# Chapter 112
“What did you do while I was gone?”
“While you were gone?”
“When I was away from home.”
“Just this and that. Similar to usual.”
“Oh, I also read your book.”
“Which one?”
“Various ones. The last one I read was… ‘Song of the Black Flower,’ I think.”
“How was it?”
Rite’s eyes brightened as he leaned forward. He seemed to be expecting something, but Arden had never given a review in his life. At most, he had only said “well done” when looking at a sculpture Rite had made.
“I haven’t finished reading it yet.”
“You can just talk about what you’ve read so far. How far did you get?”
“Um… I read up to the scene where the protagonist says he’ll commit suicide. I don’t understand why they wrote so much if he’s not actually going to die.”
At Arden’s words, Rite let out a small laugh. “Why are you laughing?” Arden asked, and Rite shook his head.
“Because you sound so sure. He does die.”
“What?”
“He eventually commits suicide there. If you’d read just a bit more, you would have seen it.”
“How can the protagonist die?”
“It would be better if you read it yourself. But to sum it up, he does come back to life, but…”
I hoped that even if I died, Rite’s story would continue. I wished that I wasn’t the protagonist of Rite’s life.
* * *
Arden was having a staring contest. His opponent was a doorknob. Since doorknobs don’t have eyes, it was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous fight for Arden. What mediated this fight was Rite. He knocked on the door with hands covered in scabs.
“…No, I’m still not…”
“Come out.”
Arden protested quietly, but a familiar voice was heard from beyond the door. Arden glared at the door again with a tense face.
“Why are you so nervous?”
Rite looked down at Arden with an incredulous expression and laughed. Arden would rush fearlessly into major crises yet acted timidly in such trivial matters.
With a small bell sound, the purple wooden door that Arden had been glaring at opened. This door had always been smoothly painted without a single scratch since Arden was young.
“…I’m back, Pini.”
Arden’s face was still stiffly frozen. A bright smile appeared on Pini’s display panel.
“Welcome home, Arden.”
* * *
“Did you eat lunch?”
“Yes. Something quick at the station.”
Arden answered while looking around the house that hadn’t changed at all. Pini was still a diligent robot. If Pini had been living alone, there would have been many unused items or spaces, but it was spotlessly clean.
“Let’s go out for dinner later.”
Rite said as he took off his coat and hung it on a chair. Pini tilted its square head quizzically. “You’re not eating at home?”
“Pini can’t cook.”
“That can’t be true!”
Pini jumped up in protest. As if deeply insulted, the eyes on its display panel turned upward.
“How could a household robot not know how to cook?”
Rite narrowed his eyes and looked at Pini. Rite clearly remembered the taste of the food he had eaten in Menden. And what Arden had said.
Maybe… Arden’s taste issues might be a problem for this entire household. Rite narrowed his eyes.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you believe me?”
“…Why are you fighting over something like this…”
“Fine. Then I’ll show you directly. Try my dinner tonight, and if you really don’t like it, we’ll eat at restaurants from now on. How about that?”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Arden’s opinion was ignored. Arden looked at Pini’s angry face, which he’d never seen before, and Rite who was teasing Pini.
“I’m nervous about cooking after so long. What if I’m rusty?”
“So you’re not confident after all?”
It was nonsense. Robots can’t tremble, nor can their skills deteriorate since they simply output the information input into them. If anything had rusted, it would be the components.
But Arden didn’t bother to point this out. In any case, neither Pini nor Rite would listen.
“Have you seen the newspaper, Pini?”
Arden changed the subject, fearing Pini might overheat and discharge. Pini blinked its round eyes and nodded.
“I can’t tell you how shocked I was. Though I had some suspicions…”
Pini glanced at Rite’s hand. His most severely injured left forearm was hidden by clothing, and the broken horn had also been retracted and concealed. Unlike Arden, whose pigmentation had been completely removed, yellow spots remained in various places in Rite’s eyes. His left hand, which couldn’t be hidden, was covered with scars, and the tip of his little finger intermittently trembled slightly. Unlike Arden, who was perfectly fine without a single wound, Rite showed many signs of injury.
That was one of Arden’s questions about that night. He clearly remembered being injured, but when he woke up, the scars had disappeared without a trace.
No matter how much he asked about what had happened while he was unconscious, Rite absolutely refused to speak.
“What are you planning to do now?”
