Akatsuki Translations

Epilogue

After the rabidaemon that had plunged the castle into a vortex of chaos in the middle of the night was defeated, Shuou had no time to rest his exhausted body. He was forced to rush around, assessing the situation inside the base and dealing with the surviving enemy soldiers.

The message sent by Borge’s arrangement safely reached New Moon Fortress, and the scouts who had visited in advance to confirm the situation stood dumbfounded for a while upon seeing the tragic state of Uzumi Castle, which should have been teeming with enemy soldiers.

While waiting for the main force to arrive for reinforcements, Shuou threatened the Coral troops, who had been sent ahead to recapture Uzumi, by making the captured A Zan stand on the castle wall. However, it did not have the desired effect. The captain of the Coral troops, leading the cavalry elite, raised his sword and ordered a charge. But before they could take a step to actually attack, A Shara casually appeared beside Shuou, and upon seeing her, the attitude of the Coral soldiers changed completely. Gritting his teeth and sending hateful glares, the captain of the troops saluted A Shara and ordered his troops to retreat. At that moment, Shuou realized that he had misread who held value as a hostage.

Uzumi Castle, shrouded in the darkness of the night, was enveloped in an unusually lively commotion.

In the courtyard, where the rabidaemon had left its claw marks, the traces of freshly spilled blood still remained vivid.

The men who had been starving and huddling in the dungeon until the previous day were now indulging in a feast of eating and drinking in the same place where the deadly battle had taken place. As a reward for successfully subduing Uzumi, the former prisoners, including Shuou, had earned the right to attend this special banquet, arranged by Al Baden, who had received the news and was heading here from Ode. Amidst the heavy security provided by numerous Murakumo soldiers and Brights guarding Uzumi, this level of treatment was truly an exceptional favor that would never happen under normal circumstances.

Shuou, slightly away from his comrades who were chatting while holding meat and alcohol, slowly massaged the muscles of his trembling legs while surrounding a warm flame. Beside him, Ga Shiga, a man from the Southern Mountains, lay on his back, snoring, covered with a woven cloth for warmth and carefully treated for his wounds.

When someone made a loud noise by breaking a liquor bottle, Shiga, who had been sleeping soundly until then, snorted and abruptly sat up.

“…What’s going on?” Shuou asked Shiga, who was staring blankly at the scene before him.

“You were sleeping well.”

Shiga, who hadn’t noticed Shuou sitting next to him until then, shuddered.

“You bastard—”

After glaring at Shuou with a hostile gaze, Shiga immediately looked at the back of his left hand.

“No restraints, no seals, and even treatment for injuries… what are you playing at?”

“For now, we’ve agreed to consider you a collaborator.”

Shiga twisted his mouth in dissatisfaction.

“I have no intention of siding with Murakumo, not even a bit.”

“I know. But thanks to your rampage, my comrades were saved.”

“Damn it—”

Spitting those words out, Shiga touched his jaw with a pained expression.

“We fought… and I… lost?”

Lowering his hostility, Shiga looked at Shuou while holding his jaw, puzzled.

“What happened to him, A Zan?”

“He’s alive. Right now, he’s tied up in the dungeon, watched by nearly ten men.”

“What about that big big?”

“I defeated it.”

Saying that, Shuou pointed to the shattered large miracrystal of the rabidaemon and the severed insect leg lying beside him.

“Defeated it… who the hell are you…?”

Facing Shiga directly, Shuou said, “Not you.”

“Huh?”

“I’m Shuou. I told you my name, didn’t I?”

Shuou called Shiga’s name, who raised his eyebrows as if looking at something strange.

“Shiga.”

“…What?”

“When you were captured, you said you had nowhere to go in the south anymore.”

Shiga nodded with a sullen face.

“Come to Murakumo… to me. It’s perfect, isn’t it?”

“You mean, join the army, is that what you’re saying?”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll ask for you.”

Shiga spat beside him.

“Hah, don’t joke with me.”

Shiga, who pursed his lips and expressed his dissatisfaction, looked like a child, and Shuou laughed.

“Then, I’ll hire you.”

“…Hire me, what do you want me to do? Kill someone? Or teach you how to capture a Triskelion?”

There was a hint of hatred in the way he said it. In fact, it was only natural for him to be cautious, having lost something precious after being lured by sweet words.

“I’m not interested in either. If you need a purpose, let’s say it’s for protection. Having a strong guy like you by my side increases the chances of my comrades being saved. I realized that from this incident.”

Shiga scratched his nose and averted his gaze, looking uncomfortable.

“…I’m expensive, you know.”

