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"So good! It has been so long since I've eaten anything like this!"
Kaito and the others watched quietly as Kanazawa tore into a croissant.
"Burp! Phew..."
With that satisfied exhale marking the end of his meal, the group could finally talk properly.
"How was it? Full?"
Kaito asked with a slight smile.
In the original story, Kanazawa had given his hand-drawn map and his camera to Chito and Yuuri. Kaito had no objection to bringing him along. Someone who could still show kindness to two children in the middle of an apocalypse was not a bad person.
"Um... may I ask who you are? How did you fly here?"
He had not had a chance to ask earlier, since Kaito had immediately handed him food the moment they met.
"I am..."
"Kami-sama!"
Yuuri announced this loudly from beside him before Kaito could say a word.
"God?"
Kanazawa was an adult. He was not quite ready to accept that at face value. They had flown in, yes, but in his estimation, a superpower of some kind was the more rational explanation. That was the sort of thing post-apocalyptic novels were full of.
"Hehe. The truth is..."
Kaito walked him through the familiar explanation. By the end of it, Kanazawa had a reasonably clear picture of who was standing in front of him.
"So you came to this world for these two children."
Kaito nodded.
"Um... I..."
"You don't need to say it." Kaito cut him off before he could get there. "I can take you with us too. What you do after that is entirely up to you."
Kanazawa went very still for a moment.
Then he bowed ninety degrees and stayed there, and his voice, when it came, was not entirely steady.
"Thank you. Truly. If you ever need anything from me, I will give everything I have."
The thought of living somewhere peaceful again made his whole body shake.
People who have never truly despaired cannot fully understand what it feels like when hope comes back.
"Alright, alright! We still have someone else to find. Save it for later."
"Let's go!"
The golden shields reappeared. This time there was one more person inside.
Buzz...
Ishii, welding mask down and white lab coat on, was bent over a component with complete concentration.
This was one of the most critical parts for the plane she was building. There was no room for error.
"Phew! Finally done. Getting closer."
Her plan was to finish assembling a propeller aircraft and fly to other cities, to see if any human settlements still existed. She had her doubts about there being any other survivors in this city at all.
In the original story, Chito and Yuuri had helped her finish the plane, but it had malfunctioned shortly after takeoff. She had parachuted to safety, but the light in her eyes had gone out on the way down.
A comment from one of the civilization cleaners the two girls encountered later had made it clear: aside from the very top level, only Chito and Yuuri remained in the entire city. That had also quietly told the reader what had become of Kanazawa and Ishii.
"Even if you finish it, there are no survivors in any of the other cities either."
Ishii spun around at the voice.
"Ah ah ah ah!!!"
Kaito winced and rubbed his ear.
"Hey. Calm down. We are living people."
"Huh!!!"
Ishii stared.
Five people. Five living, breathing people standing in front of her.
She had believed she was completely alone in this city.
"People... people... there are so many... Woo woo woo!"
"Ah ah ah ah!"
"I... I... Woo woo woo... I'm just too... I can't... Woo woo..."
Kanazawa watched her go from a few tears to full, uncontrollable sobbing, and understood completely. He had been much the same when he first met Kaito.
"Sigh."
Kaito looked at Ishii crouched on the ground with her face in her hands and let out a quiet breath.
War was something else. A perfectly good world, reduced to this. He found himself thinking, not for the first time, that the ordinary life he had lived before might already be an impossible dream for people in countries that knew real conflict.
He walked over quietly, crouched down beside her, and held out a tissue.
"Wipe your face. Say whatever you need to once you have calmed down."
Ishii looked up, face soaked, and took it with trembling hands.
"...Thank you. I'm alright now."
She stood.
"Hehe. No need to thank me."
"By the way, I haven't asked your names yet. My name is Kaito. This is Sakuya, Yuuri, Chito, and Kanazawa..."
He paused.
"Actually, Kanazawa, you explain the rest to her. I think I've done enough explaining for one day."
'Damn it, System. Can you give me something that handles this? I can't just invade people's minds with divine sense every time I arrive somewhere.'
[Ding. Host, all rewards are entirely random.]
'Right, right. So when is the next one coming?'
[...Tomor... Tomorrow, perhaps.]
'Why didn't you just say that to begin with?'
[...]
While Kaito was sorting that out internally, Kanazawa had explained everything to Ishii.
"An important figure from another world... Does that mean we can go back to living in a real society?"
Kanazawa nodded vigorously.
"That's wonderful!!! That is truly wonderful!!!"
"This miserable world can just go straight to hell!!!"
She became thoroughly incoherent with excitement.
"It sounds like you're done talking. Then let's head to the last stop, and after that we leave this world."
"Okay! *4"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
"Eh eh eh! No flying this time? Is this teleportation?!"
"Sugoi!!!"
Not wanting to waste time, Kaito had taken them directly to the exit of the uppermost level.
"So this is the top..."
Everyone looked out at the vast expanse of white stretching before them, and for a moment no one spoke.
"Chito. There's no Eden."
"No, Yuuri. There isn't."
"But we don't really need it anymore, do we?"
"Mm mm! You're right, Chito. We're going to have a new home."
Kaito quietly took out the camera he had used back in the One Piece world and raised it.
Click.
Through the viewfinder: the world's last four survivors, standing together at the top of everything.
He smiled.
'Come to think of it, there are quite a few civilization cleaners in this world. But I don't think they will be needed anymore, so...'
'Hahahaha... Hehehehehe... Allow this one to do the cleaning instead!'
'What do you say, my dear?'
Kaito looked at the miniature Conqueror's Banner that had appeared in his palm, a quiet, meaningful smile on his face.