After that, Miltan (provisional) grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously while shedding tears of emotion, handing me a slip of paper—apparently as thanks for the keychain. It contained contact information. Honestly troubling. Getting contact info from a muscular man's daughter before any cute girls made my heart race in all the wrong ways.
"Milky exists to help those in trouble. That spirit of yours—helping a complete stranger—is exactly like Milky's."
"Uh, I see..."
"You didn't just admire from afar, but showed it through action... I've learned from you. When you're in trouble, Miltan will always be by your side."
I honestly wanted to decline that offer, but I chose to escape with a full-power Japanese smile of conflict avoidance. I didn't want to die, after all. I didn't really understand it, but apparently I'd made a good impression somehow. I really had no idea why. Still, since they seemed friendly, I was tired enough of this world to just accept it.
After leaving those mysterious "nyo" words behind, Miltan quietly departed. So that person really was Miltan after all, I thought vaguely. Appearing suddenly, disappearing smoothly before you knew it. Despite their overwhelming presence, they'd vanish like the wind once you noticed. As expected of someone who would make even the strongest White Dragon Emperor do a double-take in the future.
After staring blankly at that retreating back, I finally rebooted several minutes later. I'd been completely overwhelmed by their presence. As my consciousness returned to reality, I noticed the unpleasant sweat soaking my clothes felt slightly cold. ...Terrifying. If this was the effect in a T-shirt, what would happen when they became a catgirl gothic lolita magical girl in the future? No wonder they could traverse other worlds and return alive.
Wait, come to think of it, Miltan had experience visiting other worlds, right? In the original story, they mentioned something about "going to another world." Could the world Miltan visited be the one with the Breast God? Miltan seemed pure and unlikely to lie.
...Hm? Does that mean if Miltan's existence became publicly known, Rizevim Livan Lucifer might make his move? He desperately craved knowledge of other worlds. Maybe Miltan was actually a crucial character who could move this world? Could this be a grand foreshadowing connecting volumes one through twenty?
Miltan had gone to another world. If that became public knowledge, Rizevim might have tried to capture Miltan to learn the method. For the sake of his dream other world, Grandpa would definitely do it. Could there have been an IF route where the counterterrorism team confronted him to save Miltan from crisis?
A great battle between DxD and Khaos Brigade over Miltan (heroine targeted by evil organization)... Miltan unexpectedly entering the heroine slot. It was just speculation, but maybe not impossible. After all, Rizevim's motivation for acting was literally sensing the existence of other worlds. We might have witnessed the dream battle of Rizevim VS Miltan.
"Yeah, right."
Anyway, I felt like I'd gotten confused and thought something stupid, so let me return to reality. I shook my head once to clear my thoughts. Whether he was Miltan from the past or not, I probably wouldn't have any further involvement with him. He seemed like someone who'd forge ahead on his own path, unbothered by others. I'd stop worrying about it. I felt like I'd been hypnotizing myself a lot lately.
"...Wait, ah! The keychain!"
Right, I'd meant to get two keychains for souvenirs. I frantically looked around, but the customers had already scattered and I couldn't tell who was who. Several people I'd had my eye on were already gone. This was bad. I asked a staff member if there were any keychains left, but apparently they'd all been given away—using keychain distribution to dispel the pressure of Miltan's gaze had backfired.
I'd messed up. I should have gotten an extra one as a bonus or reward from the staff when I gave one to Miltan. I looked around again, but asking random families "Could I have your Milky strap?" was too much even for me. Even if I asked others, they'd probably already moved on, and I didn't know who might have one. Were there still people nearby who'd watched the show?
As I was internally panicking, I heard a soft female voice.
"Hey, are you looking for a keychain from that show earlier?"
"Huh?"
I turned around at the words apparently directed at me. There stood a beautiful foreign woman with gray hair and eyes. Her soft-looking hair reached her waist, the tips appearing pure white depending on the light. Her slightly upturned eyes gave a spirited impression, but the way she bent down to match my height seemed gentle.
