That Day When Suzuki-kun Wasn't the Mob-B! Chapter 468: Schemes, Smut, and a Multiverse (Patreon)

"And now, everything is finally over."

Finn glanced down at Ultear as she murmured those words. They sat together in the quiet night, away from the chaos of the recovery efforts. "Shouldn't you be with everyone else?" Finn asked.

Even though he had miraculously healed the physical wounds of every mage in the city, their minds were still stretched to the absolute breaking point. They had just survived an apocalypse, and the mental exhaustion was taking its toll.

"Why should I?" Ultear sighed, leaning comfortably against his shoulder. "You're the one who should be inside the castle, you know. You're the grand hero of Fiore now."

If anyone deserved the title of hero tonight, it was undeniably Finn. The Kingdom of Fiore had been impossibly stupid, blindly trusting the words of a time-traveler without independently verifying the threat the Eclipse Gate posed. It was fortunate that Finn had been there to clean up their mess. What if he hadn't been?

Ultear shuddered internally. She knew exactly what she would have done. She would have cast Last Ages, sacrificing her own life and youth just to rewind time by a single minute, hoping to undo the fatal mistakes of the battlefield.

Yet, looking back on it now, she realized how foolish that would have been. Even if she could turn back the clock, the mages likely would have just repeated the same ignorant mistakes. Her ultimate sacrifice would have been entirely worthless, costing her the precious future she was trying to build.

Currently, they were resting just outside the castle grounds, in one of the few courtyards that hadn't been reduced to molten slag. It was well past midnight. Most of the exhausted fighters had already collapsed into a deep sleep, while the non-combatants worked tirelessly through the night to clear debris and assist the displaced.

But for Ultear, this quiet moment by Finn's side was all she wanted.

"I really don't think I'm cut out to be a hero," Finn replied dryly.

There were plenty of titles that fit him—mastermind, conqueror, monster—but 'hero' definitely wasn't one of them. He knew perfectly well that if he accepted the label, the public would force their ridiculous, self-righteous ideals onto him, expecting him to solve all their problems for free. Being a hero was far too troublesome.

Then again, the political benefits it provided were undeniable.

Pushing those troubles aside for the night, Finn looked down at Ultear. "Let's get you some rest. It isn't good for you to stay up this late." Without waiting for an argument, he scooped her effortlessly into his arms, preparing to carry her back to his hotel suite—which, miraculously, had survived the dragon invasion entirely intact.

"Oh? Now you're paying attention to me?" Ultear pouted playfully, wrapping her arms around his neck as she subconsciously rested a hand over her lower belly.

"You are my woman. How could I not pay attention to you?"

Finn smiled helplessly. He knew women loved sweet talk, even if he didn't put a profound amount of thought into the words.

"But is your work really finished out here?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yup. It's all wrapped up."

That was an understatement. The Kingdom of Fiore was essentially his. While the King, the Princess, and the Magic Council might have harbored thoughts of resisting his absolute authority, it no longer mattered. He had intentionally allowed two dragons—Motherglare and the Rock Dragon—to escape. Whenever he needed political leverage or required a convenient scapegoat for a sudden 'disaster' that wiped out his political opponents, the rogue dragons would serve their purpose perfectly.

After all, who else in the world had the power to stop them?

Everything for this stage was complete, though Finn knew his overarching ambitions were far from over.

Is there anything else I want to do?

Becoming the absolute, de facto leader of the entire Magic Council was next on the agenda. He wouldn't voice it out loud, as dismantling the continent's governing body would take time and a series of carefully placed scapegoats, but the blueprint was already set in his mind.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Tonight, he just wanted to sleep.

The next morning, the quiet of Finn's suite was broken by a familiar duo.

"Good morning~!" Lisanna chirped, bursting into the room with her usual sunny disposition.

Beside her, Mirajane walked in quietly. Instead of her usual fiery glare, she looked at him with softness. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

Finn blinked, genuinely taken aback. "I'm perfectly fine, but it feels strange when you act this gentle with me, Mira."

