Chapter 1965: I’ll See You Soon
-----
"Elena..."
The moment Elayne saw her beautiful daughter—now nearly two years older than when she had last seen her—she broke into tears. She slowly caressed Elena’s warm face and long hair.
"My daughter!"
With tears in her eyes, Elayne hugged her gently, sobbing against her shoulder.
"I love you... Elena... Mommy will return... no matter what!"
"...?"
Elena thought she heard her mother crying. She opened her eyes drowsily and sat up.
"Mom?"
Still half-asleep, she saw someone sitting beside her, then felt warm arms wrap around her.
"I love you, Elena... I’ll always love you..."
"Mom? What’s wrong?"
"Nothing... it’s nothing... Rest now, you must be tired. Always remember that I’m watching over you, alright?"
"...? Okay..."
Elena yawned, quickly closing her eyes again and drifting off with her mother by her side.
But after a minute, something felt strange. She opened her eyes once more and sat up, searching the room. "Mom? Mom?"
Only faint particles of light lingered where her mother had been, slowly fading away.
"...Mom?"
For a moment, Elena couldn’t hold back. Tears streamed down her face as an immense sorrow flooded her heart.
She didn’t know why, but that deep sadness had been left behind by her mother... or whoever that had been.
"Was that a dream?"
"Dear?"
Elayne entered the room quietly, smiling at her.
"Mom!"
Elena ran to her and hugged her tightly. The same warm sensation filled her chest—the one she hadn’t felt with the earlier figure, yet felt so strongly now.
"...?"
"Hm?"
"You feel different now."
"I do?"
Elayne tilted her head, still smiling, and kissed her daughter’s forehead.
"How so?"
"You feel... more real. I don’t know why."
"Is that so?"
Elayne chuckled softly and stroked her daughter’s hair.
"Do you want anything for dinner?"
"Anything?"
"Anything!"
"Then... I want pizza! I haven’t eaten it in forever... Remember when we used to order it after playing BNLO?"
"...Yeah, I remember."
Elayne smiled gently, lost in memories of the past as a small tear slipped down her cheek.
Those unforgivable moments... she would never forget them.
After all, she was the living embodiment of those moments, immortalized within the Root of All Things.
Now, she was beginning to understand her true purpose and the full extent of her power in this world—the reason she could do what she had done before.
"If I am truly the embodiment of my immortalized life, my records, my history, my memories... then it makes perfect sense that the Paintbrush, that Class, and that Subclass all manifested in response to me..."
Smiling faintly, Elayne began preparing dinner.
Today would be a quiet, relaxing day. Tomorrow, the grind would resume. The children would return to school, and countless meetings awaited her.
Above all, she now saw a clearer path forward—no longer relying solely on the promise of a wish from the Holy Grail.
"Then let’s order pizza!"
The other girls woke up soon after and found that Elayne had brought pizza. Apparently, delivery could reach their residence, though they had to collect it at the clan’s entrance.
As a newly summoned Heroic Spirit, Elayne had no credit cards in her name and had been listed as "missing" for nearly two years, leaving her with no money of her own.
Fortunately, her daughter had inherited all the wealth she had accumulated, making Elena a billionaire—something the girl rarely mentioned or acknowledged.
Elayne was stunned by how much her daughter had grown. Elena now managed her own credit and debit cards, multiple bank accounts, and more.
With that, Elayne ordered plenty of pizza, sides, and the sweet soda Elena had been craving since her lazier days of playing video games.
"Wow, what’s this?!" Anna exclaimed. "Pizza for dinner?!"
"I haven’t eaten pizza in ages!" Monica said. "I’m starving... Can we eat?"
"Are those cheese sticks? I wouldn’t mind a few," Elisa added, smiling despite her obvious hunger.
"Of course. Come sit down and let’s eat together," Elayne said warmly, gesturing for everyone to join.
Olivia woke up later to the sight of the girls devouring pizza while watching a loud, flashy anime on TV.
"Ugh, girls, could you turn that down?" Olivia sighed. "Oh, are we having pizza tonight?"
"Yeah, the girls wanted some, so we ordered," Elayne replied.
"Well! I don’t mind," Olivia said, sitting down. "I usually stick to gourmet meals, but I’m not against this kind of food either."
"That’s good to know!" Elayne said. "Sit down and join us. We’re one big family here, and we love each other, right? So don’t be shy—we’re in this together."
"T-Thank you..." Olivia blushed, smiling happily. "It’s nice. I was always kind of lonely, and— Hm? What is this strange pizza?"
"Shrimp, corn, mayo, and teriyaki chicken," Elena answered. "Japan has some wild pizzas, but they’re good." She took another bite of her third slice while snacking on barbecue wings and sipping cold soda.
"S-Shrimp? Corn? Mayo?! T-Teriyaki Chicken?! Those aren’t pizza ingredients!!!" Olivia protested. "It’s supposed to be tomato sauce, pepperoni, ricotta, and fresh basil!"
"There’s a classic one right here," Elayne said, opening another box.
"Hmm?! Much better!" Olivia nodded. She poured herself some champagne, placed a slice on a pristine white plate, and began eating with a knife and fork.
"Who eats pizza like that?" Anna asked. "Wow, teacher..."
"That’s... not even how I eat it," Elisa said.
"..." Monica stared in disbelief.
"W-What?! What’s wrong with eating it like this?!" Olivia asked. "I just don’t want to get my hands messy...!"
"Hahaha, and that’s completely fine!" Elayne said, eating with her hands. "Girls, let’s not judge your teacher, okay?"
"Okay~!"
As dinner continued, Anna’s mother walked in looking tired. She noticed the pizza with mild surprise.
"Oh, pizza tonight? That’s a nice surprise," she said.
"Yeah, come sit down, Mom," Anna called.
"Thank you." Anna’s mother sat. "Now, what do we have here— What are these weird flavors?"
"Hahaha, Japanese pizzerias do offer some interesting varieties..." Elayne muttered. "For some reason, they really love putting mayo on pizza..."
"This is too weird. Where’s the barbecue chicken one?" Anna’s mother sighed.
"That’s also a weird flavor, you know?!" Olivia growled.
-----
Author’s Note:
We will return to the Netherworld to resume where we left off after a couple more Chapters! So look forward to that for those that were missing this.
I have to admit I might’ve stretched this arc a bit too long, but I had to introduce a lot of things so maybe that’s why.
I will try to make the arcs flow even faster and we’ll switch between the two Elaynes until they finally get back together. Until then, thank you for sticking around.
Also, if you want more Chapters you can always support this work with a Magic Castle and get +3 Bonus Chapters
