It was so unhygienic. Rio grimaced. The tattered clothes he wore were stiff and made of hemp, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d washed them. Of course, he didn’t have any proper socks or shoes, either... But he should be grateful he had something to wear at all, he guessed. His hair was disheveled and pretty damaged, too. But he could tell it was black in color underneath all of the filth.

“...Phew.”

Rio breathed in and out, deeply, trying to calm himself and organize his memories. He placed a hand against his mouth in thought. He was Rio... and he was apparently the university student Amakawa Haruto as well, with seven years worth of memories from living in Beltrum’s capital and twenty years worth of memories from living in Japan. But no matter how much his memories were doubled, he wasn’t Amakawa Haruto. If he were Haruto, he wouldn’t be a little boy right now, much less in a place like this. And if his memories were correct, the young man named Amakawa Haruto wasn’t even alive.

“In my memories, I died on the bus... I think?”

He remembered being on a bus that hit something, and he remembered being in extreme pain, like his limbs were torn apart. He couldn’t remember what happened after that, but it was hard to imagine recovering from something like that.

“Where am I right now...? Is this a dream? The afterlife? Was I... reborn?”

He listed off every possibility he could think of, but there was something too raw about this reality to write off everything as a dream. It was hard to imagine that this was the afterlife, too. Although... this place, while definitely not heaven, was as close to hell as it could get.

Which meant he was most likely reborn, Rio suspected. Could such a fantastical story be real? Did this Amakawa Haruto even exist? Had these memories in his head actually happened? But no matter how much he wondered, no one would tell him the answer. There was no answer. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was Rio, not Haruto.

As time passed, the different memories and personality within him confused him less and less, and Haruto’s persona merged with Rio’s. Their two different memories and personalities showed on the surface, but blended together without conflict underneath. Haruto showed up more intensely because he’d had far more life experiences, but Rio was able to accept that part of him. That was why they were able to perceive each other’s memories as their own experience and still remain sane over the situation at hand. Even so... Rio thought it best not to think too deeply about how strange it felt.

But right now, he had a bigger problem...

Rrrgghhhh. The sound of an empty stomach echoed throughout the room, and Rio came to the depressing realization that he was starving. He sighed; the hunger he felt made him feel a bit lightheaded. There were a lot of things on his mind: whether these memories of another life were real, why was he reborn if so, and why did he only get those memories now?

But Rio knew full well how futile it was to ask those questions. Instead, he shifted his thoughts to trying to break out of his dire situation. Haruto’s memories and personality played a big role in how he was thinking so calmly right now. If it had been Rio and only Rio, he would have died a dog’s death as an orphan, with no prospects for his future.

That would’ve been the worst possible outcome... and it would have been unacceptable, for Rio had a goal to fulfill. He couldn’t afford to die here.

If I die now, that man...

He recalled his deep-seated hatred for the man and gritted his teeth.

Rio’s father died shortly after his birth, and his mother was killed when he was still small. He’d lived in these dumpster-like slums ever since.

His parents were both immigrants from a faraway land. They were adventurers that planned their lives around their travels. But when Ayame, his mother, was pregnant with Rio, she temporarily withdrew from adventuring. This left the financial burden of their livelihood on Rio’s father, Zen, who was a skilled adventurer. Unfortunately, he died not long after Rio was born. Despite this, Ayame continued to raise Rio admirably; she lived a modest life and dug into her savings in order to raise her child. But their peaceful life together ended when Rio was only five years old.

Ayame was an exotic, foreign beauty. She may have had Rio, but she was still young enough to be targeted by vulgar men and their obscene looks. With the still infant Rio as a weakness, Ayame was easily swallowed up by the evil around her and brutally murdered before Rio.

He could still remember that moment as clear as day. From that point on, he swore to take revenge on the person who killed his mother, living every moment from then on for that purpose. That raison d’être remained carved into Rio’s soul even after Haruto’s memories cropped up... but now, he had Haruto’s morals, too. While he truly detested his mother’s killer with every fiber of his being, Haruto’s morals within him questioned whether revenge was a necessary evil...

But Rio’s morals and desire for revenge burned too strongly. Just the thought of that man made his emotions turn an ugly black.

Revenge is evil? What empty words...

Rio scowled, clicking his tongue in irritation at the conflicting opinion coming from within.

Just then, the door to the shack was yanked open. Rio pushed his exhausted body up so that he could look at the doorway as several men and one woman crowded into the small wooden shack.

“Hmm? Oh, Rio! Are you finally awake?” asked one of the men standing at the front of the group as he spotted Rio in the dimly-lit shack. The boy knew him.

“Huh! So you actually survived. Thought you were a goner... Hey, boss! Rio’s still kicking! We thought he was good as dead before...” the man yelled. His eyes were wide with surprise as he directed his voice toward the back of the group, where a giant man stood over the rest.

“Ha! What a lucky brat. You were almost keelin’ over from yer fever yesterday... We were gonna toss you out if you were still sleepin’ today,” said the giant man who had been referred to as boss; he sounded impressed.

“...Yes. Somehow.” Rio replied, holding back a frown.