Vol 2 Chapter 5 (2/2)
Strictly speaking, Dread Knights were actually supposed to be attackers, not tanks And considering Ranta’s personality, perhaps a Dread Knight’s style suited him better than the Warrior class
Asking Yuht armor was impossible, and Haruhiro wasn’t suited for it either Mary and shi+horu were out of the question as Priest and Mage, respectively That left only Ranta If they kicked Ranta out, they would lose their second tank and not having anyone to replace hi ability
Their fighting ability would be di anybody to take his place as their second tank
If so, then it was si sohters were plentiful Haruhiro had a feeling they wouldn’t have a hard ti a replacement If they asked the well-connected Kikkawa, he could probably help find someone ould fit in After all, that was how they recruited Mary Granted, working with her had been rough in the beginning, but they were slowly getting better at understanding each other
The overbearingly extroverted Kikkawa ht have been a better judge of personality than ave him credit for Haruhiro wanted to think that there as a slew of available Warriors ere better than Ranta Perhaps Maybe It was definitely an option worth considering
Mogzo was snoring loudly, already fast asleep Ranta was usually the first to do so, but no matter how much Haruhiro strained his ears, he couldn’t hear the peculiar way of breathing that characterized Ranta’s slumber
“Ranta,” Haruhiro called tentatively, to which Ranta replied, “Yeah?”
“Um…” Haruhiro hesitated
“What do you want?” Ranta asked impatiently
“I want to talk to you about so”
“What?”
“Not here I don’t want to wake Mogzo How about going outside?”
“Fine”
As they exited the lodge, Haruhiro wondered why he was doing so he wanted to talk to Ranta about? He sure didn’t want to speak with the guy but for soation
Whatever the decision was, one thing was certain: it would be horrible to plot and contrive behind Ranta’s back now, only to tell hi, that his job was done and that the party no longer needed hi like that, no ht of him Orcoward
No, forget maybe Of course he didn’t want to become one That was just too… But why? Why did he have to plot and scheet rid of Ranta?
“Ranta…”
Haruhiro crouched against the side of the building, leaning back against the wall Ranta followed suit
“Yeah?”
“Um… what do you think? About our party,” asked Haruhiro
“It’s a party,” Ranta replied evenly “All there is to it”
“What do you mean by that? That it’s ‘all there is to it’?”
“Look, do you have a problem with me? I think you know I’ve always done my part”
“How so?”
“Can you say I haven’t? I dealt with one kobold ht there”
“If everyone had surrounded it ould have finished it in a fraction of the time it took you alone,” Haruhiro pointed out
“Can you pull that off all the time?” Ranta countered “hell no If I can keep one eneht you can do your… what’s it called? Flexibility to a certain extent? Battle tactics? Whatever, some fancy shi+t”
So despite Ranta being Ranta, he did put thought into things when they were fighting But that didn’t change anything
Haruhiro pressed a palm into his face “How a in the ht if you don’t tell me?”
“You’re telling me you want me to explain every intention behind every action then ask for your opinion before I do it?”
“I never said anything like that But there’s stuff that doesn’t get conveyed if you don’t say it, so that’s why I’ to you now You’re already easy to misunderstand and this just makes it worse”
“You don’t really think it’s so, do you?” Ranta picked up a nearby pebble then tossed it away “You guys just judge andbased on your impressions of me”
“Even if that were true, we formed our impressions of you based on what you do and what you say”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault”
“If not you then who? Mine? Yuzo’s? Mary’s?” Haruhiro felt his te Need to stay calm Need to keep a cool head He didn’t want to turn this into a fight He sighed and said, “We work as a team There needs to be a certain level of… cooperation between everyone”
“So what? Are you saying I’ed
“Are you saying you are cooperative?”
“No”
“Well, you’re uncooperative”
“Look Haruhiro, everyone has things they’re good and bad at So I have uys? Everyone except uys are saints, huh”
“…I never said that”
“So Name my faults You think I’m selfish?”
“Yes And annoying”
“fuck you”
“And a foul mouth too And you’re pretty quick to blame everyone else”
“What!? How is every single thing my fault? Collective responsibility, dumbass! Collective responsibility That’s why it’s called a ‘team’”
“That’s soument”
“What’s NOT logical about it? It’s brilliantly logical Insanely logical,” Ranta argued
“I’ent with you”
“Fine What about you then, Mr I’m-Perfect-All-the-Time Haruhiro? Why don’t I shut up then and we talk about your faults”
“Me?” Haruhiro’s s What were his? It wasn’t as if he didn’t have any; he had so ood points were buried under a mountain of them But,” Why do I have to list them for you?”
“Oh I get it now It’s bitch bitch bitch about Ranta all the tiot shi+t to say I soooo get it”
“Get what? What are you talking about?”
“You know dauys to blame all OUR problems on me, so you do it all the time And what? Does that make you feel better? More like a real tea solidarity?”
“Wait, we—”
“You’re saying it’s NOT true? fucking liar”
“…It’s not like we get together to conspire behind your back and bla,” Haruhiro said
“Why? Why would you? No one needs to say shi+t ’cause everyone’s already in on it You guys already decided that I’oat”
“You’re beyond paranoid”
“Is that what you really think?” Ranta’s tone dripped with sarcasnoring your own faults But letabout everyone treating ht it up first, Haruhiro If you didn’t drag ive a shi+t about baby ga with the other kids in the class If you want to hate uy or whatever Sure It’s fine But we’re a ‘team’ and I’ll do my part Because that’s what you call ‘teamwork’”
Haruhiro opened his ht Ranta out here with the intention of asking hi had convinced him it was in the team’s best interests Honestly, he wasn’t confident in his ability to kick Ranta out straight away but he at least wanted to lay down the terms Give Ranta a chance to ier be part of the same team if he didn’t
That had been the plan, anyway
Maybe his reasoning was too one-sided Were he and the others really using Ranta as a scapegoat? He had a hard ti it Ranta also shared responsibility in why everyone always faulted hi his shortcos
—We’re not in the wrong here Ranta’s the one who’s co
If that was true, then it was better to get rid of Ranta now rather than later after all Personally, it would be like a weight off Haruhiro’s shoulders He could explain it to everyone afterwards and they would understand, right? The proble certainty that he wouldn’t regret it later
And if there were any regrets to be had, they would ihed the factors, he was the one who ment call, and he would be the one to kick Ranta out In the end, the burden of responsibility was heaviest on himself
Why? Why a?
“I’ to his feet and returning to their room
Haruhiro re His insides felt heavy and his stomach hurt
I don’t want to do this anyht to hih I’m not suited to be a leader I can’t do it I can’t take the responsibility Manato… help me…
He knew full well Manato was gone, but he couldn’t help it There was no one else he could ask
“Is leadershi+p really this lonely…?”
It just wasn’t in hi to fill a container riddled with holes