Chapter 130: The Royal Battle

Since then, Shin had been trembling in bed, wrapped in sheets, perhaps because he was scared of being in this room…or rather, of being in the Arabian Kingdom.

His sister, Alisha, was by his side, but…

「Shin, it’s okay now. I’ll always be by your side from now on, so I’ll protect you. 」

She tried to touch Shin’s shoulder as she said this, but he trembled and couldn’t hide his wariness.

He seemed to understand that she was his sister, but the image of his sister remained the same as when he was a child, so it was probably hard for him to accept that the person in front of him was his real sister.

Not only that but considering the days he spent living with monsters up until now, he was probably more confused than anything when he was suddenly told to return to this place.

Was there any way to erase Shin’s trauma and allow him to live here?

After worrying about this, Alisha decided to ask a certain person for help.

「It’s been a while, Kyou. You asked us to lend a hand, but what could it be? 」

Saying this, Alisha called out the name of the person who appeared with a dignified look on his face.

「Hi. Well, to be precise, I’m not asking you, but rather someone else, the Emperor Hero Rostam. 」

「Ah? 」

The figure that appeared was the emperor of the Albrus Empire and his brother Zahak, who supported him.

I had sent them a letter of assistance for this matter about two days ago, but in that short time, they had made preparations and were fast to come here.

To be honest, I wondered for a moment whether it was okay to rely on these guys, and Lily had also warned me that “Won’t this just make things even more complicated?”, but I didn’t have anyone else to call, so I asked them anyway, and they came in high spirits, which made me feel a bit anxious. Or rather, this time it was a proper male version of Rostam.

「Zahak-san, could you please use your ability to manipulate the memories of your target? 」

「…May I ask for a detailed explanation of what you need? Lord Kyou…」

Zahak-san looked surprised at my unexpected request, but as I explained the situation between Shin and Alisha and this country, rather than us, he began to nod, perhaps understanding my thoughts.

「…So you want me to use my ability to manipulate Shin’s memory and erase the traumatic part…」

「Yes. I thought that if someone could erase even the memory of the attack, Shin’s fear would also disappear. 」

Or perhaps by erasing the memory of his mother’s death, we could do something about Shin’s loss of will to live?

Thinking this, I asked Zahak-san for help, but his response wasn’t encouraging.

「…Honestly, I don’t recommend that…」

「What? Why? 」

It was true that manipulating memories wasn’t a good thing.

I agreed with him on that point. But it depended on the time, place, and situation.

If the person had a traumatic memory that they wanted to forget, then it would be a relief for them if they could erase just that part of the memory.

Erasing memories could be a negative thing to do, but in some cases it could be a positive thing.

「First of all, as you know, my ability to manipulate memories isn’t perfect. If cracks occur, the tampered parts will naturally return over time…I can’t keep erasing the child’s memories all the time…」

「That’s…」

That was right.

Zahak’s ability to control memories wasn’t perfect.

More than anything, its effectiveness could gradually fade over time.

It was true, asking him to constantly tamper with memories was far too much.

「…and my ability can only rewrite the superficial parts. It is impossible to change the true nature of a person…」

「…? What do you mean by that? 」

「So basically, Lord Kyou. Let’s say there is an upstanding person whose soul is that of a warrior. Even if you rewrite that person’s memories and give them the order to kill innocent people, they won’t do it. That’s because even if their memories are rewritten, their true nature remains the same. 」

I see. So it was impossible to rewrite a person’s personality, or rather their true nature.

When I thought about it like that, it seemed to be impossible to essentially erase Shin’s trauma, as I was thinking earlier.

If there was already a hole in his heart from losing something important, then it was impossible to erase it.

Even if his memories were erased, the empty hole in his heart from losing something would remain.

As Zahak-san said, it wasn’t a fundamental solution.

「I hate to say it, but the boy has no choice but to overcome his trauma on his own will. 」

I agreed with what Rostam said.

It may be the best thing to do. But how do we do that?

The only way to heal a wounded person was to recover what they lost.

As I was thinking about this, I wondered if something similar had happened before, and it occurred to me.

