Chapter 210: Parent and Child |
Blue’s Sponsored Chapter (1/5)
After the battle with the High Orc, I ran around the campsite.
Most of the monsters roaming the grounds were goblins, orcs, and shadow wolves.
The current me didn’t even need to blink an eye at this level.
I proceeded to overwhelm them with mass attacks from the item boxes.
I saw Aiba and Rebel a little ahead of me.
It seems that both of them are safe.
A huge pillar of fire rose up around them, burning away the monsters one after another.
“Are you both okay?”
“Yes, we’ve just declared war on those idiots from the other side.”
“The other side of ……?”
“I’ll tell you more later. For now, let’s just destroy the remaining monsters.”
“Oh, wait a minute–“
Without waiting for me to say anything, Rebel charged toward the monster with her huge sword of light in hand.
I wonder if that’s her unique skill, “Divinity”…
I guess it can be used not only to block skills, but also to attack.
I looked at Aiba who was left behind.
“Aiba, are you…. Okay? Can you stand?”
“Yes, I’m… fine.”
Aiba looked extremely exhausted.
“Are you sure your skills are out of control right now?”
“…… Yes. Fortunately, she can suppress my ‘reanimation’ with her ‘divine power’.”
Aiba-san then rubbed his chest.
So that means that at least the monsters won’t be reanimated any more.
“Her ‘divine power’ is a technique that completely blocks the use of skills. If she had used it at the time my skills went out of control, we wouldn’t have been flooded with so many monsters. ……”
That’s certainly what I was thinking too.
But if you were to completely shut down Aiba’s skills, you would also erase the people who have been “reanimated” so far.
Yes, even Goshogawara’s daughter and wife.
That’s probably why she hesitated to use her skills.
“I’m sure it took her some time to adjust the output of her skills so that it wouldn’t happen…… I was going to repay the debt, but it seems I’ve created another debt….”
Aiba stood up.
“What about Satsuki and the others?”
“…..They all are probably headed towards the emergency shelter. We’ll head that way too. Can you lend me a hand…..?”
“Of course. Oh, can you tell me where it is first?”
I immediately typed the location that Aiba-san gave me into my ‘mail’ and sent it.
And, ‘they’ seem to be closer to the shelter than us.
We hurried to the shelter.
At the same time, Goshogawara Satsuki was running through the woods with her companions.
They avoided fighting the monsters as much as possible and tried to run away.
Thanks to this, the damage was kept to a minimum for now.
“Ha…… ha……”
But they were nearing their limits.
Her breath was unstable and shaky, and she had little energy left to run.
“Sa, Satsuki-chan, I’m …… I’m sorry. Mom, can’t …… anymore.”
“Ah……”
The woman who was running behind Satsuki fell to the ground.
That woman was Midori Goshogawara — her mother.
The monsters had not hurt her.
She had simply run out of stamina and was out of breath.
“Mom! Hang in there! We’re almost there!”
“Hah…… hah…… I’m sorry…… but I’m already…….”
She must be really at the end of her strength.
She seemed to have a hard time even raising her voice.
Her mother, Midori, chose the profession of “cook”.
Although it is useless in battle, it is indispensable in daily life, it is useful for keeping food fresh and improving its taste and nutritional value.
But on the downside, her status was far inferior to Satsuki and the other combatants.
It was obvious that she would run out of energy faster than anyone else in these situations.
“……I’ll carry you! You guys go ahead!”
The charming guy carried Midori on his back.
But the monsters were not so naive that he could escape with one person.
Suddenly, something wrapped around his leg.
“…?! What the heck is this ……?”
It was a plant, an ivy plant.
He must have accidentally stuck his foot in a bush.
He thought so, and tried to tear it off forcibly, but the ivy did not break off at all.
Instead, it entangled his legs more tightly.
“What the hell is this ……? My legs are trapped –no way.”
At this point, he finally realized that this ivy was not just any plant.
Satsuki, who was also running next to him, also noticed something strange.
“What’s wrong?”
“Satsuki! Don’t come over here! It’s a plant monster! It has trapped my legs!”
“What?”
Satsuki was shocked.
There were no signs of monsters at all.
Even now, that ivy plant trapping the charming guy didn’t show any signs of being a monster.
But no matter how you look at it, that action can’t be that of a normal plant.
“There’s a knife in my backpack! I’ll take it out.”
The moment she tried to take the knife out of the backpack, she fell on her back with a loud bang.
The contents of her backpack were also scattered all over the place.
When she looked down, she saw that the ivy was tangled around her legs as well.
“What, is this…. I can’t…… get rid of it? Guh…”
The ivy tightened around her with far more force than she had expected.
In the blink of an eye, her whole body was entangled and she couldn’t move.
[~~shsh]
“Eh….?”
What was that monstrous sound now?
Suddenly, a tree that was a short distance away seemed to tremble.
It was a large tree with bright red flowers.
Normally, she wouldn’t be bothered by it at all, but for some reason, the tree seemed terribly creepy to her at that moment.
“Oy, what’s going on?”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Are you okay?”
The others began to notice something strange.
That’s not good, Satsuki thought.
“Guys! Don’t come over here! This ivy won’t let you escape once you’re bound! If you get caught, you’ll be dragged underground and–…… huh?”
Then a question popped up in Satsuki’s mind.
