5 ◇ Avenger, Revision (Revised)

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“Any questions?” (Shiro)

Shiro puts her elbow on the counter and with her chin on her hand, she smiles and asks with a laugh.

“You don’t have any work?” (Kuro)

“When a visitor comes, I will be off-duty for the day.”

“Do you know in advance that a visitor will come?”

She shook her head to show her denial to the question.

The softly raised hair sways to follow the owner’s movement.

“No, they just appear at fixed times. Check the temple every morning, and if it’s your turn, you will be off-duty.” (Shiro)

If they can take care of the shop, he had no reason to say anything.

“There is one thing that bothers me.” (Kuro)

Shiro blinked her eyes in surprise.

“Just one thing… honestly, your status amazes me you know?” (Shiro)

Ignoring her remarks, Kuro prioritizes asking his questions.

“What is this blessing?” (Kuro)

She moved on to the explanation without repeating her question.

“Oh, well, there is a God in this world.”

“God? Not as an object of faith, but as an entity?”

“I wonder about that. But there is blessing so he might actually exist you know? The status revision applied to a human being loved by God, is called blessing here you know?”

Kosuke briefly thought, then asked carefully.

“…Is there such a God in this world?” [ED: ‘such’ as in one who would give a blessing like “Towa’s Prayer”]

Shiro probably confirmed his status beforehand, so she answered without delay.

“There isn’t. Maybe that’s the protection you had before your reincarnation.”

“Before reincarnation?”

“Ah, umm…did you have the concept of a guardian spirit in your original world?”

Guardian spirit. An entity that has the will to protect something.

Since it is a spirit, it would mean a spiritual thing.

“There was, so in other words there was a guardian spirit in the original world?”

“Or something close to that. Since the survival rate has risen extremely, I wonder why it wanted you to live that much. I wonder if there are many spirits like that, for example a mother who thinks of her child or a woman who thinks of her lover? It has a name, right? So you might have an idea of who it might be.”

Kousuke gently closed his eyes without replying while putting strength in his hands and face.

If he didn’t do that, he wouldn’t have been able to stand it.

Tears started to flow down his eyes before he knew it.

“Towa’s Prayer”.

Towa.

Eien(永遠). (TL: Eien means Eternity).

My little sister’s name.

I didn’t believe in gods or ghosts.

I wonder if Towa, my little sister, has been watching me since she died.

I wonder if she was praying so that I wouldn’t die when she saw me desperately struggling for revenge.

Was that why it was possible to succeed even in the reckless revenge that I enacted alone?

Was that why the miracle of reincarnation after committing suicide was possible?

“Kuro? Somehow, your face has weakened so much that it seems like you would breakdown if I hugged you gently.”

“…If you think so, hug or ignore it. Don’t point it out…”

Somehow, he squeezed out his voice.

“It’s my creed to not make use of others’ weaknesses.”

She made a proud face while waiting to be praised.

Of course, Kousuke didn’t praise her.

“I see.”

“By the way, the milk bill was on me, so maybe I should receive some erotic service in exchange~.”

“I’m taking advantage of what you said, before you change your mind.”

When he responded in a dry voice, Shiro laughed mischievously.

“Well, Kuro, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“Do you want to commit suicide even in this world?”

The answer to that question had already been decided.

“…No, I won’t commit suicide.”

He affirmed once and for all.

Once you notice it, you can’t go back to the past when you were unaware.

This life was connected to Towa.

My sister protected it.

So, I will never throw it away again.

“I will ask you just in case but…is there no way to return back to my original world?”

She puts her finger on her cheek and tilts her head.

“Hmm? Probably not.”

“Probably?”

“Even if I can go back to my original world, I won’t be able to come back here.”

Indeed.

It would be different story if you could come and go, but if you just go back to your original world, you will disappear from this world, so there is no way to confirm whether that person actually returned to his/her world.

Even if somebody claims that he/she is going back to his/her original world, the person in question may have just disappeared for all we know.

A lack of credibility.

“Also, there are extremely few people who want to go back.”

Kousuke was convinced by those words.

“…Oh, I see. Only humans who were unhappy in their life can reincarnate.”

“Of course. A person who was unhappy and dies in the original world wouldn’t want to return to that world.”

“Even if there’s someone you’ll miss, huh…”

Even among people who have leave their country eagerly, there are those who suffer from homesickness.

If they were forcefully thrown off to another world, that number might get larger.

“Maybe. But nobody speaks about it. In addition…”

“In addition?”

