New Problem

A week passed.

Hiroshi rested the entire week in his tent, while Rania's mother's condition began to improve day by day until she recovered completely. After months, she got up from that bed and came outside to see everyone.

Rania was very happy watching her mother smile again. Their whole family was happy and the people were glad to see them happy. Everywhere there was an atmosphere of happiness and joy, as if a sun had risen after years of darkness.

Happiness was everywhere, except in one place: inside Hiroshi. His eyes saw everything but didn't react, remaining calm, still, cold and empty. Hiroshi knew only one thing: he had done something that needed to be done.

Hukuro approached Hiroshi at that moment.

"See? Lady Elenya has recovered."

"Yes, the whole village is happy to see her."

"Of course! After about four months of being confined to her tent, it was truly a miracle."

"Sometimes miracles don't happen by themselves, but are made by someone."

"You're a really strange person," said Hukuro with a playful and joyful tone.

At that moment, Rania's gaze fell on Hiroshi who was staring at her. She then asked her parents for permission and came to the two of them.

"HOW ARE YOU GUYS!" she said enthusiastically.

"Fine, dear. How are you?" said Hukuro.

"FINE TOO! I'M SO HAPPY TODAY, MY MOTHER CAME OUT AFTER ALL THIS TIME!"

"It shows. Since we arrived here, this is the first day you've been happy," said Hiroshi.

"Ah, Hiroshi! I had forgotten about you, you know... there was all this commotion."

"Don't worry, everything went well."

"Yes, pretty much... until he locked himself in the tent for almost a week, asking me to bring him strange things, books and so on... But in the end, what did you do?"

Hiroshi, to change the subject and not wanting to answer, said:

"I told you: MAGIC! So Rania, finally your mother has recovered?"

"Yes, finally! Thank GOD, it was truly a miracle."

Then Rania took Hiroshi's arm.

"AH, HIROSHI! Come on, come with me, I haven't properly introduced you before."

"Oh no, there's no need for that."

"Hey, I said come!"

Rania dragged him along while Hukuro laughed watching them from behind.

Rania entered the tent. Mr. Tenen and his wife were sitting hand in hand. As soon as they saw Rania, they pulled back embarrassed.

"MAMA! PAPA! I wanted you to meet this person who came with me."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Hiroshi Nakamura."

"Hello, dear. I'm sorry I couldn't welcome you properly," said Tenen in a low voice.

"Don't worry about it. Mr. Hukuro has already taken care of everything: he showed me around the whole village and introduced me to your traditions."

"Good. Now let us introduce ourselves: I am Gralk Tenen Emberwain, she is my wife Elenya Emberwain."

"Nice to meet you. Rania, who is this boy and why did he come with you?" said Elenya.

"Mama, he is my servant, and he's here to help me."

"OHOHO, OK! You know you're at that age now..." said Tenen.

Rania rolled her eyes and said: "Yes, yes, I know, papa, that a person from Kopoto village must always marry someone from the village. And besides, I have no interest in Hiroshi."

"Is it the same for him too?" asked the father doubtfully.

"I don't feel emotions."

"What?" asked Tenen confused.

"Hahaha, Hiroshi has this habit of joking," said Rania trying to change the subject.

Then they talked a bit about things like life in the city and so on. After that, they left.

In the evening, Hiroshi was standing in front of the village stream watching the water flow in front of him. At a certain point, Elenya arrived.

Hiroshi looked at her and greeted her:

"Good evening, ma'am. How are you?"

"Fine. And you?"

"Fine. Did you come to watch the flowing water?"

"We could say that," she said calmly.

There was silence for a few minutes. Neither of them spoke about anything: they just watched the water flow.

After that, Hiroshi turned to leave, but before he took the first step, Elenya said:

"THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE."

"You found me out," he said without hesitation.

"I had already recognized you this morning. Your eyes and voice were the same."

"I want to ask you a favor."

"I already know: the secret will remain a secret."

"Thank you."

"And the person who is guilty?"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it now."

"Alright." Saying this, Hiroshi began to leave.

Then he stopped and, without turning around, asked:

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes, please go ahead."

"What does it mean to be human?"

The question was sudden for Elenya, but she reflected and then answered:

"In my opinion, being human means knowing how to do something you don't want to do, but you do it for the trust of another, as long as the thing is right."

"Good. Thank you for the answer. I'm going now." So Hiroshi continued to leave again.

He took a few steps and heard:

"Thank you again for all this."

Hiroshi said nothing, made a gesture with his hand and left.

The next day, Hukuro brought Hiroshi and Rania to a field located next to the village. The field was quite large: there were many boys and girls training brutally, some in hand-to-hand combat, others with bows or magic.

"So, guys, look here. This is where every person in our village grows up: here everyone comes and specializes in an art, because each of us must know an art to be able to defend ourselves in case of emergency. Rania, you know this very well, right?"

Rania said huffing: "Yes, I know. Of course I do."

"Then show us a little."

"Hukuro, you know very well that I sucked and that's why I abandoned it."

"I know, and that's why I'm saying it. Show us how you fight with a sword."

"NO! You know very well that I'm not good, and that's why I left it and dedicated myself to magic—"

"OHOHO! LOOK WHO'S HERE TODAY, GUYS: GRALK RANIKSON EMBERWAIN!"

Said a robust boy, sculpted by muscles. He was a semi-human too, but he was half-bear: he had ears like a bear, scars on his chest, long red hair, fiery red eyes, a loud and strong voice. With him came other boys and girls, most likely Rania's childhood friends. All of these had sculpted bodies, both males and females, as if they had done nothing but build muscle their whole lives.

Very soon they surrounded all three of them.

"Duraan, how many times have I told you to call me Rania, RANIA!"

"What's wrong with that? Your name is Ranikson, you can't deny it."

Hiroshi began looking toward Hukuro for an explanation of what was happening.

"Hiroshi, you know that Rania... her real name is Gralk Ranikson Emberwain. Her parents gave it to her for protection, so no evil eye would settle on her."

"And that's why I hate it! It's a boy's name and it sounds so ugly to pronounce, so I chose Rania instead of Ranikson."

"Ranikson, so you're still as fierce as you were when you were little."

"Duraan, stop it! I told you!" said Rania with an expression that was a mix of anger and embarrassment.

Then Duraan looked toward Hiroshi:

"Who is this shrimp? Since when are humans allowed in our village?"

"He came with me," said Rania.

"Ahhh, so you like these types of people," said Duraan mocking Rania.

"HE IS MY SERVANT AND HE CAME HERE TO SERVE ME!" said Rania shouting.

"Ok, ok, stay calm. You're still the same as when you were little."

Then Duraan looked toward Hiroshi and said:

"Hey, shrimp, do you want to hear what your mistress was like when she was little?"

"I'm not interested."

"Ranikson, your servant seems a bit COCKY," said Duraan raising his voice.

"CALL ME RANIA!"

"Hey, shrimp, do you want to have a wrestling match with m—"

"No."

"AT LEAST LISTEN FIRST!"

"Tell me."

Hukuro stepped forward:

"So, in our village the most appreciated game is wrestling, which is done on sand and clean ground. It's the traditional game, where you see who is stronger both muscularly and mentally."

Then Hukuro explained the general rules of wrestling.

"Hey, shrimp."

"Hiroshi. My name is Hiroshi Nakamura."

"A strange name, whatever... shrimp. Let's do this: let's have a match between you and me. Whoever wins will get Ranikson as a bride. Eh, what do you say?"