Once you’re bound, you can’t get out?
Dragged underground?
This is the first time I’ve seen this monster, so how do I know about it?
“Huh…..? This….?”
I don’t know.
[—]
[—…Hon…]
Something.
Something flashed through her mind.
[–No! Please, hel—]
[Quickly– run–]
It was a scene of someone trying to help someone else.
Is this a …… memory?
But whose?
The scene gradually came back to her mind in vivid detail.
[Don’t give up, mom! I’ll help you now!]
[No! Don’t worry about me, Satsuki, just run away!]
[No! There’s no way I can just leave my mom and run away! I promise! I’m going to save you!]
And then she saw it clearly.
The woman’s whole body was entangled in a giant ivy, and a girl was trying to save her.
It was unmistakably her and her mother.
“–Ah!”
At that moment, a memory that had been forgotten came back to Satsuki’s mind.
It was the first time she saw her mother’s face.
“……Yes, I…… was eaten…….”
Satsuki desperately tried to regain her composure.
‘But, this is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing.’
The tangled ivy, the tightening pain, the sight of her mother trapped with the charming guy in front of her.
The scene in front of her eyes overlapped with the one from that time.
“Ah…… ah……. ah”
Memory after memory was seared into her brain, bringing back the scars from the past.
At that time, she and her mother were attacked by a giant plant monster that suddenly appeared and ate them.
Roots entwined around her entire body, twisting her body like a rag, and inflicting her with tremendous pain.
“Ah…. ahh…. no, no, no…. noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!”
The moment she became aware of her death, a change occurred in her body.
Blood spurted out from her entire body, and her arms and legs bent in inconceivable directions.
Her body, her memory, they were trying to “reanimate” the situation from that time.
–It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.
An intense pain shot through her entire body.
At the same time, more and more memories came flooding in.
(Yes, that’s …… me, how could I have forgotten ……?)
The last thing she remembered before her death was regret.
The day before the world became like this, she had a quarrel with her father.
The reason was nothing serious.
She just didn’t like the color of the new phone he bought her.
The color of her phone was the same as her father’s, and when she told her classmates about it, they made fun of her.
This angered her and she took it out on her father.
Why didn’t he buy me a phone in a different color?
It’s so tacky and gross that a high school student has to have the same phone as her father.
So – she screamed at her father.
“I see…… I’m sorry. So let’s go buy another one tomorrow.”
He left with a very sad look on his face.
Her mother was angry with her. She told her that it had been such a long time till he finally got the chance to take a week off and come back to meet them yet she was behaving in such a manner.
I knew what mother meant.
After she said it, she regretted it too.
I was the one who was at fault, and my father did nothing wrong.
…… I’ll apologize to him tomorrow.
I will also tell my father that he does not have to buy a new smartphone.
Yes, I had decided.
But that promise was never fulfilled.
The next day, the world changed.
The town was flooded with monsters, and she and her mother ran for their lives.
They ran, and ran, and ran, until at last Peony caught them and ate them.
“I’m…. sorry, mother.”
I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.
“I’m …… sorry, dad.”
I’m sorry I couldn’t apologize properly.
My mind is sinking.
I felt like I was at the bottom of a dark, cold sea.
[–……]
I can’t see anything.
I can’t hear anything.
Is this what death is supposed to be like?
[–…not yet. I want to–]
…What is this?
I thought I heard someone’s voice just now.
It was a very comforting voice.
I’m not sure what it is…… but it’s very warm…..
My cold, chilled body was slowly feeling warm.
My hands feel warm.
Someone is holding my hand.
“–Come on! You have to come back! Satsuki!”
That’s right.
The voice was always gentle and warmed my heart.
His hand was always large and patted my head.
The darkness began to fade.
When I opened my eyes, there was the person I had been dying to meet.
“……fa…ther?”
“Yes, that’s right. I’ve missed you so much, Satsuki.”
My beloved, beloved father.
He looked awful with tears and snot all over his face.
“What’s…. wrong?”
Why am I here?
Why am I still alive?
What happened to mother and everyone else?
All sorts of questions came to mind.
“It’s okay. There was a place near here for which Kudou left coordinates. Thanks to Ichinose and Momo-chan, I was able to rush here immediately.”
“……?”
I don’t know what he was saying, but at least I know that there was no more danger.
There was no sign of the monsters that were everywhere.
Instead, there were so many signs of people.
I shifted my gaze slightly and saw the Self-Defense Forces with guns, a girl wielding a machete, and a very handsome high school student commanding them.
My mother, the charming guy, everyone is safe.
“Ah……, U…….”
My mouth hurts.
When I tried to speak, my whole body hurt.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to force yourself to speak.”
“Ah…….so”
I was happy to hear that I didn’t have to force myself.
But somehow, I had to say it.
“Father, I’m …… sorry. I’m sorry I said something so nasty …… that day. The truth is, I was very happy ……. I had a matching phone …… with my dad, but my friends made fun …… of me, so I said something I didn’t mean …… to say. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s okay. Your father doesn’t care about that.”
When he hugged me tightly, I could feel his warmth that I had desperately missed.
Oh, it’s so warm.
“Fader… I missed you.”
“I missed you too….. Satsuki.”
On that day, Goshogawara was finally able to reunite with his family.
*****
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