105 - Journey of Memories
To prepare for the Kirin, I decided to view the memories of the Fifth Generation, and I came across one particular memory.
It was a shed where the Fifth Generation kept animals as a hobby; in the back room, a Kirin was eating.
While the Fifth Generation was tending to the other animals, a servant in charge was trying to stop someone near the entrance.
"You can't! Lord Fredricks said no one is allowed in!"
"Get out of my way! I have something to say to the old man!"
The one who burst in violently was the young Sixth Generation.
He looked to be in his late twenties. He was younger and more wild than the version I usually saw.
"Father, what is the meaning of this!"
As the Kirin fled to the back of the room, Fredricks, the Fifth Generation, let out a sigh.
"What do you want? Did I not tell you not to enter here?"
As the impassive Fredricks turned around, Fines, the Sixth Generation, grabbed him by the collar.
There was a difference in height, and against the young and powerful Fines, the small Fredricks looked as though he would inevitably lose.
"Why did you keep the Kirin a secret! Is it for a presentation? Or a replacement for the Walt family horses? Rumors are spreading, and inquiries for confirmation are coming from other territories—"
At first glance, it looked as though Fines, the Sixth Generation, was unilaterally grilling Fredricks, the Fifth Generation, about the Kirin.
Fines seemed to be the one in the wrong.
"...Let go. Who do you think you are speaking to in such a manner?"
As Fredricks spoke, he threw Fines on the spot, slamming him onto a pile of stacked straw.
He clapped his hands, brushed off the dirt, and returned to tending to the Kirin.
Timidly, the Kirin approached Fredricks and began to eat its feed.
"...Isn't this a bit cruel?"
"Which part?"
When the Fifth Generation asked that, I looked at the Fifth and Sixth Generations within the memory. When I indicated with my gaze that it was both, the Fifth Generation laughed.
"True, both are cruel. Yeah, that's how it was."
As the Fifth Generation began to walk, I followed. The surrounding scenery turned gray, and a different scene unfolded.
It was inside the mansion.
A woman in her late thirties or forties was standing before a door, looking completely at a loss along with a servant.
"Come out. It is already time to leave by carriage."
As the Fifth Generation in the memory—Fredricks—approached the distressed women, he kicked the door open.
"Stop indulging a child's selfishness forever. Now, take her away."
When the subordinates entered the room, they dragged a single girl out.
"I hate this! Why do I have to marry into a place like that! They aren't enemies! Besides, they mocked me, calling me an upstart!"
While I was struggling to understand the situation, the Fifth Generation standing beside me explained.
"This was before I picked up the Kirin. I was terrible back then. Or rather, my generation was the worst. I have no good memories."
The girl dragged from the room was around my age. No, she seemed younger than me.
"Just because I'm a concubine's child! He tells me to marry into a house that mocks us! You're the worst. I wish you would just die!"
The girl glared at Fredricks, but his expression did not change in the slightest. The woman who appeared to be the girl's mother looked sorrowful.
"Buying a mother with money, scattering children like things... you piece of shit upstart! Thinking that I'm your daughter makes me want to die!"
The girl's mother slapped her daughter.
Fredricks remained expressionless, and as he left the scene, he said only one thing.
"Hurry. There is no time."
Even as the girl crouched in the hallway and began to cry, Fredricks did not even look back.
Seeing this, I spoke.
"Isn't this, frankly, too cruel? I feel like there were better ways to handle it, even for a political marriage."
Hearing my words, the Fifth Generation only muttered, "True."
"Now you understand. I used my children as tools for marriage to secure heirs and vassals. The affection I poured into animals was likely greater than the affection I gave to any single child."
As the Fifth Generation began to walk, the next scene was at night.
There, a small girl with short golden hair, wearing a white dress-like garment, was running around.
In appearance, they could look like either a boy or a girl, but what was stranger was Fredricks.
The Fifth Generation in the memory was playing with the small child with a smile.
"What, so you were kind to small children."
The Fifth Generation beside me shook his head. Then, as he said "It's almost time," I looked at the child.
