Yusei thought for a moment and said, "How about... later, when my strength increases, I'll see if I can separate the sword and return it to the Shinomiya Family?"
However, Koken shook his head at this, "Being able to see this divine artifact shine again is something to celebrate. Why would I ask you to hand it over?"
"Moreover, taking a step back, you are also my Shinomiya Family's son-in-law. You count as a member of the Shinomiya Family, so inheriting this divine artifact is perfectly correct."
After saying this, Koken laughed heartily.
Yusei stayed at the Shinomiya main house for a while longer, had breakfast, and then bid farewell.
Before leaving, Yusei naturally mentioned some of his thoughts. To Koken, he said he wanted to travel the world to hone his swordsmanship.
But in reality, Yusei wanted to initiate his [World Tree's Seed Germination Plan].
Simply put, he felt his current strength was insufficient and wanted to go to other worlds to find ways to enhance his power.
In the past, mingling in the everyday world, he hadn't felt it much. But this encounter with Tohru's father made him aware of his own inadequacy.
If it weren't for the Futsu no Mitama suddenly appearing at the end, he truly wouldn't have been able to win.
And even this so-called victory wasn't truly defeating the Emperor of Demise in a real sense, but winning based on a wager.
If it were a true life-or-death battle, the one to die would undoubtedly be him.
All of this was unacceptable to Yusei.
To want a peaceful life, he at least needed the strength to protect himself and those around him.
Hearing his disciple's thoughts, Koken didn't say much, just nodded and quickly approved of Yusei's plan.
Of course, he also mentioned that if Yusei needed help, he could contact the Shinomiya Family's branches located all over the globe.
Yusei naturally agreed immediately. However, he was planning to go to other worlds, so he probably wouldn't be able to make much use of the Shinomiya Family's help.
After bidding farewell to Koken, Yusei didn't go to school but returned to his own home.
Recently, he had spent very little time with Asuna, which made him feel quite guilty.
So Yusei decided that in the next couple of days, he, Asuna, and Kaguya would have a date together.
For now, though, he needed to go home and explain things clearly to his parents and the little girls at home.
After Yusei finished dealing with these matters, finally persuading his parents to agree, though with reluctant looks, he breathed a sigh of relief and returned with a wry smile to his home in Bunkyo Ward.
Even though they lived separately now, everyone was still in Tokyo, so visiting was convenient.
Yusei talking about 'world travel' meant he might be gone for months, maybe a year, which naturally worried them.
Yusei naturally hadn't forgotten about Hina either.
Regarding the rented apartment, Yusei had Hina terminate the lease. After all, he estimated he wouldn't be back for at least several months, for a long period of time.
As for Hina's new job... it was to help him, no, to help Asuna and the others develop the [Tsukihime] game, focusing on voice acting.
Yusei had already written the script and given it to Asuna. Hina could go directly when the time came.
Returning home, Yusei immersed his thoughts in the long-unused system.
'System, I want to start the World Tree's Seed Germination mission. Are there any recommended worlds I can go to?'
[Ding! Mission detected. Recommended worlds are as follows: Fate/Stay Night, Familiar of Zero, Campione!]
Yusei didn't even look at the first two and nodded directly.
'Campione!? My impression is a bit vague, but it's basically about seizing the authorities of those Heretical Gods, right? Indeed, it's a good world...'
'In that case, please reserve the Campione! World for me first.'
Yusei exited the system space.
…
Time flowed by like water.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
The three-person date with Asuna and Kaguya also concluded over the weekend. During the date, Yusei mentioned his plan to travel to another world.
Unlike others, these two were, on one hand, his wife and fiancée, and on the other hand, they knew about beings like Kanna and Tohru, so he didn't need to be so secretive.
He had also requested a long leave from school, even exceeding the time needed for university's entrance exams. But he was already guaranteed admission anyway, so taking the exams or not was somewhat irrelevant.
He naturally also informed Utaha and Megumi.
After handling all matters, Yusei felt like he had forgotten something.
Just as he had everything prepared and was ready to leave, a flood of messages poured into his phone.
[Hey, hey, hey! Where are my manga manuscripts?! It's been so long already!!!]
[You didn't forget, did you?! The Comiket is in two days! What do we do without the manuscripts? We can't even print them!]
There were many more messages below. Seeing the ID [Kashiwagi Eri], Yusei finally reacted, or rather, remembered.
'So there was this matter too...'
Yusei couldn't help but smile wryly. But he had prepared the materials long ago, and he just needed to send them.
[Sorry, I've been a bit busy lately. Sending the stuff to you now.]
[Okay, received. Your drawing skills are surprisingly good. So our agreement stands. What did you want me to help you with?]
[Uh, currently I have something urgent. Can we postpone this agreement?]
[That's possible too. But you have to give me a timeframe, right?]
[Half a year?]
In her own room, the girl stared blankly at the message from the other party. But for her, this was also good news.
'Half a year from now should be after the university entrance exams, right? That would mean I had plenty of free time.'
Thinking about it, Eriri simply agreed and typed back.
[Alright, it's settled then. Thanks for your help this time. Hope we can cooperate happily in the future.]
[Happy cooperation.]
After resolving the matter with Eri, Yusei, afraid he might have forgotten something else, pondered hard before finally confirming he had no other outstanding issues.
Thus, he immersed his thoughts in the system space, staying quietly alone in his room, preparing for the crossing.
Kanna and Shiro were under Tohru's care, so he didn't need to worry. These two little girls were very understanding and respected Yusei's decision.
Yusei silently recited in his heart, 'System, begin crossing to the Campione! World.'
As the thought formed in Yusei's mind, a powerful wave of dizziness surged over him. Then, he felt nothing at all.