Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Don’t fall into a love triangle, please! part

“Tonight we’ll hold a feast!”

Yells Bob at the top of his lungs just after coming outside of the cottage. Everyone in the group is excited at the thought of eating their full.

Anne, who just finished tying the deer skin into a wooden frame to stretch it places the whole thing next to the cabin. Sweat runs through her forehead as she sits in front of the old outside stove.

“Oh! I’m looking forward to it!”

Luke, who’s helping Hiraku to build the other cottage, turns around to look at Bob.

“Why tonight?”

“Young Luke, did you forget we just inaugurated the new building!? we worked so hard for it to be finished and now we can finally live a more comfortable life”

.....

“Is that all you care about old man? I’d be fine even sleeping outside if we were on adventures”

“No you would not... there’s snow everywhere! you’d freeze to death the first night out. Why do you think we went through all this trouble in the first place?”

Everyone keeps busy until nightfall, when the new dishes were finally ready.

“It took a lot of trial and error but I think I’ve finally made some real dishes!”

That’s what I say, though I’m pretty sure it’s at least decent since I unlocked the cooking skill while at it. It did take me by surprise, because I’ve been cooking for a long time, but it seems just roasting fish doesn’t qualify as cooking for the system.

The system thing is so strange, Luke claims it has to be related to their status as heroes, but I disagree... there’s nothing heroic about having 10 health points, and that was my maximum health when I regained consciousness on that fateful day.

Everyone goes inside the cottage since it’s getting dark already, and they’re welcomed by a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. They all sit in front of a low wooden table, it’s so close to the floor it’d be impossible to use while sitting in a chair.

Apparently Hiraku made them based on what was familiar to him, it’s his culture so I can’t really complain. Also he did it by himself and that’s actually impressive.

“Oi oi! don’t come inside wearing shoes alright!?”

“What are we supposed to do, take them off outside?”

“That’s a fair point miss Anne, I didn’t think of that”

“Why take our shoes off anyway? we’re not in wherever you came from”

“Come on Luke, don’t be disrespectful, we’re supposed to have fun today”

Helena’s voice acts as a soothing balm to whoever hears it, even Luke can’t stay grumpy when such a beautiful girl asks him to calm down.

“Ok, so the first dish is a deer stew made with some vegetables we had. hope you all enjoy!”

“Wait... Ryu, I was told this was going to be a feast, but this is just a small bowl of soup!”

This is actually the first time I’ve seen Bob upset, even though he’s a big muscular man and has a scary face, he’s actually a softie.

“Haha, don’t worry my friend, it’s just that I want you guys to try all the dishes we made. Plus, we don’t even have bigger bowls”

“Oh, my bad”

“Ryu, don’t be so humble you did this all by yourself, I just passed on the ingredients”

“That’s not true Helena, I couldn’t have done it without your help. You ground up so much flour! also you helped me keep an eye on the cooking time. Seriously, if it wasn’t for you we would only have charcoal for dinner tonight”

Everyone busts into a laughter, it’s weird since I didn’t say anything that funny, i think... so I look around me and I see Ayumi’s bowl is already empty and there’s food smeared all over her face.

“Hiraku tell Ayumi to watch her manners please”

Anne says coldly, this behavior brings back memories, but not in a good sense. Everyone seems to be having fun which was the purpose so I join them and start eating too.

“Ryu can I have some more please?”

“You’ll have to wait for me to finish up my stew first”

“Awww Ryu don’t be so cheap, come on, please...”

“I’m not your husband Ayumi, I won’t be moved if you try to put on a cute face”

“Oh! so you finally noticed my dear wife’s beauty? took you long enough young Ryu. But you can’t hoard all the girls for yourself! if you touch my wife I’ll fight you, mwahahaha”

“What are you saying Hiraku!?”

To avoid this awkward line of thought I get up to fetch more food, Helena helps me retrieving the empty bowls.

“There’s some roasted meat, cooked meat even grilled meat! but I don’t want to bore you with the same thing over and over... so here’s the next dish. These are meatballs made with flour, it’s dehydrated food and it should be able to withstand long periods without spoiling, but I want you guys to try them anyways. Also you can tell me if there’s anything to improve, or maybe throw some ideas for new dishes”

I put a plate filled with meatballs and three bowls in the table.

“these are different sauces made with herbs, one of them even has berries in it giving it a sweet taste. To be honest I didn’t like it at all but Helena insisted that Ayumi would love them”

“Oh! let me try!”

Ayumi is the first one to reach for a serving and starts eating before i couldn’t even finish speaking.

“This is so delicious!”

Hiraku takes one too and his face changes immediately

“This would go great with some beer!”

Everyone starts eating and talking to each other and I go get a small bowl for Mochi, who sits obediently next to Anne.

