I Favor the Villainess CH Ep

Published at 26th of February 2021 01:30:03 PM

I Favor the Villainess. Epilogue

Feb 26 2021

“I feel somewhat… nervous…”

Claire-sama walked next to me with a stiff expression.
We were on our way home to our house in Bauer.
We had spent about 10 months away, so I felt somewhat restless as well.

Looking up, we could see the clear blue skies without a single cloud in sight.
It was refreshingly cool, but mysteriously I didn’t feel chilly.
I’m sure that’s because I had Claire-sama by my side.

It had been one full week since our final confrontation at the server room.
As TAIM had reverted everyone’s memories to their original state, everyone was able to properly recognize Claire-sama again.

“I’m so pathetic… I can’t believe that I had forgotten about Claire.”

The frustrated words spilled from Manarisama.
After she had offered a many apologies to Claire-sama she said,

“In the end, it appears that the bond between you two really is something special. Perhaps there never was any room for me to force myself in.”

And gave a wry smile.
Proudly boasting, I asked if she had only come to understand that now, but Claire-sama gave me a whack on the head.
At this point Manarisama had already returned to Sousa.
She had been absent ever since the summit, so it appeared that she really couldn’t afford to stick around much longer.

“Manarisama, what are you doing? Let’s hurry up and return home.”

Though Manarisama had thrown a fit about how being a queen was too troublesome and that she’d much prefer to play with us, trying to delay her return to her country as much as possible, Eve came along and practically dragged her back to Sousa.
Though it appeared they each still had some reservations, I was sure time would bridge the gap.
And if not, I was confident that Claire-sama would barge in to do so herself.

“Uwaan, work has been so busy that I haven’t had the chance to play with Rei-san.”
“There, there. In exchange, I’ll go out and play plenty, so Lily-sama do your best with work!”
“Lansan! That doesn’t solve anything!”
“Lana, you need to do your best too.”

Lily-sama made her official return as a cardinal.
She was currently busy with the preparations, but she still occasionally found time to come to the treatment facilities and vent.
Claire-sama remarked that Lily-sama had become quite brazen by having held the position of my girlfriend, even if only momentarily.
As for me, I got the perk of seeing Claire-sama’s jealousy so I couldn’t help but think, “Gottem!”

Lana on the other hand had unofficially become Dor-sama’s personal aide.
Though she was quite competent, she had a horrible habit of ditching her duties, so Dor-sama was constantly mad at her.
She often came to find me when she ditched her duties, but every time Dor-sama would personally come to seize her by the collar, and drag her back.
The fact that Dor-sama went out of his way to try and guide her likely meant that, in spite of everything else, he saw a lot of potential in her.

“The fate of mankind, eh… To think that at my old age, I’d have the chance to get involved in something so big.”

Dor-sama was working to begin talks with the leaders of each of the countries to explain the loop system.
While Claire-sama still held the administrator privileges, once humanity had formed their opinions on how the system should be, and what kind of future humanity should strive for, she said that she would transfer the privileges to the appropriate person.
Though Dor-sama said that things had become a lot easier now that the Naa Empire was cooperative, I still felt bad for pushing such a difficult task onto him.
When I expressed that, he said that he was doing it for the sake of his cute daughters and gave a cheerful laugh.

“Recently, that Sein’s been much more open.”

The one who said those words was Rodd-sama.
Rodd-sama, who’s fame had skyrocketed for his contributions in the development of the Magi Shibley, was now saying that he found more fulfillment in taking care of simpler matters.
I didn’t know what caused this sudden change of attitude within him, but it appeared his relationship with Sein-sama had also improved greatly.
Sein-sama had also become much easier to interact with and the general consensus was that he had really managed to grow into the role of king.
In the world that resulted after our fight with the Demon Queen, he had been exerting leadership on par with Manarisama.
Considering that, the lingering scars from Mount Sassal’s eruption would certainly one day be overcome.

“We won’t be losing to Blume anymore, got that!”

