c24 (2/2)

“Still, you’re pretty aic you used just now healeda scar, and I can even usetechnique”

“It’s not co?”

“That, huh Well, with ser ones That’s coht?”

“Huh”

That was unexpected

From what he’d said, Suies were only healing what they could see Although the visible wound was healed, that nevertheless did nothad been complete

“Is that not how you’re doing it?”

“You could say that”

Suiuous reply

When it caation arranted

On a different note

“—Is it just otten really noisy over there?”

A little ways offa racket

“…Yeah Maybe we’re about to leave? Would that be why?” the guard guessed unconcernedly

Froun to gather This wasn’t the ti their time, they needed to leave

This cla it?

“Well, your healing’s already finished, so why don’t we go take a look?”

“Sure”

His back to the guard, Suimei headed in the direction of the racket

As he arrived, he noticed a tension in the atmosphere

What was the cause of this? This question plaguing his thoughts, he continued to observe the situation, taking note of the fact that the guards and merchants seemed to have someone surrounded

The one surrounded was none other than the one who had been courageously engaged in battle until just now – Lefille

Typically speaking, one who had heroically and singlehandedly doreat respect, but thethe croas that of nervousness and unease The scene siratulatory in nature

Surrounded as she was, Lefille opened herto dispel the atmosphere

“…Why have you asked s that should take precedence, no?” Lefille asked as her gaze took in the faces of those encircling her

An adventurer stepped forward

“And ould that be?”

“To move soood chance the Mazoku will attack again”

“Attack again…”

His words were filled with deep, dark emotion

At his response, Lefille repeated her suggestion, more forcefully this time

“What? Is there so you want to say? If so, then just say it alr—”

“Yeah, I do The Mazoku attacked us because of you, didn’t they? You’re a survivor of Noshi+as, right?”

“—!”

“…What do youdumb This is all your fault! It’s all your fault that ere attacked, that ere targeted by the Mazoku!” the adventurer spat

The harsh words left Lefille hesitant and uncertain

“C-certainly ere targeted, but it has nothing to do with me…”

“And how do you know that?”

“…”

Lefille was left speechless in the face of their malice

Even though Rajas had certainly said that he’d an eye on her, but there was no way to know that that hy the Mazoku had attacked

The adventurer’s certainty wasn’t justified, but without evidence to the contrary, she couldn’t exactly refute his claims either

“That Mazoku was hunting for you, wasn’t he? We were all dragged into this because he wants you dead”

“T-that’s…”

” ‘That’s…’ what? If you have an explanation, then spit it out already!”

She couldn’t respond, bowing her head instead

Unable to prove that she was innocent of the accusation, she could only keep her silence Suimei, however, kne to rebut their claims

“Can I say so?”

“Huh?”

“When ere fighting that Mazoku earlier, didn’t he tell Lefille, ‘I remember you now’? In other words, only then did he notice that Lefille was present here That being the case, there’s no way they ca”

Unfortunately

“Ha, that’s your proof?! That has nothing to do with anything!”

“And why the hell not…?!”

The adventurer had already lost the ability to ht

Gesticulating wildly, he continued

“That’s because they just had so the area did they find who they were looking for! Or do you have proof to the otherwise?!”

His argueneral location of their enemy and that her precise whereabouts had only become clear after the first attack To be sure, that explanation did explain sos—

“Moreover, don’t you reirl said after ere ambushed? She knew that our attackers were Mazoku! Why would she know that?! They could very well have been ical beasts! No, there’s an easy way to explain her certainty – she already knew that there were Mazoku hunting her!”

—It was only then that Suimei noticed This was the adventurer who’d come to warn theaze came to mind

However

“Hmph Preposterous That was just because Lefille is sensitive to the Mazoku’s presence”

“You ht, but… Do you have any evidence of that?”

“That—”

What a leadingWith questions like that, Suimei couldn’t really answer

If he were to ask Suimei to produce evidence of his claims, then Suimei, of course, would not be able to do so

Plus, given the current ed to produced the evidence asked for, it wouldn’t have changed a thing

“You can’t do it, can you? Then scram”

“What…?”

Every neord from the man irritated Suimei more and more

The man’s provocative tone and words sent his blood pressure soaring

The wall of people parted, and a man appeared

“Hold it, you two!”

“Galeo-san…”

They turned in the direction of the new voice The roar had come from the merchants’ leader – Galeo

“You’re all here to guard the caravan If dissension breaks out a to cause probleument ends now”

“If the argument is to end, does that mean you’ve already decided on a plan of action, Galeo-san?”

“Yes I’ this case”

“O-oh…”

The adventurer could only nod his head when faced with Galeo’s decisive words and attitude Even though he was rather small in stature, he was nevertheless the leader of a caravan His character far surpassed that of this adventurer

“Is that acceptable to everyone else?” Galeo asked the others

They all nodded The co voices directed at Lefille were thus silenced

Confir that the outburst had ended, he turned to Lefille and spoke coldly

“…Gurakis-san, I’m the leader of this caravan That roup first and foremost”

He hadn’t explicitly stated his conclusion yet, but everyone knehere he was going with this

Explaining this in full seriousness, he meant to—

“We’ve been targeted by the Mazoku, and you are the reason As the one responsible for this group, I can’t just leave this situation alone Do you knohat I mean?”