While the rest of the world only ever saw Mirajane's sweet, angelic persona, Finn had almost exclusively been on the receiving end of her fierce, demonic temper. Seeing her act so calm and domestic around him gave him a bizarre sort of whiplash.

"Ha?!" Mirajane's angelic smile instantly shattered, a dark vein popping on her forehead.

"Calm down, Onee-chan!" Lisanna giggled, quickly clinging to her older sister's arm to hold her back.

"So... is there a reason you two came to wake me up? Or..." Finn's gaze shifted to the third figure standing silently in the doorway. "Does it have something to do with her?"

"Yup," Lisanna nodded, her tone turning a bit more serious. "We wanted to know what you think she should do."

It was Future Lucy.

Unlike the bright, optimistic Lucy of the current timeline, this version carried the heavy, suffocating air of a woman who had lost absolutely everything. Her future was a graveyard. Now that her mission was over—the Eclipse Gate closed and the dragons defeated by Finn—she was entirely adrift. She had no home to return to and no purpose left in this era.

"Are you seriously asking me?" Finn asked, slightly baffled. "Shouldn't she just stay with Fairy Tail?"

"Well..." Future Lucy spoke up, her voice quiet and weary. "There is already a Lucy in this timeline. I don't think it's right for me to just insert myself into their Fairy Tail. And... it feels completely wrong to join a different guild."

In her timeline, every single one of her comrades had died brutally while trying to protect her. The trauma was still agonizingly fresh. Simply walking into the guildhall and acting as if nothing had happened, surrounded by the living ghosts of her fallen family, was too much for her mind to bear.

Finn honestly didn't see the issue. She was still Lucy; the Fairy Tail of this era would welcome her with open arms. But he could clearly see the deep survivor's guilt etched into her expression. She didn't want to disrupt the life of her present self, nor did she want to burden the guild with her trauma.

Hmm... I suppose keeping two Lucys in the same guild might mess with the main character's plot armor, Finn thought internally.

Far across the city, the present-day Lucy sneezed, rubbing her nose in confusion.

"Alright," Finn sighed, making a decision. "You can come work for me."

"Really? Thank you very much!" Future Lucy bowed deeply, overwhelming gratitude flooding her chest at the lifeline he had just thrown her.

"So, what exactly are you going to do?" Finn asked, crossing his arms. "What are your skills?"

"Er..."

Lucy froze, a deeply silly, blank expression washing over her face. Did she have any applicable skills? She had technically failed her mission to stop the gate. In the original timeline, she had literally only served as a human shield to protect her past self. Furthermore, crossing the threshold of time had completely depleted her magic, and she no longer had her Celestial Spirits—they were the price she paid to rewrite history.

She was magically powerless and stranded in the past.

Seeing her spiral into an existential crisis, Finn decided to throw her a bone. "Don't overthink it. Even if you're from a doomed future, you're still Lucy Heartfilia. Therefore, you possess one absolute talent."

"I do? What is it?" Lucy asked, her eyes sparkling with a shred of hope.

"Writing smut."

"........"

Lucy's jaw hit the floor. Her face instantly ignited into a shade of crimson.

While the present-day Lucy was a bit too embarrassed and prideful to fully lean into her latent talent for writing steamy romance novels, Finn knew that deep down, she was an absolute natural at it. So, what about a traumatized, older Lucy who had literally nothing left to lose?

"It's settled," Finn declared smoothly. "From now on, you are the lead erotic novelist for my publishing house. Congratulations on the new job."

"......."

Future Lucy stared at him in absolute silence, seriously reevaluating whether following this man was actually a good idea.

While Finn was busy laying the groundwork for his eventual conquest of the Magic Council and expanding his publishing empire, far across the multiverse, the wheels of a completely different fate were already turning.

Suzuki of Jujutsu Kaisen stretched his arms, breathing in the crisp morning air. In this exact moment, he was thoroughly enjoying his life, having just secured a brand-new home in the bustling heart of Tokyo.