Return of the Fallen Volume 10 Chapter 154
With things calming down on Earth, Kazuki began gathering more Origin energy with Arc. Even as stars began to vanish from space, no one panicked. Since it was already explained to everyone and people generally weren’t concerned with space, the disappearance of many sars had no impact on their life whatsoever. Besides, the person getting rid of the stars had given the people of Earth things they could have never imagined.
Curing the ill, feeding the masses, and fixing pollution. These deeds left no doubt in their mind that Kazuki was a force for good. Of course, there were still outliers, those that came up with wild theories and thought Kazuki was evil in disguise but these people were largely ignored and peaceful days continued.
As Kazuki picked off 10’s of thousands of stars every night, Arc’s power grew. Again the Origin power within these stars was about equal to the origin energy in the stars back in their Realm. This meant that Arc’s power still only grew by fractions. Still, Kazuki and Arc had made this a routine and figured out how to make their harvest more efficient so the overall results were faster.
It took them around a year before Arc had collected enough energy to get them all to the right Realm that housed planet Earth. At the rate they were going, it would only take 4 or 5 months this time around for Arc to have enough energy to return them.
Kazuki and Arc were both surprised as they traveled throughout this Lower Realm. The amount of Magic was sparse in many areas while overabundant in other places. It was weird. From what the two could observe, it was as if someone had ripped a large chunk of magical energy out of the Realm.
If not for this as well as the fact that Kazuki still had Fera’s corpse with him, he wouldn’t mind staying in this Realm. Because of the lack of power and Fera’s dead body that continued to leak Divine energy, it was dangerous to stay in this place and it would attract those that still wanted Fera’s body.
Kazuki was still lost when it came to Fera’s corpse. Others sought it out as if it were a treasure but he had no clue how one would use it. He couldn’t eat the divine energy without it destroying him, he couldn’t absorb it in any way and couldn’t figure out how one would benefit from it. This didn’t stop others from still wanting it.
It was simply too dangerous to stay in this Realm for too long. As soon as the 5 months were up, Kazuki would leave no matter what.
After several hours of collecting passed, Kazuki would return back to Earth as the morning sun began to rise. The group would all continue their touring. Ever since Mei and Kosaru had run through Kazuki’s obstacle courses and he had explained that they were mainly based on rollercoasters, the two were obsessed with trying them.
Amusement parks were the next destination. The one they went to also had a waterpark attached. The day went from riding rides to eating cotton candy and other snacks to swimming and riding different waves. At first, Mei and Kosaru were slightly disappointed with how slow the rollercoasters of this world were. After all, they could travel from planet to planet in seconds with teleportation. After a little bit though they really got into it due to the atmosphere of all the other people around them screaming and shouting in exhilaration.
There was something about others having joy around them that got these two kids going.
They especially liked it when they got off the rollercoasters and went to see all of the funny pictures that were taken of them and the other guests. They both laughed harder than ever when seeing all of the other people with funny looks on their faces as the wind blew at them or when they screamed from all the ups and downs.
The woman who was in charge of the picture shop had to do a double-take when she saw Mei and Kosaru’s photo. She gave a warning about how pets weren’t allowed on rides and how dangerous it could be. Mei and Kosaru quickly got out of this when Mei and Kosaru put on a pretty convincing play. Mei pretended that Kosaru was a stuffed toy and poked and prodded Kosaru in front of the lady. The women looked closely at Kosaru who didn’t move a muscle before she began to poke him too.
Kosaru felt way too soft to be some plushie but the fact that he remained perfectly still, the woman began to waver but she still wasn’t all the way there. Mei then became bold and threw Kosaru down on the ground hard. The woman was shocked at first but seeing that Kosaru didn’t move an inch even after being thrown down like that, she was finally convinced that he was just a very realistic-looking toy.
If she knew the truth she would be even more shocked. A simple throw on the ground was nothing for Kosaru. The little tyke could withstand a planet being dropped on his little head and he would laugh it off as if it were nothing.
The woman went back to her duties while Mei picked Kosaru up off the ground and walked out. A moment later and the two were laughing about it like they pulled the world’s greatest prank. Tsura though didn’t like it and scolded the two. Kosaru looked to Alutra for comfort but she scolded him as well, though she did it for another reason. Tsura thought what they did was reckless while Alutra scolded Kosaru for almost getting caught. The two parenting styles were vastly different but it seemed to work.
