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  “Anyway, what good would come out of us going? We were brought to this village precisely because we’d get in Haruto’s way, no?” Masato said, making a sound argument.

  “That’s true, but...” Aki was at a complete loss for words.

  “You wouldn’t be a nuisance at all. It might be difficult, but it’s my job to do something about that. That’s why I want to hear what the three of you truly think,” Rio said in a calming voice. Masato and Aki exchanged glances before bowing their heads to Rio.

  “...Thanks.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  Rio continued, “But there are several conditions attached, so I’ll inform you of those first. After hearing them, take some time thinking about it, discussing it with each other, then give me your answer.”

  “O-Okay. What are they?” Masato braced himself and asked.

  “First, the major premise of all this is that Satsuki is currently in a position of being a hero affiliated with the Galarc Kingdom — this is basically certain. The problem with being affiliated with a kingdom, however, is that she may not be able to move freely outside, and we can’t just go and meet her easily. You understand this, right?”

  By having the hero Satsuki — a disciple of the Six Wise Gods — affiliated with them, the kingdom could increase their own power and influence. Basically, she was a portable idol to worship.

  It would be a bad move to upset Satsuki’s mood, so the kingdom probably wouldn’t do anything to provoke her. However, they would still keep Satsuki’s movements under surveillance and indirectly try to manage her. It was hard to believe they would allow her to move freely.

  “Yeah, pretty much,” Masato said hesitantly. Aki and Miharu nodded in agreement too.

  “I’ve told you about the Six Wise Gods before, right? They’re the gods worshiped in the Strahl region. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the royalty in each of the kingdoms of Strahl were formed on the foundation of the Six Wise Gods’ power. Now that the heroes — the disciples of the Six Wise Gods — have descended in each kingdom, they can’t turn a blind eye to such a serious affair. The religious value of the heroes is directly connected to their political value, after all,” Rio explained plainly.

  “...” Miharu, Aki, Masato, and the other spirit folk all listened to Rio’s words intently.

  “That, of course, applies to the Galarc Kingdom too. They will be trying to gain the most political benefit possible from Satsuki. Having said that, I’m sure you can imagine the potential dangers of the three of you suddenly appearing before Satsuki, right? The kingdom may try to take the three of you in as insurance, under the name of protection.”

  “Uh...” Aki and Masato both gulped.

  “I phrased it in a frightening way, but of course taking actions to upset Satsuki would normally be a poor move, so I doubt they’d try to pull anything so forceful,” Rio said with a bitter smile, shrugging his shoulders.

  “That’s why I’m not saying you shouldn’t go meet Satsuki. But if you do go, I want you to be prepared. Just like Masato said, it’s very possible that you may not be able to return to this village so easily afterwards,” he continued.

  “...Okay,” Miharu and the others nodded solemnly.

  “And that’s all when it comes to the warnings I have to give. Of course, I’m willing to give my advice and present all the risks I can think of, but you all will make the final decision. I want to respect your opinions, which is why the three of you should think about it yourselves. And so I suggest we leave it at this for today,” Rio said, wrapping up the meeting for the day.

  ◇　◇　◇

  After that, the group decided to head home right away in order to give Miharu, Aki, and Masato time to think. A rather heavy air hung over them on the road home — over the Japanese visitors in particular, who barely said a word. Sara, Orphia, and Alma read the mood and decided to watch over them silently for now. Meanwhile, Latifa was similarly staying silent out of consideration, but her gaze was fixed on Rio rather than Miharu. She walked beside him quietly while holding his hand, occasionally looking up at Rio’s face with a gentle look on her face.

  Thus, the party arrived home.

  “Since Rio’s returned today, I’ll do my best to make something nice for lunch,” Orphia said with the brightest voice she could after entering the house.

  “I’ll help,” Rio immediately offered.

  “Ah, me too...!” Miharu chimed in, lured along by Rio to reflexively offer to help.

  “No, Rio should relax in the living room, please. And Miharu, don’t you have a lot to think about today? Leave this to me.” Orphia shook her head with a cheerful grin.

