Free Life ~Record of the Struggle of a Different World General Merchant~

Having unloaded her luggage in the guided room, thrown her still sleeping route into bed and removed a bottle of wine from her personal storage space for a souvenir, Noble Dae headed to the living room of the Lockyard family.

Along the way, a girl called Hina appeared and stared at the nobles - especially the walnuts - with interest.

"Here, this sister, she's got a tail. Is this for real?

"Wow."

"Wow! I licked it!? Is that a dog? Is this sister, after all, a dog?

The walnut, licking Hina's cheek with a tinge as she approached her by surprise, grinned with a nostalgic face.

"Sounds like a dog, but this guy is a person. There are others, some cat-like, some sheep-like, some dragon-like, some raven-like. Even this maid looks like a fairy. It's not unusual to be an animal or a subhuman."

"Seriously!? So, does the legendary Bunny exist!

"Oh, there he is. Oh, and, sister, I'm telling you, this guy's only ten years old. Probably no different from you."

"Same age!? Ya, yabe. World Seriously Ya Bei......!

Knowing the breadth of the world, he pinched the stunned girl, and Guido went down the stairs.

"Hey, sister, the world sucks. The world sucks......!

"Oh, Hina, I knew I was going to Takahiro's. What is it, you?

Hina, who entered the living room and was lowered to the floor, approached the caorle welcoming the nobles. Keeping his strange cousin in his arms, Caorle turned to you and advised you to get to the table.

"I'll be ready for dinner soon. Wait with Hina and Grandpa."

On a large table seat for ten, a truly lowered caorle lifted with both hands disappeared into the adjacent kitchen.

The leftover nobles and Yumiel, the walnut, sat down as they were told. You and Yumiel are next to each other in the front of Caorle's grandfather. He seems to have gotten along with Hina. The walnut is next to Hina, who sits next to her grandfather.

When each of them got to his seat, the walnuts just crouched at Hina, and the remainder stared at it in silence, without any doubt.

"Oh, what is it? You're a village girl, aren't you? And I won't forgive you because Urban Wok is your opponent, will I?

"Wow."

"Wow, no! I don't like this physique difference! Grandpa! I need your help! Knock me into the horrors of the village of Zipania with this unfamiliar wolf!

A walnut that once again peppers the cheeks of a girl releasing a jab of restraint at her waist. To a canine beastling-style greeting showing his dear love, Hina's grandfather smiled calmly instead of stopping, speaking out, and not giving a hand.

"You, don't get too well, do you? I don't know about the city, but I'm the rule in this village. Ooh!?

"Wow."

"Oh, Kuru, you don't get along with our Hina"

Looks like we had lunch while the two of us were hanging out.

Leading Kate with dishes in both hands, Kaoru and Akatsuki bring dishes in large plates. Salted mushrooms, roasted duck. Potatoes sautéed in butter and cheese on boiled crisps. There lined a bottle of wine and water, and Akatsuki and the others took their seats.

"Okay, well, let's eat, let's eat. Dad, I asked for it."

"Oh. Well, I'll have it"

"I'll have it!

An old man, a parent, put his hands together, and everyone imitated it and bowed their heads.

Then, after the Rockyards reached for the dish, you reluctantly put some dishes on the dish.

"It looks like shrimp, but the shell is stiff?

"You, you've never had a crab? Uh, after all, the urbans are the urbans. Fine, I'll take the shell. Phew."

Hina put out a help ship to the walnut who looked strange, not picking the boiled crabs at his fingertips.

"Ah, the village food is good after all! haha!

"You like this country look! haha!

If Akatsuki cheeked a lavish roast of salt mushrooms and duck, Kate followed, packing the dish until her cheeks were pungent.

"Yumi, don't hesitate. Precious, yes, water. Yes, what's wrong with you, Lutu?

"He's still asleep. I've been drinking till morning."

Once you and Yumiel had a little mouth on the dish, the caorle you saw took the dish apart.

Lunch seats that go past busy. In it, Akatsuki, somewhat full of bellies, introduced the old man sitting next to him as if he remembered.

