Chapter 65

In regards to Nack and Mina’s battle, Nack was victorious .

Mina tried to forcefully use Reinforcement but as a result, Nack’s healing magic returned back to normal . On top of that, it would appear that he has overcome the problem within himself .

In truth, I want to stay here for a bit longer to see his growth .

I thought that . However, Gladis-san called for me, Inukami-senpai, Kazuki, and Welsey-san the very next day .

“First, let me give my gratitude . Thank you, Usato . ”

“Eh?”

After being called to the principal’s room, she suddenly bowed her head to me .

While feeling flustered, I looked at Kazuki and Inukami-senpai for help . But it seemed that Welsey-san knew what was going on as she lightly chuckled and started to speak .

“Principal Gladis wanted to change the students’ way of thinking . ”

“Haah……?”

“Your accomplishments in life are already decided by what magic you’re born with . In other words, talent . A lot of children here have started to adopt this thought . ”

“They give up on trying to improve their own magic and blame everything on their lack of talent . But you… No, both you and Nack have proved that this ideology is false . Even if your methods were different, students had seen Nack stand up and directly oppose the wall known as talent . Witnessing this changed the mental state of many students . ”

……I wasn’t really aware of it but did my actions really influence the students here?

“Furthermore, even the teachers have been affected . They no longer doubt your ability . Seeing strong individuals like you request for help because you’re having a tough fight with the Demon King’s army… Who would dare say the demons are weak?”

“…! Then, Gladis-san! The letter is… . ”

“Yes . ”

Kazuki spoke out and Gladis-san nodded in agreement . She took a look at each of us before talking again .

“Luquis has decided to cooperate and ally with the Kingdom of Lyngle . ”

The moment those words were spoken, I was both happy and a little sad .

I wasn’t sad that Luquis decided to cooperate with us . It was because I would have to leave this place and say goodbye to Kiriha and the others that I have gotten along with .

“Principal, I give my thanks . Well then, today we’ll…”

Since we received a reply to the letter, our next objective is to deliver letters to the next country .

That’s why, we couldn’t stay here .

*

After leaving the Principal’s room, I spotted Carla-san and Halfa-san near the door . I decided to separate from Senpai and the others for the time being .

I had something else to do and Amako was waiting for me . I started walking to Kiriha’s place .

Kiriha and the others didn’t have school today because of the mock battles yesterday . Nack was also sleeping at Kiriha’s place after collapsing from fatigue . Because of that, I haven’t told them I would be leaving but I wasn’t really worried . Even so, it didn’t change the fact that I was somewhat uneasy .

After I reached my destination, I started to explain what happened today . Fortunately, Nack was already awake and listened to me silently .

“I see, you’re leaving today . ”

While feeling a little sorry, I faced everyone who was at the front door before replying .

“Yeah . Sorry to inform you this so suddenly . ”

“It’s fine . It’s an important mission, right? That’s why it can’t be helped . ”

Kiriha shrugged her shoulders in disappointment as she said so .

Seeing her like, I took her a cloth bag that Welsey-san had given me just earlier from uniform and presented it to her .

“Here, this is my thanks for letting me stay here . I’m not the one who prepared this though . ”

“Eh? No, I would feel bad . It’s not that big of a deal . ”

“I’m the one saying this but you’ve helped me a lot . You gave Nack a place to stay, but more importantly, I personally enjoyed being with you all during this one week . ”

It wasn’t an exaggeration or flattery .

It was a somewhat busy one week but it was fun .

“Haah, I know just how stubborn you can be . That’s why I’ll give up and just accept it……”

“That would save me a lot of trouble . ”

I ate food here for free . As expected, I could not bring myself to just leave like this without compensating Kiriha .

“You really are a weird human…”

“Of course . After all, this is someone who is willing to come along with me . ”

Amako, I think that statement is a little cruel .

That’s not something you should speak proudly of, right?

“Fufu… That is certainly true . ”

“At least deny it……”

“Deny it? Isn’t it the truth? Thanks to that, I was able to meet you . If you think about it like that, it’s not that bad . ”

Compared to the time when I first met Kiriha, she gave a somewhat tender smile after speaking .

A lot really has happened . This one week felt very long . It truly felt l ‘existed’ here .

“At first I really didn’t know what was going to happen . How should I put it? After meeting you… It feels like I can trust humans again . It’s not a bad feeling . ”

“Kyou… You… . ”

“While that may be true, I won’t open up that easily . It’ll only apply to the humans who can treat us normally, like you . ”

While giving a sour look, Kyou turned his head away .

I couldn’t help but leak a smile when I heard his words . His face became beet red and turned back to shout .

“D-Don’t laugh!! Even I know it sounds disgusting!!”

“Still, Kyou really gets embarrassed easily . ”

“Shaddup Amako! I won’t say this ever again!! Shit, why did I say something so embarrassing… Damn it…”

“……Are you perhaps crying?”

