Chapter 481.5 – The Returnee Brothers |
A small bar at a high-rise building in Roppongi Hills. There, a pair of brothers sat across from each other, taking the first time they've had in a while to catch up in private.
"So." John sipped a shot glass of Jack Daniels and said, "Isekai."
Spoiler
Gray poured himself a shot of sake and nodded. "Isekai."
Spoiler
John hummed and said, "Judging from the fact that you have a hot wife who looks like a vampire and another aristocratic lady living in your house who's CLEARLY an elf in hiding... you got isekai'd to a fantasy world?"
Gray downed his shot of sake and nodded. "Yep. Long story. Judging by your entire family and Yue... did you get to a martial arts world or something? Like the Shaw movies Dad used to watch?"
"I forgot about those. Damn. If I remembered, life would have been sooooo much easier in those days..."
Gray snorted and poured himself another shot. "You WOULD forget. You never were very serious." He smiled and said, "Looks like you got your act together though. You've got a nice family."
"Oh, I can imagine." Gray refilled John's shot glass from the Jack Daniels bottle and said, "That, plus your adult daughters AND that teenage daughter in the mix... that's hell on Earth. Also, it's extremely funny to me that you have all daughters." He chuckled. "The saying that bad men are punished with sweet daughters is definitely true."
"Ugh. Don't remind me. Having beautiful daughters is hell. Especially in a place like the Three Realms..."
"Mm." Gray nodded. "That's why you're here, I guess?"
"Well, it ended up that way... but yes. Grateful we're here and not there. Though we might pop back for a trip or too. It's pretty nice there." John sipped his shot.
Gray raised an eyebrow. "...Why are you sipping on a shot of Jack Daniels anyway? It's not even tasty."
"It's nostalgic, dammit. And besides, it's not like sake's any better. The real good stuff is immortal plum wine."
"Plum wine? Please. Mead from the moonlit elven glades is MUCH better than old plum wine."
"Doubt it. Sounds made up too."
"Like immortal plum wine sounds any better."
John laughed.
Gray laughed as well.
Smiling, John said, "...You know. You've gotten much... lighter? Calmer for sure since I last saw you."
"Yeah, well." Gray downed his sake and poured another shot. "I WAS practically a living corpse back then. Never did get over my high school friend's suicide."
"Ah. Right. I forgot about that."
Gray waved his hand. "It's fine... I bet time's all sorts of fucked for you anyway, right? Isn't the sort of place you're in known for like, billions of billions of years passing by when you're pursuing eternity or something?"
John chuckled. "Yes. But it's eventually just like skipping forward in time. The human brain is pretty adaptable, you know?"
"Oh, I'm sure. I learned that first hand at how fast I picked up magic."
"You can use magic? Like the actual incantation stuff with mana?"
"You think that's impressive, Mister Immortal?"
"Well, duh. I just kinda bruteforce things with raw energy control and power, you know? I mean, I CAN do the complex stuff like magic. But I'd have to make my own magic system to work with spiritual energy. It's a bit incompatible."
"Huh."
"Yep."
For a moment, the two just sat together, drinking in silence.
Then John said quietly, "I was mad for a long while, you know? I thought you really did up and off yourself somewhere no one could find. You just disappeared before your last seminar for your bachelor's. Everyone thought you folded under the pressure."
Gray quietly sipped on his sake. "...I can see that. I was in a rough place back then." He paused. "...You were... what? 14? 15? When I got isekai'd?"
"14, yeah." John nodded. "Messed me up for a while. Mom and Dad were hard on me for a long while. So much that when I turned 18 I just saved up for a trip to China and fucked off. Then I stopped in a souvenir shop, bought a jade talisman and... well, a long, long, long story unfolded from there."
"Ah, the classic 'cursed artifact from another world' isekai, huh?" Gray nodded.
John paused. "Wait. So like, did you get truck-kun or...?"
"You remember Re:Zero?"
"Oh MAN. That's nostalgic... Wait. Did you like, just step into another world without realizing then?"
"Yep." Gray poured himself some more sake and said, "Not only that, ended up in the middle of nowhere, found my now wife, back then on the verge of death and captive slave Eliza... long story. Could write a whole series on it." He paused. "Wait, so did you just spawn into the martial arts world without any warning then?"
"Pft. I wish. Crashed right into the middle of a martial arts sect and had to bluff my way out as a grand immortal."
"...What?"
"Behold, the Dao of bullshittery."
"...Suddenly, your current life makes a lot more sense."
"What's THAT supposed to mean?"
Gray laughed. "You're a showman. Still are."
John smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Rub it in, edgelord."
"I'll take it. If you saw me when I was in that world... man. There was a phase. Let's just say that."
John snorted. "I'll bet there was. You were always one bad day away from saying 'lets just kill everyone.'"
"Guilty as charged."
After a bit more banter, the brothers drifted off into a comfortable silence, just drinking together and watching over the cityscape from their balcony.
During that time, John took a moment to observe his older brother, Gray.
'He is DEFINITELY more mellow...'
Either married life REALLY suited him, or he had one HELL of a character arc in that isekai.
His sharp eyes were softened now, and he had crow's feet from what clearly had to have been many joy-filled days. That, and the underlying violent energy he carried with him... that cold and aloof aura he had. That was gone too, replaced by a gentle comfort.
Gray noticed John staring and said, "What? It's been a decade. A guy mellows out in his forties, you know?"
John's eyes widened. "You're FORTY?!"
"Bro, aren't you like, galaxies years old?"
John paused. "...That's different though."
"Is it?"
John coughed. "But... damn. Forty..."
"Yeah."
"...Your wives look like they're only twenty though?"
"And yours looks like a teen, you lolicon."
"Oi, oi, oi. She's just petite and Asian."
"And mine are literally magical. Plus they're the same age as me."
"...THEY'RE FORTY TOO?! Wait, ONLY forty? You didn't get the fantasy trope of marrying a lolibaba or an old hag who looks young?!"
"...Isn't that your wife...?"
"Hah! I'm actually older than her, so- Wait!"
Gray laughed. "Gotcha."
"You son of a- THE GAME."
"The game? What the hell are you- GODDAMMIT! I HAD A TWENTY YEAR STREAK YOU BASTARD!"
"SUCK IT!"
"YOU...!"