"Right, you didn't say it right yet. This man is my father, Caorle's grandfather, Yahiko Lockyard. Takahiro, he's the same Zipang as you, and he's also the village chief."

"Oh, you're a Zipang, are you a village chief"

Yahiko is laughing calmly, without paying any particular attention to your careless reply. From that attitude, he felt the magnitude of the measure, the depth of the vessel, and I see how the head of the village is, he thought.

"Anyone else in your family?

"My mum died a long time ago, but my brother and his wife are here. I'm going to Yale Silt right now to buy out overwinter, but you'll be back in a couple of days. Oh, yeah, yeah. This redhead mixed with black hair is the only daughter of his brother and his wife. It's called Hinageshi, but they all call it Hina, Hina."

"Really?"

Hinageshi, playing a little prank on the walnut walnut walnut, turned around all the time when he was called by his name, and looked great as to why. I guess I was a little happy to be talked about.

"Well, that's it from me. More than that, my father and Takahiro. You two are in the same town, so there will be stories to pile up. You don't have to shy away from us, you don't have to talk about your hometown as much as you like."

"Uh, no, you know what?"

Talking as much as I could, Akatsuki just offered his hand.

It's you who got in trouble for this. I thought it would come, but when I had to come, I was still in a hurry.

Anyway, you're not a Zipan, you're a Japanese, you're a different world. No matter how much Zipang had a Japanese-like culture, there's no way you know the truth about it.

Naturally, I can't even blossom in memorabilia, and when I'm told a story I'm stuck in, I'm quickly worn out. Now, what's the matter with you and when you start groaning?

"Not particularly from me. More than that, Caorle. When you're done eating, show your gentlemen the village."

"Oh, yeah. Okay."

Noble University, which took the form of being helped by Yahiko's offer. Slightly, it was a clap, and the lockyards were pointing their lips in dissatisfaction, but Guitar rushed out of the living room with all this luck to finish the meal.

The rice fields in the neighboring village were ploughed land intact, like wheat fields, where rice was planted directly. That is the basic farming of the western part of the eastern continent, and no one bothered to do anything to dig up the soil, whatever it was that bordered the farmland.

In it, the paddy fields in the village of Zipania looked like something different.

Pull water from rivers and waterways into shallow, dug fields. Plant seedlings, not seeds, in fields strewn with water. Eventually, when the rice grows quickly, this time it drains water from the fields.

This is incomprehensible to the Easwins who have grown wheat and rice on land. Putting water on the field is because it lies across the watering. Draining water is to make it easier to prune. Just for that matter, I don't feel like digging in the dirt and pulling water in. The peasants said so and laughed at the people of the village of Zipania.

But apparently, the upset spread between them when they found out that paddy fields would taste better and yield more. They say putting water up in the field grows crops well. It seems that rice grows well when seedlings are planted, and so on. Dema of unknown origin also spread, and farmers who fail to try it here also continued.

So some came to the village of Zipania to ask about the farming method, but now half gave up and went home because of the amount of labor involved and the difficulty of the conditions.

What are the fields that you can't use if you don't get used to them for years after you plow them? If I did, what would be a paddy eating water? Digging up farmland, even if it's shallow, is a hassle, and making waterways for it is a hassle.

We can't even try farming methods that are not instant combat. That being said, the people of the other villages dropped their shoulders and left.

Some have repeated trials and errors and have succeeded in developing paddies, which are very small in number from the totality, and the paddies that spread over the village of Zipania were still a rare landscape today.

"What, you haven't mowed anywhere yet"

On the south side of the village of Zipania, among the rice shelves stretching out on one side, the nobles were walking.

"We got to the village earlier than planned. The day after tomorrow... or so? If it's not just the right day to prune, you can't take delicious rice."

"Hmm, you know what?"

Hinageshi raids a group of children who catch frogs and play in the waterways for the side roads, taking the walnuts, Yumiel. The red-haired girl, however a kid general, was introducing her children to her new companions.

Whatever he stared at it, his noble heart was not here, and he was thinking of the blurry old Yahiko.

