Day-21
...
After burying the bodies of the four goblins, it was already noon, so we decided to take a short break.
Not far from the battlefield, we sat among the ruins of an old building.
Holding a piece of bread in my hand, I listened to their conversation, taking a bite every now and then.
My thoughts drifted toward the uncertain future ahead.
I imagined several possibilities—how terrible things might have become if I had never joined this party.
That was why I truly felt grateful that Manato had invited me back then.
And now, look at us.
We shared the same place to live, worked together, ate together, and did countless other things together.
All of it felt so special to someone like me.
Someone who rarely experienced this kind of companionship.
Sometimes, it even made me wonder:
Am I really allowed to have all of this?
I had to admit it—I didn't feel worthy of it.
Especially when I remembered that I still had my memories, while none of them remembered anything at all.
I felt guilty for never telling them.
But at the same time, I didn't want to tell them.
Well, as usual, I was always a terrible person.
"Sirus?"
A voice interrupted my thoughts.
I turned toward it and saw Manato looking at me.
"What is it, Manato?" I asked curiously.
"I've been watching you spacing out for a while now. Is something on your mind?" he asked, sounding a little concerned.
I hesitated for a moment before answering.
"...Not really. I was just thinking about how glad I am that you invited me to join."
"Really?" he replied, before suddenly smiling in relief. "But you know, Sirus, this party became even better because you're here too. If you hadn't joined us, we would've had a hard time dealing with those four goblins."
I fell silent.
I couldn't think of anything suitable to say.
So I simply nodded.
"Yeah. You're right."
After that, I just listened to their conversation, occasionally joining in whenever I felt like it.
Until Manato suddenly said,
"We've really become a good team."
That was all it took to catch everyone's attention.
Then he continued.
"We can take down four goblins at once without anyone getting hurt. That means we're defeating them with ease."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Yume has become much more skilled with her kukri and bow. Honestly, she was already pretty good with both. If we plan carefully, taking on more than four goblins isn't impossible."
"Yeah, maybe we could take down five at once," Haruhiro added.
Manato nodded.
"Mogzo is indispensable to us. He's so big that his presence alone intimidates our enemies. And he handles that giant sword of his with impressive accuracy. Whenever he swings it, the hit lands hard."
"I think so too," Haruhiro agreed. "Mogzo's swordsmanship is pretty good."
"R-Really?" Mogzo said while eating his bread. "I don't really understand, but I guess I like doing things that require precision and accuracy."
"That doesn't suit you at all!" Ranta suddenly exploded for no apparent reason.
"...Or at least that's what I thought."
I stared at him in confusion.
What's wrong with this guy?
"Mogzo's pretty good. At least he's not as bad as a certain reckless guy with messy hair who keeps saying things that hurt people," Haruhiro said while looking directly at Ranta.
"Oh? Are you talking about me?" Ranta replied. "You do know my nickname is the 'Accurate Tornado Machine,' right?"
"I'm pretty sure nobody has ever called you that," Yume said while still trying to comfort Shihoru after what had happened earlier.
"Ranta is amazing," Manato said, his expression serious this time. "He attacks, attacks, and attacks with everything he has. He's never afraid of failure, which means he'll probably master his skills faster than any of us. All of us—including me—tend to avoid risks. If it weren't for Ranta, we would've never started charging forward in the first place."
Wow.
Manato was really good at praising people.
I had to admit, I admired that about him.
I couldn't even remember the last time I praised someone with a speech that long.
"Really?" Ranta tilted his head. "Then does that mean my nickname is 'Attacking Tornado Machine' now?"
"What happened to 'Accurate Tornado Machine'?" Haruhiro asked.
"And Shihoru..." Manato continued. "Shihoru has a good understanding of the bigger picture. The purpose of the spell Das is to confuse or stun enemies and support the team during battle. She chose to study shadow magic so she could help us during emergencies. Isn't that right, Shihoru?"
I glanced at the girl.
She simply nodded.
Then Manato turned toward Yume.
"Yume is very brave. She might actually be the bravest out of all of us. As a healer, sometimes I wish she'd be a little more careful. But whenever someone is in danger, Yume jumps in without hesitation."
"Really?" Yume replied. "Yume isn't very scared during battles, but nobody has ever called Yume brave before. Maybe you're right. Sorry that Yume isn't very good with a bow even though Yume is a hunter."
"I don't think that's a problem at all," I said, trying to make her feel better. "Becoming skilled with a bow takes a lot of time and experience. And you haven't been learning it for very long, right?"
Yume nodded.
"That's true."
"So don't focus on what you can't do right now," I continued. "This is only the beginning for all of us. Nobody knows what the future holds. Maybe one day you'll become truly skilled with a bow."
Even though I wasn't very good with words, I never imagined I'd say something like that.
Maybe that was the best thing I'd ever said to another person.
"Sirus is absolutely right," Yume said enthusiastically. "Then from now on, the most important thing is for Yume to keep improving."
Thank goodness that cheap motivational speech actually worked.
"And Sirus..."
Manato said my name.
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"Even without having a job like the rest of us, he's proven that he can fight remarkably well. More importantly, he can handle multiple roles during battle. He can distract enemies, draw their attention, hold them back, or even defeat them himself. Basically, he's the best support member on this team."
He smiled.
"Maybe even better than me."
Something I couldn't explain spread throughout my entire body.
Unable to stop myself, I quickly looked away, trying to suppress the smile threatening to appear.
Ah, damn it.
Damn it, damn it, damn it.
What was wrong with me?
How could a single compliment make me feel like this?
Everything felt strange.
I was incredibly happy.
And yet, I didn't want anyone to see it.
Seriously.
What was wrong with me?
"Hey, Sirus, what's with you all of a sudden?" Ranta asked curiously.
"I-It's nothing," I replied awkwardly.
"Wait..."
Ranta stared at me.
"I didn't expect you to be this kind of person!"
Feeling irritated, I glared at him.
"Shut up! Can't you stay quiet for once?"
"Yeah, I didn't expect you to be shy either, Sirus," Haruhiro added.
I turned toward him.
"I'm not shy. I just don't know how to deal with compliments."
Smiling, Haruhiro simply replied,
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Huh.
I never thought I was still this kind of person.
Maybe it was because people rarely praised me.
That was probably why I couldn't handle compliments the way other people could.
Thinking about it now, most compliments I'd received before were either jokes or things people said without really thinking.
So I could ignore them.
But this time...
I was genuinely happy.
And these moments together—
I hoped they would last forever.
...
What do you think? I have tried my best in writing this chapter.
-