Season 2 Bonus Anime Episode "To Us 1000 Years Later" (Part 1)

Season 2 Bonus Anime Episode "To Us 1000 Years Later" (Part 1)

I was sitting in my apartment, clutching a bottle, facing the hero.

This bottle was the one we all buried on the beach a little over 1000 years ago. It would be lonely to look at it alone, so I decided to look at it with someone.

However, just as I was about to open it, something seemed strange about the hero. He said, "Let's just bury it like this again."

Why?

"I won't think it's weird if you write about going on another mission to defeat the demon lord again."

I tried to say this kindly. It's obvious that there is no demon lord in this world, but he wouldn't have known that at the time he wrote it.

However, the hero crossed his arms, looked sullen, and shook his head from side to side with great force. He shook so hard, or rather, so fast, that I could see an afterimage. Being rejected like that made me a little curious. What had he written?

"Just give it to me."

"Ah! Come on! No!"

•

•

Afterwards.

Although there was an unfortunate incident where a mysterious wand appeared from thin air and hit the hero over the head several times, the bottle was safely protected.

By the way, I had cast a strong defensive spell on the bottle while the hero was unconscious, so it was no longer possible to destroy it without permission. I tied the hero tightly to a chair and rolled around in bed, waiting for him to wake up.

Clang, Clang! 

I heard the chair rattle. I picked up the bottle and sat in front of the hero. Still bound, he desperately tried to speak with bloodshot eyes.

"Please, Stop! Don't read that! Okay?"

"But we promised."

Let's see...

I reached into the mouth of the bottle, pulled out the first piece of paper I had touched, and unfolded it. It was a letter from the princess. It was written in familiar, neat, powerful handwriting.

"To us in the future."

No matter how this journey ends,

I will be proud of the days I spent with you.

It was truly fun.

No matter what form I take,

I will be by your side.

That is the promise I can make now.

The princess, who had been writing smoothly with a smile on her face, had written something like this.

It made my heart ache somehow.

"I'll call Sumire-san, who was playing the princess, and asked her to come over right away. I think that person is probably princess's reincarnation."

"Hey, why did you take out your phone? I mean, that person is probably not her...! Hey, listen!"

"...Ah! Sorry! This is Kamishiro! Sorry for calling out of the blue. But Sumire-san, there's something I wanted to ask you... 

Huh? Right now? I'm in my room. Eh, you hear a different voice? Ah, my friend's here... Was it a man's voice? Did I call when we're making out? No, that's not it. He's tied to a chair anyway. Huh? Are we doing some sort of play? No. Huh? No, I mean, sure, I was the one who tied him up... 

No, forget about that. More importantly, Sumire-san, this is sudden, but do you have any memories of your past life?"

Beep, beep, beep.

The phone that should have been connected to Sumire-san had been disconnected.

"I couldn't tell her about the letter."

"I don't know who that person is, but I think you should apologize the next time you meet."

"...Yes."

Next, the swordsman's letter. This one was simple.

"Are you alive?"

It was short, but somehow very swordsman-like. I can picture him muttering this with his back to me. The swordsman thought it through to the very end. I remember him looking extremely troubled like it was yesterday.

And the rest was the hero's letter.

I will see the reason he was so anxious here!

But I'd seen him write it back then, and I'm sure it was just a regular update...

But just as I was about to open it, I noticed two pieces of paper. The edges of the two overlapping pieces were slightly misaligned, revealing something like "To myself, 1000 years from now"

This is it!

I opened it hastily, or rather, almost unable to resist, as if I was about to tear it up.

What on earth did write to his future self...?

"Do your best."

...What is this...?

I turned it over, hoping to see if there was something written on the back, but it was blank.

That's all.

You didn't want me to see this...? No, why?

"It's shorter than the swordsman's! ...What are you trying to do your best for?"

"I'll never tell you."

"Maybe defeating the Demon King?"

"You might not know this, but there are no Demon Kings in modern Japan."

"But you said you were going on a trip again."

"Does 'trip' for you has to be about defeating the Demon King?"

Okay. With just this clue, I'll get to the truth.

"Are you embarrassed about 'doing your best'? No, it seems like you don't want people to know..."

The hero's face turned redder and he turned away.

"What is it? Your face is blushing... The most likely possibility is a romantic relationship? Come to think of it, I heard somewhere before that the hero has someone he liked? Huh? Who was it?"

"I'll never tell you."

