by Aneko Yusagi
“Tornado . . . Throw!”
The three weapons started spinning around Itsuki. They created a vortex that was blowing the sinister aura away from him.
“Gaaaahhhhh!”
The chakram appeared back in Rishia’s hand and she launched it at Itsuki’s bow.
“Mr. Itsuki, this proves that you are not justice. Now please, let’s start over and do things the right way.”
The chakram smashed into Itsuki’s bow and a loud cracking sound rang out. The chakram returned to Rishia’s hand. And then, with the sound of breaking glass, the armor-like outer layer of Itsuki’s bow shattered and fell away. When it did, the announcer that had been brainwashed by Itsuki crumpled to the ground, like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
“Gahhh! My . . . my new power . . . the power of salvation . . .”
“I’ll say it again. You’re mistaken. Mr. Itsuki, please try to understand. There is no one justice. There are as many ‘justices’ as there are people. The opposite of justice is not evil. It’s justice. The losing side is simply branded as evil. That is all.”
“No! I . . . I’m not evil! There’s no way I could be evil! It’s everyone else . . . It’s them!”
“Blaming others and rejecting others is easy, even without justice. But the important thing is to accept others. Anyone can change for the better, no matter what kind of person they might be. I believe that.”
Itsuki sounded like he was about to cry. The bizarre shape of his bow had dissolved away, and the bow returned to its usual . . . No, I could still see several of the odd designs on it.
“What do you think, Atla?”
“Well, Rishia used that power in her hand to eliminate the sinister aura. However, the roots of the sinister force remain.”
“I . . . I have to . . . for the people that believed in me . . .”
Itsuki hadn’t given up. He stood back up. He sure was stubborn. Just then, one of the slave trader’s assistants came and whispered something into my ear.
“I see . . . Itsuki, we figured out where you’ve been hiding. I’m going to leave you here and go check that out. There’s no reason I should have to waste my time fighting some noob that can’t even stand up to Rishia.”
I’d had the slave trader’s assistants and some people from Zeltoble’s underground guild work together to figure out where Itsuki was staying. They’d dug up enough evidence to be confident they’d found the place. Now all that was left was for me to barge in and capture Itsuki’s accomplices.
“I won’t let you!”
Hmm . . . This could be a good chance to show him how things really were.
“Itsuki, I guess I can show you a shred of mercy.”
“What?!”
“You say your companions are just. Then take me to them. I already know the location, but I want you to lead the way.”
“I’m not falling for that! That’s how you plan to capture Princess Malty, isn’t it?!”
“Itsuki! You’ll never know the truth if you only listen to one side of the story! Is that what you call justice?!” Ren interjected.
“I . . . That . . .”
Itsuki tried to reply but stumbled over his words. I’m sure he was in a state of emotional shock after losing to Rishia.
“Think about the games you played back in your world. I’m sure there was some kind of event where you had to decide which side was right and which was wrong, right?”
“. . .”
I was showing him that I was sincere. Itsuki seemed to be trying to decide whether he should compromise. Actually, deep down, he probably knew that I was right. Regardless, I guess it would still be hard to bring himself to just casually lead the enemy straight to his own base.
But why had Witch betrayed Motoyasu, deceived Ren, and then run away anyway? I still didn’t know what her motives were.
“Itsuki, Witch is a criminal. Shouldn’t she have to pay for her crimes? Or prove her innocence? Or are you going to say that winning a fight to the death is the only valid proof of justice?”
“No . . . That’s not it!”
“She can even have a trial or something. If Witch is really doing good on behalf of the country, I’m sure the queen will show tolerance.”
If Itsuki felt like he had been deceived and fell into despair, he’d most likely unlock another curse series and go on a rampage, like Ren did. I was pretty sure he hadn’t fired off a bunch of curse series skills yet. We needed to intervene before he really hurt himself.
I looked over at Rishia. Right now, there was still a chance that Itsuki would listen. She needed to save him before he completely lost all hope, like Ren had. That’s what I told Rishia with my eyes, and she nodded back at me.
“Fine then. I’ll prove Princess Malty and the rest of my companions’ innocence!”
Itsuki agreed to stop the fight and take us to his hideout.
Chapter Thirteen: Atonement
“No . . . no way . . .”
Itsuki led the way, and before long we arrived at his hideout, which was exactly where we thought it was. It was a residence in a relatively quiet area of Zeltoble. We took a look around inside, and apparently the building even had a secret passageway that led down into an underground tunnel.
Witch must have already made her escape by the time we got to the hideout. The place was deserted. All that was left was a bunch of garbage lying around. It looked like they had been getting drunk and partying every night or something. What a mess. And it stunk of alcohol too.
“I . . . I’m sure they’re just out at the moment. They probably sensed you were coming and made a run for it.”
“Are you really going to keep trying to ignore the truth? What’s this? There’s something on the desk here.”
Oh boy. This was the same penmanship I’d seen in Ren’s letter. I had a really bad feeling about this. Beneath the letter was a rather thick bundle of papers. I really, really did not want to read this.
“Itsuki, can you read the writing of this world?”
