Seirei Gensouki Konna Sekai De Deaeta Kimi Ni
Chapter 28's

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 necessary teachings about Seirei no Tami. 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 truly amazing and full of kind-hearted 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, it's okay for you to discuss something?」

Focusing his gaze on Latifa with renewed determination, Rio spoke.

「E ~ toto, about what?」

Seeing the change in Rio's atmosphere, Latifa stiffened in confusion.

「I plan to leave the village in the near 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 "warming"]

「…」

Bikuri, Latifa's body twitched.

「Preparation .. or rather, after I learned everything I could from the village, I intended 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 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 right?」

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 ... It's true, but ..」

Latifa nodded even though she wasn't entirely sure.

Then he closed his eyes, fell into deep thought, and before long, was seen a determined gaze.

「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 thought what I said was crazy. I'm not sure if Onii-chan will believe 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 have been 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 also Japanese. 」[TL: [tilt] means that 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 . Initially I, 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. 」

「A— Why !? Why didn't you say anything !? 」

Hearing 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 a lot of time and thought of possible reasons. But do you know, I always wonder why we retain memories from our previous lives, but what about that? We are already inhabitants of this world. Even if we could go back, we would 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 puzzled 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 with a long sigh.

「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.

Section 2

「In addition, I gave a hint about the possibility of me being Japanese, such as the dishes I made and their names. Their names are from our previous world, right? Latifa however only accepted it without question. 」

"Well……"

It seemed like he never thought about it again since it was presented just like that. Latifa expression looked like she finally realized something.

「And I want to tell you something else. I already told you when we first started our journey that we would only travel together up to the Seirei no Tami region. At first that was my intention. For my own selfish reasons, I helped Latifa because if possible, I don't want you to be a murderer. 」

Rio spoke to Latifa, full of determination.

「……」

Yet at Rio's words, Latifa could only subconsciously stare at him without a word.

「However, when I found out that you are a former Japanese [person], I became really sympathetic to your circumstances. Soon after, you came to look at me like your own brother. 」

At that moment, Latifa understood the affection that Rio was trying to convey despite his tone being indifferent.

"I am worried . What should I do with you? Originally, I only saved you for my half-hearted reasons and selfish pride, but before I realized it, you became an irreplaceable existence to me. 」

With an expression similar to distress or something, Rio briefly glanced at Latifa.

「So I decided to accompany you here and make the village take you under their care. Not at all I expected for us to stay together for so long. 」

Rio paused his story for a moment and looked at Latifa with a serious expression.

Under her sharp gaze, Latifa slightly flinched.

「Latifa, I'm just a hypocrite who sympathizes with you, posing as a guardian to satisfy my own sense of vigilance about duty. To be honest, I might not deserve to be called "Onii-chan" by you. No, of course not. So it doesn't matter if you no longer think of me as your Onii-chan. 」

Revealing everything he had to say, Rio was quietly waiting for Latifa answer.

Thus, it was nothing more than satisfaction as he had said everything to Latifa.

So, it was only fair if he hated her for that.

He had already decided for himself when he told the truth.

Not long after, Latifa closed her eyes in contemplation. While biting her lips, she looked at Rio after finding his determination.

「Finally .. Finally, whether I can understand your heart. Why did this man save me. Why this guy treated me so well. Although these questions kept lingering in the corner of my mind, I did not think about it and told myself that it was because this person was my Onii-chan. Even so, the kindness I received from you is genuine. 」

Suddenly, Latifa started speaking in Japanese.

「... Kindness is fake, you know. 」

Rio replied with slightly widened eyes.

"No . It was real. I am very sensitive to human crime. Humans treat me like a pet, direct their evil and beat me every day. 」

Latifa revealed a smile that contained a self-deprecating gesture.

「I am very sensitive to human crime. Despite that, I reached a point where I no longer knew any other way to live other than to submit to my human master. Therefore, I wonder, how much of my selfishness will this person tolerate and when will he scold me? You seem kind-hearted so I said I wanted to follow you, but from the beginning, I observed you to see what kind of evil intentions you had. 」

Latifa spoke with a sad expression.

「However, after talking to you, such thoughts soon disappear. Because the affection I receive from you feels the same as the affection I received from my mother in this world. 」

Latifa turned around and, with an excited looking gaze, looked at Rio. [TL: the beautiful gaze of a loli]

「When I first met you, I was a broken, hollow individual, not the cheerful one you see now. For me such a thing, you .. You, give me this world, everything. Affection, freedom, peace, happiness, joy, family, friends. That's why —— 」[TL: please don't forget that even though she has loli charm radiated, she is still a former loli killer] [ED2: Killer Loli is fine but a beautiful loli .. I don't.. know ………. ]

[TL: He's braver than I was 20 years old]

After a short pause, Latifa opened her mouth here with renewed determination.

「That's why ... Even so, can I keep calling you Onii-chan?」

It was then that Rio noticed that Latifa, as well as himself, had been similarly restless from the start.

「... Yes, even if I leave Seirei no Tami village, Latifa will always be my beloved sister. 」

Rio deeply nodded, smiling gently on his face.

"Chan Onii!"

At that moment, overwhelmed by emotions, Latifa hugged Rio, hugging him with tears.

Rio firmly caught it.

It is not known how long the two have remained that way.

Rio continued to calm the crying Latifa.

Without knowing why, Latifa's cry comforted him.

Finally when she finished crying, Latifa, whose face was buried in Rio's chest, looked at him.

「... You know, I'm still immature so Onii-chan doesn't have to follow my selfishness. But, I want to know more about Onii-chan. So that when Onii-chan leaves the village, I won't feel lonely. Therefore, will you tell me about your previous life, Onii-chan? 」

With that, Latifa broke the silence between them.

Rio slightly nodded with a slight lonely smile.

「It's true .. although I don't think it's really interesting, if it doesn't matter to you. 」

She said that to him while gently stroking the head of Latifa, who was smiling shyly.

And then, Rio talked about his past life.

How she used to be a University student, the girl who was her childhood friend, how she developed a lifelong love for him, and how her feelings were never appreciated because she disappeared.

Similarly, Latifa told Rio about her previous life.

How he used to be an elementary school student, the many friends he had, how his parents were busy with work and he often found himself alone at home, and how nonetheless, he was, his family still has a good relationship.

The most surprising thing is probably how they both died in the same traffic accident.

The two continued to share stories about their previous lives until they saw the twilight had come down.

It was on that day that the two became siblings in the true sense.

「Oya. This ... You two seem closer than usual. I assume that everything went well? 」

After returning home, Arthura questioned them while staring in admiration at Latifa who was clinging to Rio.

「Ya .. I told Latifa about how I would leave the village soon. 」

Reacting to Arthura's view, Rio reported the results of their discussion.

「Yah! You know, I have decided to earnestly wait for the return of Onii-chan after she leaves the village. 」

Seeing Latifa carefree smile, tears dripped from Arthura's eyes.

「Hoho .. I become more easily touched to tears every year .. Rio-dono, I am truly grateful for saving this child. 」

Arthura clasped Rio's hand in his honor.