“Kuro, you may not have noticed it yet, but the initial status is higher the more a person was unfortunate in the previous world he/she was in. That is, the more unfortunate a human being in that world was, the happier he would be in this world. That’s a really, reeaalllly nice thing, right?!”

She showed an expression which could only be made by discarding any possible façade and acting.

An innocent smile, shaped to express the joy from the bottom of one’s heart.

Finally, Kousuke was able to vaguely understand Shiro.

She likes this world.

A world where people who were unhappy in the original world can go to and become happy.

The reason why she was living as a guide.

The reason why she likes me must be related to that.

I was told that my status was amazing, which means that I had been very unfortunate compared to other visitors.

I don’t think that my suffering when my sister was killed is inferior to the suffering of any other person.

For Shiro, Kousuke is a human being who should feel happiness.

I wonder if she just wants to help me out.

However, this is a kindness that comes from her misery.

Sympathetic pity.

That type of kindness.

However, despite being aware of it, Kousuke decided to accept it.

“Yeah, it’s nice. But then it’s weird, isn’t it?” (Kuro)

She asks after hearing his question.

“Weird? What would be?” (Shiro)

“You said my status was amazing, right?”

“Umu”

“But in my original world, or even in other worlds, there should be many people that were more unfortunate than me.”

His little sister was raped and left alone to freeze to death.

Certainly, it is unfortunate. But it’s just Kousuke himself who feels that, and he is also free to think that he is the most unfortunate person in the world.

However, Kousuke can’t pity himself that much.

I will look at it objectively.

There are as many unfortunate people as there are stars.

Or that’s how it would normally be.

Shiro may have understood the meaning of his question, she nodded, “Oh, that kind of thing”.

“Well, Kuro seems to have a sharp mind, so I’m going to give you a hint. From all the other worlds, do you think that everyone will be reincarnated in Arkrea just because they were unhappy?”

Receiving those words, Kousuke was convinced.

“That won’t be realistic… Even if the original world is literally another world as you say, it can be inferred from your past remarks that there are many people from Japan alone. There are unhappy humans everywhere, and they eventually die, so if you send every unhappy person from other worlds to this one, this world would blow up.”

If the rules rescue people in another world to that extent, even those who have been killed by Kousuke will be eligible for reincarnation.

Although it was justice in Kousuke’s eyes, for those that were murdered it would be an unfortunate turn of events.

“I know, right? So, I think there’s a standard. And doesn’t the difference in “the last word” bother you? For example, I was pitied by God. That might be because it was an accidental death.” (Shiro)

“I was told “Isn’t it such a waste”. I think it was because I committed suicide. I understand now that not every unfortunate person gets reincarnated, but my question still hasn’t been resolved.”

“Umu, that’s right. “I had my best friend who had been with me for 20 years take my wife who had been with me for 15 years, and I was killed by my daughter’s boyfriend who came to pay a visit.” There was a person who had that kind of past, but he had a normal status as a visitor.

“But as you said, the more unfortunate someone is, the higher the status will be? ……No, wait, can the meaning of being “unfortunate” be explained so simply? You can’t quantify it after all.”

Shiro scratched her cheek like she was in trouble.

“That’s right… Ahaha. I haven’t heard about everyone’s past, so it’s just a guess. I don’t mean that it’s only a tragic event that makes you reincarnate. It’s just that, that’s the case for most people here. Everyone is unhappy when they reincarnate. That’s all I can say.”

It was a reasonable story.

She calls herself a guide, but she was just a senior visitor to him.

No matter how far you go, there’s always a limit.

God or Gods select unfortunate people under some condition and reincarnate them.

Basically, the more unfortunate a person is, the higher the status, but that is not absolute.

Some people, such as Kousuke, have a high status that makes them shock visitors who are already in this world since long ago.

That’s what he understood so far.

Even with further discussion like this, the answer to these questions won’t go beyond guesswork.

Kousuke decided to round up the topic.

“I understand the story for now. That being said, Shiro.”

“What is it Kuro?”

“How can I be happy?”

Hearing those words, Shiro became extremely happy.

“Are you finally ready to be happy in this world?”

“Yah, no matter who is against it, I will live this life.”

I am an Avenger who killed many people; I am a murderer.

But if my sister still wants me to keep on living then…

I will live.

Even if no one supports it, Towa’s prayer continues to make it come true.

Shiro said to Kuro who took a sip of the milk.

“Right, I think it’s better to be a dungeon conqueror first.”

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