Yukitaka and Iris got an inn and decided to rest slowly in a bed for the first time in a while.
Yukitaka, thanks to his Cheat-class Suit set, could sleep well and stay clean even outdoors, but Iris could not do that. Starting with exploring the Dungeon, she had been betrayed by her friends and had run desperately from vicious monsters, and even after Yukitaka saved her, she had spent several days traveling with him while staying tense, so tiredness had definitely built up.
So when they got to the inn, she spent extra money, had them prepare a big tub and hot water, and soaked in the bath in her own room.
"Ah... Maybe I could have asked Mr. Goto to make hot water for me..."
Iris thought that while taking off her dirty gear.
"I have to do laundry too. I'm jealous that Mr. Goto doesn't need to..."
Talking to herself, Iris got completely naked, soaked in the tub, and enjoyed her first bath since entering the Dungeon.
As for Yukitaka in the next room, he was worrying alone, because he did not know if he could keep traveling with Iris.
For Yukitaka, she was the first person in this world who seemed like a real friend. Of course, the only people he knew were Iris and the High School Student Group from the Hero party, and that High School Student Group was probably living it up in the Royal Palace right about now.
It was easy to imagine they weren't thinking at all about him, someone who got dragged into the Hero Summoning. They had good Skills and a good place to live, while he had no abilities but was lucky only with items.
But his situation wasn't exactly great. Other than Iris, he couldn't say he was lucky with people either, so relationships going forward would matter too.
Well, since he was an office worker, building relationships wasn't his weak point, but it wasn't his strong point either. With someone good-natured like Iris, he could get along easily, but telling who is a good person is hard in this world too.
That's exactly why he honestly wanted to treasure his relationship with Iris.
Yukitaka was in his fourth year working, but because the company was a black one2, his coworkers quit early, and he had no one he could call a friend. He had also moved from the countryside3 to the city for work, so the only people he knew were from his workplace.
On the other hand, during his student days, he was obsessed with anime and manga as hobbies, so he didn't go out of his way to make friends either. He had relationships he built online, but he wasn't sure if he could call someone whose face he didn't know a friend.
On the contrary, even the convenience store Lawson1 clerk he saw almost every day was someone he barely exchanged words with, a relationship below acquaintance.
In that sense, Iris knew his face and his character, and more than anything, they had spent time together. Iris was reliable, and more than anything, she was the first person he felt calm being around.
Yukitaka turned the question over in his mind. "Ms. Iris is an adventurer from the neighboring Kingdom of Thordein, so this place is a foreign country to her. Thinking about it that way, going back there should be natural... I'm someone whose life was targeted in that Kingdom of Thordein, so I can't come and go freely. So to avoid problems, I want my base of operations on this Kingdom of Karlsen side," He rubbed his chin. "Hmm... what should I do..."
Yukitaka agonized over the choice of parting with Iris, who was becoming an important friend.
Around that time, in the Kingdom of Thordein, the High School Student Group of the Hero party were talking about Yukitaka for the first time in a while deep in a Dungeon.
"Dat old guy is probably living easy in da countryside right about now," Shishidou Leo, a sports-type high schooler who got the Holy Knight Skill, complained about his unchanging daily life. "Meanwhile we ah leveling up in dis Dungeon every single day."
"Come to think of it, it is quite far from here, but our Person in Charge mentioned a place that is safe even for those with no abilities."
Kidouin Sei, a beauty who was a working high school model with the Saint Skill, remembered Yukitaka for the first time in a while.
Shion spoke the facts she had heard from the Person in Charge. "Mr. Goto, huh... It was unlucky he got caught in our Hero Summoning, but making up lies wasn't right. With that, I can't even feel sorry for him if he got sent to the Frontier."
Runa, the brains of the group who had the Sage Skill and was the daughter of a major company president, spoke without hurry. "Were it merely a matter of being sent to the Frontier, I would consider it beyond remedy. In Mr. Goto's case, however, I suspect he is already no longer of this world."
"Huh?" The three were shocked by the cool Shihouji Runa's words.
Shishidou Leo had it first. "Hey, no way, yuh..."
Sei cut in. "That means..."
"I must say, I had something of a feeling..."
Each of them reacted differently: Shishidou Leo in disbelief, Kidouin Sei in grim foreboding, Takamiya Shion in silence.
"Yes. I pressed my Person in Charge and extracted it from them. The assessment appears to have been that, given Mr. Goto possesses no abilities, survival in this world would prove untenable going forward," Shihouji Runa deliberately avoided stating that they had killed him, and confined herself to the facts.
"......"
Everyone was at a loss for words.
Shishidou Leo made excuses as if to say they bore no responsibility. "W-well, it can't be helped, yuh. He probably just had bad luck when he got caught up in it. And dat old guy lied and stuff, so people here get a bad impression of him."
"...I do feel responsible, you know. I am the one who took Mr. Goto's hand when he happened to be nearby and pulled him in..," Kidouin Sei's face had gone pale as she spoke.