I was surprised by her appearance, but next my eyes caught her clothing. This was probably Kuoh Academy's uniform. A striped shirt with black accents. The reddish-brown skirt had cute lace trim. However, it seemed slightly different from the original story's uniform in places. It could pass for a uniform similar to Kuoh Academy's, but looking around, most of the students wore the same uniform as her.
This was a shopping mall near Kuoh Academy. Since the show had just ended and coincided with school dismissal time, having many students here wasn't strange. And if this many students were visiting, they were probably Kuoh Academy students. If this was five or six years before the original story, different uniform designs wouldn't be odd.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, sorry. Um, you're from Kuoh Academy's high school division, right?"
"Yes, that's right. Are you in elementary or middle school?"
"I'm in elementary school..."
When I answered her question, she looked at me and laughed brightly, saying "Wow, I had times like that too." She seemed like a modern high school girl, but being foreign made her look mature, almost like a college student. Her Japanese was excellent too, with no sense of dissonance.
...Could she be a devil? Assuming beautiful foreign girl equals devil might be jumping to conclusions, but I couldn't deny the possibility. Her beautiful, bewitching qualities and all. But Kuoh Academy was said to have many international students... More importantly, were there any devils attending Kuoh Academy during this period?
The devil who'd been the previous administrator of Kuoh Town was purged about ten years before the original story, and until the next ruler, Rias Gremory, arrived, there'd been no administrator here. Right now should be exactly that vacancy period. Could a devil's daughter attend high school normally in a town without a ruler? Maybe I was overthinking it, and I certainly couldn't check with magical tools here.
Observing through my Sacred Gear at this close distance might seem unnatural. At least I was properly concealing suspicious things with my Sacred Gear's effects. Whatever she was, she wouldn't try anything in a place and time with so many civilians around. I didn't recall any gray-haired female devils in the original story anyway. Wait, why did this person call out to me in the first place?
"That's right, that's right. Here, this is for you. You wanted it, didn't you?"
"That's the keychain from the show earlier."
"I came shopping to buy a gift, and while they were wrapping the item I had some free time so I wandered around. Then I happened to see a show going on, so I peeked in and ended up receiving one. I was a bit troubled about what to do with it too, so if you'd like, you can have it."
The gray-haired woman held the keychain I'd wanted. Let me be frank—I was extremely grateful. Regardless of whether this lady was a devil or not, she seemed like a goddess with a halo to me. Apparently my expression was too obvious, because she giggled at me. Oh no, this was genuinely embarrassing.
"Ahaha, you really like it that much. Magical Girl Milky."
"Huh...? N-no, it's not like that! I need this keychain as a souvenir for an acquaintance who's a fan. It's definitely not for me!"
"You don't need to get so defensive. Hehe, even boys can like what they like. No matter what others say, ...when you've fallen for something, it can't be helped."
"No, really, it's not for me! I do watch Milky in the anime and stuff, but—ugh, forget it!"
Her warm gaze made me incredibly uncomfortable! I wasn't lying or saying anything wrong, but objectively I looked exactly like someone digging themselves deeper by denying what they liked. What a dead end. The more I denied it, the gentler her eyes became. For a moment she looked pained, but immediately showed a mischievous smile. Had I imagined that earlier look? Anyway, my mental state had taken critical damage.
"...Fine, I'll just admit I like Milky, damn it."
"Pfft, ahahaha. Sorry, sorry. Big sister went too far. As an apology, I'll give you this keychain for free. Normally I'm strict about these kinds of transactions, but this time it's a special apology!"
"Didn't you just say earlier that you were troubled about what to do with that keychain yourself?"
"Ah... ahahaha."
"I feel like I was smoothly talked into that, but thank you very much. Honestly, you really helped me out."
This person was somehow hard to dislike. She looked mature but was bright and playful too. I ended up laughing along with her as she winked and stuck out her tongue slightly. I held out my hand, and she handed me the keychain directly from hers. It turned into something like a handshake.
"—Huh."
"Mm?"
"N-no, it's nothing. Here, since I went to the trouble of giving it to you, don't lose it."
"I won't lose it. Though I might give it away as a present right away."
