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Last Embryo Volume 3 Epilogue Part 1

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Giant Spirit Train 『Sun Thousand』, Observational Wagon, at the large public panoramic bath with a clear view of the Ley Lines.

「… In other words…, what I was trying to say is that “big brothers” often tens to view their “little brothers”, or “sisters”, I’m not discriminating, as little more than either some kind of cute pets or their personal property, thinking that it entitles them to doing whatever the hell they want with them!」

「As much as I want to say that this is not like that… *sigh* no, I know exactly where you are coming from with it.」

「Yes, I can see your point as well.」

Jin and Arjuna nodded their heads with empathy as Homura discarded his current set of cards with a sour expression, meaning that his current total went down to five. On the other hand, Both Jin and Arjuna had three cards in their hands each. Oh, and just to clarify, the three of them were now in the middle of playing a card game from the Outer World called Old Maid.

「But you know what? In my opinion, such an attitude could still be somewhat tolerable if the said big brother was truly superior to you…」

Arjuna continued with his thought as he stared at Jin’s cards with such intensity as if he wanted to see right through them. He, Homura and Jin were playing card games for a while now, wearing nothing but loincloths and enjoying a nice serving of the Indian Chai tea.

「… but should that not be the case, then I think it would be better for them not to act high and mighty simply because of the age difference between the older sibling and the younger sibling. There is nothing more infuriating than your sibling being all like 『There, your dependable big brother protected you! Now, where’s my thanks?!』 with a smug face. Even if the younger sibling is indeed so weak that he or she would need the older one’s protection, the debts of gratitude made with one’s own family are among the worst ones there can be.」

「Hahaha, truer words have never been spoken! If they get to that stage, then they have clearly went past the point of no return and are beyond redemption.」

「Then again, we must not forget that being an exemplary little brother is not an easy job either.」

Unable to object to that statement, Arjuna sighed and pulled out another card from the deck, only to discover that luck was not on his side once more, because the card he just got did not make a matching pair with any of the three he was left with. At that point Jin frowned his brows, as if he just remembered something really unpleasant.

「But still. What about being constantly doted on by a big brother who is legitimately capable of doing anything effortlessly to the point of not having to do anything yourself? Because I think that it can also be quite painful, though in my case it’s not my actual brother who’s like that because I don’t have any of those, but rather someone so close to me that I actually consider them to be like my flesh and blood brother. To be honest, we had a little of a falling out some time ago, and yet he does not seem to be considering me to be his enemy, despite my current position and standpoint. Instead, I feel like he decided to ignore me… and that stings, guys. More than I have initially thought, actually.」

「Ah, I totally get that too. Well, in my case it was more like someone whom I considered my stepbrother turning out to be my actual brother, so….. yeah, I really am not even sure what else I could say here. I guess the perfect description in my case would be that, despite being clearly better than me, he keeps worrying about me and glancing back over his shoulder even though he should be focused on looking forward. He is someone who, as long as he puts his back into it, he could run so much faster than others, fly higher than anyone else could ever dream of flying… but as soon as his little brother enters his field of vision, it’s like he intentionally drops his power output by like 30% just so that he could match me, and that… whenever I see him doing that, it makes me want to kick him in the ass so hard that he would spit my shoe out his throat.」

When a race’s top runner who effortlessly took 1^st place stares back at the rest of the race’s competitors in worry, it is nothing but insulting towards those who desperately try to chase after his back in an attempt to wrestle the winning spot from him. Homura, being Sakamaki Izayoi’s “little brother” could understand such feelings of frustration, and he himself could not forgive Izayoi for treating him in such a way.

Hearing Homura’s comparison, Jin vigorously voiced his agreement.

「Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind! I totally get that! I am always trying my damn hardest to catch up to him in my own way so that he would acknowledge my efforts and finally see me as his equal, so it is only natural that he should do the same and run with all his might in turn! If all he does is limiting himself so that I could always catch up to him without putting any kind of effort into it, then me catching up to him that way would be meaningless, but for some reason I am the only one who sees that contradiction, and that is what always makes me so frustrated with him! He might be skilled when it comes to brawling with others, but when it comes to the social skills he can be a complete and utter dimwit!!!」

As a punchline to his passionate outburst, Jin grabbed one of Homura’s cards and pulled it vigorously. Turns out that this move got him a matching pair with one of his own remaining cards, meaning that with this Jin himself was down to his last card. All he had to do to secure the victory for himself was to wait until Arjuna pulled his final card. Realizing that he only had one chance left to try and turn the tables and try to seize the victory for himself, Homura thought carefully for a good while before he chose a card from Arjuna’s remaining hand and added it to his own.

As for Arjuna himself, even though he was playing the game along with Jin and Homura, it was safe to say that now that the conversation had taken a turn towards such an… interesting topics, Arjuna was more preoccupied with listening to what the other two had to say, but he only now realized that maybe he shouldn’t have done that, because all of that made him feel extremely bitter as a result. Biting on his lower lip, he hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to open his mouth and adding something to the conversation himself.

「Yes……I think I understand what you mean by that. Or at least I think I do.」

「Oh really? So, you experienced something like that as well? Care share more about that?」

「If you want to listen then I don’t mind talking about it. To answer your question as simply as possible, yes, back when I was still alive there was one particular episode in my life where I fought alongside someone whom I considered to be my brother… but in the end we both ended up as each other’s sworn and bitter enemies. But back then when I was still young, I looked up to him and admired how he would always press on forward, becoming stronger and stronger with every battle he fought and every enemy he slain as he cut them down in droves no matter in what numbers they were coming at him… and yet he still had enough compassion to still properly look at them and recognize them for who they were, even as he surpassed them and left them behind as corpses that would be a testament of his unrivaled strength. At that time, I thought that what I felt whenever I saw the silhouette of his back in front of me was anger at him being too strong and me being too weak to catch up to him and fight side by side with him as equals, but now I know that what I was feeling was actually antipathy.」