It Seems the Cheat Original Work Protagonists Don’t Have to be Perfect
(my eyes have been hurting recently, so I’ve been trying to avoid electronic screens as much as possible, even copying ebooks into a Word document and printing them)
Through Riin's eyes, Greysphere witnessed how everything had unfolded, and had all of the terminals he had sent into this world withdrawn. The "Trees of Evil" in every nation likewise all vanished like mist. The fact that such enormous trees had disappeared overnight would surely have the whole world in an uproar by now.
It seemed that the draining of the planet's power by the Trees of Evil had also been stopped before major damage was done, so looking at the outcome, it could be said that the damage from this incident had been kept to a minimum.
After the deadly battle with Grey Sheriruth, on top of a hill where the dazzling morning sun shone upon flowers of every color.
With everything over, and amid the lively atmosphere where everyone was chatting as though they were about to head off to a wrapping party, Mea called out when she saw Riin standing apart from the warriors’ group, looking up at the blue sky by himself.
"Riin, what are you going to do now?"
Greysphere no longer had any intention of baring his fangs at the human world.
So she asked what Riin, who had come to this world for Greysphere's sake, would do with his life at this turning point. In response to her question, the grey boy answered with a relaxed smile.
"I'm going back to the world of nothingness—to Greysphere."
"You mean..."
He had no intention of remaining in the human world like this.
Mea wondered if he had made that choice out of guilt, because he believed himself to be a dangerous existence to this world, but Riin read the thoughts of the worried girl and shook his head.
It was true that Riin carried tremendous guilt over what he had done.
But he said that it was not that feeling alone pushing him now, but rather, the mission he had to fulfill was with Greysphere.
"Through everything that happened here, Greysphere has begun wanting to understand all of you more deeply. I want to tell him what you taught me. In my own words... just as you told your father."
"I see... Yeah. Tell him all your feelings."
"Fufu... It means he'll have to keep holding back on returning to his home again... but I'll definitely persuade him."
Accepting Riin's feelings of not wanting to fight Mea and the others, Greysphere had withdrawn from this world, but his own desire to return to its homeland had still not changed. The two believed that was the immediate issue.
Being an existence separated from Abyss Zero, Greysphere was, to the World Tree Sefira of Fairy World, a harmful existence simply by being there.
Unless that fact could be overturned, Fairy World would never permit his return. The fundamental problems remained piled up.
But for now, that was fine.
Through talking with each other, the two had come to think that, for now, there was no need to insist on everything being perfect.
If this world was not made up of only sadness, then someday, surely, even Greysphere would be able to find a kind future—that hope had begun to sprout within Riin's heart as well.
Even so, it felt painful to him that Greysphere would have to endure a while longer...
"As for us, it would've been more convenient if you or Daat had become the king of Fairy World."
"Stop it, you too... I'm not cut out for something like that. Though I think Eight-onee-chan could do it."
"I like you because you're kind. Greysphere really doesn't want to negotiate with Keter... He's a very frightening king."
"It'll be okay. If you need someone to mediate, I'll help anytime."
"...Thank you. I don't know how many years it'll be... but when that time comes, I'll be counting on you."
So once he had settled things on his side, he would come back to see them. He said that with a smile.
He too was heading toward his own battle.
A battle to tell his own "god" of his earnest wish that they stop hurting others in order to return to their home.
Looking at him with eyes filled with resolve, Mea quietly held out her right hand.
"If you get lonely, come back. I'm sure this is your home too."
"...! Yeah!"
As the fresh breeze swayed the flowering plants, the two, who had once been no one, exchanged a firm handshake and promised to meet again.
The nightmare was over, and the boy flew off toward the clear blue sky.
The girl blessed his existence, while she herself also held hope for the tomorrow she had yet to see.
Until the boy disappeared beyond the Gate, the girl kept waving her hand with a smile like the moon for a long, long time.
The sun whispers,
like ringing golden cymbals.
"Come along, to the banquet of the trees."
Let's listen closely.
Wash your face with clouds of soap bubbles,
stroll gently with the breeze.
"It'll be alright, surely..."
A heart that becomes wings.
Release it
toward the light.
A ribbon from the sky that connects rainbows,
a present for your smile.
Let's make a wish,
in this weather ideal for dreaming.
May tomorrow, too,
be filled with happiness.
Picking at the clouds’ candyfloss,
a meadow for a little rest.
"Where does the wind return to?"
Let's ask the birds.
Shouldering the responsibility of a sunset race,
the stretching shadows play chasey.
"I'm watching over you, always..."
Let the kindness
of the shining evening moon embrace you.
Line up the stars as buttons in the sky,
to fasten the curtain of night.
We'll meet again tomorrow,
it's the ideal weather for dreaming.
