“What is this all of a sudden? You’ve been wandering around for half a year. You said you were taking a break, then bolted from the military, and now you’re suddenly asking for this?”

Zeke Silfield pleaded with his superior.

“Please. Let me take charge of the garrison in Japan.”

“…I see. Alright, I’ll recommend you. Luckily, you’re a Holy Knight Captain with plenty of achievements—no issues there. No one else wants the job anyway.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Did you get to meet her?”

“No… And with this, I’m retiring from KOG as a knight. I’m also surrendering my Holy Knight Captain qualifications.”

“Sigh… Understood. Take some time off. With His Majesty the Emperor like that, there won’t be any wars for a while. You’ve done well.”

And so, Zeke devoted himself to Japan’s reconstruction as the head of the garrison there.

As a result, the looting in Japan quickly subsided.

However, it remained under Earthguard control, designated as the 13th Special District.

Zeke’s goal was to create a place where his daughter Reina could live comfortably.

And…

(At least, so no more Japanese people have to die.)

That was why he’d become the top military figure in Japan.

…

“Reina… I’m home?”

Zeke had built a house in Japan.

He decided to live there with Reina.

“Reina, let’s check out this place today!”

Zeke visited one memorable spot after another.

Maybe her memories would come back.

But…

(Nothing’s left…)

Those cherished places didn’t match his memories at all.

Piles of rubble, trees reduced to charred stumps—no trace of their former beauty.

“Reina… Is there anywhere you want to go? Anything you want to eat?”

But Reina gave no response.

Still, Zeke patiently kept talking to her.

(What should I do, Sakiko? What should I do?)

…

“Memory loss like this can only be recovered gradually over time. There’s no miracle cure.”

“I see…”

“Honestly, we still know next to nothing about the human brain. I’m sorry I couldn’t help more.”

“N-no, thank you, Doctor.”

Zeke consulted a doctor.

Desperate to bring back the bright girl Reina used to be.

He tried everything, but nothing worked. She never once made a sound.

“Oh, that reminds me. I hear human memories are strongly tied to smells and tastes. You know, how a scent can suddenly bring back a long-forgotten memory.”

“I see… Smells, huh.”

One day, Zeke had an idea.

He stood in the kitchen, experimenting.

Wearing an apron that looked ridiculous on his hulking Terminator-like frame.

“‘Appropriate amount’? Write it in grams! Why say ‘appropriate amount’!”

He glared at the cookbook while tackling cooking for the first time.

Smells and tastes—if that was the key, he’d recreate the Japanese food she used to eat, struggling through trial and error.

And what he ended up with…

“Mushy rice… salty miso soup. And this dashimaki tamagoyaki is more like a brick of scrambled eggs. Back to square one.”

Zeke never cooked.

He always made do with rations, feeding them to Reina too.

But he remembered his wife Sakiko always making traditional Japanese food.

Determined to recreate it somehow, Zeke dove into cooking.

But the results were like this.

“This is tough…”

Then…

“Reina!?”

Reina walked over on her own.

She, who almost never took initiative, drawn by the sounds of cooking.

She looked at Zeke and deflated in disappointment.

As if what she’d hoped for wasn’t there.

Seeing that, Zeke realized.

“I get it… You thought I was Mom, didn’t you? Sorry, Reina.”

But fire lit in Zeke’s eyes.

“This is the right track. Alright. Wait there, Reina! I’ll recreate Mom’s taste!”

From that day, Zeke practiced every day.

His fingers became bloody, he got burns, but he kept cooking.

He couldn’t ask anyone about Japanese food; only his own tongue remembered his wife’s flavors.

So he desperately tried to recreate them.

And finally…

“Y-yeah. It’s… edible, at least!”

His cooking reached a level he could actually call tasty.

Since then, Reina had watched Zeke cook from behind every day.

“Reina, it’s not quite like Mom’s, but I finally nailed it. Want to try?”

Zeke served the dish to Reina.

Reina skillfully picked up her chopsticks and brought some tamagoyaki to her mouth.

“How is it? …Reina.”

“………”

“I see…”

But Reina didn’t reply.

(No good… huh.)

The moment Zeke started to slump…

“…Salty.”

“Reina!!”

