Chapter 24
Nia and Rio’s home was not far from Last Round.
Inside Grave Rock Block.
It was an old tenement building reached by turning twice off the main road and passing through a narrow passage between low buildings.
It was shabby, but… it was better than the room Kael had lived in underground.
At least, water did not drip from the ceiling, and he could not hear insects moving in and out through cracks in the walls. The door even had a lock.
Nia carefully opened the door.
“C-come on in….”
Her voice was still quiet.
Reluctantly, Kael entered their home.
There was a small living room doubling as a kitchen, a worn dining table, and a low cabinet in the cramped space.
And several cooking utensils hanging on the wall.
It seemed to contain only the bare necessities.
Most of the items were old, and some of the furniture showed signs of having been repaired.
Even so, no dust rose into the air, making it obvious that Nia tidied the place every day.
Rio leaned forward in his wheelchair.
“Big brother! I’ll show you my room!”
Nia hurriedly said,
“Rio, it’s late… Don’t keep bothering the guest….”
“It’s fine.”
Nia flinched at Kael’s words.
“…It’s really all right?”
“Yeah.”
Rio’s face immediately brightened.
“This way!”
Nia let out a small sigh and pushed the wheelchair.
A small room.
When she opened the door, Kael stopped for a moment.
The room was so small that a single bed and a small desk nearly filled it completely.
And one entire side of the wall was filled with books.
Most of them were old or had torn covers, but there were many books of all kinds.
Kael stared at them without a word.
Books.
Because this was the first time he had seen such things since falling here.
Paper itself was rare in the underground levels.
Down there, leaving something behind as a record meant scribbling it on a wall or letting it circulate as a distorted rumor in someone’s head.
But there were books in this small room.
Quite a lot of them, at that.
Kael quietly marveled inwardly.
Recently, he had been encountering more and more things he had never seen before.
‘I heard there are things like e-books on the upper levels.’
Kael thought as he looked at the bookshelf.
Rin had once told him about it.
She had said that most people here read through terminals.
They connected to the network to search for information, read documents, and read the news and novels as well.
Rio’s room was completely different in that regard.
Because every book here was made of paper.
Kael asked where all these books had come from.
“Where did you get these books?”
Rio answered with a slightly proud expression.
“There were a lot of them thrown away at a nearby dump.”
“A dump?”
“Yes. Things people threw away. Some are torn, and some are missing pages, but I can still read them.”
Nia quietly added,
“Rio likes books. Whenever he sees one that’s been thrown away, he somehow brings it home….”
“Big sis fixed a lot of them!”
Rio laughed.
“She glued the torn parts, dried out the wet ones, and rebound the covers.”
Nia’s ears drooped slightly in embarrassment.
“It was nothing….”
Kael looked back at the bookshelf, then at Rio.
“Do you like books that much?”
Rio immediately nodded.
“Yeah!”
There was no hesitation in his answer.
“When I read books, I can go to other places without even leaving home. My legs are like this, so I can’t go very far.”
He lightly touched the blanket over his knees.
“But I can go anywhere inside a book. To tall cities, the sea, forests, even space.”
Kael said nothing.
Rio moved his wheelchair in front of the bookshelf.
“And there are lots of hero stories, too!”
He pulled out a book.
A thin picture book that was half torn.
The cover showed a figure in a black cape standing atop a tall building.
“This is a story about a hero who punishes villains every night. He’s an ordinary person during the day, but when night comes, he puts on a mask and saves people.”
Rio looked at Kael with shining eyes.
“He’s kind of like you, right?”
“No.”
“He is, though.”
Nia quietly said,
“Rio… You shouldn’t make the guest uncomfortable….”
“Oh, right.”
Even so, Rio excitedly pulled out another book and began explaining it.
“This one is about a detective with a mechanical arm, and this one is about a knight who flies through the sky. This one is about a hunter who catches monsters.”
Kael merely listened to him in silence.
Rio gave a brief explanation every time he took out another book.
Some books were missing half their contents, and some had no ending. Even so, Rio did his best to explain everything he knew about them.
Kael listened to him while looking around the room.
Then a worn book on the very bottom shelf caught his eye.
The cover depicted a young man holding a sword and a monster wearing a black crown.
There was light behind the young man, while a burning castle stood behind the monster.
