Prologue: Before Departing
Rio’s mother was murdered when he was five years old.
For two years after that, Rio struggled to survive alone in the slums.
For two years, he continued staring down his mother’s death.
He couldn’t look away from it.
Kept thinking about it.
Why did his mother die?
Why was his mother killed?
Why? Why?
He couldn’t understand. He thought about it continuously for the two years he spent in the slums, but he couldn’t understand why. He only had a sense of loss and an anger that intensified day by day.
She was his only family member. He didn’t have anyone else. She was his everything. Someone so precious to him was taken from him before his eyes.
And yet, the man who killed his mother unjustly was still living somewhere out there, enjoying life with a pleasant smile on his face.
It was unforgivable.
Absolutely unforgivable.
It was why he wanted revenge. That feeling never faded.
As time flowed by and he grew older, before he knew it, he had plenty of important people in his life other than his mother. When he glanced around at his surroundings, those same people were watching him.
But even then...
Even with those people as a part of his everyday life, Rio’s resolution for revenge was always close at hand.
Sometimes, the memory would resurface. Fragmented replays of his mother being murdered before his half-conscious state.
Each time it did, a nauseating sense of irritation swelled within him. A hatred strong enough to almost make him forget himself.
The target of his revenge, Lucius, was alive. The die had already been cast. Now that he had faced Lucius and failed to catch him, he couldn’t turn back anymore.
He didn’t feel any regret in being unable to turn back from the path of revenge. It was he himself who decided to push forward down this path when he was in his parents’ hometown. He didn’t care if it was a path of no return. He decided he would proceed anyway. That was Rio’s resolution. There was no way he’d feel any kind of regret over it.
That was why Rio tried to discard the people around him. He believed it would be best to stop associating with people if he were to proceed down the path of revenge, and tried to keep Miharu and the others at a distance by pretending to act bad. If he could distance himself from the ones close to him, he would surely be able to give up on everything other than his plans for revenge.
By discarding everything, he could move forward. He wanted that kind of strength. That was the strength Rio formerly had—the strength of being a man with nothing to lose.
Humans were ugly and not worth salvation. Rio thought he knew this, having grown up in the slums by himself after his mother had been killed.
He thought he knew the terror of trusting others and the terror of being betrayed. After all, he knew that he was on the ugly side. That’s why he was afraid of socializing. He was afraid of trusting. He’d always been that way.
That’s why he was constantly one step away from everyone else in order to observe things from a distance. So that he wouldn’t be hurt if he were ever to be betrayed. However, that caused him to feel a sense of alienation. Each time he felt happiness being surrounded by his friends, he felt like this wasn’t the world he should be living in.
Someday, he was going to leave.
However...
He couldn’t simply discard them in the end.
Humans weren’t that ugly.
Because he had realized that... Because he had been taught that...
He started to yearn for it.
To live in an ideal world that had the possibility of myriad risk.
Was it possible for someone like him to be allowed there? That was what he yearned for, even though it was contradictory to yearn for something that was right before him.
However, you can only yearn for what you don’t have. The further out of reach it is, the stronger that feeling. For Rio, his friends were far, far out of reach.
That was why he had tried to keep an objective view, and yet...
If he didn’t want to lose them, he shouldn’t have pursued a life of revenge from the beginning...
Was that a weakness?
A type of naivety?
He didn’t know.
However, there was one thing he did know.
And that was...
That he had to finish this fight as soon as possible.
Rio had a vague feeling that he would be confronting Lucius soon.
Before Rio had left Celia and Aishia for the Proxia Empire, he’d temporarily stepped out of Rodania to visit the stone house hidden in the forests of the outskirts.
His return delighted everyone present, and they relocated to the living room where he was given a warm welcome surrounded by the girls.
“I’m sorry to bring this up on such short notice, but I’ll be leaving on another journey in a few days. I won’t be back here for a while,” he brought up awkwardly.
“...” Instantly, the girls exchanged looks with each other. They had a feeling this would happen; they’d discussed the possibility while Rio wasn’t around.
“I’ll be going to the Proxia Empire,” Rio informed them.
“Are you chasing after that Reiss person?” Orphia asked hesitantly.
“Yes. It’s possible that Lucius, the man who killed my mother, is there...so it may turn into a journey where I kill someone.”
Rio purposefully phrased it this way in order to address his plans for revenge.
“...”
What do they do if Rio formally brings up the topic of revenge himself? The girls had discussed this in advance, but now that it was actually happening they were still unsure of how to react.
“I’ll be coming back...I think. But I’m not sure how to say goodbye in a situation like this. Even if I openly declare I’m going to kill someone, I’m sure everyone will just be bewildered...” Rio said in a troubled and inarticulate tone.
