Kurose Ren was heading toward the village.
After that notice came in, the village did not grow noisy.
Instead, it grew quiet.
The village chief immediately circulated word to the assembly hall, instructing everyone to stay inside and not go out to gawk. Riko-san put out a temporary closure sign for Cafe Komorebi and contacted the police and the Dungeon Agency window.
Saeki-san prepared her auditing terminal.
“Even if this is a private contact, I will record it as a conversation between audit subjects.”
She said that, then looked at Yuma.
“Kamishiro-san. Is dealing with this possible?”
“Yes.”
“If you feel anxious, you can refuse contact.”
“Rather than causing a commotion inside the village, I think it is better to speak at the entrance.”
Saeki-san thought for a brief moment and nodded.
“Then, with the village chief and myself present as witnesses. No streaming. We will keep a record. If the other party engages in coercive behavior, we will immediately interrupt.”
“Understood.”
Riko-san looked at me.
“Yuma-san, are you really alright?”
“I am not sure if I am alright.”
“At least lie and say you are alright.”
“I am bad at lying.”
“I know.”
Riko-san sighed.
In the shed kitchen, the midday vegetable soup was emitting steam.
Daikon radish, carrots, burdock root, and taro.
Into it, I added a small amount of chopped wild boar meat. To keep the fat from being too overwhelming, I seared it once to render it out, leaving only the aroma. When I dissolved the miso, the sweet scent of root vegetables spread through the shed.
Originally, I had intended to serve it when the survey team returned.
For a body returning from the mountains, root vegetable soup is good. The more you chew, the more the sweetness of the earth emerges, and the saltiness of the miso returns to your sweaty body.
However, right now, another kind of preparation had to be made.
“Yuma.”
Mikoto sat beside the pot.
“Eat before you go.”
“After I get back is fine.”
“Hunger dulls judgment.”
She said something entirely reasonable.
I ladled just a little into a bowl and ate it while standing.
The aroma of miso passed through my nose. The texture of the burdock, the sliminess of the taro, the sweet fat of the wild boar. A gentle warmth settled deep inside my body.
“Delicious.”
“Then good.”
Mikoto nodded with satisfaction and brought her face close to her own bowl.
“Are you coming too?”
“Naturally.”
“Don’t push yourself.”
“Yuma, you should not leave your heart in the past.”
At those words, I fell silent for a moment.
The past.
The guild branch meeting room.
The cold desk.
Ren’s voice.
Reina, keeping her head down.
My former companions, looking at me.
Back then, I stood in a place where no matter how many words I poured out, they wouldn’t reach.
Now is different.
I want to believe that.
At the village entrance stood an old stone guidepost.
It indicated the fork leading to the old mining path, with the village name carved into its mossy surface. Beside it stood the caution sign against entering that had been put up just yesterday.
The village chief, Saeki-san, Riko-san, and I waited in front of that guidepost.
Mikoto sat on top of the rock.
Her white fur swayed in the wind, and her golden eyes watched the other side of the road.
Before long, a black car climbed the mountain path.
Stopping with a slight brake screech, Kurose Ren stepped out from the driver seat.
He looked more exhausted than he did on the streams.
His hair was neat, but his eyes were red. The lingering effects of the mana he absorbed during last night’s clearance stream probably still clung to him. Tension gripped his shoulders, and his breathing was shallow.
Even so, his standing posture still possessed a certain flair.
The presence of a person who is strong.
The pressure of a person who has been watched by many people.
The moment Kurose saw me, he spoke in a low voice.
“Yuma.”
“Kurose-san.”
“Using honorifics. Disgusting.”
“We are no longer in the same party.”
Kurose’s eyebrows twitched.
He looked around. The village chief, Saeki-san, Riko-san, and Mikoto on top of the rock.
“You are quite well protected, aren’t you?”
“I simply do not want to cause trouble for the village.”
“Trouble?”
Kurose laughed scornfully.
“You are the one causing trouble. Because you started unnecessary streams, Sword of Dawn is being slammed. Rescues, food, cats, showing only convenient scenes and playing the victim?”
Riko-san started to step forward.
I stopped her with my hand.
“I have never told anyone to slam Kurose-san and the others.”
“It amounts to the same thing. You should have just stayed quiet, yet you flashed your old techniques and won over the viewers.”
