I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 589

"Since it’s an event match, it’s nice to see everyone going all out. Compared to last year, it seems like no one is trying to hide anything, even the Mecha youngest ones have appeared… and our first New-Youngest has really lost their mind, huh."

"Ughhh."

"It seems you still have something to say even after ruining the match, right?"

"Ughhh... ehhh."

It’s been about a year and four months since I started teaching Harmony and Dice. Over that time, both of them have made great progress, but even so, it was no different from any world where a younger member would also hold a side job as a doll for squeezing cheeks.

On a Wednesday night, about a third of the Final Championship had already passed. Unfortunately, after successfully completing about two event matches, Harmony and Dice... had spent all their energy needlessly and ended up with disappointing results.

Of course, despite that, it was still commendable that they hadn’t fallen out of the top 10, but the fact that they had wasted their energy in strange ways was definitely a minus.

The result was what we now saw—the Dakimakura penalty. Not for me, though, but for Lorentina.

"Anything to say?"

"No... I’ll work harder from now on..."

"That’s what I want to hear. You can’t perform poorly when it’s time to bring things to a close, can you? Should we hear why Harmony played so stiffly today?"

"Because you betrayed me and didn’t give me the tail you promised... I lost my strength... ughhh!"

"Don’t say nonsense."

I wrap my tail around Minah’s face, who’s spouting nonsense. After swiping up and down once or twice, her hair quickly became a mess. I ignored Dice’s sharp gaze and scanned the surroundings. The place we were in was the debriefing room attached to the hotel basement, and there were only two pro gamers who needed to be here today.

There was no need to call anyone else. The fact that the two Mecha Biyams had underperformed due to their overconfidence in the event match was a chance for others. In other words, Gambit, Mikael, and Summit had outperformed as usual, so they didn’t need to come.

But not needing to come doesn’t mean they were forbidden from showing up—

"Pathetic losers, hi."

"We came here to find the idiots who exhausted all their energy in the event match!"

"Thanks to you guys, I finally got 3rd place! Thanks!"

"Ugh... you guys really came all the way down here just to mock me... you bad guys..."

"Ha, you suck at the game... are you really gonna talk to me, loser?"

At the same time, Harmony and Dice’s faces looked like... red balloons, but the former was quickly suppressed by Lorentina, and Dice was silenced by Logan.

Since they brought it upon themselves, I and my Manifested friends just watched the scene with a casual laugh. It wasn’t a problem to tease them, and besides, after being mocked now, I’m sure the two would be back on track and beat the remaining three in the Thursday match with renewed vigor.

In other words, it was the perfect time to mock them, which is why they came.

Aside from that, the smell of snacks they brought in filled the debriefing room.

Steak sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers, chicken, and all sorts of food were spread out on the table. I smiled slightly and turned off the projector mounted on the ceiling, adding:

"Well, today’s debriefing... I didn’t plan to make it a long one, so just a few words will suffice. Both of you should already know what’s wrong without me having to meddle."

"Well... I suppose?"

"I’m still in my first year in the finals, so I still need your help... Ugh."

"You’ve been here for a year and are still asking for help after all this time?"

Lorentina calmly cut off Harmony’s words, and I stepped down from the podium, opening the sandwich wrapped in foil and taking a large bite.

The atmosphere wasn’t really like a debriefing, but looking at it, it felt like we were having a team dinner. Considering that more than half of the Final Championship was still left, it might be a bit too early, but it’s much better than staring at a screen all day long for analysis after the game.

As I thought that, I looked around.

There were so many people.

‘...A year and four months. In that time, have I met this many people?’

There were plenty of pro gamers and my disciples, old acquaintances from the past, and streamers who had flown in just in time—all quietly entering as I took another bite of the sandwich.

In total, there were already more than ten people, and naturally, there were still plenty I hadn’t invited. Even Mecha Biyam wasn’t here yet. If everyone were to gather, it would likely surpass the twenty from the last third raid.

I wondered how many more would show up, and at the same time, I felt that I had been living a rather busy life.

Noticing my nostalgic expression, Lorentina, who had freed Harmony, came up to me.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind."

"I was just thinking."

"I figured."

By now, wine was being set up.

As the unmanned robots placed bottles of wine and glasses on the table, Lorentina, with a glass in hand, added while sipping.

"Maybe starting next year, we won’t be able to meet like this. Last year and this year were exceptions. With the things the youngest has caused, there will be various winds blowing through the military soon, and many positions will be replaced by humanoids over the next decade... though that’s not the only reason."