“I’ll figure something out.”

“…I’m whimsical and get bored easily.”

“If you find something else you want to do, you can quit whenever you like.”

Shiga stared intently at the bandages wrapped around his fist and clicked his tongue.

“Damn, I can’t think of a reason to refuse.”

Shuou held out his fist as if seeking confirmation. Hesitantly, Shiga bumped it with his large, clenched fist in return. Shiga then spread his hand and counted by folding his thumb and index finger.

“Just so you know, I owe you two things. I’ll stick with you until I pay them back. But in the end, there’s one thing I definitely want to see off.”

“Is it about the creature you mentioned?”

Shiga lowered his gaze with a pensive look and nodded.

“The old man who raised me said it was a tradition of the Ga tribe to return a tamed Triskelion to the Abyssal Forest where it originally came from when it died. I thought it was ridiculous for me, all alone, to imitate the customs of the tribe, but now I really want to do that for it.”

Shuou nodded firmly in return.

“I’ll help you.”

Shiga glanced at him from the corner of his eye, took a deep breath, and relaxed his shoulders.

“Hey, you there! Shiro! What are you doing here with such a gloomy face? Drink up, come on! Drink, drink to your heart’s content!”

With a flushed face and bloodshot eyes, Borge approached, carrying a barrel of alcohol. Standing behind Shuou, he turned the barrel upside down and started pouring the alcohol inside onto Shuou’s hair.

“Hey!”

Shiga raised his knee to intervene at the sudden action, but Shuou stopped him with a laugh.

“I’m used to it.”

                                *

Pressing the cut he had received from an enemy soldier during the commotion, Hario glared resentfully at Shuou, who was wiping his wet hair in a corner.

A girl with brown skin, unnaturally beautiful for this place, appeared out of nowhere and sat down next to Shuou. She snatched the dry cloth he was using to wipe his wet hair and started wiping his hair with a familiar attitude. It was said that she was the daughter of the castle’s lord, now a captive.

──I don’t understand.

In his mind, Hario spat those words out.

They were supposed to be locked up, deprived of food, and brutally executed as a spectacle. If that was the case, at least Shuou, the sole survivor, should have been cursed by everyone as they died. However, only a short time had passed since that situation, and now they were enjoying the finest alcohol and food. Moreover, the members of the privileged class known as the Brights were standing guard.

“Why…?”

There was no one to answer his question. While everyone was celebrating their survival and victory with smiles on their faces, enjoying the feast, there was no reason for people to gather around him, who remained silent with a blank expression. Even his partner, Saburi, had grown tired of his silence and was happily gulping down alcohol with the others around the fire.

Hario, who had been glaring at Shuou like a sticky swamp bottom, suddenly gasped and turned his face away. He felt as if their gazes had momentarily crossed.

Lowering his face and staring at the ground illuminated by the flickering flames, he felt someone sit down heavily beside him. Looking ahead while still bowing his head, he saw Shuou with a damp cloth on his shoulder.

His prominent gray hair was still wet and seemed to be burning brightly, illuminated by the flames.

“Are you okay with your injury?”

When Shuou asked in a gentle tone, Hario turned his face away and remained silent. After a moment of silence, Shuou took a deep breath and muttered in a slightly barbed voice, “I won’t apologize, you know.”

Hario involuntarily raised his face. With a grim expression, he twisted his mouth and glared at Shuou sitting next to him.

“Because of whom did this—”

Hario instinctively turned his face away from the sharp gaze in Shuou’s eyes, which he met as he overlapped their gazes.

“—You’re so high and mighty.”

“I know.”

Shuou’s casual response, as if it were someone else’s business, swelled Hario’s irritation.

“Are you being defiant?”

Shuou raised a small finger and pointed at the men enjoying the grand feast with alcohol in hand.

“If I don’t act high and mighty, they won’t obey. I realized that this is the best way to act once I understood what kind of place this is. If they don’t listen, I make them obey. If words don’t work, I use force or persuade them with money or things. If someone is playing around while everyone else is working, I scold them.”

Touched on a sore spot, Hario raised his voice emotionally.

“I’m your senior! I even helped you in Winter Fortress, and when the princess was in trouble, you said you were saved by the knob I had…”

“If I treat one person specially, the others will surely look down on me. I did it for my own sake, and I’ll do it again if necessary. I have no intention of changing anything, and I don’t regret it. That’s why I won’t apologize.”

“—!”

Unable to find the words to respond, Hario kicked a pebble at his feet.

