Chapter 132.2 – Lost Home

After finishing her drinks, Eris went to the inn to have some rest… I had a nice lunch time, but the second half was a bit ruined thanks to her..

The drunken Eris tends to be clingy to me and makes things hard. She often got in the way of the interactions between me and Roxy, also annoyed the hell out of me during my lunch.

The one taking her to the inn was Mimir. She was appointed as the queen's caretaker during this journey after all.

[I leave Eris in your care.]

[Uuuuu, I wonder if I can handle this alone…it worries me.]

[You should be fine.]

[Thank you for trusting me… although I feel that it's a bit of a baseless confidence. I'd rather go accompanying Fate-sama though].

[I said it already, I have something I need to do. So please wait for my return here with Eris.]

[Ee, I have to be Her Royal Highness caretaker!?]

[…exactly]

Somehow Mimir wished to come along with me. But I had to deny her this time.

She's looking at me with an annoyed face… once I got back, she'll definitely demand to suck my blood.

I called out to Eris who was in the middle of singing drunkenly whilst clinging on Mimir's shoulder.

[Eris! Listen to me for a bit. Sober up before I get back, okay!]

[Yesshh~!! Roger daat!!]

She responded while hugging Mimir. She's totally inebriated there.

[I'll be waiting. In the meantime, I'll have some fun with Mimir-chan here. Even though I've sent so many signals, Fate didn't even care. Hic… I need to sweep this loneliness away! Riiight~, Mimir-chan!]

[Hi!? Eeeee, that'll be a problem!]

[It'll be fine, it'll be fine!]

[Where are you touching!! Fate-sama, it's an emergency! Your sister is in a pinch!]

[Well… Good luck…]

I just turned around and walked away.

I could hear Mimir pleading from behind me…

Roxy who had been silent the whole time finally spoke.

[Is it really alright? Mimir seems to be very troubled by it.]

[There are no other person who could take care of Eris here…. She can only endure it.]

Mimir possessed parts of Shinn's power. Therefore, she's not affected by Eris' enchantment.

When she's drunk, Eris would become like an enchanting demoness. It's not something I can handle as of now.

That's why it'll be best to leave her to Mimir who is completely immune.

Shoving problem to others like that didn't seem to please Roxy.

[Then, would Roxy rather be the one taking care Eris?]

[That is…]

She seemed to have trouble replying. It's rare to see the straight Roxy to act like this.

As I got on the bike that was parked on the side of the main street, I tried to pry in further.

[Nn? What's wrong?]

[Eris-sama is…. Amazing if I have to say so myself…]

[Eh, really?]

[Fai should really try to fix that insensitivity. From time to time… I noticed that Eris-sama is staring at us with this kind of look when I'm with Fai]

[Staring angrily?]

[No, it's not like that…]

It's something hard to express. Eris' past is a mystery even for me.

All I know is that my predecessor once rescued and helped her. Even then, I heard this from one of the white knights, not from Eris herself.

Eris dislikes to speak about her past. Perhaps… because it's not a happy nor joyful past.

I'm similar to her in that regard, so I suppose I understand her feeling to an extent.

Later… let's try to talk about it the next time we go out to have some drinks.

Roxy got in the back seat, while I revved up the bike by injecting magic power to it. We proceeded through the street slowly, being careful to not hit any passerby.

The people's attention were focused on us. It's after all a 4000 years old artifact that has long been gone from the eyes of society.

They're just curious to see such an unique vehicle. Especially since this place is a merchant city, where everyone is on the lookout for anything new that could bring money in.

However, as soon as they saw the royal coat of arms, they stood back and bowed. Some could only resort to whispering to each other.

As Eris said, the Queen is truly an absolute being in the eyes of these people. Meanwhile for me, she's just a troublesome woman who regularly trying to tempt and seduce me…

[I feel…somewhat troubled by these people's reaction.]

[The bike is unique looking, and there is also the royal coat of arms. Adding both together, it's natural to have this kind of impact.]

[We just have to get use to it, right?]

[That's right. The crowd is thinning. I'll speed up, so hold tight!]

[Yes.]

Since it's getting uncomfortable, better be quick and get out.

We rode the bike out of the merchant city Tetra, heading west to my hometown.

There is something I need to confirm.

Roxy held on my waist with a slight more strength than usual as we go.

[Fai's hometown was razed by the gargoyle, am I right?]

[Yeah, it was when I was heading to Gallia. I stopped by, and lots of things happened…]

[Is that so… can you tell me if you don't mind?]

[It's not a happy story though.]

[It's alright.]

I had no reason to cover it up, so I agreed to tell Roxy about what happened back then.

With a sigh, I started recounting the events that led me to return to my hometown.

It began with me meeting the village chief's son――Seto at Tetra. He was looking for a warrior who was willing to help subdue the monster attacking the village.

But there were already many other more lucrative monster subjugation requests on Tetra. Seto couldn't hire any warriors with the money he had. In the end, he was almost violently beaten up right in front of me.

Back then, Seto plotted to expel me from the village. But on the other hand, I wanted to visit my parents' grave.

And so, I ended up accepting his subjugation request.

However, what waiting for me at the village was the same old persecution as before I left. Well, I guess it's only natural.

My value remained the same in the eyes of those villagers. Once they considered me as only a kid who has a useless skill that causes himself to get hungry much faster, there was no changing it. They were just that close minded.

