The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
“W-Wait a second. What do you mean I have orichalcum? I don’t remember ever getting something like that…”
“You have it, you know?”
“Yes, you definitely have it.”
Not just Luna—now even Sora is saying the same thing.
But no matter how hard I search my memory, I don’t recall ever acquiring any orichalcum.
“Is that really true? Rain doesn’t seem to know anything about it.”
“If it were just Luna, it could be a misunderstanding. But if Sora is saying it too, then it might actually be true.”
“Hold on, doesn’t anyone trust me at all?”
“Fufu, you're imagining things.”
Hmm?
If it were just Luna…
I can’t help but think something a bit rude, like Iris did.
But since Sora’s saying the same thing, I must really have orichalcum.
Still, I don’t remember it at all.
“You have Crimson Tear, don’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Crimson Tear. You still have it, right? That’s orichalcum.”
“…”
Crimson Tear?
That name does ring a bell…
“Wait, do you mean that item—the one you prepared to seal me with?”
“Ah!?”
I remembered.
It was quite a while ago…
When I decided to seal Iris, I borrowed that item from the spirit tribe.
It was meant to be a medium for the sealing.
But in the end, we didn’t go through with the sealing.
And maybe because of that, I forgot to return it.
It’s still in my possession, even now.
“Crap… I really messed up… I never returned it… That’s practically stealing. What the hell was I thinking… Seriously, what have I done?”
“U-Um, I don’t know the full story, but p-please cheer up! T-There, there?”
Finia tried to comfort me, but right now, that kindness just hurts.
“By the way, I noticed you still had the Crimson Tear. I was wondering when you’d return it, or if you'd forgotten about it… So I just watched over you silently!”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SOMETHING SOONER!?”
“Fugyan!?”
Sora’s fist dropped, and Luna’s eyes spun in circles.
“Rain, I apologize for my foolish little sister… Though, to be fair, Sora also knew and kept quiet, so she's just as guilty. I just thought you might have a reason.”
“No, it’s fine. Ultimately, I’m the one who forgot. It’s all my fault, so you don’t have to apologize.”
It might sound like an excuse, but…
Back then, I thought Iris had died, and I couldn’t think about anything else.
So I completely forgot about returning the Crimson Tear… and here we are.
Not that that’s a good excuse.
The spirit tribe trusted me and lent it to me, and I just kept it without returning it…
God, the guilt is overwhelming.
“Well now, Rain. Don’t be so down. Maybe this is a good thing, no?”
“A good thing?”
“We need orichalcum. And here we have the Crimson Tear. Why not make use of it?”
“No, wait…”
I begged to borrow the Crimson Tear. If I told them I just used it to make a weapon, they’d definitely be furious.
That might even deepen the rift between humans and the spirit tribe.
More than that, using something borrowed without permission is just plain wrong.
It goes against basic decency.
“Don’t worry about it. As a member of the spirit tribe, I give you permission to use the Crimson Tear. Go ahead—fugyan!?”
“Luna, let’s stay quiet for now, okay?”
Another fist dropped, and this time, Luna actually passed out.
Just how strong is Sora’s punch…?
I’m starting to get a little scared of her.
“Anyway, I need to return the Crimson Tear.”
“Well, I’m not saying you should be like Luna, but… Why not just ask if you can keep it?”
“Even you, Sora…?”
“You don’t have any other source of orichalcum, do you? Then it’s worth asking, even if it’s a long shot.”
“Hmm… I think I agree too. I mean, yeah, it was wrong to hold onto it all this time… but who knows? Maybe Al-san would be okay with it?”
Once Kanade agreed, Tania and Rifa quickly followed suit.
“Actually, maybe the Crimson Tear isn’t even that important to the spirit tribe? If it were, wouldn’t they have asked you to return it by now?”
“I learned this from spending time with humans: What’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is also mine.”
“Uh… that’s not exactly right…”
Tania’s comment aside, something about what Rifa said just felt fundamentally wrong.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it was definitely off.
“Nyaa… Rain, what are you going to do?”
“First of all, I’m going to return the Crimson Tear.”
“Isn’t that kind of a waste? We finally found orichalcum.”
“I get where you're coming from, Tania. But the thing is, it’s something we borrowed. So first and foremost, we have to return it properly.”
It’s already way overdue for return…
Still, I can’t just leave it as it is.
“After that… and I know this is super presumptuous of me, but I’m thinking I’ll ask if there’s any way we can still use it.”
To forget to return it for so long, and then ask if I can use it anyway—that's pretty outrageous.
It’d be perfectly reasonable for them to say no.
So honestly, I’m not expecting much when it comes to the Crimson Tear.
I’m prepared to be scolded—I’ll return it regardless.
“Also, there’s one more thing.”
“Nyaa?”
“This is the perfect opportunity, so I want to ask the elder a few things.”
“Ask the elder? Like what?”
“Various things… I guess.”
It wasn’t that I was trying to be vague or act mysterious.
There were simply too many things to explain in one sentence.
Weiss… the Kagune incident…Lin …
So much has happened lately.
And with all that, the number of mysteries has grown. The number of things I don’t know has increased.
It feels like something huge is happening behind the scenes…
I’ve come to realize I need to learn much, much more.
“I see, so that’s why you want to talk to the elder… Yes, I think that’s the right call. The elder knows a lot of things. And, my mother also possesses deep knowledge.”
“Because she’s lived a long time…?”
“That’s true, but… Nina, please don’t say that in front of my mother. Depending on the timing, you might get punished.”
“B-Brrr…”
Nina trembled with visible fear.
“Then it’s settled—we’re heading to the Spirit Tribe’s village tomorrow!”
“““No objections!”””
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