Day-29
...
The next morning, I woke up feeling uncomfortable as usual, feeling itchy from sleeping on that straw bed.
For some reason, last night's conversation came back to mind. After hearing about it, I felt like I couldn't simply pretend not to care.
"If things are like this... I guess I can no longer say that I don't know, can I?"
Despite saying that, a faint smile appeared on my face.
Since I had woken up too early, everyone was still asleep. That was what I saw after getting out of bed.
After that, I went to the inn's courtyard, where the well was located. Once I got there, I drew some water to wash my face before finally sitting down and waiting for time to pass.
There wasn't much I could do, or at least, that's what I thought.
But... For now, I wanted to enjoy this solitude. I suppose it had become quite rare for me to experience something like this.
It reminded me of how I used to always be alone. Loneliness had once felt like a part of me, and enduring it had been so easy when I was already accustomed to it.
But now...
I raised my head and looked up at the pitch-black sky.
"... I don't want to feel that way anymore."
Those words quietly escaped my lips. I suppose I had grown accustomed to all of this, and because of that, it had become a part of my life now...
So... Isn't it only natural that I wouldn't want to lose it?
"..."
For quite some time, I did absolutely nothing. I simply sat in the inn's courtyard, enjoying the silence surrounding me.
Until a voice called out to me from behind.
"Sirus? Is that you...?" he called.
Turning around to look, I couldn't see his entire face because it was still dark. However, recognizing him just from his voice wasn't particularly difficult.
"Did you just wake up, Haruhiro?" I asked, trying to speak as gently as possible.
I heard his footsteps approaching, and as he came closer, he answered.
"Yeah, something like that..."
By the time he finished speaking, he had already reached me and sat down right beside me.
"What about you? What are you doing here all alone so early in the morning?" he asked.
"Nothing particularly special. I'm just trying to enjoy the morning like this. I suppose the atmosphere isn't so bad," I said, answering his question.
"I see..." he replied briefly before looking ahead at the empty path in front of us. There wasn't a single person passing by.
Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he quickly turned toward me and looked at me.
"Sirus, there's something I'd like to talk to you about," he said suddenly.
That caught me quite by surprise, especially coming from Haruhiro. I suppose it wasn't often that I talked with him alone. Even with the others, I couldn't recall doing so very often.
"Eh? Yeah, what is it?" I said.
"You know, about our conversation with Hayashi last night. What do you think about it?" he asked, seemingly serious.
This was difficult, even for me...
Lowering my gaze, I tried to think of something to say in response.
Then I raised my head and looked at Haruhiro, giving him a slight smile as I scratched the back of my head.
"Sorry, I don't think I can help much with this."
However, since I didn't want to disappoint him, I decided to offer a little advice.
"But, you know? Now that we've learned about her past, we can't just sit around doing nothing, can we? That's why... I think we should discuss this with everyone. It wouldn't feel right if I were the only one making the decision."
I said that.
For a while, Haruhiro simply stared at me in silence after hearing my suggestion. Then his gaze shifted toward the path ahead.
I followed his gaze. He was looking slightly up at the dark morning sky. Although it wasn't very clear... At that moment, I could see the corners of his mouth curving slightly upward.
"Yeah... You're right, Sirus. Thank you..." he said.
I gave a slight nod and replied.
"You're welcome, I suppose..."
That morning, we sat together in the inn's courtyard, watching time pass.
And eventually, as time seemed to fly by, the morning sun began to rise, greeting the cold morning and illuminating the world with the warmth of its rays.
It was probably around eight in the morning. We were walking together through the streets of the city of Ortana, passing by various roadside stalls that were beginning to open.
As for Mary, we had all discussed the matter, but we hadn't reached any decision.
As usual, we were currently heading toward the place where Mary usually waited for us. After that, we would head to Damroww. Honestly, nobody brought up the subject, and it was starting to frustrate me.
Perhaps we were all hesitant to say anything to her, afraid that she might get angry because we had investigated her past without her knowledge.
Basically, we were completely helpless. Even by the time we returned to Ortana, nobody had taken the initiative to bring it up.
Well, that included me, so I suppose we were all the same...
We returned when the afternoon had already passed, then went to the market to sell the spoils we had collected, as usual.
"Mary, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Haruhiro suddenly said it rather directly as we left the shop after selling our spoils.
After remaining silent for a moment, Mary promptly answered.
"All right."
That reminded me of something as I looked at her face. If I remembered correctly, she had changed parties quite frequently. Perhaps... she thought we were going to kick her out of ours.
"Mary..."
Haruhiro spoke her name, referring to the priest who would remain in our party even if she didn't expect it.
We all just watched, while Haruhiro did the talking, gazing toward the girl, whose eyes narrowed, revealing her discomfort at being the focus of all our attention.
"Mary," this time Haruhiro said her name in a firmer voice. "Our party used to have a priest before. His name was Manato, and he's dead... Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we let him get killed. You could say that he was a perfectionist, and we relied on him far too much. Whenever we got injured in battle, he never hesitated to heal us, even if our wounds were nothing more than minor scratches."
"Manato was our leader," Haruhiro continued. "He was our trusted healer, and together with Mogzo and Sirus, he always fought on the front lines. He was practically like a warrior as well. It was as if he fulfilled three different roles in one person. He was truly an amazing person, but back then, we never realized it. In our eyes, he was just an ordinary person. I'm sure Manato had a difficult time back then, but he never once complained, and none of us ever imagined just how heavy the burden he carried really was. Even now, I don't think I can fully imagine it... But he's dead. He's no longer in this world."
