Side A: Shoko Ikeda

 

When I opened my eyes, I was back in a quiet business‑hotel room.

The feel of clean white sheets.

The sound of cars passing outside the window.

—No doubt about it. This was my world.

 

“…I’m home.”

 

Reality settled slowly back into my chest.

On the table lay a platinum card.

I checked the balance—hesitantly—

and gasped.

So many zeros that counting them felt like a math test.

My hands trembled.

 

“This… this is Grandpa’s achievement, isn’t it.”

 

The moment I whispered that, tears welled up.

—Everything had begun with that gold coin.

 

Children laughing with roasted yams in their hands.

The day I blushed when they called me “Lady Potato.”

Villagers shouting “Shoko‑Style Sanitizing!” with bottles in hand.

The square filled with drums, flutes, and smiling faces.

 

Every memory warmed my heart.

Nothing I did in that world had been meaningless.

I’d nearly cried a hundred times,

but I kept moving forward.

 

“…I did what I had to do.

God really was watching, wasn’t He.”

 

At that moment, the Ancient King’s Gold Coin in my hand glowed faintly.

Soft golden light filled the room,

rose gently into the air,

and dissolved into tiny shimmering particles.

As if someone were smiling and saying,

 

“Well done.”

 

“Thank you… Grandpa.”

 

My voice shook.

Tears slid down my cheeks—

not of sadness, but of quiet happiness.

—From now on, in this world,

 

I’ll walk my own path with my own strength.

Even after the coin’s glow faded,

a faint light lingered in the room.

A gentle radiance,

like a whispered “thank you”

sent from another world.

 

 

Side B: Reinart von Grunstein

 

I stood once more within the Mage Tower.

Outside the window, golden fields swayed in the wind—

the same land that had once been barren, now shining as if reborn.

Laughter of villagers, the playful shouts of children,

and warm family tables glowing beyond the campfires.

 

“…So this is the harvest of a world without war.”

 

Never had I imagined that I, who once wielded flame for battle,

would live to see such a sight.

What came to mind was the vision from the future—

my granddaughter, Shoko.

The girl who saved the starving and the sick

with the strange wisdom she called science.

 

“My granddaughter… I will never forget the knowledge you left behind.”

 

Just then, the tower doors burst open.

A retainer rushed in, breathless.

 

“My lord! The young lady—she has given birth!”

 

“…I see.”

 

A warm tremor rose in my chest.

Soon, a newborn wrapped in cloth was brought before me.

Her gentle breathing felt like the world itself inhaling and exhaling.

 

“Her name… shall be Shoko.”

 

Gasps rose from the retainers.

But I simply smiled.

 

“That name carries the sound of a light that guides the future.”

 

The moment I held the tiny hand, certainty bloomed within me.

—The vision from the future had shown me this child.

 

“Shoko. Together, we shall guide this nation.

This flame is no longer for war.

It is the people’s sustenance—

a light to illuminate the future.”

 

Sunlight streamed through the window, wrapping the infant in gold.

The hall of the tower glowed softly.

Not as a flame mage, but as a grandfather,

I vowed to live for the future of this land.

—Far beyond the sky, I felt the same light shimmer.

The girl in that other world was surely walking her own path now.

Then I, too, would walk mine with pride—

carrying flame, and raising hope.

 

A quiet breeze passed through the tower.

Beyond that wind, in a world I had yet to see,

I felt someone smiling.

 

A voice—

like an angel’s whisper carrying the future.