(Nah, I heard that. That's right, that guy. And yet you're not asking me anything, so I mean, you're going crazy, or whatever)

An old grey-haired man laughing calmly, but not telling anything, just staring at your greatness. It doesn't seem like I have a thing for you, but I'm sure there's something about it, and your university was concerned about it all.

"Hey, your grandpa, what were you doing before you got here?

"Grandpa? He was a farmer. He used to make rice every day."

For that, I think you are. For the farmer's sake, he is classy in his own way and in his standing behavior. There is no waste of meat on my body, even though I used to wiggle my wax every day.

Yahiko's skinny body is close to nobles like François and samurai like Kaufman, rather than a hidden farmer in one way or another -.

"Oh, you know what? On the hill, there's a bench. Why don't you sit there and have a little tea?

"Ah."

"Oh, I don't know, you're feeling weird. There's a takahiro in the village of Zipania - it's a little unsettling."

"Ooh."

"... are you listening to me?

"Ugh."

"Me too! Takahiro, yes, tea!

"Hot!?

Caorle, who was also about to feel sweet, walked around the whole village, whilst nasty and noisy.

The villagers who saw it,

"Okay, Caorle. You got a son-in-law!

And you think I was floating a good smile if I did?

In any case, the guide to the village of Zipania was thus finished, and your colleagues, who took a bath and refreshed themselves, were about to sleep soon in the lofty room.

"... Mr. Krumia. You have to sleep in your own bed."

"Yeah, uh-huh."

The walnuts, who had been snubbing around all afternoon with the Hinageshi and the children of the village, were completely tired or fell asleep making sure the screws were cut.

However, Yumiel, who had been pillowed, did not accumulate, and the girl dressed in a hemp pajama, managed to remove this restraint, sweetheart.

"Well, let him like it. It's the first time you've ever been out of town, and you're a little nervous."

"... if your husband says so"

After gently stroking the slightly damp baby blonde's curly hair, Guido finally shifted his gaze to the next bed.

"But well, this guy didn't wake up at last"

"... I spent three nights in a row drinking alcohol without morning or day."

"Uh, already. Because the aristocrats are amused and compare drinks to East-South and North-South liquor competitions."

Gu-Suka slept in the morning playing the corner of the route, Gudai sat back in his bed and exhaled more.

From the upstairs room window, the late autumn famous moon was glimpsed and a cool breeze blew in gently. Standing up and approaching the window, Guitar exhaled once again at the sight of a shelf lit by a pale light, mixed with kindness and loneliness.

(I guess only the Japanese will feel this way after seeing the fields at night)

In the case of Westerners, will they see the wheat fields lit by the moon and shake their minds? Or will I feel anything, out of the blue?

Trying to ask Yumiel about it, Guitar noticed that there was someone in the middle of a hill that looked distant.

(That's... that's Caorle's grandpa)

An old man in a landing strip is slowly climbing the hill. Is it a virtue with alcohol in it that you are raising in your right hand? From now on, it must spill with moonshine liquor.

(Just fine. Do you want to talk to me for a second)

Yahiko, who didn't even say anything at the dinner table and just stared at you, must have something to say. That's also something I can't tell you before I have a family.

During his stay, Guido, who considered it uncomfortable to be seen with such eyes forever, chased after Yahiko, thinking that he would talk about speaking on an unpopular hill.

Softly out of the house, through a shelf where rice moaned and climbed a loose hill, Noble Dae came to the front of a bench where he sat with a caorle a few hours ago.

There was Yahiko. The old man, who drank the chibi, and the chibi, and exhaled greatly when he looked up at the moon, sat with his back to his greatness.

"I thought you were coming."

The face that turned was still smiling, and the appearance of Yahiko in the moonlight drifted quite a bit.

This grandfather, thinking rudely that he's not going to die here, etc., Nobunaga sits on a bench on the hill as he is urged to.

"I'm sorry you did something far-fetched. But I didn't want my family to ask me if I could."

"Well, I didn't think so."

Yahiko grinned deeper and deeper and gave the cup to Noble Daddy.

