The Bounty Hunter

January 25th, 2089

Fujioka Shichiro’s POV

My name is Alren Oyop, although I am known as Fujioka Shichiro in this world.  I am a wizard and bunny-kin, both of which don’t exist here.  I’ve been using magic to blend in unnoticed, although I sometimes head to cosplay conventions in order to be able to release my disguise for a while.  I work as the executive producer for Japan’s Rising Idol and I am quite happy with life here. 

This world has its problems, but it is truly far better than life in my world.  I still struggle a little bit with some regrets over what my friends and I are planning to do.  I agree with them that our world is lost and should be remade, but I felt that this world still has hope.  The humans seem to have done a much better job than us and do not seem to be doomed to self-destruction. 

My friends eventually managed to persuade me otherwise, this world is necessary to help supplement the energy cost of creating a new world.  Jupon said something about “Ensuring that the chains are not broken” during the re-creation process.  I didn’t fully understand, but Jupon refused to elaborate.  He merely warned that the consequences would be dire.

After decades of experimenting and even more decades of preparations, we are ready.  We went to great lengths to ensure that this ritual does not simply kill everyone.  They will be reborn in our new world and live lives free from worry and sorrow.  As we come to the end of our plan, I thought that I had completely gotten over my guilt.  But then I met a girl who changed that.

When I was younger and living in my world, I had a younger sister named Toyela.  She was the cutest little sister one could ask for, with lovely long black hair and these breath-taking sky blue eyes.  She was a taciturn type, but I could read her expressions with ease.  Her bunny ears always telegraphed her true feelings.  She was a quiet and serious individual who didn’t get flustered easily, but when she did it was always way too cute.  I became rather accomplished at poking through her façade.  There was one thing that would always get Toyela to become talkative and lively though:  music.  She had a wonderful singing voice and it was her dream to become a performer. 

Our parents died when Toyela was still young, so I raised her myself.  Thanks to my magical abilities, we were able to live relatively comfortably.  I wanted Toyela to live a happy life, but I failed her.  The town we were in was on the frontier, life was harsh there.  The ruling noble was more interested in harvesting slaves and money from the population than helping them prosper, so he imposed a heavy tax. 

The Bound One in charge of the local church of the Cult did nothing to stop him.  The noble’s guards actively terrorized the people and life became difficult.  I had refused to become the noble’s retainer, so he started using means other than persuasion to change my mind.  I was careless one day and left home for longer than I should have. 

I came back and the sight that greeted me was my sister’s corpse.  The guards had apparently come to kidnap her, she resisted and they ended up killing her in the struggle.  She was only 12 years old at the time.  My rage and sorrow made my magic rampage and I ended up killing everyone in the town.  It did nothing to soothe me. 

I spent the next few years as drunken wanderer, when one day I got involved in a brawl at the tavern I was drinking in.  It was there I met my dear friends and companions.  A couple of decades later and our group started working on the plan.  Gathering slaves for labor and to harvest their souls and life for energy, purchasing materials in bulk from both worlds and generating the finances necessary for it. 

All these things needed someone to do the accounting and organize everything.  That was my job.  I did it as best as I could and in the last decade I had a lot less to do.  I chose to spend my newfound free time creating and working on Japan’s Rising Idol.  Toyela never had the opportunity to become a famous singer, so I started a show to help girls who shared her dream to get that opportunity.

It was the start of another season for the show and I was cheerfully entering the building when I collided with someone.  I checked to see if they were alright and my heart stopped for a moment.  This was a girl who looked too much like Toyela.  She had the pale skin, long black hair and even those sky-blue eyes.  It was like I was seeing what Toyela would have looked like when she grew up.  I noticed that she was a contestant and decided to see her interview after she left. 

As I watched her, the similarity between her and Toyela was even more pronounced.  The taciturn demeanor and even the cute flustered reactions were the same.  Her singing was incredible as well.  I wanted to meet her again and did so when the contestants came in for their orientation.  Fufufu, I almost forgot that she wasn’t Toyela when I teased her.  Her subtle facial expressions were just too similar.  She even made that watery stare that Toyela did whenever I scored a critical hit and made her flustered. 

I started to enjoy actively teasing Rin-chan whenever I saw her.  Rin-chan was exceedingly talented and her taciturn personality was a huge hit with the audiences.  As the season progressed, I started to lose the ability to differentiate between Rin-chan and Toyela.  The one episode where they had to wear kemonomimi while performing, I intentionally picked out the bunny ears and gave it to Rin-chan.  And when I saw her, I became convinced that Toyela reincarnated as Rin. 

I could feel tears come to my eyes, at the hope that Toyela was currently living a better life as Rin this time around.  I continued to watch as she dominated the show.  Currently, it is the finale of the season and Rin will win it.  The audience chosen theme this time around was beach wear, and I had an exceedingly fun time teasing her as usual.  She was completely distraught over having to wear a swimsuit. 

After this show, she’ll move on to the Top Talent Agency and start her idol career.  But it won’t last for long, since the Redemption plan will finish everything in just a few months… those feelings of regret I’ve had have come back stronger than ever.  I won’t turn back now, but it doesn’t stop my heart from aching as I watched Rin win Japan’s Rising Idol by a record margin. 

There was a large celebration, but eventually the audience hall was empty.  Rin was still there though and apparently had been waiting for me.  I could have sworn that she had already gone.  Everyone else had long gone and we were the only two people left.  “Yo, Rin-chan.  You haven’t left yet?”  “No.”  “Why not?”  “I was waiting for you.”  “Oho?  I guess I haven’t given you your congratulatory pat yet.”  I walked over to Rin and started to pat her on the head just like I had always done to Toyela. 

I’ve decided to look into saving Rin’s memories when she reincarnates into the new world.  Khoreena has already done the research on the topic, I can just ask he… *schink* *drip* *drip* *drip*.  A coldness has started to spread through my chest.  I look down and see a stiletto lodged in my heart.  Although I have emergency life magic applied, it will only give me a few minutes at most.  There’s no chance of healing, I can feel hex magic spreading from the wound as the blade faded away from existence.  My blood is dripping onto the floor of the stage. 

I look up to see Rin staring at me with her usual expressionless face.  “Why?”  I asked.  “Because you want to destroy the world.”  She replied.  I couldn’t help but chuckle at that “I suppose that’s a pretty good reason.  But I don’t want to destroy it, I want to save it.  The way this world is headed, it’s only a matter of time before it consumes itself.”  “Even so, it’s not your decision to make.  This world made its choices, for better or for worse.  Its fate should be decided by its own people.” 

I fell to my knees as I could feel death approaching.  I should be feeling rage or sorrow or surprise due to this betrayal, but instead I feel calm.  I no longer have to regret anything and maybe Toyela can continue her dream of being a famous singer.  “Ha, I guess you’re right Toyela.”  My eyes have started to close and my magic has faded.  I guess this is the end.