"That’s true. Thanks for coming."

Lorentina didn’t answer, and after a brief silence, she spoke again.

"Logan and I will likely be the same. Olivia might have some chance, but she’ll be busy preparing for something early next year, so unless there’s a major change in the Final Championship schedule, it will likely be the same."

"...I see."

"And... Jin. This is something that applies to you to some extent as well. Well, applying is a bit vague, though."

"What do you mean?"

At the same time, Lorentina looked far off.

Of course, I wasn’t asking because I didn’t know what she was going to say. I had already more or less guessed what she would say. I just thought it would be better to hear it from someone else, so I stayed silent.

"Starting next year, I’m guessing those friends will need to break out of the youngest’s protection and start spreading their wings on their own."

"That’s right. Unless I impose physical limitations and climb the qualifying ranks again, I won’t be back here again."

"Hehe. Hearing that, I guess my worries were unnecessary. You’ve already got a few things planned ahead."

"I’ve got a lot on my plate. Next year, I might not have enough time just to wrap things up, so I need to take care of the smaller things beforehand. I’m still thinking about whether I should join a military survival program."

Icarus and Icarus International.

If you think about it that way, I’ll probably be less active on streams... though that depends on what kind of ads I might take on. The future is unpredictable, so there’s no point in deciding that too early.

As I thought about it and counted the possibilities on my fingers, the outline was starting to become clear.

"Those friends over there have just started, but the youngest is already at a point where the punctuation needs to be placed."

"The starting line was different, so the timing to wrap things up is different too."

"Well, that’s true... but I heard the blonde-haired one moved to the house next door recently? Do you think that will happen easily?"

"Ha."

...Could it be?

In any case, I don’t need to predict the future too recklessly, but there are always clear milestones or something similar along the way.

And maybe that will start after the 4th Final Championship is over, when I head home. For now, it’s just a vague thought, but I think one of the reasons I’m not overly concerned with the results of this year’s finals is probably due to that.

The time for rest is coming soon.

As I was thinking this, Lorentina glanced at me and spoke.

"If you’re planning to visit Virginia Beach, let me know. I’ll take care of you."

"I don’t want to fight burnout like that."

"Hehe, that’s something nobody can know."

"Ah, really..."

With that, I quietly observed the people chatting away in the room, thinking that I would wrap up the day peacefully.

Then, one of them activated the projector.

"What’s this... wait, isn’t this Dark Zone Town? Why are there so many people?"

"Really crazy, this."

On the TV screen through the projector, the number of people heading to Dark Zone Town had skyrocketed since the event match began, and Mecha Eugene-related merchandise was selling out fast. Users dressed like Mecha Eugene, awkwardly wearing the third-arm system, were taking photos with tourists.

I guess I underestimated the event match.

"Wow."

"Isn’t this all your fault?"

"...I can’t deny that, unfortunately."

"Wow, hahahahahahahahaha." "So... is this Manhattan, or what?" "Seriously, why are there so many people in this backwater place? Hahahahahaha." "Icarus is going to recover their investment in no time, hahahahaha." "Are we sure this place won’t end up bigger than a small town later?"

There were so many people, so many, so many.

This wasn’t even about the Final Championship. Specifically, it felt more like... hmm, what’s a fitting analogy? If Monday to Wednesday was like walking through the streets of Manhattan, today felt like walking into a newly opened Disney World. Why was there such a dramatic difference in visitors?

Of course, I was able to figure that out well through some data that Icarus Gear had subtly shown me.

‘Toronto, Mississauga, Hamilton, Buffalo, Syracuse… thinking about it, I could’ve visited here without needing to book accommodations.’

The cities I just listed were all roughly 100-250 km away from Dark Zone Town, meaning that with just a car, anyone could easily visit on a day trip, and there were plenty of accommodation options in those cities, maybe even more than here.

While I wasn’t sure, I thought the reason why there were so many visitors today might be that... perhaps the event match that aired worldwide yesterday had completely removed viewers’ mental limits.

Let’s face it, it was a day trip to Japan, and with the domestic flights in the U.S. being so quick, people from Toronto, Rochester, or nearby airports could easily visit this place.

I don’t know why I hadn’t realized that earlier, but most problems reveal their simplicity once you see the answer.

"The restaurant in front of the building is packed. A few days ago, there were always a few seats available no matter when you went, but today, the line’s all the way to the end..."

"Hehe, look at this, youngest. Videos about the feasibility of Mecha Youngest and Tail Weapon have been flooding your space, and the media seems to have caught wind of it too."

