A sudden confession from Axe.
He hates Relics.
But that's not surprising at all. If anything, it's only natural.
Anyone who doesn't hate them would've formed a party with non-Relic holders already.
Stubbornness or whatever aside, it'd be strange if there were no anger or resentment involved.
So I wasn't particularly surprised, but actually hearing him say it out loud was another matter entirely.
Axe started talking.
"My mom was a famous delver. She was called the Thunder Claw back when she was Rank II."
"Yeah. I've heard of her."
I remembered him mentioning it when we first met.
"Mom was a powerful Relic holder. So everyone around me had expectations even before I was born. But when I was born, I didn't have a Relic."
"..."
"There was always gossip behind our backs—rumors about affairs, or that I wasn't really her blood. There were people who'd say that right to my face, even when I was little. I even believed it myself for a while."
"But you're her real child, right?"
"Yeah, no doubt about that. But ten years ago, I was kidnapped."
"What?"
"The person who kidnapped me had a grudge against my mom. I thought I was going to be killed, but one of her delver friends came and saved me."
"What about your mother?"
"She'd taken on a job and wasn't around. She didn't come back until... about a month later, I think."
**...**
"That's when it happened. Things got awkward between me and my mom, and naturally we drifted apart."
**...**
"I hate my mom. That's the one thing I can't help."
"The fact that you don't have a Relic isn't something your mother could have done anything about either, Axe. The kidnapping, too—if there hadn't been a commission behind it—"
"I know. My mom knows about it too. She knows how much I suffered because I didn't have a Relic. But understanding it doesn't make it sit right. That's the one thing I can't… help… the one thing I can't let go of."
"Then why did you decide to become a delver?"
I asked, a bit more sharply than I meant to.
Why walk the same path as a mother he hated?
"Stubbornness. I told myself I'd become First Class even without a Relic—just a stupid, stubborn grudge."
"I don't think it's stupid."
I thought it was a fine dream. Axe gave a wry smile.
"Thanks. Well, there actually are First Class delvers without Relics."
"Huh? There are?"
"The Sword of Swords. That's what they're called."
"The Sword of Swords?"
Quite the unusual epithet.
"When I first heard about it, I was a little deflated—but learning that First Class was possible even without a Relic actually made my dream feel more real. It got me motivated."
"Fair point."
Having a real example does raise the likelihood that something is actually achievable.
Setting aside whether that's actually possible.
"And so I became a delver. I started out solo, but I hit my limits pretty quickly."
"So solo really is that hard?"
"Are you planning to go solo, Wof?"
"Yes, that's the plan. I'm not great with other people, I guess."
The real reason, of course, was that I had far too many secrets.
Axe said it plainly.
"I can't recommend solo. That's how it was for me. But that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be the same for you. There are a few who've made it work on their own."
"Right."
"Anyway, to get back on track—those guys in the same situation as me. I met Rel and Hoss, formed a party called 'Thunder Fang,' and we climbed all the way to Fourth Class."
Most delvers stall out at Fifth Class.
And yet Axe and the rest had reached Fourth Class without a Relic.
On top of that, they were now considered top-tier.
That couldn't have been easy.
"Is becoming First Class still your dream?"
"Pretty much. That urge to prove myself is still there. But beyond that, I genuinely want to aim for it too. You're planning to become a delver, right?"
"Yes. But I haven't really thought about dreams or anything like that yet."
"Nothing wrong with that. You'll find one when the time comes."
"R-right."
Would I ever find one. A dream, huh.
"But something about it just gnaws at me. A family falling apart over whether someone has a Relic or not — it feels fundamentally unfair, and it just ticks me off. That's why I hate Relics. And I hate the people who look down on others just because they've got one."
"Mineha?"
"Mom's star pupil. Made delver at an unusual age, ranked up to Third Class — above the rest of us. She's probably packing a powerful Relic, too. And on top of that, she's a Relic supremacist, and a woman to boot."
"...So that's why you can't apologize to her yourself?"
"Can you blame me? Everything about her rubs me the wrong way!"
Axe scowled.
"Well, yeah."
That was putting it mildly. For him, it was beyond even a triple yakuman.
Axe suddenly voiced a question.
