kscans

Chapter 46 - No Time for Resolve

The day after I was forced to listen to Aira-san’s long-winded talk.

May was drawing to a close, but the sky was once again overcast. It looked like it could start raining at any moment, but I hoped it would hold off just a little longer.

I wanted to go somewhere with no people during my lunch break.

The corner of the courtyard, in the gap between the equipment shed and the school building, had plenty of blind spots, so I could eat alone without feeling any eyes on me. There was also a convenient ledge on the school building wall, making it a good spot to sit and eat my bento.

I couldn’t use this spot on rainy days, and there were too many students inside the school building. I didn’t want to eat in the bathroom stall, so I’d have to quickly wolf down my food in the classroom and spend the rest of the time looking at my phone.

Well, I’d still end up looking at my phone after eating here anyway. But the sense of peace was different.

Amidst the clamor of students from all around, I quietly played a mobile game alone. When it was almost time for the warning bell, I stood up.

"…Haaah."

A sigh escaped me unconsciously as I slowly headed back to the classroom with my bento bag in hand.

In the end, I still had no friends in my class. I missed my chance in April, and it’s been that way ever since. The more time passes, the harder it becomes to join a group.

My lack of communication skills was the biggest problem, but being an ‘Awakened Person’ and an ‘adventurer’ also played a part.

At first, it was curiosity and suspicion. Then, caution and distance. And now, it was fear and jealousy.

The more crimes committed by Awakened Persons were reported in the news, the more the adventurer boom was covered on TV.

The more the looks directed at me filled with negativity. And that scared me.

I used to be much less sensitive to the subtleties of emotion. In fact, you could say I was dense.

But now, I have these ‘eyes.’ They’re convenient, and they’ve saved me countless times in battles with monsters, but they also allow me to read other people’s expressions far too clearly.

I’ve started to wonder if I have some kind of mental disorder. The thought made another sigh escape me.

My feet continued to move slowly towards the classroom.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a single raindrop hit the windowpane.

*

"It’s dungeon time!"

"Yeah."

After school. The rain had stopped by the time we were heading home, so I went straight to the dungeon after a quick trip back to my house. The store’s parking lot was wet, but the puddles had already mostly disappeared.

I gave a small wave, forcing a wry smile to match Erina-san’s usual high energy.

"You’re full of energy. I, on the other hand, am feeling a bit down after a scolding from Baba-sama at lunch."

"What’d you do, senpai?!"

"Last night, Kyouta-kun and I had a very adult conversation with classical music in the background…"

"She just talked my ear off. The only background music was the sound of her cracking open a can of chu-hai."

"I see!"

"That’s so mean, Kyouta-kun! You were enjoying it too!"

"Yeees, ooof cooourse. I haaad soooo muuch fuuun."

"Alright, I’ve got you on record!"

"This might be a weird thing for me to say, but don’t you feel sad?"

"More importantly, that’s not fair, you two! I wanted to talk too!"

"Hah-ha-ha! You seemed busy, Erina-kun. We were just being considerate!"

"It’s not like I was just playing around either… What were you doing, Erina-san?"

"Studying."

"Ah, right."

Her straightforward reply left me with nothing else to say.

…I should study harder too.

"Erina-kun is quite the model student, after all."

"R-Right…"

"By the way, Kyouta-chan! Where are you during lunch break!?"

"Huh?"

Her sudden question made me stare back at her.

Her eyes were clear, with no hidden meaning. Feeling a little overwhelmed, I reflexively averted my gaze.

"Where? Nowhere special…"

"I sometimes go to check on you, Kyouta-chan, but you’re usually not in the classroom. You’re secretly training to be a ninja, aren’t you!!"

"No."

And you shouldn’t point at people with both hands. Not that one hand is any better.

"…Erina-kun. Don’t ask. He’s surely eating in a bathroom stall."

"I’m not eating in a bathroom stall. I’m in the courtyard, like a normal person."