“Even if I act high and mighty, I don’t look down on anyone. I think everyone is the same, just fellow human beings—”

Shuou’s body suddenly lifted into the air. A group of drunken men hoisted Shuou up, raising him high and shouting praises. Shuou, being carried away by them, was unusually flustered, flailing his legs.

Staring at the empty seat that had opened up, Hario felt a tinge of loneliness. The feeling of wanting to talk a little more with the person he was supposed to hate and despise lingered.

As if to fill the void of his unresolved feelings, a man sat down in the empty seat. Although he had never spoken to him directly, he was an old man affectionately called Old Man Jin by everyone.

“Don’t do it, don’t do it,” Old Man Jin said, sipping from his liquor pouch.

“What the hell, all of a sudden?”

“Don’t hold grudges against people, don’t compete with them. I’ve seen countless people who died young, consumed by either one or both of those things. Seeing someone like you reminds me of those folks, whether I like it or not.”

“I’m not competing with anyone.”

Old Man Jin grinned with a flushed face.

“Hmph, well, depending on the case, competing might not be a bad thing. But choose your opponent wisely. At the very least, avoid him.”

“…You mean Shuou?”

Old Man Jin nodded vigorously several times.

“There are people like that, you know. The kind who suddenly appear and do something big. I don’t know if the result will be sung in poems and stories or if they’ll die a miserable death somewhere, but that youngster probably has the qualities of what’s commonly known as a hero. Even in my younger days when I was hot-blooded, I wouldn’t have tried to compete with someone like that.”

“What hero… His stone color is the same as ours, isn’t it? He’s just a commoner like us.”

Old Man Jin made a smug face.

“You think they’re the same? Do you think those stupid brutes would hoist up someone they consider the same as themselves? Look at their idiotic faces.”

Those who were carrying Shuou and making a fuss were all looking up at him, their eyes shining like children. In their daily lives, they usually looked at the world with jaded eyes, filled with turbidity and resignation, but here, everyone’s eyes directed at Shuou were the same as those of children admiring a hero from a fairy tale.

“I never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime. Hehe.”

Old Man Jin, who had stood up, tossed the still-full liquor pouch to Hario and started running towards the group that was repeatedly tossing Shuou in the air. His profile had a smile full of vitality, reminiscent of his younger days. To borrow his own words, it was truly an idiotic face.

Staring at Old Man Jin’s back as he jumped and raised his hands to join the circle, Hario took a generous swig from the liquor pouch.

Gazing at Shuou, who was soaring high in the center of the circle, Hario whispered to him in his heart.

　──No one thinks you’re the same as us anymore, you know.

＊

The next morning, Shuou was summoned by Al Baden, who had arrived in Uzumi from Ode after a sleepless forced march, and was shown to the room A Zan had been using for receptions.

“So this is the Iwanawa…” When Shuou handed over Ba Ryouki’s lost item, which he had been carrying around as a trophy, Al Baden was so enchanted by it that he almost drooled.

“The treasured sword of the southwestern hegemonic nation, Heliodor. It is said that in the distant past, a renowned master craftsman spent his entire life forging a divine ore brought back from the summit of the Central Great Mountain… I laughed when I heard this dubious story in my youth, but holding it in my hand, I can understand the spirit that makes it convincing.”

Al Baden was captivated by the sword.

“If you’re interested…” Shuou offered the sword generously, and Al Baden’s face lit up in surprise.

“What?!”

However, Solar Bright Keisha, his adjutant and also his spouse, slapped the hand holding the sword lovingly. Keisha snatched the sword from her superior, who was in pain, and quickly handed it back to Shuou.

“Please stop instigating wrongdoing. If there are rumors that you stole someone else’s achievement, your husband’s reputation will be ruined. That’s something you won, isn’t it? Be careful not to thoughtlessly give it to others.”

Receiving the sword while being scolded, Shuou stared at it intently. This seemed to be a valuable item for many people, but to Shuou, it was equivalent to just a hard and sturdy stick. The sword given to him by Adulelia, thoughtfully prepared for his sake, was much more valuable.

“However, I still can’t believe it. To think that we captured A Zan and our Ode army has brought Uzumi under control…”

Al Baden said, as if savoring the words, and Shuou asked, “What will happen to this place from now on?”

“I don’t know. There are several paths, but it will either remain under Murakumo’s rule or be returned with reparations demanded. I believe it will probably be the latter.”

“You’re going to return it?”

Shuou lowered his voice, and Al Baden made an uncomfortable face.

“Don’t say that. I don’t have the authority to decide. Well, that’s what I think the higher-ups will do. The real discretionary power lies with the Supreme Commander who oversees the Imperial Guard. Lord Gwen will probably dislike provoking the surrounding countries by placing Uzumi under his control.”