"Drink. It's like a lot, but it's turbid liquor made in the village."

"I'll have it."

Guitar drank white liquor poured into the cup from Delhi, and I thought it was sweet and sour liquor. I looked like I was impressed with the taste of the sake that I drank on New Year's Eve and what was probably different.

Seeing the slightest surprise of your greatness, Yahiko also smiled. I just said I was waiting for that reaction, and I looked happy.

"Again, no? Yeah, I knew how to make rice, but I'm a doorman about booze. I've managed to shape it, but it's clearly different from Zipang's liquor."

Now your daiichi reacted to the word Jipang, which came out of Yahiko's mouth laughing.

"Jipang. So, after all, was Mr. Yahiko from Jipang"

"Oh, yeah. I'm a Zipang."

In his previous adventures, Guitar has touched the Zipangs who live in the western part of the eastern continent and the culture they have left behind. Tatami laid by Nobunaga at home was one of them, and he bought large pieces of tatami from the artisans of the Zipangs.

But even if culture is Zipang's, those who call themselves Zipangs, everything they meet was half, or quarters. As Akatsuki and Kaoru did, everyone, the color of their eyes, the color of their hair, their physique, etc. were somehow different from that of the Orientals.

But the old Yahiko standing in front of you is real. Older or with whitened hair, its Rin standing was equipped with a "Japanese look" like the characters in the epoch.

"And so, rock yard is also really a last name (so to speak)? Look, rocks and, rockyards in the garden..."

"Oh, yeah. As you are Sayama, I have a family name, Iwata. I was born and raised to be a Zipan, a born Zipan."

Yahiko, who seems to miss the family name Iwagi - no, Yahiko's eyes had a color that flashed his hometown far away.

I've checked the facts. We also checked each other's origins. After that, just get down to business.

Even so, Yahiko doesn't open her mouth. He looks up at the moon with a smile on his face, slowly, slowly putting his mouth on the cup.

Now, what's the matter with you and your greatness are in a hurry, and you're softly restless - Yahiko, strictly, opened his mouth.

"I just want you to tell me one thing. Is there still a sowing country? That's all I need you to tell me."

(Yes, I'm here - Huh!?

For Noble University, who is truly Japanese and not a Zipang, a question flew unanswered no matter how much I raised it.

It is understandable that it is important because of the sound of a cut voice. I could understand that this was the truth, what Yahiko wanted to hear, even without being told.

But I can't really answer that. Because you don't know the country of sowing.

As a student, if I had encouraged him to study Japanese history, or the words might have sounded familiar. He may have remembered that he is one of the countries under decree, like Ozhang and Echimae, Prep and Omi.

Still, where I knew the name, I couldn't answer what was going on. The place of origin of your university is Japan, not Jipang, where Yahiko once lived.

I couldn't have answered your question about Zipang.

"Uh, the"

"No way, you're doomed!?

Yahiko opened her eyes and roughed up her voice to see what you had said in a bad way.

"Hey, man, I'm out of the country, I don't know much about that."

"... well. No, I'm sorry. I've heard weird things."

Yahiko, who heard the excuse of the greatness of the misery, nodded powerlessly as the possession had fallen. From then on, he stared silently at the ground without opening his mouth any more.

I didn't have to be asked about Zipang any more. but this is something that makes me uncomfortable.

There is no way that only one person could follow this scene in such a painful air, and Guitar decided to speak to Yahiko in order to distract him.

"So, Yahiko, are you from Soo Kuni?

"... oh. I was born and raised in the land of sowing."

In response to an inquiry from your college, Yahiko, who opened his heavy mouth, began to speak with one.

"The Rock Gardeners rule the land of sowing for generations. I lied to my children and grandchildren that I was a US citizen, but I am out of Takemen. As you are, I used to wave a sword and put up a spear too"

"Heh? Yes, no, I'm a samurai or something like that...!

Yahiko smiled as she panicked with surprise.

"You don't have to rush. I guess there's a reason why you're hiding it. I'm not going to be forced to reveal myself, and I don't mean to tell anyone. Even if you're as strong as a hero."