If you don't forget that smile.
"It'll be alright, surely..."
A heart that becomes wings.
Release it
toward the light.
A ribbon from the sky that connects rainbows,
a present for your smile.
Let's make a wish,
in this weather ideal for dreaming.
May tomorrow, too,
be filled with happiness.
── May tomorrow, too, be filled with happiness. ──
(tl note: the song above is a very slightly altered version of YUME Biyori, the theme song of a Doraemon Movie)
Watching from a distance the girl who, unlike them, had parted in a way that was positive to the very end──the Archangels closest to the Seat of God both wore lonely expressions.
『Failed to die again... huh...』(tl note: to survive (when one should have died))
The king of Fairy World, one of them, muttered to himself with self-mockery as he recalled the distant past. It was a painfully pessimistic remark, the complete opposite of his daughter, who was overflowing with hope for the future.
The white Primordial Archangel, his companion from the old era, responded to his murmur.
『It simply means... that the time has not yet come.』
『.…』
Now that the Holy Dragon was gone, Charon was the only one who could speak to Keter, the oldest Archangel Sefirot, as an equal.
She too was someone who, like him now, had been unable to die when she should have, one who had missed the time to use her life—and that was exactly why Keter had always disliked her.
Looking back now, perhaps it had been a feeling of self-loathing toward one of his own kind.
Yet the profile she showed was not that of the gloomy Archangel named Charon whom Keter knew.
Somehow, she looked as though she was looking forward to the future ahead... Within those golden eyes, there seemed to shine a dazzling light of hope.
『Lately, I have been thinking: perhaps we still have things left to accomplish in this world.』
『...Until that is finished, we cannot return? ...What a cruel thing to say.』
『I'm sorry.』
『It's fine. That is what it means to live.』
『...Indeed.』
Keter, unusually—or rather, for the first time—was able to accept those words honestly, words she had probably intended as encouragement in her own way.
It did not seem likely that the two of them, both having failed to die, would ever get along—but perhaps only after finding himself in a similar position could he finally feel sympathy for the person she had once been.
It was only a slight change, but it was a change of heart that had taken place within him over the past few years.
Charon continued speaking to him.
『But... those kids taught me that it is not only that.』
Keter as king, and Charon as the World Tree.
For the two of them, who had lived far too long in this cruel world, continuing to live for the sake of the world was nothing if not cruel.
Yet even within that suffering, there had been a happiness beyond compare, a salvation... Gazing at Keter with gentle eyes, Charon spoke.
『Thank you, Keter.』
I'm sorry I couldn't thank you… As though following the example of the daughter who had said those words, Charon sincerely bowed her head toward Keter.
For Keter, it was the first time he had ever witnessed such a sight, even looking back upon the ancient age.
『You are the finest king. Thank you for guiding the world.』
『...You...』
Besides his self-loathing toward one of his own kind, there had been one other reason Keter disliked her.
It was because he had always carried guilt toward her in his heart.
...Certainly, he had also disliked the fact that, long ago, she had let Daat go alone into the Abyssal World.
But even Keter understood that, at the time, there had been no other way to save the world. More than anything, that regret had been engraved within him not as a reason to hate her, but as resentment toward his own powerlessness.
Therefore, he had never resented her over that matter.
And besides... when it came to who had suffered the most after losing her precious younger sister back then... it was none other than Keter himself who understood that more deeply than anyone.
『Conducting myself as a king was not something I did for your sake. But... I will accept your thanks.』
『I'm relieved.』
...What is there to be relieved about?
Yet it was only after receiving not her feelings of apology, but her feelings of gratitude, that Keter felt he might finally be able to face this Archangel he had always been uncomfortable with.
『Charon.』
『What is it?』
Thinking about it, when was the last time he had called her name without any hidden feelings?
Looking back on the ancient memories that had long since worn away, it had been when Keter had only just been born—during that brief peaceful time when Charon and Daat were there, and their father, the Holy Dragon Ain Sof, was there as well.
Keter had been created to become the "king" of the angels who would be born afterward, and he had wholeheartedly chased after the backs of the two of them so that he could become a splendid Archangel.
Feeling positively for the first time as he wondered whether he had managed to catch up to them compared to back then, even if only a little, Keter asked her.
『Do you feel happiness now?』
『...?』
At the sudden, unexpected question, Charon looked back at him with a puzzled gaze.
Seeing her reaction, Keter could not help but give a wry smile.
『No... Never mind. It is a question you have no need for now.』
『...I see. You're right.』
Watching Charon speak of her own feelings as though they belonged to someone else, Keter let out a sigh, thinking she had not changed at all.
The reason he had suddenly asked something whose answer was obvious was because the woman before him wore the same calm expression she had back then, as though a burden had been lifted from her.
