Chapter 129: Trauma

「Lord Kyou! 」

「Big bro! I’m glad you’re safe! 」

「Yeah, it’s been a while, Fitis and Jack. 」

After that, we escaped from the Manticore cave and returned to the Arabia Kingdom where Fitis and the others were staying.

Of course, on my back was the real Shin, Alisha’s younger brother.

「…But you were able to convince that Manticore, weren’t you? From what I’ve heard, he was like a parent to this child. 」

「Yeah, but that’s why in the end, the most important thing for that Manticore is for this child to get better. 」

Alisha’s words woke up her younger brother, Shin, but he immediately lost consciousness.

Actually, Shin’s illness was mental, and his body was weakened by it.

However, thanks to the Mandrake, the physical weakness itself was cured. As long as his mental health stabilized, there would be no problem.

In other words, he needed to have a reason to live and a purpose.

The bond between real siblings must be strong.

The fact that Shin had barely responded to outside voices until then, but responded to Alisha’s voice, also showed this fact.

And Manticore had witnessed this, which was why he reluctantly nodded to my words.

「That said, he declared that he would follow Shin outside the city as a precaution, and I have to bring him back if he doesn’t get better. 」

In response to Lily’s question, I repeated exactly what Manticore had said.

Honestly, if this child got better now, then everything would be resolved safely, but if he didn’t, the Manticore would take drastic measures, and the situation would become even more troublesome.

Even though I felt such anxiety, I was happy that this child was alive, and I stared at Alisha, who was still excited and had tears in the corners of her eyes from time to time.

「…By the way, I’ve been wondering for a while now, what is that monster over there? 」

And so Lily asked, pointing at the monster with the lower body of a jellyfish walking next to me.

「Oh, hello there. I’m Dora-chan’s younger sister, Dorage-chan. I was recently raised by your master. Nice to meet you. 」

「Ye…Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Lily. 」

Dorage-chan said in a downbeat greeting, holding out one of her tentacles as if for a handshake. Lily grabbed the tentacle back, with a look of uncertainty on her face.

I knew it was a little late, but the monsters around me were getting weirder.

—

「Is this okay, Alisha? 」

「Yes. This is the room where Shin, me, and Mother lived together. 」

I carried her brother to a room in the villa and followed her directions to lay him down on the bed.

「…Here, my brother might regain consciousness. The interior of the room is the same as it was back then. 」

Saying this, Alisha went close to her brother as if he were a beloved child, placing her hand on his forehead and watching his sleeping face.

「Even so…I can’t believe you were a girl. 」

After carrying Shin to this room, Lily couldn’t help but mutter as she saw Alisha watching over his sleeping face after making sure there were no soldiers around.

When we saw the boy who looked just like Alisha in the Manticore cave, Alisha and I talked about the situation to explain it to the confused Lily.

Meanwhile, it seemed this was the first time Fitis and Jack had heard about it, and they were confused, but when they saw that Alisha had nodded and said it was okay to talk, they also heard the story and understood it.

「Is that so…? 」

「I see. But you’ve had a pretty tough life, haven’t you? 」

Fitis and Jack both seemed to have something on their minds, as they expressed sympathy and respect for the life of a girl who had been called a genius hero but had lived her life pretending to be a different gender.

「…Hmm, ahhh…」

「…! Shin! Shin! Are you awake, Shin! 」

As they were talking, a voice leaked out from Shin’s mouth, who was still asleep.

In response, Alisha called out to him desperately.

「…Big Sister…Alisha…? 」

Perhaps in response to her voice, Shin, the younger brother, opened his eyes slightly.

Seeing this, Alisha smiled in a way she had never shown before.

「Yes, that’s right! It’s me! Shin, you’re alive! Thank you so much for being alive! 」

Saying this, Alisha hugged her younger brother, but the next moment, her younger brother Shin looked around with a pale face.

After that, he let out a terrifying scream.

「—Ah, aaaaaaaaaaaah!!! 」

「Shi…Shin? 」

As he screamed, Shin pushed Alisha away from him and headed for the door in a panic.

However, we were standing around the door, and when Shin saw that, he moved to the corner of the room with a look of fear that was obvious to anyone, pulled the sheets over his whole body, and began to tremble.

「Shi…Shin, what’s wrong…? 」

Alisha cautiously approached her obviously flustered and upset younger brother, but the answer she received dissipated the smile she had been wearing from a moment ago.

「No…No…I don’t want to be here…! 」

「What…? 」

「If I stay here, I’ll be attacked again…! Someone will kill me…! I need to go back to my mom…to my mom…! 」

Shin answered with a trembling voice.

It was exactly the trauma he had been carrying.

This was the room where Shin, Alisha, and their mother once lived.

But at the same time, it was also the room of trauma where his mother was killed, and where Shin himself was almost killed.

Realizing this, Alisha lowered her head as if cursing her own carelessness, and reached out to get closer to the trembling Shin, but…

「No! Don’t come…! Don’t come! Let me see my mom, let me see my mom…!!」

Shin rejected Alisha’s hand with a painful scream.

The word “mom” that Shin kept saying.

Did it refer to his real mother? Or was it referring to the female Manticore that became his mother? Or maybe both?

Either way, Alisha’s younger brother Shin had been missing for several years and was still carrying the trauma of his young childhood, and I feared that the situation was heading in a troublesome direction.

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