Chapter 260: Saori and Asaka.

Chapter 260: Saori and Asaka.

I didnt expect to meet you here, Hanazawa-san.

We were just returning to the mansion after checking out the city Segawa-san.

The aura Saori and Asaka were exuding couldnt exactly be compared to how chilling Mothers was, but being around these two felt far more uncomfortable and awkward. I knew Saori had a bad relationship with Asaka from her stories about her students, but it shouldnt have been this antagonistic.

In fact, Saori has been starting to call her students by their first names due to their previous relationship. Even omitting Japanese honorifics with the girls mostly cause she felt awkward calling her students with -chan. Asaka seems to be the only person shes addressing formally. Its like shes putting this distance between them, not even trying to get closer to Asaka.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

Do you need me for anything, or can I go? Asaka didnt seem interested in staying around. On the other hand, her companion, Haruka, seemed to be rather conflicted.

From what I learned from our interactions, Haruka didnt seem like the shy and introverted girl Saori described her as. Well, she wasnt too assertive nor did she speak much when we talked, but I guess that was to be expected from a shy person meeting somebody new. She spoke just fine with those she knew, though, like Saori.

Nothing; we just went shopping. If you do not want to come with us to the restaurant to meet up with Tamae and others, then you are not obligated to stick around, Saori said bluntly.

Perfect! Haruka-chan, lets go. Without another word, Asaka began moving away from us. Haruka bowed nervously before following after her.

Hmm. I should ask Saori about this after Oh wait, I should tell her this.

Wait, Asaka-san! I called out for her, stopping her. Ill probably say this during dinner, but well be moving out to Ullistar the day after tomorrow. Hopefully it wont interrupt anything?

Tomorrow would be another day of public obligations, mostly concerning the recent terms we settled at the meeting yesterday. I had to give my signature on some documents, including giving my blessing with the letter directed at the Saelari and also have Vangrim swear an oath to me and Kargryxmor to keep what was revealed in the meeting a secret.

Since Ellaine recently asked for a break from the academy, our party didnt have any obligations to keep us in Griffonpeak any longer. Even if we did have some reason to be in Griffonpeak in the future, we could use the nexus to fast travel back. So, the important part was the Misfits, our partners for this mission to Estralia.

It wont, Hestia-san.

Despite Asakas rude behavior toward Saori, Asaka and I didnt have that bad of a relationship. After all, Asaka might act hostile when she met with Saori, but she wasnt going around making Saoris day worse or anything. They simply preferred to ignore each other. Up until now, they hadnt argued yet.

As such, I preferred if they got along, but without knowing what their deal with each other was, I couldnt do much. For now, I decided to inform Asaka about our plans before asking Saori about their issues.

Thats great. Ive been asked to perform a concert in Ullistar, so it would be good if we could get there in time to prepare and such. Have you heard about the Sun Worship Festival? Its happening on that day, I explained.

Haruka nodded. Yes, we have. We had to celebrate it when we were still confined in the holy capital, so we understand why youre doing that. Thats awesome, Hestia-san! I would love to see how your singing and dancing will appear on stage!

Hiehie, thank you~ Well, I havent done any of my daily training regimens lately, so Ill have to work hard on getting back in form. Not to mention, I dont think Yorshka or my mother would allow me to skip their training either. It will be busy.

Thats admirable, Hestia-san Hopefully, I can be of use to you in the future, she said meekly, looking distraught at everything I listed out.

Haruka admitted that she wasn't of any use on the battlefield as a fighter. She detested fighting and seeing blood, something she learned quickly when the students went to a dungeon to level up. Shed been acting as the groups scout mostly, but she had little experience actually fighting. Her level, as such, was the lowest amongst the students, only keeping up due to the party bracelets' experience sharing function.

Oh, dont worry, Haruka-chan. I heard youre good with numbers and also are good at striking deals. Thats good, too. Considering we all just created the company, we all need to readjust and find our roles in it. Even if you cannot fight, I am sure you can provide support in other ways!

Haruka smiled as I gave her my words of comfort, thanking me and telling me she would find a way to contribute. Considering her preferences, she could probably work well with Saori and Ellaine with deal brokering, but I think those two would know better than me.

