It was truly a fleeting reign.
No, the actions of the Sword Beast were even less than that—just a one-hour reign.
“Phew, it’s over.”
After defeating the one who had intended to drag Miss Hoshino’s future into a downward spiral, I immediately released my monster form.
After that, the situation was quickly settled.
Well, the culprit had been dealt with in the blink of an eye, practically disappearing.
First, Lord Makoto, who had been carrying Miss Hoshino on her back down the mountain.
“Princess!”
“Over here, Princess!”
“Huh? Doctors…?”
It seemed that Lord Makoto had been safely rescued by the emergency paramedics I had contacted before I transformed into the monster.
In the original story, it was a foregone conclusion that Lord Makoto would be killed by the Sword Beast.
Knowing that future, I had hastily called in as many ambulances as possible, even invoking the name of the Okami clan, asking for help around the territory.
Thanks to that, Lord Makoto arrived at the hospital much faster than Miss Hoshino, who was on my back.
“The surgery… fortunately, it was successful.”
“Ah!”
“I see.”
“Yes. If we had been any later, there could have been permanent disability, but with this, you should be able to move normally again soon.”
She had received perfect treatment with no after effects.
“Heeey…! I’m so relieved, so thankful!”
“Congratulations, Miss.”
“No, it’s me who’s really thankful, Janghoon.”
At the operating room door, Miss Hoshino, who had become ‘the life-saver of her mother’, hugged me tightly.
Even the clan members who were taking shelter were all praising me.
To be honest, I was bracing myself for some scolding, as I had used the Okami clan’s name without permission.
“Well, it all worked out, so I guess it’s fine?”
The appearance of a high-level humanoid monster with a danger rating of 1 or higher in the center of D city.
But after only an hour, it had vanished, and by the next day, the news only reported Lord Makoto’s injuries.
There was barely any mention of the Sword Beast.
It was truly a perfect non-event.
The Okami clan’s territory, which had been burning, was already being rebuilt the next day, possibly due to a rainstorm.
It was said to be fixed in about a week.
“Zero casualties… It’s truly a miracle.”
For a level 1 monster, the damage was surprisingly minor.
In fact, aside from Lord Makoto, no one had suffered serious injuries.
“No, I might have hurt a few people…”
At least Miss Hoshino, who had just been possessed by the Sword Beast, had killed a few heroes on her way to the territory.
But those people were still heroes, so…
“They’re all fine now.”
“Even though they’re heroes, they couldn’t have just been eliminated like extras, right?”
Miss Hoshino, who was feeling down, was soon visited by me the next day.
I showed her the state of the heroes, who had already recovered.
Thanks to her control over her strength, she had only suffered a minor injury—a broken rib.
“Isn’t a broken rib a serious injury…?”
Anyway.
Thus, Miss Hoshino’s future of becoming the tragic Hoshino in the original was completely erased.
It was truly a happy ending.
There were still ten years left before the original prologue even began, but wasn’t I handling things too well already?
Even though I had been a veteran of failing games for over five years, I couldn’t help but admire my own abilities.
So, I couldn’t help but laugh a little arrogantly inside.
“Hehe…”
[Now, we wish Lord Makoto a speedy recovery, and here is the next piece of news.]
“Ah! Janghoon, that’s it! The monster I told you about!”
“…What?”
We were watching TV in the VIP room where Lord Makoto was sleeping.
Right after the news about the citizens wishing for Lord Makoto’s recovery, the next report came on.
[This is the monster that is presumed to have injured Lord Okami!]
There, on the TV screen, was my face.
More specifically, it was my monster form.
I was the one who had made Lord Makoto like this.
And that false report shattered my mental state in real-time.
“…Huh?”
“This is a lie! He saved our mother!”
No, Miss…
At least, that part is correct, but the issue I need to worry about isn’t that.
Whether I harmed Lord Makoto or not, the false accusation didn’t matter—after all, I was a monster.
It was like a tiger that had escaped from a zoo: whether it killed someone or not, it was still a target to be put down.
What really made my face turn pale wasn’t the false report.
It was the fact that my identity had already been widely known in Hero City.
“Oh no… I think there’s a bounty on me now?”
Monsters that appear and aren’t hunted down are typically registered as targets, and their bounties are listed forever on the Hero Association’s website.
