You, Bear That Greed And Lead

“Wait, hold on. My head can’t keep up… Sierra Special? A muscle-crazy old man? And Drako? Wait, have I lost my mind? By Drako, do you mean the Gathering Dragon?”

Before him, Lazaar had a hand pressed to his forehead and was groaning.

While glaring down the vagrants who stared at them and making them scatter, Tooyama and Lazaar had moved to the food-stall plaza.

“Yeah, Drako. Apparently she gets embarrassed by the name Alice. I think it’s a good name, though.”

Tooyama muttered with his cheek resting on his hand at a scrap-wood table.

Come to think of it, she had said something about a letter, but in his current state as a homeless, jobless man with no fixed address, that seemed impossible. Well, she was a dragon, so she was probably patient. Probably.

“O great and mighty tooth of ours, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind… Merely escaping from the Gathering Dragon would already be a miracle, yet you defeated her, and on top of that, you became friends with her, even calling her by name…”

“H-Hey, Lazaar, are you all right? Does your head hurt?”

Lazaar clutched his head and slumped face-first onto the table. Tooyama was a little worried that the spikes growing from his head might stab into the tabletop.

“Y-Yes, sorry. I never thought my common sense could be shattered this easily… Well, it is hard to imagine you lying. I believe you, Naruhito.”

With a sigh, Lazaar nodded.

“Gotcha. Well, roughly speaking, that’s what’s been going on with me. I’m glad we managed to meet up early.”

“Truly, you really are absurd… But yes, I am glad we could meet again like this. It was worth desperately keeping myself hidden.”

Keeping himself hidden. It seemed Tooyama really had caused him trouble after all.

“That’s it, Lazaar. I’ve told you my side. Next is your turn. How does that thing work? The way your shadow went all hazy.”

That thing Lazaar had done was clearly abnormal.

It was not a trick an ordinary person should be able to perform. No, it was not a trick an ordinary lizard-man should be able to perform.

“…From my point of view, I am more curious about your mist… But you are the one who saved my life. Continuing to hide things from you would shame our ancestors.”

Lazaar exhaled with a shoo sound. What a unique sigh, Tooyama thought, still resting his cheek on his hand as he idly stared at Lazaar sitting across from him.

“That is my ‘skill.’ It lets me hide inside shadows. I was sleeping soundly in there when your mist smoked me out.”

“Skill…? Come to think of it, Luca said something like that too.”

He remembered when he had been chasing Luca. Right before he caught him, Luca had said something about a skill or whatever.

Skill. So this was that kind of otherworld, huh? Nice. He did not dislike that. That was exactly the kind of thing it should have.

Tooyama opened his mouth blankly while sorting the information in his head.

There were people who could use these things called skills.

“Hey, wait. What is that face? That mist of yours is a skill too, right? You look like you’re hearing about this for the first time.”

“Ah, no, well, how do I put it? I’d already studied it as general knowledge, but this is the first time I’ve actually run into someone else saying it out loud. Back in my hometown, if someone started talking about skills and stuff, people would probably look at them with warm, pitying eyes.”

“…What does that mean? Well, you must have your circumstances too. I won’t ask too deeply.”

Lazaar looked around, leaned over the table, and lowered his voice.

“But still, I can hardly believe it… Haha, to think you caught the Gathering Dragon’s eye, and she even allowed you freedom… Ah, how amusing.”

“Lazaar, Drako also praised you. She said even when the whole Empire searched for you, they couldn’t find you.”

“Haha, well, that is my one redeeming trait. I am good at running and hiding… But I’m glad. It was worth hiding for this whole month. I was only worried about whether I would cause trouble for you if I got caught.”

“Oh, a month… Wait, a month? No, no, no, not even an hour has passed since I parted from you… No, wait. Drako said something like that too.”

Only now did he notice the time lag.

After beating Drako down, escaping from the crocodile-tadpoles, and then meeting that suspicious elf woman, it should have felt like only about an hour had passed, but…

“Hmm. They say there are places inside the Tower where time is twisted. In those places, one can meet people who lived in the past, or conversely, speak with people living in the future. Perhaps you wandered into such a place.”

