Chapter 46.2

…Which reminds me, why did Rose come here? Was she suspicious of me for practicing magic here? Or maybe she was surprised for a different reason?

“Right, I have something to relay to you… Tomorrow will be the day when the letters will be sent out . Which is why I’m supposed to tell you when you’ll depart but… It seems that people will see you off so just wait at the gates tomorrow morning . It doesn’t really suit me though . You can take Amako with you . ”

“Ah, yes . I understand . ”

“The heroes should join you shortly after . From there, you’ll merge and start your journey together since your first destination is the same . ”

Seeing me off . . would the people in this country be seeing us off? The image I was getting of it was people cheering and shouting… I can agree that it doesn’t suit with me too . I don’t think Senpai and Kazuki would run away from it though .

“What should I bring?”

“Take your uniform and the bare minimum essentials along with you… If you’re taking that bear along with you, get something so that you can strap him on your back . Getting a cord to fasten him should be sufficient . ”

The bare minimum luggage . . I guess I’ll take the knife I received from Rose and my notebook . I’ll also carry a bit of rations too . That’s all I really need, other people will probably bring anything else we would need .

“Is there anything else you want to ask me?”

“For now, that’s it . ”

“I see . Then before you head out tomorrow, there’s one more thing I need to teach you . ”

“…? What is it?”

There were a lot of dangerous things on the outside so perhaps she had some advice for me . Fundamentally speaking, Rose’s words are usually never wrong . I braced myself for next words as she presented her fist in front of me .

“If you ever get caught up in a situation with some fellows who look down on healing magic— you can beat them down without holding back . ”

“I can’t do that!! That would cause a lot of problems!!”

Even Ark-san said it would be bad . This person’s boiling point was really low . . I can’t even imagine what kind of mess she would make out there .

“Those kinds of people only know about what healing magic is like on the tip of the iceberg . But once you beat them up, they’ll return to their real character so there’s no problem . ”

“U-ummmm… . ”

For the time being, I’ll gratefully “accept” her words and change the topic to something less dangerous .

“—That’s pretty much all I wanted to say . You should go ahead and prepare for tomorrow . It’ll be too late once it gets dark . ”

“Yes . ”

“I’ll be returning to the lodgings… Whether it’s for better or worse, this journey will definitely influence you . —I’m expecting a lot from you, Usato . ”

After casually saying so, she started walking away from the training grounds .

I couldn’t help but mumble the words she just said as I saw her back .

“Expecting a lot from me, huh… It makes me happy, dammit . ”

Was I this simple of a man? Or was it because it was Rose who praised me…? That could be the case since I did place a lot of trust in her .

She was my teacher since arriving in this world and probably the first person that I respected .

Well, then again… This might be due to the fact that Rose had tamed me to this extent .

“Now then, I should prepare for tomorrow since I already heard about what’ll happen . ”

I started slowly walking back to the lodgings as I stretched myself . I had to prepare a leather belt to strap Bluerin on my back .

However, I stopped walking once I noticed a figure of a shadow within the forest and could even hear their footsteps . Looking closely, I noticed that they had silver hair . I was able to easily identify the figure .

“What are you up to, Felm?”

“Ugu…”

After the figure let out a startled voice, a girl with tanned skin and silver hair appeared from the shadows . Her silver hair reached down to her shoulders while her eyes seemed to draw me in . She was also wearing the training uniform with the Rescue Squad’s logo stitched onto it .

She broke her line of sight from me and turned away . While feeling nervous and putting her hands behind her back, she spoke…

“I’m taking my break right now and I can’t enter the town so I thought I would take a walk… But you’re here . ”

“Ah, I see . But why hide?”

Although she was behaving right now, we were enemies at one point . She couldn’t just walk on the streets even if you take into account how open-minded people were in this country .

“It’s because I don’t like you . ”

Why did she not like me to this extent? Well, I guess it wasn’t too strange since I was the one who captured her . If she doesn’t like me then there’s no helping it, I had to hurry and prepare for tomorrow right now . Once it gets dark, it’ll be troublesome in various ways .

“Haah, okay . You finally have a break and all so make sure to let your body get some proper rest…”

“Wait . ”

“?”

As I was passing by Felm, she caught my arm .

“You . Are you going somewhere tomorrow?”

“Huh? Which reminds me, I didn’t tell you?”

“… . . Tell me . ”

“Eh?”

“I’m saying to tell me where you’re going!!”

……Even though she dislikes me, she’s nosy enough to press me for an answer for this . Since she seemed to be frantic about it, I gave her a simple explanation about the letters . As I finished my explanation, she seemed to be angry and wanted to say something but immediately stopped . Instead, she hung her head down .

“What’s wrong? Ah, perhaps you’ll feel lonely since I won’t be around—”

“……… . ”

She kicked my leg in silence .

I have no idea what but this girl was displeased with something so she kicked my leg . This amount of pain wasn’t much and I was used to it so I didn’t show any reaction on the surface . However, it was still a kick with demonic strength so it still hurt and made my leg numb .

I was just joking but maybe she really did feel lonely .

“… . Kuh . ”

“Wait, don’t tell me you really will feel—“

“It’s unfair!! You get to escape from this hell!”

“Ah, I see…”

She felt irritated after see my face once more so she kicked me again . Afterwards, she headed in a different direction from where I was walking . Her second kick had much more power behind it so it made me a little angry too .

“… . . ”

I couldn’t help but think about how I usually interact with Rose during these kinds of moments . So while I really wanted to retaliate back, I was the senpai here and decided against it . Instead, I calmed down and looked at Felm till she disappeared from my sight .

…I could probably catch up to her instantly if I wanted to but it was probably best to leave her alone for now . The decision had already been made for me to go on this journey; there was no way for me to back out now . Maybe I should have at least said something like “you can just suffer here, you clumsy girl” when she kicked me again .

Actually, what’s with that? Saying that this was hell .

I’ve certainly had a taste of what hell was . If I were in her situation, I would be in comfort . I had to deal with a Grand Grizzly and some big monster snake . I couldn’t even sleep at night because I was scared of that snake, you know .

“Haah…”

…Well, I should be open-minded here and forgive her . I started walking towards the lodgings again . I don’t know if it was thanks to her or not but my strides felt a bit lighter now . While pondering on why my steps had become a bit lighter, I headed back to prepare for tomorrow .