4-4 Family

Crossing a thousand years, the ring created by the founding king was passed down to his descendants of the royal family.

And when Mari first saw Emilio, the truth brought tears to her eyes.

“He looks exactly like my master when he was a child. Like the photos that were inside the smartphone. Even if the hair and eye colors are different, the resemblance is unmistakable. I will not permit anyone to harm you.”

Saying that, Mari tightly clenched the smartphone of Takeshi Funabashi, which she had carefully kept.

It was under a preservation spell, and still looked brand new.

Since it was the latest model at the time, he had probably just bought it.

I was the one who had charged that smartphone for him.

After that, she also had an audience with the king.

The king shed tears as well, and said it had been a great service.

“A thousand years, huh…”

As if measuring that endlessly long span of time, he looked upward, then turned a gentle expression toward Mari and bestowed these words.

“What will you do from here on?”

“He invited me. He asked me to set out on an adventure journey together with him.”

“I see, Alphonse. Please take good care of her.”

“I understand. I was the one who invited her in the first place.”

After leaving the royal palace and returning to the inn, we searched online for the founding king and his family.

I handed Mari a PC and taught her how to use it.

Takeshi Funabashi. Mari Funabashi.

We searched in many ways, but only after finding a government-created missing persons list for special incidents did we finally uncover traces of the founding king.

Ah, my own name was listed there as well.

Using that as a clue, we searched in various ways.

And after many days, we finally found Mari-san’s social media account.

But I hesitated greatly about writing anything there.

If she was living happily now—

Wouldn’t it only disturb her heart?

At worst, she might already have her own family.

But Mari said,

“There is something I wish to tell his younger sister. I want you to contact her.”

And so I sent her an email.

“There is something I would like to tell you regarding your older brother, Takeshi Funabashi.”

However, there was no reply from her.

We simply waited.

And then Mari said this.

“I will wait. I have already waited for a thousand years.”

After several days, Mari herself began writing an email addressed to her.

She wanted to convey just how deeply Takeshi Funabashi had loved the person named Mari Funabashi.

She attached photos of herself and Takeshi, and sent them from my email account.

Along with photos of the people he loved in this other world.

Through magic, she had recorded images directly within the functions of her own body.

She also sent photos of His Majesty the King and His Highness Prince Emilio.

She wanted to convey just how strongly he had wished to return to Japan, to her.

That feeling alone, she wanted to convey.

‘Takeshi Funabashi loved Mari Funabashi—his one and only family on Earth.’

“Was it really okay… to do this?”

“I don’t know. But I had to tell her. Surely, that is why I lived for a thousand years.”

“You’re right.”

She had fulfilled a mission spanning a thousand years.

I would say no more.

She had conveyed what needed to be conveyed.

Takeshi Funabashi—what kind of person was he, really?

I will never meet him.

Or perhaps we once passed each other somewhere in a town in Japan.

There will never again be a chance to know.

“I’m… a lonely person, you know. Even if I returned to Earth, to Japan, there isn’t really anyone I long to see. It’s laughable… right? There are people like Takeshi Funabashi who wanted so desperately to return to their family that they even built an android just like their younger sister.”

“Then I’ll become your family. We’re going on an adventure together, aren’t we?”

“Thank you…”

Despite myself, tears spilled from my eyes.

It seems that as you get older, you become more prone to tears.

It was about a week later that an email arrived from Mari Funabashi-san.

‘Dear Mr. Ryusuke Inoue,
I visited the campground where you went missing.
The campground manager said he remembered that day as if it were yesterday.
The hole had already been filled in, but from what I heard, it was an incident extremely similar to the circumstances under which my brother disappeared.
I am still confused.
I can’t believe it.
But I was happy.
To learn what became of my brother, who survived that horrific accident and lived on.
But he has already passed away, hasn’t he.
I will never again be able to see my kind older brother.
My heart is filled with loneliness.
Still, I am proud that my brother fought for the weak, and that he founded a nation for those people.
He lived his life to the fullest, created his own family, and fulfilled his natural lifespan.
Thank you for all the photographs.
Emilio is adorable.
The distant descendants of my nephew.
Please convey this message to the android Mari-san.

“Thank you for waiting for a thousand years.
You must have been terribly lonely.
Thank you for thinking of my brother for so long.
As long as someone remembers him, my brother’s footsteps will never disappear.
With heartfelt gratitude to you.
With love, from my brother’s distant homeland—Earth.”

Please tell her that.’

When Mari read that, her shoulders trembled as she sobbed, and before long she was crying uncontrollably, with no sign of stopping.