“What are those?”

“This is another version of the meatballs, though they are so dry they can probably last a longer period, but they are too dry to eat as is. Instead, they make great cat food”

Mochi stuffed its face on the bowl and a loud crunching noise is heard, even though Mochi is a glutton it only manages to grab a few pieces.

“Cat food! you even thought of that! that’s great!”

“I must say I’m impressed young Ryu...”

“It’s nothing much really, it’s just my duty as its owner”

“I’m not talking about that, I mean, this food is delicious, I never thought we would be able to eat something like this before even reaching a town!”

“Don’t go sentimental on me Hiraku, or Ayumi might be jealous”

“Haha, what are you saying? If you keep feeding her like this I might lose her to you”

Hiraku shrugs his shoulders as everyone laughs at his remark, I can’t believe good food can make such a difference in morale. I cant even eat that much since I’ve been trying food since this evening, but sharing a meal together warms up my heart.

“By the way young Ryu, I’ve been meaning to tell you... how do you feel about working as our leader?”

“isn’t that what I’ve been doing already?”

“No, I mean, getting paid”

“I don’t follow”

“We discussed the situation with the rest while you were outside, we feel bad because you’ve been putting up with our problems. We are supposed to be on a mission to save humans from extinction, and you somehow got in the middle of this, even though it’s not your responsibility”

“yeah, you’ve been taking care of us, and we feel like we owe you something”

“Wait, everyone agreed on this?”

“Not everyone of course, Anne was with you at the time, young Ryu, but everybody else did”

“Even Luke?”

“Hey! don’t look at me. I may not be the nicest guy, but even I can see things how they are. We would’ve been lost without your help and it’s only fair you’re compensated before parting ways”

“I see now, so what you’re telling me is you want to pay me off so we can part in good terms?”

“precisely”

“Luke, don’t go saying things like that! that’s not it Ryu, we just want to repay you somehow”

“And how exactly do you intend to do that?”

“Luke has told us that when heroes present themselves to the king of a nation, they provide gear and money to them in order to help their cause”

“And so far, has Luke been right about everything, right?”

An awkward silence filled the room and nobody was willing to break it, only the soft echo produced by the wind could be heard. Then finally Anne speaks up.

“I don’t know about any missions, actually, we set our course of action based on what was told to us when we arrived. Right now we need to take care of ourselves, before even thinking on going on a mission we need to survive this winter. I believe it’s fair that we compensate Ryu, so I agree with you guys partly, but what’s this all about?”

“So you also agree on this? let me get things straight... I know you all may mean well, but what I’m hearing is a bit different from what you say Hiraku. You’re saying you may pay me, if you get compensated by a king we don’t even know”

“if you put it that way...”

“It’s not just that, I have to be honest with you guys. I’ve been thinking a lot on leaving this group for a long time. At first it became clear to me that you were close to each other and I did my best to fit in, this lead to some unpleasant situations... sometimes I even thought you were hopeless. So all this time I’ve been asking myself what am i getting out of all this”

Everyone looks depressed

.....

“Are you saying, you’ll leave us right after winter?”

“I’m not saying that, Helena. What I mean to tell you guys is that I have my own issues. I don’t know who I am, if I have a family or friends. I don’t even know where do I come from! All this time you’ve been thinking of me like an outsider, but to me, you’re the only people I know and I cherish each and everyone of you. If you ask me to help you, I’ll do it, if you need something from me I’ll give it to you. You don’t need to think of a way to repay me for every single thing I do. Now it’s become clear you still see me as an outsider, and that hurts”

“We actually never thought of this young Ryu, I’m sorry... we’re sorry for going behind your back”

“so what you’re saying is... you’ll help us?”

“Do I even have a choice at this point? If you say humanity is going to be extinct, am i not human too? Also, if by helping you I get to learn from my past or meet people I used to know it’ll all be worth it!”

Everyone looks at each other awkwardly, then Hiraku speaks

“Young Ryu, I’m touched by your words. The fact that you stayed so far is proof of your good nature, you’re even willing to help us. We really appreciate everything you’ve don for us and we’ll continue to count on you”

“Wait, you can’t possibly be asking Ryu to come all the way with us! He only has 10 Health points, how can we protect him if he gets in harms way?”

“Hey! I got about 15 max health points now! also, I’m not saying I’ll be joining any fights. Everyone has their shortcomings, but there should be a way to compensate them”

“Ok then let’s make a final vote. Those who are against Ryu permanently joining our group raise your hands and state your reason”

Since nobody did so Hiraku continues

“Young Ryu is now part of our hero’s party. Since young Ryu took it upon himself to help with our mission, he shall be considered from now on a hero too!”