Without realizing it, Kael reached out and took the book.
A book with a worn cover and frayed corners.
The title was simple.
『The Hero and the Demon King』
Kael hesitated to open the book.
But when Rio saw him holding it, he smiled brightly.
“Big brother, are you interested in that book?”
Kael did not answer, but Rio said excitedly,
“That’s my favorite story!”
“Your favorite?”
“Yes! It’s about a hero defeating the Demon King together with his companions. It’s really cool.”
At Rio’s words, Kael opened the book.
The story was simple.
An era when the Demon King of Darkness threatened the world.
A hero was chosen, met his companions, and set off for the Demon King’s castle.
They endured trials and fought a final battle, but in the end, they defeated the Demon King.
The hero in the illustrations shone brilliantly.
He wore bright armor and held his sword high.
And his face was lit by a radiant smile.
His companions stood behind him.
An archer, a saint, and a mage.
They were all smiling.
The final page showed the hero being cheered by the people against the backdrop of the ruined Demon King’s castle.
The sentence announcing the end was short.
The hero defeated the Demon King, and peace returned to the world.
Everyone lived happily ever after.
The End.
Kael stared at the sentence for a long while.
Everyone lived happily ever after.
Those words began to circle endlessly through his mind.
“….”
An old scent slowly rose, bringing memories of the past with it.
A black marble hall, blood and bones, a shattered throne, and the Demon King’s breathing.
And Leon’s shout.
And finally, the moment he was left behind.
-Run!
-You must follow me.
-Don’t order me.
He looked down at the illustration in the book.
The mage in the illustration stood behind the hero, smiling.
As though they had all survived together to the very end and received cheers on the final page.
The scene felt both beautiful and cruel.
Without noticing Kael’s expression, Rio said,
“It’s cool, right? I like how they all smile together at the end. There’s nothing sad in it.”
“….”
Kael slowly turned the pages.
There was no story about anyone who had been left behind.
Even though he knew that was only natural.
“Everyone lived happily ever after,” huh.
When Kael closed the book, Rio cautiously asked,
“Do you like this story too, big brother?”
Kael thought for a moment before opening his mouth.
His tone was calm.
“It’s not bad.”
Rio’s face brightened at his words.
“Right?”
Kael looked at the book again.
The hero and the Demon King.
Perhaps similar stories existed in every world.
The wicked fell, the righteous smiled, and in the end, the people found peace.
With those who remained afterward generally omitted from the story.
Kael returned the book to the shelf.
Carefully.
Rio continued speaking excitedly,
“Big brother, could you tell me your story sometime? About how heroes fight, what villains they’ve met, things like that.”
Nia was flustered and grabbed Rio’s shoulder.
“Rio, you shouldn’t keep doing that….”
Kael looked at Rio for a moment before quietly saying,
“I’m not good at telling stories.”
“Even so!”
“Instead.”
Rio’s eyes sparkled.
Looking at the bookshelf, Kael said,
“I’ll borrow some books later.”
Rio blinked blankly, then smiled brightly.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll recommend some to you! There are so many!”
Watching them, Nia let out a breath that seemed slightly relieved.
As Kael looked around again, he noticed something strange.
The books in one corner were covered in dust.
Stories about mages.
A great mage chanting spells atop a radiant tower.
A circuit mage protecting a city.
A hero defeating monsters with a shining ACU.
Those were the titles.
Kael quietly asked,
“You don’t read those?”
Rio’s gaze shifted toward the books Kael had pointed at.
And his expression quickly hardened.
“I don’t like those.”
His bright voice had lowered slightly, and Nia’s ears drooped a little as she watched him.
“Rio….”
Rio pressed his lips together and gripped the handles of his wheelchair tightly.
“I don’t like stories with mages in them.”
Kael looked at him.
“Why?”
Rio could not answer immediately.
As the room fell silent, Nia placed a hand on Rio’s shoulder.
“You don’t have to talk about it….”
But Rio shook his head.
“If I don’t like it, then I don’t like it.”
He stared at the old mage picture books in the corner of the shelf.
“Mages in books look so cool. They sparkle, fly through the sky, and save people.”
“….”
“But real mages aren’t like that.”
Kael said nothing.
Rio crumpled the blanket over his knees between his fingers.
