"The jungle never ends. It only grows."
Six Weeks Later – Renga Town
Renga was quiet for once.
The streets buzzed with late-morning laziness. Merchants fanned themselves under banana-leaf awnings. Guild members—new and old—lounged around the courtyard, finally able to just exist without monsters bursting through the hedges.
Kazuki sat on the roof of the guildhall, legs dangling, arms behind his head. Smile napped beside him, pulsing slow and soft with sleep.
Down below, Aurelis laughed as she taught a group of beastlings how to plant glowing moss in clay pots. Mikiri sipped iced fruit tea while trying to look unimpressed. Vee the bat flew in lazy loops overhead, trailing confetti someone had enchanted to never stop.
Fenrir?
Still snored under the shade of a mango tree, tail thumping occasionally at dreams of battles and juicy meat skewers.
Peace had arrived.
But so had the itch.
Kazuki's Journal, Entry #113
"I still don't know what I'm doing. But maybe that's okay. The jungle didn't give me answers—it gave me choices."
"I have friends. A home. And a trail of footprints stretching behind me so messy it might as well be art."
"But there are more petals on the goddess's flower."
"And if one of them is calling…"
"I'll answer."
------
Aurelis – The Seedling of Change
That afternoon, Aurelis wandered into the forest with her sketchbook and one of Kazuki's spare slime jars.
The vines made way for her.
Not because she demanded it.
But because she sang.
The tune was soft—childish, even—but the mana that wove into it was something new. Not beast-tamer magic. Not melody essence.
Something deeper.
The jungle seemed to listen.
And on a mossy hill beneath a blue sunbeam, a tiny creature peeked out—a floral-furred cub with ears like leaves and eyes like dusk.
It didn't flee.
Aurelis sat cross-legged, smiled, and held out her palm.
"…Hi."
The cub stepped forward.
Somewhere far off, a vine curled itself into a spiral.
Another seed had been planted.
-------
A Voice Beyond
That night, as Kazuki stared at the stars with Smile floating beside him, the wind carried something odd.
A voice.
Soft.
Distant.
Familiar—but not his own.
"You've felt it too, haven't you?"
Kazuki blinked.
"What the…?"
"Different jungle. Same question. The world's waking up."
Kazuki stood slowly. "Who are you?"
"A survivor. A sage. A monster. A hero. A hacker. A godling."
"But none of us are the end."
"You were just the first."
Silence.
Then:
"See you soon."
Final Page of the Journal
Kazuki looked at Smile.
"Looks like there's more."
Smile bounced once.
Kazuki grinned. "Wanna go mess it all up again?"
Bounce bounce!
They laughed.
Packed.