23.Clearing the darkness

Editing/Standardisation: Medicine Melancholy
Original Translation: Medicine Melancholy

Iris

“Did we win…?”

Reiji-san, who had released his “zanshin” stance, looked up at the falling particles of light and muttered to himself, stunned.

All the residents of this town had evacuated, and I could only see the silent, snow-covered scenery.

… The malice I perceived earlier was no more.

“Yes… it’s our victory.”

“… Man, it was tough… I couldn’t take one more step.”

After Saul-niisama’s declaration of victory, Reiji sat on the ground in exhaustion. Almost empty of magic power, my wings disappeared from my back and my feet touched the ground again. The sick feeling of lack of magic power immediately hit me, and I felt wobbly on my feet, but that’s not the point now.

“Reiji-san! Nii-sama!”

“Woah!”

“Calm down, will you?!”

I jumped between them and embraced their large bodies. As if to confirm their presence, their warmth… their safety.

“You’re alive, aren’t you?! Do you feel wrong anywhere?! Where does it hurt?!”

“I-I said calm down, okay?!”

“Haha, don’t worry, we’re alive and well. All thanks to you, Iris.”

For a while, I looked at their bodies to check for injuries… but I couldn’t see anything, anywhere.

“… Ah… (sobs)”

I finally felt at ease after so long, My knees gave out, and my tear glands started to burst.

“Waaaaaaaaaah!! T-Thank goodness, you… you both are alright!”

“Yeah, uh… thanks to you, we’re all alive and kicking. We’re dead tired, though.”

“Sorry for making you scared. I’m really sorry, okay?”

“(sobs)… Don’t think… I’ll forgive you…! Both of you… you really went and… almost died on me…! Do you know how much I hate being left alone…?!”

I could no longer stop the large tears from spilling out, and I continued to cry like a child for a while as the two of them fussed over me.

“How are you feeling now?”

“(sobs)… I’m… fine…”

Gingerly, I wiped away the remaining tears with my hand.

…I knew this was going to happen. What I was going to be asked, I couldn’t run away from it.

“… So, just to clarify once you’ve calmed down… ‘Which one’ are you now?”

I shuddered at his words. It’s true that I’d settled the matter in my mind, but I was not entirely confident that it would be acceptable to both of them.  They were both trying so hard to keep the original “me” from disappearing. Still, I had to say it. Because that was the responsibility of me, who had become a single personality.

“… I could be both, could be neither. All of ‘Kuga Yanagi’s’ memories, experience, emotions exist within me… I’m certainly aware that I’m me, but at the same time, I’m aware that I’m ‘Iris’.”

Once, I cut off the words. I was afraid to tell them the rest. But I couldn’t remain silent, either.

“In other words, my existence right now is that of a girl named ‘Iris’ who inherited all my memories from before… I think.”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes again, but I couldn’t let them fall out now. If I cried, they would surely accept my answer anyway, but I’m sure would be a cowardly thing to do that took advantage of their conscience. Biting my lips, I waited for the next words of the two people who were struggling to come up with a response.

… I was scared. I shuddered to think what would happen if they rejected me. Even if I said that my consciousness was my own, my tone of voice and thoughts had now become Iris’ without me being conscious of it. Even if I said that we are the same, I had changed so much since I was “him”.

“Ah…”

My body trembled at the sound of Reiji-san’s voice. I wanted to hear what he had to say. I wanted to be acknowledged, not rejected. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hear what came next. If he was going to reject me, I’d rather he said nothing. Two contradictory emotions stirred up thoughts that went round and round in my head.

Pat, pat

I felt a hand being placed on my head. Then another one.

“You’re overthinking it. Don’t be so scared. I’m just trying to figure out what to call you from now on.”

“Agreed. Especially me, I find it complicated as to whether I should treat you as the ‘Onii-chan’ of before, or I’m ‘Onii-sama’ from now on.”

I pouted as they kept patting my head like that.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to reject you. You are who you are, right?”

“Yes, yes, big brother or little sister, you’re still my precious family. Reiji, though, he’s… kukuku…”

“Cease, you dumbass!! Don’t. Say. It!”

Did they… accept me?

“So anyway…”

Reiji turned to look at me, his face blushing for some reason.

“I’m counting on you next time, Iris.”

Saul-niisama, on the other hand, was still patting my head and smiling.

This time, I couldn’t stand it any longer. How much water had I drained from my body today? My eyes, which had dried up, began to fill with drops again, and the scenery became blurry.

“… Yes, Reiji-san, Saul-niisama!”

My tears continued to spill, but there was now a smile on my face.

“… Excuse me, nya. Is this touching family scene over yet, nya?”

“”“… Ah.”””

An awkward voice called out from behind me. I shouldn’t have, I had completely forgotten. Those two also awkwardly turned away, as if remembering the same thing as me.

“Welp, I’m totally forgotten… Even though I came all the way out here… making such a grand entrance… I feel so hurt, nya…”

“Ah, erm, sorry about that…”

Oh no, she was completely crouching down and scribbling on the ground. I’m really sorry.