The letter was written in the official language of Melromarc. Every time I saw Witch’s writing, I couldn’t help but think how messy it was. She had a characteristic way of shaping her letters that was just plain ugly. The queen and Melty both had really nice writing, so why was that bitch’s writing so damned crude?
“No. I can’t, because you refuse to tell me where to get the skill to understand the languages of other worlds!”
“Not that again! Here, Ren. You read it. Or Rishia. I don’t care. And get Rishia to teach you to read already, Itsuki. That girl is a beast when it comes to learning stuff. It would put any hero to shame.”
“Fehhh?!”
Rishia let out a pathetic squeal when I called her a beast. It was hard to believe she had been fighting a fierce and heroic battle only moments earlier.
“Mr. Naofumi, I feel like you could have phrased that a bit more nicely . . .” said Raphtalia.
When she put it that way, I did feel like maybe I had been a bit harsh. But taking it back would be bad for my image.
“Umm . . .” Ren began to read.
“It was nice leeching off of you, but it seems we’ve just about sucked you dry, so we’re going to take our leave. Since we’re the poor victims here, we’ll be taking all of the tournament winnings you brought back every day. Yes, that’s right. Thanks to the Shield, we have become poor victims, forced to live hard lives, so your donation is appreciated.”
As Ren continued reading the letter out loud, the look of disgust on his face grew more and more apparent. It was pretty much the same letter she had left him, after all. But really, would it kill that bitch to not leave letters like this?
Ren started reading the second page of the letter.
“Mald and the others have had enough too. Do you really not realize that no one can stand the way you act all high-and-mighty and constantly order people around? You’re always going on about justice this and justice that, and yet you fell for my lies so easily. It was h
ard not to laugh every time I saw your face. ”
“Hey, Naofumi, I’m not misinterpreting this, am I?”
Ren looked incredibly annoyed, like it was all he could do to not rip the letter up into little pieces. He handed it to me.
“Just skimming over it, it seems your interpretation is fine. Some of the expressions are slightly off, but the meaning is the same.”
I took the third page from Ren to read it for him. He was all tense with anger. I wasn’t sure how long I would last without losing my cool, but it looked like there wasn’t much left of the letter.
“P.S. You’re weak, and neither your face, height, nor your personality are my type. If you have feelings for me, then defeat the Shield. We can meet again if you do that. Ha ha ha! Also, I’m leaving you a little gift. Thanks in advance for taking care of that! ”
“Damn, she’s annoying!”
I crumpled the letter up and threw it at the wall. I took the bundle of papers from the table and passed it to Itsuki. I was sure even he would be able to figure out what those were. He didn’t need to study the language to understand a bunch of numbers, after all.
“Itsuki, do you know what those are?”
“Wh . . . what are these?!”
“I’m sure you can tell just by looking. They’re promissory notes. And it looks like they’re all stamped with your seal.”
I’d ask the slave trader later how many merchants had lent money out based on these credentials. There were a bunch of the notes, and the totals were substantial too. Itsuki was red as could be. Financially speaking, that is. Honestly, paying all of those back would probably be impossible for him. Even with all of his earnings from the coliseum tournaments.
“No way . . . I . . . Mald, Princess Malty, and the others all said they wanted to help rescue people. That’s why I was working so hard to save up all that money.”
“Umm . . . According to information gathered at a nearby tavern, his companions were spending quite lavishly and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Yes sir. I’ve also been told that they spent quite a bit betting in various underground guild coliseum tournaments.”
The slave trader had come to deliver an update. He had the worst possible timing. There were several other merchants standing behind him too. Itsuki fell to his knees and huddled over in despair.
“You sure put your faith in the wrong place. I tried to tell you. Nothing good can come of trusting Witch,” I told Itsuki.
I figured I might as well pour some salt on his wounds. I looked over at the slave trader.
“Where are the people that actually created these debts? We should probably go after them if they’ve fled,” I said.
“It’s likely that they escaped into the underground tunnels of Zeltoble. Yes sir. The merchant guild is currently on high alert and an order for their capture has been issued to the mercenaries and adventurers. However . . .”
He wanted to say that it was unlikely that they would be found. They had probably prepared to make their escape beforehand. They would most likely get away. I let out a deep sigh and began to approach Itsuki, who was still doubled over in despair. It would just make things harder if he ended up unlocking another curse series now.
“Mr. Itsuki . . . Please, stand up. I . . . I believe in you, Mr. Itsuki. Fighting for justice means always standing up again, no matter how many times you fall, right?”
“Rishia . . . I . . .”
Rishia reached her hand out to the despondent Itsuki.
“This is a chance to start over again. As for the money . . . I’ll help you with that. We can work to pay it back together.”
“But . . . It’s not just that . . . I made an irreparable mistake . . .”
“Everyone makes mistakes. But you can always do something. If you give up now, it will only lead to the suffering of countless more people.”
“Countless more . . . people?”
“Yes. We went to another world. And we formed an alliance with the people of that world. They were our enemies. We thought they were evil, but we made peace with them. I’m sure you remember. One of them was the incredibly powerful woman with the folding fan who came out of the rifts during a wave.”
