Vol 4 Chapter 1 (1/2)
LEVEL 4: Chapters of the Chosen and Choosers
Chapter 1: This Near Unbearable Weight of Reality
PART 1 of 3
A person’s death is no trifling matter
And in recent days, Haruhiro never i he would have to experience once again Of course, he realized there was the possibility that anyone could die at any ti else, the safety of his companions was always foremost on his mind, and their deaths were the fear rooted most deeply in his heart But his assumptions of death, of loss, had clearly been too detached froone, leaving only pain entirely different from the pain he felt at Manato’s death in its wake
They carried Mogzo’s body back to Altana, and then to the crematorium outside the city to have his body burned They then took his ashes to the hill where the toith no entrance or exit stood The events after that Haruhiro re see the up to that point went as smoothly as could be expected
Afterwards hen the true difficulties began
Their companion, their friend, was dead; turned into bone and ash, put to eternal sleep atop a hill where he would be disturbed no h Mogzo was gone, the vestiges of his presence reed plate mail, dented helm, and the sword that he claimed from Deathpatch, The Chopper Those couldn’t be burned and buried with hied and physically i rid of it was out of the question, but they didn’t have anywhere to keep it either
Finally, it was shi+horu who suggested, “Maybe we can store it somewhere?”
So they headed to Yorozu’s Bank and there discovered another unpleasant reality
“Certainly, we here at Yorozu’s Bank can handle the safe-keeping of eneration Yorozu She was dressed in a flashy red and white gararded them from behind a steel-fraolden tobacco pipe and continued, “Regarding the storage fee, while we charge one percent of the total ae of equipoods as appraised by us In your case, there’s no need to even appraise the ar”
“W-what?” Haruhiro stuttered “Why?”
“Do I really need to explain hed
She had given him that horrible na it
“That plate ar,” she said “Even if you took it to a blacksmith, I doubt equip if anyone can use it as scrap metal?”
“Hey! Watch your fuckingover the counter in an atte so dispassionately behind it
Haruhiro held Ranta back, but inwardly, he felt the same as Ranta Scrap metal… Yorozu had the nerve to call their dear friend’s possessions scrap zo, and she treated it as if it was nothing more than trash Well, it wasn’t How dare Yozoru talk so brazenly about so She didn’t know a Godda
Yorozu’s eyes narrowed to slits, then she shrugged ed to a former companion of yours While I understand your situation, there are rules that even this fourth generation Yorozu cannot bend No matter what the reasons, we cannot accept itee space is a resource too, and we do not store items that have no monetary value If it’s too precious for you to dispose of, then I suggest you find a way to keep it on hand”
So this hat it felt like to be lost for words If it ure out what to do with it yourselves, is what she was basically saying And the worst part was, she was right It was their responsibility to take care of Mogzo’s possessions, not hers
“Then… what about the sword?” shi+horu asked softly
Yorozu nodded “Yes, we can store that for you However, it once belonged to the Deathpatch, correct? The storage fee is not going to be cheap”
A weapons appraisal specialist then came to look at the sword, and just as Yorozu warned, its old One fiftieth of that meant fifty silvers They had thenevertheless Haruhiro hesitated in co
“Would it make a difference even if we don’t decide now?” Yume asked
She was right If they put the decision off until later, carrying it around with them would turn out to be impractical and they would be back here eventually anyway Still, they didn’t have to do it right this moment They would have time tomorrow, or the next day, or the day after that… Because apparently, they hadto what Yorozu asked them next
“Also, and I inquire out of concern, ill you do with the su in the deceased party’s bank account?”
“Su?” Haruhiro echoed
“The deceased had an account with us Normally, only the account oould be able to withdraw funds, but in the case of death, it’s possible to transfer the account to a different owner given the completion of the necessary transference procedures”
“Is… is that so…” Haruhiro replied
“To be precise, you will need to obtain an official death certificate and proof of next-of-kin froh the Crimson Moon headquarters and present it here,” Yorozu explained “Once we confirm validity, ill then relinquish all of the deceased party’s funds over to you”
“Death certificate…? Proof of next-of-kin…?” Haruhiro repeated
“We are also unable to divulge any infor the amount of money stored in the deceased party’s account at this time”
PART 2 of 3