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Volume 5 Trouble File Epilogue Part 1

Trouble File Epilogue

The petals of the cherry blossoms fluttered down into Izayoi’s cup, causing small ripples to form on the surface of the alcohol that was left in it. Gazing at the contents of the cup with a bitter smile on his face and thinking that it was totally unlike his usual self to be so talkative about his past, he then downed the cup’s contents together with the flower petals in it.

「Back then, I simply thought that she was some kind of a crazy woman. It did not take much for me to figure out that she was not someone from this world, but even when I realized that she must be from a world that was so vastly different from the one that I knew up until that point, I still could not figure out exactly what kind of magic she was using.」

That was how it was for him when he was still just a brat. But when he was summoned to Little Garden himself, Izayoi immediately understood that that must have been the place where Canaria was from, and that suspicion of his has been all but confirmed when he talked about her with Kuro Usagi under The Great Tree of 「Underwood」. What is more, when he finally received the confirmation of the fact that he was suspicious about for the longest time. . . . he could not even say that he was all that surprised about that outcome, because in his eyes, Canaria was always someone who looked like she was incredibly out of place in the Outer World, and that different world which was the gathering ground for all kinds of Gods, Demons and Buddhas looked like the place where she would feel right at home.

If there was anything he was more surprised about than finding out that Canaria was indeed not from the same world as him, it would definitely have to be the location where he ended up after he finished falling from the sky for the very first time, 「Tritonis Falls」. Speaking of that place, 「Tritonis Falls」definitely had that 「far ends of the world」vibe to them, and judging by the look of that place, he even speculated that maybe they had something to do with Atlantis, the famous Lost Continent spoken of in myths, legends and conspiracy theories of the Outer World. He also thought that it would be pretty awesome if it turned out that an entire continent like that could have also been summoned to Little Garden as if it was the most obvious thing to do under the sun. And if it turned out to be true with Atlantis, then maybe the dame thing could have been done with the other mystical lands which he could only read and hear gossip about before? Whatever the case might have been, he was all fired up knowing that he has found himself in a place that holds many mysteries and where there might still be many unexplored lands just waiting to be found and explored. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and he could not wait to be one of the very first people to go and explore them all while enjoying himself thoroughly along the way.

「And I guess right here is where my story reaches its conclusion. I am sure that it was nothing in comparison to something as grand and epic as The Seven Great Sages War, but I hope that you have enjoyed it at least for a little bit.」

He wanted to pour himself yet another cup of sake, but when he looked down the barrel, he noticed that it has been almost entirely emptied, which was essentially a testament to the long time that has passed since he started telling his story, and getting themselves another barrel just for the two of them seemed like a. . . . not that good of an idea anymore, since when he looked around he saw that the hour has grown so late that the party’s momentum began to die down in the entire teahouse. The lights were growing quite dim, and most of the patrons, even the ones who have managed to stay awake and relatively sober were now sleeping on the floors, benches and even tables while hugging onto their alcohol bottles.

Well, everyone has their own ways of dealing with the wounds they were left with after such a traumatizing event as a battle against a Demon Lord, and it was not his place to criticize those who thought that the best way of coping with that trauma and honoring the memory of those who have passed away by getting themselves drunk into oblivion, especially since he drank quite a lot of booze himself both while listening to Shuten Douji’s tale and recounting his own tale from his past. But now that both the memorial service and the banquet have both come and gone and all of the ceremonies, official and otherwise have been concluded, everything should be pretty much settled. The dead have been sufficiently honored and life could continue to go on, but still, for those who have lost their families and loved ones in that attack, it would probably take much more than that in order to fill the void that has been left in their hearts.

「Rest assured boy, I had more than my fair share of fun listening to that story of yours, but as they say, everything good has to end eventually, right? With that said, I think it is high time to start tidying the place up a little bit, would you not agree? It would also be a good idea to carry the ladies to their rooms so that they could have themselves a proper rest. You, me and the other guys aside, it would be pretty bad if they ended up catching a cold because they passed out from drinking way more than they should have, and trust me, if they pinned that on you, you would be hearing no end of it later.」

「Yeah, when you put it that way, I definitely do not want that to happen. So if you will excuse me now, I better do exactly like you said and carry them to their rooms before either of them wakes up. Usually I have no problem with dealing with them, but when they get drunk, they become a little bit too much to handle even for someone like me.」

「Wait a minute before you go, boy. There is one more thing that I would like to ask you.」

After listening to Izayoi’s story without interrupting him even once, it was only now that Shuten Douji looked at him with a serious face and opened his mouth to ask a question which he was holding back on asking for a while now:

「So kid, about Canaria. Is she. . . . ?」

「. . . Yes? What is it?」

「Is Canaria. . . .  is she dead?」

That question was thrown at him so fast and out of the blue that Izayoi could not react in a different way than by opening his eyes wide and clenching his hands tightly into fists. He wanted to say something, but the words he was looking for did not want to leave his throat, so he simply gritted his teeth and looked away from the Great Sage, and for Shuten Douji, that reaction of his was all the proof that he needed to know that the answer to the question that he asked of Izayoi was indeed an affirmative one. With a very pained expression on his face, Shuten Douji closed his eyes and then swallowed the last drops of liquor that remained in his own cup.

「I see. . . .so it really is exactly as I feared, and she has passed away. 」

「Sorry for keeping quiet about this. I wanted to tell you earlier when you first asked about her, but. . .. but the timing was never good.」