That day, Reina spoke for the first time.

Tears streaming down, she called it salty but kept eating.

“Mom made it… sweeter… much sweeter…”

“Yeah, yeah. It was sweeter.”

Zeke hugged Reina tight.

Tears flowed from Reina’s emotionless eyes.

Zeke’s did too.

“Let’s practice from now on, together. Lots of practice, always together.”

From that day, Zeke and Reina cooked together often.

He’d thought her memory returned for a moment, but it was temporary—her memories didn’t fully come back.

Even so.

“Reina, can you help me?”

She nodded with a small kokk.

From that day, Reina had a will of her own.

Her memories were still gone, her emotions faint.

But they could communicate.

Zeke decided to tell the memory-less Reina that she was adopted.

When he’d once tried forcing memories of Sakiko by talking about the past…

Reina had hyperventilated and passed out.

Judging she needed time to remember slowly, Zeke acted like he wasn’t her real father.

As an adoptive one.

Even so.

“I’m your adoptive father, but… call me Papa.”

“Understood. Papa.”

That was Zeke’s final selfishness.

“Reina… Now, let’s talk one more time. About your mother. Your mother is Sakiko Kurokami, Japanese. Pure-blooded Japanese with a brother in the Japanese military. We don’t know how he is now, but his name is Isshin Kurokami. A strong man with a daughter your age. Well, he opposed our marriage and we grew distant… But those people are your last living blood relatives. If you meet them… don’t fight. If I died, it was probably at the hands of Japanese or their allies. But Reina, I’ve taken precious things from them too. It might be impossible now, but… someday, when your heart allows, break the chain of hatred. That’s Papa’s final wish.”

“Kaguya and Reina… are cousins after all.”

“And… I’m sorry. At first, for your sake, I said you were adopted. But as time passed, I couldn’t bring myself to tell you. I thought you hated me for not saving your mother. That’s why I never said it. I’m sorry.”

“Ugh… I never hated you. I don’t hate you at all, Papa.”

Reina had been crying the whole time while watching the footage.

“And finally… Reina, I’m dead. But you live on. And you’re there, right? Mikazuki. Take care of Reina. I trust you. Ending footage now.

Reina, last… the words I never could say…”

And Zeke told Reina at the end.

Words from the heart he’d kept distant and never said since acting as an adoptive father.

“I love you.”

The footage ended.

“I… I loved you too, Papa. You did so much for me every single day… I wanted to tell you I loved you. Thank you!”

The words Reina most wanted to say were the same.

The gratitude she’d wanted to express on that battlefield but never could.

“Reina…”

Kenya simply held Reina.

Knowing her voice wouldn’t reach anymore.

Even so.

“Zeke loved you to the end, Reina. He entrusted you to me until the end…”

“Papa, Papa!! Waaah!!”

Reina cried her heart out, together with Kenya.

They kept crying until sunset.

…

The sun set, night fell.

As twilight’s glow gently enveloped them…

Reina spoke.

“Thank you, Kenya-kun. I’m okay now.”

“Reina…”

“I met Kaguya. On the battlefield, riding that red KOG.”

“Huh? That red one was Kaguya?”

“Yeah. She told me then: I’m weak because I have no one to protect. But I decided today. I don’t want to lose anyone precious anymore. So I’ll protect you. With my life.”

“Me too. I’ll protect you with my life, Reina.”

Reina and Kenya embraced.

Having cried it out, the two overcame Zeke’s death.

That was what Zeke had wanted too.

“What happens now? What should I do?”

“I don’t know either…”

Reina and Kenya stood up.

Their feet planted firmly on the ground, facing forward.

Zeke’s death was incredibly painful.

But they couldn’t stop.

“Let’s keep going, Reina.”

“Yes.”

The girl smiled back at the boy.

No one could say her face lacked emotion now.

Reina and Kenya rose.

Having overcome Zeke’s death, clearly.

And as they turned to leave…

A black-haired girl approached alone, holding a single flower.

Kenya and the others didn’t know.

About the grave next to Sakiko Kurokami’s.

That it was the Kurokami family grave.

That the girl—the one who recaptured Japan—would come here first.

“Huh?”

For a graveside visit to her beloved family.