The people above must have their own thoughts. There must be circumstances and reasons that Shuou couldn’t see, but it felt regrettable to readily return something they had worked hard to capture.

Perhaps sensing Shuou’s feelings, Al Baden laughed consolingly.

“Don’t make that face. If we return it, we’ll demand a hefty amount of money in return. Enough to prevent Coral from being able to mobilize a proper army for the time being.”

Still unsatisfied, Shuou nodded.

“Yes.”

Al Baden suddenly stood up, clasped Shuou’s hand with both hands, and bowed his head.

“Thank you. I thought my path was in darkness, with only walls ahead, but for the first time, I see a glimmer of light. I can hold my head high for a while now. You did well.”

Shuou wanted to scratch his head in embarrassment, but Al Baden’s large hands, firmly wrapped around his, wouldn’t let him.

“I wanted to say that I’d like you to stay in Ode and work under me, but a transfer order came in.”

Al Baden said resentfully.

“Transfer order?”

“According to an order from above, an investigation team from the Imperial Guard will be dispatched soon, and a summons to the capital has been issued for you.”

Shuou hurriedly released Al Baden’s hands.

“You mean I have to leave here… leave those guys—my comrades?”

Al Baden scratched his nose awkwardly in response to Shuou’s intense glare.

“It’s an order, can’t be helped. I don’t know what will happen after that. I’m not saying there’s no possibility of you being sent back to Ode, but I’m not in a position to guarantee it. This order has the signature of the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Guard. It’s not something that happens easily, even if you achieve a great feat. I thought it would be a pleasant story for you.”

It’s not a bad thing, Al Baden said. It was a summons to reward his military achievements, but for Shuou, it felt like all the relationships he had built were being uprooted, and it made him sad.

“I’m worried about those I’m leaving behind…”

The surviving Murakumo men. Among them were some who had suffered injuries that would prevent them from ever returning to the battlefield after this incident.

Keisha, who had been quietly observing the situation, stepped forward.

“Regarding the treatment of the temporary hires, I intend to push for their official employment as regular retainers in recognition of their contributions to this matter. For the injured, we will consider some form of consideration to ensure they don’t face hardship in their lives. So, don’t worry and go.”

When Shuou nodded reluctantly, Al Baden let out a sigh of relief for some reason.

“There are still mountains of things I need to hear, but I’ve only just arrived here myself. I brought skilled chefs from Ode, so keep your evening schedule open.”

Promising to have dinner together, Shuou suppressed his unresolved dissatisfaction and informed his superior that he would leave the room.

＊

The couple who saw Shuou off as he left the room let out a deep breath and relaxed their tension.

“Did you see his face?” Al asked, looking somewhat haggard, to which his wife Keisha replied, “Yes.”

“That was scary.”

The moment the order was given to essentially leave his comrades behind, Shuou exuded an overwhelming sense of anger that intimidated those who saw him. It had enough intensity to make even Al Baden, who had been in the military for many years, feel frightened.

“Was it okay to say something like that? You’re usually frugal, but that was quite a generous offer.”

“I just… felt like I had to say that much for him to be convinced. But now that I’ve said it, I’ll make sure to follow through. And also—”

As his wife paused meaningfully, Al asked, “And what?”

“I saw something special in him… like a spirit. He should be granted a crested sword from Adulelia. If he continues to soar in the future, doing this much for him won’t be a loss for us. That’s the level of determination I felt from him just now.”

“You mean a hero. Indeed, if what he did is truly as it is, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him that, but—”

Seeing her husband pout and purse his lips, Keisha laughed.

“Are you jealous?”

“…Is that a bad thing? I don’t remember you praising someone that much either.”

Keisha sat on her husband’s lap. Wrapping his large arms around her stomach, she leaned her body back and brought her face close.

“You’re special to me. You’re the one I chose. I’ll love you and our child to be born for the rest of my life.”

As he became aware of the heat gradually building up in his body, Al hugged his wife tightly. He placed his hand on her swollen belly and savored the moment filled with happiness. But then…

“That’s right! If our child is a boy, how about we get his name from the hero who achieved the conquest of Uzumi?”

When Al momentarily stiffened at the suggestion from his beloved wife, Keisha laughed gleefully, finding it amusing.

                                *

After finishing his greetings with Al Baden, Shuou was walking alone through the corridor towards the outside. When he saw the stairs leading down, Shara casually poked her head out of a room right in front of him and greeted him lightly when she noticed him. Considering her position, she should have been imprisoned, but Shara was free without any restraint. However, she was dressed up in a gorgeous, fluttering red outfit that he had never seen before.