“Who would cry!?”

Kyou became sulky and turned his body around . As I was about to apologize, Satsuki approached and showed me an innocent smile this time . To match her line of sight, I bent my knees . She clenched both her hands to form two fists and looked at me with sparkling eyes . With great difficulty, she began to speak .

“Usato!! After your journey is over, come visit here again!! Then tell me even more amazing and weird stories!! Afterwards, tell Suzune and Kazuki that we’ll meet again!!”

“Yeah, I’ll be sure to tell them . But you shouldn’t make too much trouble for Amako and Kyou, okay?”

“Yeah!”

While jumping up and down in excitement, Satsuki nodded .

You really have a terrific amount of spirit . In the beginning, I thought you were more of a quiet girl .

After exchanging my farewells with the three beast kin, I felt that even if I didn’t come here to deliver that letter, it was worth coming here .

“Nack . ”

“…… . . ”

And lastly, I called out to Nack who had his head down .

He was facing the ground without moving but once I called out his name, he slowly lifted his head .

“Usato-san… I honestly felt like your training was tough . It was so harsh that I couldn’t think of anything else . ”

“Yeah . ”

“At first, I even thought that there was something wrong with you and you had a screw loose in your head . ”

“……Y-yeah . ”

“I thought that you weren’t actually using healing magic . I had my doubts and considered the possibility that you were actually a monster using some kind of dreadful magic . ”

“Hey, wait a moment . ”

Erm . H-huh?

This doesn’t feel like something you would say to bid farewell to someone . Wasn’t he just giving me some small complaints? I understand though, I also complained a bit to Rose . But if possible, I didn’t want to experience what Rose experienced .

“But now I can say that there wasn’t even one thing that you told me to do was useless… Whether it be the harsh training, healing magic, or the things you taught me . All of it was essential for me to obtain my victory over Mina . ”

“Nack……”

“I want to become even stronger . I want to become stronger just like you . Usato-san, I’ve found it… A way of living without being bound to my family or Mina . ”

Because of yesterday’s victory, he was finally liberated from his ties and obtained the chance to walk on a new path . Whether he decides to take it or not is up to him .

But I was little embarrassed since he said he wanted to become like me .

“I’ll go to Lyngle and enter the Rescue Squad!! I’ll withstand training that’s even harsher!! I’ll gladly receive any of kind abusive language!!”

“……I’m still inexperienced . I’m still not able to reach the ideal that Leader is looking for . My Reinforcement is still incomplete . Honestly, I’ve still got a long way to go compared to Leader… Even so, do you still think you want to be like me?”

“My master is you… It’s the back I ought to chase after!!”

…… . . I see .

Then right now, I still wasn’t good enough . I’ll temper my body even more than before and continue to devote myself to training . I’ll become a goal that Nack can proudly chase after .

I took out the letter from my uniform’s pocket and handed it to Nack .

On the rectangular envelope, the characters ‘To Leader’ was sloppily written .

“I think it’ll be fine if you hand this letter . Leader wears a uniform similar to mine and she feels like a carnivore . Well, you’ll recognize who it is just with one look . ”

“Yes!!”

Nack accepted my letter as if it were something precious .

I’m worried since he’ll be receiving the Rescue Squad’s training… Or more specifically, I’m worried if he’ll be able to keep his sanity in front of Rose’s unreasonable ways of doing things . Well, the current Nack should be fine .

……I should get going soon .

Inukami-senpai and the others were waiting . I signaled Amako that we should be going soon . Amako nodded and looked at Kiriha’s group . She took a deep breath before opening her mouth .

“Everyone, I’m glad we could meet again . Thank you for everything up until today . ”

“Me too . I’m glad to see an energetic Amako . If you feel lonely, come to our place . We’ll warmly welcome you any time, Amako . ”

“…… . Yeah . ”

Amako looked happy and smiled in front of Kiriha . But when she turned around, I could see that she looked a bit embarrassed as well .

Along with Salra-san, you now have another place you could return back to and call home .

I’m glad .

As I thought that on the inside, it was my turn to face everyone .

“Kiriha, Kyou, Satsuki, take care of yourselves . Nack… We don’t need to say goodbye… Instead, I should say ‘let’s meet again’ . ”

“Yeah, take care of yourself too . Well, you should call us if you drop by in the near future . We won’t be leaving here any time soon . ”

“Be sure to save Amako’s Kaa-chan . ”

“See you later, Usato!”

“I’ll be waiting for you at Lyngle!!”

After the bid me farewell with various words, I left Kiriha’s place along with Amako .

It was sad to say goodbye but it’s not like we won’t meet again .

*

“Looks like they left . ”

“Yeah, they left . ”

Nack and Kyou exchanged words as they sent Usato and Amako off .