And the longer a monster remains uncaught, the higher the bounty becomes.
In other words, in ten years, when the original story starts, I would be dealing with both monsters and humans at the same time.
“Ugh, this is a pain. I can’t kill humans, and now I might need to practice knocking them out first?”
A back-neck strike, so to speak.
It was something I had only seen in movies or cartoons, so I wasn’t sure if I could actually do it.
But now, I had become a body that couldn’t help but learn.
A sigh escaped my lips.
No, I thought everything would end well, but instead of the Sword Beast, I ended up being the one who was stuffed.
And the reports were false.
Those reporters, who didn’t know the facts.
If I ever turn into a monster again, I’ll definitely go to the broadcasting station in D city and cause a ruckus.
Meanwhile…
“This bad guy! The monster uncle is actually a good person!”
Crash!
Miss Hoshino, whom I had saved, seemed even angrier than me.
She seemed so mad that she smashed the TV hanging on the wall with one hand and expressed her opinion as if evaluating it.
…How is such monstrous strength coming from that small body?
“Janghoon, young master.”
“Yes. Nanny.”
Right then.
Miss Hoshino’s nanny, who had started calling me “young master” as if I were from the Okami family, had arrived.
The old woman, who used to give me delicious snacks while playing with Miss Hoshino, was now inexplicably looking for me.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, it’s just that, normally, Lord Makoto would be the one to tell you this…”
“…?”
The nanny seemed to be pondering for a moment.
She then explained that before the appearance of the Sword Beast, Lord Makoto had been involved in “something” regarding me.
Normally, she would have told me by today, but unfortunately, Lord Makoto was lying unconscious in her hospital bed.
Because she needed rest, it was supposed to remain a secret until she woke up.
But…
“Now that the time has come, I’ll have to tell you on behalf of Lord Makoto.”
“Oh, okay…”
Was it a time-sensitive secret?
Reluctantly, the nanny began to speak.
Both I and Miss Hoshino, who was still fighting with the TV, turned to look, curious about what was going on.
The nanny started unwrapping something she had been holding in one hand.
“This is a gift, young master.”
“This is… oh, isn’t this a school uniform?”
Before Lord Makoto collapsed, she had wanted to give me something, and it turned out to be a uniform for an elementary school student.
It was a very high-quality school uniform from an elite school, designed for a young child.
“Lord Makoto was always worried about you, who had amnesia. She wanted you to receive as much education as possible.”
“But this is an incredibly expensive school uniform…”
“Hahaha, don’t worry. As for the tuition and other fees, our family has already taken care of it all.”
Wait…
Was I just supposed to be the playmate for Miss Hoshino?
But now, not only would I be attending a school, but an elite elementary school at that.
In this world, like in my home country of South Korea, elementary education wasn’t even compulsory.
In the original story, there were characters who became heroes with little to no formal education due to poor family circumstances.
“Should I really accept something like this?”
Originally, my plan as a human was to get my education through a high school equivalency exam when I turned 20.
Since I would have stayed by Miss Hoshino’s side, I would have never gone to school, so I was mentally prepared for that.
But now, Lord Makoto…
S-rank hero, the Flash Fox!
I would praise her until the moment she died.
“Thank you so much, Nanny.”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing, young master.”
Meanwhile…
Upon hearing the news that I was going to school, Miss Hoshino, who had been quietly sulking in the back, seemed a little down.
Thinking about it, I was still her attendant, but now I was about to leave her and go to school.
Guilt suddenly washed over me.
But as if it had all been planned…
The nanny whispered, as if taking over what Lord Makoto would have said.
“Ah, and young master, I haven’t finished telling you everything.”
“Ah, yes…?”
“Lord Makoto also asked me to subtly encourage the princess to go to school with you.”
“Miss Hoshino…?”
She wanted me to take Miss Hoshino to school?
Even the original tragic Hoshino had regretted not going to school.
“Now that I think about it, it’s a good thing I was swinging swords instead of going to school.”
Once again, I was being asked to change the original.
Well, honestly, this wasn’t something I could easily do, but for the sake of Lord Makoto’s kindness, I had to try my best.
“I’ll take care of it, Nanny!”
“Yes, young master!”
So, in order to send our hikikomori princess to a school full of children her age,
I exchanged fiery glances with the nanny behind her back.