The beast tamer exiled from the hero’s party and the cat eared girl from the strongest race meet
"Are you really planning to take that with you?"
Gray asked sharply, his face stern.
Calling it "that" and saying "take it"—those are harsh words.
Still, since he's whispering so Yunia and Ani can't hear, at least he's showing the minimum consideration.
"This is enemy territory, you know? We have to get out of here as fast as we can. And yet you want to add extra baggage?"
"It's not extra baggage."
Ruie will never wake up again.
Her life is gone; she will never move again.
Even so, I can't leave her here like this.
I want to take her back to her homeland properly and let her rest there.
Gray sighed.
He must have been exasperated.
From that sigh I could feel a clear irritation.
"Listen. Don't misunderstand."
He closed in on me and spoke in a strong voice.
"This is a battlefield."
"That is..."
"If it were peacetime, I wouldn't object. Even if someone dies, at least I'd want to return the body to their home... yeah, I get that. I understand that."
"......"
"But this is a battlefield, you know? There are a lot of enemies. All of them might be demons, and on top of that, there's supposedly one of the Four Heavenly Kings somewhere — pretty much the worst-case scenario. So do you think we can welcome someone carrying extra baggage? What if a comrade gets hurt because of it? What if there ends up being one more corpse because of you? Can you take responsibility for that?"
"......"
He hit a sore spot; I couldn't argue.
Gray was right.
If we let sentimentality take over on the battlefield, we might not be able to move properly.
Because of that, comrades could get hurt.
What I'm doing is probably just self-satisfaction.
Or hypocrisy.
I understood that.
...Even so.
"I'm still taking this child home."
"You—!"
"I know what you're trying to say. I know I'm soft, that I'm no good, that I'm indecisive and can't cut things off."
"You don't understand. If you understood, you wouldn't be doing something like this."
"But—"
I looked at Ruie.
"If I reach the point where I can accept leaving such a little girl in a place like this... then that's wrong in itself."
"......"
"It's not about logic. We're human; we have emotions. I can't ignore that. And even if I could, would that still make me human?"
I'm not asking him to agree.
I just want him to overlook it.
To let my softness go unnoticed.
"If anything happens, I'll cover it with everything I've got. I'll take responsibility."
"......"
Gray scratched his head roughly... then sighed again.
This time there was no irritation mixed in.
It was a sigh that seemed purely exasperated, and yet almost amused.
"I'm the young master's guard. I put the young master first. Of course, I also think about the kids over there. But I won't look after that one, got it? Rain, you handle it."
"Of course."
"You're a soft one."
"Disillusioned?"
"Completely disillusioned — negative points."
"Ugh..."
Gray let out a small laugh.
"Don't hate you for it."
The "negative" was an honest evaluation.
Still, Gray said he didn't dislike me.
He gave me a certain kind of approval.
Then I have to live up to that.
I'll absolutely bring these children back safely.
I resolved that again.
――――――――――
We retraced our path, making our way back the way we came, aiming to escape from the ruins.
The enemy didn’t seem to be in a panic.
Fortunately—or perhaps miraculously—they still hadn’t noticed our infiltration.
"Rain."
"Yeah?"
As we carefully advanced through the corridor, Yuki, walking beside me, spoke softly.
"You were really cool back there, Rain."
"Was I?"
"Yeah, I thought you were really cool. I almost want to be like that too."
"Then why not try?"
"...I wish I could."
Yuki’s expression turned troubled.
"I’m royalty. Sometimes I have to make decisions—sacrificing one to save a hundred."
"......"
"That’s why I couldn’t agree with you earlier. And I don’t regret that. I still think Gray’s words were right."
"I see."
"But at the same time, I think you’re amazing, Rain. Instead of sacrificing one, you try to make the sacrifices zero—and still save the hundred. Gray might call that naive, but… to me, that makes you shine even brighter."
"I’m… not that great of a person. You’re far more admirable, Yuki."
In the end, I’m just selfish.
I can’t see the big picture—only what’s right in front of me.
If things really go wrong…
If someone gets hurt because of me…
What will I do then?
What will I feel?
...For a moment, I wavered.
"Rain?"
"…No, it’s nothing. Let’s move. The enemy hasn’t noticed us yet, but that won’t last long."
"Yeah."
"Too ba~d. Actually, we have noticed you."
"—!?"
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice cut through the air.
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