Konjiki no Gash!! Chapter 59

**A Free Man** (自由な男 , *Jiyūna Otoko*) is the 59th chapter of Makoto Raiku's Konjiki no Gash!!. This chapter was originally released in Japan as part of volume 7 on October 18, 2002.

## Plot

A new demon and bookkeeper team, Ropes and Apollo arrive just outside of Mochinoki City and admire clouds and wind blowing freely around them. Not long after appreciating this scenery, Ropes hops off of Apollo’s shoulder and starts running in the direction of town and Apollo follows behind him. Later that day in the middle of the town, Kiyomaro is annoyed to spend his sunday to buy supplies to fix an outside wall of his house that was destroyed by Gash and Umagon. While in town, a young boy approaches Kiyomaro to ask him where he can find a particular toy shop. The shop turns out to be just across the street and Kiyomaro points him in the direction of it and the boy quickly heads off to it. Just then, Kiyomaro realizes that the boy was crossing the street while the traffic signal was red and he shouts for the boy to come back. As he says this, a car comes speeding in the boy's direction and Kiyomaro panics as the boy is about to get hit. Just then, the spell *Riguron* was cast and a plethora of rope hooks were deployed to lift the speeding car in the air.

When Kiyomaro looks to the source of where this spell was cast, he sees Apollo and Ropes standing on the other side of the street with their spell book clearly visible in Apollo’s hand. Ropes drops the car back down and the pair quickly leave the scene. Kiyomaro rushes in to take the boy out of the street and tries to call out to them but by then they were already gone. After Kiyomaro buys the supplies he was looking to get in town, he walks home and discovers Apollo and Ropes at the local park. There, Kiyomaro tries to hide himself behind a tree and quietly observe them. A group of kids can be seen gathered around Apollo and Ropes as Apollo plays various musical instruments for them. Kiyomaro thinks to himself how Apollo appears to be a good person and how he would rather not fight him if he doesn’t have to. Just as he leaves, Apollo suddenly asks Kiyomaro what color is his spell book and shows off his own to him. As Apollo tells the children that he has to leave, Kiyomaro clutches his spell book tightly in his hands expecting a fight to happen. Apollo however tells him that he just wants to talk to him and he lays out his cape on the ground to relax on.

Apollo tells Kiyomaro that he has no personal interest in the battle to decide king and that he would rather spend his time seeing the world. He then invites Kiyomaro to sit down with him and the two introduce themselves to each other. After this, Kiyomaro asks Apollo to elaborate on what he had just told him. Apollo explains that his family owns a business in America and before he takes over for it, he wants to be able to travel the world first. During his travels, he had met Ropes and the two of them encountered various enemies together. Despite this, Apollo tells Kiyomaro that they never tried to fight anyone or burn anyone’s book. Whenever they had gotten into fights, they would handle their enemies their own way then go on their way. Kiyomaro asks Apollo why he chooses to be with Ropes despite not wanting to battle anyone and Apollo answers saying that he enjoys being with Ropes and that he’s a great travel companion. He also adds that while Ropes’ power can be good, he doesn’t need to use his power and that he would rather just have fun on his last trip while he can. Hearing Apollo’s perspective on the battle surprises Kiyomaro as Kiyomaro thinks how different Apollo seems to be from the many other bookkeepers he had met who were obsessed with power.

While talking, Apollo asks Kiyomaro if he had been fighting in the battle. Kiyomaro tells Apollo that while he does, he doesn’t fight against everyone he sees. Kiyomaro then opens up to tell Apollo that he’d like his partner Gash to become king and tells him how much of a positive impact Gash had made on his life. He adds that when Gash told him one day he wanted to become a kind king, he felt committed to make that happen after all Gash had done for him. After telling Apollo his story, Kiyomaro tells him he’s going to head back soon. Before he leaves, he asks Apollo if he’s sure he’s doing the right thing traveling freely without much worry for the battle. Kiyomaro then quickly disregards this thought as he felt he was only just sharing his thoughts without thinking too much about it. Before he leaves, Apollo stops him and points out that Kiyomaro seems to have something that he doesn’t. Apollo then gets up, and to Kiyomaro’s surprise, he challenges Kiyomaro to a battle later that day.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Ropes
* Apollo Genesis
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Gash Bell
* Umagon
* Naomi
* Robnos (Flashback)
* Luc (Flashback)
* Haruhiko (Flashback)
* Sugina (Flashback)
* Fein (Flashback)
* Seibei (Flashback)
* Reycom (Flashback)
* Hosokawa (Flashback)