Everyone cheers but Luke, who seems to be fighting the urge to say something nasty

“Even if you don’t come from our world you’re a hero now Ryu!”

“And all it costed me was making dinner!”

“congratulations Ryu! I think you deserve this!”

“We’re all set then, Ryu will help us and we’ll also try to help him get back his memories!”

Things didn’t go quite as I expected at the beginning, even though nothing really changed, I hope they stop treating me as an outsider. I’m actually excited to see if I can find more about myself by sticking around with this bunch of worthless heroes.

“So, now that we have a finished cottage you’ll all be sleeping in here today. Me and Ayumi will go to the cabin and we won’t be expecting any visitors”

“What are you talking about dear I wanted to...”

But before she could even finish her sentence, Hiraku stood up and grabbed her hand, dragging her outside as the sound of laughter and mocking arose.

Two days after the feast the next cottage was finished too, at first we thought about building two cottages leaving Helena and Anne in one, Luke, Bob and myself in the other, and both Hiraku and Ayumi at the cabin. But it proved to be much more difficult to improve the cabin to a standard where it can be inhabited during winter, cold wind does breach through the walls, its roof is in the wrong angle and it’s impossible to add the drainage system to it.

So, instead of that we had to divide into just two groups male and female. This past days Hiraku has been begging me to go to the girls cottage so Ayumi can go sleep with him. When I went to Ayumi for help, she actually sided with Hiraku’s nonsensical request!

“Why don’t you just trade places with me? You know Hiraku has been bothering me too! and im sure both Anne and Helena won’t be against the idea of you moving in”

*sigh*

“If only it was so simple”

Its not. Ever since I went with Anne on the hunting trip things have been awkward with Helena. I don’t know what did she expect from me, but she’s being clingy and trying to be always by my side. It’s not that it bothers me at all, but she’s become very territorial with Anne.

They used to be friends, but now it’s like they don’t even know each other anymore. I don’t know what kind of game they’re playing but it only makes things difficult for everyone.

“I believe you’re mistaken Ryu, it’s actually pretty simple. You either switch places with me now or Hiraku’s gonna become so annoying that you’ll end up agreeing anyway. Trust me, I know him and he’s not going to budge on this”

“But I don’t know what to do... I think they expect something from me but I can’t handle this situation”

“Man up Ryu, you’re not a kid”

“I feel so anxious about this situation, and you say it like its nothing”

“Then why don’t you just ask them? let’s do something, we’ll talk with them and if they don’t want you living there we can tell Hiraku we tried and he’ll start pestering them instead of us”

“Ayumi! that’s the smartest thing you’ve ever said!”

“Hey! that was uncalled for!”

“heh, my bad”

We go towards the newly inaugurated cottage where the girls are living right now.

“Anne! Helena! we need to discuss something!”

They both come answering to Ayumi’s call immediately. She might be childish sometimes but they sure respect her.

“Listen up girls, Hiraku’s been asking me to switch places with Ryu so we can be together so, what do you think?”

Helena’s eyes started shining intensely

“Is that true? are you moving in here Ryu?”

“Not really, we just wanted to ask you so we can get some peace of mind for a while”

“So, what you’re saying is that you want him to bother us instead? why don’t you just move in and end this situation?”

“Would you really be ok with that Anne?”

“If there’s no other choice”

Anne shrugs her shoulders trying to act cool but, Is it my idea or she looks happy?

“So its settled then, Ryu from now on you’ll be sleeping in here and we’re all gonna be free from our torment”

That very night I moved into the new cottage. It’s the same size as the other one but this one looks a bit different. There’s also a low table but right in the middle there’s a vase with some wild flowers. There’s a curtain in the ‘bathroom’ which still doesn’t have flowing water nor a sewage system, but it gives enough privacy to change clothes or to wash with a towel. The bedroom just has some skins lying in the floor and pillows made out of plant fiber, Helena’s so handy with plant fiber she can make almost anything!

There’s also a pillow for me, which makes me happy. Everything would be perfect if it wasn’t for a simple detail. I have the feeling there’s a war coming and I don’t know which side I’m in. I can tell right now that this is going to be a big issue tonight. Should I just sleep in front of the fireplace? perhaps that’s a solution.

“Thanks for agreeing with this, I hope I’m not troubling you. If you want I can still tell Ayumi so she can come back”

“Are you crazy? you’re here already so... what are you doing? you got to place your stuff in the bedroom”

“Anne stop being mean to Ryu, but yes, she has a point. You can’t sleep in here when there’s still so much space in the bedroom”

“I see that, but... I’m not sure where am I supposed to sleep. I don’t mean to bother you”

“Isn’t that obvious? you silly, you should sleep right next to me”

I’m so screwed right now.