We released each other's hands, and I looked back and forth between the keychain I was gripping and her. Did something just happen? It was so brief I couldn't tell. But there was no particular sense of discomfort or visible change. Maybe my hands were cold or something. That earlier moment didn't feel like my imagination though. Still, my ability was properly activated, and I should appear as an ordinary child. I'd only be doomed if she were Azazel-sensei class.
At least, I didn't think this lady was a bad person. When I encountered stray devils or stray magicians, I felt terrible premonitions and murky black things flowing in. But I felt none of that from her. Despite looking mature, when she laughed she seemed childish—maybe because we were close in age, she somehow reminded me of Megumi-san.
I knew I had to be careful given my position. But suspecting everyone of the worst... I really hated that. She'd deliberately called out to me when I was troubled and given me what I wanted. She could have just left like everyone else and nobody would have blamed her. Yet she chose to help me.
That's right, this lady was a good person. It might be simple-minded, but that's what I thought. In that case, instead of dwelling on suspicions, I should properly thank her. Because right now, she was a kind and cheerful lady who helped me.
"Thank you so much, ma'am."
"You don't need to thank me so many times. But you're welcome."
"You're also giving someone a present, right? I hope they're happy."
"...Yeah. I'd be happy if they're pleased."
At my words, she smiled back with narrowed eyes. Probably, the person this lady planned to give a present to was someone precious to her. Because that felt like the most beautiful smile she'd shown yet.
It was a short time, but I guess this was goodbye. Both she and I had plans ahead. Once I figured out the original story's timeline, I planned to avoid Kuoh Town as much as possible, so we probably wouldn't meet again. It felt a bit lonely, but thinking of it as a fun encounter and memory, I was glad I'd come to Kuoh Town.
After that, we waved goodbye to each other and proceeded toward our respective destinations.
――――――
"Right then, time to go search for the 'Hyoudou household'—my main objective."
Leaving the shopping mall, I psyched myself up with a map of Kuoh Town in hand. The map showed all the 'Hyoudou households' I'd researched through phone books and detailed maps kept at libraries. I'd taken various precautions so even if someone saw the map it would be fine, but I'd start searching from here.
The surname "Hyoudou" couldn't be that common, and he was probably not much older than me. If he was the same elementary school age, classes would end at noon, so I figured he'd be home or playing at a nearby park. If he'd gone to a friend's house, I'd have no choice but to wait until evening or casually gather information from neighbors through small talk. I hoped I could find him safely.
There were three 'Hyoudou households' total in Kuoh Town. Since one was far from Kuoh Academy, I should start with the two nearby ones. I walked toward my destination while looking around and exploring the town. I made sure to peek into interesting shops like used bookstores and game stores along the way. Partly for my hobby and partly for the search, but I was genuinely curious too. Maybe Issei Hyoudou would actually be there, right?
So I went around Kuoh Town while heading toward the Hyoudou households. Crossing pedestrian bridges, passing through shopping districts, and upon reaching a Hyoudou house, I used my Sacred Gear to erase magical presence while using clairvoyance magic to look inside. As a result, there were no children visible inside the houses, but I could confirm the presence or absence of children's rooms. One of the two was a single-person household, but the other appeared to be a family residence. This one had high potential.
"But there's no school bag... There are children's toys, but they seem oriented toward small kids."
I tilted my head at the clairvoyance results. Maybe the 'Hyoudou household' farthest from Kuoh Academy was the right one? I decided to check the other one just in case. Looking at the map, I realized cutting through a park would be the shortest route. It was a bit far, so a shortcut should be fine.
I nodded once and entered a park located slightly on the outskirts of Kuoh Town. Walking straight down a tree-lined path, this was a rather lonely park. Maybe because it was on the outskirts without much foot traffic. Looking ahead, I spotted a fountain in all white. I wasn't an art expert, but it had a stone design that seemed European. This park seemed to have only the fountain and a small plaza...
"Could this be..."
A fountain in a small park on the outskirts of town with little foot traffic. Could this place be that location? I stopped involuntarily and slowly looked around. If my imagination was correct, this was where Issei Hyoudou would be killed by Yuuma Amano—the fallen angel Raynare. From this place, various events would unfold centered around him. I felt something deeply moving and strange.
