On the outskirts of Fujimoto village, an elderly grandmother lived in a small house with her grandson.
Having experienced everything life had to offer, she felt there was nothing left for her.
She had raised three sons and a daughter, ensuring they were well-educated and grown up.
However, as they matured and began to make their own choices, two of the sons and the daughter married partners selected by their father.
The daughter did not like her husband at all, yet she could not bring herself to tell her father so; she feared that rejecting his choice would be an insult to him.
Meanwhile, the sons had married beautiful women, but these wives were as malicious on the inside as they were lovely on the outside; they wanted to drive a wedge between the sons and their mother.
After marriage, the sons became subservient to their wives, ignoring their mother and speaking harshly to her. Then, one day, the grandmother fell critically ill.
Once, when Grandma contracted the plague, both her sons completely stopped interacting with her; they even left her all alone at home to die while they went off to another village to earn more money. Grandma's daughter was somewhat kind-hearted, but her husband was a truly terrible man.
Grandma's three children had abandoned her to die, but she had one more son.
Grandma's third son had left home during his childhood; to this day, no one knows why he left. One day, as Grandma lay in her room breathing her last, there was a knock on the door.
She crawled over and opened it with her frail hands, only to find her third son standing right before her. At first, she couldn't recognize him, but once she saw his face clearly, she realized it was indeed her son.
Seeing him reignited her will to live—she had previously resigned herself to death. She struggled to stand, leaning against the wall for support; her body was so emaciated that her bones were visible.
The room reeked of the feces and urine she had been forced to relieve herself in right where she slept for weeks; out of sheer hunger, she had even been driven to consume her own waste.
Her son understood the full extent of her suffering. His name was Python. Tears streamed down his face upon seeing his mother's condition, yet a distinct smile played on his lips—the mere fact that he found her alive and safe meant the world to him.
After eleven years, he addressed her as "Ma" and said, "Ma, I'm here—your son has come back to you.
You don't need to worry anymore; I will take away all your troubles." Python then orders them to throw out the trash and thoroughly clean the house.
He also tells the two girls standing behind him to go and bathe his mother, Chiro; the girls readily agree.
As the girls approach Chiro, a small child—about two years old—follows close behind them, toddling along on his tiny legs while holding onto their clothes so he doesn't get left behind.
When Chiro sees the child and then looks at Python, Python signals with his eyes that the little boy is his son.
That boy had followed Undone and arrived there; the two girls were taking Chiro to get cleaned up. Just then, Chiro paused and looked closely at his grandson, then said, "Come on, take me along.
" The little boy asked Python, "Papa, Papa, when are we going home? And why have we come to this 'nasty auntie's' place?" Python slapped the boy and said, "She is your grandmother; speak to her respectfully."
Miyami touched his cheek and said in a low voice, "Okay, Papa, I'll do whatever you say—just take me to my mommy."
Chiro steps out, freshly bathed and clean, to find Python waiting for him.
He notices that his room has been tidied up and the overgrown brush in the garden cleared away; there isn't a speck of dust or dirt anywhere.
Before Chiro can say a word, Python speaks: "Mother, I need your help. I want you to look after my child—your grandson—and keep him with you."
Chiro becomes agitated upon hearing this and asks, "How can I look after a child? I'm so old now. You're here to take care of him, aren't you? And surely he has a mother? Since you've come here, you're going to stay with me, right? We can look after him together—you, your wife, your son, and
Where are you going?" Python replies, "Mother, please don't ask so many questions. I haven't come here to stay with you, nor have I brought Miyami along; I've come here alone. Miyami doesn't even know why I've come here.
I just want you to take care of this child." Chiro says, "I can't look after a child again at this age. Are you still angry with me—or with your father? Your father left this world long ago, leaving me behind to suffer, and now you're leaving too, after giving me a reason to want to live."
Saying this, Chiro sits on the ground and begins to weep. Python says, "Mother, you know exactly why I hate Father, and you know how much I love you.
If Father hadn't sold me off that day, you wouldn't be in this state today. What was my fault? I was just... physically weak."
When I was little, they thought I would stay that way forever; they figured it was better to just sell me off so they wouldn't have to waste money on me. So, one day, they took me somewhere and sold me.
