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“Are you related to Toriyama? Or are you Toriyama himself?”
“So you noticed after all. Well, I guess that’s fine.”

I was surprised by Monobe’s question, but even more surprised by the girl’s response. The moment I realized she was connected to Toriyama, or perhaps even Toriyama himself, a few pieces clicked into place. Whether she chose to help us or not, I could understand why she was targeting her former classmates. And it made sense why she wouldn’t lift a finger for the ones who had bullied Toriyama.

Even if it was only a wishful thought, I hoped that Toriyama, being abused and all, might hold some small affection for those of us who had done nothing to hurt him. We were a bit better than the others, and I was also familiar with him from Earth.

That was probably because Toriyama knew that I was being bullied back on Earth and was able to accept it. There was a good chance that this girl was indeed not just related to Toriyama, but Toriyama himself. After all, the only people in this world connected to Toriyama were our classmates.

But even so, I still couldn’t believe that the girl standing in front of me was Toriyama. The girl also looked a bit confused.

“I wonder how I should answer you. Well, whatever. I am Toriyama himself. To make things short, I am the reincarnation of Toriyama Makoto. I still have his memories, and our way of thinking is almost the same. However, Toriyama’s soul was tampered with when placed in this body, so there are some differences between us.”
“So you’re saying you were reincarnated in another world?”
“Well, not exactly. I was first summoned to another world rather than being reincarnated here.”

That was indeed true. I just found it astonishing that she alone was experiencing a completely different world. Although I couldn’t completely shake the question of whether this girl was Toriyama, I thought the circumstances made it reasonable to believe that she was. Very few people knew about us, aside from the ones we had allured, and this girl wasn’t one of them.

That princess had been meticulous in controlling all information about the heroes, leaving no room for leaks through any known channels. It was possible that someone I had already allured might have leaked something, but if they were truly under my control, I would’ve known if anything had slipped. That’s why it made more sense to assume that this girl was either a supernatural being… or had once been the hero, Toriyama.

But still, her appearance was a bit… Yeah…

“You were the one who stole this kingdom’s spirit, correct? Come to think of it, I did hear a rumor about Toriyama appearing then.”
“That’s right. I can change my appearance whenever I please. I think you can also do something similar, right, Megi?”
“I can change my gender if I want.”

If he knew that much about how my skills worked, did that mean that Toriyama was now a supernatural being? After all, no one but me should’ve known about this. I also hadn’t told Monobe everything, and I’d made sure it wouldn’t be found out even if Appraisal was used on me.

Even so, if the Appraisal came from someone with very high status, they might be able to see through it. But such a person would have to be a supernatural being.
In other words, he must have been reincarnated in another world and received a cheat ability.

Just like a protagonist of a light novel. But this case was a bit different. Even though we had the talent to become like the protagonists in those novels. This girl, however, was way more powerful than we were. Having said that, I couldn’t blame her. If I had the chance to reincarnate after being summoned to another world and receive twice the cheat skills, I too would take it.

On top of that, our cheats were life-destroying, but hers didn’t seem to be so.

“Simply put, I was asked by God to retrieve the spirits of this world before it collapses. This current form was given to me because I had no other body when I was brought back to life. I should also mention that I’m technically a Demigod—no weaker than God himself.”

“I didn’t want to be resurrected, so instead of just retrieving the spirits, I made a deal to be granted wishes. I used one of those wishes to save your lives. Though, calling it ‘saving’ might not be entirely accurate, since you’ll have to die once.”

“You’re probably wondering why I did it, so I’ll save you the trouble of asking: I did it simply because I wanted to. Think of it as tying up some loose ends from my time as Toriyama. You weren’t technically involved, but I wanted to leave a possibility for those who didn’t abuse me to be spared, thanks to the one person who spoke to me when I was treated as nothing more than a stranger passing by.”

“If you want to thank or resent someone, then send it her way.”

If what the girl said was true, I didn’t think there was any reason to hold a grudge. After all, there was still the option of choosing not to come back to life after death. If I were to be returned to Earth only to be bullied again, I might feel differently, but even then, I’d just return to my usual life. I could say a few bitter words, sure, but I still believed it would be better than the situation I was in now.

“You also don’t need to believe me. All I’m trying to say is, please be careful not to get yourselves killed due to being desperate. As I already said, the choice will only be given to you if you die during the collapse.”

After saying this, the girl disappeared. However, it still felt like there was something else she wanted to say before disappearing. As I was thinking that, I heard the words, “I’m going to enjoy watching this kingdom fall apart,” ringing in my ear.

That indeed seemed like something Toriyama would say. The direct cause of his death lay with our classmates… or rather, Ichinari, but indirectly, it had all started because this kingdom summoned us. If I had been in his shoes, I would have found it exhilarating to watch it disintegrate.

And if what he said about having power rivaling that of God was true, then the sword thing could easily be explained as well. He likely wanted to be one of the reasons for this kingdom’s downfall, but still, there was something that I couldn’t stop wondering about.

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