Shinka no Mi (Shiranai Uchi ni Kachigumi Jinsei)

Parents

「D… dad…? Mo… m…?」

I squeezed out my words after seeing the two people before me .

Looking at the dumbfounded me, Dad——Hiiragi Makoto laughed gently, and Mom——Hiiragi Kazumi smiled with tears .

「…Wh…y…」

「We also don’t understand, we were already here when we came to . 」

「After that, we met Zeanos-san and the rest nearby, then… 」

They explained the reason to me, but my mind was blank, none of it entered .

Both of them died in an accident, and I thought I would never able to see them again .

Despite that… .

「R, really… Dad and mom…?」

「Yeah . 」

「That’s right… I’m sorry for leaving you all alone… it was hard, wasn’t it? Painful as well, wasn’t it?」

Mom embraced me, and dad caressed my hair .

It was definitely them . The feeling of being embraced by them . The feeling of being caressed by them .

The moment I realized it, tears overflowed my eyes .

「D, dad… Mom… A… Aa… UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!」

The days I spent on Earth, ever since their death, I didn’t rely on Shota and co . , I tried to keep everything to myself, and my heart was on the brink of breaking countless of times .

Why did they die?

I didn’t want to be alone .

The grief I felt for their death, the anger I had for leaving me behind . And with the fear of being left all alone .

All those emotions, along with the happiness for being able to meet them again like this .

Even though there were various emotions mixed, even though I opened my mouth to speak it out, what came out were only groans and weeps .

Even so——being able to touch them again like this, made me happy more than anything else .

To me who was sobbing like a little child, mom gently stroke my back, and dad kept petting my head .

Even though it was such a shameful appearance of mine, Zeanos and his groups didn’t laugh, they kept watching over us with smiles full of affection .

◆◇◆

「Uu… hiks… S, sorry… suddenly bursting into tears like that…」

I didn’t know how much time had passed, I just kept crying until I managed to calm down .

Just when I got a little bit cooler, I suddenly noticed a certain matter .

And that was that they could firmly recognize me as Seiichi even though my appearance had changed so much .

As for the hood, I pulled it down when I fought against the evil spirits, but even if my face was seen it had considerably changed… .

When I voiced my thought, both of them instead tilted their neck .

「? What are you saying? Just what father would mistake his own son?」

「He’s right, you know? It’s for sure, we can distinguish our own son with a single glance . Right?」

「That’s right . I haven’t seen you for a while and you have grown big… In addition, you also became such a fine man . 」

The two of them looked to each other then laughed .

Looking at them, even while I was taken aback, I could strongly feel that I couldn’t match them .

「Beside that, you two somehow looks like young again…?」

Precisely, for some reason the two’s appearance was much younger from when I last saw them, their age was about 30 years old .

Both dad and mom had black eyes and hair and their looks were mediocre, and I was really wondering just how come someone like me could be born out of those two… .

「That’s right! Awesome isn’t it, Makoto-san? We can easily became younger just by coming to this world after all!」

「You’re right… wait a sec? This, can’t I make it as a business? 『A fascinating spot where you will be younger just by going there!』… This might do . 」

「It won’t!」

Like hell it would!? I don’t know if they aware of it but we’re in the Netherworld you know!? They’ll die!

It was been awhile I had watched and did this kind of exchange, it was so tiring back then, but now I was overwhelmingly glad .

After I sighed, I noticed of another matter, so I spook it out .

「But… Really, what are you two doing here? I mean, this is the Netherworld of another world… 」

Exactly, even though the two of them died on Earth, why are they in the Netherworld of another world?

Then, not my parents, but Lucius-san who had been watching us in silence spook to me this time .

「There’s a Netherworld for each of the worlds and, originally, they won’t mesh with each other . However, because you, an existence that have rivals the gods… no, even greater than that, have gone down to the Netherworld, the two of them who have strong connection with you have been drawn beyond the boundaries of the worlds . Well, maybe since they were drawn from a different Netherworld of a different world, unlike us they couldn’t grasp your current situation, so I didn’t explain it to them . 」

Isn’t the scale a tad too big .

Rather, I heard it quite casually, but Lucius-san said I’m something about the Gods didn’t he!? My body really has went astray regardless of my own intention huh!

