Heroic Spirit: I, Shinji, have tried my best.

"…Where's Riku? There's no way he wouldn't come to an event like this, right?"

"He... he said he went to discuss cooperation with the Ex-Machinas, saying that he wanted to use the other party's arbitration rights to raise his tariffs a little bit..."

"Hahaha... That guy hasn't given up on that plan yet. He's just too greedy, so he's being sanctioned. I can't help him with that..."

Shinji looked at the fresh environment and the simple seats around him. He knew that this was just a small gathering of their acquaintances, otherwise Chloe wouldn't have behaved so rudely.

"What do you mean I'm greedy? That's clearly my legally acquired property! It's because you, a loser who only knows how to pick up girls, didn't care about anything that my plan was judged to be illegal..."

Suddenly, a dissatisfied voice was heard, and a white-haired Riku walked in with a sad face, followed by an equally familiar Ex-Machina girl.

"You violated the rules, and I said that the Ex-Machinas should be fair judges. So your plan was curbed, which only means that it will affect future developments... Don't you agree, Ashe?"

"…Yes, if you, Mr. Riku, continue to maintain such high tariffs, the exchanges between the various races will be severely restricted, and then there may be a situation where multiple races have difficulty surviving, so we cannot compromise on this point."

Ashe, with short blue and white hair, followed Riku in. While greeting Shinji, she reiterated to Riku the danger of this team plan.

"I already know this... Alas, it seems that the start-up funds for my grand plan are gone. It seems that I can only transfer some money from the national treasury..."

"Hey, hey! How dare you say such things in front of me, the Queen!"

When Chronicle heard this, she couldn't help but refute Riku. This bastard actually calculated their treasury in front of her, the queen. He didn't even try to act!

"Hehehe...what does it matter? Anyway, all the money in the national treasury was earned by me, so just return it to me with interest this time!"

"Go away! Don't try to take our treasury!"

"If I let you take all my treasures away, how can I sleep among the piles of gold coins at night?"

"My Queen, you need to change this little habit of yours. Your maid has complained to me more than once. If you continue like this, no one will take care of your daily life."

"Um...okay."

Hearing this, Chloroney suddenly softened again, and lay on the table, drawing circles with a wronged look on her face.

Shinji was a little embarrassed when he saw the scene in front of him. Child, you are the queen, can't you have some courage? This will be despised by the kings in human history.

“…By the way, why did you think of getting together at this time? It can’t be just for the anniversary celebration, right?”

"Ah, you're talking about this..."

Riku scratched his head, straightened his expression and said:

"You are going to leave soon, so I am going to take this opportunity to give you a good farewell. We will not have the protection of you, the One and Only God, in the future..."

"…How did you know? Could it be…"

Shinji suddenly lowered his head to look at Shubi, who was staring at him blankly as if he knew nothing.

"It was you, a little thing, who revealed it..."

"Shinji...you can't sneak away without telling anyone."

“…I know, I know. I was just wondering about it, but now you have confirmed it.”

"Whee!"

"Hahaha, don't be so heartless. This celebration has a lot of fun things. You can have fun with them later!"

Shinji looked at the familiar faces in front of him and felt a little emotional for a moment...

Then he looked at Clooney who was lying on the table.

"Forget it, since things have come to this, let's eat first!"

……

In the evening, after a day of fun, everyone returned to the castle. They were all so tired that they could not even straighten their backs. Even Shinji's physique almost couldn't bear it.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Shinji thought to himself:

[It’s almost time to leave…]

"Wait a moment!"

"Ok?"

When he turned around, he saw Chloroney with a blush on her face. She walked towards him with an embarrassed look on her face, and nervously twirled the hem of her skirt with her hands.

"Well... Actually, I have one more thing I want to ask you..."

"…What's wrong? Is there anything you need to talk about now?"

“…It’s nothing, it’s just this…”

"This is…"

Shinji looked down and saw the girl handed him a large round gem. This gem was not as crystal clear as those gorgeous minerals on the market, but Shinji knew that this one was much more important than those.

Because the other party has always carried this stone with him.

“Is this… for me?”

"Hey, no, this is a family heirloom passed down from my mother. How can I just give it away casually? I want you to carve your name on it, just as a souvenir..."

Oh, that’s what it meant.

Under Shinji's gaze, Chronicle turned the stone over, and a name was neatly written on the other side.

【Clarkney Dora】…

Noticing Shinji's strange look again, Chloro turned her head away a little embarrassedly, but before she could hand it over to him, she suddenly felt her palms empty...

"Eh!? W-what's going on?"

"…Tsk tsk tsk, Chloe, you are so selfish. You actually did this kind of thing by yourself secretly. It really makes me feel disappointed…"

"No...it's not like that, give it back to me!"

Chronicle turned around and saw Riku holding the gem with a look of pain on his face. She felt inexplicably ashamed and couldn't help but rush forward with her claws waving, trying to snatch it back.

But unfortunately, the height difference prevented her from achieving her goal.

"Since it's a souvenir, why don't you take me with you?"

Riku had a wicked smile on his face, and began to carve his name on it forcefully without any explanation.

"Wuwuwu, Riku, you bastard, I'm going to deduct your salary! All of it! From now on, you will have to eat expired black bread every day..."

“…Okay, next!”

The girl's weak threat did not have much effect. Instead, it made the other party even more aggressive. After carving the words, he turned around and threw it to the next place.

A small white hand firmly caught the gem.

"Hubby!? No way, are you going to do that too..."

"That's right, Kelong. This is your punishment for casually hooking up with someone else's husband."

“Who…who hooked up!!!”

Hubie lifted his little tail, left his name on the stone, and then handed it to Ashe behind him.

"What is this? Do I need to sign it too?"

"That's right, sign it."

"Don't make decisions for others!"

Chronicles rushed over yelling, but before she could get close, the gem was thrown out again, and this time it finally fell into Shinji's hands.

"That's interesting... Then I will fulfill your little wish..."

Finally, Shinji carved his full name on the gem, which was almost too big to write on, and threw it to Chloro.

After the plan succeeded, everyone dispersed immediately, leaving Chronicle alone, kneeling on the ground in sorrow, holding a gem that had been completely destroyed in her hands.

"Wow... this damn Riku, it's ok to carve the words, but he carved them so ugly!"

Chloro looked at the gem in her hand reluctantly. The originally smooth surface was now covered with a large number of names, each of which gave her a different feeling.

As she watched, the girl suddenly laughed again.

“Hahaha… Really, compared to Xio and the others, even my handwriting has become so ugly…”

Suddenly, Chloe seemed to see something surprising and her eyes widened:

"This... this is, Matou... Shinji?"

“…What…”

So... your full name is Matou Shinji...

The girl looked up at the sky with a smile, holding the gem tightly against her chest.

Now, this will be the most precious treasure in her life.

……

On the other side, after leaving the castle, Shinji did not return to his room, but took a final deep breath and stepped into a very strange space vortex.

This time it is no longer a simple journey through space, because this time what is crossed is the barrier of the universe... On the other side, there will be another new world.

He had already left the Star Cup to Hubie, and the next step was... the return journey!

……

……

……