“Hey, hey, hey, this place is more of a magical hell than Babel. One wrong step and I’d end up like that old tale of returning centuries later? That’s not funny.”

Lazaar casually told him a dangerous truth.

Unfortunately, science seemed powerless in this world.

“I do not know what that old tale is, but it is true that items and grave goods lost during the Great War two hundred years ago are sometimes found. That is why the Tower is such an important place for this country.”

“I see. I’m starting to get it. That’s why it’s an adventure city.”

It was the same logic as Babel Island.

Treasure slept in dangerous places. No matter the age or world, people were probably drawn to treasure and danger.

Like moths flying toward a flame.

“Haha, you sound as though this is your first time in the Empire. No, as though this is your first time learning common sense.”

“Maybe that’s not far off, Lazaar. What would you do if I told you I came from another world?”

Tooyama grinned at Lazaar’s words. Now then, how much of his background should he tell him?

Just as he tried to probe for that through conversation,

“It does not matter.”

“Huh?”

The words were unexpected. Yet they were reassuring.

“It does not matter, Naruhito. You are a good man, and you saved my life. As long as I know that, my trust in you will not change, no matter who you are.”

“O-Oh.”

He felt a little embarrassed. For one reason or another, Tooyama had few friends. He was not used to being praised to his face.

“…Then let me ask you in return. Are you not curious? About my skill… About my past and what I have done?”

“Heh-heh-heh, Lazaar, that wouldn’t be right. You just said you don’t care about me, so how could I be the only one worrying about your past and prying into it? I can’t do something that lame.”

Tooyama laughed at Lazaar’s words. As expected, this lizard was a good guy.

“…Even if it is something that made the Crows chase me?”

As Tooyama laughed, Lazaar’s voice dropped.

“The Crows?”

Judging by the context, he probably did not mean the birds.

Tooyama asked back. Right, that had definitely come up in his conversation with Rida and the others too.

The Crows. A criminal guild—

“Yes. For this past month, it was not only the Empire, adventurers, and Church Knights whose pursuit I was avoiding. The Crows. They are after me too.”

Lazaar’s expression darkened. Regret and anxiety mingled on his face.

His vertically slit eyes narrowed, and his tail curled into a loop—

“Oh, is that so? Well, more importantly, Lazaar, about that dream of yours.”

With complete nonchalance, Tooyama let the words pass in one ear and out the other.

“Ah, I suppose it is only natural for you to be concern— …Wait, Naruhito. Did you just brush that off extremely lightly? Were you listening to me?”

Lazaar’s eyes widened, as if he could not believe it.

“Ah, something about the Crows, right? I heard you. Luca and Rida were also saying something or other about the Crows. Should I be worried?”

It did not feel real to him, and Tooyama had already decided to take Lazaar in.

That was why he had even challenged and killed a dragon.

At this point, Lazaar’s past or his troubles were not worth changing Tooyama’s decision over.

Lazaar blinked once, twice, and then—

“Ha, hahahahahahaha!! Ah, this is wonderful!! You really are either a great fool or a great man! I see, yes, of course! There is no way a man who does not fear dragons would fear mere Crows! Hahahaha!”

His voice was loud enough to make the people around them stare in shock.

The lizard opened his mouth wide, clutched his stomach, and burst into laughter.

“Oh, Lazaar, so you can laugh like that too.”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh, it was amusing from the bottom of my heart. But this would not be fair. Naruhito, you said you would not care about my past, but I want to be sincere with you. So please, listen.”

Holding his stomach and wiping his eyes, Lazaar straightened his posture.

Tooyama also stopped resting his cheek on his hand and sat properly in his chair.

“Huh?”

“I am from the Kingdom. In that country, I was called ‘Shadow Tooth.’”

“What’s that? That sounds cool.”

That was nice. A nickname like that.

Mine was something like “Hammerhead Tooyama,” with zero sense, he thought. What the hell was Hammerhead? That just sounded like someone who couldn’t swim.

He faintly remembered the gray-haired handsome guy who had taken the upper explorer exam with him.

The nickname that guy had given him had spread all at once. Well, he had not exactly hated it.