The running child transformed into the form of a Kirin, jumped high, landed in front of Fredricks, and rubbed its forehead against him affectionately.
Its horn was not extended; it was just like a child acting spoiled with a parent.
"...Eh?"
Once I saw it, I understood. The Kirin had been in the form of a child.
"I looked into various things, and it seems this is why the Kirin became a symbol of prosperity. Apparently, female Kirins can choose males of other races as partners. In other words, Kirins married into prosperous houses."
I looked from the Fifth Generation to the Kirin acting spoiled with Fredricks.
The Kirin in human form had been a child of about five years old.
"Did a man in his fifties lay a hand on a five-year-old girl?"
As soon as I said that, the Fifth Generation leaped up and brought his fist crashing down on my head. It hurt immensely.
"Are you an idiot! How could I do such a thing, you moron!"
"But you said something about marrying!"
As I argued with the Fifth Generation while clutching my head with teary eyes, the scene changed again. Occasionally, I saw scenes where the children or the Fifth Generation's family complained about how he doted on animals.
"Are beasts more important to you than your own children!"
"A father who has never once shown me a smile..."
"Am I inferior even to dogs and cats! Say something, Father!"
Even so, I saw memories where the Fifth Generation never directed a smile toward his own children, and spent all his time working except when he was doting on animals.
Then, it was about five years after the Kirin had been injured.
From there, the Fifth Generation and the Kirin had a conversation.
"It would have been easier if you'd shown them in order."
"...The impression was too strong; the faces of those brats just keep floating up. Put up with it."
Inside the shed, just as when they first met—he had the child, who looked about five years old, resting their head on his lap in the shed, and was stroking their back.
The Kirin child, lying there comfortably, spoke to Fredricks.
"Fredricks, do you want to be together? I'll be Fredricks' wife."
Hearing that, Fredricks laughed with amusement.
"I see. You'll marry me. But you are a child. When you grow up, I might consider it. Your injury is healing well, Mei."
"Yeah!"
His hair had become whiter, and he looked more haggard than before.
"...It feels like a grandfather and grandchild."
"That's why I brushed it off vaguely. Besides, this is about all I remember. Still, the actual me is dead, and if the Kirin hasn't returned to House Walt, then she's forgotten... or did she think I broke my promise?"
If that were the case, it would be the Fifth Generation's responsibility, but there was nothing I could do about it. At this rate, I'd remain the man who angered the Kirin by trying to kiss her.
Fredricks spoke.
"...Then, it's time to leave this place. I can't buy any more time."
At those words, Mei tilted her head.
Then, the scene became a grassland.
Grass grew up to the waists of the Fifth Generation and me. The wind was strong, and the sky was blue.
As that place was shown, Fredricks led Mei, who was in the form of a Kirin, outside and pointed to the sky.
"Look, aren't those your companions?"
"Yeah! Mother is there!"
A group of Kirins flying in the sky raced around Fredricks and Mei as if on guard.
"I see. There have been many rumors lately of Kirins being seen here. Mei, I've enjoyed our time together."
Saying so, Fredricks lightly patted the area around Mei's neck.
"Fredricks?"
"Mei, the royal family has said they want to see you. There's a possibility they'll take you as you are. If you're captured, you'll spend the rest of your life in a dungeon."
"Together. I want to be with Fredricks forever."
"I feel the same. But I have no time left. Look, your family is waiting."
Fredricks had a subtle expression only when he spoke the word "family." As Mei resisted, one Kirin descended from the sky.
Whether it was Mei's mother or not, she looked at Fredricks for a while, retracted her horn, and approached Mei. Fredricks watched this in silence.
When the mother Kirin returned to the sky, Mei looked back and forth between her mother and Fredricks many times.
"Come on, go now."
"But..."
"I'll be fine. Besides, we'll meet again someday."
"It's a promise. Let's meet again. By the time we meet next, I'll be big, so I'm going to be Fredricks' bride."