  “...Okay, then, if you insist.” Rio nodded with a smile.

  “Thank you, Orphia,” Miharu said apologetically.

  “My cooking skills aren’t as good, but I’ll help instead, Orphia.”

  “I can assist too.”

  Sara and Alma both took the initiative to help out.

  “Yup, the three of us can make something together for once!” Orphia agreed happily.

  “...Orphia, should I help too?” Latifa offered hesitantly.

  “Fufu, you should go and be spoiled by Rio while you still have a chance,” Orphia said with a smile. Latifa nodded with a soft smile of her own.

  “Okay, thank you!”

  Everyone went about their own business. Orphia, Sara, and Alma headed to the kitchen, while Rio and Latifa went to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Miharu, Aki, and Masato each retired to their own bedrooms.

  Latifa seemed to be reading the mood in her own way, as she wasn’t enthusiastically pleading for Rio’s attention as usual, instead sticking close to Rio’s side quietly. She must have felt completely at ease there, as Latifa fell into a peaceful sleep within ten minutes or so, her head in Rio’s lap as she breathed gently in her sleep.

  “Zzz... zzz...”

  “...” The corners of Rio’s mouth relaxed faintly as he watched Latifa’s peacefully sleeping face while gently patting her head.

  Suddenly, Miharu appeared in the living room, and approached Rio nervously. Despite having noticed Miharu’s approach, Rio continued to pet Latifa silently.

  Miharu found her resolve and called out to Rio. “Umm, Haruto, do you have a moment?”

  “...Yes, of course.” Rio smiled a little fleetingly and slowly nodded his head.

  ◇　◇　◇

  Rio shifted the sleeping Latifa to rest on the sofa before following Miharu outside the house, at her request to be alone.

  Rio stopped a slight distance away from Miharu and spoke up first. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “...Umm, I wanted to know what you were thinking about all this,” Miharu began hesitantly.

  “What I think?” Rio’s eyes widened slightly as he cocked his head to the side.

  “Yes. What do you think we should be doing about this? I want to hear your opinion,” Miharu explained, clinging to Rio’s response.

  “...Let’s see. I would attend the banquet alone and make contact with Satsuki. After hearing what Satsuki herself wants to do about all this, I’ll explore long-term solutions for what to do. Then, at possibly the same time, I’ll temporarily sneak Satsuki out of the castle and bring her to you guys, perhaps. Of course, I’ll have to have you three wait somewhere near the castle.” Rio offered what he considered to be the safest option.

  “...That means you think we should meet Satsuki, right?” Miharu confirmed slowly.

  “Yes. You would want to confirm each other’s safety with your own eyes first, right?” Rio asked.

  “Yes,” Miharu nodded firmly in response.

  “That would be the purpose of temporarily sneaking her out for a secret meeting. There’d be a fairly high risk in that alone, so it’s not an option that could be repeated often, but for a one time event there should be plenty of ways to make it happen,” Rio explained.

  “If we wanted to keep seeing her we’d have to head to the cas
tle ourselves, is what you mean?”

  “If Satsuki is in a position where she can’t walk outside freely, that may be the only choice. Even if she could go out, someone would be keeping an eye on her friendships, so your existence would be revealed to the kingdom for sure,” Rio agreed with Miharu’s question with a contemplative look. What was more important was whether Miharu actually wanted to meet with Satsuki regardless of that.

  “Then if — if the kingdom finds out about us, can we still remain with you even in that situation?” Miharu asked with an extremely worried face.

  Rio hesitated slightly for a moment, before averting his eyes from the guilty-looking Miharu and answering. “I... wonder. If your existence were a weak point for Satsuki, I believe the kingdom would try to secure you and the siblings. Of course, that would depend on how much influence Satsuki has over the kingdom...”

  There was a need to investigate in advance how the kingdom would treat Miharu, Aki, and Masato if they found out about them. Rio figured he’d be able to find out some of the specifics by contacting Satsuki on the night of the banquet. However, ultimately there was no way of knowing exactly what would happen until the moment unfurled.