I sat on the fountain's edge and looked up to see a bright blue sky. Listening carefully, I could only hear the fountain's flowing water and a child's crying. What a quiet park—...a child crying?
"You're a boy! Don't cry over something like this!"
"But hic... it hurts when you suddenly pull me like that, sniff..."
I walked toward the voices and found two children. One had chestnut hair in a ponytail wearing a tank top, the other had brown hair and was crying. The brown-haired child's leg was scraped, so from their earlier conversation, the chestnut-haired child must have pulled them, causing them to fall. The leg stained with blood and dirt did look painful.
"Hic, sniff..."
"Ah, um... Sorry. Let's go to my mom and get you treated. Um, can you walk?"
The chestnut-haired child apparently started panicking at the other child's pain. But even when offered a hand, the brown-haired child shook their head with tears in their eyes. One child unable to move from pain, and one who didn't know what to do with tears welling up—both seemed like kindergarteners or maybe early elementary school. At that age, handling this themselves would be difficult. No helping it—I had to step in.
"Hey now, what's wrong you two? Crying here won't solve anything."
"Huh?"
"Who are you, mister?"
"Oh, openly wary. Seems your parents educated you well."
"Of course! My dad and mom are the best!"
"M-my dad and mom are amazing too!"
"Yes, yes, no need for competitive spirit. Well, at least you stopped crying."
I couldn't help laughing at the little ones energetically responding to my words. I lowered the backpack from my shoulders and took out a simple first aid kit. Good thing I brought it just in case. The children were wide-eyed at the goods emerging from my backpack. Yeah, I know, even I think I'm too well-prepared.
"Anyway, let me treat you, so first let's wash that wound at the water fountain over there. Somewhere to sit... Hey, can you try walking to that fountain over there?"
"U-uh-huh."
"Good kid. Can you call a parent if one's nearby?" I asked the other child.
"Ah, um... We were kind of exploring, and then..."
"So no parents nearby. Geez, kids your age need to play where adults can see you. Being energetic is fine, but getting hurt like this is serious, right?"
When I spoke in a slightly scolding tone, both dropped their shoulders sadly but nodded properly. If they could reflect properly, it should be fine. I smiled reassuringly at that, then supported the brown-haired boy's body from the side. With my assistance, he slowly walked to the fountain on his own feet after washing the wound at the faucet.
I'd been thinking of giving him a piggyback ride if necessary, but he was quite a strong kid. When I scooped water to wash away the sand from the wound, tears welled up in his eyes from the pain. But unlike before, he tried not to cry. He really worked hard.
After that, I applied disinfectant to the washed leg and put on a bandage. The chestnut-haired child who'd said spirited things earlier now watched with worried eyes, bringing a small smile to my face. Come to think of it, this child had referred to themselves as "I" (watashi) earlier, so maybe they were a girl? Kids this age were hard to judge except by clothing. The clothes looked easy to move in, so honestly which were they?
Well, setting that aside. The treatment was finished, but the pain seemed to continue. Normally this would be wrong, but a reward for working hard should be okay. I activated my Sacred Gear's power so the children couldn't see the magic circle, then tried the pain-dulling magic Lavinia taught me on the child's leg. I'd practiced the magic many times so I was confident, and it seemed to activate properly. Feeling the magical power inside me decrease, I dulled this child's pain.
"Huh, it doesn't hurt as much anymore..."
"You must have been rewarded for trying not to cry. Can you walk?"
"Mm, ...yeah! I can walk! Thanks, hospital big brother!"
"Haha, 'hospital big brother,' huh."
I couldn't help laughing at the straightforward nickname the child gave me. Anyway, glad they felt better. Should I take these kids somewhere they knew? After coming this far, just leaving them felt wrong—I should see it through to the end.
"I'm worried, so I'll walk you near your homes. From now on, play where parents or people can see you, okay?"
"Yes, understood. Um, thank you very much."
"You're welcome."
The chestnut-haired child answered honestly, and their initial wariness disappeared as they happily thanked me. After that, they apologized once more to the brown-haired child for suddenly pulling them, and both seemed to make up. I packed the tools back in my backpack and stood, and the three of us walked toward the park exit.
