The Raven Dark Hero 95

Chapter 95 : The Man Who Appeared

TL:SummerPeanut

Guided by Anna, Kouki, Takahiko, Rumi, and Hannah first visited Marienplatz in the center of Munich.

Munich's streets are so rich in history that you will feel as if you have slipped back in time to medieval Europe.

“…...Hey, you guys, to tell you guys the truth, I'm a hero who was reincarnated from another world into this world……”

Takahiko suddenly confessed with a straight face. However, the women didn't bite at all and Kouki just smiled bitterly.

“What’s the hell! Your reactions are no way to start a story! It ended in the prologue wtf!”

“All right, just stop ruining your own image….partner.”

“U~, I'm sure the old you would have been more than happy to play along. You've changed after all!”

“Shut up. Don't judge me by that.”

Kouki refuted Takahiko who was deliberately drooping down his shoulders. As for Takahiko, he thought he could ease the burden on Kouki's mind by playing like this.

In order to get rid of your complexes, you need to stop thinking of them as complexes. If your pride gets in the way, just get rid of it.[1]

This is something that Takahiko, who can read people's minds, is always aware of in order to maintain his own mentality.

“So first, let's go to St. Peter's Church! At there, I and Kouki-sama will make eternal love……”

“Big sis. That's a bit of a turnoff no matter what. See, Kouki's face turned expressionless.”

Even with Anna on Kouki's left arm and Hannah on his right; with the two beautiful sisters sandwiched between him, Kouki found himself unable to feel his heart skipping a beat.

(I thought... After I broke up with Fuuka, I had no right to love women anymore. I believed that's the reason why my heart wasn't moved by any woman but maybe this is another harmful effect of Revived Hunter…….)

Kouki's mind was filled with doubt and fear, wondering if all of these were the result of Revived Hunter.

(Then...I can just force myself to act like my old self. The old me…...the old me, how was I again?)

Anna and Hannah also noticed that Kouki's expression became increasingly grim as he tried to remember, but could not.

“Ah…… I’m sorry. I knew it was presumptuous of us.”

“Kouki…… I’m sorry.”

(No, I was just thinking about something else…….. I somehow made them feel uncomfortable it seems.)

“......It's not that I don't like being surrounded by beautiful sisters like you two. I guess I'm the one who made you feel uncomfortable. …...Alright, let's go to Peter's Church, shall we?”

Rumi felt unnatural as she smiled at him, but she decided that it was not the right place to point it out.

After that, Anna took them to various historical buildings in the suburbs. At first, Kouki thought that it would be boring to go around the buildings but when he actually went around, he found it quite interesting and even started to listen to Anna's guide seriously. Obviously, with the simultaneous translation function of his terminal in hand.

On the other hand, Takahiko was forcing himself to act cheerful but since Anna and Hannah were more involved with Kouki than he was, he decided to leave Kouki to them and go his separate ways. This was partly because he was relieved that Kouki seemed to be enjoying himself and partly because he still hadn't sorted out yesterday's incident in his mind.

And Rumi was…. For some reason, she went with Takahiko and questioned him about what happened to Kouki in the lab.

Nearby cafe. Rumi and Takahiko were seated face to face.

“…….That, I can't tell youー. Not even you, Rumi-chan.”

“Why? Kouki's behavior has been obviously strange since yesterday. Something's wrong, isn't it?”

Takahiko was once again impressed by Rumi's intuition. She could tell from the slightest hint that something was wrong with Kouki.

(Well, she can’t be honest with herself because Fuuka-chan but I'm sure Rumi-chan only noticed because she likes Kouki.)

Rumi is…… Rather, there are only a few people, including Kiryu, who know about Kouki's Revived Hunter ability.

(If the two of them had a deeper relationship, I'm sure Kouki would have talked to Rumi-chan…… but I can't exactly blabber on and on.)

As for Takahiko, he doesn't dislike Fuuka, but she is already a member of a rival organization. If Kouki were to go out with someone, Takahiko would definitely choose Rumi over Fuuka.

(Rumi is the type of person who will do anything for you and take good care of you. I'm sure she's the perfect partner for Kouki right now not to mention she can read the situation properly too….)

Since then, Kouki had stopped paying any attention to his love relationship. Takahiko also thought that this was due to him losing his first love with Fuuka but things have changed.

(If his gradual loss of feelings was the downside of Revived Hunter's, then it's hard to imagine a relationship developing in the first place.)

“Hey, Takahiko. I too, as a member of the Numbers, and a fellow comrade, I'm worried about Kouki. If something happened to Kouki, I would like to help him, and of course, so would you. Both of you have been acting strange since yesterday.”

Takahiko didn't think that Rumi was even aware of what was wrong with him. This was because he prided himself on being an expert at misdirecting people. He thought he was doing a good job of hiding the turmoil of being the only one that knows the true secret of Revived Hunter.