"I see, the corner of the courtyard. A place with plenty of blind spots, I presume?"

"Secretly in a place with lots of blind spots… He really is a ninja!"

"I told you I’m not."

And how does Aira-san know that, anyway?

"I know… my friend. Nay, my kindred spirit. I am one who walks the path ahead of you."

"Ugh."

"What’s with that disgusted tone? You’ll make me cry, you know? A 21-year-old university student is about to bawl like a toddler."

"Please don’t while I’m wearing the earring."

"Haven’t you been a little cold to me lately?!"

"It’s okay, senpai! This is just Kyouta-chan’s way of being a tsundere!"

"No, it’s not."

"Oh? So this is the legendary phenomenon I’ve heard so much about. However, it’s only half as effective when someone other than a beautiful girl does it. Real-life tsundere boys aren’t popular, you know, Kyouta-kun!"

"Shut up."

And how long are we going to stand around chatting in the parking lot?

This is pointless. If I leave these two alone, we’ll never get anywhere. I cut the conversation short and headed for the store entrance.

"Come on, let’s go inside already."

"But wait? Kyouta-kun has a face that’s halfway to a light novel protagonist. Is there a chance a tsundere attitude might actually suit him…?"

"Yeah! Kyouta-chan has a face like a generic light novel protagonist!"

"You’re not complimenting me, are you? I was happy for a second, but why did you have to add ‘halfway’ and ‘generic’? Huh?"

"Pweee! Pweee-pweee!"

"You’re terrible at whistling."

"Tsuku-tsuku-boshi! Tsuku-tsuku-boshi!"

"It’s still May. Go back in your hole."

We passed through the store’s entrance, still talking nonsense.

Just as we went through the automatic doors and were about to head to the changing rooms.

"Hm?"

The whole store was unusually noisy.

I looked around, wondering what was going on, when Erina-san tapped my shoulder.

"Kyouta-chan, look."

"Look?"

She pointed to the TV screen mounted above the buyback counter.

Information about a dungeon stampede was displayed on it.

…What, again?

I quickly sent a text to my parents while staring intently at the screen.

It seemed my mom was about to contact me as well, because her reply came instantly.

Apparently, the stampede area was far from our house, and also far from my dad’s workplace. They were both safe, and she was actually more worried about me, since I was in an area under an evacuation order.

…Wait, the stampede is happening really close by. A map just came on the TV, and it’s in the next town over.

What’s more, this Dungeon Store is located near the stampede area. It’s only about a ten-minute drive.

Just as I was breathing a sigh of relief that my parents seemed to be okay, Aira-san spoke up.

"You two. I’m sure you’ve realized, but a stampede has occurred in a dungeon a few kilometers from there. And to make matters worse, another stampede is happening in another prefecture. Leave that place immediately and head home."

"Understood. In that case—"

"Wait."

Erina-san said, and then started walking towards the reception desk.

"Huh? What’s wrong?"

"Erina-kun?"

I hurried after her as she strode towards the desk.

"Excuse me, is what I just heard true?"

"Yes?"

The receptionist looked up with a question mark on her face, having been suddenly addressed by her.

Of course she would. She was busy—or rather, with a dungeon stampede happening just a few kilometers away, she must be extremely busy. What was this self-proclaimed ninja doing?

"I’m sorry. We’ll be leaving right away…"

"What you were just saying to the staff member next to you, about ‘an elven woman with golems holding back the monsters,’ is that true?"

…Huh?

A stunned voice echoed from the earring.

"W-What? How did you…"

"Thank you. Excuse me."

Erina-san bowed to the wide-eyed receptionist and turned on her heel.

An elven woman with golems? Could that be…?

"Erina-kun. That’s… surely not."

"I don’t know. But I think there’s a chance it’s senpai."

Erina-san replied matter-of-factly and walked out of the store.

"N-No way! It can’t be!"

Ignoring Aira-san’s agitated voice, she summoned her Arcane Gear and began to do some light stretches.

