A few days after the fierce battle, the secret underground base of the Ark Dominion, the evil secret society that had won a great victory, was holding a grand New Year’s celebration.

An unusually long banner hung over the venue, on which was written the following.

“Since we couldn’t have a celebration to commemorate the defeat of the super natural enemy Victor Black, the great destruction of the Tokyo-branch Hero Headquarter, and the New Year celebration back to back, let’s Combine them all and do a great great great Ark Dominion New Year’s party, please treat me well this year too.(超天敵(てんてき)ビクトブラック大撃破＆東京ヒーロー本部大壊滅大記念大祝賀会ならびに忘年会ができなかったからまとめてやっちゃおうアークドミニオン大大大新年会今年もよろしくね)”

The last part of the title was so small that it looked like a badly balanced calligraphy. Rintaro looked up at the banner and wondered who came up with these stupid titles.

Beside him, Samecchi was giving her New Year’s greetings to the evil general.

「Happy New Year, ssu!」

「Happy New Year, Samecchi! Here, I’ll give you a New Year’s gift for being a bad girl!」

「Yaaay, Ryuu-chan, Thank you, ssu!　Hii, Fuu, Mii…… It’s decent, ssune.」

「Samecchi, you shouldn’t count the New Year’s Gift in front of him.」

He thought that they were going to give New Year’s greetings in a solemn Edo Shogunate’s New Year’s party style, but they were just like a grandfather and his grandchildren. In other words, Rintaro was like a bride who visited her husband’s parents’ house and came to show her parents-in-law the face of their grandchildren.

Since there are few children in Ark Dominion, Samecchi got a lot of red envelopes.

Rintaro also gave a New Year’s gift to Samechi. There was also a blonde little girl, but Rintaro decided to forget about her.

But even if the person tried to forget, it is meaningless if he or she is caught.

「Here Rintaro, Give the cute me a New Year’s Gift as well.」

「Ha ha ha, you are totally on the giving side, General Tagaraak!」

「What are you saying! I’m a fresh 4th grader in elementary school, ja zo! The youngest, ja zo!」

「You are one of the oldest member! Or worse, you’re the oldest!」

「What’s wrong with that?　Why can’t the oldest get a New Year’s Gift?」

Why would she even ask for the New Year’s Gift even though she had a lot of money.

New Year’s Gift is not just money; it is a kind of status for children. Rintaro had no choice but to pull something out of his pocket.

「Oooh! That is!」

「Sorry for the delay, It’s the mission success reward.」

The V mark shone brightly on the black emblem. It was the “Victory Transformation Gear” of Mayuzumi Kirika, Victor Black. After the match was settled, he had neatly retrieved it.

「Muhyohyohyo! This is it, this is it, ja!」

「Please be careful when handling it!」

「I know. Ehe, ehehehehe……」

Tagaraak left in a good mood with a strange laugh. The hero suit was still covered in pepper spray and colored ball paint, but the Machinery General Tagaraak would probably be fine.

「As expected of aniki, ssu! Samecchi wished she could have seen aniki’s gallant figure with her own eyes, ssu……!」

「That was a shame. I also wanted to show Samecchi how I won. Ahahahahaha …」

「Rumor has it that aniki beat Victor black to a pulp, played with her all over, stripped her down, and humiliated her!」

「Hey, who told you that?　I won’t get angry, so why don’t you tell aniki?」

The celebration was full of talk about Death Green. The sound of happy chatter could be heard from all around the venue.

「Did you hear? Death Green-san took off Victor Black’s suit and made it dirty (injured) by hurting her a lot. ……」

「It’s amazing isn’t it…… After all, it is said that he even deprived her of her physical freedom and treated her like “meat.” ……」

「As expected of our Death Green-san!」

Rintaro felt as if there was some kind of bad gossip spreading around, but he decided not to listen to it.

All of them are true, but he is sure the misunderstanding will be cleared up in time.

「Did you hear the Christmas story?……　I heard he didn’t sleep a wink and stayed up all night…….」

「Swordminas-san seemed to also said that her butt still hurt…… That she was being comforted a lot……」

「As expected of our Death Green-san!」

Rintaro pretended not to hear. Strangely enough, tears began to flow even though he could not hear anything.

「Aniki, are you crying, ssuka?」

「There is a bit of…… Oleoresin Capsicum gas in my eyes……」

「Oreo…… What is that, ssuka?」

「Hey Rintaro…… Are you crying? The roast beef is delicious, you know? Wanna eat it?」

While Rintaro was fretting, Minato, a.k.a. Swordminas, the woman behind the rumor, approached him. Minato offered Rintaro a plate of roast beef as if to comfort him.

「Uuu…… Thank you, I will have it, Swordminas……」

「Make sure to eat a lot. I grilled them myself. There’s still a lot.」

「Uuu……Ugh, ugh……」

「There there…… I don’t know what is going on, but you did a good job. You worked hard. Un, un.」

Minato treated him kindly, but Rintaro was worried that another misunderstanding might spread. However, the exquisitely seasoned roast beef was truly delicious.

「Ugh Ugh…… It’s deliciouuss……」

「I- Is that so!? It’s delicious!? Alright, eat! Eat more!」

Minato, perhaps quite pleased with the praise she received for the taste, shoveled roast beef into Rintaro’s mouth one after another. It was like a medieval torture in which stones were stuffed into the mouth.

「Ugh…… Ughh…… Death……」

「Uwaaa!　Rintaro, get a grip!　Rintaro!」

「Aniki! Anikiiiiiiii!!!」

　It was two days later that rumors began to circulate that Death Green had nearly died while weeping and devouring Swordminas “meat” like a wild beast.

The “Since we couldn’t have a celebration to commemorate the defeat of the super natural enemy Victor Black, the great destruction of the Tokyo-branch Hero Headquarter, and the New Year celebration back to back, let’s Combine them all and do a great great great Ark Dominion New Year’s party, please treat me well this year too.(超天敵(てんてき)ビクトブラック大撃破＆東京ヒーロー本部大壊滅大記念大祝賀会ならびに忘年会ができなかったからまとめてやっちゃおうアークドミニオン大大大新年会今年もよろしくね)” continued until late into night.

Rintaro performed his best magic trick at the monster hidden talent contest and won a close-cut Japanese chess board at a bingo tournament.

…………

「It was a bad experience……」

Rintaro collapsed quietly on the fluffy double bed.

After that incident, he was involved in another quarrel between General Bearion and General Zazoma. Both of them had been lying in bed until yesterday, but the resilience of a monster is still extraordinary.

Then, just as quickly as it happened, a fierce “battle for death green” ensued between the army of 100 beasts and the army of insects. After receiving wreaths until his vision was blocked, and going through a storm of spine-tingling hugs and kisses, by the time he finally returned to his room, the first day of the New Year was over.

Samecchi, who was sleeping next to him, rubbed her eyes and groaned softly.

「……Nyuu…… aniki……?」

「Sorry, did I wake you?」

「No…… Samecchi is a bad girl so she is waiting without sleeping……」

「I could hear you breathing in your sleep, though.」

When Rintaro said this, Samecchi looked embarrassed and buried her face in the stuffed shark he had bought at a home improvement store. She then wrapped the quilt around her body and snatched it away.

「Aniki……」

「What is it, Samecchi?」

「please treat me well…… this year…… too, ssuu.…… ssuu…… ssuu……」

Wrapped up in her futon like a caterpillar, Samecchi began to sleep again.

「What are you doing in my futon……」

Rintaro was forced to sleep on a blanket early in the New Year.

---

<60: Ittetsu and Ryu-chan
62: If I See You Again>