"Hey, how old are you, hospital big brother?"
"Me? I'm eleven. Are you two the same age?"
"Uh-huh! We're going to elementary school together next year."
"Yeah!" They talked happily, making the kindergarteners endearing. Would I feel like this if I had younger siblings? My older brother in my past life—I think we just fought constantly. Both were bright, good kids, so once they entered elementary school they'd surely make lots of friends. I hoped these childhood friends would stay close.
"Heh, so around five or six. Elementary school has lots to learn, lots of friends to make, and all kinds of fun things. Look forward to next year."
"Wow, I'm excited, Irina!"
"Yeah, Issei-kun!"
"...Hold on a minute, children."
"What's wrong, hospital big brother?"
To the children looking up at me with pure adoration, I plastered on my best smile. Please let me have misheard. Or maybe it was just a similar nickname. Because there's no way. Such a reality couldn't possibly occur. My head spun sickeningly, and unpleasant sweat broke out.
A brown-haired boy and a chestnut-haired girl-ish child. I desperately hoped I was wrong, but my memory and knowledge had already reached a certain answer. The names Issei and Irina were far too familiar. And if my knowledge was correct, they could never attend the same elementary school. The next time they'd reunite would be over ten years later. And one of them wouldn't even be human anymore.
"Hey, ...what are your full names?"
"Our names? I'm Issei Hyoudou, so everyone at kindergarten calls me Issei."
"I'm Irina Shidou, and everyone calls me Irina too."
To the two telling me their names with full smiles, I felt genuinely dizzy. I was restraining myself because of these children, but I wanted to sit down right now. With this much said, even I had to face reality. But feelings of disbelief kept overflowing.
I'd always thought I was the same age or close in age to the protagonist Issei Hyoudou and the others. No, I'd been mistaken. Right, because being around their age was just my assumption. I'd unconsciously dismissed the possibility that I might be much older than them. What the Milky devil said about "the Demon Lord's sister being born recently" was literally exactly that.
I was currently eleven and would turn twelve this year. And Issei Hyoudou was currently five or six. In other words, a five-to-six-year age gap. Big. Far too big. When the original story began with most central characters being high schoolers, I'd be completely over twenty. A step ahead of everyone, already in college. What should I do—I couldn't feel it at all.
Most importantly, the original story began in the spring of Issei Hyoudou's second year of high school. Calculating backwards, that was about ten years from now. I'd wanted more years until the original story, but I couldn't close my gaping mouth at this number. Ten years from now—that meant the same amount of time as Souta Kuramoto had lived so far. I'd thought the original would start in about five or six years, but it was actually double. Should I be happy about this? Or should my stomach hurt from ten years of pre-peace tension?
The information was so sudden I was confused and couldn't keep up mentally. What should I do—I didn't know what to do. Come to think of it, this Issei kid hadn't said his trademark word "oppai." Could this really be someone with the same name—no, Irina Shidou was here. Issei awakening to breasts was during elementary school. Meaning right now he was just a purely innocent, bright boy. What the hell. My head was completely overwhelmed.
"Damn it, why... Why did you separate me from the era when Issei was shouting oppai, oppai?! You bastard, world, you son of a bitch!"
"Hospital big brother suddenly grabbed his head and started yelling?!"
"Wh-what should we do, Issei-kun! A hospital! We need to get hospital big brother to a hospital, quickly to a hospital, ...wait, huh?"
"Sh-should I shout oppai? O-oppai! Oppai! Hospital big brother, look, hang in there! Oppai! Oppaaaaai!"
I was truly grateful later, after calming down, that this was an unpopular park. I gently patted the heads of Issei-kun earnestly chanting questionable spells from pure-hearted thoughts, and Irina-chan whose eyes were spinning from "hospital" gestalt collapse, and honestly apologized to them both.
Sorry for losing my cool and dragging the children into a vortex of confusion. They were completely innocent. What was bad was probably this world that showed no mercy to mobs. It was complete misdirected anger, but I couldn't cope otherwise.
Thus, while various unexpected things occurred, I encountered Issei Hyoudou and somehow managed to learn the original story's timeline.
***
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