Day-9
...
After that, we continued hunting in the old city of Damroww until evening approached.
We managed to kill around five goblins, including the sleeping one from before. It was an unexpected profit; we obtained many items that could be sold, along with several silver coins from them.
For the distribution, each of us received one silver and several copper coins. Honestly, that was a lot. It almost covered all of my expenses.
And after that, we decided to return to Ortana, after all, it was already starting to get dark.
-
"So this is where you all live..." I muttered while staring at the inn, which honestly didn't look much different from mine.
"Hmm, is something wrong, Sirus?" Haruhiro suddenly spoke from beside me.
I looked toward him, then shook my head.
"No, it's nothing... I was just thinking it must feel nice to live together with others..." I said, an awkward smile appearing on my face.
Yeah, I guess I felt a little lonely. Every time I returned, there was never anyone there. Sleeping alone in a room meant for four people wasn't exactly pleasant.
"Then why not stay with us instead? We could rent a room for six people so you can live together with us," Manato suddenly said.
"Eh... Is that really okay?" I asked, confused by the offer.
Haruhiro nodded. "Yeah, Manato's right. Why not stay with us? I think everyone will agree."
"Hey, hey! Why are you deciding this without asking for my permission first!? Listen here—"
"Sirus, you don't need to listen to his opinion. It doesn't count anyway," Haruhiro cut Ranta off before he could finish speaking.
"What's that supposed to mean, Haruhiro!? You people should respect me, after all I'm the greatest one here!" he declared proudly.
"What Haruhiro said is true though. Yume thinks you don't need to listen to him, Sirus. Most of the things coming out of his mouth are nonsense anyway."
I didn't expect Yume to say that, I thought while staring at her with slight surprise on my face.
"Hey, I heard that!!" Ranta shouted.
"S-seriously though, I think it would be nice if Sirus stayed with us. We're in the same party now after all."
Mogzo spoke up, and I looked at him for a few moments.
"Umm... I-I don't mind either," and with that, Shihoru's agreement was obtained as well.
I thought about it for a while. Maybe having roommates would actually be fun, right?
That thought reminded me of something. My memories drifted toward several years ago, during a school trip. I remembered how fun it felt staying together with my friends in the same place.
"Everyone already agreed. So what do you think, Sirus?" Manato asked while looking at me.
"Hey, don't ignore me!" Ranta suddenly interrupted. "Fine then, I'll allow you to stay together with the great Lord Ranta."
I looked at everyone, observing them one by one. Then, a smile naturally formed on my face. It wasn't a smile I made on purpose.
"Yeah... I think it'll be fun, so... why not?"
"..."
After that, I returned to my old inn to pick up the belongings I had left behind before coming back to their inn.
Then we rented a room for six people. It cost around thirty copper per night, while a room for four cost twenty copper.
After that, we bathed and finally went to sleep. I slept on the top bunk, while the bed below mine remained empty.
Even after everyone had fallen asleep, for some reason, I was still awake.
My eyes stared at the ceiling above me. It wasn't that I couldn't sleep, I just felt strangely excited right now.
The anticipation for tomorrow made me restless.
"Sirus, are you still awake?" A voice suddenly called out to me.
It was Manato.
I answered quietly, "Yeah, seems like you're not asleep either."
"What do you think about this party?" he suddenly asked, his voice lowered so he wouldn't wake the others.
"It's a good party. I like it," I said, a small smile forming even though nobody would be able to see it in this dark room.
"I see. I'm glad to hear that. I hope you'll always like this party."
"Yeah, you're right. I hope so too."
-
Day-10
...
The next day, we returned to the same place as before, the "Old City of Damroww," to look for prey.
At first, things didn't go very well. We encountered a group of five goblins.
Ranta wanted to attack them, but we stopped him. It was completely impossible unless each of us could defeat a goblin alone.
And so we kept searching until evening approached without finding anything.
Or at least, that's what I thought. In the end, we found a single goblin on our way back.
To me, all of this was perfectly normal.
Not everything would always go the way you wanted.
That's why it's better to just get used to it.
Who knows? Maybe tomorrow will be better.
-
Day-11
...
After yesterday, we still stubbornly continued searching for prey in this place.
But unlike yesterday, this time we had a new plan.
Manato suggested mapping out the hunting area, and honestly, I thought it was a good idea.
After all, none of us were familiar with the layout of this place yet.
Walking around this city was surprisingly enjoyable. We simply wandered into places we hadn't explored before. It felt new to me.
And because of that, we became more confident now that we understood at least a little about this place.
And the best part was that we managed to kill three goblins today. After selling the items we got from them, we earned a profit of seventy-four copper coins.
Sure, it wasn't as satisfying compared to the profit from a few days ago. But there was nothing wrong with appreciating small things.
Still, Yume and Shihoru wanted to go shopping afterward, so in the end we all decided to go together.
I didn't really know what to spend my money on. I didn't think I needed many things.
So I decided to save it instead. No one knew when they might need money someday. Maybe sometime in the future.
After returning to the inn, everyone talked about what they bought and what they wanted to buy next time.
I didn't really participate in the conversation because I was busy counting my money.
But even so, it still felt enjoyable to me.
Until eventually everyone fell asleep. Or at least, that's what I thought.
I still hadn't fallen asleep. I was still thinking about various things.
Honestly, it seemed like I could never escape these thoughts that kept coming back.
Then suddenly, a voice could be heard.
"Manato?" Judging from the voice, it seemed to be Haruhiro. Apparently, he wasn't asleep either.
"Yeah?" Manato replied almost immediately. He was still awake too.
Silence lingered for a few moments before Haruhiro finally spoke.
"Thank you."
That was what he said.
"Why are you suddenly saying that?" Manato replied before continuing, "I'm the one who should be thanking all of you."
"You... thanking us? Why?"
"Thank you for everything, and for you as well. For being true friends. I'm really grateful. Maybe it sounds strange saying something like this now, but I truly am grateful."
"No, it doesn't sound strange at all, but..." Haruhiro paused briefly, "it's just that we always end up causing you trouble every day. Without you... we probably wouldn't even be able to sleep in a place like this right now."
What Haruhiro said was true. Even though I had only recently joined, I already knew that all of us depended too much on Manato.
I knew that wasn't a good thing, so at the very least, I tried to lighten his burden as much as I could by fighting with all my strength.
Then Manato spoke again.
"I'm the same. If it weren't for all of you, I don't know what would've happened to me. No matter how many times I think about it, there's no way I could survive alone."
Silence filled the room once again for several moments.
"Hopefully you don't misunderstand me, but I think you could make friends with anyone you want. You could ask to join any party, and they'd definitely accept someone as capable as you."
I agreed with what Haruhiro said. Manato really was amazing. Compared to him, the rest of us were just ordinary people.
"Other parties? Honestly, I never even considered it. I don't really like troubling other people, and I'm not even sure I could follow orders from another leader. Though of course, I don't remember what I was like before getting trapped in this place, so I can't really say for sure."
"Me too," Haruhiro said, "I don't remember anything."
Suddenly, a feeling of guilt washed over me.
Yeah, I remembered it. Everyone who came together with me into this world had lost all memories of their pasts.
And yet, here I was, remembering everything except my own name.
I felt terribly guilty now.
I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress the irritation I felt toward myself.
It must feel awful, living with nothing but fragments of memories left behind, while I still had everything and yet remained such a useless person.
I truly was the worst...
...