“…So you really do not know. That name should have spread to the Empire as well. …Naruhito, I am a filthy, cursed criminal.”

“I see.”

Tooyama gave a short reply to Lazaar’s words.

“Theft, threats, murder, fraud, kidnapping… I did almost everything society calls evil. I will not use the Kingdom’s荒れた climate or discrimination against my race as excuses. I chose it myself and made evil deeds my work.”

Lazaar’s reptilian eyes were split vertically.

Were they reflecting the present, or memories of the past?

“I had talent too. I am loved by shadows. One of the angel’s眷属, Floria of Evil Deeds, had kissed me. That was how people praised me.”

Lazaar’s finger tapped the battered table with a regular knock, knock.

“Oh, that sounds fantasy-like. And?”

“…The Kingdom has a greater gap between rich and poor than the Empire. Because of our race’s past mistakes, we are persecuted in every human nation. It is normal for us to be denied not only decent work, but even a place to live in urban areas. …A long civil war, growing discord—the Kingdom was the perfect place for me to display my talent.”

“Hmm.”

Lizardonian, was it? When he thought back on the reactions and conversations of the people around him, it was true that there was an unmistakably discriminatory feel to them.

“Do you truly understand? I am an evildoer who lived by hurting others.”

Lazaar spoke to Tooyama as though worried.

Tooyama found that sight funny, so funny.

“Heh-heh-heh.”

He could not stop himself from laughing.

“What is funny?”

“No, sorry. I just thought, for a villain, going out of your way to tell someone all that makes you one awfully conscientious villain.”

No good. This guy really is a good guy. Tooyama became certain that his judgment had not been wrong.

“T-That is because it would be a betrayal of good faith toward you.”

“That’s it, Lazaar. That’s what I like about you. Betrayal of good faith. Lazaar, this world is crawling with monsters who just happen to have human shapes and don’t even think of betrayal as betrayal. …You’re different, Lazaar.”

He conveyed his words clearly.

“N-Naruhito…”

“If we’re talking about hurting others, then I’m the same. I’m a man who killed lives to earn money for my own desires. I killed monsters, but those guys only ate people in order to live. I trampled those lives, those lives that were simply living, and made it my job to satisfy my own desires.”

Tooyama had no regrets about that, and he had enjoyed it all.

“There’s only one difference between you and me. Whether we regret it or not. I don’t. I have nothing to regret. But that doesn’t mean I’m blaming you for regretting the evil things you did in the past.”

“W-What do you mean?”

Lazaar was confused. Only his tail was moving restlessly.

“In the end, there’s no difference between us. Lazaar, I know. I know you’re the kind of man who tries to feed others.”

In that carriage.

“I know you’re the kind of man who won’t betray someone at the last moment, even in exchange for your own life.”

In that Tower.

Lazaar had always proven it to Tooyama. He had proven the goodness he could not hide.

That had already become something Tooyama Naruhito wanted.

“Even if the entire world looks down on you as an evil man, as a cursed sinner, I alone know that you’re a good guy.”

So he declared it. It was a fact no one could overturn.

“Anyone who insults you as an evil man is my enemy. Even if the whole world becomes your enemy, I alone will be your ally. I’ve already decided that.”

So he had decided. He had decided that he would kill enemies for that purpose.

“W-Why would you go that far?”

“—I wanted to build a house by a lake.”

Those words were a scene.

The scene of the wish that had surfaced at the unmistakable final moment of Tooyama Naruhito’s life.

“Th-That is…”

“That was what I thought in my final moment. And at that time, what you spoke of in your final moment was the same. Lazaar, we are probably fortunate.”

“Fortunate?”

“When a man is dying, when he has resolved that this is his end, when he speaks the final words at the edge of death—that scene, that sight he thinks of before death. How many people in this world ever meet someone who can share that?”

“Ah…”

Lazaar opened his eyes wide. Tooyama’s brown eyes reflected that lizard face.

“I’ve decided. This time, I will build a house by a lake. I’ll earn money, kill enemies, and fulfill my desires. For that, I need you. I need a partner like you, someone who has the same scene of desire as me.”

It would never end again.