“We won’t stop you,” Sara said stiffly but clearly. She looked around at Miharu, Latifa, Orphia, and Alma’s faces as she continued solemnly. “We’ve talked about it between ourselves already—about how you’re trying to enact revenge on the person who killed your mother. Everyone knows about it. You’re more kind and honest than anyone else, and that’s exactly why you’re strong. But because you’re the way you are, you’re unable to forget your past and carry all your burdens yourself—and so you try to enact revenge as the answer.”
Rio’s face twisted with guilt. “I’m not as impressive of a person as you think.”
He simply wanted to kill him because he hated him. However, he didn’t want to become the same as Lucius, a man who lived like a beast.
It had nothing to do with his own character, but it was a part of himself he didn’t want to lose.
Miserable and pathetic as it was, this was his tiny form of resistance. That’s why he forced down those emotions and irritation in order to act rational.
“I’m sure you’ve experienced greater grief than we can imagine. That’s why we won’t stop you. We cannot stop you. We believe that you surely understand everything and have nevertheless decided to challenge that man to a life-or-death battle...”
There was no way she could easily tell him it was better to give up on his goal of revenge. The reasons that they could come up with for giving up would have definitely crossed Rio’s mind already.
“Everything Sara said is our collective opinion.”
“So please make sure you return. We’ll be waiting in this house.”
Sara’s opinion was the opinion of everyone in the house, so Orphia and Alma immediately spoke up in agreement.
“You have to come back, Onii-chan. You’re not allowed to go wandering off afterwards. Got it?” Latifa demanded and hugged Rio’s arm tightly.
“I’m not a child, you know.” It was as though she was worrying for him like a lost child. Rio had a frown on his face.
“But it sometimes feels like you’ll wander away somewhere. Even when you’re nearby, it’s like you’re far away...” Unable to express her words well, Latifa looked a little frustrated.
“R-Really...?” Rio replied a little awkwardly, feeling slightly startled.
“Really. You wander around alone, and you don’t talk about yourself unless you’re asked—just like with your revenge thing. We know that this is the answer you came to after worrying and worrying over it, so we all decided to see you off. But the truth is, everyone wants to know what you’re thinking, and we’re worried,” Latifa said directly.
“Latifa...” Rio was a little taken aback by the way she addressed the core of the matter, but Latifa’s words seemed to resonate deeply in his chest. He suddenly looked around at Miharu and the other girls and noticed they were all staring at him with watchful expressions.
“I’m sorry. I’ve always been running away. I was sure that everyone would deny my existence... But that wasn’t the case. Even when you learned that I’m trying to kill someone, you’re all still here. That’s why I wanted to talk to you all properly before departing. That’s why I’m here today,” Rio confided in them with a determined look. He had already told Celia and Aishia the things he was about to reveal to them before coming here. Now he was about to tell them the same.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to force yourself...” Sara and the others exchanged looks of hesitation.
“It’s easy to not force myself and run away from everything painful. I’m a dishonest person, so I always try to flee right away, but my problems will never be solved if I keep running from them. I realized that wasn’t the answer. That’s why I want revenge. And I don’t want to run away from everyone either. I don’t want to hide things and distance myself—that’s why if everyone will listen to me, if anyone has anything to ask, I want us all to talk it out,” Rio looked at everyone present and stated.
“Does that mean...that revenge is something painful to you?” Sara asked quietly.
“Resenting people is draining, after all. That’s why the truth is... If possible, I don’t want to take revenge. That’s why part of me thinks that. Part of me also thinks that if I can live a life without hurting others, then that’d be for the best. Once I use my power for hatred, that hatred will come back and leave me walking through a swamp of my emotions forever...”
The girls listened attentively to Rio’s bitter words.
“It’s only natural that what goes around comes around, which means there’ll be no end to it. That’s why somewhere down the line, someone has to refrain from seeking revenge. I understand this as well, but...” Rio continued. “I know. I know that there’s an enemy I have to defeat no matter what,” he declared, showing a glimpse of his resolute will.
“...”
Sara and the others were overwhelmed by his spirit and swallowed.
“There are people out there who calmly—no, gleefully rob others of what’s important to them. I have to fight people like that or I’ll lose everything. They’ll unreasonably try to force you to surrender whatever happiness you have. That’s why I have to fight. Fight...and kill him. In order to prevent any more important things from being stolen from me... That is the reason I want to take revenge.”
Though he seemed cold on the surface, the passion he carried deep within his heart could be glimpsed from between Rio’s words. He wasn’t going to punish him under the name of justice. He simply hated the person who robbed him of something important, and didn’t want to be robbed anymore, so he couldn’t let him run free.
“You’ll fight to prevent any more important things from being stolen... Isn’t that different from getting revenge because your mother was killed? It’s like your motive has changed,” Alma pointed out.
“It’s the same thing. In the end, my motive is my hatred for the enemies who try to steal from me. The feeling of hatred for that man and my desire to kill him hasn’t changed. But I guess you could say I’m no longer trying to take revenge just because my mother was killed...” Rio trailed off inarticulately here. He looked a little worried, which made the girls incline their heads as they watched him.
