Volume 1 Chapter 5 (2/2)

”Eru……?”

Louie came back to his senses and stirred He looked back and forth between Eru and rown more vexed, forcefully put me on his back as my eyes wandered around He skillfully pushed Louie away as he did

Louie blankly watched it happen without any resistance When his gaze met mine after Eru had moved me a bit away, he froze up like time had stopped

That reaction kinda hurts……

Eru, uardian, wrapped his tail around ain his senses

”Uuard and stared at rowled in ill humor and aardly covered his ers down to his throat and took a deep breath

”……Yeah, the pain and the numbness have disappeared”

He sounded a little hoarse, but it evidently wasn't ue and relief caalad that it worked

”I'm sorry, Louie”

Louie looked at aze with his hand still on his throat when I apologized to him one last ti extremely aardly

As for me, I had a horrible headache that hurt so much I couldn't stand up, perhaps because I'd used the

I was given without fully understanding hoas supposed to use it

Eru eagerly ca tail as if to tell me to lie on him My lips naturally curled into a sratefully leaned against his steel-colored abdomen and buried my face in his fur The fur on Eru's back and mane was a little stiff, but the fur on his stomach area was very soft and fluffy —the absolutely best kind of texture It was like being covered in a down quilt

Eru's warmth spread across every nook and cranny of rew incredibly sleepy

Oh no, I'ain But even as I thought that in one corner of my heart, I couldn't resist sleep's call as my consciousness sank deep into darkness

A cloudyout my name

”——Hibiki”

A quiet but deeply anxious voice quickly brought my consciousness back up froishly got up I rubbedback at me

”Mm……, sorry, was I asleep this whole tihtly nu

Louie, who'd been observingup, let out a short sigh of relief He ed his broith one hand as if he had suddenly remembered how tired he was

Both Louie and Eru, as sitting in a docile e reason

”You kept sleeping, even after an entire day had passed,”

Louie whispered hoarsely as he looked up

I stared back at him blankly as I pondered over his words for a bit Then, I looked around in confusion

The scene before one to sleep ……It was strange

”How are you feeling?”

Louie watched htest of movement

”Um, was I really asleep for an entire day?”

I couldn't believe it Did thatI'd been attacked by the swarross insects, but two days after that?

It was like I'd been robbed of a day's worth of ti it

After a brief s at once and panicked

”Louie, Eru, I' so soundly all bysure to eat?”

Louie and Eru both see for the watch overfor an entire day was much too sloppy and careless of me no ain and looked down as I was in a fluster

”Louie, get a little rest I'll keep watch”

I hid how shaken I was as I pulled a little at Louie's ar that he hadn't gotten any proper sleep

Louie roughly brushed back his hair with both hands His lightly colored hair fell frorew a little scared at how stern he looked

”……Uh an entire day Louieit show

I'd grown ashamed of the sheer number of times I've held us back due to my own carelessness and formed a fist on top of my knees when I felt Louie stir

”You wouldn't wake up no ht never open your eyes again”

After hearing his somewhat hoarse voice, I understood that Louie had been more afraid than I had been worried

Eru also cried out in a heartrending ainst my shoulder

I'd slept like the dead, hadn't I?

Had I really slept that deeply……? I was exasperated byhabits

No wonder why ish But, my mood had cleared up coh ht that I'd offer up another prayer to the Gods again——”

Louie tried to sh and looked off to the side

”This is my fault You fell into such a deep slu through ht that it'd be too obvious if I lied and said it wasn't and was subsequently lost about how I should respond

Right, I'd tried giving Louie a, er, blessing in an all-or-nothing gaht after that, I had a horrible headache and suddenly became incredibly sleepy I doubt that they weren't connected

My body had probably stopped working te ivenits characteristics or how to use it

It ht be that my poasn't suited for detoxification

I see, I canout my power another task to take on as we travel Olin's a God of war and Silvai's a prioverns over the wind and atmosphere, was it?