"Why did Mom send me Mineha, anyway?"
That was probably the Witch's doing.
The Witch was the reason Axe had been building up all that resentment toward his mother.
I felt bad for his mom, Emmy. That Witch.
Though the Witch had her reasons too — I understood that much.
"I wouldn't know either."
"Yeah, figured." Axe exhaled. "Anyway, Wof — I can't do it."
"Can't do what, exactly?"
"I'll keep up appearances for Mom. I'll dungeon-crawl together when I have to. But I'm not getting involved with her — with Mineha. As long as she doesn't cause me any trouble, she can do whatever she wants."
"You're just going to ignore her?"
"That's probably what she'd prefer, anyway."
"Is that really okay?"
"It's not a matter of okay or not okay. I'm not looking to meet her halfway, and neither is she. There's no need for me to bridge the gap. Honestly, I would've refused to participate altogether. I only went along with it out of respect for Mom's face. But to make sure something like this never happens again... once this job is done, I'm cutting ties with my mother."
I was speechless.
He was really going to go that far.
"You mean... disowning her?"
"That's better for both of us. We were never meant to be parent and child."
Axe said it in a flat, matter-of-fact tone. He was actually going to say that.
Well, if that's what he wanted, fine.
"Understood. If that's how you feel, I won't say anything. I'll apologize to Mineha on your behalf."
If Axe had decided that, then so be it.
It wasn't like I had any stake in this to begin with. Do whatever you want.
There was no upside or downside to me playing matchmaker between the two of them.
The job was simply to look after Mineha.
Getting them to get along was never part of the deal.
At the end of the day, it was someone else's problem. The witch hadn't asked me to fix things — she hadn't even gone that far.
Axe apologized.
"I'm really sorry for dragging you into this."
"Then show me that with my reward."
"G-good point."
Well, I'd already come all this way. Nothing to be done about it now.
But you've got to give me at least that much, right?
"So what should I do?"
"Just stick with him and help out with the grunt work."
"Got it."
That about wrapped things up.
Then Axe asked, almost casually.
"Oh yeah, Wof. You've got a Relic, right?"
"I do."
I answered honestly.
How he'd figured that out — whatever.
He might be fishing, but it was too late to worry about that now.
He definitely didn't know I had four of them, and I wasn't about to bring that up.
Axe pressed on.
"What do you think of Relics?"
"Just useful tools or techniques. Nothing more, nothing less."
I answered without hesitation. My honest, genuine opinion.
Axe looked utterly shocked. What was that about?
"You... that reminds me of the old days — never mind. Thanks, Wof. For listening to all my complaining."
"Huh? It's no big deal. But can I ask one thing?"
"What is it?"
"Why did you talk to me about this?"
I wondered about it.
This kind of thing — normally you wouldn't open up to someone you've barely known for long.
"...I wanted to get it off my chest."
"Huh?"
"I've never told Rel or Hoss anything like this, but they probably have a sense of it. I don't know the full story behind their stuff either, but I kind of get it."
"Because you've been together for so long, right?"
"Yeah, which is exactly why I couldn't... get it off my chest. Sorry, weird way to put it, but it was actually perfect, Wof. You haven't known me long. On top of that, you're looking after the old lady's disciple, which puts you somewhere in the middle between them and me."
"That's true, actually."
Honestly, being stuck in the middle like some middle manager — not a great spot.
"And you're a kid. Despite that, you seem to know a fair amount about the world."
"I know a fair amount, sure. So it was the perfect person to talk to, basically."
Axe gave an awkward, self-conscious smile.
"Like I said, I wanted to get it off my chest, but I only just realized that now. Probably because of what happened with her."
Something Axe had been carrying for a long time. Something she'd been holding down the whole time.
Mineha had been the trigger that let it all come out.
"Because of Mineha, huh."
"Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"It's fine. So, did getting it off your chest make you feel better?"
"...Hard to say."
Subtle reply.
Of course — since it's an unsolved problem.
And there's no sign of it being solved anytime soon.
"Let's go, dinner will be ready soon."
"Right."
I'm hungry in more ways than one.
As we walk, I glance at Mineha's campsite.
The center and the edge. The distance isn't that far.
But to me, it felt like it stretched across an endless expanse.