Rishia had gone to the other world with us. She’d spent time with Kizuna, who had been trapped in a never-ending labyrinth. She knew about our agreement with Glass and the others, who we had fought multiple times before that.
“I had no idea . . .”
“But we also fought against an unforgivable enemy.”
“There was an enemy that even you couldn’t forgive?”
“Yes. And right now, Naofumi is preparing to fight another unforgivable enemy. To do that, he needs you and all of the heroes, who give our world hope, to help him. So please, stand up.”
I couldn’t deny the fact that Itsuki was the Bow Hero. Just like with Ren and Motoyasu, if he powered up his weapon properly, having him on my side would make me feel a lot better.
Keep it up, Rishia! You’re getting through to him, just like Eclair did with Ren!
Itsuki started to make sobbing sounds. Rishia’s words must have been the final nail in the coffin for the curse, because the last of the sinister designs on his bow broke apart and disappeared. When they did, Itsuki collapsed and fell flat on his face.
“Mr. Itsuki!”
I took his pulse. He was still alive. Hopefully he wouldn’t have any consequences to pay for using the curse series.
The slave trader was holding the other merchants back. They were all discussing how Itsuki should be dealt with. Damn it. Witch sure knew how to leave a mess behind! I would kill her for sure the next time I saw her. Or no, maybe I would make her pay back this debt that she had forced on to Itsuki using her own two hands. Itsuki’s own party members had been in on it too, apparently. L’Arc had mentioned that they looked like nothing but trouble, and boy, was he right.
“I . . . I’ll—”
Rishia stepped forward to stand up for Itsuki, who was still collapsed on the floor. She was going to tell the merchants that she was prepared to take on Itsuki’s debts.
“Slave trader, have Itsuki’s debts transferred to my name,” I said.
I had some money from peddling our goods. If I rounded up all of my Elixir of Yggdrasil and whatnot, and sold that too, I was sure it would work out one way or another. If that still wasn’t enough, I’d just have to pay the rest back later. Surely it wouldn’t be any more than what I’d paid for the slaves at the peak of the price bubble.
“Mr. Naofumi . . .” Raphtalia whispered.
She had a look of relief on her face. I looked at her and gave the orders to begin the search for Witch. Rishia looked like she was on the verge of tears. She bowed her head to me deeply.
“Rishia, it’s your job to give Itsuki a thorough re-education, just like Eclair has done for Ren. Make sure that he never loses control like this again.”
“I . . . I will!”
“Aww . . . You really are a good guy, aren’t you, little Naofumi?” Sadeena said.
“That’s our Mr. Naofumi! Seeing him shoulder the responsibilities of the foolish Bow Hero . . . That’s how a real man behaves!” Atla exclaimed.
Foolish? She needed to be a bit more careful about her word choice. Itsuki was still a hero.
In the end, we weren’t able to figure out where Witch and Itsuki’s companions had run off to. But we had managed to successfully capture Itsuki. It had cost me a lot of money, but Itsuki probably wouldn’t try to cause any more problems now.
I’d gone ahead and invited Itsuki to my party before heading to their hideout, so I was able to use my portal skill to take him back to the village with us despite him being unconscious. I just hoped things would work out as well as they had with Ren.
It was around noon the following day. Our search for Witch had ended in failure, so I wasn’t in a very good mood. Itsuki finally came to. He had been sleeping in one of the camping plant houses. I figured it was about time for him to wake up, so I went to c
heck on him and that’s when I heard Rishia call out to him.
“Mr. Itsuki!”
Itsuki stood up and got out of the bed. He looked around. I stood there with my arms crossed and watched as Rishia ran over to him worriedly. I had Filo, Atla, and Ren on standby outside just in case Itsuki decided to cause any trouble.
“Itsuki, you remember what happened yesterday, right? I shouldered all of your debt, but I still expect you to work to pay it all back,” I told him.
“. . .”
Expressionless and sleepy-eyed, Itsuki slowly turned his head to me and just stood there in silence.
“. . .”
The room was completely silent. Rishia was waiting for Itsuki to say something too, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen.
“Hey! Say something!” I said.
“Something . . .”
What the hell?! That bastard! He had the nerve to try to pick a fight with me at a time like this!
“Sorry, Rishia. It looks like I’m going to have to break my promise to you,” I said.
He obviously didn’t regret what he’d done at all. A guy like that didn’t deserve to live. I’d just sell him off to the Zeltoble merchants.
“Fehhh! Please, just wait a minute! Go on, Mr. Itsuki. Give him a sincere apology.”
“I’m sorry.”
Still expressionless, Itsuki obediently bowed his head and apologized. What the hell? Is this what kind of person he was?
“Itsuki, what happened to you?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Do you mean yesterday? Why was I so unhappy?”
“Umm . . . Itsuki, don’t tell me you don’t know who you are.”
Surely the consequence for using that ridiculous Justice Bow wasn’t amnesia, right? But considering what had happened to the other heroes, that wouldn’t have been all that strange. It was going to be a real headache if that were the case though.
“No, I’m Itsuki Kawasumi. I’m the Bow Hero. I aspired to fight for justice, but I was defeated. And I was deceived, on top of that.”
