Chapter 6: Untrustworthy Prophet
After the battle with the golems was over, the group relocated from the rooftop garden of the Galarc Castle to Rio’s mansion on the castle grounds. Francois stayed back at the castle to give his retainers orders before joining them at the mansion.
Thus, a meeting was arranged to discuss everything.
There were two main topics: what happened at the end of the battle with Saint Erica, and why did everyone forget about Rio and Aishia?
However, there were many unclear aspects of the rules of god. Considering how Rio himself didn’t know the exact reason the memories of him were restored, he decided it would be best to restrict their talk to merely the sharing of information.
And so, the information would only be conveyed to the residents of the mansion, King Francois, Liselotte, and Aria. They were the ones who had been present during the battle with Saint Erica. King Francois would then decide how much of that information he would pass on to Christina and Lilianna, who weren’t part of the Galarc Kingdom.
At any rate, Rio emphasized the need for utter confidentiality before giving a similar explanation to what he gave Celia before, keeping only a select few secrets.
In short, he explained how he used a transcendent power to defeat Saint Erica, how those who use the transcendent powers become subject to the rules of god and lose the right to engage with the people of the world, and how his power could only be used for the benefit of the entire world, or else the people involved will lose their memories of him. He also told them about how Sora came to become his disciple.
“And that is why everyone lost their memories,” Rio concluded.
Latifa and the others all fell silent with pained looks on their faces. They had just learned that their peaceful days in the castle were built upon someone else’s sacrifice, so it was only natural for them to feel like their chests were about to burst.
“The thing that attacked the castle is called a golem, a weapon developed by the Wise Gods during the era of the Divine War. I don’t know why they attacked the castle, but Miharu should know something about them—and why everyone’s memories returned...”
Rio trailed off and looked at Miharu.
“I’m sorry... I don’t have any memory after going to bed last night,” Miharu said, bowing her head apologetically.
In fact, she appeared to be awfully embarrassed as she looked down. She was still feeling embarrassed about kissing Rio without her own knowledge.
“The Wise God Lina was probably controlling Miharu’s body then. Your memories returned to you after the barrier surrounding the capital appeared, right?” Rio asked, awkwardly looking away from Miharu to question Celia, who was the one who activated the barrier with Lina.
“There’s no doubt about that,” Celia agreed. She then added with a frown, “But all I did was follow Lina’s orders, so I don’t know how the barrier works either. I was returned to the castle before it was complete, so I don’t know how to get back to that place either.”
“I see... All this talk about the Dragon King and Wise Gods reincarnating is hard to believe, but I understand. I never expected a place like that to exist beneath the castle,” Francois said. He sighed heavily and fell silent in thought.
“Onii-chan,” Latifa suddenly said.
“Hm?”
“What are you going to do now...?” she asked, staring into Rio’s face anxiously. She was probably worried he would leave again.
“If allowed, I’d like to live with everyone here. It seems the rules of god don’t apply within this barrier, so I’d like to continue this lifestyle, even if it’s just for now,” Rio said humbly.
He wanted to live as Rio and Haruto, not as a transcendent one.
“Of course! It doesn’t have to be just for now! Let’s live together forever! Don’t go anywhere!” Latifa shouted in a fret, spurred by the vague fear of Rio vanishing again.
“Forever might be difficult,” Rio said after a pause, shaking his head slowly.
“What?! Why?!”
“I... The man named Haruto before you right now is probably an unstable existence. We don’t know how long the barrier can maintain its effect. You may lose all your memories of me again by tomorrow.”
Rio clearly voiced his current situation out loud. It was a difficult thing to say, but he knew that everyone needed to hear it.
Latifa wasn’t the only one who reacted. Everyone in the room had looks of intense fear and panic on their faces.
“It might not end up that way, but it’d be scary to have a stranger suddenly appear in your house, no?” Rio added jokingly, sensing the change in atmosphere.
“It’s not scary! Onii-chan isn’t scary! If I forget again... I’ll write a diary every day! I’ll write as many pages as I have to every single day so I won’t forget you again!” Latifa said, explaining her plan for preventing memory loss.
“It’d be better not to do that. If there’s any striking contradiction between your memories and your records, the rules will activate—and there’s no telling what kind of burden that will place on your brain. At best, you’ll just have a vague feeling of something missing...”
There was no telling what would actually happen until the rules activated. Rio warned Latifa against doing anything that could result in trouble.
“Why? Why would you say that, Onii-chan? You’re right here in front of me...”
Tears flowed from Latifa’s eyes and she started wailing at the top of her lungs.
“Suzune...” Liselotte, who was sitting beside Latifa, quietly hugged her.
“Let’s end the talk here,” Francois said, standing up from his seat.
“My apologies.”
“No, I’ve heard everything I wanted to hear for now. I’d like some time to think things over, so let us meet again on another—no, it’d be better not to assume there’ll be another day. But at this moment right now, the man named Haruto has definitely returned home. Rejoice in that together.”
“Yes.” Rio nodded, considering Francois’s advice carefully.
“I suggest you host a lunch banquet after this. I will attend too. I’ll extend the invitation to Princess Christina and Princess Lilianna when I update them on the situation.”
“Thank you very much.”
Rio stood up and bowed his head at Francois. With that, they wrapped up the talk for the day—when Satsuki entered the dining room.
“Hi, did you just finish talking?” She was accompanied by her guards and those assigned to nursing her. They were Gouki’s servants from the Yagumo region.
“Satsuki!”