"Senpai. Calm down."

"How can I be calm?! Dammit, why is Baba-sama… at a time like this…! This is… no… I’m sorry."

The voice coming from the earring was incomparably weak compared to just a moment ago.

It was a flat, monotone voice, as if she were trying to suppress all emotion. To me, it sounded like she was desperately trying to hide the fact that she was about to start trembling.

"…I lost my composure. My sister may be at the scene, but that has nothing to do with you two. More importantly, you need to come home right now."

"Kyouta-chan."

The self-proclaimed ninja, having finished her stretches, completely ignored Aira-san’s words.

"I’m going. What about you?"

She turned to me with a smile, as casual as if she were heading to a convenience store.

…Honestly, I wasn’t grasping the situation at all.

First a sudden dungeon stampede, then the possibility that Miyoshi-san was at the scene… The information was coming in, but my brain couldn’t keep up.

On top of that, why were multiple stampedes happening at the same time again? All sorts of questions were swirling in my head.

But, still…

"That’s foolish, Erina-kun. Kyouta-kun, please, stop her—"

"For now, I’m going too."

I deployed my Arcane Gear and handed my backpack to Erina-san.

"Sorry, but can you put this in your Item Box?"

"You got it!"

"Didn’t you hear me say to wait?! The stampede is coming from a ‘C-Rank’ dungeon!"

C-Rank.

The highest difficulty of dungeons open to the public. Only a handful of adventurers dare to challenge them.

Considering that boss monsters are generally one rank higher than their dungeon, there’s a chance that even the small fry there are on par with an Orc Champion.

It was a hellish place. Honestly, I didn’t want to go. Above all, I hated the sight of dead bodies.

But.

"…Last time, Aira-san, you helped me rescue my parents. I owe you for that."

"That’s right, they were your precious parents! But Mia is my half-sister! We haven’t seen each other in years, she’s practically a stranger! What reason do you have to go out of your way to save her?!"

"But she’s important to you, isn’t she?"

"—"

Aira-san, who was always so talkative, fell completely silent.

I exchanged a look with Erina-san, and we started running. We couldn’t even spare the time we were spending talking.

The road was still wet, under a gray, overcast sky. We kicked off the asphalt in a deserted town.

"Senpai! In the first place, I’m your cousin! We’re family!"

The usual smile was on Erina-san’s face as she ran beside me.

"Don’t say such lonely things. I’ll definitely bring her back!"

"…You two are idiots."

"Did you call me an idiot?! The one who says idiot is the idiot, you idiot!"

"Erina-san, now’s not the time for that."

"…Fine, whatever. But at least follow the navigation. It’ll be a pain if the police find you."

"Okay! A ninja is one who walks in the shadows… and the mission is absolute! I’ll risk my life to save her!"

"Don’t risk your life."

"Um… I don’t plan on dying either. If things get dicey, I’m running…"

"You are?!"

"Sorry for some reason."

I mean, don’t be surprised. I have no reason to risk my life for Miyoshi-san.

If it looks like I can save her, I will. If it looks impossible, I’ll run. That’s the extent of my resolve.

Besides, how can anyone make that kind of resolve in an instant?

But—I don’t want these two (my friends) to die or be sad.

If it were just for a complete stranger, I would have run without a second thought. But for Erina-san and Aira-san’s sake…

"I’ll do my best, as long as it doesn’t mean risking my life."

"That works too! Let’s go, Kyouta-chan! Like the wind!"

"Erina-kun, at least go in with the same attitude as Kyouta-kun, I’m begging you… And Kyouta-kun, I’m definitely reporting this to your parents later. You’re going to get a thooooorough scolding."

"Y-Yes, ma’am…"

Even though we were about to head into a potential death trap, our conversation was as normal as ever.

I found it somehow comforting, and I almost felt myself smile.

My legs, kicking against the wet ground, naturally filled with strength.