I still remembered how inwardly amused I was when they pointed their farming tools at me.

The village chief planned to make me a sacrifice for the monsters. Of course I thought that I should just rampage around and be done with it. But Seto desperately asked me to stop, so I could only relax my fist.

It was decided that I would be staying at Seto's house. There, I found out that he had a little daughter, and that his wife was killed by the monsters.

[Seto lost his wife, and had to raise his daughter alone. Moreover, he had the chance to see the world outside due to the monster subjugation request. He was no longer the same Seto I remembered in the past.]

[I see. This Seto… isn't he one of the people who helped in Hauzen's reconstruction.]

[Un, he's now one of the councilors who manages Hauzen.]

Later that night, the gargoyle attacked, and when I noticed, the villagers had already been slaughtered.

In that situation, I chose to protect both Seto and his daughter.

By the end of the battle, the entire village was razed to cinders by the gargoyle's fire magic.

[The village… that was unfortunate. But you made up with Seto.]

[Yeah, but he said that he couldn't settle with himself for his past mistakes, so he asked me to hit him once.]

[Eeh, did you do just that?]

[That didn't even cross my mind, as my real punch would've killed him. So I punched him once, very lightly. After that, Seto… he showed me such an excellent laugh.]

To the point that I could see my dad's figure in him. Dad used to laugh heartily to cheer me up when I was still a kid.

When I saw Seto's smile, I felt like my past grudge had melted away.

[That ended pretty well, for Fai at least.]

[I think so. If I didn't make up with Seto back then, Hauzen's reconstruction would not go so fast. It reminds me that a strong connection….will never wilt even if we part ways.]

[That's right. I too, am always thinking of Fai.]

[Roxy….thanks.]

[You are welcome.]

In order to not be shaken off due to the bike accelerating faster, Roxy hugged me even tighter than before.

The sudden sensation made my heart pounding hard. But I'm happy to share such a close bond with her.

After a short travel, we arrived at the burnt village. No one lived here anymore. And as time goes on, it'll become harder to reach this place as the vegetations had started to claim the road.

We got off of the bike and looked around.

[It feels like the time had stood still since that gargoyle attack.]

[….I came along because I want to see Fai's hometown… but this isn't how I imagined it would be.]

Roxy stood next to me with a sad look on her face. I could only hold her hand in the effort to comfort her.

[We are going to that place, right? Is Fai really fine with it?]

[I'm going. That's the reason why I return here after all]

The two of us walked towards my old house outside the village. It has been left untouched all the same, although grasses have begun to sprout here and there.

Once the weather got warmer, the grass would reach up to the waist.

The house was also burnt down. But this was not the gargoyles' doing.

It was burned by the villagers when they expelled me out of the village, so I will never come back in the future.

Noticing that the house's state was different from the others, Roxy easily put the puzzle together.

[Fai…]

[It's already a past.]

We went to the back of the house.

This is the reason why I came here. To see what had become of my parents' grave.

What came into my sight as we approached the site…

[Kuh…damn… So he was the real deal.]

[It's the same with my father. Fai's father has been…]

[Yeah, as I already told you before. It was really my dad who stole Shinn's fragment and kidnapped Raine.]

Of the two graves, only one had the trace of something coming out of the soil.

A person who should've been dead has returned back to live. That's for sure.

Only my dad got revived back. My mother's grave had remained intact.

I'm not sure why, but it appeared that there are certain requirements for someone to be revived back. It's just a guess though. (TL Note: Either Fate forgot, or the author forgot, but it's already been mentioned that only people with lingering regret got resurrected.)

Once we got to Hauzen, the answer should become cleared. I don't know for what reason Dad's is doing these things, but I have a feeling that it's because this [contract] of his.

Surely there is something big behind that word.

I went to this place to find a clue to that.

Bending down, I noticed that there was something left inside my dad's grave. A rosary.

[This is… There is a coat of arms engraved in it.]

[I think I've seen it somewhere. Ermm… ooooooh!!]

Roxy seemed to realize something.

[This is the emblem that is used by the church to represent the God Laplace. I heard that less and less people believe in god. Their faith is dying. But Fai's father seems to be a devotee of Laplace.]

[Certainly…back when I was just a kid, we used to pray together. It's just that back then I didn't know that we prayed to Laplace…]

[And, look here. It appears that he was once a senior templar knight.]

The emblem was only awarded to a templar knight. Dad…I never knew that you had that kind of past.

This could be an important information.

I kept the rosary inside my pocket. Then, I cleaned up the two graves that had become rough since I last visited.

Roxy also helped, so it was faster than I expected.

[Thanks, Roxy.]

[It's nothing much. Besides, I'm glad that I finally get to see Fai's parents.]

[One of them has gotten out of his grave and no longer here though.]

[Then we'll just meet him directly next time, I have to say hello!]

[Yeah, we'll do it properly when that time comes.]

[Yes!]

I'm glad that Roxy went to accompany me. And now that I noticed, Greed hadn't said anything so far.

I suppose he's just giving us some room. Well, thank you, Greed.

I've already decided when I parted with Aaron. And my resolve is only strengthened after seeing the reality with my own eyes.

So let's just say it now in front of this empty grave.

[Dad, next time we meet… I'll fight you.]

My feeling is organized now.

We left the two graves, and headed back to Tetra, where Eris and Mimir are waiting.

When everything is over, I promise I'll return here again… mom.