“Are you better already?!” Everyone ran up to Satsuki worriedly.
“Yeah, I’m all better now. I don’t feel any different from before I was injured,” she said, flexing her right arm to show off her recovery. “More importantly...”
She spotted Rio among those in the room.
“Wow, it really is Haruto...” she muttered, blinking before approaching him.
“Long time no see, Satsuki.”
“Yup. I heard you were the one who protected us. Thank you.”
It seemed she had heard the general gist of things from those looking after her. Satsuki smiled happily as she thanked Rio.
Rio shook his head with a bitter expression. “No, I was unable to protect you. I’m sorry I was late.”
“Don’t apologize. If you didn’t come, I would have died along with everyone else. I’m the one who should apologize for forgetting you.”
“You didn’t have a choice... I should explain things properly to you too.”
“Yeah, tell me. But that aside...”
Satsuki looked over at Latifa. Latifa’s eyes were red from crying so much, and that was clear to Satsuki too.
“Haruto, did you make Suzune cry?” she asked, sending Rio an accusatory glare.
“Huh? No, that’s not what I...”
“Tell me everything from the beginning.”
Satsuki grinned teasingly and approached Rio as he recoiled. Thus, Rio ended up repeating everything he’d said to Satsuki as well.
◇ ◇ ◇
Around noon, Christina, Flora, Hiroaki, Roanna, Kouta, Rei, and Lilianna had been invited to the banquet in the mansion’s dining room.
Latifa was clinging closely to Rio. She’d been that way ever since the talk ended.
“Hey, Suzune! You’ve been glued to the Dra—Master Haruto’s side ever since the battle ended! Sora overlooked it earlier, but that’s enough! Give him some space!”
Sora attempted to tear Latifa away from Rio. She had overlooked Latifa’s behavior earlier out of empathy for her, but it seemed she had reached the limits of her envy.
“No, I don’t want to! Why don’t you just cling to him too? See, his other arm is free.”
“Wh-Wh-What?! Sora would never do something so insolent...!” Sora said with a blush.
“Then I’ll do it,” Aishia said, entwining her arm around Rio’s.
“Aishia! Y-You! Move it! That’s Sora’s spot...!”
Everyone surrounded Rio noisily.
But there were some people who chose not to join that circle. For example, Miharu, who had retreated to a corner of the room to avoid notice, as she didn’t want to face Rio.
“Say, Miharu, did something happen? You’re very obviously avoiding Haruto.”
Satsuki, who had sensed that love in the air, approached Miharu to question her curiously.
“Hehe.”
Celia was also a short distance away from the lively group surrounding Rio, watching over them happily.
Her mother, Monica, walked up to her. “What a lovely gentleman he is,” she said.
“Mother...”
“Are you sure you don’t want to join the others with him?”
“Yes. I’ll let everyone else have their turn this time. I was able to remember him before everyone else, after all.”
Celia watched Rio and the others with a look of fondness and smiled softly.
“I see. But if you do that, when will you be able to introduce me to him?”
“Huh?”
“I want to be introduced to your beloved one.”
Indeed, Monica had left with Christina and Flora after the battle to avoid intruding on their talk. Since Rio had been surrounded by Latifa and the others since then, she was yet to meet him properly.
“R-Right. So many things happened, I forgot. I should introduce you. B-But my beloved one isn’t quite correct...”
Celia blushed and turned away from Monica.
“Hehe, I just want to give my greetings already. Go on,” Monica said, happily urging Celia to hurry.
And so, the two made their way over to Rio.
“Say, Haruto,” Celia said.
“Hi Celia. Who’s this?”
With Latifa, Aishia, and Sora latched on to him, Rio replied to Celia.
“I’m late in introducing you, but this is my mother.”
“Your mother? Pardon my rudeness. Let go of me, everyone.”
Rio, who had been troubled by his inability to move, took the chance to free himself from the three. He then faced Monica and bowed with his right hand over his chest.
“I’m Celia’s mother, Monica Claire. My daughter has been truly indebted to you.”
Monica pinched the hem of her skirt and greeted him elegantly.
“I apologize for my delayed greeting. I’m Haruto Amakawa. I’m the one who’s been indebted to your daughter.”
“No no, I’m the one who was late in introducing myself. I’ve been living in your mansion for a few days now.”
“I see.”
Monica bowed her head. “I apologize if I’ve caused any inconvenience.”
“It isn’t a problem at all, you’re most welcome here, mother. Feel free to stay as long as you need,” Rio said, shaking his head.
“Oh my... Mother? I’m happy to hear that,” Monica said, placing a hand over her mouth.
“Ah, no, that’s not what I...”
“M-Mother! Stop!”
Rio’s and Celia’s voices overlapped with each other.
“You’re strong, handsome, reliable, kind, and I can see why you’re adored by the children of the mansion. I could even see in Celia’s eyes when she was looking at you earlier...” Monica said excitedly, like a maiden that loved to gossip about love.
Realizing it would be dangerous to let her continue, Celia pushed Monica in the back.
“M-Mother?! H-Haruto, I have something to discuss with my mother, so we’ll excuse ourselves now!” she said, forcing Monica to leave with her.
“Haruto, please look after my daughter eternally. Don’t worry about her nagging father. I’m sure she’s in safe hands with you,” Monica said pleasantly before leaving.
“M-Mother! Jeez!” Celia shrieked in horror.
Her mother gave her blessings... How nice...
There were girls in the room who might or might not have been thinking that.
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