kscans

Chapter 290 - Best Friend

Two weeks had passed since then.

Following the manufacturing method for Panacea that Mist had devised, Hayato and the others gathered the materials and prepared enough highest quality Panacea for everyone. It had already been administered to all of them, about a week ago.

Mist had chosen to restore everyone's memories. By now, everyone on the spaceship Aphrodite would have awoken and regained them.

As Hayato prepared his coffee shop, he worried a little about what would happen next.

Would they regain their memories and live in the real world, or would they erase their memories again and live in virtual reality?

While Mist and Damian were one thing, Hayato couldn't help but think about how former patients like Ruth would live in the real world from now on.

"Hayato, what's wrong? Your hands have stopped. Please hurry up and get the lunch prep done. I've finished cleaning over here."

"Esha, when you decided to live in the real world, were you anxious at all?"

"What's this all of a sudden?"

"I was just wondering what Ruth-kun and the others would do once they get their memories back. Mist-san and Damian-san have their skills as doctors. Veru-san and the others had their talents as actors. But I don't know the former patients in detail, and I wondered if they had anything. That's what I was thinking, so I thought I'd ask you."

"So that's what this is about. I wasn't particularly anxious. If anything, I was filled with the desire to surprise you, Hayato."

"...I'm glad to have been of service. But come to think of it, you were a programmer, Esha. With skills to make a living, you wouldn't be that anxious, I suppose."

"...That's not all there is to it, you know."

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. In any case, the story of Mist-san and Damian-san was quite nice. The result of both of them acting with consideration for the other. A friendship between men is a fine thing."

"Why is it that when you say it, Esha, it sounds so improper?"

"Perhaps your mind is corrupted, Hayato?"

"I'd like to say the same to you, Esha."

As Hayato said this, he thought about how there were many kinds of friendship.

There was undoubtedly a friendship between Ney and Rosalie.

It seemed like Ney unilaterally adored Rosalie, but Rosalie surely didn't think poorly of Ney either.

Rosalie had been worried about Ney when she hadn't logged in for a while. And while she always complained, she always went along with Ney's forceful invitations.

Her reluctant act was for tsundere reasons. In contrast to Ney's open display of emotion, Rosalie had a part of her that hid her feelings. Hayato believed this stemmed from shyness.

To Hayato, they seemed like close friends, but while Ney might agree, he felt Rosalie would probably slash him with her scythe if he said it, so he kept it to himself.

He had also heard that the Demon Lord Lunaria and the Princess of the Eastern Country, Benitsuru, had recently become good friends.

They were apparently corresponding by letter, and Simon had contacted Hayato to say that Benitsuru had recently started practicing her signature. Conversely, Rosalie had contacted him, sounding slightly resentful, saying that Lunaria had started using strange words.

"The two are both strong, get carried away easily, and are willful, so they have those things in common, but otherwise they are almost complete opposites. Their personalities are polar opposites. One is shy, the other is naive and innocent. They seem like they would be incompatible, but for some reason, they are getting along well as friends. It is strange."

Though Simon called it strange, he had sounded happy when he contacted Hayato.

Perhaps because of that, Benitsuru seemed to have developed a greater sense of her role as a princess, reportedly working hard at various things, declaring, "I won't lose to Luna-cchi!"

Simon, who had reported this, had turned her back on the Ten Holy Demonic Swords, who should have been her comrades, if not friends.

However, she had likely tried to believe in them until the very end. Hayato thought that might have been because of Benitsuru.

She hadn't had high expectations for her comrades, but as Benitsuru was the princess of the country, she couldn't just run away with her. Nor could she leave Benitsuru behind and leave the country.

Right after Benitsuru's blunder, she had gone so far as to say she would leave the country if it happened again, but it was doubtful she could have actually done it. Simon would probably never be able to abandon Benitsuru, no matter what happened.

Whether that was her duty as an elder, or because she thought of Benitsuru as a younger sister, Hayato didn't know, but he thought that too was a form of friendship.

And the man who was the leader of the Ten Holy Demonic Swords had betrayed his comrades. Or rather, he had probably never thought of them as comrades in the first place. It was possible he saw them as nothing more than convenient pawns. There was no friendship there, let alone respect for others.

Friendship and camaraderie came in many forms, he thought, and for a moment, the relationship between the Maid Chief and Gil came to mind, but he decided to drop it and cut off his thoughts to focus on preparing the lunch menu.