Then what about me? I turned towards that monotonous voice, where I saw Asaka looking at me with tired eyes, completely devoid of any expectations. Was that a rhetorical question? I mean, I was the healer for my party. Tamae was the healer of her party. Now, we have probably the best healer and supporter party member we could possibly get. So what do you think I should do now, considering youre around?

I

Thats a good question.

I hadnt exactly thought of it, but due to the recent merger of our different parties into a single company, quite a few specialties and niches now overlapped with each other. In particular, the rogue, healer, and supporter roles.

Haruka was their sole scout for their group for a long time, but now, there was Saori and her garms around, plus if she trained Rajah and his family up, there would be more competition. Tamae was the alchemist and healer of her party but was happy with handing over those roles to become our gastronome. Since Saori was fully willing to hand over her restaurant, there was no conflict of interest.

But, honestly, I hadnt given a thought about those who were displeased with their roles being taken away. How would I feel if one of them turned out to be an experienced idol? I dunno

Haaaa, Asaka sighed after I couldnt think of a proper answer in time. Dont worry about it, its not like I liked being relied on to save somebodys life. Less gray hairs if somebody else can act as the doctor. But, not like Im like everyone. Some are less thrilled. Cant believe he cant get himself to kiss your ass, when an actual hime-sama an imperial princess, in fact like you appears before him.

I turned around to Saori, looking at her in confusion, unsure on whom Asaka meant. Saori scratched her head before giving me an answer.

Daichi. Hes a good flatterer. He has a tendency to always get himself into somebodys good graces if he believes it will benefit him.

Oh, I did see him acting like a sleazy schwertnoble with my parents. He tried buttering them up, but he wasnt very successful, Ellaine commented. I havent been able to talk with him outside of our initial greetings. So I dont have an opinion on him.

[The pyromancer, I believe? Hmmm. I believe he had a bit of an envious aura around him when I saw him during the meeting after you woke up, dear. Hes probably jealous. Of. You.] KleaHatma added, making me finally understand what was going on.

Hes a fire mage?

Yeah, that weird, creepy shit inside Ellaines rings got it correct.

Asakas insult seemed to have awakened KleaHatmas masochistic side, causing her to moan loudly. All sent into our heads through her telepathy. It was It sounded real enough to fluster everybody.

Gods, I hate that damn thing. Why do we have to work with it again? Asaka shivered as her goosebumps intensified, all to the chagrin of Ellaine, who was smiling wryly. After shaking it off, she continued where she left off. In any case, if you want to speak about readjusting, maybe talk with the people who just joined in. I dont care, but Im not normal like the others. Youre putting pressure on them to work, you know.

Then why didn't you speak up about it until now, Hanazawa-san? Saori asked, jumping in between Asaka and me, as if she was defending me.

Huh??? Shouldnt you know that best, Segawa-san? Asaka grimaced, contorting her face like some Japanese delinquent. Our dumb culture. Did you forget about it after flying over this place? Hit your head? Its all about haRmONy bleh. Conform so you dont cause anybody any trouble, in other words.

Despite being half-Japanese, I wasnt as well versed in Mamas birth country as I wished to admit. I wasnt born nor was I raised there. I simply visited Japan and had a decent enough idea of how Japanese culture worked due to Mama and her parents.

However, even I could tell what the kanji meant. Its direct meaning was Japanese, and it would be pronounced as wa, but originally, it meant something like harmony. Harmony should be valued and quarrels should be avoided, a quote from a person called Shotoku-ouji. He was a prince, if I could believe the memories I had of my rather traditionalist grandparents.

I dont care that my role was taken, in fact, Im perfectly fine with it, you know. But, do you really expect the others to simply voice out their complaints when they just joined in? When they learned our new leader is a girl with a bunch of achievements and a social ranking we cant reach even with our well-off parents?

This is not Japan! I immediately cast [Air Shield] around us, having finally come back to my senses after Saori shouted that. Just like I asked you to not call me Sensei anymore, there is no need for any sort of social hierarchy in this team. Hestia said she wanted to be equals, right? If you have complaints, you are all allowed to speak them out.