  At the very least, Rio currently had Liselotte of the Galarc Kingdom as a connection, which meant that relying on her assistance could be another option.

  “Oh, right,” Miharu nodded, her shoulders slumping in disappointment.

  “...However, if the three of you plan on returning to Japan one day, it would be ideal if you were to meet up with Takahisa as well. There’s no need to rush, but there’s no need to hold back from seeking assistance either, so please discuss it with Aki and Masato. Like I said earlier, you guys should be the ones to make the decision,” Rio said and smiled rather awkwardly.

  Us... returning to Japan...

  It was why the three were being protected by Rio. It was what they had discussed when they’d first arrived in this world and spoken to Rio.

  However, the moment Miharu heard those words from Rio’s mouth once more, an indescribable sense of anxiety and panic rose within her, making her shrink in on herself. If Haruto was in fact the Haruto she’d once known, then would he have advised that they return to Japan? The thought overwhelmed her.

  “U-Umm!” Before she knew it, Miharu’s mouth was moving.

  “Yes?” Seeing the normally docile Miharu suddenly raise her voice in a rough manner made Rio’s eyes round in response.

  “Do you — do you ever think about returning to Japan yourself, Haruto?” Miharu asked, looking extremely frustrated. She had avoided touching upon this delicate topic until now, but she simply had to know.

  Rio hesitated for a moment before answering with a small sigh. “...That would be impossible.” He did not clearly specify whether he wanted to return or not.

  “Why is that?” Miharu asked in a daze.

  “Even if I were to return, the person I was in my previous life is already dead. If I were to return to Japan now, I would have no place to go. I wouldn’t even be on any kind of official record, you know?” Hints of a self-deprecating smile could be seen on Rio’s face as he answered with much difficulty.

  “...But, don’t you have... I don’t know, regrets, or things you wished you had done?” Miharu asked. It was an intrusive question that was rare coming from her.

  “...I wonder,” Rio replied, avoiding answering.

  “Then, the Haruto of your previous life is...” Miharu tried to ask something, stumbling over her words, but Latifa’s voice suddenly echoed.

  “Onii-chan?”

  “What’s wrong, Latifa?” Rio said, looking in the direction the voice came from. At some point, the door to the house had opened, revealing Latifa standing there.

  “Oh, it’s just that Onii-chan wasn’t there when I woke up, so...” Latifa said hesitantly.

  “I see. Sorry, I was talking with Miharu,” Rio informed her, a gentle smile pasted on his face.

  Latifa shook her head and approached Rio. “It’s okay. Are you done talking?”

  “...Are we?” Rio asked Miharu.

  “Ah, umm... Yes.” Miharu looked like she wanted to say something, but agreed indecisively instead.

  “Then, I’m going for a short walk. I’d like to greet our neighbors now that I’ve returned, too. Orphia and the others seem to be making lunch, so I’ll be back soon. What would you like to do, Latifa?” Rio asked Latifa, distancing himself from Miharu.

  Latifa paused for a moment, but slowly shook her head in the end. “...I’ll pass, it’s fine.”

  “I see... Then I’ll be right back. Thanks, Latifa,” Rio said as he departed, patting Latifa on the shoulders.

  “Yup, see you soon.” Latifa trembled with a flinch, nodding awkwardly as she saw Rio off.

  So he noticed after all...

  Latifa had been listening to Rio and Miharu’s conversation from the doorway from the middle of their talk — the reason why he thanked her was because of that. Latifa herself hadn’t even realized she’d timed her interruption as such, and felt an indescribable discomfort over that.

  “...See you later, Haruto.” Miharu still looked like she wanted to say something, but swallowed her words as she saw Rio off.

  ◇　◇　◇

  After Rio left, Latifa and Miharu were left alone by the doorway.

  Miharu suddenly opened her mouth. “...Say, Latifa.”

  “Hm? Yeah?” Latifa replied awkwardly.

  “Umm, do you...” While Miharu had been the one to start talking, she seemed extremely unsure of her words. Her inner conflict was quite visible. “Latifa, how much do you know about Haruto?” she asked fearfully.