Immediately after, the coffee shop's doorbell rang.

Hayato reflexively said, "I'm sorry, we're not open yet..." but stopped when he was surprised by the customer who had entered.

It was Mist, Damian, and Ruth. Naturally, they weren't in their virtual reality clothes, but fashionable, modern attire.

"Hello, Hayato-san, Esha-san."

"Mist-san, and Damian-san and Ruth-kun too."

"I'm sorry. We wanted to surprise you, so we came without telling you."

"Many of our customers are like that, so please don't worry about it. Please, have a seat at that table. I'll bring some water... I mean, coffee right now."

"Ruth-kun would like a chocolate parfait, right? Please say yes."

For some reason, Esha was pressing Ruth.

"Ah, um...?"

As Ruth stood there bewildered, Ash and Ren arrived.

"Hayato, sorry I'm late... Isn't that Mist?"

"Ash-san, and Ren-san too. It's been a while."

While everyone was exchanging greetings, Esha nodded.

"Now that Ren-san is here, that's three chocolate parfaits. Order's in."

"I'm pretty sure that's one too many, but fine. Make them something delicious. Sorry, Ruth-kun, but could you go along with this?"

"Yes, I'd love one. In the virtual world, I saw Esha-san and Ren-san eating them with such lovely smiles, so I've always wanted to try one myself."

"Oh my, Ruth-kun. Such lovely smiles... Big sister Ren will treat you to as many as you want, so eat up!"

"One is enough, but I'm very happy for the thought."

(Ren-chan is acting like a big sister, and Ruth-kun is responding like an adult. I can't tell who's older.)

Hayato thought this as he left the parfaits to Esha and began preparing the coffee.

Once everything was ready, Hayato approached the table where Mist and the others were sitting.

"Here you are. The flavor shouldn't be bad. Probably. I'm sure of it."

"Being told that makes me a little nervous, but actually, I've been looking forward to this."

Mist and Damian drank the coffee placed before them.

Hayato watched them intently.

"S-so, how is it?"

"Well, I'd say it's neither good nor bad."

"I have the same impression. I'd drink it if it were free, but I don't think I'd pay money for it."

Mist and Damian each gave their opinions. Normally, this would be a harsh critique. But for Hayato, it was a compliment.

"Really?!"

"The fact that you're happy means..."

"The coffee before was even worse. Mist and Damian should thank my tongue and stomach."

When it came to Hayato's coffee, Ash had probably suffered the most. There was no doubt about that.

"I see. So Ash-san drank coffee worse than this... Hayato-san, you should be grateful for Ash-san's sacrifice."

"Eh? Sacrifice, is it that bad...?"

"I'm just kidding. Anyway, we actually came to report that various things have been decided."

Mist explained what had happened up until now, and what would happen from now on.

After confirming that Ruth and the others' illnesses were cured, everyone who had been in the undying sleep, that is, cryosleep, awoke.

They then took measures to restore everyone's memories.

There was joy that their bodies, once thought to have an incurable disease, had been treated, but with a century already having passed, the conversation turned to what to do next.

It was something they had known from before they went to sleep, but they hadn't thoroughly thought about what would happen after they woke up. The idea of treatment had taken precedence, so they hadn't considered what would happen when they were actually cured.

However, that was quickly resolved.

Diite had asked Ney to arrange for them to work at a medical institution.

That institution was Colony "Hospital." Since it was a colony managed by the Sagittarius Foundation, Ney had used her foundation connections to make the request.

Mist and Damian would work there as doctors. Ruth and the others would study medicine and attend the medical school in the Hospital.

All of them had decided to aim to become doctors.

"Hayato-san, have you heard about Ney-san building a new colony?"

"That's sudden. I haven't heard it directly, but the news that Ney's foundation is building a new colony is a hot topic, so I know about it. The last time a colony was built was about ten years ago, so it's causing quite a stir. But what about it?"

It couldn't actually be built in ten years, so the plan must have been in place for a while, but the topic had only recently come up.

It had also recently been revealed that the same foundation provided the game "Another Frontier Online," so it was receiving a lot of attention. There were even rumors that a new virtual reality-like attraction would be built there.

"Actually, Ney-san invited me to be on the medical staff of that colony. She arranged for us to be at the Hospital as a preliminary step."

