Chapter 30: Hiro Minamino's Gift X The Life Energy Column
Roy sipped his tea in silence. Tanjiro sat beside him, squirming, the unspoken truth a stone in his throat.
The two women's faces grew pale. At first, Naoko didn't understand, but then the realization dawned on her. Her hands twisted in her lap, her fingers digging into the fabric of her kimono.
After a long, heavy silence, the old woman let out a sigh that seemed to age her another ten years. "Hiro was... a stubborn man," she said, her voice trembling. "He treasured that pack more than his own life. He always said... the only way it would ever return without him... is if he were gone."
The pack was here. The man was not. The meaning was clear.
"Child," the old woman said, her voice cracking, her formidable willpower the only thing holding her back from collapsing into grief. "Tell me the truth. My Hiro... he's not coming back, is he?"
The air in the small cabin grew heavy, colder than the blizzard raging outside. Tanjiro turned a desperate, pleading gaze to Roy.
Roy glanced at the little girl, Shizuka, who was looking from her mother to her grandmother and then to the two strangers with wide, confused eyes. He nodded at Tanjiro, who understood immediately and coaxed the girl outside to "have a snowball fight."
Neither woman objected.
Once they were alone, Roy set his teacup down. "To be honest," he said softly, "I think it would be better if Mr. Minamino told you himself."
The women stared at him, uncomprehending.
Roy placed a hand on the table. He channeled a gentle, controlled stream of Nen, using the wood as a conduit. A warm energy flowed into the two women, a temporary Gyo that allowed them to see what he could see.
And then they saw him. A third figure in the room, familiar and beloved.
Their son. Their husband. Hiro Minamino.
"Hiro!"
"Mother... Naoko..."
Roy closed his eyes, giving them their space. He could feel his Nen, the energy connecting them, fluctuating wildly with their overwhelming emotions. If everyone in this room had been a Nen user, the cabin would have been filled with a swirling storm of gray, sorrowful aura.
Through the window, he could hear the sound of a child's laughter. Shizuka was chasing Tanjiro, pelting him with snowballs. Tanjiro, forcing a smile, dodged and weaved, letting her win.
After a long time, the quiet sobbing inside the cabin subsided. The kettle on the stove began to whistle. Naoko and her mother, their faces streaked with tears, knelt before Roy, prostrating themselves in the deepest bow of gratitude.
"Thank you, Master Eiichiro," they said in unison. "For avenging our Hiro."
"It was nothing," Roy said, helping them up. "We were just defending ourselves."
"You are too humble, benefactor," Minamino's voice whispered. He explained to his family how Roy had toyed with the demon, how he had used the fight to train his younger brother. "That creature was no match for him. He could have ended it in an instant."
Roy didn't deny it. He had finished his tea, delivered the message, and completed his task. It was time to leave. The two women pleaded with them to stay, but seeing the fresh grief in their eyes, Roy gently but firmly refused.
He and Tanjiro went back out into the yard. Naoko, her mother, and a now-tired Shizuka followed them to the gate.
There, in front of them all, Roy handed the water flask to Minamino's mother. "This is where he rests now," he said quietly. "Keep it, so you have something to remember him by."
The old woman clutched the flask to her chest, fresh tears streaming down her face.
"Don't cry, Mother," Minamino's voice came, gentle and reassuring. "All men must die. Just think of it as me moving on to a better place."
As he spoke, his spiritual form, its purpose fulfilled, began to waver and dissipate.
"No, don't go!" his wife and mother cried, reaching for him, their hands passing through his fading form.
Roy watched in silence. 'Do you want to say goodbye to Shizuka?' he asked the spirit through their Nen link.
Minamino looked at his daughter, who was now trying to comfort her crying mother and grandmother, her small hands patting their cheeks. A look of infinite love and longing passed over his face, and he shook his head.
'Master Eiichiro,' the spirit's voice was growing fainter. 'I have rarely thanked anyone in my life, and never bowed to any man but my own father. But for you... thank you. Thank you for bringing me home. For letting me be content.'
With a final, loving gaze at his daughter, the spirit of Hiro Minamino dissolved into a cloud of shimmering motes of light. The motes swirled and then shot towards Roy, merging with his body.
[Notice: You have guided a lingering soul to peace.]
[By accepting his final wish and bearing his karma, you have received his final gift.]
[Life Energy +1]
[This energy can be allocated to your [Physique] stat.]
Roy flinched. He felt a sudden, immense weight in his pocket. The single copper coin he'd taken now felt as heavy as a block of lead. He took a deep breath to steady himself.
So this was his real gift.
He stood in the snow for a long moment, then called to his brother. They bowed one last time to the grieving family and turned towards the deep woods of Sagiri Mountain.
"Goodbye, Brother Tanjiro..." a small voice called out from behind them.
"Goodbye, Shizuka..."
And goodbye, Hiro Minamino, Roy added silently.
The sun-patterned earring swayed in the wind as the two brothers walked away, their figures soon swallowed by the swirling snow.