Chapter: 146. A Lifetime Commitment
“Sakura-chan’s cooking is truly incredible~ Even for an old woman like me, it’s the first time I’ve had such delicious miso soup.”
In the Inoue family’s kitchen.
After the old man had breakfast early in the morning, he headed to the workshop behind the house, leaving the elderly woman and Nagi to prepare today’s meals in the kitchen.
The elderly woman couldn’t stop praising Nagi after tasting the dish she had cooked.
“No, no, you are exaggerating~”
“You’re really too modest. Not only are you cute, but your personality is also so virtuous. You’ll definitely be a good wife in the future. How lucky is the guy who gets to marry Sakura-chan~” the elderly woman said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, a visible blush slowly spread across Nagi’s cute face, as she pinched the hem of her apron, deliberately assuming a shy and bashful posture.
Nagi was aware that she was misunderstood by the two elderly people as being in a taboo sibling relationship with Kanade, so she naturally had to put on a sufficient facade.
After so many years of effort, playing the role of a pure and shy girl was something she could easily do.
“By the way, Sakura-chan, you and your brother… are you really siblings?” Suddenly, the elderly woman changed her expression and asked in a lowered voice.
After spending the last few days together, the elderly woman could indeed sense the deep affection between the two, but saying they were siblings seemed off. Their way of interacting and speaking lacked the casualness typical of siblings, and instead, it felt somewhat formal and respectful.
Furthermore, this statement might be a bit impolite, but after seeing Nagi’s breathtakingly beautiful appearance, Kanade’s looks compared to her seemed to fall short of the average for ordinary people. It was hard to imagine that the two truly shared a blood relationship.
If the two had to lie about being siblings for some reason—this reason might bring some comfort to the elderly woman’s heart.
Because she truly did not want to see these two gentle and kind children fail to achieve happiness due to this complicated relationship.
However, Nagi’s response shattered the elderly woman’s last hope.
“Yes, I’ve been with Subaru-kun since we were little~” Nagi admitted with a gentle and happy smile, as if recalling wonderful memories.
In a sense, this statement wasn’t exactly a lie.
After all—since the definition of “childhood friends” is children who have grown up together, and siblings can also be considered childhood friends, then conversely, she and Kanade, having grown up together, could be viewed as “siblings.”
Nagi inwardly mocked herself.
“Is that so… I’ll just take it that the old woman is being muddled and asking a strange question.” The elderly woman quickly shifted the topic.
But as Nagi turned her attention back to preparing the meal, the elderly woman couldn’t help but sneak a glance at the cute girl from the corner of her eye.
“Don’t worry. Heaven will surely bless these gentle children.”
The elderly woman murmured to herself.
Meanwhile.
Kanade arrived at the workshop at the back of the house.
After being reminded by Black Flame for several days, Kanade realized he could not stay in this small town any longer.
Although his instincts hadn’t detected any threats or ominous premonitions, this time Kanade decided to trust the strange power within him, after all, it was because of this power that he had managed to escape danger multiple times in the past.
As Kanade slowly pushed open the workshop’s door, a wave of heat rushed towards him.
It seemed the forging work had already begun in the workshop.
However, Kanade only saw the old blacksmith there, while Waka, who should have been learning here, was nowhere to be found.
The noise Kanade made by pushing the door caused the busy old man to turn around.
“Ah, it’s you, little brother.”
The old man quickly understood the slightly puzzled look on Kanade’s face and explained with a smile, “That child Waka left early this morning to play with the kids in town. After all, she’s still a child, and with summer vacation starting, she naturally doesn’t want to focus on the dull task of learning blacksmithing.”
Hearing this, Kanade realized that summer vacation had indeed started.
The days of fleeing had made him lose his normal sense of time.
—Will little Nagi feel anxious because she couldn’t return home today during summer vacation, worrying Renji and the others?
—And if it’s summer vacation… little Nagi’s birthday is also approaching, right?
Kanade couldn’t help but think.
Just as Kanade was lost in thought about “summer vacation,” the old man’s next words pulled him back to reality.
“Are you preparing to leave, little brother?”
“Eh? How did you—”
“—Ah, well, little brother has seemed restless these past few days.” The old man, busy with his hammer while facing away from Kanade, laughed, his sturdy shoulders slightly shaking.
“And also that night, when the young girl tried to save me, your reaction… it seems your situation isn’t as calm as it appears on the surface, is it?” The old man continued slowly without turning around, maintaining his posture with his back to Kanade. “But I won’t pry; for your act of saving me, I can only express my heartfelt gratitude.”
“If it weren’t for you, that old woman wouldn’t have been able to take care of herself, and Waka might have been taken away by the people from the orphanage. So, you are a great benefactor to our Inoue family.”