Oooooh, is that so? Segawa-san, maybe you had more time to change than we did? I mean, all weve been doing in this past year was to follow the commands and orders of the Church of Aurena, to maintain good relations. A year is a pretty short time to change from being indoctrinated from youth by a collective-focused society!

Oh, scheie! Shes mad!

Asa-chan! Haruka tried to calm her down but failed.

No, Haruka-chan. You heard our Sensei, right? We can complain all we want, so I have every intention to take her up on her offer now that Im not inside a school anymore! Asaka waved her hand in front of Haruka, rejecting her attempt at peace. You know whats funny? The fact I mentioned having these four dumb mutts following around me inside this stupid catalyst here, nagging me over and over again to persuade you to come and meet your mutt of an ancestor, so I can get rid of them. But, nooooooo. No, no, no, you didnt even bother to mention it during that meeting.

Asaka took out a black catalyst from underneath her robe, releasing the four onnikais. Without the prison of that magic item, the four smokey onnikais began circling around Saori, only for her garms to suddenly appear from her shadows and bark, sending the onnikais back to Asaka. Even Rajah snarled at them.

See, Hestia-san? Let me introduce you, these are the deceased spirits of four A rank fenrirs, turned into onnikais by the Goddess of Death to serve as protectors for the spirit of Belzac. Asaka pointed at them for me. Ive already told everything to your second-in-command, so why wasnt this brought up when we spoke about our plans? I was waiting, you know.

I already heard quite a lot about it from Kyouya and Tatsuya when I met them in that one tavern. Unfortunately, with all that stuff that happened with Mother, Id completely forgotten about it the next day and I hadnt been reminded of it ever since. Considering how it impacted Asaka and Tatsuya, it definitely was a topic worth talking about.

I looked over at Saori, who was frowning, acting anxious instead of her usual aloof self.

Saori?

Y-You could have brought this up, Hanazawa-san. You could have spoken up about it. But she didnt reply to me; instead, she was throwing the blame back at Saori.

Oh, no, no, no, dont bring this back to me. Your current body might be younger than me, but you were our teacher back on Earth. Youre an adult, so act like an adult! Stop shifting blame just cause you dont want to deal with this shit. I dont want to either, but Tatsuya and I will have to keep dealing with it if you dont.

Still why didnt you bring this up? I asked, while Saori was being silent. Im not blaming you, but if you had, we could have talked about it. Instead of heading to Estralia as a single group, we could have split the party up even more. You, Saori, and the others of Misfits could have gone to Belzac while the rest of Aurora went to Estralia.

The others, like Haruka-chan? They dont want to complicate stuff since they just joined. They dont want to seem like a nuisance, you see. You know, your problems are more important than ours. Since the trip to Estralia is something personal for Tasianna-san, they dont want to say anything. Tatsuya? Hes pretty horny for kemonomimi and he'll say or do anything to stay around beastmen girls, so be careful around that virgin idiot. Well, hes off his coffee for a year now, so maybe hes just unhinged?

You really didnt have to say that about him! Poor guy, we've been gossiping behind his back I should probably not stay in a room with just him around. Kyouya seemed like a nice guy, though.

And now to me. Why didnt I bring this up? Asaka showed me one finger, and gave me only one reason. I dislike having responsibilities placed on me, so I dont want to hand it over to you. You seem more than just busy with everything, and this doesnt concern you personally. This is Segawa-sans and our problem.

Mutation acquired. Merging [Flames of Purification] into skill [White Flames Lv. 4]

Being able to heal even strong toxins like my own was the biggest selling point of [Flames of Purification]. Now, I could do it whenever I wanted. As such, it was time to go down the venom flame path.

With everything settled, once the next day arrived our RV once again hit the road. We were finally leaving Artorias for another country.

And at that moment as I was enjoying the wind, a beast of immeasurable strength appeared above me.

Hestia, Mothers awake~ Its time to groom your scales!

As I said, a beast of unsurmountable power.

A note from AbyssRaven

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Thursday, February 10, 2022 12:47:47 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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