CH 302

Episode 302 – Farewells

The moment I left Eagle’s Talon, I saw Aruna sitting in front of the shop. Her eyes were downcast as she sat there on the ground with her knees curled up to her chest. She was idly drawing something in the dirt with her index finger as if she was sulking.

Had she been sitting here ever since she ran out of the shop…?

I didn’t know what to say to her, so a few moments of silence flowed between us before Aruna finally opened her mouth.

“Why didn’t you come after me right away?” (Aruna)

“I didn’t know how I should face you.” (Lewin)

“I received the money from Rosalie, so I think we should let everything that happened just be water under the bridge. Since we were former party members, I want to continue to be normal friends from now on.” (Aruna)

“If Rosalie is also okay with it, I’d like to be able to speak to you guys normally too, Aruna-san… Let’s continue to be friends as we always have.” (Lewin)

“Yeah. See you then.” (Aruna)

“―Can I ask you something? …Why did you run away earlier?” (Lewin)

“I don’t know.” (Aruna)

Leaving behind that short response, Aruna walked away quickly.

I don’t know, huh…?

The answer itself made me feel a little gloomy, but I was really grateful that Aruna said that she wanted to treat me as a friend. There was no way I would have been able to say that in my position.

How is Rosalie doing? Will you continue working as an adventurer? What will you do in the future? There were many things I wanted to ask her, but the words remained stuck at the tip of my tongue. In the end, they remained unsaid as I quietly watched her back disappear off into the distance.

Once everything is over and I return, I’ll make sure to apologize to her properly. Deciding that in my heart, I turned my back and started walking away.

After getting ready for my journey on the commercial street, I stopped by Ponpokotei to give my regards.

I had been staying at this inn ever since I had arrived in Landaust. When I was all alone at the time, Ruth and her mother had warmly accepted me, so I was able to make the most of my new life without feeling too lonely.

“Ruth and Ruth’s mother, thank you so much.” (Lewin)

“Thanks to you too, Lewin-kun. In the long time that you’ve stayed with us, you’ve helped us out a lot too, you know? You often paid us back more than you owed.” (Ruth’s Mother)

“Well about that… I would always come back late and leave early in the morning, and still you would always prepare food for me every time. I’m sorry I always made things hard for you up until the very end.” (Lewin)

“No, no, don’t worry about that. It might just be one-sided, but I’ve come to think of you like family, Lewin-kun. Right, Ruth?” (Ruth’s Mother)

“Yeah! Lewin-san, when you come back, please stay with us again!” (Ruth)

I had really done nothing but cause trouble for them all the way until the very end, but they always supported me with a smile.

In slightly better spirits, I left the commercial street. Now, there was only one place left to go in Landaust… I still had to go to the Laudungeon Company to say goodbye to Tobias.

I had gotten control of my emotions and had some free time now, and Tobias might be there. I entered the old, familiar shopping district and went towards the Laudungeon Company.

I felt a bit hesitant to enter because I had signed an exclusive contract with them and had disbanded the party without consulting them, but nonetheless, I pushed open the door and went inside.

Despite the scarcity of people in Landaust, there was a lot of activity going on inside, and it looked quite busy.

“Ah, Lewin-kun. If you’re here for Tobias… he came back.” (Juno)

“Oh, really? Can you call him out here for me?” (Lewin)

“Yeah. Just wait here a moment.” (Juno)

Juno, whose desk was close to the entrance, noticed me immediately and called out to me as soon as I came in. Tobias seemed to have returned, and I was relieved that I would be able to talk to him before I left Landaust.

After waiting for a little bit, Juno brought me to see someone―who was probably Tobias.

His complexion was pale, and his beard was more unkempt than ever. At a glance, it was hard to even tell that it was him, but upon closer inspection, it was Tobias without a doubt.

“Yo, Lewin. It’s been a while.” (Tobias)

“….Is that you, Tobias-san? You look…rather…” (Lewin)

“Yeah, I haven’t been sleeping too well recently.” (Tobias)

His voice was hoarse, probably from exhaustion. I heard that he had been going around to give condolences to the relatives of the people who had died in the attack, so the exhaustion must have built up for him.

“Are you okay? I know we just met up, but shouldn’t you go and get some rest?” (Tobias)

“I’m fine. More importantly―Lewin, I’m sorry.” (Tobias)

With a sad expression on his face, Tobias lowered his head, bowing deeply to me. With a mere glance, I could tell without him even explaining to me that he had been bowing over and over again while going around to visit the relatives of the deceased,

“Please don’t apologize. You did nothing wrong, Tobias-san.” (Lewin)

“You heard about it already, didn’t you? I was the one who had reached out to the [Azure Alliance], whom you adored so much. If I hadn’t approached them… they wouldn’t have died.” (Tobias)

“That’s not true. I think that if Ahmed-san hadn’t fought, even more people would have died. Besides, I think Ahmed-san would have fought even if you didn’t reach out to her. She really loves fighting after all.” (Lewin)

“No, if we had gotten everyone together and fought, we might have been able to use the numbers to our advantage. There was no need to go all the way out to where the enemy’s head was located to launch a surprise attack. Why did I even say that a surprise attack…” (Tobias)

After that, Tobias began to mumble words to himself as if he was speaking not to me, but to himself. The way he was now was completely different from his usual cool, easy-going demeanor. I could tell that he was trying to shoulder all the blame himself.

“Again, it’s not your fault, Tobias-san. I’m sure that all the adventurers involved this time fought with a full understanding of everything that was happening.” (Lewin)

“….My bad. I didn’t mean to make you try and comfort me, Lewin.” (Tobias)

“So Tobias-san, please do what only you yourself can do. If you collapse, everything will be for nothing.” (Lewin)

“Maybe… you’re right.” (Tobias)

Tobias finally smiled, although it was just a small smile.

“I’m going to do the things that only I can do. And so, I know this is sudden, but―I’m leaving Landaust today.” (Lewin)

“….I see. Lewin, you’ve always been strong from the day we met. Because of you, the Laudungeon Company has been able to recover. Thank you so much.” (Tobias)

“I’m not strong at all. Even now, I’ve always just been doing what I can. I’ll definitely come back with results, so until then, please take care―and please do your best too, Tobias-san!” (Lewin)

“Yeah. Take care of yourself, Lewin. Do your best out there.” (Tobias)

Tobias and I bowed to each other in farewell. With that, I left the Laudungeon Company.

I was pretty worried about Tobias’s condition, but I didn’t think that he was the kind of person who would break down from this.

And just like that, I said my farewells to Landaust and set my sights on the neighboring country, the Empire.

(TL: With the release of this chapter, I’m planning to put Unfairly Fired From the Healer’s Guild on hiatus until further notice. It’s really been a wild ride, and my life has changed a lot (thankfully, for the better) since the time I started translating this novel. This was the first novel I began my translating journey with. I really learned so much from it, so this novel has a bit of a special place in my heart. Therefore, in the future, when there are more chapters released and there seems to be more direction to the story, I’ll consider starting to release chapters again. A huge thank you to all of you who have been along for the ride so far, reading, commenting, and writing reviews. It really means a lot to me. I hope you will consider following my other works too in the meantime (which you can find from the description on this novel’s page on Foxaholic). —Crescent)