“I do I understand You want o”

“—?!”

“That is correct”

His roundabout , Lefille had understood what he was getting at Galeo nodded at her response Responding to the turn of events, the crowd began to murmur once more

“Of course!”

“Get the hell out of here!”

“You jinx!”

Overly cruel words Regardless of whether or not Lefille had indeed been the cause for the attacks, she had never intended to bring harer at the moment was her The one they should be most concerned about was her

That was how it should have been, anyway Thisway too far

Suier

“Hey! You’re just going to force her out all alone?!”

“Of course we are! The Mazoku were targeting us because of this girl, you know?! Staying together with this girl eneral and his army!”

“Even so! If she’s all alone, what’s she going to do about food and water?!”

Even putting the Mazoku issue aside, this was another is

Whether or not you were traveling alone, food and water were athat you had sufficient provisions to last was a necessary part of travel

Since the caravan was fundae amounts of food and water was a non-problem This was not the case for a lone person, however

If you were to either e either the amount of provisions needed or the distance to be traveled, then it was quite possible to run out of supplies before you’d reached your destination

Without anywhere to stay along the road, the danger posed to her by exiling Lefille froine

The adventurer didn’t seeh

“I don’t know anything about that! It has nothing to do with us, anyway!”

He actually said so like that

Suimei turned to the others

“…And you all feel sih he knew the answer even before he spoke

As he’d expected, his question was azes

“…Tch”

His teeth gritted in response The adventurer looked at hieous

“And? How long are you going to pretend? I know that, deep down, you also think this girl should get the hell out A?”

“WHAT?! I would never—”

“Pretending to be her friend this whole tiood looks? I guess there’s that, she is pretty – at least on the outside”

“Wh—”

“H the Mazoku upon us, but she’s also the kind of woman who leads men astray—”

This last line was the straw that broke the ca over as coldness seized his heart

I won’t be silent

No one too far; he’d done so

That’s why it couldn’t be helped if Suiers toward the adventurer, preparing to snap them

“What? You want to start so?”

Not realizing the perilous situation he was in, the adventurer said so smile would be wiped from his face—

Suddenly, Suiive form to his fury, was stopped by Lefille

“—Stop it, Suimei-kun!”

“…”

“What do you think you’re doing?! This won’t change anything!”

“Tch…”

Lefille’s words of restraint brought Sui it over, he cae the end result Her exit was already inevitable, so calmly

In order to reduce the risk to the caravan as much as possible, it was necessary for her to leave

His voice tinged with regret, Galeo spoke

“Gurakis-san We’re going to leave now I think you knohat you need to do…”

“I do I’ll head in a direction different from the one the caravan takes, I understand”

“That’s right,” was his only response This was necessary to roup

As the two spoke, Suimei abruptly turned to the adventurer party that ell acquainted with Lefille

The hed and chatted happily with her and the warrior who had praised her ability At this tied They weren’t even willing to meet Lefille’s eyes, let alone come to her aid

Suimei, however, couldn’t blame thenore the feelings of the others and protect Lefille, then who could say what the consequences would be? Plus, it wasn’t like they could be sure that Lefille wasn’t in fact the target of the Mazoku

In such a situation, they could only prioritize their own safety Suimei didn’t intend to criticize their cowardice, however; he, of all people, did not have that right

…At long last, negotiations over provisions settled, Lefille called out to Suimei

“Lefille…”

“…Our tiether has been short, Suimei-kun, but I’ll pray for your safety”

“…”

How can she saze fixed on her smile, he wanted to ask, “Is this really okay?” but he knew that she’d simply reply that it was

She turned away The sight of that back, carrying that large sith such ease, carried no trace of the reliability that it had once shown No, burned into his vision noas the fading figure of a young girl who looked every bit her age

And that’s why—

“Hey, let’s get going”

Right, and that’s why—

“Hey, did you hear me?”

Right, this is different from that time with Reiji and the others

Yeah, this is no different fro Lefille

Lefille, and that vulnerable, retreating back and gaze, would thus be abandoned to a lonely hell without so le hand outstretched to her

“…Give me my provisions”

Before he realized it, the words had already left his mouth

“Huh?” the adventurer said in shock

His gaze still following Lefille, Suimei continued

“I’ over me until now”

“Huh?” the adventurer repeated

Galeo sighed

“Are you really okay with this? If you leave us now, you won’t be rewarded for the commission, you know?”

“I don’t need that sort of thing, but I do need food and water Consider it payment for my work up to this point if you wouldn’t mind”

“…I understand Take care of yourself out there, Yakagi-san,” Galeo replied, his eyes closed, giving in without trying to persuade him otherwise

If he did not possess this sort of calm, disinterested disposition he could never have made it as a caravan leader

“What’s this? In the end, you still—”

—BOOM

Without getting to finish, the adventurer was sent flying by Suiic He’d already lost all patience and had no desire to allow the arity to further offend his ears

“Hey, are you really going to be okay…?” the warrior asked, concern on his face

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Sui with provisions