「My my, Seiichi is amazing isn’t he . 」

「You’re right . A man should aim big shouldn’t he . 」

Even though they couldn’t fully comprehend it, the two just nodded in satisfaction .

…No, but, I guess I have to be thankful for my own body this time .

After all, precisely because my body is such an obscene existence that this kind of outrageous phenomenon happened .

「…I was surprised when we came to this world, but now I’m convinced . Even though we were always watching over you, suddenly the whole student body in the school disappeared one day after all . We never knew where did you go, and got worried sick, but now we know you’re in a different world…」

「That’s right… We also know how you faced your painful days . You endured it well . This vexing feeling because we couldn’t help you despite watching over you… I even thought of wanting to kill those ruffians who bullied you . 」

Dad spoke while shouldering such exasperation and anger .

Because I was so cowardly, I made my parents worry about me even after their death, and that fact was way more painful than being bullied .

And at the same time, I was very happy that they were still watching over me even after they died, and that made my tears yet again spill .

「It’s all right . I have been living optimistically after all, just like how dad and mom taught me . 」

I smiled widely in order to give them a peace of mind as much as I could .

And then, Zeanos who waited for our talk to end opened his mouth .

「Well then… Is it okay for me to get into the main subject soon?」

「Ah, it’s okay . Thank you . 」

「Don’t mind . Treasure your parents, okay . …Now then, Seiichi-dono . You have to defeat the evil spirits… nay, the Evil Spirit King . Naturally, we’ll lend you our strength . However, the current you can’t fight against the evil spirits . 」

「That’s…」

Certainly, although all of my attacks had been bounced back by the evil spirits, Zeanos and his group could them damage just fine .

「That is why, we will not only cooperate to defeat them, but we will also teach you the way to fight the evil spirits, Seiichi-dono . 」

Abel who continued Zeanos’ words said with a refreshing smile .

「I think you’ve known it after you fought against them, but normal attacks don’t apply to the evil spirits . Hence, what the important part is… 『Life Force』 . 」

「『Life Force』…?」

Life Force… isn’t it that thing that has humanity’s greatest enemy, the black shining 【G】, as its representative, right . How scary .

「Yes, 『Life Force』 . Just as their name implies, evil spirits are spirits… in other words, those who have died, so if you pour 『Life Force』 that acts as the symbol of the living into them, the evil spirits won’t be able to maintain their existence . 」

「But you guys have died, haven’t you?」

「Ou! We sure have died, but thanks to Seiichi we’re treated as the living in the Netherworld . In addition, with our hero-class 『Life Force』, we can easily defeat mere evil spirits even when we’re dying! Gahahaha! 」

「No, doing it when dying is as expected would be impossible . This is why you idiots are…」

To the warrior Garus’ words, Anna the hunter retorted him troubled .

「Ahahaha… Well, at any rate, thanks to Seiichi-san we can do things we usually did when we were alive, that’s why we can fight against the evil spirits while bearing 『Life Force』 on us . It’s fine Seiichi-san, if it’s you you’ll be able to handle it any moment now . 」

As if cheering on me, Liliana the Sage said so .

「That’s correct . In truth, it’s not that difficult to do . 」

「Is that so?」

Zeanos too said so to relieve me .

「What, you’ll soon able to do it . Teaching it to you is our role after all . 」

「I see… Does that mean, Zeanos and the rest will be training me? 」

「That would be so . 」

「If so then quickly, please do! Time is precious after all . Then, what should I do? Should I start with how to feel 『Life Force』 or something?」

When I asked him that, Zeanos answered me while laughing .

「Hahahaha! Seiichi-dono is good at making joke . What else than trying it out in an actual battle?」

「……………Heh?」

「Now, lets find for an evil spirit . Oops, I’ll also teach you how to find evil spirits, so bear it in mind . 」

「For reals!?」

It’s different from the training I had in mind!

No, certainly we don’t have much time, so doing that will be the fastest way though!

Dad who listened to our convo nodded as though he was admired by it .

「I see… so this is how my child grows . 」

「This is a special case you hear!? Not everyone grows like this okay!? …They don’t, right?」

Saying it made me worried .

Thus, I was made to fight under the pretext of being trained by Zeanos and his group .