Chito and Yuuri had only come to the restaurant to replenish their energy and gather a few supplies before setting out again.
Yuto invited them to stay and rest for a while, especially since Yuuri had already been yawning and openly complaining that she was sleepy.
Chito, however, still insisted that they should return to their own world.
Their vehicle was parked outside, and she simply could not bring herself to leave something so important unattended for too long.
Seeing how worried she was, Yuto did not try to persuade them any further.
Instead, he asked Tohru to bring down several extra sets of bedding for the two girls.
If they were determined to sleep out there again, then at the very least, he wanted them to be a little warmer at night.
"Bye-bye, Boss~~~"
Yuuri stood at the restaurant entrance and waved enthusiastically at him.
Aside from the rifle strapped across her back, she was also carrying two thick blankets in her arms.
Chito stood beside her with two folded mattresses of her own.
"If you run into any trouble during your journey, make sure you come back to the restaurant and ask for help."
Yuto smiled at the two girls.
After exchanging one final round of goodbyes, Chito and Yuuri finally stepped through the door and returned to that ruined world at the end of civilization, continuing once again along a road whose destination neither of them truly knew.
As for where that journey would eventually end...
No one could say.
Perhaps it was an endless road, one they could spend their entire lives traveling without ever reaching its final point.
Or perhaps...
They were already much closer to the end than anyone realized.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe the day after.
Perhaps Chito and Yuuri would soon reach the very end of their journey.
Yuto remained standing there for a moment before slowly breathing out.
Then he turned back inside and began collecting the dishes they had left behind.
Nearby, Illya gave a faint, thoughtful sigh of her own.
Partly for Chito and Yuuri.
And partly...
For herself.
...
The hour hand gradually passed twelve.
Midnight had arrived.
Outside the restaurant, the leaves of the luminous tree had reached their brightest.
Their glow shimmered through the darkness like fireflies dancing beside a pond, or stars scattered low enough to touch, yet unlike distant starlight, the radiance they gave off felt warm and comforting.
A nighttime breeze drifted through the alley, stirring a thin layer of dust from the ground and carrying it quietly into the distance.
Aside from Yuto's restaurant, every other shop along the alley was closed.
Because of the restaurant's unusual nature, ordinary pedestrians rarely paid much attention to this place anymore.
Over time, that had effectively robbed the neighboring businesses of the ability to operate normally, leaving their doors shut night after night.
Yuto stood outside for a while and let his gaze wander across the darkened storefronts.
His expression did not change, but a thought quietly formed in his mind.
Perhaps...
It would be better to simply buy all these properties someday.
If the entire alley belonged to the restaurant, then he would no longer need to worry about inconveniencing anyone else, and the extra space might become useful in ways he could not predict yet.
It was an idea worth considering.
"Boss, it looks like there's no point waiting any longer."
Illya's voice behind him pulled Yuto out of his thoughts.
When he turned around, the little girl had already risen from her seat.
Helplessness was written across her face, along with a clear trace of disappointment.
In the end...
Heracles never came.
She could not keep waiting forever.
There were still things she needed to deal with in her own world, especially with the Holy Grail War continuing around her.
"If I see him, I'll pass along what you wanted to say."
Yuto reassured her with a smile.
Illya gave him a small bow in thanks before leaving with Berserker.
The restaurant was finally empty of customers.
Only Yuto and Tohru remained.
...
Not long after Illya left, Saitama and Son Goku returned.
Both of them looked utterly battered.
Their clothes were torn, their bodies were covered in dust, and judging from the state they were in, their battle had been anything but restrained.
Yet the satisfied smiles on their faces made it obvious that neither of them regretted a second of it.
Genos, who had gone along specifically to record the fight, looked considerably less enthusiastic.
In fact, the normally cold and composed cyborg appeared unusually shaken.
Whatever he had witnessed had clearly exceeded even his expectations.
It was rare to see Genos wearing an expression like that.
