Shaple, are you there?

　I ask as we enter the control room.
　Lara and the others don't seem to get it.

　After a bit.


Master?


　And out of nowhere I heard a woman's voice say

'Wow!'
Is that someone's voice?
Is there anyone else in here besides ... Cynthia and the others?

　The three of them were surprised and shook their shoulders.
　Eventually.........a woman suddenly appeared in the empty space in front of them.

''Hello........is that you, Master?''

　The woman's hands were shaking slightly.

'Yes. I'm back.
'Oh my God...where have you been for a thousand years, away from home? I was so lonely and desolate....
I'm sorry about that.

　I apologize.

　Then the woman jumps into my chest.

"Shaple, Shaple. Shaple, what's the matter with you? A thousand years would have been a blink of an eye for Shaple.

　I asked that question, but I didn't get an answer from the woman.
　No, this is........crying?
　I could hear her sobbing.
　I let out a breath and gently stroke the woman's head.

'Kurt who is that person?'
Is it Kurt's 1,000-year-old lover, by any chance?

　Lara and Cynthia look perturbed at Marise's words.

''This, what a lover!　Kurt, what's going on?
'Cynthia I'm jealous...'

　They were getting really close to me in a frenzy.
　You're jumping to conclusions.

''It's not a lover. In the first place, this woman ... Shaple is not a person.

　A woman..........................Holding Shaple like this, there was definitely a human warmth to it. The feel of her soft skin was also a woman herself.

　However.

''Shaple is, so to speak, this house itself. She's in charge of the system.........like an artificial intelligence.
"'Artificial intelligence?'

　The three of them nodded their heads in unison.

　Yes.
　The systems in this house are diverse.
　There are cleaning robots and alarm systems.
　It's not easy for me to manage them all by myself, so I wanted to distribute the burden.

That's why I created an artificial intelligence called Shaple. Artificial intelligence is, as the name suggests, intelligence made by human hands. She'll know this house better than I do. Hey, Shaple.

　I said, and I slapped Shaple on the back a few times with a thump.

'Yes,'

　Then Shaple slowly pulled his face away from my chest.
　His eyes are a little swollen.
　Shaple is an artificial intelligence, but I let him get as close to people as possible.
　A thousand years ago, it was lonely, so I could say that it simply wanted someone to talk to me.

'But Shaple. What do you mean, the system is malfunctioning too often?
Ugh, I'm sorry.

　Shaple looked down with a bad luck face.
　But after a thousand years, it meant that as expected, Shaple was going to go crazy.
　I didn't give it that much durability, you know.
　I'll restore it later.

"But...Master, you look a lot different than you did a thousand years ago, don't you?
Yeah, I'm reincarnated.
No wonder....

　Shaple was immediately convinced.

'Shaple is a person........artificial intelligence?　You believed Kurt was reincarnated right away.
'Even we didn't believe it right away...'
We're deeply bonded... like that...

　At the words of the three of them, Shaple turned a sharp look at the girls with a snap.

''It's only natural for a master to do this much; a thousand years ago, they did something even more outrageous. I wouldn't be surprised now at least by reincarnation magic.''

　Resolute.
　Hmm, it's easier to talk about things when there's someone who knows me from a thousand years ago, so many things go more smoothly.

''How about it, all three of you. I was skeptical about the reincarnation magic earlier, but...

　The three of them buzzed and shook their heads when I asked the question.

'It's all right now. I trust you.
'I can't blame you if you show me all this.
Cynthia I believe in Kurt no matter what....

　Lara, Marise, and Cynthia all uttered that in turn.

　'Well.........

'We're just about to come to the control room. Now I have something I want the three of you to do.

　I started to talk about it.

'Is that what you want me to do?'
'Oh well first of all, Shaple. Bugnuba is about to come back.
....!

　Shaple was speechless at those words.

''That evil god........resurrected in this era.......?　Isn't the master sealing it?
'That's right. It was impossible to seal Bagnuba forever in the first place. Until now, Razevara has let me hold the seal.

　With the minimum explanation required, Shaple understood, "Oh, I see....

'Hey, hey, Kurt. What's that Bagnuva?
You three haven't accounted for it yet.

　I explained to the three of them what happened at the bottom of that underground labyrinth.

　All three of them look at me in surprise.

But Kurt's here, so it's okay, right?
I'm sure it won't be a problem if you're here.
No one is stronger than Kurt....

　And he seemed optimistic.

　I'm not wrong in that perception, though. There seems to be a bit of pride in it.

'But I will need another year to completely defeat Bagnuba. Even with this, I haven't completely regained the power I had a thousand years ago.

　But........I'm not going to spend a year in a row after the incident with Bagnuba.

I'll make it through one year in ten hours.

　I declared in front of everyone.

........What are you saying? Even you can't do that, can you? You have transcended time....

　Marise looks at me with zit eyes.

''Super........over.......''

　But Cynthia was the only one who didn't change her expression as she ruminated over Marise's words.

'Cynthia did it with Maynard, so you know. Yes, I'm going to transcend time now.

　I look back at Shaple.

"Shaple.
Yes. "You are going to space-time, aren't you?

　Shaple uttered as if he was ready to go.

'Time and space?　Kurt, what is that?
''In that time and space, you can compress a year's worth of cultivation into ten hours. If I go to that space, I should be able to gain enough strength to defeat Bugnuba in no time.

　I replied to Lara's question.

'Well, is there a space for that?'
Yeah, I made it a thousand years ago.

　Nevertheless, space-time also has a disadvantage.
　Once you use it, you won't be able to reuse it for 100 years.
　At the time, I had in mind that I would be reincarnated and go to the world many years later, so I created this convenient space.

'I've only used it once, a thousand years ago. I want the three of you to stay with me from now on to defeat Bugnuba. Is that alright?

　When I talked to the three of them.

Uh-huh.
I would go anywhere to be strong.
Cynthia will do her best.

　He was confused, but agreed.

　Okay..........

'Then let's go. Shaple.
Yes. Leave it to me.

　Magic power rushed from Shaple's hands.
　That magic power turned into a large bubble and enveloped our bodies.

''I'll be back in ten hours, right away. Wait for me in the meantime.
Yeah.

　Eventually, in the bubble of magic, we are lured into space-time.

　Finally.


'Compared to a thousand years, ten hours is an instant.


　I could see Shaple smiling and waving at me.