With her distinguished management of the logistics behind our battle with the Demon Queen recognized, the Frater Market that she operated alongside Lambert was on its way to overtaking Blume.
With Lene, a capable leader exerting her shrewd decision making at the fore, and her husband Lambert with a steady grasp on practical matters, they had become a famous combination covered by newspapers in every country.
With plans to open a branch within the Empire in the near future, it appeared that they were very busy with the preparations.
Though she complained that she had no time to flirt, in stark contrast, her expression seemed to be glowing.
I’m sure that she felt worth in what she was doing.
I thought it was a wonderful thing that she spent her days feeling fulfilled.

“I’m finally able to visit my daughter’s grave. Claire-sensei, Rei-sensei, thank you.”

When Claire-sama and I had gone to thank Tred-sensei for teaching us about Choir, he spoke those words before giving a bow.
It appeared that Philine had absolved his crimes of deserting the Empire, so now he was able to freely travel between the two countries.
Due to his work with the academy, he still spent most of his time in Bauer, but whenever he got the chance to take a vacation, he would travel to the Empire and visit his daughter’s grave.
Our teacher was another individual who had been toyed with by the system, so I really wished that from here on he would be able to grasp happiness.

Joel was now living on her own.
It appears that she had never come to a proper understanding with her family.
Joel’s family had consisted of a long line of military officers who served at the royal palace. As might be expected, they all held rather conservative values. It seems that they were unable to come to understand Joel, who had come out to say that she’d prefer to live as a girl.
While Joel had persevered in her attempts to convince them, her parents were quite stubborn, so she gave up and decided to move out.

“Well, perhaps things will resolve after some time.”

The smile she wore as she spoke those words did not appear to be a brave front.
It appeared that she, who had decided to come out as being part of a gender minority, had come to accept the difficulties that had come as part of that decision.
Perhaps her parents had not expected her to be so adamant as to even abandon home, but it seems that now, they were constantly sending letters asking for her to return home.
Though both sides had their misgivings along the way, it was clear they still cared for one another.
Just as Joel had said, I’m sure that things would resolve with time.

―To Claire-sama. There are a lot of difficulties in the duties of an Empress.

That was how the letter that we had received from Philine had begun.
She had officially become the Naa Empire’s Empress and was now dealing with the aftermath of Dorothea’s aggressive foreign policies.
Starting with Frieda’s home country, Merica, the Empire’s colonies were declaring their independence one after another. As a result, many past treaties were either being reformed or revised, and large amounts of people and goods needed to be accounted for. Simply put, things were incredibly busy.

―Even then, I refuse to lose heart, for I am Dorothea Naa’s daughter.

Closing the letter off in that way, the letter had contained more than her meek self, we also sensed her pride in her position as Empress.
Though there was no denying her lack of experience, down the line she could truly become an Empress on par with Dorothea.
At her side, she had Hilda and the old butler to offer support, so I’m sure that she’d be fine.
It was also true that she had grown a lot from her previous timid self.

“How the Church intends to live alongside the people from here on―we must be the ones to set that example.”

It appeared there was a large controversy surrounding whether or not the Spirit Church should publicly disclose its involvement with the system.
Though the Pope herself was intent on it, there were many firmly rooted objections.
That the church, which had been praised for walking alongside its followers, had actually been manipulating the masses would be an unprecedented scandal.
The Pope was patiently working to convince the opposition. So though it may take time, I was sure that the truth would eventually be revealed.
Should that happen, at least momentarily, the Church would likely lose much of its influence.
Even then, it’s not as though the blessing that those who lived by the faith had given to the public would be completely gone.
She also had reliable cooperators in Lily-sama, Yuu-sama, Misha, and Sandrine-san.
I’m sure that the Church would be fine left in the hands of the Pope.

“We’re doing our best so that the Church comes to accept same-sex marriage.”
“The number of supporters is still quite low though.”

That had come from Yuu-sama and Misha, who, I’m very happy to say, had become lovers.
The two were trying to breathe new life into the Spirit Church’s very conservative values from within.
As the Church was often used for wedding ceremonies, it was clear that the Spirit Church was deeply involved in the people’s daily lives.
It appears they thought that if they could update the values held by the church, the peoples’ perspective on homosexuality might also change.
But as expected, there was quite a lot of resistance so their supporters were an overwhelmingly small minority.
That said, because Yuu-sama and Lily-sama, who were central figures in humanity’s fight against the Demon Queen, expressed their support, the movement was steadily gaining momentum.
Perhaps the day Claire-sama and I could be legally wed was not all that far off.