I was pretty sure that Silvai had explained to me that my name, Hibiki, shared camaraderie with the atmosphere when I told him what my name was Different Gods ruled over different powers

”And here I was supposed to be protecting you,”

Louie whispered painfully with his voice colored by regret

You know, Louie I didn't come to this world just to be protected

For soet the words out of aze

We headed out for the village of Urs after we finished getting ready

When we finally got out of the creepy forest, ere loomy wasteland

I felt likeat it I felt cold not with my skin, but with my senses

Louie said that he wanted us to reach the village in the afternoon and leave before the sun set as we traveled along the wasteland without another person in sight

He said that we absolutely e because Reiht

I had yet to see a Reim……a person who had turned into a revenant, for myself, so it didn't really hit erous Because of this, I couldn't abandon my initial opinion that it was better to turn as many Reims back huly bound in guilt over the fact that he felt that it was his fault that I had slept for an entire day He was being even more cautious than he was before

I pat Eru's fur as I grew impatient on the inside

Eru, as I'd expected, still refused to let anyone else but ency situations, though I had Eru carry only uilty about it

Louie, alking next to us, absolutely refused to look our way The fact that our eyes never met while ere so close to each other made it all the more unnatural

”Er, I' else”

I apologized forLike the incident with the bugs, for one And also about hoell, did that to him without his consent even if it was only to cleanse him from the poison It was inappropriate of me

Blood rushed to my face as I remembered what I had done I felt like I could faint fro bad to Louie, too I'd feel really bad toward his wife, if he's a ely depressed It was a feeling that I couldn't quite explain

But I didn't think that Louie considered e wrong too

”——Hibiki I have a favor to ask of you”

”……What is it?”

”There's a high probability that we'll arrive at the village later than we planned at this rate”

”Is it too dangerous to go?”

”You wanted to see a ht?”

”Yeah”

Louie looked like he was deep in thought for a bit

”I'll go to the village and get a e with the sacred beast while I do?”

I cleared away the conflicting thoughts in lared a little at Louie

”AI want to see”

My voice sounded horribly stiff in theI could hear

”What else would you like?”

I found it difficult to answer There were a great s that I wanted to see

Like the atmosphere and smells that you couldn't touch with your hands —all of it I wanted to learn more about this world with all of my five senses

Like the houses, stores, public facilities, and fields that were likely to be found in the village I wanted to see the foundation of people's daily lives here and see how much it differed fro important I'd have to learn for my mission

It was a bit too e

At that rate, I would lose sight of why I'd co back everything that you want to see”

No, you're wrong!

I don't only want to see things that have a definite shape

I hung ue apprehensions that I'd had before we departed had proven to be true

The promise that I'd forced Louie to swear to me That he wouldn't sacrifice himself to save me I'd been afraid that he'd break that promise one day, and I felt like that day was creepy closer to reality

”Louie, can we talk about so important for a bit?”

I took a deep breath and turned around while still on top of Eru Eru hardly moved up or down as he walked, so I wouldn't fall off even if I sat sideways

”Hibiki, it's better for you to sit facing the front…”

”Our conversation cos were about to go unfavorably for hie the topic and cut hi to the village with you I won't back down on that one”

”Hibiki”

Louie finally looked me in the eye, probably because he had little other choice Even still, it relieved h he did look sullen

”You can't go off soerous by yourself!”

”——And what if so were to happen? I, at the very least, kno to protect myself But you…”

”No! I won't listen”

I didn't kno to use a sword and it was doubtful that I'd be able to fend forI could say if Louie pointed that out

”I want you to understand that I'et hurt”

Louie abruptly looked away again His profile was filled with an emotion that was a dark as fear

”I feel the same way too, you know”

I wanted him to understand It hurt so much to be alone in the leisure of safety that it made me want to cry

”I wouldn't be able to bear it, Hibiki——I don't care ifas you're safe, that's all I…”

You're being serious, aren't you, Louie?

You don't care about your own life at all

”I won't be safe”

I cut Louie off because I couldn't bear it either

”My body ht be safe, but what about my heart? Louie, you're only worried about my body Does my heart not matter at all?”

Louie furrowed his brows a little as resistance alighted his face I continued,

”Louie, you're protecting et physically wounded when you do, but'hy?' and it really hurts, like I'd been cut rew irritated I couldn't expresslike an iht sound like what a child would say, but it's how I really feel

”It obviously hurts when I get physically wounded too, but I still want to stay with you and be useful”

”No You can't”

Louie aze to me

”Why not?”

