Epilogue - Part Two

A boy in about sixth grade was sitting on a bench at a bus stop.

He looked kind and level-headed, but there was a sadness in his eyes that didn't belong on a boy his age. None of the adults walking past payed him any attention.

“...Have you ever heard of the Hourglass of Miracles?”

When the boy looked up in surprise, he saw a man in black-rimmed glasses standing in front of him.

The boy did know the urban legend. He'd heard it talked about in school. But right now, fear was overriding all of that and he tried to run away.

However, he stopped when he saw what the man had taken out of his breast pocket. On the end of a silver chain was an hourglass full of white sand. The man continued as though they were talking in private.

“Just between you and me, this is that hourglass. I've already gotten a miracle, so you can have it.”

The man forced the hourglass into the boy's hand.

“Why me...?”

As the boy stammered in confusion, the man, who had been leaving, turned back with a grin.

“Why are you asking me? I didn't decide you were the new owner, he did.”

It was clear from the way the man gestured with his neck that “he” was the hourglass itself.

“It's strange that an hourglass can decide its owner.”

“You should ask him about that yourself.”

With those final words, the man disappeared into the crowd. The boy looked down at the hourglass in his hand in confusion. As though it were trying to get his attention, the hourglass began to glow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This translation comes with many thanks to our patron

ISAAC WARD

 

 

About the Author

Houjou Kie was born in Hyōgo Prefecture in 1984. She is a graduate of Kyoto University. She made her debut in 2019 by winning the 29th Ayukawa Tetsuya award for the novel you just read, “The Time Traveler's Hourglass”. Her second full-length work, “Visitors to the Solitary Island”, was selected as number one in the 2020 SR Society Mystery Top 10. Her other works include “Delicious Death for Detectives”.

(Translator's note: Unlike the last About the Author we wrote, this one was actually in the book and not by either of us).

About the Translators

Mitsuda Madoy is a time traveler, hurtling through time and space at a rate of one second per second. He can be found an average of four times per week at https://www.twitch.tv/mitsudamadoy

cosmiicnana is a space traveler. ...That's not a joke, that's the canon lore. They can be found an average of four times per year at https://www.twitch.tv/cosmiicnana

 

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