“I don’t want to drag everyone into the chain of hatred between me and that man. There’s no guarantee you won’t be dragged into things if I fight him. That’s something I want to avoid at all costs. That’s why I have to finish things quickly.”
In order to end this chain of hatred, one of them had to die. Both of their existences were a hindrance to the other.
Because of that, killing was the only answer.
That was, by no means, justice.
It was murder.
“The chain of negativity may end if I kill that man. But it may not end... I might end up dragging everyone down into the swamp with me just by being nearby. Although that may be avoidable if I distance myself from everyone...”
“That’s absolutely not allowed!”
Miharu, Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Latifa’s voices overlapped.
“I considered doing that up until a while ago... I believed even if nothing remained, it’d be easier to be alone. I thought it would be best for me to disappear,” Rio said. The girls gazed at him disapprovingly.
“Hmph.” Latifa strengthened her hold around Rio’s arm, as though to stop him from escaping.
“But I don’t think that anymore. I want to try going down the hard path—is what I started to think. It may not be easy, but I’m sure it will be more fun that way,” Rio added with a pained smile. The girls seemed to be satisfied by this and nodded contently.
“The aura around you has changed a little, Rio,” Orphia pointed out with a giggle.
“You think so?” Rio inclined his head in embarrassment.
“Yes. It’s like you’ve grown a little softer during your time living in Rodania. Does it have something to do with your change of heart?”
“Who knows? It may be because the peaceful days have been in abundance lately... But the trigger for my change in thinking was probably Miharu, Satsuki, and Masato,” Rio said, looking at Miharu.
“Huh? M-Me?” Miharu, who hadn’t been actively participating in the conversation, flinched in surprise.
“Yes. Because the three of you told me your feelings so directly while we were in the Galarc Kingdom. I learned that it was important to tell people your feelings,” Rio said with a faint smile.
“Oh... No, I should apologize for being so audacious back then.” Miharu ducked her face in embarrassment. She had remembered the moment she unexpectedly confessed to Rio in the Galarc Castle.
I love him. I love him, so I want to be together with him. I fell for the same person twice—the Haru-kun he was reborn from, and Haruto now.
The words that had come out of her own mouth replayed in her head. Aishia had connected a path between Miharu and Rio to share the conversation Miharu had with Takahisa.
Aah, I can’t believe he was listening to that. Ai-chan...
There was nothing she could do about it now. Having her feelings conveyed was probably something she should’ve felt happy about, but she couldn’t help feeling embarrassed. Fortunately, Rio was away more often than not after they’d left the Galarc Kingdom, but when they did meet up like this, they were both at a loss for what to say to each other.
Miharu was a shy person to begin with. It didn’t really cross her mind when she was with the others, but even then she was nervous whenever they met again after a long time.
I wonder why... Why am I more nervous than before?
Her heart wouldn’t stop pounding because she was aware of it now.
“Ever since she came back from the banquet, Miharu sometimes looks like she’s remembering something and acts all weird,” Latifa giggled teasingly.
“I-I’m not acting weird, and I’m not remembering anything. Forget about me. We’re talking about Haruto right now, no?” Miharu tried to restore the derailed conversation in a fluster as she blushed.
“The atmosphere calmed down so quickly,” Alma chuckled.
“Indeed it did.” Sara sighed tiredly.
“Hehe,” Orphia giggled.
“I don’t want to say anything arrogant, so I won’t. However, once everything’s over, I will return to this house. Until then, can I leave this place to you? While I hope nothing will happen, it’s possible that something may occur to this house or Rodania while I’m away. If an emergency arises, I hope you can all support Aishia.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” Rio replied.
“There’s nothing to thank us for.”
“Yup.”
“Indeed.”
Sara, Orphia, and Alma chimed in.
“No, there are so many things I have to thank you all for.”
“Really? I can’t seem to think of any reason why we need to be thanked...” The girls exchanged curious looks.
“Part of the reason why I decided against disappearing from you all was also because of Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Latifa. That’s why.”
“Well, we don’t remember doing anything.”
Sara and the others still looked curious.
“That’s not true. You’re waiting for someone like me to return. You’re telling me that it’s okay for me to return. I still have my doubts about whether it’s truly okay for me to come back, but I’m really happy because of that,” Rio said quietly. That’s why he thought it would be okay to change.
Sara, Orphia, and Alma suddenly looked embarrassed. Latifa was grinning from ear to ear, while Miharu watched them all with a pleasant smile.
“Th-There’s no need to thank us for something that’s only natural.” Sara made eye contact with Rio, then averted her gaze with an unsteady voice.
“Ah, Sara’s being shy,” Orphia pointed out in amusement.
“I-I’m not being shy,” Sara turned away and denied.
Alma joined the teasing after seeing that, and the others all smiled in amusement. Rio smiled too.
This occurred one week before Rio snuck into the Proxia Castle. It was a peaceful moment of time, like the calm before a storm.
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