As he stared blankly at Shara’s unexpectedly beautiful figure, Shara smiled pleasantly.

“You look like you’re in a bad mood,” Shara said as she stepped into the corridor, followed by a group of female Brights with swords at their waists. As Shara announced that she was going outside, the Brights hurriedly put an outer garment on her shoulders. Their manner seemed more like female attendants serving a high-ranking person than for surveillance purposes.

“Is it okay for you to be walking around?”

“In exchange for seeking my father’s life, I promised to cooperate with the negotiations with my grandfather, the king. Your commander is lenient. He seems to have placed his trust in me just by showing a slightly cooperative attitude. However, the demand to dress appropriately for my status is suffocating and troublesome.”

At Shara’s urging, Shuou stepped down the stairs beside her.

“How is A Zan… your father doing?”

Shara’s face visibly distorted when asked about her father, and she seemed to be mocking herself in a way.

“There’s no problem with his health. He’s just terribly frightened.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing happened. It’s a persecution complex. He’s afraid that he’ll receive terrible torture from Murakumo, just like he did to others. It’s common for fools to believe that others will do to them what they do to others.”

“I see.”

Shuou didn’t even think about how she seemed to be in good spirits at this point. As someone who had escaped before receiving treatment that would make him hold a lifelong grudge, he couldn’t hold any more attachment. In fact, even after hearing the story, Shuou had no thoughts about A Zan’s future as a person.

They descended the stairs and reached the first-floor corridor. The long passage had blood splatters scattered here and there, evoking the final moments of human life.

“Until recently, Coral soldiers were walking through here. Whether they died or survived, if they knew that I’m standing here unharmed at this very moment, they would surely despise and curse me.”

Shara touched her lower lip with a melancholic expression.

“Do you regret it?” Shuou asked, and Shara’s eyes flashed with anger.

“For not stopping you even though I knew what you were doing? Who would think about that after things have come this far? Even if I had known, in the unfamiliar Abyssal Forest, could I have—”

As Shara became emotional and started ranting, Shuou interrupted her with heavy words.

“No. It’s about not taking that hand and leaving this place at that time.”

Shara closed her wide-open eyes and gently bit her lip.

“…Part of it was that I didn’t want to leave my father alone. But the truth is, I gave in to the desire to let myself go with this flow.”

“The flow, huh? I don’t really understand.”

“It’s a vague thing. The world I thought was already solidified crumbled from the very foundation. My father, who was in charge of national defense, and my mother, who was of royal blood. Born between them, I was given the right to inherit the King’s Stone from the moment I came into the world. No matter what I did, nothing changed. I am me, and I can’t escape what I was born with. I lamented how boring and dull it was, but I still knew nothing. Seeing someone like you made me realize that I didn’t know. For now, I’ll let myself go with the flow. And if possible, I’d like to take this opportunity to see the country of Murakumo. According to that red-haired Bright, Murakumo doesn’t have a night watch like the countries in the Kuou religious sphere. If that’s the case, as long as I behave, I won’t have to worry about my safety.”

Shuou responded lightly.

“I see.”

Shara looked puzzled.

“I ask you, how can you keep such a cool face? Do you fully understand what you’ve done? You should think a little about how many people’s fates you’ve turned upside down.”

Feeling scolded by a younger girl, Shuou fell silent with a sullen expression. As he quickened his pace, Shara frantically moved her feet to keep up with him. Maintaining the gradually increasing speed, the moment they burst outside, Shuou was once again at a loss for words at the sight before him.

Amidst the scenery of rubble scattered in all directions, nearly half of the courtyard was filled with Murakumo soldiers, all calling out his name, raising their fists, and shouting with joy. With flushed faces, each of them spoke words of praise for him, and their passionate gazes never left him for a moment.

“This entire scene is the result of what you’ve done, isn’t it? Why don’t you get a little carried away?”

Shara left, saying she was going to see her father, taking the bewildered Brights with her.

“Shuou!”

He heard a familiar gruff voice. Quickly tracing the source of the voice, Shuou’s eyes met Borge’s, who had a big smile on his face.

Catching the cylinder that Borge suddenly threw at him, Shuou looked inside and broke into a smile. Taking out the familiar object from the cylinder, he inserted it into its usual position on his belt. Rejoicing more at the return of the 〈Needle〉 filled with his feelings than the hero’s sword on his back, Shuou raised his fist high towards his comrades who were calling his name.