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Leaving Tamiko and Tarochi behind, the others and I went down to the first floor.
Tamiko stays overnight in Tarochi’s room, and I consult with the old couple and ask if I could spend the night with them. Noa and Aomoto went to the inn, and Wanda and Kinami went home. Everyone was satisfied.
I even got a bath as a courtesy. It is an outdoor bath for the residents of the neighborhood, separated from the rest of the house only by a curtain.
I filled the bathtub with water using a hand-powered pump and added furotaki mushrooms. After washing my body with soap and water that had reached the proper temperature, I went into the bathtub. A stifled voice leaked out, “Ahhh!” I don’t know what kind of wood the bathtub is made of, but it’s comfortable and comparable to Japanese cypress, so I’m going to assume so.
“…I’m happy for you, Tamiko…” (Shuu)
I mumbled to myself. The two of them are probably talking about all the things that they have been keeping inside and trying to make up for the time they have spent apart, even if only a little. With this thought in mind, I scrubbed my face with hot water.
It’s a secret that I’m a little homesick. Not for Sugamo, but for Gyoda, where I was born and raised.
—The world outside the walls, where the human race, has not perished.
These were the words of the self-proclaimed Tsuruhashi Minato at the closing ceremony of the Grand Tournament.
If, by any chance, that is true.
Gyoda, Saitama, or perhaps even Japan, would still exist behind the wall.
I wonder if my hometown still exists beyond that wall, which is full of all kinds of disturbing stories.
I can see the night sky through a gap in the curtains. The night sky is blocked by the sacred tree, but I can’t see the stars or anything else, it’s free to think about what lies beyond.
–I want to check it out. Someday, with my own eyes.
When I got out of the bath, an elderly couple was waiting for me with dinner and a bottle of shochu on the table. I was thrilled to find that part of my hometown was here, too.
The old man, who is now tipsy, tells me about Tarochi who has been renting the attic. The couple had been taking care of Tarochi since he lost his parents to an epidemic, so to speak.
Tarochi was an office worker at the town hall, in charge of maintaining the family registers of the Carbuncle tribe. However, he has been on administrative leave for several years.
He had two childhood friends of the same age, Kinko and Kinami, and Kinko in particular had been his childhood sweetheart.
He was serious and polite, which was rare among the Carbuncle tribe, but he was somewhat reserved, timid, and always lacked self-confidence, in particular, he had a complex about his inability to use Fungal Skills. When Kinko was eighteen years old, she had just met a hunter and was leaving town, all he could do was smile and send her off, then retire to his room to brood.
“We were surprised when we heard that he proposed to Kinko, who had come back to town for the first time in ten years.” (Old Man)
It took some time, but eventually, after Tarochi’s “life-long” courting, Kinko finally agreed to marry Tarochi.
“When they started their honeymoon, Tarochi and Kinko seemed really happy… but it wasn’t long after that…” (Old Man)
At the request of her hunter partner, Kinko embarked on her final journey. She told Tarochi that she would definitely return in a year.
Tarochi waited patiently for her return. One year passed, then two, then three.
“He went looking for her outside Nakano many times. I tried to stop him because it was dangerous, but he wouldn’t listen. …I even had the guards escort him to Ikebukuro and Nerima, but he couldn’t even find a clue as to where Kinko was…” (Old Man)
According to the timeline, Kinko and Usui left Nakano and headed for Outsuka Metro not long after, but they did not tell anyone of their whereabouts.
“But Tarochi always believed in her. He always believed that Kinko was still alive somewhere and that she would come back to him. But… he must have lost heart because, for the past year or two, he has been absent from work and has been immersed in acorns alone in his room.” (Old Man)
“You can’t wallow in acorns.” (Old Lady)
“It’s really unfortunate that Kinko passed away… but to have two children come back… I guess the ‘God of Threadweaving’ hasn’t forgotten us…” (Old Man)
Saying that, the old couple burst into tears.
“From now on, I hope the two of them live happily ever after.” (Old Man)
“…eh?” (Shuu)
Hearing that all of a sudden made me nervous.
“Ah…” (Shuu)
I can only give vague replies. I drink shochu to cover up my inner turmoil.
Alone in the living room, wrapped in a futon that smelled of insect repellent, I couldn’t easily fall asleep.
It is a night without my fluffy partner, who is always lying on the floor next to me. No, well, when she shares a room with Noa, she basically sleeps on her side of the bed, but tonight it means something different.