“They think having power means they can do whatever they want. People go flying with one little movement of their hand, and everyone gets scared when their circuits light up.”
Nia’s hand trembled slightly on Rio’s shoulder.
“Rio….”
“Toph was like that too.”
At the name, Nia’s face turned deathly pale.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
Toph.
It was the name Mira had mentioned.
The leader of the Black Ring and a sixth-tier mage.
Rio clenched his teeth.
“That man killed our dad and mom too.”
The air in the room grew heavy.
At those words, Nia lowered her head.
Even so, Rio continued speaking.
“After that, all the people who harassed us were like that, too. People who put on ACUs and bragged about using magic.”
He looked at the books with mages on their covers in the corner of the shelf.
“That’s why I hate them.”
His voice had grown quieter, but it was clear.
“Things like mages.”
“….”
Rio looked up at Kael.
“You’re not a mage, right, big brother?”
At his sudden question, Nia was startled and looked at Rio.
“Rio, you shouldn’t ask things like that….”
But Rio was serious.
Kael could be certain of that much.
It was the face of someone hoping the person he admired did not belong to the same group as the people he hated.
Kael was silent for a moment.
To be honest, he was a mage.
Not merely an ordinary mage, but a great mage.
But by this world’s standards, he had neither an ACU nor the status of a registered mage.
He looked into Rio’s eyes and spoke briefly.
“By this city’s standards… no.”
Rio seemed to take the answer somewhat strangely, but soon his face relaxed with relief.
“I knew it.”
He smiled brightly.
“You seem different from those people, big brother.”
Nia could not say anything, and Kael offered no further explanation.
..
..
Once Rio fell asleep, Nia very carefully laid her brother down on the bed.
She covered him with a blanket and gently straightened the ears atop his head.
Kael stood by the door and watched her.
Nia gazed down at the sleeping Rio for a while, then slowly turned her head.
“…Today.”
Her voice was still quiet.
“Thank you so much.”
Kael looked at her.
Nia had clasped both hands over the hem of her apron and lowered her head.
“It was nothing.”
“It wasn’t.”
Nia quietly shook her head.
“For us… it wasn’t nothing.”
Kael did not answer.
Nia hesitated for a moment before speaking very carefully.
“You said your name was… Mr. Kael?”
“…!”
Kael’s eyes trembled slightly.
He had been wearing a mask, and he had changed his voice as well.
There should have been no reason for her to discover his identity.
Kael looked at Nia for a moment before asking,
“How did you know?”
Nia flinched at the question and lowered her gaze in embarrassment.
“Th-that’s….”
She fidgeted with the edge of her apron using her fingertips.
“I-I have a pretty good nose….”
“Your sense of smell?”
Nia gave a small nod.
“Yes….”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter.
“You smelled the same as when I saw you at Last Round during the day….”
Kael was silent for a moment.
He had paid attention to everything while disguising himself, but he had not thought about his scent.
Beastkin.
Especially fox beastkin.
It was only natural for a species with such a keen sense of smell.
Kael let out a short breath.
“I see.”
“I-I’m sorry… I wasn’t trying to figure it out on purpose….”
Nia lowered her head even further.
“I just… realized it….”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Kael thought for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“Then I have one favor to ask.”
Nia’s ears rose slightly.
“Yes?”
“Keep this a secret.”
Nia looked up at Kael.
“Even from Rio?”
At Nia’s cautious question, Kael looked at Rio for a moment, then nodded.
“Especially from Rio.”
Nia pressed her lips together slightly.
She did not seem to understand exactly what he meant, but she appeared to have grasped it to some degree.
Without asking anything else, she quietly nodded.
“I understand.”
Kael looked at her.
“Thank you.”
Nia’s ears twitched very slightly.
“N-no… I’m the one who should be grateful….”
She lowered her head again.
Kael turned toward the door.
“Lock the door and go to sleep.”
“Yes….”
As he left the room, Nia’s small voice came from behind him again.
“Mr. Kael.”
Kael stopped walking.
“What?”
Nia hesitated for a long while before speaking.
“Rio… really likes you.”
“I thought so.”
“So….”
Nia could not continue.
She looked as though she wanted to say something more, but in the end, she swallowed it down.
Instead, she said very quietly,
“…Please be careful.”