"Ugh, that. Please."

To the seemingly obvious eye to the bottom, Noble Dae gave up his futile resistance and honestly bowed his head.

"Perhaps, as you are, I was also dawning into battle. He fought against those in other countries who threatened his territory and continued to defeat the evil spirits who ate people. As a result, I became fifteen young men strong enough to be named a one-man warlord"

Yahiko's eyes, speaking as she looked up at the moon, were directed towards herself on the day she was born.

"Everything went well. It's been a tumultuous day since my father died, but I guess my efforts paid off. The minister recognized him as the Lord, and decided on forgiveness, and finally a glimpse into the Emperor came true. As the master of the sowing country, I lived without shame on anyone. It was the summer of eighteen that it collapsed"

Yahiko, clutching her fist, closed her eyes spicidly and spoke of a turning point in her life.

"It was about the heat, which lasted on a hot day like this. I went to crusade the Great Demon, who was commanded by the Emperor and showed up in the capital of Kyo. It was not uncommon and for me it was a daily tea meal. But the battle against the Great Demon was very rough. The power of the Great Fox, which appeared in the capital, was mighty in itself, and we were pushed into it, even to the bedroom of the Emperor. I also got my left hand, my left leg chewed off a thousand times and crawled down the ground like a bug"

For the first time since I was told, you noticed. That Yahiko's left hand, which doesn't come out of her sleeve, doesn't come from the beginning. That Yahiko's thin left ankle is a prosthetic leg made of wood.

Showing his left arm missing a tip from his elbow, Yahiko continued the conversation.

"It was an unlimited and dangerous situation. But the samurai, protected by the Emperor, squeezed their last strength. I, too, jumped invincibly and stabbed a knife in the heart of a great fox to hit my body. I was over the knife, feeling a definite response - so I guess I got resented. I wondered if the fox had spotted me with his blood-running eyes, and the next moment I was falling into a strange place. It wasn't long before I found out it was a far away exotic place called Easwind."

Just a few, Yahiko looks like she's going to regret it. I guess stunned, bewildered and moaning wasn't like this at the time. The great university from different worlds somehow found out about it.

"I wanted to go home. I wanted to go back to sowing country. I missed my young sister who left me alone. I wanted to meet the ministers who were willing and loyal. I wanted to meet the workers' inhabitants. But it pained me that it would not come true. With one hand and one leg missing, the short journey was easy, and he also learned that the road leading to Zipang, in the middle of the eastern continent, was the central region of the outcast demonic realm. I couldn't give up trying, but it was in my half-life eyes and I had to get away awesome. By the time that wound healed, my heart was broken"

Yahiko cut off his words there and gently stroked the ancient wound engraved on his chest. It was easy to understand that it was then.

"I spent a year or so of my life in the middle of nowhere. I was rolling into the house I took care of when I was flown from Zipang and sinking into people's pity. Every time I looked at the moon, I thought of my homeland, I was pitifully weeping. But the people in the house, no, the people in the village, were kind to me like that."

Yahiko overlooked the village of Zipania, gently and lovingly murmured.

"I started working, little by little, to return the favor I had received from them. He helped open it, hunted demons that razed the fields, preached the farming methods of his homeland, and sowed the seeds he once received from the inhabitants. Eventually he was united with the daughter of the village, and the born child gave birth again, and the village grew little by little, little by little. The village, bright at the bottom and full of people, grew richer gradually. And by the time I was sure it was okay without me anymore, I was completely old. I never forgot about Zipang, but the insane sense of hope lurked in the shadows at some point. For me now, this is my second home. I'd rather be happy to bury a bone here. I have no hesitation in ending my life in this village with fifty years of memories. That's what I thought...... I heard about you from Zipang and I guess I got greedy. At the very least, I just wanted to hear about the sowing country. I'm sorry to have invited you in with such a deliberate attitude."

"No, I don't care."

"That would help if you said so"

The old man, spitting out everything he had in his chest, lowered his load, this time exhaling heavily just that he was ready, looked up at the moon.

