Side Story 2
Translator : PolterGlast
"Hearing it again
like this, it gives me a strange feeling."
I had told Lotus
before that I knew about the future of this world. But we hadn't had a proper,
sit-down conversation about it until now. This was the first time we were
talking about it slowly and calmly.
"The future me
was supposed to be missing an arm and an eye, huh."
Lotus raised his right
arm and swung it around. Chichi-chi, a bird chirped. He sat on a rock, gazing
at the water's edge. In the game, he always had a dark expression, and there
was a large scar on his face. There was also a route where he swore loyalty to
the country to kill demons, traveling with Yuko, who had been summoned as a
saint.
"Hmm... also, in
the game, he had even fewer words, and his build was... maybe a little
different."
"Well, if you
don't have an arm, you'd probably train in a way that suits that. But fewer
words, huh..."
"He always seemed
angry. Quietly, simmering, like."
Not like Eldorado's
big, fierce, bright red flames, but a deep blue, small, yet unwavering and
quietly flickering flame. That was the image of Lotus in my mind.
Lotus, whose hair was
messy because he hadn't brushed it recently, messed it up even more. Then, he
said, "Aah..." as if thinking about something. He closed his one red
eye and groaned again, "Hmm."
"Right, putting
aside whether the current me is a demon or not. I'm seriously pissed."
Lotus is a demon.
There is no doubt about it because of his red eye and his possession of the
Flight skill. But since only half of his eye had changed color, it was hard to
tell if other demons would consider him one of their own. They might think he
was different. Neither human nor demon. That's what he had become.
"The city was
destroyed. It'll take time to restore it to its original state. What a joke.
But I'm angry at the individual who did it, not necessarily at all
demons."
The one who probably
summoned the monsters in the city was the silver-haired demon we met at the
chapel back then. Just like me, he had spoken as if he knew the future.
"But yeah,"
Lotus said, crossing his arms and looking up at the sky as if thinking. Deep
wrinkles were etched between his eyebrows. "If, just if. Back then, if
Yozaki and Sutra had died..." He trailed off there, not saying anything more.
"...I need to get
stronger."
Lotus muttered, this
time looking down instead of up.
In the end, he didn't
gain a unique skill, unlike in the game. But he was already incredibly strong,
so pointing that out would be insensitive. I didn't know what to say to Ichi
and the others next to me, who had made their bouncy bodies even less bouncy
and were putting in their all, looking like a stack of skewered dumplings.
"No, you guys are
cleaning slimes... Let's not push yourselves too hard, okay? I get that you're
really motivated..."
I thought I heard
voices that were deeper than usual, saying, "Leave it to us..." and
even their first-person pronouns seemed different.
I wasn't expecting
anything from them in terms of combat, so I wanted them to run away immediately
if something happened.
Maintaining their
squishy bodies in a hard state seemed to be a difficult task, and with an
"araa~~," San on top had fallen off. "Hey, Ichi~~ support him
properly~~ Sorry~~ my bad~~~" They were already collapsing in a mess
state. Let's just leave them be.
"Aah, well,
anyway."
Lotus was searching
for words within himself. He had an angry look on his face, but that was his
usual expression. This was his "deep in thought" face. Honestly, he
was a guy who really lost out because of his expressions. But the contrast when
he smiled was huge, and it always surprised me.
Lotus beckoned me over
with his hand. I tilted my head and hopped over to him, sitting down on the
gravelly ground, hop, hop. "A little closer." Hop. I hopped one more
step. But his hand was still calling me. I had gotten quite close. Lotus's body
was completely casting a shadow over me. Wondering what it was, a large palm
landed heavily on my head. I was startled.
"Eh, ah."
"...Thanks."
No, no.
Maybe it had all been
my misunderstanding. Maybe there was another reason why Sutra-san and
Yozaki-san's names hadn't appeared with the Appraisal skill. I had told Lotus
that. In the end, the demon had come as I had imagined, so the possibility of
it being a misunderstanding was low, but originally, that demon had been
chasing me. So, it was wrong for him to thank me. If Sutra-san and the others
had died, it would have been my fault, and of course, the city being destroyed
was also because of me.
As I was about to say
those words, I realized that I was hoping for Lotus to say, "That's not
true," and I bit my lip. I hated myself. It wasn't like I wanted to be
forgiven. But I didn't know how else to put it. I just moved my mouth
helplessly, repeating my breaths pathetically.
Maybe Lotus had
noticed because I was just breathing pathetically without being able to say
anything.
"You did your
best."
His large, firm palm
was warm. I felt pathetic, but happy. When a sound escaped my throat,
"ueh...", tears spilled out. But I quickly wiped them away with one
hand and hid them. My neck felt terribly hot, and it might have turned
completely red.
"Um,
well..."
I desperately searched
for my feelings in my mental drawer. Embarrassment, "I knew it,"
various words popped into my head. But what I really wanted to say was
different. "Praise me more..." Once I threw away my feelings of
pretense, a small voice leaked out.
Lotus's hand lightened
on my head for a moment. I wondered if I had messed up, but then gushi-gushi-gushi-gushi-gushi.
His hand vigorously ruffled my hair. "Whoa, waaah, waaah, waaah!" He
laughed heartily at my surprise. My tears immediately retreated. But perhaps
Lotus had still noticed, because his fingertips wiped away the corner of my eye
where unshed tears had seeped.
"As much as you
want."
As many times as you
want.
He met my gaze,
smiling with his one red eye. The one in front of me wasn't the Lotus from the
game. ――――It was a young man named Lotus.
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