Kotori had taken back her Spirit energy and explicitly told her to protect Shido. That meant the current Shido no longer had his superhuman regenerative powers.

"Burn them to ashes, Camael!"

The flames morphed into a massively oversized battleaxe. Having manifested her Angel, Kotori looked down at Kurumi and declared:

"Now then—let our date (war) begin!"

— This is a dividing line —

— This is the dividing line marking the end of the main story chapter —

— This is the dividing line where we break character and enter the Afterword —

"CUT—!!!"

Following a voice coming from who knows where, the girls withdrew their Angels and stood together happily in a harmonious atmosphere.(TL:I...didn't...really....expected this afterword...to go like this..."

Shido: "Good work, everyone. Here are some drinks."

Mikoto: "Oh my, Shido is so considerate."

Tohka: "Umu... Delicious! This is what they mean by drinks tasting better after hard work, right, Shido!"

Shido: "Well... that's more or less the idea."

Kotori: "Alright! It's time for our regular end-of-volume 'Letter from Fraxinus' segment!"

Kurumi: "Oh my. I don't really mind, but is it really okay to stuff the main story and the afterword into the same chapter?"(TL:It's not that crazy but got me good for a bit)

Kotori: "It can't be helped. We had less than a thousand words of the main story left, and this volume's afterword is less than two thousand words, so we just squished them together."

Mikoto: "Ahaha, the author is really obsessed with hitting that word count, aren't they."

Tohka: "Umu! Anyway, up next is this volume's keyword!"

— TRIPLE-DATING SCUM!!! —

Shido: "Pfft!!!"

Tohka: "Why did Shido suddenly spit blood!? Is he okay? Should we get Reine to look at him?"

Kotori: "It's fine, Tohka. That's just a grudge attack from the readers."

Mikoto: "Mhm, when you get down to it, it really was Shido's fault. A triple date..."

Kotori: "Yeah, yeah. If the people he was dating weren't Spirits, a harem protagonist like Shido would totally deserve a punishment like Tohno Shiki or Emiya Shirou. A legal harem? A creature lower than a paramecium like Shido doesn't deserve one."(TL:Chinese really like Typemoon stuff huh?)

Shido: "So mean! And didn't you just randomly drag some weird characters into this!?"

Kotori: "It's decided! The theme for this keyword is: 'If it wasn't a legal harem, what kind of punishment should Shido face?' Let's start with Tohka!"

Tohka: "Punishment... Umu! Decided! Then Shido's punishment is that he's not allowed to eat kinako bread for a month!"

Kotori: "That's... a very Tohka punishment. But that's way too light for Shido..."

Tohka: "Then... how about one strike from Halvanhelev?"

Shido: "I'll die! Even with my healing powers, I'll definitely die!"

Kotori: "Alright, Tohka's punishment is locked in! Next up is Mikoto!"

Mikoto: "Eh? M-Me? Then... how about making his breakfast, lunch, and dinner entirely out of ultra spicy food for the next month?"

Shido: "I'll break! My tongue and my stomach will completely break!"

Mikoto: "Fufufu, if you give me a 'Shiori-chan Date Ticket' with unlimited uses, I might forgive you."(TL: a certain someone will need it)

Shido: "That's even worse!"

Kurumi: "Ara ara~ Tohka-san and Yakumo-san are far too kind."

Kotori: "So, what is your punishment, Kurumi?"

Kurumi: "Make Shido-san dress up as Shiori in a cat eared maid outfit, crawl on all fours while I walk him on a leash down the entire shopping district, and then eat him in a dark alley."

Shido: "That's horrible!!! And eating me isn't even a punishment, that's just your ultimate goal!!!"

Kurumi: "Fufufu, you shouldn't take things too seriously, Shido-san."

Kotori: "Alright, with those three punishments out of the way, let's look at the next keyword!"

— Didn't understand the 'Time of Madness' chapter —

Mikoto: "Sorry, that's entirely because I transmigrated into a 'New Game+' timeline."

Kotori: "Well, if you've only watched the anime, haven't read up to Volume 11 of the light novels, or haven't touched the Date A Live franchise at all, it's completely normal to be confused."

Mikoto: "Anyway, even if you don't understand it, that's perfectly fine. Just treat it as a lingering mystery. If this fanfic keeps going, it will be explained in much greater detail when we reach the appropriate arcs."

Kotori: "Then that's all for this volume's keywords! Next volume: Itsuka Sister! Get ready for the loving punishment time for Tokisaki Kurumi!"

Kurumi: "Ara ara~ The terrifying Spirit of Fire sure talks a big game."

Kotori: "Eh~? If you have a problem with it, I can pin you down and spank you right here, right now."

Kurumi: "Kihihihihihi! Just what I wanted. Let me teach you a good lesson right here in this Afterword where there's no plot armor to save you."

Shido: "Wait! Don't start fighting in an unofficial setting like this!!!"

As a result, a fierce battle of shadows and flames broke out once again on the rooftop...

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.