CH 83

From now on

After that, we returned to the inn along with the young adventurer who was in a daze at my words. It’s because I thought I’d like to ask him about the details of what happened there.

At any rate, the Goblin King is dead, and the town has regained its peace, so there’s no need for us to do anything anymore.

The only thing left to do is to take care of Nico-chan and her father.

Even if Duke Orba is now dead, it will be difficult for the fallen Arcs house to return to its former noble status. I’m sure Claire-chan is aware of that as well…. in other word, the only way to avoid any harm to befall Nico-chan and her father from now on is first to withdraw the soldiers who are searching for her, and then make it as though she and her father have died in this town.

Arcs house seems to be a magician family lineage, so even with Duke Orba death, that doesn’t mean the possibility of them being targeted by the Royal Family is completely gone. So pretending to be dead is the most optimal solution for them.

Now that it comes to that, staying in this town is no longer a good option for them. I guess that means we have to take them out of here to another place. That’s more or less the gist of the idea, and I’m sure Claire-chan also thinks along those lines.

“For the time being, I’m intending to take Nico-chan and her father to the next town. Just in case, they’ll have to use a fake family name, but the next town isn’t under the protection of the Grandile Kingdom, so I think it’s safe for them to stay there.”

“Yeah, good idea.”

“Okay, looks like we’ll be together for a while longer, right, Nico?”

“…yes.”

After coming to this town, my stats have grown greatly, so speaking of gain or loss, so I think coming to this town is still a plus. As far as I’m concerned, staying here is suffering in itself, and I want to get away from anything related to Grandile Kingdom as soon as possible. Otherwise, I don’t know when I’ll get dragged into the troubles caused by that fake hero, after all.

Well, leaving that aside, let’s move on to the next problem.

It’s about the newbie adventurer who’s been hanging his head up until now. He seems to be an F-ranked adventurer, which means his rank is higher than me, but… how should I put it, he’s supposed to be a newbie, but his is already higher than mine.

“Well then… first thing first, care to introduce yourself?”

“… Jack Itona.”

“If I don’t get it wrong, dozens adventurers fought against the Goblin King, but you’re the sole survivor. And then, all of the demonic beasts were found dead, including the Goblin King… something like that, am I right?”

“… yes, everyone, they all died protecting me. I should’ve died back then, too… but somehow I survived…! Someone like me, it would’ve been better if I just died there…!”

With face filled of grief and regret, he clenches his fists and vexedly says so.

He’s exuding this air as though a protagonist who’s suffering from a setback, but what’s with this situation? Eh, is this where I’m supposed to console him? Give me a break, I’m not good at that kind of thing… I mean, I’ve never had anyone to console, after all. Or rather, I didn’t have any friends except Shiori-chan.

“……”

“… Kitsune.”

“… You can do it.”

When I glance at Rishe-chan and Leila-chan, I’m wonderfully betrayed. Rishe-chan seems to be not very good at this kind of thing, as for Leila-chan, I’m sure she just finds it bothersome.

How bothersome, geez… why do I have to console such a protagonist-like person? Honestly speaking, I don’t want to be in such a depressing room, or rather, I wonder if I can just have him return to his place now.

“… Don’t blame me for what’s going to happen later, alright?”

Saying so in the voice that only Rishe-chan and the others can hear, I turn my gaze to the gloomy young man. His shoulders are shaking, he seems to be crying. His tightly clenched fists are pale white, and blood can be seen flowing from his gritted teeth. Just how far down is he?

“…. umm… Jack-kun, it’s not good saying something like you’d rather die or the like, you know?”

“…..”

“Why do you think the people who died back there sacrificed their lives for you? It was because they thought you were worth it. So, if you choose to die, wouldn’t you just make them all died in vain, don’t you think so too?”

“….!”

There is a response, does that mean it’s working? Those are words I read from manga, but it seems that you can’t really look down on them, huh! Umm, I believe the next sentence is….

“From now on, you have to live and shoulder all of the wish those died adventurers entrusted to you. Moreover, you’re still very young as an adventurer… your potentials are as numerous as the stars in the sky. You have to keep on getting stronger and make those adventurers who died protecting you think… it was totally worth sacrificing their lives for you! I think that’s the best you can do for them, right?”

Yup, it should be something along those lines. I somewhat sugarcoat it, but in the end they still died a dog death, though. Apparently, the Goblin King died due to a stroke of luck, so that’s about it.

For now, my top priority is to have him leave. It’s getting very bothersome, after all.

“…. you’re, right… thank you… I was wrong… I’ll become more… more and more stronger… and surprise all of them…!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s the spirit.”

“So…. for now, let me cry for a bit!!”

“…. feel, free….!”

When I say so with cramped smile, he starts bawling like a broken dam.

I leave the room with Rishe-chan and the others. Nico-chan’s father is still unconscious, so I let him sleep in the bed, but he shouldn’t be waking up for a while. Even if he does wake up, he should be able to read the mood. He’s a father, he’s also similarly a man, and whether he decides to console him or pretends to be asleep, I think either way is fine.

Well, not that not reading the mood is wrong or anything, though.

“…..”

“…..”

“…..”

“…..”

Neither I, Rishe-chan, Leila-chan, nor Nico-chan say anything. We’re only standing in front of the door, while listening to the the faint cry from inside the room. Probably, though I think we’re silent for different reasons.

I’m speechless from the thought of what the hell is going on here. Rishe-chan is probably thinking ‘what a youth life’. Leila-chan probably doesn’t understand of the situation. And I think Nico-chan is silent because everyone else is silent.

