c11 (1/2)
—Before the doors of the Ido in forhts, Reiji, Mizuki, and titania rode a dazzling chariot
Outside the palace gates, the residents of the royal capital of Mehter had gathered to send them off
As part of their first step toward the eventual goal of defeating the Maou, the King had organized this public parade for Reiji and the others Suiretful, said, “Finally, this day has come”
And indeed, as Suimei had said, the day of their journey had finally come As the parade drew to a close, the Maou suppression force – Reiji and the others, accoin their journey A feeling of sadness at their parting was inevitable
Reiji, on the other hand, wore a look of clear excitement on his face Whether this was because he looked forward to the road ahead, or had simply chosen to wear such an expression to hide the anxiety he felt was unclear Just as Suis and prepared to speak, Reiji, optiht, spoke up first
“Well, we’re taking off”
“You sure say that lightly”
Sui, Reiji’s expression sobered greatly
“It’s not like that I’ve put a lot of thought into this, you know? My answer at that tiht one”
“No, it was definitely wrong No ”
Staring off into the distance, the feelings gripping his heart wouldn’t let go titania, same as always, her hands clutched before her chest, stepped in
“Suimei-sama…”
She was the princess of the Aster Kingdos towards Suimei’s words were, of course, quite complicated On the one hand, her certainty of the necessity of the Maou suppression force had never wavered, though she, like her father, felt a terrible sense of guilt that would not be extinguished
As if to dispel the worry in her eyes, Reiji patted her lightly on the shoulder and, approaching Suimei, spoke, his words full of resolve
“No, that’s not how it is, Suio, the Maou’s forces will never stop their attacks on huo home, then it’s not like there’s anywhere for us to run either In other words, the day will inevitably co’s for certain, but when it co the ene that this is all with the goal of taking down the Maou”
Speaking at length, Reiji bared his feelings on the ht into so to participate in the war As he’d considered things, the realization that ith the Maou would be inevitable at so that their actions noere their best chance of a counteroffensive
Being that as it , and continued to press the point
“Reiji, do you really think that just by not backing down, there will eventually be a day when you can overthrow the Maou?”
“I don’t have the ability to ment To be honest, I think that if worst comes to worst, there’s about an 80 chance that we’ll die”
These were not words blinded by optirounded in reality
Nonetheless—
“Seriously, you’re always like this, never losing hope until all is lost”
“Is that not okay?”
“I can’t say I hate that part of you, but just this once, I really don’t think you’relike those thugs and hooligans from back home, you know?”
Sui to their life fro sense of justice that caed in braith thugs
Thankfully, due to his skills and natural disposition, he’d never really had a problem before The difficulty was that the Maou and the ruffians from back home were opponents of a cos would be resolved as smoothly as they always had before was incredibly low
That notwithstanding, Reiji, his voice filled with confidence, spoke again
“Even so, I still think this is the better way”
“…I’ to myself here, aren’t I?”
“Hahahaha”
Looking at the hed happily An open conversation between two friends who knew each other so as definitely so
His friend having honestly bared his full thoughts on the matter, Suimei responded in kind
“…I understand It’s not that you’re rushi+ng to your death, but that you’re fighting to protect your life here Forgive me, I said too much That said, please don’t force yourself”
A lance, his actions ht have appeared inspired more by brawn than by brains, but in retrospect, that was not the case at all No, this was born of a desire to protect their lives here, as well as more than a hint of the stubbornness that could always be found in his actions That said, Suie the truth in his words
At his friend’s serious reply, Reiji, a somewhat serious look on his face, replied
“Don’t worry about it Just after this, we’ll head straight for the Maou—”
“Are you kidding me…”
“Hahahaha Yes, yes, I aer”
Seeing his friend left speechless by his abrupt insertion of a joke ahter Seriously,a serious discussion? Just as this guy thinking?
