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“I don’t age like other living beings. I don’t mean to frighten you, but that’s just the kind of entity that the thing inside me is. I’m Haruhiro, but also not Haruhiro. I’m not living. I’m being kept alive.”
“Are you connected to the No-Life King in some way?” Yori asked.
Haru didn’t immediately answer. It took some time for him to open his mouth. “I can’t say that I’m not. But I’m different from the No-Life King... Oh, right. Yume told you two about everything that happened back then. Then, do you know that the No-Life King—or rather, his vessel—used to be our comrade?”
“Yeah. You can assume that Yori knows more or less everything great-grandma knew. Sometimes, she would say that she was fuzzy on some of the details, though, and she would suddenly remember things in the middle of a story she was telling us or figure things out that she had misunderstood.”
“Even after escaping with Ruon...Yume never forgot Grimgar, huh?”
“She always wanted to come back.”
“‘In Grimgar,’” Riyo suddenly interjected. The words were not her own. But the cadence was Riyo’s, unnaturally level. “‘There’s somethin’ your great-grandma forgot. And someone’s gotta go get it. Do y’think you could go and do that for your great-grandma?’”
Haru cast his eyes skyward. “Yume...” he said.
“Whaa?!” Yori turned to look at Riyo with shocked surprise. “Whoa, what?! How?! Great-grandma said that to Yori when we were all alone! I mean, sure, she was the kind of person who repeated herself a lot, but she only said that once!”
“She said it to me when I was alone with her too. Just once.” Riyo cast her eyes downward. “I’ve been keeping it a secret. Sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Riyo... Great-grandma could be like that! She was a real airhead! It was part of her charm, though!”
“So, basically...” Haru’s yellow eyes turned to Yori, and then Riyo. “The two of you have come to Grimgar to fulfill Yume’s last request? That thing Yume said she forgot... What exactly is it?”
Yori and Riyo exchanged glances. The sisters were quite different when it came to their heights and personalities, but they had some similarities too.
“Yeah, that there? That’s the problem,” Yori said with a casual shrug. “Great-grandma never said exactly what she wanted to do if she came back to Grimgar. She probably didn’t want to shackle Yori...and Riyo with whatever it was. To be honest, she might not’ve meant to tell us to go get whatever she forgot for her in the first place. But she said it anyway. She couldn’t help herself.”
“I see... Knowing Yume...I’m sure you’re right. Not that I know Yume as well as you do. Because Yume spent far longer with Ruon and you girls—her family—than she did with us...”
“But Grimgar was special to great-grandma.” Yori looked around, took a deep breath, then exhaled. “Great-grandma’s life began here. Her earliest memory was of waking up in Grimgar. This is where she met the people she cared about the most, and where they were split up. There were people she lost too. But she gained a lot of irreplaceable things here. Most importantly, it’s where she met great-grandpa. That’s the reason Yori and Riyo exist now. Here. In Grimgar. We’ve arrived, great-grandma. Yori still doesn’t know what it is that you forgot, but Yori’s gonna find it. And when Yori finds something that seems like it must be what Yori is looking for, that’ll be what great-grandma forgot. Great-grandma would definitely have thought the same way.”
Haru hung his head. Then he put a hand on Manato’s shoulder and quietly said, “Thanks, Manato. That helped. I’m fine now. Really.”
Manato nodded and withdrew his hand from Haru’s back.
Haru had been carrying some really heavy feelings with him for a long time. And the burden hadn’t been lifted from his shoulders yet. He was still struggling under the weight, trying not to let it crush him.
“Yori. Riyo. There’s one more thing I need to tell you about.” Haru said as he set his mask down on the ground. “The one who killed Ruon’s father, your great-grandfather Ranta... It was me. I killed Ranta with my own hands.”
“Hm?” Manato cocked his head to the side.
Yori and Riyo’s mother was named Rinka, and her father had been named Ruon. Ruon’s father had been named Ranta. Haru had killed that same Ranta.
Ranta had been Yori and Riyo’s great-grandfather, and Yume had been their great-grandmother, so that probably meant they’d been in the same sort of relationship that Manato’s parents had been in. Husband and wife. That was what it was called, right? And when a husband and wife loved each other very much, babies were born, or something like that.
Basically, it was the same as when animals copulated in mating season and the female got pregnant. When parents copulated, babies were the result. Manato was familiar with the word love, but he didn’t really understand it. Maybe it was just a euphemism for copulation? Or was it when two people were in a mating relationship and they got along well? Manato’s parents had gotten along really well.
Haru and Yume had been comrades. Yume and Ranta had been husband and wife. Haru had killed Ranta.
Yori and Riyo were both very quiet. It wasn’t that they were surprised. It seemed like they didn’t understand what they’d just heard, or were unable to accept it. Manato felt the same way.
“So, um...you and Ranta were...enemies? Is that it? Huh?”
“No.” Haru shook his head slightly without looking at Manato. “Ranta awoke in Grimgar on the same day as Yume and me. We had our differences, but he was still my comrade.”
“But you ended up killing him?”
“I didn’t just ‘end up’ killing him. I killed Ranta with intent.”
“Why?”
“I had a reason to do so... But I don’t want to make excuses. I killed Ranta. That’s the immutable truth.”
Yori brushed back her hair, which was by no means long, and started to say something, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was an inaudible whisper.
“Haru-kun-san,” Riyo said, stepping out in front of Yori. She looked down at Haru, and Manato next to him. “Please, have a duel with me.”
“A...duel?” Haru’s eyes closed, then immediately opened once more. “What are you saying? And, wait... Haru-kun...-san? There’s no need for that ‘san.’”
“I cannot call you Haru-kun.”
“Oh. I see... Well, I don’t care what you call me... I’m in no position to demand anything of you, but... A duel? You want me to fight you?”
“Yes, that is what I said, Haru-san.”
“But why would I... Oh. This is about vengeance. Of course, you have that right. But I’m not sure that—”
“This isn’t about vengeance. Please, have a duel with me.”
“But...I...”
Haru looked away from Riyo’s face, as if searching for something. He might have been trying to see Yori’s reaction. But Yori was standing behind Riyo, almost completely hidden from view by her sister.
“Haru-san. Please, have a duel with me.”
Manato suspected that Riyo was probably going to keep saying the same thing in the same tone until Haru agreed.
“Okay.” Haru nodded. And not just once. His jaw was tremulous as he nodded three times.
“If that’s what you want, I can’t refuse. Let’s duel.”