Saitama chatted briefly with Yuto after returning, then left with Genos. He wanted nothing more than to go home, change his ruined clothes, take a shower, and sleep.
Goku, however, stayed behind.
The battle had consumed an enormous amount of his energy, and now his attention had shifted completely toward replenishing it.
When it came to recovery after a fight, Saitama ate roughly like a normal person.
Son Goku... definitely did not.
Yuto ended up cooking almost nonstop for nearly an hour before Goku finally leaned back with a satisfied expression.
Only then did he leave as well.
After that, the restaurant became quiet again.
Several hours passed without a single customer appearing.
It was not until almost five in the morning that Ainz and Rimuru finally returned.
They had left sometime around eight or nine the previous evening, and after being gone for most of the night, they now approached the counter and sat down with noticeably relaxed movements.
Neither of them possessed much of a conventional facial expression anymore, but their mood was still obvious enough.
"Whew~"
Rimuru released a short, satisfied breath before asking Yuto for a cup of alcohol.
Yuto poured him some.
A small rounded protrusion extended from Rimuru's spherical slime body, forming something vaguely resembling a hand as he grabbed the cup and began happily gulping down the drink.
The mead they had brought in from Mia's tavern had a pale, wheat-like color, and because Rimuru's body was translucent, Yuto could actually see the yellowish liquid passing into him.
For a brief instant, the entire slime took on a faint golden tint.
Then, almost immediately, his body returned to normal.
Yuto found the change strangely fascinating.
Beside him, Ainz watched Rimuru drinking with the red lights inside his eye sockets dimming slightly.
He wanted to drink too.
They had both been transported to another world...
So why did he have to end up as a skeleton?
"How is the plan... going?"
Yuto asked after a moment, still finding the phrase world conquest slightly ridiculous even though everyone involved was apparently treating it with complete seriousness.
"Really well! Honestly, Ainz has been a huge help."
Rimuru answered in a cheerful, celebratory tone.
Yuto immediately looked toward Ainz.
Rimuru continued explaining.
The Great Jura Forest was an enormous region filled with monsters, and if he wanted to completely unify the entire forest, manpower was the biggest obstacle.
Or more specifically...
He needed soldiers capable of fighting other monsters.
Although Rimuru's goblin settlement had developed considerably during this period, the number of actual combat units under his command was still far too small to control such an enormous territory efficiently.
Ainz's arrival completely solved that problem.
As a supreme undead magic caster, he could summon hundreds upon hundreds of powerful undead warriors with relative ease, and even his ordinary summoned soldiers possessed considerable combat strength.
At the same time, Nazarick finally demonstrated another side of itself.
The Great Tomb was not merely a home or fortress.
It was a war machine.
Before leaving his own world, Ainz had gathered a large force of monsters from within Nazarick. Once he arrived in Rimuru's world, he released them all.
With Nazarick's forces and Rimuru's growing army advancing together, their combined numbers swept across the Great Jura Forest like a flood.
Territory after territory fell with astonishing speed.
Yuto could not help looking impressed.
The two then briefly explained what came next.
Once morning arrived, Rimuru planned to send invitations to the surrounding nations.
Ainz's suggestion was extremely straightforward.
Demand their submission.
Rimuru, however, did not want to go quite that far.
Rather than forcing every surrounding nation beneath his direct rule, he preferred the idea of establishing something closer to a federation—a large, loosely united alliance where the various territories could retain some degree of autonomy while still falling under one broader structure.
Between the two of them, Ainz was clearly the more ruthless and iron-fisted.
Rimuru still possessed a much softer heart.
Listening to them discuss their plans as casually as though they were organizing a neighborhood committee, Yuto gradually developed a strange feeling.
At this rate...
It might only take these two another few days to finish this entire "world conquest" business.
Ainz and Rimuru remained at the restaurant only briefly before leaving again.
This time, however, they returned to their respective worlds separately.
Their cooperation tonight had already produced excellent results.
Now each of them had matters on their own side that needed to be handled personally.