Part 2[แก้ไข]
By the time Izayoi finished nine out of ten parts of the stack, it had already started pouring outside.
Originally thinking that it would be a short shower, he didn’t notice that the intensity had changed to be such a fast and heavy downpour.
The wind that blew against the loose window panes led to a grating sound and caused the rain drops to deviate horizontally to hit upon the glass of the window.
Izayoi began talking to himself while gazing at the courtyard that was getting direct irrigation from the heavy downpour.
“……Come to think of it, the day that Canaria and I met had also been of a similar downpour.”
Izayoi gave a throaty laugh as he reminisced that incident in the past.
Izayoi wasn’t the kind that would hate the sound of the raindrops hitting on the window pane and he had always been tolerant with the different sounds of water hitting upon different surfaces. Hence he decided to lean at the side of the window to continue dissecting the contents of the ‘will and last testament’ with the sound of raindrops splashing as the background sounds.
[That Stupid Mum……To actually leave such a thick stack of will behind and for the contents to be almost complete with memories! I don’t care even if she needs to spin a lie or two but she really doesn’t care about grabbing the reader’s interest?]
Izayoi shook his head in disapproval.
The contents of Canaria’s will was really just her memories that was no different from writing an autobiography.
From the violent stormy day that they had met to the experiences they had when she brought Izayoi to tour the world.
They had gone to each of the World's Top 3 Biggest Waterfalls to challenge the urban legends of [Demons hiding within the Waterfall].
And had doubted whether the Earth was round? Or just a flat surface that extends outwards that is called a world? Hence using their own boat to confirm with their voyage.
The memories between them was what almost took up 600 pages.
……To tell the feeling that this evokes in a blunt manner, you could say that Canaria was definitely the kind of parent who seriously doted on their children.
[……Forget it. I guess it’s still okay since I really did have fun back then.]
The rain had intensified. Perhaps it was the side effect of having good weather for the past few days in a row, the downpour didn’t seem to show signs of slackening any time soon. Izayoi was watching the scene outside the window when he realized that one particular memory hadn’t been penned down.
[That’s right……The time when we went to see a battlefield. That was totally not mentioned by her.]
Izayoi touched the condensation that had formed on the window as he smiled wryly.
As long as it’s a location that Izayoi wanted to go, Canaria would really bring him there.
Just like his wish to visit the beautiful waterside views, Canaria had brought him to see the Top 3 World Biggest Waterfalls and the City of Water.[1]
Wanting to see a magnificent scenery, be it Mount Kilimanjaro, Everest, Mount Fuji or other places, Canaria will always bring him along.
As for the one time that Izayoi had asked to see a battlefield---Canaria had brought him to the most disconsolate place of all to see it with his own two eyes.
At the end of that journey, Canaria had informed Izayoi that she would never bring Izayoi to such a place ever again.
If Izayoi wanted to see a battlefield, he would have to depend on his own two feet and determination. And that was the first time that Canaria had left him behind in a huff. Hence Izayoi had also sworn not to step onto a battlefield as long as Canaria still breathed.
……That was the level of trust that they shared between the both of them. Izayoi who had only realized that now, couldn’t help but smile wryly.
[……]
The seven years that he had spent together with Canaria when compared to the ten years before that, the difference between the fulfillments felt in the two lives didn’t even need to be compared.
That was a period that Izayoi could proudly thrust out his chest and say the words [My days were enjoyable] to purely describe the time he spent.
However, even if it were like this……If you were to ask whether the gap in Izayoi’s heart have been filled or not? The answer would be a no.
Izayoi had challenged the demon that rested within Iguazu Falls[2] and had returned safely to tell the tale, which was an achievement of Humankind.
---However, the demon in question did not exist.
At the young age of 10 years old, he had walked through the whole of Mount Kilimanjaro which had been said to be inhabited by a god. And the view of the mountain he saw was truly mysterious.
---But, the god did not exist too.
