Chapter 78 Fear
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
(It’s warm and gentle…)
Wrapped in that feeling, I slowly start to wake up.
”Ah, Hiroya, are you awake?”
Kazumi is peeking at my face.
”Kazumi…”
It seems like I’m resting my head on her lap. I’m clinging to Kazumi’s waist.
”Kazumiii♡”
”Hiroya… You really like to be spoiled when it’s just the two of you, huh…”
”Ah… Rena, I feel like I’m going to burst from sweetness…”
”Mr. Hiroya… I didn’t know you had that side…”
”Big Brother Hiroya, you act like a kid.”
Everyone is saying whatever they want. Hey, Martina… I’m a kid, you know?
Kazumi’s face is bright red.
”It seems like Ares messed up again…”
When I ask what happened to the women we saved from the hobgoblins, Guido and the others show up while heading back to the village. They said they would take the women back to the village responsibly.
When I asked why Guido and the others were leaving, it sounded similar to Liz’s earlier complaints.
”That’s just how it is…”
Kazumi talks worriedly while keeping my head on her lap.
”Did Ares get seriously hurt again?”
”No, the injury isn’t that bad… but it’s not about that.”
Kazumi looks at Liz as she says this.
”Ah. It seems that my previous members Marty and Roana went with Otto.”
”!”
I quickly sit up from Kazumi’s lap.
”It looks like they joined Otto’s party halfway through, but when Ares got hurt and Guido decided to leave, Otto said, ‘We want to keep heading to the dungeon. It would be great to have a Thief and a magician with us, so can you come along?’”
Liz also looks worried. Isn’t that bad?
”I can understand having Marty the Thief, but didn’t Otto’s party have a magician named Sora?”
”Yeah. I hope Roana is okay…”
Kazumi stands up and brushes off her bottom.
Next to her, Rena and Martina seem to be explaining the connection with ‘Otto’ to Dorothy.
”That sounds like a bad situation. From what I’ve heard, that Otto guy seems like someone who would do anything to get what he wants from women.”
”Yeah. It’s not just Roana; Marty who is with them could be in danger too.”
Dorothy’s worries are exactly what I was thinking.
”How long did I sleep?”
”Um, about an hour, I think? It was tough.”
”Yeah. The training was way more intense than just breaking down muscle tissue, and Rena used ‘Healing’ on you.”
Kazumi and Rena are scolding me. I’m sorry.
”Honestly, if it was just a Lesser Demon… Rena and the others are here, so you shouldn’t try to fight alone. You should rely on us more.”
Rena, with her hands on her hips, looks really mad. It’s super cute to see such a beautiful girl like her get angry. …Even though I’m the one being scolded.
”I’m not saying you can’t use your power, but I think you should choose when to use it more carefully. So, let’s work on controlling our emotions better.”
Thanks for the gentle advice after scolding me, Rena.
”Anyway, I want to catch up to Otto. I’m worried about Roana and Marty.”
”I feel the same way. I want to hurry too.”
Liz looks at everyone.
”We all agree.”
Kazumi, Rena, Martina, and Dorothy nod too.
”Alright. It’s getting close to evening, but let’s move until it gets dark. Camping in the Goblin Forest at night is dangerous, but we came prepared for that.”
Liz stands up and puts on her backpack. We all get ready to leave.
”I’ll lead the way. Big Brother Hiroya, walk beside me.”
In order, it’s me and Martina, Kazumi and Rena, Liz and Dorothy, as we start walking toward the center of the forest.
* * *
While I was sleeping, everyone was able to rest, so we made good progress on our journey until sunset. Well, I was the one who slept the most, so I had the most energy.
We all had some ideas for our campsite, so we decided to put them into action. We looked for a giant tree and chose it as our campsite for the night.
”Growth”
With Dorothy’s magic, the branches of the giant tree started to stretch out, intertwining with the nearby trees like vines.
”Oh, this turned out pretty good!”
At about 10 meters (33ft) high on the giant tree, a natural wide platform was ready.
””Fly.””
Kazumi and Rena used their magic to bring all of us to that ‘natural platform.’
”It’s sturdier than I thought.”
Rena jumped up to test its strength. It seemed to sway a little.
”Um… could you not shake it too much?”
Liz clung to the edge of the platform, trembling against the trunk of the giant tree.
”Liz, you’re scared of heights.”
”Is that a problem? I just… feel uneasy if my feet aren’t on the ground.”
Usually, Liz is so brave, but right now she looks kind of cute.
”We should definitely set up a tent.”
There was enough space for 6 people to lie down comfortably. We could fit 4 tents in this area.
”Let’s cover about half of this platform.”
Saying that, Dorothy cast ‘Growth’ again.
Vines started to stretch from the branches, covering about half of the platform in a dome shape.
”This is great! We can’t make a campfire, but we can bring Flame Stone Warmers inside to keep warm!”
Liz, who was clinging to the trunk, got excited and went inside the ‘natural dome tent.’ This magic really feels like something an elf would do.
”Now we’ll have fewer monster attacks.”
”I’ll start making dinner!”
Martina took out the special Flame Stone cooking plate from the Zett merchant guild, and we all began cooking. Since we were up in the tree, we couldn’t use fire, but this was really handy.
* * *
”So, Hiroya…”
”?”
While I left the cooking to Kazumi and the others, Liz and I were taking care of our weapons.
”You told Otto, ‘Next time, I’ll kill you,’ right? …Are you going to do it?”
”If something happens to Roana or Marty… you know.”
”This time, Asuka and Sora are here too. They’re pretty strong.”
Liz’s words made me think. If I fully unleash my soul, maybe I can manage…
”We will help hold the two of them. So… I want you to fight as Obu Hiroya using only ‘Physical Boost’.”
Liz looked at me with concern. I must have been in a really bad state when I collapsed.
”I want you to fight. Not just that. Fight as Hiroya.”
When I turned around, Kazumi was glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
”Okay…”
”We’re here for you.”
”Yes.”
”Like Rena said earlier, you can rely on us, okay?”
”I want to help you too.”
”I also want to be a strength for Mr. Hiroya.”
”Yes…”
I didn’t want to be a burden by collapsing and being unable to act…
”You’re thinking, ‘I don’t want to be a burden later when I can’t move,’ right? That’s not how it is!”
Kazumi pointed at me firmly. She totally read my mind. She really is my true partner.
”Yeah. I get it. …Thanks, everyone.”
”All these ‘wonderful women’ want to rely on you. You should realize that!”
Saying that, Kazumi smiled and wrapped things up.
* * *
”Can you let me sleep for about 3 hours first? After that, I’ll keep watch until morning.”
After dinner, I suggested taking the night watch.
”Come on! You just said to rely on us!”
”No, it’s different. I fought the Lesser Demon alone and got to rest, so I want everyone to get a good sleep too.”
”Speaking of which, you were the only one who looked so comfortable sleeping…”
Liz grinned at me.
”Kazumi, let’s lean on Hiroya this time. We need to catch up with Otto and the others tomorrow.”
Rena said with a laugh.
”…Okay. But if anything happens, wake me up right away, okay?”
”Thanks. So wake me up after 3 hours.”
I said that to everyone and decided to go to bed early.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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