「That’s right! Then, if we can resurrect Shin’s mother…」

As I muttered, Rostam and Zahak looked at each other with questions on their faces.

「Resurrection? That’s impossible. No matter how powerful our creation skills are, we can’t bring the dead back to life. 」

I knew that, of course.

But when I said resurrection, I didn’t mean it in the literal sense.

The Manticore was like a mother to Shin. I meant creating a monster that inherited the memories of that monster.

When I first met the Snow Witch, Isu, her dear friend, the Dryad, was near death, and she panicked and was immersed in grief.

At that time, by cultivating part of the Dryad’s body, I succeeded in creating a monster that inherited her memories and personality.

So, could I create a monster that inherited the memories of the Manticore that raised Shin in the same way?

With my current level of monster cultivation skills, it should be possible.

I explained this to Rostam and the others, but their expression remained the same as it had been at the beginning, with the same difficult look on their faces.

「…If that’s the case, then the boy’s emotional support will return. 」

「Then what’s the problem? You have a heavy expression on your face. 」

「…Let’s say that the monster is born. But if that happens, Shin will return to where the Manticores are, not to this palace. He will be separated from Alisha. 」

「Ah. 」

That was right.

If that happened, Shin’s emotional support would completely shift to the monsters, and there was a high possibility that he would be separated from Alisha, whom he was finally able to reunite with.

Seeing Alisha still being so kind to her brother, I wanted to avoid seeing that outcome at all costs.

So what should I do?

Having come this far, I wanted to help Alisha and Shin too, so I thought of a way to do it, but at that moment, the door to the room opened and someone came in.

「So you were here after all. 」

「…Brother Masauda. 」

It was the older brother of Alisha. It was a man called Masauda, the first heir to the throne of this country.

Masauda glanced at me and Rostam, but snorted with no particular interest, and approached Shin, who was curled up on the bed, and Alisha, who was close to him.

「Shin…or should I say Alisha? You’ve been plotting against us all this time. 」

「…」

Alisha didn’t argue with Masauda’s accusing remark.

Shin had been seen by some of the soldiers when they first brought him to the palace, so it was only a matter of time before they noticed.

From Alisha’s point of view, it was an unavoidable situation in order to survive, but it didn’t matter to Masauda.

「I want you and your brother to leave this country immediately. You should be grateful that your life wasn’t taken. 」

「Hey, you! How dare you! 」

I was about to jump in at Masauda’s declaration of exile, but Rostam, who was beside me, stopped me, and he spoke in my place.

「Lord Masauda. You are the first heir to the throne of this country, so you are being very rash in your decision to punish them. I heard that your younger brother Shin is of legitimate lineage, and that your older sister was the daughter of the king’s official wife, even if she wasn’t of royal blood. It would be too selfish to banish them without any explanation. You are only the first heir to the throne. I don’t think it’ right to behave so selfishly, leaving the king of this country behind in the dark about this matter. 」

As expected of the reigning emperor of a country, Rostam declared this to Masauda in a dignified manner.

In response, Masauda spat out in disgust.

「The king of this country is already unable to carry out government affairs due to illness. In that case, I, the legitimate successor, am the only one who should take real power. 」

「But he’s still alive, isn’t he? 」

Masauda’s face twisted in obvious displeasure at Rostam’s response.

Rostam was infuriating Masauda.

Alisha then stood in front of Masauda as if to interrupt their argument.

「Brother Masauda. Regardless of me, my younger brother Shin is one of the legitimate successors of the royal bloodline of this country. Please do not banish him from this country. I will accept any punishment instead. 」

Her resolute attitude caused everyone around me, including Shin, who had been trembling in bed, to pop his head out from under the sheets and look at their sister’s back with a fearful expression.

「Very well. Then how about we decide this matter with a “Royal Battle” adjudication? 」

Royal Battle?

I wanted to ask someone again when I first heard the word, but the atmosphere around me made it difficult to do so, so I decided to keep quiet.

「I understand. I accept the challenge. 」

Hearing this from Alisha, Masauda left the room with the same unpleasant expression on his face as he had at the beginning.

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