"...I know it’s because of things like that that the visitors are increasing. Do you know how many messages I got until just now?"

I had messages from my parents, numerous gun companies I worked with in a streaming ad campaign, and Wilkinson Sword, the company that produced the Fairburn-Sykes dagger. Of course, other places had contacted me too, but the most important ones were those.

I didn’t mention Icarus because that was obvious.

The reason my parents contacted me... well, it was just a simple check-in. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll actually be able to visit them this year unlike last year. I’m actually looking forward to it.

And the second message was from the firearms company.

"Well, you know how it goes in the U.S., right? One ad and a gun flies off the shelf. What was it that I worked on... the logo, the camo (CAMO), the internal custom... yeah, I remember the rifles and handguns sold like crazy."

"That’s to be expected. Considering the local ecosystem here, it makes sense."

"...Self-defense, huh? And probably hunting animals too."

"Why don’t we have things like that???" "Would we even? Hahahaha." "Maybe in about six months, we’ll see some guns with the Biyam logo on them at the shooting range." "Totally geeky hobby with guns, hahahahaha." "Yeah, it’s not impossible in a world full of guys putting decals on guns."

In the northern U.S., a place that could almost be called a frontier town.

It was a place where something unexpected could come up, and someone might enjoy hunting bears, wolves, or deer as a recreational sport. After all, people like Lorentina and Logan grew up in this kind of place, so... I got a pretty good idea of the vibe.

And axes... well, they’re a kind of multi-purpose tool. You can chop wood with them and use them for cutting things. Recently, I saw axes with my emblem and paintwork at the Icarus store.

People who could easily visit places like these were usually quite financially well-off, meaning firearms and knives, among other things, sold like hotcakes.

Noticing this, Logan casually placed his arm on my shoulder and added:

"Looks like the youngest's wallet is getting thicker."

"Want me to buy you something?"

"Do you think I’m some ghost who sucks money from you?"

"Ouch, that hurts…"

It’s kind of strange, I thought I was just saying it in good faith.

Anyway, all the pro gamers, including Harmony and Dice, had long since left for the stadium to prepare for Thursday’s match. So we were left to look at the crowds outside and wonder how we were going to get to the stadium.

If we drove, we’d be blocked by the crowds, but the car would be faster than walking. Walking would avoid the traffic, but... it was clear what would happen if we did that.

"Doesn’t it seem fun to go out there?"

"I kind of want to shout something loudly just to see what happens."

"I’m curious what it feels like to be surrounded by so many people."

"...Who said you could just go out?!"

"But the door was open, aahhh!"

Now, with Mecha Monnani’s roaming around too...

I was curious what it would feel like to put these three in the stadium, but I didn’t want to risk ruining the whole day just for a moment of curiosity, so I decided to hold back.

As we thought about how to get to the stadium while listening to Lorentina’s “How about we just snack a little and go slowly?” nonsense, I was interrupted by a call on my ‘Icarus Gear.’ It was a number I didn’t recognize.

What kind of day was today? I thought, and answered the call.

"Yes, this is Eugene."

"Oh, seems like the connection is fine. You probably guessed it, but I’m calling from my personal phone for a moment. I have something to quickly mention. Do you have a moment?"

"...I’ll make time, Mr. President."

At that moment, everyone in the room turned toward me in less than a second, but I was so dizzy I didn’t even notice.

A sense of disbelief evaporated in real-time, but I held myself together and waited for the reply.

"Don’t worry. It’s nothing major... I used to be the governor of New York. I’ve always wanted to attend a ceremony, but unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll make it this time. However, I heard it’s possible to attend remotely using a hologram humanoid."

"...I see, but..."

"I’ve been supporting New York, but can’t I at least hang a medal around the neck of the winners? I’ve already sent a cooperation request to Icarus. If they accept, I’ll be able to meet you on Sunday. Just wanted to let you know."

"I’m sorry to say this, but I really feel like jumping up and down right now."

"Hahaha! Sorry to put you in a tough spot! I know this won’t be an easy opportunity again, so I just wanted to try it. Like I said before, just think of it as the behavior of a grumpy old man."

While everyone just blinked at me, Henry laughed heartily and said, "Don’t worry if Icarus rejects it!" and ended the call.

How could I possibly turn this down?

As I was thinking about this, others finally spoke up with difficulty.

"Good job, youngest."

"...Yeah, I guess so."

The world was truly a strange place.

The curtain for Thursday was finally raised.