The day after saving Ludi, I was incredibly busy.
Marino-san, in particular, praised me for going to save her, but she also gave me a stern warning with narrowed eyes.
Even though I was praised, it didn’t change the fact that I had worried Marino-san and Nee-san.
When I apologized, I was pulled into a hug, my face buried in their chests, and praised for doing a good job.
I felt like I was dreaming.
I couldn’t say this out loud, but Nee-san’s were unbelievably larger.
As for Ludi, who had been targeted once again, I thought she wouldn’t go to school anymore, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Apparently, His Majesty the Emperor asked her to return and show her face, but she refused.
She said it was fine because Kousuke was here.
But even if she placed that much expectation on me, there was no guarantee I’d be able to save her next time; I could only go save her by risking my life.
When I told her that, her face turned slightly red, and she said in a thin, flustered voice, “That’s enough, idiot!” before leaving the room.
After that, I headed to the waterfall to start my usual training, but Senpai wasn’t there today.
It was probably Public Morals Committee work.
Senpai, who was the vice-captain—the title for the vice president—said she had some advance preparations to do.
I sighed a little.
Stepping into the cold water, I closed my eyes in my usual fixed stance and let the waterfall strike me.
What came to mind was Ludi.
Basically, she was a heroine guaranteed to be happy.
The protagonist of Magical★Explorer was always involved and helped Ludi.
It was an event that always happened, and the story wouldn’t progress except down a special route unless it led to a resolution.
Therefore, unless it went to a Bad End or a Special End, Ludi wouldn’t be unhappy.
But what about this time?
Ludi was about to become unhappy.
She wouldn’t have been unhappy if things had gone exactly as they did in the game’s story.
What is required for all the heroines to be happy?
In MagiEx, the heroines, including Ludi, had to trigger their own specific events to reach a happy ending.
Of course, fighting was also necessary.
Even so, some characters needed to be as strong as the final boss.
Furthermore, it wasn’t a mandatory event, but a hidden one.
Would the protagonist be able to save them in a hidden event?
What if it overlapped with other events?
What if the flow was different from the game, like this time?
What if Ludi and Senpai got involved in something together?
What the hell would happen to them?
If I didn’t know about the game, I might have given up on them.
I might have convinced myself that it was a hopeless situation where I couldn’t do anything, that even if I wanted to save them, it would happen inevitably, like “It’s winter, so the flowers will fall.”
However, do flowers fall just because it’s winter?
It was precisely because he could make it happen that the protagonist was the protagonist.
But what about me now?
“Fuu…”
I wasn’t the protagonist of the game.
But I knew.
I knew the happiness and unhappiness of so many endings.
Yes, I knew their happiness.
Something hot, like boiling magma, was circulating through my body.
It wasn’t blood.
It wasn’t a physical substance.
It was a will that mixed passion, affection, and determination.
I didn’t even feel the coldness of the freezing water crashing down from the waterfall.
Thinking about them, I knew this realization was inevitable.
I had wanted to calm my mind a little, but in the end, I couldn’t.
However, I think the conclusion wouldn’t change even if I thought about it calmly.
I slowly opened my eyes.
“I…
love Magical★Explorer.”
Ludi, Mizumori-senpai, Nee-san, and Marino-san.
Nanami, Monika-kaichou, Luigia-sensei, Shion-san, Katrina, Gabby, and Sakura-san—I loved them all.
I loved Claris-san, whom I met in this world.
And the heroine who was unhappy because of her past.
The heroine unhappy because of a curse.
The heroine meant to be sacrificed.
The heroine who sacrificed herself for the sake of the world.
I loved all of them, too.
Was it okay to just let them be unhappy?
No.
Absolutely not. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Why did my beloved girls have to be unhappy?
Why did they have to be unhappy when there was a path for them to be happy?
I wanted the heroines to be happy.
No, they would be happy.
However, if I wanted to guide all of them, I would need enough power to defeat the final boss.
Hidden characters and so on.
Would the protagonist save them?
He might.
He might not.
It didn’t matter if he did or not.
Either way, I just needed to go myself.
“I just need to get stronger.
If protecting all of them…
If preventing any of them from reaching a Bad End requires enough power to defeat the Demon King, then I’ll become the strongest in the world.”
I didn’t care about Takioto Kousuke’s personal events anymore.
If it was useful, I’d do it; if it was useless, I wouldn’t.
I would act however I wanted from now on.
Therefore, even if I saved the heroines, I didn’t care what happened between them and the protagonist afterward.
As long as the heroines could laugh happily, it would be fine.
Alright, so let’s set a goal to become the strongest…
Well, it wasn’t much different from my previous goal, huh?
The immediate targets were the members of the Student Council, the Public Morals Committee, and the Ceremonial Department—the Three Committees of the Academy—as well as the heroines added and strengthened by the DLC, the Four Heavenly Kings Append.
First, train in the Dungeons.
Wait for the right time, and take control of the members of the Three Committees and the Four Heavenly Kings.
Next, the Super Trio.
Vice President of the Public Morals Committee, Mizumori Yukine, Student Council President, Monika Mercedes von Mobius, and the ultimate weapon, the First Saint.
I had to become stronger than them.
And the one who possessed the same strength as this Super Trio and could walk alongside them…
The one who could even defeat the Demon King alone, the Protagonist of Magical★Explorer.
I would surpass even him and become the strongest.
And when that time came.
I would guide them all to a happy ending.
Beneath the waterfall, I forged this resolve.