It was just a week but for us, it was very valuable . I was able to remember my feelings of wanting to make human friends . I was also able to make a human friend for the first time .

“Are you going to head to Lyngle right away?”

“… . I would like to do so very much . But I still have things to do . ”

Was there something else?

While I had this doubt, Nack placed the letter in his pocket as if it were valuable and gave a somewhat reserved smile .

“I’ll send a letter to my parents to bid farewell… I’ll quit school… Afterwards, I guess I’ll meet Mina for the last time…”

“I think it’d be best if you didn’t . ”

“Yeah, you don’t know what she’ll do . ”

“I think so too . ”

I, Kyou, and Satsuki gave our opinions to Nack .

Based on yesterday’s match, meeting with Mina was far too dangerous . It wouldn’t be strange if she fired some magic right away .

But it seemed like Nack understood and looked troubled as he scratched the back of his head .

“I certainly don’t know what she’ll do… I don’t think I can easily forgive Mina for what she’s done to me . But whether I can forgive her or not is a different matter . I…”

“‘I… . ?’”

“I think… We should talk . ”

During the last moments of the battle when Mina was being reckless, Nack was the only one who could observe her closely . No one else could see or hear her .

But as a beast kin, Mina’s voice reached me . She didn’t sound like she was full of confidence . It sounded more like she was trying to stop someone who was about to go far away . With that in consideration, I could understand why Nack might be curious .

“Nack, you should do what you want . Ah, but make sure to stop by here once you’ve decided to set out . We have to properly send you off . ”

“Of course . Instead, it’d be more accurate to say the only ones I’m close with is everyone present here . ”

“I’m a beast kin and the one say this but… I think that’s quite weird, you know…”

That is certainly true .

……It looks like we were able to talk normally with Nack after he tagged along with Usato for this one week . At first, Usato acted as an intermediary . But before we knew it, we were able to converse normally .

It really was something that became natural before I even realized it .

“It can’t be helped that I’m weird . I’m Usato’s disciple, after all . ”

“Hah . You sure said it . ”

Kyou reacted to Nack’s statement and slapped him on the back while laughing . Satsuki and I naturally laughed upon seeing their exchange .

I had doubts and worried if humans and beast kin could truly be friends with each other . But it was actually this easy and simple for the two to get along .

“… . . ”

I suddenly felt like my heart was being filled up with emotions . I looked towards where Usato and Amako had left once more .

I don’t know when I’ll be able to meet them again .

Even so, I didn’t want to consider that I might never meet them again . Amako had Usato beside her . Usato had Amako beside him, there was no need to worry .

“Fufu, I look forward to our next meeting . ”

But if Amako’s mother is saved and Usato’s journey is over the next time we meet… It would be nice if I could become a little more honest with myself by then .

Until then, I’ll do things at my own pace . I think I’ll try and do some things different from usual as well .

*

After bidding farewell to Kiriha and the others, I arrived at the gates with Amako .

The ones waiting for us were Inukami-senpai, Kazuki, Welsey-san, and the other knights .

At the time of departure, it was decided we would be splitting into three groups . We came here in order to get our belongings and prepare for our journey . Ark-san, who would be travelling along with us, was loading our things onto a horse .

“Ark-san, that horse… . ?”

“It’s for our journey . I thought about letting this guy carry the heavy stuff while we’re travelling . This one is a little old but it’s a good horse . Furthermore, it’s quite smart . It won’t slow us down . ”

“Is that so… Best regards . ”

I gently combed its dark brown mane . It looked like it felt good as the horse neighed .

I haven’t touched a horse before but this feels really smooth . It was a bit different from Bluerin .

…… . Well then, I couldn’t just let Ark-san do the preparation all by himself .

“I’ll help . ”

“No, no . I’m fine . Welsey-san has something important to say before we depart . You should prioritize that first . ”

Welsey-san had something important to say?

I wonder what she has to say . I should go and see for the time being .

“I understand . Amako, could you go fetch Bluerin? That guy is probably still sleeping . ”

“Yeah, I got it . ”

I left the preparations to Ark-san and Amako . I headed to Welsey-san and the other’s carriage .

It didn’t look like there was an important discussion going on . Was she waiting for me? Thinking that, I spoke .

“Excuse me, sorry for being late . ”

“We didn’t wait that long . Did you properly say goodbye?”

I nodded to Senpai’s words . Then I relayed the message that Satsuki entrusted me with to Senpai and Kazuki .

“……I see . Yeah . Thanks for telling us . ”

“You’ll meet them again . ”

“It’s just like Usato said . It’s not like we’re saying goodbye forever . We’ll definitely meet again . Even Satsuki-chan said we’ll see each other again . ”

“… . . That’s right . Once everything is over, we’ll meet again . That’s why we definitely have to succeed in this journey . ”

Senpai was able to stand back up again once she heard Kazuki’s words and mine .