All of this was happening right in front of you, yet you didn't do a thing. I'm not angry with you about that at all—I could see the pain; it wasn't in your eyes, perhaps, but it was certainly in your heart.
That's why I'm not angry with you, Ma. But if you don't listen to me today, I *will* get angry. After today, you'll never see me again, and I'll even refuse to acknowledge you as my mother.
Hearing all this makes Chiro feel terrible—realizing she couldn't do anything for her son during his childhood, and even now, when he needs her the most, she still can't do anything.
So, Chiro lies on the ground for a long time, deep in thought, before finally answering Python: "Alright, I'll keep my grandson with me, but on one condition: you have to keep coming to see me every year."
Chiro steps out, freshly bathed and clean, to find Python waiting for him. He notices that his room has been tidied up and the overgrown brush in the garden cleared away; there isn't a speck of dust or dirt anywhere.
Before Chiro can say a word, Python speaks: "Mother, I need your help.
I want you to look after my child—your grandson—and keep him with you." Chiro becomes agitated upon hearing this and asks, "How can I look after a child? I'm so old now. You're here to take care of him, aren't you? And surely he has a mother? Since you've come here, you're going to stay with me, right? We can look after him together—you, your wife, your son, and I.
Where are you going?" Python replies, "Mother, please don't ask so many questions.
I haven't come here to stay with you, nor have I brought Miyami along; I've come here alone. Miyami doesn't even know why I've come here. I just want you to take care of this child."
Chiro says, "I can't look after a child again at this age. Are you still angry with me—or with your father? Your father left this world long ago, leaving me behind to suffer, and now you're leaving too, after giving me a reason to want to live."
Saying this, Chiro sits on the ground and begins to weep.
Python says, "Mother, you know exactly why I hate Father, and you know how much I love you. If Father hadn't sold me off that day, you wouldn't be in this state today. What was my fault? I was just... physically weak."
When I was little, they thought I would stay that way forever, so they decided to sell me instead of wasting money on me; one day, they took me somewhere and sold me off.
All of this happened right in front of you, yet you didn't do a thing. I'm not angry with you about that at all—I could see the pain; it wasn't in your eyes, perhaps, but it was certainly in your heart.
That's why I'm not angry with you, Mom. But if you don't listen to me today, I *will* get angry. After today, you'll never see me again, and I'll even refuse to acknowledge you as my mother.
Hearing all this makes Chiro feel terrible—after all, she is your mother—and she needs to know: what kind of work do you do? Where did you get so much money? You aren't involved in anything illegal, are you? And how did you become so strong? I need to know everything—what are your future plans? You aren't mixed up in anything wrong, right? Tell me everything.
Python didn't say much; he simply stated, "I can't tell you much, but you need to know this: you must look after my child—and yourself—because my life is in danger, and I don't know what might happen to me.
So, for my sake—if you truly consider me a son—please take care of him.
Miyami is asleep inside right now; when he wakes up, tell him that Papa has gone to look for Mummy and will be back soon, otherwise he'll just cry unnecessarily.
You won't need to work; I'll send money every month to easily cover both your expenses." After saying this, Python left.
Chiro couldn't bring himself to ask any further questions.
When evening fell, Miyami woke up and asked, "Where is Papa?" Chiro had been sitting right there, waiting for him to wake up; once he did, Chiro explained everything.
Miyami was a sensible child, so he asked Chiro, "Are you my grandmother?" Hearing the word "Grandma" from Miyami, Chiro was overcome with emotion and replied, "Yes, dear, I am your grandmother, and Papa will be back very soon with Mummy."
Miyami nodded in agreement. From then on, Chiro—now "Grandma"—and her grandson Miyami lived together.
Meanwhile, Kuri and Horimiya were moving everyone in the village to a safe location to ensure the villagers remained unharmed in the event of an attack; they prioritized evacuating children, the elderly, and women, while the village men assisted them.
Kuri was completely focused on her work, whereas Horimiya's attention was entirely on Kuri.
Meanwhile, the villagers were being evacuated in stages; the people living on the outskirts of the village were still unaware of what was happening inside. Chiro and Miyami also lived in one of those outlying areas.