“Ah, our mothers are home, Alea!”
“Hmph, I had gotten tired of waiting.”

As our house came into view, we could see Mei and Alea waiting for us in the yard.
We contacted them to let them know that we’d return today, so they might have been waiting this whole time.
When I waved at them, they waved back with enough vigor to send their arms flying.

Precisely as TAIM had said, the curse on Mei and Alea’s blood had been lifted.
According to TAIM, the shockwaves generated when their Magic Sword penetrated the Demon Queen’s barrier, caused the magic energy within their bodies to go into overdrive forcing the curse to cease functions.
Though Relaire seemed a bit lonely not always having to be by their side, I’m really glad that the curse was lifted.
It appeared that the kindergarten’s curriculum could not keep up with Mei and Alea’s growth, so we needed to consider allowing them to skip grades.
While this too was worrying in its own way, these kinds of worries were very welcome.

“Those children…”

Next to me, Claire-sama also waved.
She gazed at them, her eyes filled with affection.
From here on Claire-sama would probably become busy yet again.
She would need to travel with Dor-sama and explain about the loop system.
In all likelihood I’d need to accompany her as well. Well, this seemed like something that couldn’t be helped.
There were so many things that we still needed to figure out.

But, I’m sure that everything would be alright.
Because, through it all, Claire-sama would be by my side.

“Claire-okaasama!”
“Rei-okaasama too! You’re late, you know?”

When we reached the garden, the twins leaped up toward us.
It was normal for Claire-sama to receive this kind of treatment, but for me to be included was a rare case.

“Have you been well, Mei?”
“Sorry, Alea.”

While Claire-sama pat Mei’s head, I met Alea’s gaze and looked into her eyes as I apologized.

“Mei and Alea have been waiting ever since the morning!”
“We’re already feeling quite peckish.”
“Oh? I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Well then, what do you say we eat? What would you like?”
““Sandwiches and Crème Brûlée!””

After the two had replied in unison, they quickly went into our house.
While I thought they had rushed straight into the dining room, they both peaked out from behind the front door and said,

“Claire-okaasama, Rei-okaasama!”
“Uhm…”

The two exchanged glances and before again speaking in unison,

““Welcome home!””

Next to me, I heard a gasp.
Covering her mouth with her hands, Claire-sama looked as though she was going to cry.

“Come on, Claire-sama.”
“Y-yes…!”

That’s right, we had finally returned home.
So, there was something that we must say to them.
After quickly exchanging glances with Claire-sama,

“”We’re home.””

After those words left our mouths in a flood of countless emotions, we chased after our beloved daughters and opened the front door.

　fin.

Thank you so much for reading to the end.
I am the author, Inori.
This will be the second time that I write this kind of greeting for this series.

The first was when the Part 1 of the story came to an end.
At that time, even though there were a lot of plotlines that I had left open, I thought, “Well, I managed to bring it to a good juncture and stuck a clean landing, so let’s stop here.”
After that, I thankfully received a large number of requests for a continuation. I tried to reorganize the plotlines that were left open, and that was the starting point for the Part 2.
The fact that I was able to continue writing and offer this conclusion is all thanks to the support that I received from all of you, my readers.
I truly wish that this series was properly able to repay the kindness that I’ve received.

Incidentally, among you who have followed Part 2, perhaps there are some who felt the following.

　――Compared to Part 1, this is really lacking in the yuri department.

I must say that this is somewhat true.
It’s true that I wrote freely when I wrote Part 1, but even then, I made sure that I concentrated on the Romance elements.
When it came time to write Part 2, I thought to go all out and write about everything that I wanted to.
As a result, if I had to say, perhaps some felt that the contents of Part 2 felt closer to a Fantasy or Adventure series than a Romance.
In hindsight, I do feel that I didn’t do much to make the story come off as a Romance.

However, WataOshi will always be, “Rei and Claire’s love story”. From the very start, to the very end, I had always written with that in mind.
Those of you who have read to the end likely already know, but everything that happened in the world of WataOshi all began when Rei and Claire first met. You could say that that the entire story is about, “A huge love story that transcends time and space.”
Of course, the story’s protagonist Rei, and the origin of a lot of the proceedings, the first Oohashi Rei are not exactly the same person.
Even so, that does not change the fact that WataOshi is about Rei and Claire.