Because there was a continuation here.

“So, Lazaar. I am your ally. And you are my ally too. As promised, let’s talk. Let’s talk about what we’ll do from here, and about the desire—no, the dream—we must reach.”

This time, he would absolutely reach it.

He would follow his desires and take what he wanted. That was everything Tooyama Naruhito was.

For that, this lizard-man, this softhearted man, was absolutely necessary.

“…Is a man like me allowed to dream?”

“Yes.”

His vertically slit eyes trembled.

“The people I hurt would never forgive that.”

“I’ll forgive it.”

The lizard-man’s voice grew wet.

“…I will cause you trouble.”

“I’m confident I’ll cause you three times as much trouble.”

Drip, drip.

Droplets fell onto the scrap-wood table and soaked in.

“Ha, haha… Glory to the Tooth Who Crosses the Heavens. Ah, Tooth. I thank you for creating us.”

After chanting those mysterious words, Lazaar placed a hand against his chest and bowed his head.

While offering a prayer to something, his eyes quietly filled with tears.

“H-Hey, don’t cry! Give me a break. Did I say something that hurt you?”

“No, no, it is the opposite, Naruhito. …This is the first time in my life anyone has ever said such words to me. I am glad… I am glad I lived…”

“Lazaar…”

Tooyama understood how Lazaar felt.

Living was, after all, a painful thing. There were times when one could no longer move forward in the darkness. He knew that well.

“…Once again, Naruhito. Let me answer you. Yes, that’s right. I wanted to build a shop by a lake. That was the wish that appeared before me when I faced death, and it is my dream. Let me have a part in it too, Naruhito. I want to stake myself on that strong and greedy dream of yours.”

“Heh-heh. Lazaar, that’s a good look on your face. This is a contract. My desire and your dream overlap. As long as we live, we’ll chase after it. We’ll stake all our abilities on reaching it. No one gets to back out. Dying isn’t allowed either.”

Here, however, the two of them stood together.

Two adventurer-slaves who shared the same scene of greed had reunited.

“That is exactly what I want. I swear by my ancestor, by my great ancestor. Your desire is my dream. I promise that we will absolutely reach our scene.”

He would never lose his way again.

The fang loved by shadow, who had lost sight of the road he should walk and suffered over the past, had been discovered by greed that came from beyond.

“Yes, negotiations complete. At times like this, it’s customary in my hometown to share a drink, but unfortunately, I’ve got no money.”

Tooyama shook the leather pouch that had become terribly light.

He could not deny that he had gotten carried away and spent too much.

“Oh, in that case, I have something good.”

Lazaar grinned.

“Lazaar, what’s this?”

Tooyama grinned too.

“Mead made by the Angel Church itself, named ‘Angel’s Kiss.’ Well, you see, I have a safe house even in the adventure city. I brought this from there. What do you think? Shall we have an angel’s kiss bless the beginning of our dream?”

“Heh-heh-heh. Lazaar, you’re actually pretty affected.”

“I do not want to hear that from you, Naruhito.”

His narrow eyes, like those of a Tibetan sand fox, warped.

The cold eyes unique to a reptile narrowed.

The fierce faces of the two men curled into grins.

Strangely, those smiles looked very much alike.

Lazaar took two small cups from his breast pocket.

Without either of them saying who moved first, both reached out toward the bottle in which the amber liquid swayed—

“B-Brother!!”

It was a voice so weak it was painful, yet it carried clearly.

“Huh?”

“Oh?”

Their hands, which had been reaching toward the bottle, stopped, and Tooyama’s eyes widened.

Because he knew the owner of that voice.

“Niko?”

“Please…! Brother, please! Rida and Luca are going to be… killed…”

Niko, covered in wounds and with a blue bruise around one eye, staggered and collapsed to the ground.

“This is bad!”

Lazaar hurriedly rushed over to the girl. Tooyama stood up and watched the scene.

Ping.

A message danced across the world.

“…………What the hell is that?”

A sharp pain stabbed through him.

Tooyama’s head hurt. The sight of Niko, beaten and hurt, overlapped helplessly with the form of the furry friend he had parted from in childhood—