From Mary's past, which had been told to us by someone who had once been her teammate during her time as a trainee, I felt that Mary had been somewhat similar to Manato in the past. And after hearing about Manato, I was certain that Mary couldn't possibly have failed to notice the similarities.
"To be honest, when Manato was gone, I thought everything was over," Haruhiro began again. "I thought there was no way we could continue fighting without him. But even though he was dead, we were still alive. We had to keep living, and we couldn't keep living if all we did was sit around and do nothing. We're still trainees of the Crimson Moon, so we have to work hard to earn enough money to buy food for ourselves.
After that, we invited you to join our party. A party needs a priest; that's why we invited you. There was no other reason. As for me, Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru, we're nothing but a bunch of useless people from the very beginning. Mogzo, however, was a little different. He was recruited by Ragill, but then he was simply discarded after they took all his money. Manato was the one who invited him to join us. The same goes for Sirus. He joined us not too long ago, and although we don't really know how he and Manato met, we accepted him because it was Manato's decision. And eventually, we became good friends with him. Even though we were nothing but trash, we managed to form a team and even build friendships with one another.
That was how it all began. But ever since then, we've truly become a complete team. Sometimes things don't go well, sometimes we scold one another, and sometimes we even fight with each other. But in the end, we still consider every member of this party a friend. No matter what kind of circumstances we find ourselves in, what matters most is that we're all still here, fighting to keep living. To me, every one of you is a precious friend and companion. And that includes you..... Mary."
After hearing all of that, Mary didn't say a single word. She stared at Haruhiro with a sharp gaze, remaining completely still, though she occasionally blinked.
Well, I suppose she hadn't expected this. After being rejected so many times, she must have been surprised to finally find people who accepted her. I suppose I've experienced something similar myself.
Then, with a slight smile on my face, I spoke up.
"So, Mary... After hearing all of that, you understand, don't you? That none of us want you to leave this party," I said to her. "So... I just want to say that, if possible, I'd like all of us to get along..."
"Me too," Shihoru quietly raised her hand. "I consider you a friend as well."
"Agreed," Yume said with a wide smile. "Mary is super cute."
"O-of course, I agree too," Mogzo said, still wearing his new helmet. "Of course I consider you a friend. I'm even more certain now that having you with us was the right choice."
Ranta snorted. "I... I... Well, you know. I do get noisy whenever I'm injured. But that's just how I am when I'm fighting... Maybe. But, uh... Yeah, I suppose. Aren't we friends?"
"Hell will freeze over tomorrow," Haruhiro said while looking up at the cloudless sky above him. "Ranta admitting that he's not perfect himself. Hell, heaven, and earth will all freeze over."
"Yeah, you're right, Haruhiro. I wouldn't even be surprised if the sun rose in the west tomorrow," I said, following his gaze upward.
"Hey! I admit all my shortcomings, and I'll keep working to improve myself! My talent for self-improvement is above average! You've known me for so long, and you still haven't realized that?!"
"If you say so, then sure."
"Oi! Haruhiro! Don't just stop there! You're making me sad!"
Ha ha, they're always like this, I suppose. It's been a long time since I've heard something like this, and I realized that it actually felt amusing to me.
"I think it would be better if we decided on a goal sooner rather than later, instead of continuing to put it off," Haruhiro continued. "Even if it's only a short-term goal..."
"... Things have been a mess lately," Haruhiro said. "I'm not even sure we can afford to buy our Crimson Moon contracts, no matter how hard we work. Let's put an end to that and find a direction for ourselves."
"Our goal is to become BILLIONAIRES! And then DOMINATE THE WORLD!"
Haruhiro completely ignored Ranta as he stated that rather unrealistic goal, one that I had never heard before.
"Hey, what's with that overly unrealistic goal? But, well... I suppose it's fine."
Although I wasn't particularly eager to agree, I eventually decided not to make a fuss over something so trivial.
"I don't care about anything other than money and power," Ranta declared. "I guess I also want to become popular with girls. But if you want to have lots of girls, you need money and power too..."
Ranta paused for a moment.
"Looks like your idea of setting short-term goals is a good start toward achieving world domination... I suppose..."
He said that reluctantly.
Yume let out a heavy sigh.
"Talking to Ranta takes longer than waiting in line at a bank, and it's more boring than listening to a math lesson."
Then Haruhiro turned toward Mary.
"Mary, what do you think?"
Mary seemed to avoid his gaze, but even so, I noticed her giving a very small and faint nod of agreement.
"Would you like to have dinner with us?" Haruhiro asked Mary.
"No, thank you."
Then she added in a very quiet voice.
"... Not for now."
"All right," Haruhiro replied.
Meanwhile, I simply watched them, watched Mary, and watched as things seemed to be getting better.
It seemed that the difficult times were finally behind us, replaced by changes that were trying to make things better.
I gazed at the sky, which had now grown dark, and for a while, I found myself captivated by the beauty of the night.
I suppose I should start getting back on my feet more than ever now.
Just as Manato once told me, just as I had promised with my own words.
And for the sake of this transition toward something better.
Although I'm not entirely sure, but—
I will protect them all and watch over them...
I don't want a single one of them to slip from my grasp.
Even so, I suppose...
This really was a wonderful day, wasn't it?
...