”——I couldn't bear it if you fell asleep like that again As long as I can still hear your voice, that's all I…”

”I think they're the same The reason why you're so worried aboutthat makes it so painful forwhen I watch you get injured?”

”But it's not okay for you to be the only one to get hurt, Louie”

”You don't understand how cruel it is to survive in this country”

The color of reproach appeared in Louie'shis te what I could possibly know about how cruel it was

”But, Louie I promised Olin and Silvai That I'd turn everyone back human The Gods sacrificed themselves to send me here But then, if I let you sacrifice yourself for me too, then just what——does that make me?”

Eru suddenly looked back as if in consideration for me I continued,

”I definitely don't want you to ulti hurt, Louie, just because I wasn't using the power they gave lared atand was quite scary If I'dat me like that in any norain,

”there's so s that I don't know about this world that I want you to teach ain a lot of different experiences, and slowly learn things little by little so that I won't ain and cause you more trouble”

”I'll teach you whatever it is that you want to know”

Louie was obstinate Was I the one who had made him like this? I didn't knohat else I could say

——I had to prove myself with my actions, not my words

And I had failed The fact that I had fallen asleep for an entire day had made Louie all the more uneasy He was someone who feared loss above all else

How do I reassure him that I won't disappear anymore?

We proceeded in silence for a little while after that The brutal landscape was so unchanging that I began to hate it All it did was to spur on this gloo over there”

So blackish protruded out here and there from the discolored surface

”Oh, those are probably stone monuments…… Sorcerers cast a spell to try to prevent the earth froan to fall into ruin They're probably the remains of the spell,”

Louie explained indifferently I had Eru walk toward theuess they really were stone ranite There was so that looked like words carved into their surfaces, but they were so cracked and dirty that I couldn't make any sense out of theot off of Eru and meticulously checked out each one

”——These stone e They've been carved out on purpose Why is that?”

My breath caught when I turned around to ask Louie

”Louie?”

I treht behind ht

”Eru!”

My voice was colored with fear Neither Louie nor Eru were here I hurried around a corner ofhad even happened, I had simply been unable to see them from the other side of the monuments

I was exasperated by howaround just a little farther away

It was strange, Louie's gaze right now——I should be in his line of sight, but he wasn't reacting I recalled how it had been when I'd first met him in the interworld He didn't notice h me

”He does not see you”

Someone's voice suddenly echoed by my ear A hand reached out covered my mouth from behind before I could turn around to see who it was

”This is the place where we bet our lives on our spell Ahh, but there still isn't enough power for it The land will not turn back The kingdooosebue human-like ”hazes” stood by the stonemy mouth even as I trembled For a moment, I was reminded of the chair of small monkeys that Fortune had set up My hands and feet had been bound, and my voice had been sealed off……but this wasn't like the monkeys at all It was a skinny, branch-like hand with a faint silhouette It was like it belonged to a ghost, and not a person——

Louie had said so about sorcerers earlier Could these possibly be their residual thoughts?

I shook off the hand in a hurry Then, I heard voices of regret reverberating around me

Voices that cursed their fate, voices of lament, voices of hatred——and the voices of those hile thinking of their faes ofnot to think about because I had a mission here, suddenly ca of their loved ones blocked the way before

I was in a daze In those translucent hazes……in the shi+e of so with the scenery here That so was a scene that I couldn't believe was real

——……Mom, Dad?

I desperately took a closer look There was no doubting that I was seeingeach other at the dinner table

——Why!?

Hoas I seeing a scene with ed to keep s

It shouldn't have been possible Thisthat was created by ht This was a place where the reered In other words, were the torlds being connected together, like how they had been in the interworld forest, by the residual thoughts and power that had piled up and ht, did thatto o back hohdrawn forward The dinner table was cold My parents weren't talking to each other, as usual Nothing had changed, regardless of whether I was there or not Nothing at all!

I grew angry and bit down on ht sight of the dishes on the dinner table

There were three people's shares of food Moh o hohout ht, would I be able to return to that scene?

