Chapter 21 Reminiscences of the Grand Magus (1) (2/2)

“……I doubt it. Yup. Not happening.”(aya)

Why did Renji-san appeared in the conversation there? I wondered but it can’t be helped.

Even now, I don’t know whether the emotions I have towards Renji-san is love, admiration or affection.

Whether I like him as a man, whether I admire him as the person who protected me so many times or do I simply love him as a fatherly figure, I don’t know.

But its a fact that the only person to whom I want to show myself with such makeup is Renji-san.

That’s why, for now, this is fine.

“Really? Renji-oniisan is loose with women so it’s not impossible you know?”

“That’s bad in its own way so its better that it doesn’t happen. Yeah.”

True, Renji-san is loose with women. Whenever he’s with pretty women of his own age or even with women slightly younger or older than him, he’d act loosely. I feel I have seen him like that many times.

Also, he even taught weird things to Souichi and other men in with us. He’s an adult yet very childish. But because he’s like that, we were always able to smile.

He made us smile even when we were in pain. After the journey ended, when I recalled the whole journey, I realized that he’d always do weird things to make us laugh again.

So that we don’t get nervous, so that we don’tbreak, he always supported us.

“Also, for him, I’m still just like a younger sister or a daughter…..something like that.”(aya)

Even inside me it’s vague whether Renji-san is an elder brother, a father or just a man.

I can’t really speak about others I guess. I sighed.

“Aya-chan, you’re really passive with Renji-oniisan.”

“Really?”

“With brother, you’d get close to him rudely and quickly start fighting after all.”

“That’s because Souichi is an idiot. If I don’t do that, he wouldn’t realize anything.”

No, he won’t realize even when I go that far.

That guy’s dense and a total blockhead. Even with the girls in our class, he talks with them only as a friend.

Even though they look up to him as a Hero, as the Brave, as a man. I have such a sinful childhood friend.Well, it’s my job to make him realize these things.

“But that’s good in its own way.”(yayoi)

“I wonder……I have gone through troubles due to that as well. As his childhood friend.”

Just how much was I troubled due to his denseness…….just thinking about it makes me sigh. At first he had even misunderstood and tried to set me up with Renji-san as well.

The fact that he’s quick to act might be his good point but the fact that he takes the shortest way to complete it no matter what it is, is also his bad point.

“We should go to the restaurant now or we’ll be late.”(aya)

“Renji-oniisan as well, why does he have to go and do something like dealing with goblin corpses.”(yayoi)

I agree with that as well.

Renji-san is a hero. To the worl. And even to me as well.

Dealing with goblin corpses is the job for newbie adventurers I think. He should let them do it.

“But, the fact that he works hard even at such small things is……really amazing I think.”

No matter how great he became, he’s been the same from the very start.

When we had just been summoned to this world. When his cheat was considered weak and he became more of a burden.

To become stronger, he did everything he could. Fighting skills, way of swinging the sword, knowledge, he put his effort into many things.

At first I didn’t really notice that but thinking back now, he really was amazing.

We all had something we excelled at but Renji-san didn’t have one. He only specialised in fighting gods. Powerless against monsters. But he was still desperate to protect something. He says that he’s not a hero but he’s the greatest hero of all.

I wonder who said that ‘hero’ is not a noun but a verb.(T/N: It was Robert Downing Jr.)

It’s not a title, a hero is all about his actions.

A hero doesn’t call himself one, others proclaim him as one.

“We are also heroes, called as God Slayers but that’s just a title.”

Right now, we’re attending school as students.

Yuuko-san called as the [Sage], said that we’re still children and made us go to one.

But Renji-san threw away his title as a hero, threw away the famous sword given to him by the king, and is living only with Ermenhilde in his hands. And that’s really splendid.

We hold the title of heroes. Renji-san continues to go around saving people. I feel that it’s very like him to do that. He might say other things but in the end he’ll always help. That’s how Renji-san is like.

Between us and such a Renji-san, which one is the actual [hero]……i wonder.

“Aya-chan, you’re always thinking of difficult things……”

“I wonder?”

“I’m just satisfied with the reason, ‘Renji-oniisan is amazing’.”

“……well, that’s mostly what I think as well though.”

But I want to explain that in more better words.

You’d think that way right? For the person you hold precious after all.

“Now then, let’s go shall we?”(aya)

“Already? Isn’t it still early?”(yayoi)

“I don’t want to make them wait.”

“Aya-chan, you’re the type who’d devote yourself to the man you like, aren’t you?”

“I wonder?’

I understand what Yayoi means to say but am I really like that……who knows?

I don’t.

I don’t really care about that either.

“That or the type that’d lead men around by a rope.”(yayoi)

“…….isn’t that completely opposite ofwhat you said before?”(aya)

“Well, even I don’t know which is the real Aya-chan.”

Is that so? She laughed loudly.

Really, she puts up such a facade in front of others.

Even though she’s like this in front of us, in front of the others in class, she’s like a young noble lady who only speaks in polite speech.

“If you laugh like that, the number of fans of the [Saint] would decrease you know?”(aya)

“I don’t really care. I only heal those who are injured or wounded. It’d be tiresome if they made a sculpture or an idol out of me.”

“I agree on that. It’s really tiresome if you’d don’t have people with whom you can talk openly by your side.”

“Aya-chan has it easy. You have brother in your class. For me, my class is…..”

After that we talked about classes for some time then rememberred about Renji-san and finally left.

I made a final check at the mirror. Sprinkling a perfume slightly I checked the light scent. This isn’t indecent right?

When I asked that, Yayoi made a fed up face.

“It’d be nice if we can hear a lot from Renji-san.”(aya)

“Yeah.”

Just like before, we’d talk a lot with him.

Just like how we talked in front of that campfire. About me, about Renji-san, about the school, about his journey.

If we talk…..i wonder if I’ll get a bit more closer to him.

But—-

“I want to talk a lot.”

That person is definitely worried about today, I think.

4 deceased.

We heard of that as well.

We fought with monsters. Victims will emerge. When fighting against the demon god, we had seen many more people die. Tens, hundreds of people had died.

I don’t think we’ve grown numb to it. It’s a fact that our hearts ached at those numbers. But, if you get trapped in just that, the next to die would be you yourself. Our body and our mind understands that. Even if there are deaths, we’ll face forward. We have no choice but to do so. So that we don’t die.

But Renji-san is definitely lamenting over it, I think. Just like that time in front of the campfire. He must be looking downwards.

Because that man wished to protect. But doesn’t has the power to do so.

That’s why, I must tell him.

What he protected today.

What he protected again.

Thank you very much.

Though you couldn’t protect those 4, you protected a lot more.