"The moon is beautiful no matter where it is. Whether the starry sky changes its appearance or not, only the moon is the same as Zipang. I thought of my hometown on the unchanged moon, and I've had tears, but apparently that's over this evening too. I'll close the curtain on this land. Surrounded by the warm people of this village, let's say I sleep in this land"

Hope Town Thoughts. Numerous marks. A connection to the people who have left behind and a phantom of their homeland overlapping on the moon.

Swallow them all, the old man of the Zipangs, Yahiko Iwatani, let them smile, serene - very serene - in a land far away from home.

- What got me in trouble with this was the greatness of sitting next to him.

"Ugh, uh. Well."

"Hmm? What's wrong?

"Eh, I don't know what to say..."

It seems very difficult to say, clogging the words over and over again, and Guitar tries to tell Yahiko that there is. But you can't speak well, Ha. Also, you hesitated to smash the conclusion of an old man who lived sixty-eight years, at last, your greatness can no longer say anything.

"Yeah, you're quicker to try than you say with your mouth. Hey, Rootoo. Come here for a second."

"Hmm?

Old Yahiko, unable to gauge the intentions of your greatness, leans his neck.

At the edge of his sight, a dragon man girl who was finally awake was fluttering as she rubbed her eyes as she fell asleep.

At the eastern end of the eastern continent, there was a certain small island nation.

There are those who call this country, which is constantly at war, the land of Shura.

There are those who call this country, with its one-of-a-kind culture, the land of demons.

There are those who call this country a golden land that creates brilliant goldsmiths.

The name of this island nation is Zipang. A country of war and fantasy, Zipang.

It was this country, where people fought and people traveled and still had no domestic unity, that was the birthplace of Yahiko Iwatani, an old man in the village of Zipania.

Among its small island nations is a decree-making country known as the sowing country (Harima kuruku). Situated to the west from Kyo, this country was one of the so-called great powers, as well as a transportation hub connecting the land with the Shanyang Road and the sea with the Seto Inland Sea.

The emperor's memory was also very good, as he also boasted some of the largest forces in Zipang and has carried out many crusades of powerful monsters and great demons.

Thus, among the decreed nations, it is said to enter the five fingers of the sowing country, but surprisingly, the Lord was an old man of sixty-two years of age, and it was a woman.

In Zipang, where demonic changes strike people and other countries come after territory, the Lord requires the power to fight first. A being that cuts head-on with the Great Demon, kicks the invaders, and brings peace to the people. That was the Lord of the country, and a weak woman who fell with a single shot of a bow and arrow was not considered worthy as the Lord.

But Kaoru, the current head of the Rock Garden family governing the sowing country, was different.

Despite being a woman, she did not go down the path of "witch" or "princess of dance" and dared to choose the path of living as a "martial artist".

If you're inferior in muscle strength, you can work out for that matter. If you're inferior in stature, you can hone your moves for that matter. After encouraging archery without even looking at the day and continuing to bury demons, she gained more power than her predecessors.

And with her power she twisted down from the front all the invaders who insulted her, the ghosts, the sculptors of Tengu, and all that was hostile. A horribly forged woman's martial arts was widely displayed in heaven and earth.

As a result, to this day no one appeared suspicious of Kaoru Iwata's martial arts, and no one else differed from the Lady Princess without example.

That hasn't changed since she was old. No invaders appeared that could defeat Kaoru. The great demon who tried to fang the incense was cut without exception. Its martial arts arm did not know decay due to old age.

No more, because she is a woman, no one insults Iwata Kaoru because she is an old man. She will continue to be strong. Greedy for the extreme of the martial arts. It was no more fortunate for other countries not to be interested in invading other countries.

That is how the people living in Zipang spoke of Kaoru in the rock garden.

- But this is a little off the facts.

Kaoru didn't become stronger because he wanted to be strong. I didn't fight because I wanted to. I wasn't blessed with talent, nor was I born a hard-worker.

I just wanted to protect you. My beloved home. Where I was born and raised, in my country. And someday, where 'he' will come back.