“….Sakura has always been a gentle and kind child. She would not sit idly by when someone in need is in front of her.” This statement from Kanade felt like it was meant for both the old man and himself: “So, you don’t need to feel guilty about it.”
“Indeed, you really are a gentle person… sigh, if that young girl weren’t yours… ah no, I’ve unintentionally started to speak out of turn again,” the old man said, putting down his hammer, and just from the sight of his back, one could sense that he seemed to have sighed in relief.
“Finally, I’ve completed this thing.”
“Completed it?” Kanade asked curiously.
“Ah, this is a masterpiece that I dreamed of completing in the past. Unfortunately, my body collapsed before I could finish it back then, and I never expected to have the strength to pick up a hammer again one day.”
“Since I know you won’t stay here for long, I’ve been returning to the workshop early each day these past few days, and it happened just in time to finish this thing…”
Hearing this, Kanade curiously approached the old man.
The old man’s beaming smile slowly turned as he faced Kanade.
“As a token of gratitude for your life-saving actions, please allow me to give you this piece of jewelry, as well as my blessings for the happiness you two will find together in the future.”
Just as the old man’s words fell, a dazzling light reflected in Kanade’s eyes.
“This is made from a very rare and precious iron ore excavated in the town. Even I probably won’t find such precious raw materials again in the future?”
“This is… a ring?” Kanade stared blankly at the exquisitely crafted rings in front of him.
“Yes, I used to be the most renowned blacksmith in town~ Especially for rings, countless people came all the way to seek my work… ah no, I’ve started to ramble on about pointless things again, haha.” After the old man laughed heartily, he revealed a very serious expression.
“I know that your relationship with the young girl is somewhat complicated. However, after observing you both over these days, I can understand that you love each other dearly and wish to spend your lives together… but for a girl, even if they don’t speak of it, they all secretly long for a promise.” As the old man spoke, he looked at the window beside the workshop.
Kanade followed the old man’s gaze.
Through the smudged glass, he could see the silhouettes of the elderly woman and Nagi busy in the kitchen.
“Well, consider it that I’ve overstepped my boundaries, but I give you this pair of rings; how to use them is up to you to decide, little brother.” The old man said, leaving the workshop with satisfaction.
“……A promise, huh?” Kanade stared blankly at the pair of rings in front of him.
To be honest, Kanade had always envied the relationship of this elderly couple.
For him, being able to accompany little Nagi like this elderly couple until old age would be his greatest happiness.
However, the old man’s words also reminded him—perhaps he needed to give little Nagi a promise during this journey with no foreseeable future.
With that thought, Kanade slowly reached out his hand.
—————–
The Arctic.
A land of extreme cold.
The research base of the special circle SEMA.
The world’s top linguists had gathered here, and in front of them were thousands of photos and scans of a giant stone tablet.
They were following the orders of the special circle SEMA, starting from scratch to decipher the “Book of the Future” before them.
The complex patterns carved into the stone were messages left by phantasmagorical monsters.
Each pattern was a collection of vast amounts of information.
In a sense, this was the script of the future.
In the past, the special circle SEMA, with the help of the Elementalist Guardians, successfully grasped the rules and methods for deciphering these characters.
However, if the deciphering by the Elementalist Guardians had contained errors, it would mean that this method might be wrong, and the special circle SEMA would need to start over and explore a new deciphering method.
Adam was among this group of linguists, assisting with the work on-site.
Not only was he one of the members of the board of the special circle SEMA, but he was also a genius specializing in the field of language.
Ordinary people could hardly imagine this, considering the strong contrast with his towering, mountain-like physique.
But at this moment, Adam’s face was haggard, his huge dark circles and wrinkled suit showing that he had been tirelessly engaged in this work for a long time, lacking the energy to maintain his usual dignified and imposing image.
“Mr. Adam, we finally have results about the Infinite Academy incident.”
At that moment, the secretary’s projection appeared on the screen in front of Adam.
The secretary on the screen was looking at a physical checklist containing the investigation report on the previous Infinite Academy incident.
Due to time-related domains being blocked at the scene, organizing the circumstances and comparing each person’s testimonies had taken an unimaginable amount of time.
But after a week, this investigation finally produced the information Adam had been looking for.
“Who was the most suspicious person during the Infinite Academy incident?” Adam wearily leaned back in his chair, casually asking as he rubbed his forehead.
The deciphering work in front of him had drained so much of his energy that he had lost interest in the outcome of this question.
However, the secretary’s next response made Adam jump up from his chair—
“…..Mr. Adam, while this result isn’t a hundred percent accurate, after the investigation… the currently most suspicious person, who faced all phantasmagorical monsters in the Infinite Academy is—”
“Nagi Hoshimiya.”
At that moment, another message followed quickly—
“Report! ACE Midrash has discovered the whereabouts of Kanade Tsukimi.”
“And he is with the End.”