  At present, the only ones who knew that Rio had memories of a previous life were the council of elders and Dryas herself. Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Latifa had been showing Miharu around, so they weren’t present and didn’t know. Rio told Miharu that himself, so Miharu had avoided talking about Rio’s previous life in front of the spirit folk girls until now.

  However...

  Miharu had a suspicion that Rio’s adopted sister might know about his past life.

  “...What do you mean, how much?” Latifa asked hesitantly.

  “I was just wondering if you knew why he uses the alias ‘Haruto,’ or something like that, maybe.” Miharu avoided Latifa’s eyes and spoke falteringly.

  Latifa paused for a long moment before cutting to the point that Miharu had been trying to describe long-windedly. “...Are you perhaps asking about Onii-chan’s previous life?”

  “S-So you do know about it after all.” Miharu’s expression suddenly changed, and she bit her lip.

  “Yup, Onii-chan told me as proof of our sibling bond,” Latifa nodded.

  “Then... Then... do you know, Latifa? If Haruto’s — Haruto’s alias... Was that his name in his previous life?” Miharu asked in earnest.

  “...I can’t tell you that. Onii-chan asked me not to tell anyone anything about his previous life.” Latifa shook her head slowly.

  “He said that...”

  Miharu wondered what exactly that could mean. It wasn’t something one would to want spread normally. She didn’t know why he didn’t want it spread, but she couldn’t accept it was just because of a matter of privacy.

  That being said, she couldn’t force Latifa to tell her, so Miharu simply clenched her hands into fists.

  “Even if you can’t ask me, why don’t you just ask Onii-chan yourself?” Latifa suggested with a very troubled look.

  “...It might just be my imagination, but it feels like he’s avoiding me. Especially ever since he came back this time,” Miharu said, frowning sadly.

  I kinda thought the same thing. But I also thought it was just my imagination...

  Rio really did seem like he was avoiding Miharu earlier, Latifa thought. She first noticed something was odd during the exchange between Rio returning to the village and before they entered the town hall together. It was as though Rio was purposefully avoiding Miharu’s eyes... />
  But even if that were true, then Miharu was behaving strangely, too. Ever since Rio returned, her eyes and attention had continuously been focused on him.

  “...Why do you want to know about Onii-chan’s past life?” Latifa asked, examining Miharu’s expression.

  “If I answer that, will you tell me Haruto’s name in his previous life?” Miharu seemed extremely frustrated as she brought up a way for them to swap information.

  “I can’t do that.” Latifa shook her head slowly.

  “...Sorry, that was unfair of me to say. I’m sorry,” Miharu apologized shamefully. It was behavior she would have never shown under normal circumstances, so she must have felt exceptionally defeated.

  “No, it’s okay...” Latifa said with a contemplative look, searching Miharu’s face for her feelings.

  Maybe... no, it’s more likely that Miharu...

  Based on their exchange up until now, Latifa was practically certain that Miharu suspected Rio was Amakawa Haruto in his previous life.

  But... from when?

  When had she realized it? Because their names were the same? If that was the only factor, she would have taken some kind of action long ago. There must have been some other factor, Latifa thought.

  Ah, was it then...? Latifa suddenly thought of something and understood.

  It was back when they had made the apple cake during cooking class — they were talking about the first time Rio and Latifa came to the village. As they described how Rio was thrown into a jail cell, Orphia and Alma said they had heard Rio mutter ‘Mii-chan’ in his sleep.

  Back then, Latifa noticed that Miharu’s expression had clearly changed. She hadn’t acted strangely after that, but it was possible that she’d started holding onto her suspicions then. Then, after actually seeing Rio again, that doubt grew stronger.

  Has Onii-chan noticed Miharu’s change in behavior? Is that why he’s avoiding her? Latifa suspected.

  “Latifa?” Miharu tilted her head awkwardly, peering at Latifa’s face. Latifa had been lost in her own thoughts, so Miharu was most likely wondering what was going on with her.

  Latifa thought hard for a moment before slowly moving her mouth. “...Say, Miharu.”