That makes me think again. What’s with this situation?

“… How bothersome, adventurers are.”

“What?! That, just now, didn’t you manage to say those splendid words…?”

“Nah… it’s a total pain in the ass… first, this is our room! Why do we have to read the mood and leave? I just don’t get it.”

“Err…”

When I complain so, Rishe-chan is somewhat taken aback. I’m sure by now she’s noticed that the words I used to console him previously were actually shallower than a dry river. Well, frankness is indeed her good point, but it becomes her bad point at times like this.

Well, Leila-chan and Nico-chan aren’t interfering and are only watching the situations unfold, but in this case, that’s the right thing to do.

“… What do we do now?”

“… Let’s see… well, it’s late today… so why don’t we take some rest tonight and then leave the town tomorrow?”

“You’re right, it’s already getting dark outside, so I suppose let’s just do that.”

By the way, the sun is already setting. It’s time for dinner.

It’s already quite late to leave for the next town, so let’s go with Rishe-chan’s plan. Leila-chan has a basic stance of following the others’ decision, so it’s normally Rishe-chan and I who decide on our plan.

“… but he’s still crying, you know?”

“… For now, let’s wait a while longer for.”

“Yeah… let’s do.”

We’ve decided on our plan, but we can’t enter the room until he stops crying.

Hence, we have to wait in the hallway for a while longer.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the end, when we entered the room after the crying stopped, we found him asleep, exhausted from crying. The sheets were soaked with tears, and he’s lying on the bed quietly sleeping. I was a little irritated by it, but I’ was also feeling a little tired, so I decided to just take some rest.

I wanted to use the bed, but even if I moved him away, I still wouldn’t be able to use it since the sheets were wet, so I decided to let him and Nico-chan’s father used this double room. By the way, I let Nico-chan sleep with her father.

So, in the end, I decided to have Leila-chan and Rishe-chan sleep on the bed in my own room. If they stick close to each other, they’d still fit on it, after all.

Huh? Me? I made a futon from miasma and slept in it. It took me a long time to recreate the fluffy feeling, but I was finally able to sleep at dawn. Because of that I barely had any sleeping time at all, though.

And now it’s morning.

I barely slept at all, but I still wake up and do some light stretching. I can hear a cracking sound.

“So we can maintain the miasma even while sleeping, huh… Well, it seems to become a little unstable, though.”

I make the miasma futon disappears, and have a yawn. Now then, let’s wake up Rishe-chan and Leila-chan.

“Both of you, wake up.”

“Hmm… Oh, good morning… I’m sorry, but can you not look at my sleeping face too much?”

“Ufufu, Kitsune-kun good morning!”

“Good morning. For now, I’m going to check on Nico-chan and the others, so please bring the luggage once everything’s ready.”

They both seem to be the types who are strong in the morning, the wake up when I lightly call out to them. Rishe-chan, like a girl, prefer to hide her sleeping face, but Leila-chan on the other hand doesn’t hide hers and gives me smile. Or rather, she has such long hair, yet she doesn’t have bed hair at all, and there’s also no strange mark on her skin. How should I put it, I guess that’s the advantage of being prime beautiful girl, huh.

With such thoughts in mind, I leave the room and head to where Nico-chan and the others are.

When I enter Nico-chan’s room, I see that her father and the young man are already awake. Or rather, I see Nico-chan’s father bowing to the young man. Nico-chan seems to be still asleep in the bed, but what’s with this situation?

“… What the heck?”

“Oh, ki, Kitsune-san! Please help me!”

“Huh, do you always talk to me like that? I feel like it was more casual, though.”

“I’ll explain about it later! For now please do something about this person!”

I don’t know what’s going on, but Jack is somehow using honorific when he’s talking to me. I wonder why? Is it because I consoled him? If he could recover thanks to those empty words, then that’s good and all, though.

But leaving that aside, I wonder what’s going on here? Why is Nico-chan’s father bowing to Jack?

“Can you explain what’s going on?”

“Well… I don’t really understand myself, he said something about thanking me for saving her daughter….”

“Oh, okay, I get it.”

In other words, he thinks Jack-kun, who was sleeping next to them when he woke up, was the one who saved them. I’m not going to correct him by telling him that I was the one who saved them, though. Or rather, won’t it be better if I just leave him think that that’s the case?

But, well, Nico-chan will definitely tell him eventually, and if I clear up the misunderstanding now, it should be less troublesome later on, right?

“Well, Nico-chan’s father?”

“Mu… you are..! The one I left my daughter to!”

“Yeah, yeah, and he’s actually got nothing to do with Nico-chan whatsoever.”

“Oh…. is, is that so? I’m sorry, I jumped to a wrong conclusion… that means, did you?”

“That’s right, I brilliantly, skillfully and coolly saved Nico-chan and you! I’ve also silenced Duke Orba, you can no longer live in this town, but there are no more pursuers or people who are after your life. So you can rest assured.”

When I say so, Nico-chan’s father seems to feel relieved from the bottom of his heart and feebly sits down on the bed. I’m sure he’d never expect that I’d actually silence Duke Orba. Well, strictly speaking, I killed him, so let alone silencing him, he already has no mouth to say even a word, after all.

Well, at any rate, we need to talk about the future. Nico-chan and her father now end up in a very awkward position, after all.

“Anyway, let’s talk about what to do from now on. Jack-kun, you can leave.”

“Aren’t you treating me so horribly here….?”

That’s none of my business.