(Was it so unnatural to pretend not to worry about it? But, as expected of myself. My eyes were not wrong to recommend Rumi as one of the Numbers.)

But still, he can't tell her what happened yesterday. No matter how he goes about it, it would always return to Revived Hunter in the end.

So, Takahiko decided to deceive her with a mixture of falsehood and reality.

“I've been thinking about the recent changes in Kouki. ...... Kouki has finally noticed them. And it's bothering him.

You see, he's killed hundreds of villains since he suddenly became Numbers’ number one and he chose to throw away his naivety due to various reasons. But he used to be someone who hesitates to kill even a single person. That's why he's a little confused about his change.

That's why we need to be there for him… If he makes a bad decision, we have to warn him and if he starts to lose confidence, we should encourage him. That's what I was thinking. I guess I was thinking too much as well.”

“ …...I see. I knew it, I'm sure there are certain pressures that only Kouki himself can understand.”

Rumi seemed to have taken Takahiko's words in stride.

“I didn't think that Bright's name would become so widely known around the world either~. People think of him as an ally of justice, but what he does is purging the bad guys. There's no way that a person who yearned so much to be on the side of justice wouldn't suffer from that gap. In order to alleviate his suffering, his mind has built a bulwark to prevent him from thinking too deeply about things, so his emotional ups and downs have become less intense.”

This was the hypothesis of Kouki's change that Takahiko arrived at until yesterday. But this was shaken by the new information about Revived Hunter.

“You have a point, It's like he is carrying Kuroyume's logo on his back. Yes, I have to….. help Kouki in any way I can. Because Kouki is…... like a little brother to me.”

Rumi smiled bitterly at him, and Takahiko felt a little bit miserable seeing that.

(I'm sure she's already aware of her own feelings. To Rumi, Fuuka is like a sister to her even if she's an enemy now. That's why she's hesitant to show her feelings towards Kouki.

…….oh dear, you really are a sinful man~, partner! If it were up to me, I would have welcomed Rumi-chan with open arms!)

“Alright! I think I'm getting hungry! Let's get something to eat, Rumi-chan! I'll buy you a drink!”

“I suppose so. But I don't want to owe you anything, so let’s split.”

“So not cute~! You're not going to get the guy you like to turn to you like that, are you?”

“Wha-!? You don't have to worry about me, I'll let the man I love spoil me lots, thank you very much~!”

(…….spoiling not.)

“Ugh, I don't care anymore! Excuse me, please bring me some jumbo sausages, please!”

――At that time, Kouki had just finished looking at all the historical buildings and was feeling somewhat refreshed.

“How do you like it, Kouki-sama.”

“Well~, surprisingly I enjoyed it a lot. I never knew I had such an interest in historical buildings.”

“Fu fu fu, that’s good to hear!”

(I knew I shouldn't stay in my shell just because I'm not in the mood~. Yeah, it was definitely a nice change of pace………….Hmm!?)

Suddenly, he felt a wind blowing. It was a wind that carried a very special and dangerous presence.

(What is this!? Could it be, an enemy?)

Anna and Hannah were unaware of it. But Kouki certainly felt it. It was the first time in a long time that he had felt the presence of an absolute powerhouse.

He looked in the direction from which the aura had drifted. There, on top of a small hill, stood a lone figure that looked like a man.

( …...He’s obviously inviting me out…….)

“Anna, Hannah, I'm sorry but could you please go ahead and join Rumi? ‘I'll be there in a bit.’ and give Takahiko my message.”

I’ll be there in a bit…. is, a code between Kouki and Takahiko that meant ‘I've got an enemy, going to deal with them.’

“Eh? Kouki-sama?”

After saying that, Kouki activated World of Windham and jumped towards the top of the hill.

“Instead of running away, you chose to wait for me here…… What do you want from me?”

The man was wearing a long black coat, with a hat and scarf covering all but his eyes.

“So it’s you, the one who killed Exideth……. Bright, was it?”

The man spoke to Kouki in fluent Japanese.

“ …...Who knows? You could be correct, you could be wrong as well.”

The two of them stared at each other for a while. Then the man pulled down his scarf, and laughed with a grin!

“Exideth is…… He is an idiot but he was still someone I could call a comrade. The last one.”

“A comrade? I don't know what you're talking about but let’s say I killed this Exideth guy, what are you going to do about it?”

Kouki is ready to move at any time. If this man were to attack, he would be ready to chop off his head in 0.01 tenths of a second.

“I will kill you……”

A piercing murderous energy flowed from the man.

“Heh~, kill me, huh. I'd like to ask you one last time…… Obviously, your last, not mine. If I had killed this Exideth guy, why would you avenge him? Could it be, you are one of them?”

In the next moment, the words spoken by the man caused the combat-ready Kouki to hesitate for a moment.

“Because….. I am a Revived Hunter too.”

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TL’s note:

1. If you’re homeless, just build some houses.