Oh, so he does have one! Wow!

If he was saying something like, "I met a great person and we're getting married!" then as a childhood friend, I should celebrate with all my heart!

But wait a sec...

Even if he does have someone he likes, they're probably in the other world, so he'll never see them again, right?

So what is "doing his best" mean?

No, that would mean the hero already knew that he would be reborn in the present, so that's not right.

But his reaction just now made it seem like he was just talking about it in the present tense...

"Can you stop analyzing things in front of me?"

"Okay."

"And also, forget what you just thought. Okay? This is my lifetime request."

"Okay."

A lifetime request, he said? 

I know he shouldn't have used it for something like this, but it must have been important to him. It might have been a bit insensitive.

I nodded obediently and shook my head to forget. I could feel the thoughts I'd been thinking earlier quickly slipping away.

Yeah, I've forgotten. Yup! Totally!

After putting the letter back in the bottle, I quickly opened the guidebook.

Reading everyone's letters made me feel like going on a journey.

The hero peered in from the side.

"Where should we go? Somewhere with a suspension bridge, a river, and a ranch, right...?"

"Ah, well, maybe just taking it easy would be nice..."

"A friend is coming over tomorrow, so maybe I'll talk to her about it."

"Do you have any friends?"

"How rude! I have one or two!"

"Two, huh..."

The hero shrugged, his voice half exasperated and half kind.

I held the bottle tightly and turned the page of our future plan.

★

"So, did you end up meeting the person you went to see in the middle of the night?"

The next day.

Shinohara Mana, the voice actress for Kaya, leaned forward and peered at me, clutching a cushion on the sofa. Her loosely curled light brown hair swayed around her shoulders.

She was a cute woman in her mid-twenties, with a soft smile that never faded and a very natural way of getting close to me. After we started talking during filming, we quickly became friends, as we were close in age (in appearance).

"We met!"

"Oh! So, that was it? And what happened after that?"

Leaning forward, she urged me to continue, her eyes shining. She seemed a little excited as she lightly patted the cushion in her hand. But what happened after that...?

I tilted my head slightly. After meeting the hero at the beach, I'm sure...

"We made a crab farm."

She remained silent for a few seconds, frowned, and then shook her head slightly from side to side. She looked at my face and mouth curiously, repeatedly, as if wondering if she'd misheard.

"...What?"

"We made a crab farm."

"Oh, so I hadn't misheard after all. What's that? A metaphor?"

"We collect crabs on the beach and observe them."

"That's the same old story. How boring."

She looked exasperated, raised her arms, and slumped backwards. Then, straightening her back, she slowly rose to her feet in the same position. It was a feat I, who usually gives up after 10 sit-ups, could never have accomplished. She kept a straight face.

"No, no, no. It's not that it's boring or anything. Why are you doing that?"

"Because it's an adult game...?"

"In the middle of the night?"

"Crabs are more active at night."

"Sorry, you're bragging, but I don't get it at all. Is that a game two adults play in this day and age?"

"A heroine like this exists in the Reiwa era... something like that?"

"You say that yourself? ...Oh, come on! Why did I lost against you?"

She ruffled her hair with both hands and sat back down on the sofa. Her dejected movements hinted at a hint of regret.

Apparently, she had applied for the roles of Kaya, the Wizard, and the Princess. It's okay to apply for multiple roles in auditions. And, apparently, Shinohara-san's first choice was the Wizard.

"Well, I'm not really the type to be the Princess. But if I'm going to do it, I'll do it properly."

As she collapsed into the cushions, her tone was matter-of-fact. You could say that's typical of princess, but... I wonder...

I stared at her intently, trying to figure it out.

I somehow feel like the princess and the swordsman should be close to each other.

...So...

Lately, I've been checking to see if the two of them have been reincarnated as someone else.

For example, I tried pretending to be weak in front of the swordsman. It was too much for me, so I gave up after about three minutes. The swordsman looked at me with a strange expression. That didn't seem to be it.

However, as I was staring, Shinohara-san also cast a steady sidelong glance my way. A look of suspicion was clearly on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought it was about time you started showing your true colors. Yunoha-chan, you've never done voice acting before, right? How did you pass the audition?"

My current name is "Kamishiro Yunoha." The director gave it to me after I let him handle everything about my identity

"Was my acting no good?"

"No. But it wasn't acting, was it? You were just speaking normally."

She keeps saying this.