Iwatani Kaoru just wanted to protect him.

"Brother. Fifty years have passed since you were hidden."

The mansion of the Rock Gardener of Sowing Country. Kaoru was in a house that had been situated in the same place for fifty years, while undergoing additional renovations.

"Fifty degrees, I looked up to the full moon in Mid-Autumn by myself. I also saw the full moon in late autumn, which I promised to see together, forty-nine degrees, alone."

The old woman in a kimono sitting on the edge dropped her eyes in the garden of dead mountain water with a stream of water painted on the white sand and groaned a little, tired.

"Fifty years for a grump. I kept running, just to protect your country. But the month of fifty years was very long."

Sentimental voice. But her vision didn't seep, just that she ran out of tears to shed.

"Is your brother a master? In a distant land, will they live? I'm here. I'm still alive in the country your father protected."

Kaoru keeps telling his brother in memory, one thing at a time. Even though I knew I didn't hear back, that voice, which really mixed expectations, was so lonely that I couldn't help it.

"The country of sowing, there is more. Your brother's place of return is here. I protected it desperately. Your house was well served. So...... so come back. Like old times, stroke my head. Praise me," Great, Kaoru. "

He dropped his face, rounded his back, and Kaoru stared at his feet.

Fifty years of loneliness. Fifty years of voidness. They tightened their incense breasts as the years went by and her heart was never filled.

The same is true this year. The same goes for next year. Kaoru's heart will never be filled again, forever. The memories of the day of departure disappeared with memories, and her brother, never again, would tread on the land of Zipang - should have been.

"Sorry."

"-!"

Very short, just one word.

And step on the white sand in the garden, just a slight sound.

Only then did loneliness and voidness disappear from Kaoru's chest.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long. I'm really sorry that I let the Rock Garden family carry the burden of sowing the country."

A long time ago, one day I heard a voice. Rin, a voice that passes well, similar to the sheath run of a knife.

It still doesn't fade, it's in my memories, that guy's voice.

Even if this is an illusion, don't disappear. Kaoru, wishing so, speaks softly, but with a groan.

"I did my best. I worked hard, even for my brother, who was gone. I've crossed blades with the terrible Ayakashi, and I've driven away the people who are after the territory many times."

"Right."

"I walked the path of a Martial Arts artist to keep my family name clean, and I didn't fail to train to beat anyone."

"Right."

"And besides, I, Kaoru... Huh!

Kaoru, who was impressed, swallowed up the words and looked up at him who was depressed.

A garden of dead mountain water illuminated by late autumn famous moons. The view I've been seeing alone for days, years, decades. One old man stood in that place where there was no change as if time had stopped.

Something to forget. No matter how much time passes, you can't forget to look at the faces of your loved ones. Even if there were more wrinkles, even if my hair was white, I do remember those eyes, those signs, that standing.

Yes, this old man is the one. It is this man who smiles calmly...

Kaoru's brother, Yahiko Iwata, that's him...

"Brother!

With all my thoughts, Kaoru hugged my brother. For fifty years, the toddler who had been away embraced his family, who had finally returned.

Don't let it disappear again. Put yourself down and don't go anywhere. Kaoru slapped his brother on the back, pounding tears that should have died out.

"Dear brother, your brother's idiot, your brother's idiot...!

"I'm sorry. Sorry for the loneliness......!

When I was twelve, I left Kaoru in the rock garden alone. At the age of eighteen, Yahiko Iwatani jumped far from home. After fifty years of separation, the brothers and sisters, who licked the hardships, were finally reunited.

Under the light of the gentle autumn moon, as overlapping the appearance of the two old men, the young Yahiko, Kaoru, was also, stiff, stiff and embracing each other.

Only two whimpers and gentle bell worm tones echoed in the garden of the Rock Garden family mansion - forever and ever.

"Good for you, Yahiko."

"You, what the hell!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!?

"Here, here, Kaoru!?

By the way, Guitar was about to be cracked in the brain by Kaoru's sword, an impeccable man who broke into the reunion of his brother and sister.

Congratulations, congratulations.