Fredricks nodded with a smile. Then, Mei looked back repeatedly, stopping many times as if she wanted to return.
"Go! You belong with your family. That way... you'll be happy!"
Fredricks, who never cried for his children, was crying for the Kirin as he shouted for her to go quickly.
Seeing that, I spoke.
"I understand that a lot happened, but this is..."
"Maybe she was looking for me. She seemed to be moving alone, not with the herd. In that case, did she notice me? Honestly, she remembered a promise from decades ago so faithfully."
Seeing the slightly embarrassed Fifth Generation, I—
"No, what am I supposed to do about this? She was definitely directing hostility toward me."
"...Won't she understand if you talk to her? Rest assured, that child is clever. Cleverer than Shannon or Aria!"
I held my head in my hands.
When I returned to the conference room with the round table, the Sixth Generation was there, so I let out a complaint.
The Fifth Generation was gone, seemingly secluded in his room.
"I now fully understand why the Sixth Generation became a delinquent and ran away from home."
The Sixth Generation gave a wry smile, scratching his cheek with his fingertip as he looked at me.
"Well, it's true I was wild back then, and I was punched and thrown around many times. There were various things regarding the Kirin too. But thinking about it now, the Fifth Generation's judgment might have been correct."
Sighing, the Sixth Generation crossed his arms and fell into thought.
Then, he told me various things.
"Liel, how do you view the Fifth Generation?"
"...Cold, or rather, an animal lover. Well, as a parent, I have my doubts."
"Right. I think so too. I think so, but still..."
As if something didn't sit right, the Sixth Generation made a decision and beckoned me.
"While you're at it. Look into my memories as well."
Told that, I proceeded to the memory room of the Sixth Generation.
As the two of us passed through the door of the Sixth Generation's memories, we were in the mansion of House Walt.
The young Sixth Generation was complaining to people who seemed to be his mother.
"How can I serve a father like that! I'm leaving the house! Just let someone else inherit the family!"
The teenage Sixth Generation—Fines—seemed to be in the middle of complaining and storming out of the house.
However, one woman stood up and spoke impassively.
"You foolish son! To speak to your father in such a manner without knowing anything..."
Fines, troubled by his mother who had begun to cry, left the room as if escaping. Then, while he was troubled by the door, a voice could be heard from inside.
Five women were talking about something.
"He'll understand someday."
"Because that man is the one suffering the most."
"But, especially for Fines..."
Four women—the concubines—were comforting the mother who had started crying.
(This is somewhat different from what I imagined.)
I thought it would be more strained, with conflicts over the succession. But in reality, they were getting along.
Fines, perhaps unable to forgive the fact that his mothers did not blame the Fifth Generation, grit his teeth.
His expression truly looked as though he hated the Fifth Generation.
"What is the matter, Big Brother?"
The one who appeared there was a girl named Mireia, who looked exactly like Miranda—no, Miranda looked like her.
She, who would marry into House Sarcly and become the ancestor of Miranda and Shannon, looked at her brother Fines, who had a scary face, with her golden eyes.
"I-it's nothing. I just couldn't forgive Father, so I protested. Then, I was the only one blamed. ...Good grief, what am I even telling you."
Watching the Sixth Generation speak honestly to his sister, I looked at the girl named Mireia and thought.
(She seems a bit too composed for her age.)
Different from Miranda, she gave an impression closer to Novem. However, her habit of giggling reminded me of Miranda or Shannon.
"Big Brother is always angry. But Father always looks so sad."
When told that by his sister, Fines punched the wall.
"He's sad? No way! He treats us like things. You might be treated like a tool too!"
Mireia cast her eyes down and said one thing.
"I cannot see, so I cannot even be a tool."
At that, Fines also looked down.
"S-sorry. But I've already decided. I'm leaving this house."
"Big Brother?"
"That's right. Maybe I'll become an adventurer! In the future, I'll become a first-class adventurer and punch that father of mine flying!"
Mireia, looking up at the tall Fines, said one thing.
"...I hate the current Big Brother."
Saying so, she turned her back and walked away.