CH 102

Chapter 102 – Grave Visit

(TL: This chapter is written from Totoki Koine’s POV.)

It was good that we brought Ior, who had been born from the big bud in our garden, into our house to talk, since he fell asleep right away. He was most likely still tired.

He was still holding hands with Mahina, even as he slept. Looking at them like that, they really looked like a brother and sister, even though their facial features were very different.

I had always wanted a little brother, so this was a lucky incident for me, but I also really wondered who this child really was.

Onee-san said that he wasn’t a bad kid and that Mahina got along really well with him, but what in the world was that power to control plants…?

“Come to think of it, today was the anniversary of dad’s passing, right? Should we go visit his grave?” (Aika)

Hearing onee-chan’s question, I could only return the question to her, unsure what to do.

Every year, our whole family would visit the cemetery together. With the world like this, it didn’t seem like my mom would be able to come back. But since the three of us were gathered here, I still wanted to go visit my dad.

But we also had to keep Ior in mind…

“Then why don’t we take Ior-chan with us?” (Aika)

“Eh? Is that okay?” (Koine)

“We can’t just leave him here, can we? Or should we call off visiting dad’s grave?” (Aika)

“I… want to go visit his grave. But isn’t it dangerous out there?” (Koine)

“I wanna go!” Mahina cut in.

Well, now that our family’s youngest daughter says so…

“W-What should we do, onee-chan?” (Koine)

“Hmm… This child’s guardians might be out looking for him, too.” (Aika)

Oh, that’s right. Ior said that he was looking for his older sister. They were probably together before he fell asleep.

In that case, she could be somewhere in the city. If she was still looking for him even now, I wanted to take him to her right away.

“….That’s true. Let’s go visit dad’s grave and look for this child’s sister while we’re at it, I guess.” (Koine)

“Okay. I’ll get ready to go right away then.” (Aika)

And just like that, we got into onee-chan’s car and headed for Akama Cemetery, where my father’s grave was located. While we were in the car, Ior woke up, so we began to ask him various questions.

“Hey, Ior-chan, what is your onee-chan like?” (Koine)

Ior would answer our questions while holding onto Mahina’s hand, looking a bit uneasy. Of course, all of this was done through Mahina’s interpretation.

“He said, she’s scary when she gets mad,” Mahina said, telling us Ior’s answer.

“I see. She’s not very kind, is that it?” (Koine)

“Hoh, so she’s a beautiful woman then. How old is your older sister?” (Aika)

This time, onee-chan threw out a question.

Then, Ior pointed at onee-chan and grunted, ‘nn’.

“Ara? Is she about my age?” (Aika)

Onee-chan looked into the rearview mirror and saw that he was pointing at her, causing her to smile. After hearing Mahina speak to him, he nodded slightly.

That answer made a lot of things clear. Apparently, Ior’s older sister was in her early twenties. I was relieved to hear that she was a proper adult.

In fact, I initially thought that his older sister might be a twin sister or a teenage girl. It would have been dangerous for such a young person to be out looking for him alone in the city.

So at the very least, my hope that his older sister was an adult was answered. Next, I asked him where his mother and father were. Ior responded, saying that they lived together.

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But it seemed that his older sister was by his side more often than his parents were.

By the way, his older sister’s name was Yofel, and it was clear that she wasn’t Japanese. He had never heard of a place called Japan, and they apparently lived in a place called the ‘Femir Forest’.

They had been gathering wild plants there, as they did every day, but the next thing he knew, he was in our house’s garden. While asking him questions, I was looking out the window at the scenery passing by.

I was searching or an adult woman who resembled Ior. But unfortunately, I didn’t find any person like that. Onee-chan was also looking for such a figure as she drove around, but she was also coming up empty-handed.

I wish I knew where she was living so I could take him there…

“Onee-chan, do you know where the Femir Forest is?” (Koine)

“It’s my first time hearing of it. And if he lives in the forest, it probably means that he’s the child of some tribe in a foreign country, right? You know, like the Maasai tribe, for example.” (Aika)

“Ahh, I see.” (Koine)

Then did he come to Japan for sightseeing? …No, he did say that he was picking wild plants around his house until not long ago… Huh? Then…?

If they came for sightseeing, then there must have been some kind of vehicle involved. It was strange that he didn’t remember getting on a plane, boat, or anything, for that matter.

And if he was picking wild plants, then even more so. Maybe someone attacked him at the time and knocked him unconscious, then brought him to Japan while he was out cold?

Then what was he doing in our garden? I suddenly thought to myself, doubts rising in my mind. Plus, hiding in that big of a flower bud…?

The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I asked onee-chan too, but she had absolutely no clue about Ior’s origin.

How did he come to Japan? Why was he in our house’s garden? And where was the Femir Forest? I couldn’t answer any of these questions.

“Hmmm. For now, let’s try to find his sister. Maybe we can figure something out then.” (Aika)

Onee-chan was right. We just needed to gather what little information we had about Ior’s older sister and search for her.

If she was as beautiful as Ior, then anyone who saw her would surely remember her.

But looking from the car like this, there really weren’t many people around. Rather, there were even fewer people now that we were entering the mountain where the cemetery was located.

Still, there were people who managed the cemetery, so we might as well ask them about Ior’s older sister.

In the meantime, we had almost arrived at the parking lot of the cemetery.

But at that moment…

—BOOM!

“Hyaaaah?!” (Koine)

Suddenly, there was a colossal crash from the roof of the car, and it dented in slightly.

W-What, did something fall…?

“W-W-Wait a second, what was that sound?!” (Aika)

Onee-chan didn’t seem to notice what was happening to the roof.

I tried to tell her about the dent in the roof, but—BANG, BANG, BANG!

Several more sounds rang out, and the ceiling caved in even deeper.

“Gigyaaaaah!!”

Hearing that roar, I felt a chill run down my spine. After all, that was the same roar that I had heard many times while hiding in the dungeonized school.