Was the Earth really round? The world wasn’t extending out like a plane? Izayoi had completely uncovered the mysteries of the seven seas.
---However, that was already a truth that was known.
After experiencing much in his journeys, Izayoi had finally understood.
The world greatest wonder that existed was none other than Izayoi himself.
---After those, Izayoi’s strangeness and thirst for excitement began to tone down to a solemnness. And after he was given the resting place of CANARIA foster home, Izayoi never committed any serious law breaking stuff.
To put it simply, normal humans were a type of living thing that could easily be beaten or shot dead.
And that fact became the shackles around Izayoi’s inner self, in addition to his conscience and common sense.
If Izayoi wanted to continue living within the human society, he would have to be able to fit in with the standards of others.
---[The Heavens cannot create another that stands above me].
That was not a metaphor. Izayoi knew it to be just purely an uninteresting fact.
After Canaria had passed on, the smile that Izayoi had left was one that merely mocked the boring world that he lived in.
[……I guess I should continue to finish up the rest.]
If he were to start going into philosophy, he would really be moving into the stage of old age, Izayoi had that thought as he walked back to the table.
And there actually was sixty more pages. That really was seriously infuriating.
Out of irritation, I might as well just read through it really carefully down to every last word and line to find for any grammatical or spelling errors! Izayoi who had that thought in mind caught sight on the last line on the other side of the page he was holding.
“---Ah, right. That’s right. I almost forgot. You would be wearing that digital watch today as well right? Then, I guess the next time you look at your watch, the date and time will be 5/5 15:49 48.27 seconds.”
“What?”
Izayoi couldn’t help but exclaim to himself as he looked at his watch out of reflex.
The numbers shown on his digital watch were 5/5 15:49 48.27 seconds.
“……Oh? What’s this?”
Izayoi’s voice was mixed with much joy.
Needless to say, the pages before him were part of the last testament and will. Moreover, Izayoi hadn’t told a soul of his plan to come today. In fact, he had just chosen it to be today just because he had felt like it.
To be able to accurately predict Izayoi’s actions to the very second, that wasn’t a normal thing that could be accomplished.
“Ha! What’s that! To actually leave such an interesting trick behind. Such a Itsuki! I can’t seem to figure out the trick behind it too! That smelly hag!”
Though he was cursing under his breath, Izayoi was actually very excited and this was a feeling that he had long awaited for.
---That’s right. This should be the way.
Having made a contract with me, the will of the woman who promised to let me play happily for the rest of my life, shouldn’t be only writing about her memories and let it end like that.
Izayoi was sure that the remaining sixty pages contained the last surprise Canaria had for him as he continued to read.
“Haven’t I said it before, not to call me a smelly Obaa-san, right?”
“---Huh---!”
Izayoi stood up with gusto. And started to observe his surroundings, checking to make sure that there wasn’t any spying video camera or other suspicious devices.
Of course, he did not find any of those. Talking about the suspicious items in the room, it should only be that man in a tailcoat who hid in that corner.
Izayoi tucked away his smile when he returned to his wits. The introduction in these two pages were really strange and seemed as though they were written only after hearing of Izayoi’s own words to himself.
“Ha……This sure is interesting! As expected of the last surprise that Canaria constructed, it sure is worthy of my time!”
Izayoi controlled the excited heartbeat of his as he made sure of the handwriting of the will first.
However, that was undoubtedly Canaria’s very own handwriting.
……has it been written by her under the condition of having foretold the future before her death? Although that was a very good hypothesis, it was unfortunate that Izayoi had already graduated from his imagination five years ago. So though he might be surprised, he still continued to read the will.
“Okay, I guess you should already have roughly guessed it. This is my final game. The [Host] is the ‘me who doesn’t exist’, the opponent is also the ‘me who doesn’t exist’, the challenge requirement is also me. Hence, there’s only one winning condition for Izayoi-chan! That would be to find the non-existent ‘me’ and ‘you’ and hand it over to the entrance---!]