At Pini’s question, Arden stopped thinking. What mattered most was that Rite and he were alive and well. It was troublesome that people everywhere recognized Rite with his purple eyes, but they no longer needed to hide like before. Besides, hadn’t they even openly taken an airship?
“We’re going to travel around and try to find a new home. Nothing else is decided yet.”
“Haven’t you been to the Winter Forest yet?”
“We came here first as soon as things were settled.”
At Arden’s words, Pini smiled brightly. But soon, it hurriedly approached the stairs.
“You must be very tired. Get some rest. I’ve washed all the bedding.”
“No, before that…”
Arden struggled to speak. Seeing Arden hesitating, Rite spoke instead.
“We want to visit Plin’s grave.”
* * *
Kamalon already had spring weather. Though it was still winter according to the calendar, the sun was bright. Most people wore light coats, but Rite seemed hot and had his coat draped over his arm.
“Aren’t you cold?”
“I’m actually hot.”
“If you’re hot, at least roll up your sleeves.”
“No.”
Stubborn. Arden thought to himself, looking at Rite with displeasure. Rite hated showing the scars on his left arm. He especially disliked showing them to Arden, and even when treating his wounds, he insisted on being treated somewhere Arden couldn’t see.
Arden was more baffled than hurt. At one point, Rite had deliberately gotten injured, but now why was he acting this way? He simply couldn’t follow Rite’s emotions. But soon his softened gaze traced various parts of Rite. Rite’s body bore too many marks from that day.
Kamalon’s most beautiful season was summer. The sun was hot, but there were many tourists who sat under the shade of trees, drinking alcohol or beverages while admiring the colorful city with its blooming flowers. The current Kamalon was desolate compared to summer. The plants growing along the outer walls and the pots placed in each house had lost their color.
But to Rite’s eyes, it wasn’t like that. Yellow, green, red, blue—every alley, house, and window had different colors. Even Arden’s house had bright purple doors and windows. It seemed like all the bright and pretty colors in the world were in Kamalon.
“Let’s walk a bit faster. We just need to get there.”
Feeling the stares directed at him and Rite, Arden whispered to him. Arden pointed to a small building visible on the hill. This time, Rite obediently nodded. Today, the gazes were different from those that had been focused solely on him for days. Quite a few people were glancing at Arden, as if recognizing him returning to his hometown after a long time.
As they climbed the hill, a small shrine in front of the square came into view. The caretaker who recognized Arden smiled and waved, but Arden awkwardly bowed his head and moved to the backyard of the shrine.
“Is that someone you know?”
“Since they’re from the neighborhood, I do know them.”
Kamalon excluded. Rite calmly crossed Kamalon off his migration list. It was a village with low priority to begin with. For a fresh start, it was better not to have anyone who would remind them of the past.
It was his first time returning to his hometown since Plin’s funeral. Being the adopted son of the eccentric Plin, he had been a local celebrity since childhood, but no one could be unaware of his status as an imperial engineer, a traitor, and the recent news in the newspaper.
Unlike the size of the shrine, the backyard was quite spacious. The wide yard covered with grass was filled with tombstones. Arden searched for Plin’s grave, tracing his past memories. Eventually, Arden stopped in front of a tombstone. Rite also stopped and examined the stone.
[Plin]
Unlike other tombstones that had inscriptions expressing mourning and love for the deceased, this one only had the name honestly written without any special phrases.
Rite wasn’t sure if this was Arden’s decision or Plin’s wish, but he felt somewhat disappointed. Rite was the first to place the single white daffodil he had been holding in front of the grave.
“Doesn’t Pini come here often?”
“I wonder.”
Unlike other graves that had frames, flowers, and small decorations clustered together, Plin’s grave only had the single daffodil Rite had placed. Arden, seeming to catch what Rite wanted to say, also placed his flower down.
“Plin hated making a fuss.”
“How is this making a fuss?”
“He didn’t really like flowers either.”
Arden took in the sight of Plin’s grave. The name “Plin” and the two daffodils seemed incongruous. Plin disliked all sorts of cumbersome things and even wished not to have a funeral. Holding the funeral despite that was solely Arden’s decision.
“…What if Plin doesn’t like me?”
Along with a cool breeze, Rite’s low voice was heard. Arden turned his head to look at Rite. Rite was looking at Plin’s name with downcast eyes.
“Why wouldn’t he like you?”
“Well…”
Rite trailed off. Arden seemed to understand what Rite was thinking.