"You'll be the initial staff for the new colony? That's amazing."

Being able to move to a new colony was proof of excellence. Normally, unless one had a very high rank, one couldn't change the colony they lived in. This meant it had to be an instruction or recruitment from a much higher rank.

This time, since it was a colony being built by Ney's foundation, there was no doubt the foundation would choose the staff, but to be invited directly by a blood relative of the foundation was quite something.

When Ney acted as a member of the foundation, she became surprisingly severe, a far cry from her usual self. She wouldn't hire Mist out of a sense of obligation. In other words, Mist had met Ney's standards.

"Yes, I'm very grateful. Of course, it's not just me, but Damian and everyone else too."

"They say a hospital with Mist as the head of medical technology will be built in that colony. It's a gracious offer."

"I told them to make Damian the head, though."

"I said I wouldn't work unless Mist was the head."

As the two of them said this with a laugh, Hayato thought that a lot must have happened in these two weeks. He didn't know the details, but they must have come to an understanding after regaining their memories and talking.

Hayato felt a warmth in his heart seeing this, but Esha's slightly unpleasant gaze at the two of them was beginning to ruin the moment.

Afterward, Mist and the others said they wanted to have lunch as well and stayed at the shop. While Hayato was busy with prep, Ash, Ren, and Esha seemed to be talking with them about various things.

Then Mist came over. She sat at the counter in front of Hayato.

"Mist-san, what's wrong?"

"No, I just thought I'd thank you again."

"You've already said it many times. Besides, Diite-chan and Ney were the ones who did everything."

"You were the one who mediated between the two of them and me, Hayato-san. And I want to thank you for something else as well."

"And what's that?"

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

When Hayato first met Mist. It was probably when something like ash was scattered at the entrance of the base. Mist emerged from it, grabbed his leg, and he fell.

When Hayato said this, Mist laughed.

"That's true. But please forget about that. Afterward, you invited me to the Clan War, Hayato-san. I want to thank you for that."

"I thought you were strong and would be essential to winning the Clan War. So we both benefited."

"Yes, but what I truly want to thank you for is making me a new coffin."

"Um?"

"I believe I told you once before that I used to make coffins, do you remember?"

"Yes. But you said you gave up because leveling up the Woodworking Skill was too hard."

"That's right. But now that my memories have returned, I think to myself. Was I unconsciously making a coffin, wishing for death?"

"Why would you think that..."

"I heard from Diite-san that even if memories are erased, they can't be completely eliminated. The fact that Damian was concerned about my body was because he knew of my illness in the real world, and that manifested as an unconscious action."

"...So, you mean you were making a coffin because you wanted to die in the real world?"

"It's not so much that I wanted to die, but I probably thought I wouldn't be saved, even in cryosleep. So I wanted to make a coffin and sleep peacefully within it. I think that's what I was feeling. But you made a coffin for me instead. I no longer needed to make one myself, and that might have unconsciously taken the form of not giving up on life."

Even if real-world memories are erased, one might act unconsciously. If that unconscious action is stopped, it could be reflected in reality.

Hayato understood what she was trying to say, but he thought the idea was too much of a leap.

"Isn't that a little too convenient? If you're going to say that, then it's not that leveling up the Woodworking Skill became too hard, but that you unconsciously stopped making the coffin. At the very least, you stopped giving up. It's more reasonable to think that way."

Mist looked stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly and looked at Hayato.

"I see. Is that a cooler way to think about it?"

"I don't know about that. Let's just cast aside such deep thoughts and think of enjoyable things. That's right, I'll be stocking some wine next time, so please come for a drink. It's quite expensive, though."

"That sounds wonderful. I'll take you up on that. By the way, I'm the type who thinks alcohol needs BGM. Do you not play music in this shop?"

"Eh? Music?"

"Yes. Old coffee shops used to play BGM that suited the shop's atmosphere at a volume where you could barely hear it. I thought it was just because you weren't open yet, but I don't see any equipment for it."

"That's true, some places do that. I don't know if it will increase customers, but I'd like to give it a try."

"I think Noat-san's songs would be good. If those were playing, I'd come every day."

"You're still pushing for Noat-san, I see. But I wonder if there's a song that would suit the atmosphere of this shop...?"

As Hayato said this, he began to recall various songs by Noat.