And if I did, wouldn't they surely hold me in their arms even if they were bewildered?

I should have told the up a brave front and without being stubborn! Even if it meant that my parents would chose to take different paths from each other, I could have made the bonds between usaway because I didn't want to face the fact that I was hurting

I wanted to do it all over I knew I could open upI'd yearned for but couldn't say out loud

——But

If I looked away a little, I could also see the figure of a single lonely knight standing in shock Louie It looked like he, too, was seeing so inside of the peculiar haze

I looked back and forth between my family and Louie

What should I do?

Which should I choose?

The orld were my parents, whom I truly loved, were? Or the warped, hopeless world filled only with despair?

”Even if you tell me to choose……”

I made a fist and raised up my head

”——I've already decided I won't run away I've made a promise”

I turned away and ran To where I wished to be——to hian to rasped the hilt of the large sword at his back and slid it out of its sheathe His relentless eyes were colored by griulped as the silver blade flew It flashed as if to cut me in half in one blow as I drew closer

No, he was cutting the ”haze” that shi+ next to me Louie, too, had chosen this lonely and painful reality over the undoubtably heartrending scene he had seen in the haze!

His sword had beaten away the last re traces of the powers that the sorcerers had left behind here

Multiple fierce screaushed out and circled the area Voices that cursed their fate, voices of lament, voices of hatred……they call circled around like a muddy stream

The space around us wavered The whirlpool of voices made the sleeves ofup into the sky and disappearing

Silence returned to the area I saw a panicked Eru drawing closer from the corner of my eye

”Louie!”

His e sword fell froround

”——Hibiki”

His arms wrapped around in more in confusion than to pull me closer

Louie wasn't a part of my family and was someone from a different world than I was

But even still, we'd met and taken each other's hands Our fates had connected

I won't get it wrong this tis I'd been ignoring until noithout looking away

So please, I want to see the same scenery as you, okay?

”I——want to be with you, Louie”

I could tell that Louie had forgotten to breathe for a s I wanted to say to him, as always surrounded by such loneliness

”Louie, you regret the fact that you're the only survivor a lot That's why you feel like it's only natural for you to get hurt It even looks like you don't care if you die But I don't want that! Even if you don't care about your life, Louie, it's extremely precious and important to o and take it right back”

I couldn't get the right words out It was because hadn't really ever put s to words up until now

”I don't want you to shoulder things alone even if only painful things happen froether and say that it's okay even if it hurts, then that's……”

Argh, everything I' is a total mess and completely off-topic, isn't it? Why is it so hard to be honest about your feelings?

”Er, I can't do anything useful at all, and I'ry, Louie, and I'm really, you know…”

What's ”you know” even supposed toout weird!

”So I'lad I met you, Louie I want to stay by your side Even when it's dangerous Especially when it's dangerous, actually So, let's get hurt together, okay?! Let's worry about and be worried over by each other since we can't do that unless we're both there…… wait, we should still et hurt in the first place!”

I started to go in circles the more flustered I became

But, couldn't we? I felt like I was about to be scorned for being too naïve, for not understanding anything I was hoping that he would chalk it up to our difference in age and tolerate my words with an open mind

”I want to see the sa froo hoave it my all here I could proudly tell my family that I was helpful to soain like they used to a long tiether like this and———ehh?”

I e sound in the htened the arms he had wrapped around me I was pulled up to ht next tofast

This was the sound of life I calmed myself down and listened closer

This world was endlessly broken But even so, there was still soht by o on Not if I lost you”

”Louie?”

”I'll protect you No ive up in return”

His arms trembled a little around un to beat louder, perhaps because it was copying Louie's

”Oh, Louie——look over there”

I cast looht that shone through it

Louie let go of ht

It was a thin and unreliable ray of light It looked like it would be covered up again by the clouds at any ht looked like a ray of hope to me I'm sure that Louie felt the sas down on the earth, on rasped Louie's hand tightly Eru, who had been loitering around the area, pushed the tip of his nose against my other arm and fawned over ht in the sky again

——It's not broken This world hasn't fallen yet!

It'd only just begun I looked forith htly in ainst fate

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