For People Who Are In The World
Chapter 28: Part 1
The next day, the Spirit Festival ended. Waking up from the sunlight flowing from the crack in the window, Rio was eating breakfast while basking in the warm morning sun in the uninhabited village square. The opposite of her is Latifa.
Every day Latifa usually meets with Sara and the other girls to learn the required teachings about people's spirit villages. However, since today was the day after the Spirit Festival, it was a holiday.
Because it was a long time ago before they could chat like this again.
「It has been almost a year since we came to this village, how did you find it? Do you find life here fun? 」
While happily chatting with Latifa, Rio asked a question as if the thought had suddenly crossed his mind.
「Umu! As Onii-chan said, this village is really amazing and full of good people! 」
To the sudden question, Latifa replied with a wide smile like a full-blown sunflower. Rio smiled gently at her answer.
「By the way, Latifa, is it okay for you to discuss something?」
Focusing his gaze on Latifa with renewed determination, Rio spoke.
「E ~ toto, about what?」
Seeing Rio's changing atmosphere, Latifa stiffened in confusion.
"I plan to leave the village in the not so distant future. 」
Rio instantly cut to the point.
[ED: Rio; master of delicacy] [ED2: This is better than tip-toeing around a problem] [TL: Sometimes girls prefer more "warming"]
「...」
Bikuri, Latifa's body twitched.
「Preparation ... or rather, once I know everything I can from the village, I intend to leave immediately. 」
「... N—」
Latifa muttered something with an inaudible voice as Rio calmly announced his intention.
"That's why, uhm——」
"…NO! REALLY NO!"
His voice quickly turned into a loud cry that interrupted Rio's conversation.
「Latifa ..」
Rio showed a restless expression as Latifa clung to him with the expression of the missing child who had just found her mother reflected in her eyes.
「Why should you go !? Are you back in the place of the human race? Even after going through the hardships of being friends with Onee-chan? I don't want you to leave this village! 」
Latifa spoke quickly, deeply pleading for him to stay.
「I'll cross the mountain. There's something I have to do out there. 」
Rio muttered his reason.
「Why ... did you leave me ..?」
Latifa looked at Rio like an abandoned puppy.
Patiently, she gently stroked Latifa's head until she regained her composure.
「In hindsight, I never told Latifa the reason why I was traveling east. 」
Now that he was calm enough, Rio continued his story muttering.
Rio averted his gaze from Latifa for a moment and gazed into the distance. His focus returned to Latifa again, looking into her eyes.
There, he found tears piling up in the corners of his eyes.
「I want to make a grave for my parents in their hometown, because they died in a foreign land that has no family or friends. Even though they both died when I was a child, I wanted to show filial piety to my parents. Not only that but ... 」
When Rio was about to say something, he immediately closed his mouth.
"But what?"
Suddenly speechless, Latifa encouraged Rio to continue what he was about to say.
「No, it's nothing. 」
Rio laughed mockingly.
「... I, really don't know anything about Onii-chan, do I?」
Latifa muttered in a weak voice after a brief silence passed between them.
「There are a lot of things I didn't know about Latifa either. 」
Saying that, he turned towards Latifa with a bitter smile.
「It ... That's true, but ..」
Then he closed his eyes, fell in deep thought, and before long, showed a determined look.
「You know, there comes a time when I want to tell Onii-chan about myself. But at that moment ... I became afraid that Onii-chan might think what I said was crazy. I'm not sure if Onii-chan will trust me ... 」
Rio quickly sensed that Latifa's atmosphere was different than usual.
Latifa floated an agitated expression as she hesitated to pry at her secret secret.
「You know, Onii-chan, do you believe in reincarnation?」
He asked in a calm and clear voice.
「Latifa ..」
Rio's eyes widened as he muttered his name.
「You know, I've already experienced death once. I was originally human. And now, I am reborn as my current self ... Uhm, I know this is hard to believe but ... 」
Latifa spoke frantically, unsure of how to organize her words.
Although her words were useless, Rio clearly understood what she was trying to convey to him.
For Latifa who lost the words——
「... I've known that for a long time. 」
Rio broke the silence.
「... eh?」
Not understanding what Rio meant by her words, Latifa let out such a voice.
「Latifa originally lived in Japan, right?」
However, Rio directly bumped into the secret that carried in his heart.
「A— Why ..」
Despite being deeply shaken and at a loss for words, Latifa managed to voice her doubts.
"That's because I'm Japanese, too. TL [TL: [tilt] means Rio speaks in Japanese, although it looks the same to me as the language he used to use everyday]
After that, Rio spoke to Latifa in Japanese.
「!!!?」
Latifa's face was tinged with astonishment.
「Japan ... language ... Japan ... person ... Onii-chan is Japanese?」
Undoubtedly, it was an expression where one had witnessed something they never expected.
"It was very . At first I was, but ... 」
Rio spoke with an overly calm tone.
「You know, you know about it, yet you keep quiet ...?」
Astonished, he questioned Rio. It was clear from the emotions on his face that he was so shocked.
「Yes. The first time I cooked pasta was when I realized Latifa was a reincarnated Japanese. At that time you said 『Spaghetti』 right? Pasta is not a dish that originally existed in this world. Not only that but you also say "Itadakimasu" before eating. 」
To the wordless Latifa, she switched back to the original language of the current world and explained how she concluded that she was previously Japanese.
「A— Why !? Why didn't you say anything !? 」
At Rio's explanation, Latifa unintentionally became emotional and asked him a question.
"Why? Why are we reincarnated? Why do we regain our memories? I had plenty of time and pondered possible reasons. But do you know, I always wondered why we retain memories from our previous lives, but what about that? We are already inhabitants of this world. Even if we can return, we have already lost our place in that world. 」
Rio chuckled while saying those words.
「……」
Although he had not conveyed all the thoughts he had accumulated over the years to Latifa, he could still take some of what he wanted to say from a small piece of his mind.
However, from her confused expression, it could be seen that she had just realized a lot of things that Rio was pointing out.
「But I have told you these things so I will not leave you with regret. That's what I thought . 」
Rio spoke while sighing long.
「Then, why now ..」
「That's because Latifa told me about her previous life. Honestly, I'm planning to tell you about my life before if you ever decide to talk about yourself. 」
Latifa listened in silence as Rio spoke
