Confession
The whole family was gathered in the living room. Since Glasshawk was now part of the family, he was there too.
Mother was *extremely* displeased—no, more like sulking.
Father, are you so distracted by Glasshawk that you haven’t noticed? I don’t know, but if the two of you are left alone like this, she’s going to blow up like thunder...
As long as the damage doesn’t come my way, I won’t say anything.
“Dear, have you decided on a name for the Glasshawk?”
“Yes.” Father replied with a happy look and called out to Glasshawk, urging him to perch on his arm.
“Your name is Ciel. I hope you like it.” Father said, and then a dazzling light poured down around him and Glasshawk.
Mother greeted him, “Nice to meet you, Ciel. I’m the wife of Alfred, your partner now.”
Brother Gerald and I also greeted him together with Atre and Ripka.
“Ciel, can you speak?” Father asked.
Apparently, Ciel could communicate with Father. Is it because Ciel is a mature beast? Or because Father has high mana levels? What determines if you can talk with them, I wonder?
When Father asked why he accepted the Alraune’s invitation, Ciel said he had been interested because the Fiammas and Vendavals had seemed to be having fun lately—boasting with sparkly things on their chests.
Also, seeing how we acted made him think that spending time with us might not be so bad.
How long is “a while”?
Apparently, the familiar contract ends either when Ciel wants to end it, or when Father dies.
“Atre, you won’t abandon me, right? You won’t suddenly disappear?” I asked, and Brother Gerald was saying something similar to Ripka.
“Hardt, Ciel was just teasing you. Normally, it ends when the master dies. If it could be canceled that easily, we wouldn’t even make the contract in the first place.”
When I shared Atre’s explanation with the family, Ciel chirped “Pi, pi, pi!” while flapping his wings, and he looked like he was having a great time watching us.
Is Ciel a little troublemaker? Maybe that’s why he took an interest in us.
Once everyone except the family and familiars had left, we got to the real topic.
I was nervous. If the family rejected me, it would be a shock.
They must have wondered why I knew about curry powder and rice, and were waiting for me to say something.
I took out the two letters entrusted to me by Raul and the others.
Father picked one up and looked at it, but said he couldn’t understand a word.
Mother and Brother Gerald also said they couldn’t read it.
“Hardt, can you*read these letters?”
“I can.”
I explained that when I had a serious illness at the age of seven and hovered between life and death, I regained the memories of my past life.
Though I say “memories,” I don’t remember things like my name, just fragments of knowledge from my past life now and then.
I told them I had lived in a country called Japan, the same place the Saint from 150 years ago and the current Saintess in the Beast Kingdom were from.
These two letters came from the Saintess in the Beast Kingdom and a noble daughter who also had memories of her past life like me.
As a reward for helping the beastkin who fled to this country, they had given curry powder and rice to Raul and the others.
It said that whoever could read the letters would be the one meant to receive the reward.
I explained that the noble daughter had likely recreated the curry powder based on her past life’s memories—because in that world, curry was a beloved national dish.
“So what you were hiding, Hardt, is that your knowledge comes from the same country as the Saintess. The products you’ve come up with so far—are those also from your past life?”
“Yes. I don’t know all the details, but thanks to the skill of the craftsmen, we’ve been able to make products even from my vague memories. My previous world didn’t have magic. Instead, it had science, which is not at all similar to magic. It’s not like here where magic stones are a form of energy. That world was more technologically advanced than this one and very convenient. Of course, there were downsides as well...”
“Hardt, is the reason you don’t take initiative and always try to pass things off on others also related to those downsides?” Mother asked.
“No, I don’t remember clearly, but I think I died from overwork in my past life. That’s why I just want to enjoy each day now.” I insisted on this point firmly—this was one thing I wouldn’t budge on.
“You don’t move unless someone asks you, and even when you do, you immediately try to pass it on to someone else. I finally understand why you’re so unmotivated.” Mother declared.
“I told this story expecting people to think I’d lost my mind or to start distancing themselves from me. I was prepared for that. But everyone accepted it so easily—it’s anticlimactic.”
“No, we’re plenty surprised. But hearing your explanation made sense of all the new products you’ve come up with. That was a big part of it.”
“Even if you have past life memories, you are still my little brother. That doesn’t change.
It’s a big brother’s job to protect his little brother, same as always. Those memories from a past life—they’re a gift from the gods.”
“Brother Gerald... thank you. I feel so much better now.”
I almost cried. Apparently, I’d been more tense than I realized. I felt a wave of relief.
“If you want to cry, then go ahead and cry. If you bawl, I’ll even write to our older brother about it.” Brother Gerald teased, and the tears dried up immediately.
I really am blessed with a wonderful family. Thank you, gods.
What do you think about this chapter?