After this scolding, the two were let off the hook and they went right back to messing around on the rollercoasters.
After that, everyone kind of went separate ways in different groups in the park. Some wanted to try all the foods while others wanted to see the different attractions and so on. Later they all met up to eat lunch before going their separate ways again. Like this, another day was fun and done.
The days continued on and they all traveled the world. The world leaders as well finally were not so on edge. Kazuki had kept his word. He and everyone else traveled around without trouble. They committed no crimes and harmed no one. They went about their business in peace and just had fun. Even if things were calm though, Kazuki could sense several satellites aimed in his direction. He could only laugh at this.
(They think I don’t notice, how funny.)
Ignoring the watchful eyes, Kazuki and everyone else went from country to country trying all the local cuisines and taking in the many different cultures left and right.
Before they got too caught up in having fun, Sam, Asuna, and Kazuki made a quiet trip to a small island off the coast of Japan.
They all went to visit Ryuta. Kazuki didn’t know if he should come along but both Sam and Asuna agreed he should be there.
A small house at the edge of a farm, the three saw Ryuta out in the field working hard.
Asuna felt sadness and guilt seeing this.
The three quickly landed out of sight and walked over. The moment Ryuta saw Asuna, Sam, and Kazuki, his eyes widened and he fell backward.
“No, this isn’t real you died, you both…died!”
Asuna quickly began to explain what happened. Ryuta sat there in the dirt, he didn’t even look at any of them while he listened. His eyes were unfocused as he took it all in. Suddenly tears began to stream down his face when he heard it all.
Asuna and Sam both hugged them but he cursed them. They didn’t care and continued to hold onto him and eventually, his curses again became cries of pain. After a while, he finally calmed down.
“They said I was crazy, they called me a murderer and a kidnapper. They thought I hurt you all and buried you somewhere. I kept telling them, I kept explaining but no matter what I said they wouldn’t believe me. With no evidence though I managed to escape but my life, It was ruined. For so long I lived in self-doubt. I couldn’t figure out what happened, I thought so many different things. I thought after I passed out you two secretly ran away and eloped or something. I thought you all were still here and tried to frame me but I knew it wasn’t right, you two wouldn’t do that to me but still, these thoughts were there. You all didn’t return and I was all alone. I couldn’t get a job and the harassing calls never stopped coming. Eventually, mom, she couldn’t handle it anymore and the stress…it killed her.”
Asuna and Sam were both shocked. They all had their own struggles but in the end, things worked out for them and they even became powerful beings. Meanwhile, their best friend was basically living in squaller and his mom had died. He had nothing and everywhere he went people thought the worst of him. Asuna and Sam could go anywhere and do anything they wished but he was left in absolute ruin, guilt, and shunned by absolute strangers.
After all of this, Ryuta finally looked at Kazuki. He both hated Kazuki and didn’t. He knew it wasn’t Kazuki’s fault but he also knew things would have gone very differently had he not been pushed out of the summoning circle that day. He felt it would have been better if he simply vanished from his mother’s life and went somewhere far away instead of being her and watching her die. Even now he didn’t know if his mother blamed him for all of the shame and harassment.
Ryuta balled up his fists but he already knew it was pointless and just sat there, defeated.
Kazuki did not feel bad for Ryuta. He did what he had to and as far as he was concerned he was better off staying here than getting teleported to Gordonia. It wasn’t his fault society treated Ryuta the way it had. If Ryuta did get teleported, there was also no guarantee he would have lived. As far as Kazuki was concerned, they all had been extremely lucky with surviving. Danny had died, and so too did other friends along the way. At least here Ryuta did not face such dangers. Monsters, Azirians, Ancient beasts, Titans, corrupt Kings. Kimi lived through having her arm ripped off and eaten in front of her. Most of them were forced to strip naked and walk through the frozen snow. Beat up, brought to the brink of death, coughing up blood, these are not experiences any would wish to go through a second time.
These were Kazuki’s thoughts but at the same time, he cared for Asuna and Sam. Ryuta was someone they cared for, therefore Kazuki would not just sit back and watch without doing anything.
“Ryuta, if you want…I can bring your mother back for you.”
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