Takamiya Shion came up with a reason to encourage Sei. "Sei..., it can't be helped. Everyone was shaken by the forced Summoning back then. Besides, Mr. Goto was also walking close to us to begin with, so that's on him too."
If Yukitaka heard this, he would probably get angry, but he had no way of knowing it.
The cool Shihouji Runa calmly informed everyone of the facts. "Let us redirect. He became a sacrifice for this country's growth. In this world, a life is worth roughly that much. If we fail to understand that, we too could die at any moment."
"Right. I feel for him, yuh, but once yuh are Summoned, after dat it's on yuh," Shishidou Leo concluded, as if he had stopped thinking about it.
Hero Takamiya Shion also checked where they stood, as if trying to forget about Yukitaka. "Yeah. We can't keep worrying about other people either. We've been told all along that this country is under threat from a neighboring country. And with the Demon King revived, wars have already started in the northern countries, so our role is big."
"But..."
Only Kidouin Sei, the one who had directly dragged him in, found it hard to redirect right away.
Takamiya Shion was already moving on. "Sei, we're not in a spot where we can worry about dead people. Let's look forward."
"...Yes, quite."
Shihouji Runa encouraged Kidouin Sei as a friend, and the talk about Yukitaka ended.
"Achoo! ...Is someone talking about me? If so, in this case, is it someone from my old world, or someone from this world... There probably wasn't a light novel where sneezing means someone from your old world is talking about you... If that's the case, is it this world? Other than Ms. Iris, it's only the High School Student Group... No, there's no way that group of loud, friendly people would talk about me."
Remembering how they had barely paid attention to him when he was in the Royal Capital, he ruled out the possibility.
Trivia:
- Yukitaka's habit of calling Iris "Ms. Iris" even in his own head shows how much distance he still keeps from people, a leftover from a life with almost no real friends.
- Shihouji Runa's line about life being cheap in this world quietly mirrors the earlier detail that Yukitaka was blessed only with items, not people, tying his whole arc to how little a person's life counts here.
- The sneeze at the end is a small joke, but it also means Yukitaka's name is only spoken by people who already wrote him off, so being remembered and being cared about are two different things in this story.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ A wordplay on the real Japanese convenience store chain Lawson. The author changed one letter to make a joke name. In English it reads as "convenience store Lawson" to keep the joke visible.
2 ↩ A Japanese workplace term for a company that overworks and underpays its staff. Literally "black company." The English keeps "black one" to match the casual tone.
3 ↩ Often just "countryside," but in Japanese work culture it carries the nuance of leaving home to join a city company, which is why the text stresses he moved away for work.
Notes:
• Yukitaka - A salaryman caught up in a Hero summoning who now lives in the Kingdom of Karlsen and travels under the alias Lance Fais, using his commuter gear's transformation into exclusive Divine Artifacts to change his appearance and identity, produce valid identification, and store items through Magic Storage, while helping Iris with quests and valuing their friendship.
• Iris - A Gold-Rank Adventurer from the Kingdom of Thordein who possesses the Sage Skill and formerly belonged to Platinum Fang, a Silver-Rank team, before being betrayed by her teammates, presumed dead, and stripped of her account; after Yukitaka saved her from monsters, she began traveling with him, remaining a skilled, sincere, polite, and considerate companion who recently learned Magic Storage and looks out for his safety.
• Goto - Family name of Yukitaka Goto. He is a former ordinary salaryman from Earth who was caught up in a Hero summoning and lacked combat experience, but his commuter gear became unique Divine Artifacts, including a wallet that functions as identification and a bag with Magic Storage, allowing him to travel freely with Iris.
• Shishidou - Family name of Shishidou Leo. He is an athletic high school student with the Holy Knight Skill who complains about daily life and avoids taking responsibility for Yukitaka.
• Leo - First given name of Shishidou Leo. He is an athletic high school student with the Holy Knight Skill who complains about daily life and avoids taking responsibility for Yukitaka.
• Kidouin - Family name of Kidouin Sei. She is a working high school model with the Saint Skill who feels guilty for grabbing Yukitaka's hand during the summoning and struggles to move on.
• Sei - First given name of Kidouin Sei. She is a working high school model with the Saint Skill who feels guilty for grabbing Yukitaka's hand during the summoning and struggles to move on.
• Shion - First given name of Takamiya Shion. He is the student council president and a top student with the Hero Skill who tries to encourage Sei and justify the group's actions.
• Runa - First given name of Shihouji Runa. She is the daughter of a major company president and possesses the Sage Skill, remaining cool-headed while delivering harsh facts without showing emotion.
• Shihouji - Family name of Shihouji Runa. She is the daughter of a major company president and possesses the Sage Skill, remaining cool-headed while delivering harsh facts without showing emotion.
• Takamiya - Family name of Takamiya Shion. He is the student council president and a top student with the Hero Skill who tries to encourage Sei and justify the group's actions.