Chapter 31: Restraint for Yuuki

[POV Rena]

That night, after parting from the group, instead of taking me Fearborn hunting, Tirta actually invited me for a walk. His steps were slow, so relaxed and carefree. Both hands were in his pockets.

Meanwhile, I walked half a meter behind him. With my hand gripping my sword, ready to draw it anytime.

"Relax, loosen your grip on your sword, there's nothing here."

Hearing his words, I completely released my grip on my sword.

Snakes naturally have a very good ability to detect heat. Some can even detect other creatures from over a dozen meters away. In the form of the legendary snake incarnation, it made Tirta one of the best mid-range detectors in the organization.

For a few minutes, Tirta's whistling was the only symphony filling the silence.

"What do you want to talk about, Tirta-san?"

"Hoh~ you finally realized."

I sighed softly.

Splitting the group with various reasonable-sounding excuses was his specialty. He often used it for several reasons. Sometimes for good reasons, sometimes just to slack off while we did all the work.

"Is this about Yuuki-san?"

A faint offended smile appeared on his lips. "How did you know?"

"Just a woman's instinct."

"Are you his girlfriend or something?"

That tease somehow made me unconsciously put on a sour face.

Somehow, when associated with Yuuki, my chest often felt tight. Sometimes it bloomed too, sometimes something hot flowed to my cheeks. Even though I knew, there was already another woman who had filled his heart first. Every time I remembered that reality, I couldn't help my eyes from staying wide open.

"Okay-okay, I don't want to get caught up in a soap opera romance drama between you two. Let's change the topic and get straight to the point."

"Hmph!"

I puffed out my cheeks. I was really careless letting him read all my heart's contents in just one glance. I really wanted to get angry and hit him but realized if I did he might just tease me more.

I took a breath first, calming myself. "So, what do you want to talk about regarding Yuuki, Tirta-san. Is this about Xiang Yu residing within his body?"

He shook his head slowly. Silent for a moment, then stopped only to look up at the starless night sky. A faint, bitter-looking smile was etched on his lips.

"Do you know about the essence of the hero within us, Rena?"

"The merging of two souls. The present life and our own past life as the worshipped heroes. From that worship, the manifestation of our power is obtained."

Clap. Clap.

He clapped his hands. "A hundred for you," he said. "In the past, we were worshipped as heroes. But... what do you think distinguishes us from our past selves? Why were those people called heroes? And why can we never become like them in the present?"

I furrowed my brow.

Something that complicated had never crossed my mind. I had never questioned it. Besides, why would I question things like that?

In the midst of confusion and inability to answer, Tirta answered his own question again.

"Murder. Bloodshed. And conflict."

That was when my eyes widened. My stomach acid almost came out before I had to swallow it back down. The cables in my head felt like they had just been reconnected, although there were still some things that needed connecting to draw further conclusions.

"What... do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Tirta grinned—a mysterious grin that was hard to explain. "Without conflict, bloodshed, or murder, heroes would never exist. Someone cannot become a hero without staining their hands with at least one of those three things."

"Wait! Aren't there heroes who only fight for the people?!"

I didn't know why I was shouting. It felt like my blood was boiling hearing his words. It was something hard to believe.

Tirta shook his head slowly. "You think you're exempt from that? Let me peel back who you are, Momotarou. Do you think your past self was just an ordinary young man who saved villagers from Oni? Well, Oni might be Fearborn that manifested in the past. The narrative about you fighting Oni might be true, but have you ever thought that what you killed wasn't Oni? What if..."

"Stop... stop... stoooop!"

My anger suddenly exploded! Something within me couldn't hold it anymore. I almost drew my sword, but Tirta had already pressed a point on my neck with his finger, making my body freeze, petrified with my power flow blocked and unable to move.

He then crouched down, my red eyes now filled with bloodlust like an Oni hunter staring directly into his blue eyes that suddenly became so dark, almost like the ocean floor that swallows everything, even surface light itself.

"So... what if the figure of the Oni in that tale was a metaphor for corrupt individuals, dictators, bandits, or anyone who oppressed the people of that era? Or... what if he was merely a political rival of Momotarou who had been slandered? Are you still convinced that you are the 'purest' of heroes, o Momotarou?"

My breath was still racing, as if it wasn't just my anger, but also Momotarou's within me. It felt like our pride was being trampled, our shame exposed.

He smiled, lifting my chin. "In one minute, you'll be able to move. Try to calm yourself. Don't end up beheading me, remember."

I bit my lower lip that kept trembling without pause. A metallic, fishy taste flooded my mouth. It was my blood. I bit my lip until it bled just to hold back the anger that kept exploding uncontrollably.

Slowly, the tips of my fingers began to move. My hand still wanted to draw my sword. But I held back with all my might. Just as all my pulse points recovered, I immediately threw myself against the wall. Regulating my breath, and doing whatever to calm myself. The still-sheathed katana at my waist I released and threw far away.

I didn't know, whether it was my anger, or Momotarou's anger, or... our anger together? Still, I had to calm myself.

After almost five minutes of restraining myself, my anger began to subside. This was the first time I had exploded uncontrollably. Even since I received Hero's Incarnation, I had never once exploded.

Across from me, Tirta looked at me dismissively. "Seems lucky I didn't need to poison you to paralyze you. At least we're both uninjured."

"We almost... killed each other... you know!" I was still panting.

"Now you realize, don't you, who we really are?"

I nodded weakly.

"Maybe because you're a hero with a fairy tale-like narrative, you never remembered your past deeds. Most of your feelings might also be distorted by the beliefs that shaped your heroic story. That's why you never realized."

"But..." His words stopped again. Looking at me meaningfully. "What about those whose heroic narrative is history? Those written with full personalities from the past, those who remember almost every detail of the past like Rachel and Yuuki?"

Even though I was still panting, I tried to listen.

"Maybe Jeanne's narrative is more controlled due to being filtered by the narrative of her saintly side, but... what about Yuuki, who is portrayed as both a villain and a hero with various amoral tactics in his past? Can you imagine how much he suffers because he remembers everything from his past? That's also the reason for how unstable he is. You must also see it in many incarnates whose heroes come from historical narratives."

"Actually... what are you trying to say, Tirta-san?"

He crouched down, gently touching my shoulder. "I want you to watch over him. Don't let him cross the line. He—no, actually almost all incarnates—when they cross that very thin taboo line, they will be swallowed by the ambitions of their past. They won't hesitate. They will go mad. In the past, we knew them as heroes, but in this era, such people are better known as 'dictators' who will lose themselves forever."

"So... that's the reason we shouldn't interfere with matters in the human world?"

He nodded solemnly, a small nod that explained everything.

"Why don't you explain it to him?"

"Because it's pointless. He’s going to cross the line anyway. I need someone to restrain him. And I believe... you are the right person. Keep watching him."

"I understand."

"You accept it?"

"Gladly."

On that silent night, I accepted that request, something that might bind my fate with Yuuki in the future. Becoming a restraint that holds a monster back from crossing that thin, untouchable line.

***

And because of that promise, I stand here now. With my katana drawn, pointed at the one who has long embedded his name in my heart.

"Rena... why are you here?"

"To stop you."

After that, our conversation was only about the clashing of sharp metals, sparking flames, tearing the silence, and reflecting the sunlight trying to bathe us in its warmth.