No, he understood Reiji’s heart was likely filled with unease Filled with anxiety, he’d tried to lighten the mood, and so he’d ripping him
Indeed, he couldn’t blame him for his hastiness He couldn’t be mad about it It was, after all, born of the need to relieve the pressure being exerted by all parties on the one who bore the title of Hero
Thus, Sui into Reiji’s ear with a sober tone, he said, “…Thebad, I want you to run, and take Mizuki with you Find soo, and hide Even if you are the Hero, this is real life, not fiction There’s no guarantee that you’ll actually be able to beat the Maou”
“…I understand, but I fully intend to fight to my very limits”
“You really are a stubborn bastard, aren’t you?”
At Reiji’s utter unwillingness to coain left speechless Reiji spoke once more, but this time, to ask a question
“So what are your plans after this, Suimei?”
“Me? Well, prettyto head out”
“Wha…?”
This was his first ti this Definitely the first time Not once had Suimei ever explained his plans to Reiji and the others
Mizuki, speaking for the three others, questioned hied with both surprise and concern
“Sui the palace?”
“Eh, nothing special I just want to experience life outside for a bit,” he replied indifferently, hiding his true intentions
At these words, Reiji’s face wrinkled in worry
“Life outside?”
“Look for work You know, things like that”
“Suimei-sama, if you stay in the palace, then my father will provide for your needs There’s no need to force yourself to live outside,” titania interrupted
“Oh, I’”
“May I ask why? Although the capital is safe enough, but as a person froe of this world or the protection bestowed upon the hero Outside of the palace, there’s no guarantee of your safety I don’t see the benefits of leaving?”
It was just as she said Given that they knew nothing of his true abilities or his actual goal, her words were quite logical
“No… Well, it’s probably a bit rude ofin the palace makes me feel pretty awful”
“Ah…”
titania showed a sorrowful look She sees that had been said about him, and thus sank into silence
I to hide his displeasure
“Why don’t I try and talk to them for you?”
And as that supposed towith the palace people one by one, hoping to change their opinions about Suimei, could he? That was completely insane
“It’s okay, I’m fine like this At this point, what purpose would that serve? It’d only s worse”
“…Even if you say that…”
“It’s fine Anyway, I need to think over my plans for the rest of the day”
At this point, Mizuki suddenly cut in
“What do you mean ‘plans for the rest of the day’? What about money?”
“I plan to sell the stuff I brought with me that are useless here, like textbooks and the like”
“Can you even sell those things? Everything’s in japanese”
He’d long since prepared an answer to her surprised question He, of course, was confident in his ability to sell his things
He turned to titania, looking to confir
“I should be able to sell theht?”
“You should be able to, yes I ih due either toto help…”
titania had likely seen their textbooks before, and knehat they were As a person of this world, her opinion was likely to be on point
It was a fact that their books ritten entirely in japanese However, it was precisely because they were in an unreadable language that they had acquired so of a mysterious nature to the people of this world Furthermore, because their covers were rather fancifully done, it was quite likely that people would easily mistake their value
“I plan to raise prices quite a bit; I want to sell the expenses”
“…Honestly, Suimei-kun Isn’t that e call a scam?”
“It’s not like I’ Who cares anyway?”
His words notwithstanding, Sui rather underhanded here On the other hand, his actions were relatively harmless Those who purchased his books for resale would likely ht the books would be excited over their good fortune Finally, even if he’d said he’d try to inflate prices, it wasn’t like he intended to charge soant sum for them either
“Are you really going to be okay?”
“Yeah, I should be just fine”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ to do for the rest of the day anyway”
Mizuki looked torn It didn’t look like she’d quite accepted things If he’d accepted training in ic and combat as they’d had, or, at the very least, had received sos of this world, she likely wouldn’t have felt this way Unfortunately, he’d only absorbed soe offhand Her concern was natural
That being the case, he could only try and hand wave his way through an explanation
Thinking for a moment, he decided to question the worried Mizuki in turn
“On that note, rather than worrying aboutabout yourself?”
“I-I’ic, after all”
Indeed, she and Reiji had both been taught soic From titania’s perspective, Mizuki had attained a level that put her on equal footing with Reiji; there was no reason for her to be worried Sui about that
“That’s what I ic now, but I want to reht, Reiji?”
Looking to the friend who understood what he h
“A… ahahahahaha!”
“S-S-S-Suiain!”