The first thing Arden saw when he regained consciousness was the mess Rite had become. He didn’t ask what had happened or what the situation was. Many words weren’t necessary. Arden could read the emotions in Rite’s eyes. When he saw Rite, who hadn’t gone anywhere despite his appearance, tightly holding his hand by his side.
In that moment, Arden realized.
Rite was much more battered up close. Seeing the horn with one side scraped off and the right arm with scales torn off as if someone had forcibly ripped them out, he knew. Rite hadn’t become human. The unwounded hand touched Rite’s horn, then cupped his cheek.
‘What about your wish?’
To Arden’s question about what happened to the wish, Rite calmly answered.
‘I thought this might be good enough as it is.’
Arden didn’t ask further. Though he hadn’t become human, Rite was no longer a figure to be pointed at but was hailed as a hero, and Arden had also gained his freedom. In any case, nothing was lost, so Arden didn’t mind. But still.
I don’t understand why he didn’t make a wish if it was going to be like this. A part of Arden’s heart felt heavy.
“Rite.”
The Emperor was dead. The Emperor of the Artalis Empire had lost his life to a messenger of the gods. Though no one had seen Rite killing the Emperor, the Emperor was found collapsed and bleeding in his bedroom with Rite. The engineers kept silent after seeing the wires pulled from the Emperor’s body.
With the Emperor dead, the throne should have passed to the next in line of succession, but people who learned the truth were furious. Suos, known as the sole survivor, raised his voice daily, occupying the front page of the newspaper.
The one who had cut the Emperor’s neck had disappeared, saying he had no interest in such matters, so it was natural for the country to fall into chaos. Nations declaring independence were emerging everywhere, and people were hastily voting to elect at least a temporary representative. Due to the urgency, only those in Moran received voting rights, which also faced considerable backlash. The Empress, who remained alone in the castle, was taking the final responsibility, but she, too, was quite exhausted.
The empire was collapsing, and people were actively forging ahead. Daily life hadn’t changed. People’s lives still continued.
It had always been like that. People had never sought the Emperor in times of hardship to begin with.
“I’m taking back what I said about having to hide your horns.”
“……”
“I’m sorry. I was wrong.”
Being different from others can sometimes come back as a weakness. But now Arden had learned to stand against injustice. It was Rite who had taught him.
“Other people won’t think like that.”
Rite raised his head to look at Arden. Rite’s hand pointed to the top of his head where nothing was protruding.
“It seems people can see it even when I’m hiding it.”
The god had not granted Rite’s wish after all, but Arden didn’t resent Artalis. To Arden now, Artalis was neither a legendary deity that didn’t exist, nor an actual benevolent or stern god.
Arden’s feelings toward her were extremely complex. They weren’t simple enough to label as resentment or hurt. But if he had to express what he wanted, he hoped to never be entangled or meet her again.
Now, I just wish she would leave Rite alone. Don’t drag innocent people into your fight.
“…If you’re a monster.”
At Arden’s words, Rite’s face hardened. His empty hand twitched, repeatedly grasping and releasing the air. Arden took in all the movements of the injured hand.
As the clouds passing overhead gradually cleared, the eyes with indistinct color emitted a clear light. Sunlight poured into the eyes resembling the ashen sky, creating a peculiar hue. Like the stars that sparkled in the sky of the Winter Forest, things that sparkle in dark places had more meaning.
“Then wouldn’t I, who raised you, be a monster too?”
At Arden’s words, Rite frowned. Arden quietly smiled. He believed it would gradually improve. Arden had that responsibility.
Though he didn’t know how much time they had left, there was enough time to promise. Regardless of how much time remained, he intended to continue staying together.
Arden’s rough hand touched the tip of Rite’s hand. After rubbing the ruined hand with his thumb, he carefully lifted it. Arden’s cold lips touched the back of Rite’s hand, which was densely covered with scars. He pressed his lips firmly with sincerity. It was a kiss of affection.
“The answer I couldn’t give then. I think I can give it now.”
Rite said nothing. When Arden raised his head to check, Rite’s face was completely red. With ears flushed bright red, Rite couldn’t even lift his face and only trembled his eyelashes.
Rite. At the soft call, he raised his head. Eyes embedded in a face not yet fully healed turned toward Arden. The dark yellow spots remaining on the purple background emitted a warm light like stars in the night sky.
“Shall we look for the Summer Forest first?”
Now I can show you the green foliage.
“The Forest Where the Black Monster Grows” – The End
