Epilogue

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To end it all.

For the longest time, that had been my only goal.

I believed it to be my duty.

Their lives continued at the expense of the world.

Tokiya was no longer able to end things himself.

And Saki had to live with the burden her sin.

After considering everything, I truly believed that ending it was the right choice.

But there certainly was a part of me that didn’t wish for that.

It was just…I didn’t know what to do.

And in contrast to me, he came up with a solution.

A solution for a world that could continue without continuously turning back.

His solution meant that he’d never give up no matter how painful it was.

His solution meant that he’d also carry the burden and live together with Saki.

His solution was more than enough to satisfy me.

Even though I had believed that such a solution wasn’t even possible.

It was an audacious move for Tokiya.

“Good for you, Towako”, Sekka looked at me and smiled.

But I could hardly agree. “This isn’t good at all.”

“Why not?”

“They made me break my policy about never using Relics.”

“Like you ever had a policy like that to begin with.”, Sekka snorted.

Obviously I didn’t say this out loud, but she was right.

There was never such a policy.

I had just been scared.

Scared that someone would fall into misfortune again by using Relics.

Scared that there would be others who suffered like Tokiya and Saki-chan did.

But perhaps that was wrong.

True, I had seen people destroy themselves with Relics with my own eyes.

But were those people miserable?

I still believed that Relics led people to destroy themselves, but some things could only be obtained by ruining oneself.  Sometimes were thing we wanted so bad that we’d destroy ourselves for them.

Perhaps they could find happiness even if it destroyed them.  

Of course, I had no intention of recognizing people who abused Relics. The world could do without reckless people who were consumed by their power.

But if someone could only get what they needed through the power of a Relic, then perhaps it wasn’t fair to say that all Relics did was bring misfortune.

“If you want, I can take over the job Tokiya left you with.”

“That’s my responsibility.”

“Are you sure? I was thinking it would be a good idea to add your name to Grimoire too.”

Phantom will not turn back the world, and will only turn back Kurusu Tokiya and Maino Saki and Settsu Towako.

“………”

It really was a tempting offer.

But I wouldn’t give this up. I couldn’t give it up.

It was my duty, and I didn’t want to do anything more to betray their trust.

“If I die, then I’ll leave it to you.”

“You won’t have to do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“You will live longer than me.”

If that was true I’d live to be 200…

“Besides that, and more importantly, don’t you have something else you ought to be doing?”

“I know, I know.”

She was right. I was now the one who had to find it.

Not a Relic to end things.

But a Relic to truly save those two—

◆

It a quiet day at Tsukumodo Antique Shop.

There hadn’t been a single customer this morning, and Saki and I were relaxing in in the shop.

Customers were like rare creatures that were only seldom seen near the shop.

“Be more serious, Tokiya.”

“What’s the problem. Not like customers are going to show up.”

“Customers don’t just show up. You have to invite them in.”

“Alright, why don’t you go out and invite them, then?”

“That’s what I intend to do.” Saki took out something out from the back of the shop.

It was a pair of cat ears, furry paw gloves, and a collar with a bell.

“What?”

“I read a book called Now You Can Run a Flourishing Shop Too yesterday. It that cats were used to welcome customers in Japan since ancient times. I was appalled to not have known this before as a cat lover and as someone whose vocation is customer service.”

It really was appalling…

I remembered her saying something similar in the Mansion of Divination, but Saki herself probably didn’t remember that.

My kind soul wouldn’t allow me to let Saki’s effort go in vain, but I also couldn’t be bothered to read the book myself and tell her what it really mant.

All she’d attract would be guys with those kinds of tastes if she stood in front of the shop with cat ears, anyway.

Guys with those kinds of tastes…guys.

I stood up in front of the register and snatched the cat ears from her.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

“The cats you read about are figurines that you place in front of the shop. You don’t have to literally dress up as a cat.”

“Oh?” Saki looked blanky at me.

“What?”

“Tokiya, It’s rare for you to teach me something so straightforwardly.”

“Oh, shut up.”

I also took the cat paws from her, and took off the bell collar she was already wearing.

“And honestly, if you’re going to wear something like this…”

I turned away and searched through my pocket.

“…Wear this instead.”

I took out a pendant.

The truth was since that day, I had completely forgotten to give it to her.

That was a lie. I absolutely hadn’t forgotten. It was just that I couldn’t find the right timing and missed my chance to give it to her.

Saki stared at the pendant for a bit, and then turned her back to me.

“Put it on.”

Just as I raised the pendant to her neck like she asked—  

—A painful suddenly noise rushed through the back of my head.

“Huh?”

“Keep still.”

I moved in front of Saki, and wrapped the chain of the pendant around her neck.

“Why are you doing it from the front? It’s harder to put on this way.”

“Don’t worry, and just let me do it this way.”

She wasn’t wrong about it being harder this way.

The clasp was hidden behind Saki’s neck where I couldn’t see it, so getting it to click took a lot of tries.   

Saki didn’t complain and patiently waited for me to finish.

Finally, after so many tries, I felt the clasp click in place.

“Great. It’s done.”

Then, I took a step back from Saki—

—and knew that I had made the right decision.

I felt bad for my future self, but also felt grateful to him.

Because if I put on the pendant from behind her, I definitely would have missed it.

“Thank you.”

I would have missed Saki’s embarrassed, joyful, and most importantly—

—her happy smile.

---

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There are certain objects in the world known as “Relics”.

No, not like articles of fine art or antiques. They’re magic tools created by powerful magicians and mighty ancients, or objects that gained power after long exposure to their owner’s grudges and natural spiritual power—many “cursed items’ were often times, in fact, Relics.

They appear in old stories, anecdotes, or legends as “objects of power”.

For example: a stone that brings good luck, a doll whose hair grows night after night, a mirror that shows you how you’ll look in the future, or a sword that brings ruin to anyone who draws it.

Most everyone has heard of stories like that.

People often consider Relics to be mere fantasies because they’ve never come across any. Even if a relic were right before their eyes, they’d fail to notice it. If a mysterious event were to occur, they’d just dismiss it as a coincidence.

Some simply don’t care, while others are certain that such things do not exist.

But Relics are real, and more common than people think.

Whether they bring about good or ill fortune depends on the ones who choose to use them.

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