Welsey-san had been listening in silence and chose an appropriate time before speaking .

“It looks like everyone has assembled . I think you three have experience quite a bit in Luquis . However, this is only the very beginning of your journey . From here on out, it will be a long journey . ”

We listened to Welsey-san without saying anything .

“Suzune-sama will be heading to the North, Kazuki-sama is West, and Usato-sama is East . As for me, it’s very unfortunate, but I’ll be heading to Lyngle… . To overcome this crisis that threatens this continent, I can only depend on everyone else . Even though the three of you aren’t related to this at all, you have all decided to lend your power to us…”

She seemed frustrated at the truth that she had to rely on us and hesitated as she spoke . But she took a deep breath and displayed a gentle expression with a smile .

“Suzune-sama, Kazuki-sama, Usato-sama, I truly hope you three will be safe . I earnestly pray that everyone will be able to safely return to Lyngle . ”

“We’ll definitely return . That’s because Kazuki-kun and I are heroes! And Usato-kun is the invulnerable from the Rescue Squad!!”

“But I’m not invulnerable…”

Senpai replied to Welsey-san with a cheerful voice .

Kazuki took a step forward this time and looked at Welsey-san with eyes filled with emotion .

“In this world, our home is in Lyngle . There are a lot of people waiting for our return . That’s why, please wait . We’ll deliver the letters to the other countries and obtain their cooperation . We’ll succeed and come back…”

“… . . Yes . ”

After Kazuki said so, Welsey-san’s eyes were wet with emotion . She then bowed and left .

“Senpai, Kazuki . I think it’ll be a difficult journey but let’s do our best . ”

“Hey, hey . That’s what I should be saying . Usato, you’re the one who has it the roughest . ”

“That’s right . You’re the one who will be heading to the beast kin’s country…”

I understand that it’s dangerous but I had already made my decision .

After interacting with Kiriha and the others, I also had some positive expectations from the beast kin country .

“Well, it’ll turn out okay somehow . I was able to get along with Kiriha and the rest here . So it’s not like I don’t have any hope at all of succeeding . ”

“It’s turn out okay somehow… Haah . I really don’t know if you’re really just being vague or not . You should really be careful, okay? If you become involved in something dangerous, no matter where I am, I’ll be running towards you . ”

Be running towards me… It didn’t sound like a joke when it came from this person so I don’t know how to react .

“In that case, I’ll be running towards you too . ”

“K-Kazuki… You too?”

“Of course . If a friend is in a pinch, coming to help is my duty . When we were fighting against the Demon King’s army, Usato saved me and Senpai when we were about to die . It’ll be something similar to that . ”

“… . . Ugu, if you mention it like that, I won’t be able to deny it…”

“Fufufu, Kazuki’s life and mine were saved by you . Obviously we would want to save you too . ”

… . Good grief, these two held too much gratitude towards me .

But I certainly feel happy by being told that they would come save me .

That’s why—

“Let’s stop with this tedious farewell . ”

“Yeah . We should send each other off with smiles!!”

The three of us looked at each other, praying that we’ll be able to meet again after successfully obtaining cooperation from different countries .

“… . I won’t say goodbye . That’s why… Let the three of us meet again… . !”

““YES!!””

I smiled full of confidence . Inukami-senpai had a bold smile while Kazuki had a gentle smile .

Hearing Inukami-senpai’s words that hoped that the three of us will see each other again, Kazuki and I responded .

*

“Usato, are you sure?”

After separating from the two of them, I returned back to where Ark-san was making the preparations . After returning, Amako questioned me .

“Yup . We don’t need any more words . Ark-san, how are the preparations?”

“I’ve finished . ”

Ark-san pulled the reins of the horse with our luggage .

Senpai and Kazuki would be accompanied with several knights on their journey . But I only had Amako, Ark-san, Bluerin, and this dark brown horse .

But for travelling, this party size was just about right for me .

Since we were done preparing, we moved right in front of the gates . I stood beside Senpai and Kazuki who had arrived earlier . The gate in front of us gradually opened .

“We’re departing…”

The moment the gate had completely opened, we were signaled to move and started walking .

I waved my hand towards them as they each went on their respective paths . After turning around to look at Ark-san, Amako, and Bluerin individually, I faced the front once more .

…The short time which felt long that I spent in Luquis was about to come to an end .

Kazuki and Senpai each went on their different paths . I would also be going on a journey with a new member in the group .

If I say I didn’t feel anxious, I would be lying . But I was also honestly thrilled . Countries different from Lyngle, monsters, people, and scenery . I’m not Inukami-senpai but there was still Fantasy I haven’t seen yet waiting for me out there .

“Well, let’s go!”

As I excitedly said these words, I took one powerful step forward on the ground and began to walk .