To someone unfamiliar with her, her expression might have seemed scarcely changed, but because of their long-standing connection*, Keter could read it easily now. (tl note: undesirable but inseparable relationship)
At this moment, she was feeling the happiest she had ever been since she had been born into this world.
...Was this her influence as well?
Speak of the devil—or something to that effect, it was at that moment, into that calm yet strange atmosphere, that an innocent presence wholly out of place there, for better or worse, cut in.
"Ah, there you are! Oh, Keter's with you too, how unusual."
It was T.P. Eight Olishua.
After exchanging a few brief words with Mea, Akatsuki En, and the others, she had teleported over to the two of them.
Having used the sacred art "Underworld Dream Mirror," which interfered with dimensions, Charon's power was already nearly exhausted. It had become difficult for her to maintain a physical body, and she had already begun to fade, but the moment Eight touched her once, her physical form was restored.
Now that the battle was over, there should have been no problem with her returning to her spirit form, but perhaps Eight had maintained her physical body out of consideration for her, the one who had rendered the greatest service this time.
...That kind of thoughtfulness had remained astonishingly unchanged from "Daat."
"Good work, you two! Thanks to you too, Keter, for coming all this way to help."
『I merely came to clean up the unfinished business of the old era.』
『My apologies.』
Eight once again thanked Keter, the king of Fairy World, for personally dealing with this incident, but since this was cleaning up what the Holy Dragon and the Primordial Archangels had been unable to accomplish, to him it was only his natural duty.
Therefore, Keter had come here not so much out of a sense of responsibility as because he had been driven by a sense of duty.
Yet in front of him, for whatever reason, Eight looked at him with the eyes of someone watching something amusing… something heartwarming.
"But you helped Mea, didn't you? Fufu, that made me happy."
...She nonchalantly struck upon something that even he himself had found surprising.
Yet now, Keter felt no urge to deny her words.
"...The one who was helped... was me."
"Hm?"
When Keter faced his daughter—Mea—he quietly spoke, in the language of this world, the honest feelings he had held in his heart.
His voice was so quiet that he had deliberately made it impossible to hear, so even Eight tilted her head in puzzlement... but that was fine.
After smiling at Keter, Charon turned to Eight and changed the subject.
『Eight, what will you do from now on?』
"From now on? Well, for the time being, I'll return the powers I stole this time to their owners..."
It could be said that T.P. Eight Olishua was the one who had worked harder than anyone behind the scenes of the world during this incident.
For a while, she would likely be occupied with dealing with the aftermath of what she herself had done—but her eyes were already looking even further beyond that.
This time, she quietly murmured in a volume that was difficult to hear.
"...Maybe... I'll come back home too..."
The words were squeezed out with an unusually anxious expression.
Anyone else would likely have taken those words to mean that she intended to return to Fairy World, the homeland of the Archangel Daat.
However, only Charon, her older sister—and Keter accurately understood the true meaning of those words.
And so, he asked.
It was the greatest question he could ask T.P. Eight Olishua, one he could only put into words because, over these past five years, he had finally gotten his feelings in order.
『...Which home do you mean?』
The homeland of Daat, the Primordial Archangel who presided over "Knowledge," was the Fairy World where Keter and the others lived.
However, Keter had realized that the homeland of the other soul within her was probably a world different from their own.
Perhaps because she had not expected that question to come from him, Eight's eyes widened for a moment before she scratched her head and smiled awkwardly.
Like Daat, the quick-witted her immediately understood Keter's intention in asking the question, and looked into his eyes with a troubled expression.
"Amazing... You noticed."
『I believed that none other than I understood what kind of angel Daat was. But... it’s alright now. If her soul is there.』
"Yeah... Even now, Daat is happy. She can see how splendid you've become."
Narrowing her eyes against the morning light shining through the silk hat she had taken off, T.P. Eight Olishua placed a hand on her chest as she spoke with a flood of emotions.
To those words, Keter replied while turning away.
『I see...』
That was all Keter said.
But the corners of his mouth had softened.
At that moment, Keter truly understood that those were the sincere feelings—without falsehood—of the "her" who had been reborn, the same feelings he had heard five years before.
──Thus, the nightmare that he had been seeing also came to an end.
We'll meet again somewhere, someday.
(author:With a fitting ending song and a meaningful C-part, the Movie Arc concludes here. Thank you very much for reading to the very end!)
(July 9 2026. Thank you to my patrons:Isaac Martinez, RaiNi, Kyubie, Breadlava, Shaq ,Morriel, ProlificTool, jake bomn, Nobody, Sleepy Sylph, jonathan kim, Luke, jerome vent, and Lord_Clamiral)