"Isn't it fine if it's a perfect fit even if it's not acting?"

"You definitely shouldn't say that in front of Sumire-san."

Sumire-san, the voice actress for the Princess, said she also applied for the role of the Wizard. She's a mature woman with a strict demeanor, and I kind of admire her, but she always seems angry.

"She'll get mad and say, 'Are you making fun of me?'"

"...She already told me that! Huh, I guess that's why she was so on edge the other day...!"

But she tossed the cushion aside, seemingly satisfied for the time being. She stood up briskly and stretched her arms.

"But Sumire-san, she's been feeling better lately. Even though she was in poor health, she keep collapsing from working too hard, and I was always telling her to go to the hospital."

Come to think of it, Sumire-san collapsed in the back hallway the other day. That was a common occurrence. I cast a healing spell on her with my wand and she was cured. But it seemed like it was something serious, and only blue magic could heal her.

Well, I also used blue when preparing the princess's food. "Red's no good, but blue is okay." I'm sure the princess would say the same.

With that in mind, I touched the necklace with my fingertips, and a small static electricity flickered. 

Ouch.

"Sumire-san is definitely the one who thinks Yunoha-chan as suspicious. She said she'd question you again today."

"Now that I think of it, Sumire-san's late... I wish she'd come soon..."

"It's amazing you can wait like this."

"There's something I'd like to ask her."

Then, silence fell for a moment.

Shinohara-san, with her face buried in the cushion, muttered, "By the way..."

"Yunoha-chan, didn't you say you came from the countryside?"

"Yes. I used to live in villages deep in the mountains."

"Oh, I had moved a few times before. Even so, living deep in the mountains these days..."

"Hm, this is the first time I've seen a convenience store here."

"...Even if it's not nearby. You at least watch it on TV, right?"

"We didn't have a TV or radio..."

"Well, how did you get the weather forecast...?"

"If you want to know what tomorrow's weather will be like, just take a breath of night air and look at the sky."

It depends on the wind direction, though. Climbing a tree would be easier, but I haven't done it since I arrived in this world. Watching the passersby, I don't see anyone suddenly climbing a tree.

That's right, I'm a woman who's good at adapting.

Suddenly, Shinohara-san stood up and opened the window leading to the balcony at the back of the living room. The cold air from outside instantly flowed into the room. She took a deep breath, shook her head, and muttered, "I really have no idea."

"That's why I still get lost at places like Tokyo Station."

"Yeah, everyone says that. You'll get used to it eventually."

"Like, when you insert your ticket into the automatic ticket gate."

"Do you know what an IC card is?"

"You mean the one that beeps, right? Yeah! I know that much! Even though I look like this, I'm actually a little older than you, Shinohara-san!"

As I stood up and put my hands on my hips, Shinohara-san looked up at me with a suspicious look. She stared intently, a smile twitching from the corner of her mouth.

"So, how old is Yunoha-chan?"

"The last two digits say are 18."

"...Is that explanation even necessary?"

★★★

Shinohara Mana has a friend she doesn't really understand.

Going by the name of Kamishiro Yunoha, she's a voice actress who worked on the same project as Mana—in other words, a colleague.

So, what's so confusing about her?

The first time she met her was at an audition. Determined to land the lead role this time, Mana studied the sample script, worked hard on her character, and went to the audition. That's why she caught her eye when she met her there.

In the courtyard, basking in the sunlight and gazing up at the sky... she looked like she'd just stepped out of the script she'd just read.

Later, after doing an interview with the director in which he said, "I already found 'Wizard-chan' during the audition," Mana accepted her failure.

She wasn't entirely convinced. But wasn't that unfair?

That night, Mana spent the night drinking with Ayamori Sumire-san, who also played the Princess who failed to take the lead role, and the number of bottles they drank between them that day broke a new record.

On social media, various theories were floating around, such as, "Someone who originally knew her must have written the script using her character as a reference," or, "No, maybe she is the reincarnation of Wizard-chan." 

Some people even came up with absurd theories like, "She is the real Wizard-chan who has come from another world," but of course no one believed them.

Kamishiro Yunoha, also known as Wizard-chan. Currently, among the staff, she is treated like a mascot character who brings happiness. The weather at events is always sunny when she's there, and even if the equipment breaks down, it's always fixed in time for the performance.

So then, what's the problem?

Although she's never said this to anyone, Mana suspects... "Maybe she can actually use magic."