The god dissolved into a pool of blood, and silence descended.
Did we kill a god?
No, no.
We just drove it off.
Then we got hospitalized.
They told us we’d be kept under observation for about a month!
The most severely injured were me and Suematsu-san.
This time’s Fighting Spirit Award definitely went to Suematsu-san.
The one with the lightest injuries was Tatiana.
She just had a hoarse throat from singing too much.
She’s way too strong all on her own.
The ones whose pride got shredded to pieces were the priests of Chronos and the monks of Taikyoku Nation.
Even though they got kicked around like trash, the sports faction put up a solid fight.
Apparently, the religious folk interpreted it as being shown a sheer difference in class through the strength of faith in baseball.
I honestly just think it was a difference in physical conditioning.
While I was hospitalized, Claire and Karen-san took over executive duties.
Thanks to standing behind Tatiana, Claire hadn't vomited any black blood, so she didn't need to be admitted.
Polina was assigned to serve as Claire's secretary.
Ren and Melissa were doing fine too.
Lou-chan’s mom livestreamed the entire incident via drone.
While she didn't broadcast the details about me and my unborn older brother, everything else—including the situation with Melissa's mother—was neatly chalked up to an evil conspiracy orchestrated by the Star God.
I'm totally fine with leaving it at that.
Now then, here’s the real issue.
I messed up.
That's right... Karen-san is, after all, a Lepsitolian.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Karen-san collected all the broken Divine Artifacts.
Suematsu-san's blood-soaked clothes and shimenawa rope.
Katori-sensei’s rusted, crumbled katana.
Pigetto’s and Leonidas-kun’s shields.
A broken bat.
Scattered stadium dirt.
A bent championship belt.
A torn ceremonial kesho-mawashi apron.
A Round 1-2-3 Mascot statue with a shattered head.
And the katana I held right before collapsing after driving off the Star God.
She gathered up all the various tools brought into the fray as "Divine Artifacts."
It wasn't like she handled them roughly or tried to sell them off.
Rather, she meticulously preserved them in their broken state.
If she had tried to sell them, I wouldn't just be furious—I’d have to administer official disciplinary action.
Yes... Lepsitolians are brilliant.
They know down to the millimeter where the line is before people get angry.
Karen-san announced an exhibition of the Divine Artifacts at the Kamishiro Group Museum in the Chronos royal capital.
It happened a mere sixteen hours after I was admitted.
Without telling a soul, the plan progressed entirely in secret.
Even Wifey hadn't caught wind of it.
By the time it was announced and Claire tried to intervene, it was already too late.
The Chronos Religion took a bite of the pie.
Or rather, the Chronos Religion went all-in on a gamble, staking their entire reason for existing on it.
Exhibitions were scheduled at temples all across the royal capital planet.
It had snowballed to a scale that nobody could stop anymore.
Master Tank, who had been blown away and suffered a broken leg, found out from his sickroom.
"Huh? My kesho-mawashi and a life-sized cutout from my active days... What the heck is thiiis?!"
Footage of Master Tank's famous bouts from his youth played on an adjacent monitor.
For Saurus-sensei, it was footage from when he became the Imperial Pro-wrestling champion.
Katori-sensei, who had been in critical condition with a broken rib piercing his lung, was apparently in tears, weeping, "That katana... I'll never get another one like it..." I mean, seriously, Sensei is way too much of a monster.
Reservations for the exhibition filled up instantly, and massive lines wrapped around the same-day ticket booths.
The venue was packed with citizens desperately wanting a glimpse of the items brought by the heroes who fought a god, as well as footage of the battle.
I made sure to warn Karen-san, "If any problems arise, you'd better take full responsibility!"
However, Karen-san was brimming with confidence, replying, "I will make this an absolute success."
I don't even care anymore.
Suematsu-san and I couldn't leave the ICU.
The archbishops of the Chronos Religion were hospitalized in the ICU of another hospital.
Apparently, there were just too many casualties this time, so they had to split everyone across different facilities!
According to Zashiki-warashi, we might have lost if Suematsu-san hadn't spooked the god.
Suematsu-san is finally getting the recognition he deserves from the world.
Almost all members of the Ninja Corps and my Imperial Guard were hospitalized.
Lacking any means of counterattack, they reportedly coughed up blood and collapsed right at the start.
I'll make sure to send them get-well money from my personal assets later.
The only real concern would be theft, I suppose.
They're already damaged to begin with, so they have no monetary value.
Maybe the kesho-mawashi has a tiny bit left?
Though I have a feeling some new cultural value is about to be born here.
With so many spectators around, I doubt anyone would actually manage to steal the Divine Artifacts anyway.
The regional showcases are fully booked, too.
Ah, that reminds me.
Over in Taikyoku Nation, there's a massive uproar over the cheer squad that defeated a god.
The Kishin Nation too.
Shi-yun, who led the cheer squad, held a parade in an open-top car.
It's a frenzy that completely eclipses any championship victory parade.
Free celebratory drinks were handed out to the public by the team and sponsors, food stalls sprouted everywhere, and the people cheered in sheer jubilation.
Here, some friction arose.
The idol unit of former middle-aged men turned female Zorks, who were supposed to join the fray in the fourth wave.
...Well, you see, I think they were held back because no one was confident they'd be effective.
One-O-One was on standby in the hallway too.
However, the fact that the Kishin Nation cheer squad started singing fight songs in the hallway and actually produced results turned out to be the problem.
They were grumbling incessantly about how they'd wanted to sing too.
Having received an avalanche of petitions, Karen-san decided to organize an idol festival.
A nationwide tour across the Chronos Royal Capital Planet was officially greenlit.
I think I'll just stay hospitalized until it's all over and dump every shred of responsibility onto Karen-san.
After my urinary catheter was removed, I developed cystitis, which extended my hospital stay.
Every time I go to the bathroom, it hurts like absolute hell.
Once I was finally transferred to the general ward, there was only one thing to do.
Midnight cup noodles.
Midnight, after all.
Midnight cup noodles are the pinnacle of aesthetic perfection.
It doesn't need to be a large size.
It doesn't need to be fancy, expensive, gourmet cup noodles.
Just buying the most basic variety from the vending machine.
Hot water comes straight out of the machine, so pour it in and...
On the way back, I crossed paths with a fellow male doctor who was also on the hunt for cup noodles, but we simply shared a knowing grin and walked past each other.
The doctor was rather chubby. He was probably strictly forbidden from eating cup noodles.
Even so, we both sought them out anyway.
This time, it was classic soy sauce flavor.
Miso ramen is great too, but if it's miso, I'd want to stir in extra instant miso paste.
Cup noodles really are wonderful.
Cup noodles are supreme... Or so I thought, until an intruder barged in.
"Aha! I knew you'd do this!"
It was Kevin.
Kevin had been assigned as my attending physician.
"At least let me have some ramen!"
"No! Leo, you literally almost died, you know! Do you understand that?!"
"I get it, but come on. What's wrong with a little cup of noodles?!"
"Geez! Why is everyone doing the exact same thing?!"
"...Huh?"
Katori-sensei and the others were slouched on a bench in the back, slurping cup noodles.
I flashed them a roguish grin and gave a thumbs-up.
To my older brother, the previous Leo:
I will protect everyone.