Something else I was conscious of when I wrote Part 2 was the possibilities within yuri works.
If the genre is yuri, then of course romance will be a very important element. I don’t deny that. However, I think that yuri is something much broader, and encompassing.
To get to the point, I think it’s fine for there to be yuri works where a country’s continued existence, or even the world’s destruction are in the balance.
A yuri where the relationship between the girls would be the deciding factor in the fate of the country, or even the world, with that kind of yuri in mind, I wrote Part 2.
Whether or not it went well, is a judgment that I think I’ll leave to you, my readers.

With this, the series once again comes to its conclusion.
I’ve used up almost all the concepts I had in mind for the series, so I don’t intend to write a direct sequel, but do have plans for something like a spin-off.
For example, some ideas that I’ve casually brought up before: a retelling from Claire’s perspective, or a SoL story with Mei and Alea as the protagonists, with no concerns of a country’s demise or dangers to the world.
If you’d be interested in seeing either of these, I ask that you please maintain your subscription to my Pixiv FANBOX or ko-hi.
The harder it is to maintain my basic lifestyle, the less time I’m able to tear away to write.
Some people might say, “So in the end, it’s about money?” But even though my conditions have somewhat improved, it is fact that my yearly income is well below the average in Japan and I’m hovering around the poverty line.
Congratulatory gifts (Items on my Amazon wishlist, or increasing your plan amount on FANBOX/ko-hi, even just for a month), would be much appreciated! (← Honest to my desires)

I would like to take a moment to extend thanks to those who have been involved.

To Jingle, Angela and sephallia, who were responsible for the English translation.
Thank you so much for stitching together your free time within the busyness to work on the translation.
Without your priceless contributions, WataOshi would never have reached this point.

To 정백송, who was responsible for the Korean translation.
The explosive popularity that we’re seeing, I believe is a direct result of your wonderful translation.
I would like to extend my thanks for your meticulous work.

To my partner, Aki-san.
The days where we’d do mental gymnastics thinking about a variety of things will, for now, come to a pause.
To commemorate the conclusion, let’s toast once again with non-alcoholic cocktails.

Finally, to all of my readers who have read until the very end, I send my utmost thanks.
All of your support became my biggest motivation.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To close, let me once again extend my sincere thanks to all of you who have continued reading until the final chapter.
Praying that we will have the fortune to meet once again, I believe I will end the afterword here.
Well then, I ask that you please excuse me.

　　　　　　　　February 26, 2021 Regards, Inori.

Congratulatory gifts → t.co/Xu78kHKOUy?amp=1

Final reminder to vote in the Anime Japan poll if you haven’t! The journey’s over, so I hope that you have by now.

Translator Comment: Hey all, I’d like to thank you all so much for following me as I’ve translated the last stretch of IFTV. I personally loved the series a lot, and it touched on a lot of topics close to my heart, so I’m really glad that this became my first translation project.

Honestly, I’m not too sure what’s going to happen from here. There are some other things that I’m passionate about and want to share, so I might see if I can translate those. Ideally, I’d like to do it with the blessing of the author, like I had with inori-sensei, so I’ll try and send some messages out.

If another translation project does start though, expect the pace of updates to be a bit more relaxed. I was contacted and put on IFTV’s translation while the Japanese and Korean versions were already being released. I didn’t like the idea of just the English fan base falling behind, so if I’m honest I think I ended up pushing myself a bit to keep as high of a pace as I could. I still ended up being about 5 days behind, but I hope that you’ll forgive me.

If I can’t find something to translate, I might take a crack at doing some of my own writing. I’m not sure it’ll be to your tastes, but if you’re interested please either follow the blog or my twitter for future updates. Thanks for coming along with me on this journey and I really appreciate all of your support on twitter and in the comments!

This has been a long post with the epilogue, inori-sensei’s afterword, and then my final comments. Thank you so much for reading to the end, and I hope to see you all again once I figure out what my next project is.

sephallia.

Chapter end