(…that’s right.) (Shuu)
(There are such endings, too.) (Shuu)
It’s an option that I hadn’t thought of before, even though it’s obvious when you think about it.
The end result of remaining and living here with her own father, along with many of her own kind.
A much happier life awaits her than continuing to be a hunter in Sugamo.
What better place to end her adventure, which began in the depths of a hellish land, than here?
(If Tamiko says she wants to…) (Shuu)
(…what should I do?) (Shuu)
Next morning.
It is necessary to join Yoshitsune and others for our original quest. After having breakfast, I go up to the attic to call Tamiko.
However, since we are only “present at the place where Yoshitsune will deliver a letter to someone,” there will be no problem for me. As I climbed the ladder, I thought to myself, “It might not be a bad idea to have the father and daughter spend the rest of the day together.”
“– Aaaaa…” (Voice)
“…eh?” (Shuu)
I heard something like a scream.
“—Gyaaaaa!” (Voice)
From the other side of the partition door.
I grab the handle jumping and roll into the room.
“What’s the problem, Tamiko?” (Shuu)
Tamiko screamed with a runny nose and flapping lips.
The plump body of Tarochi is lying on his back.
Tamiko grabs his leg and puts her foot between his legs.
“Tamiko, hey! What are you doing!?” (Shuu)
I haven’t seen an electric foot massage since elementary school. I think I was the first human being to witness a squirrel giving an electric foot massage to a squirrel.
“Daughter, stop, stop! Aaah!” (Tarochi)
“You fat piggy squirrel! I’ll grind your balls and feed them to the crickets, squeak! Pigya!” (Tamiko)
“Come on, Tamiko! That’s where you came from!” (Tarochi)
I hurriedly grabbed both of them and broke them apart. A shiver runs through me as I imagine the pain of Tarochi, who is foaming and convulsing. I don’t want to experience this one, no matter if I have [Immortality] or not.
“Um… are you okay?” (Shuu)
Tarochi wakes up and tries to rub his back, but,
“Don’t touch me! Shaaa!” (Tarochi)
My hand was swatted off by Tarochi who came back to life.
“Why did you come in without telling the resident!” (Tarochi)
“I heard horrible screaming… Tamiko, what happened to you? How did you come to be in this mess just one night after your emotional reunion?” (Shuu)
“This squeaking old fart is slandering Abeshuu and Noa, squeak!” (Tamiko)
“Huh? Slander? Me and Noa?” (Shuu)
I’m very aware that we are not well thought of, but I can’t see how it came to this.
“I’m just telling you the truth. The outside hunters, after all, see us carbuncles as nothing more than pets and disposable tools…” (Tarochi)
“Eh, what? Huh?” (Shuu)
Where did that idea come from?
“Abeshuu and Noa are not that kind, squeak! They’re my friends, companions, squeak!” (Tamiko)
“Were different, that’s right.” (Shuu)
“You’re being deceived, Tamiko… Didn’t Kinko tell you how badly the ‘People of the Thread’ treated our race fifty years ago during the Demon War? Even now still—-” (Tarochi)
“I hate you squeak! I hate it with you insult Abeshuu, squeak!” (Tamiko)
Tarochi looked like he was struck down by lightning, crumpling to the floor.
“…that… it’s just dad… cares for you…” (Tarochi)
“Um… Tamiko, I’m going to join Yoshitsune… but if you want to stay here…” (Shuu)
“I’m going, squeak! I’m going with you, squeak!” (Tamiko)
Tamiko then rides on my shoulder with lightning speed.
“Wait! We haven’t finished talking yet!” (Tarochi)
Tarochi stands in the way.
“What about that girl’s speech! You’re the one who put the word in her mouth, you bastard!” (Tarochi)
“It was her default speech since we met.” (Shuu)
“Don’t lie! Kinko won’t teach like that! Kinko, Kinko… Um… she was rehabilitated a long time ago!” (Tarochi)
“Is she some former delinquent?” (Shuu)
“Shut up! If you really want to take that girl with you, I’ll use my fangs to carve that boring face! Come at me!” (Tarochi)
I grabbed Tarochi reluctantly, turned him over, and rubbed his stomach.
“Harrumph, don’t be stupid! To play with a gentleman’s body! Stop, stop—ahhh… I have a wife I swore myself to…” (Tarochi)
“Is it a family trait?” (Shuu)
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