“Uuuh, this feeling of abandonment can’t be healed unless you listen to my request, nya.”

“W-Wait a minute-”

Nii-sama tried to say something, but I took over.

“If I can help with that, then yes.”

Thinking back, when I was caught wandering alone in the town out of desperation, she had taken care of me. Had I not met her, I would not have had the courage to go looking for those two, and then… The thought of what might have happened sent chills down my spine.

So at least, I’d like to repay her kindness.

“… Really?! I’m not going to listen to you if you say no later, you hear!”

“Eep!… Um, yes, since you’ve helped me out so much today, I wouldn’t mind…?”

With a slight drawl, I answered to Milly-san, who’s back to her element and grabbing my shoulders vigorously.

It’s going to be okay, right…? Well, she wasn’t the type to do something bad to me… probably.

“An angel has descended… What should I choose, that one looks good, this one too… nonono, for such a beauty, maybe that newly made…”

Milly-san was happily thinking about something while looking in another direction. It seemed that her mood had recovered, which is a relief.

“Aaaah… I don’t know what to choose anymore… Well, she’s not gonna hate me for this, right…”

…By the way, what was Nii-sama doing? He had been trying to say something for a while now.

“Well then, let’s get going before we get cold… What’s the matter, Iris? And you too, Reiji, you’ve been weirdly quiet.”

“… Ah, um… my waist seems to be numb again. I can’t stand up.”

I was embarrassed to say that from the waist down, I couldn’t even move a muscle. Fortunately, the snow around here was gone, either blown away or evaporated in the last battle. Otherwise, my bottom would have been soaked by now.

… On the other hand, the beautifully laid cobblestones were also totally wrecked, and repairs were going to be difficult.

“My bad, I’m at my limits too… I can’t even move a finger…”

Reiji-san sprawled out his limbs and sounded as if he was about to fall asleep. The life force consumed in the use of his sword could be healed, but fatigue seemed to be the only thing that I couldn’t heal, and this pained me to look.

“Doesn’t look like we have a choice here. Let me call for help…”

When Saul-niisama was about to take action…

“Oh, if it isn’t the two travelers! And you’re the person who escorted my wife and the townspeople… Milly-san, is that your name? And the young miss too… Thank goodness, you’re all safe!”

“Eek?!”

The sudden loud voice of an unknown male coming from behind me made me let out a strange yell, and I reflexively hid behind Saul-niisama, who was just in the direction where the voice was coming from. When I peeked fearfully out from the shadow of Nii-sama’s body, I saw a man in his late thirties with tanned skin, muscular and strong, yet somehow elegant, who seemed to be engaged in hard work.

“Good to see you, Mayor. Allow me to introduce the mayor of the town we’re staying at, Iris. He’s Mr. Rudolph, Mrs. Miranda’s husband.”

“Ah… Thank you for taking care of us… And I’m sorry for not having visited you even once…”

Even though I’d been under his care for days now, we’d never met… I must have been terribly rude to him…

“It’s no problem. I’ve heard about your situation, and I’m also indebted to Reiji-san and Saul-san here. You are an excellent healer, and it seems that you have helped several people in the town, so please don’t worry about it. Besides…”

His gaze turned toward my face, and for a moment my body stiffened.

“You and Saul-san really are brother and sister. I now understand what my wife said after meeting you here for the first time.”

I couldn’t help but keep hiding behind Nii-sama. I didn’t feel any bad feeling from him, he was just complimenting me, but… I still seemed to remain a little uncomfortable with the gaze of men I don’t know yet.

“Please pardon us, my sister isn’t good with men…”

“Oh, that was rude of me. It’s certainly not right to stare at such a young lady, is it?”

The mayor looked away from Saul-niisama’s follow-up, scratching his cheek apologetically. He seemed to be sincere, so I fearfully showed my face to him.

“So, while I have a lot of questions for you, including the light from earlier… You all look exhausted, so we’ll get to that later… Though, could anyone tell me where that monster went? I can’t see it anywhere.”

The four of us faced each other. Yes, we defeated it.

I was sorry to think that he, the mayor of this town, had a lot of work to do from here, such as recalling those who were evacuated, assessing the damage, and repairing the town, but still, the threat was gone.

However, a “wound” had appeared and was probably still around that hideout, which is concerning to me. But when I saw everyone’s faces, I found it difficult to talk about it. Nevertheless, the feeling in me was that I felt no threat from it at all, and it would cease to be a problem in a few days.

I gave everyone a nod.

“Man, I’m so beat. But looks like we don’t have to worry anymore.”

“I would appreciate another opportunity to negotiate on this matter.”

“We didn’t lose any of our possessions, nya, so I’d love it to see a little more color on them, nya.”

“Come on, everyone, don’t be so mean. I’m sorry but, I don’t think everyone’s serious either, so no pressure, okay?”

The mayor’s eyes turned black and white as each of us suddenly spoke in a casual and silly tone.

“Erm, what are you talking about…?”

Laughter spontaneously spilled out from everyone, and the four of us said in unison.

“Mission Accomplished (nya)!”

After all, the quest wasn’t done until the report was made!