Chapter 42
“How did he get this strong...? No, why did he even want to become strong? What could have driven him to gain that kind of power?!”
Without taking his eyes off Kagami, who kept fighting with a smile, boldly facing the monsters bare-handed and taking every attack head-on, Rex asked Takako in a trembling voice.
“...Who knows? I don’t know why he wanted to become that strong, either. But I think I can guess why he first wanted the power to fight...”
Watching Kagami with a thoughtful gaze, Takako answered Rex’s question.
“The reason he wanted the power to fight?”
Rex asked, showing interest without taking his eyes off the battle.
“I bet it was for much the same reason as you... Hero Rex Chikubiboy.”
The moment Takako said that and murmured Rex’s full name, all six people there—including Rex, Alice, Menou, Parna, Kururu, and Tina—whipped around to look at her.
“You... know who I am?”
“I run a bar, you know? That makes me well-informed. Though I think you’re famous enough that I’d know about you either way. Rex Chikubiboy: born into one of the prominent families in the capital of the Kingdom of Alcasia, and destined for a bright future after being born with the role of Hero. Then, unlucky enough to encounter a high-level monster—something you should rarely run into on the road—and slaughtered... Wasn’t your family brought low because its heir was still too young to do anything about it?”
Hearing Takako’s words, Rex wore an unmistakably displeased expression, perhaps because she’d gotten it right.
“And after that, the heir disappeared without a trace... and that’s how things stand now, right?”
“I see... I didn’t know.”
Seeing Rex’s face twist, Kururu seemed to sympathize a little with what he must have felt back then. She murmured softly, her expression turning downcast.
Beside her, Parna muttered, “So... your name is Chikubiboy...” She seemed more interested in that than in Rex’s past.
Hearing her, Kururu followed up in the same gloomy tone: “Chikubiboy...” Behind her, Tina murmured, “...Chikubiboy,” with a stunned expression.
“Tch! Anyway, it doesn’t matter what happened to me! If he’s like me, then monsters killed his parents too, right? Did he want the power to fight so he could get revenge?”
“Yes. I’m sure that’s why he wanted the power to fight.”
“Then... why does he protect demons? If monsters killed his family, shouldn’t he try to get revenge by exterminating the demons who create them?”
“That’s where you and he differ. Monsters killed both your parents. But monsters killed Kagami’s father, and Kagami’s mother was killed by... humans. By people just like us.”
Hearing that, Rex understood—and was speechless. He felt as if something that had been lodged in his chest for a long time had finally come loose. Having fought monsters for revenge, he knew exactly what that meant.
He understood in an instant, before Takako could even explain it. Why Kagami remained neutral. Why Kagami had irritated him so much. Why, all this time, he’d kept wondering about Kagami even as they fought monsters.
“If monsters killed someone precious to you, you take revenge on every monster. Then, if humans killed someone precious to you, would you take revenge on every human? Wipe them all out?”
Everyone there could easily imagine the answer. Even if they sought revenge, they would only target that particular person. They wouldn’t hate all of humanity. If asked why, all they could say was that those people were human, just like them.
They couldn’t kill their fellow members of the same society. More than that, there was no reason to kill them. It served no purpose. But monsters were different. They harmed humans, after all.
In other words, seeking revenge by exterminating all monsters was just a pretext. The world was set up so that killing them was acceptable, and they were beings that were supposed to be killed in the first place. That wasn’t revenge. It was simply following the rules of the world.
And at last, Alice understood what Kagami had meant when he said, “Because it’s ridiculous.” He’d been talking about killing demons simply because doing so suited humans.
But even though she understood it in her head, Parna alone refused to accept it.
“Had I just... been going along with the flow?”
Rex murmured, lowering his head. Seeing him like that, Kururu patted him on the back, trying to support him.
“Kagami-san said demons are a menace, enemies of humanity. But if he still tries to remain neutral, then he must have his reasons. That’s why I don’t think continuing to fight monsters and demons means we’re simply going along with the flow. We have to do it to keep ourselves safe... I think that’s one answer, too.”
Kururu spoke with a look of resolve, then took five steps forward. After stopping, she turned to look back at Takako and the others, and gave them a wry smile.
“I more or less understand already, but there’s one thing I want to hear from him directly: why he chose to defy the way this world works. And for that, I can’t have him die now!”
Having said her piece, Kururu’s expression grew serious again, filled with renewed resolve. Then she ran toward Kagami, where an army of ten thousand monsters raged.
“I still... have things I want to ask him. How he got that strong!”
Watching Kururu suddenly run off, Rex sighed and smiled faintly. Then he ran after her toward Kagami.
“W-wait, Kururu-san! Chik... I mean, Rex-san! If I can’t heal you, you’ll be dead in no time!”
“All right... I’ll hear it straight from your own mouth. The reason you’re trying to fight back!”
Seeing the two suddenly take off, Tina hurried after them. Parna ran as well, fixing Kagami up ahead with a sharp gaze, as if sizing him up.
“Ohhh, youth! Seeing a scene like this gets my blood pumping for the first time in ages! Let’s go, huh? I’m going, okay? Uroooooaaaaaaah!”
Seeing the Hero’s party, who had treated Kagami as an enemy until just a short while ago, running to his aid, Takako shouted. Blood surged through her body, her muscles bulging, and she charged off with enough speed to overtake the party running ahead.
“T-Takako-dono?! I-I’ll help too!”
Seeing Takako race ahead, Menou realized that Kagami was worth fighting to protect, even if people called him a traitor. Without a moment’s hesitation, Menou set off after her.
“E-everyone...!”
After watching the warriors run off, Alice wondered if there might be something she could do, too. With fighting spirit burning in her eyes, she turned on her heel and ran toward the eastern side of Salmaria.