“I had no intention of flashing any techniques. I was simply cooking food in the village.”
“That is what I hate about you.”
For the first time, something resembling genuine feelings mixed into Kurose’s voice.
Anger.
Impatience.
And irritation toward something he could not understand.
“You always wear that face as if you did nothing wrong. You silently stirred the pot and stayed by our side. Saying nothing, demanding nothing, yet once you were gone, people act like everything was thanks to you.”
I chose my words carefully.
“It was not all thanks to me.”
“I suppose so.”
“Kurose-san is strong. Reina and the other members have proper strength, too.”
Kurose glared.
“Then say so on video.”
“What?”
“Say it with your own mouth. Sword of Dawn did nothing wrong. I am indebted to Kurose Ren. The expulsion was a misunderstanding. If you say that, the uproar will settle down.”
Riko-san’s expression changed.
Saeki-san’s terminal quietly indicated recording mode.
I looked into Kurose’s eyes.
“I cannot say that.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is not a fact.”
“You…”
“I will not deny that Kurose-san and the others are strong. But I cannot say the expulsion was a misunderstanding. I did not abandon anyone. I did not embezzle materials. I did not illegally take out dangerous items.”
My voice was calmer than I expected.
The depths of my chest hurt.
Yet, it was not as suffocating as the meeting room on that day.
“Also, one more thing.”
“What.”
“I will not return to Sword of Dawn.”
Kurose’s expression froze for just a split second.
Through that reaction, I understood.
He had not come merely to deny things.
He had thought somewhere that if he brought me back, things would settle down.
If I returned, stirred the pot again, processed materials, purified water, and boiled Reina’s medicinal herbs, the team would go back to how it was.
Perhaps that was what he had been thinking.
“Who said anything about returning?”
“You did not. But if that is what you meant, I refuse.”
“Don’t get full of yourself.”
Kurose took a step forward.
At that moment, Mikoto stood up on top of the stone.
“Meow.”
Just a normal meow.
Yet, the air rang.
A thin golden line ran across Kurose’s feet.
A boundary of light was drawn, cutting across the village entrance.
It was not a strong light.
It neither pushed back nor inflicted harm.
It was simply a line indicating that no one should enter beyond this point without permission.
Kurose stopped his feet.
“Are you even protected by a cat?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“We are protecting this village.”
The village chief quietly stepped forward.
“Did you say Kurose-san?”
Kurose looked at the village chief with displeasure.
“This village is small. There are few young people. But there are lives belonging to those who dwell here. Kamishiro-kun helps sustain those lives. We cannot have this place disrupted for the sake of your circumstances.”
Riko-san followed suit.
“We are not streaming. But this place is being recorded. The fact that you tracked down the village location and barged in, as well as your statements, will be submitted if necessary.”
Saeki-san raised her eyes from her terminal.
“Kurose Ren-san. Currently, an order to submit audit documents has been issued to Sword of Dawn. If contact with Kamishiro-san is judged to be witness coaching or coercion, it will be treated disadvantageously in the audit.”
Kurose’s face twisted.
He was searching for a place to direct his anger.
He could not draw a sword.
Shouting would leave a record.
Barging in would make enemies of both the village and the audit department.
He finally seemed to understand that he was no longer standing in a place where he was the ruler of the meeting room.
“Yuma.”
Kurose said in a low voice.
“Do you really intend to crush us?”
“I do not.”
“Then why are you cornering us?”
“I am not cornering you.”
I said slowly.
“I am cooking food here. I am living with the people of the village. I am thinking about the abandoned mine with Mikoto. I am not living just to do something to Kurose-san and the others.”
“Are you saying you do not resent us?”
“I do not have enough room in my current life to reserve space for resentment.”
Kurose’s eyes wavered.
Perhaps that was what he found most unforgivable.
That I did not hate them.
That I was not burning with a desire for revenge.
That I did not place his existence at the center of my life.
That might have been the ultimate humiliation for Kurose.
A wind blew.
From the direction of the shed, the scent of vegetable soup drifted over.
The aroma of miso, root vegetables, and a hint of meat.
Kurose’s throat moved slightly.
In the past, he too had eaten soup from a pot with a similar scent.
On cold dungeon nights.
After subjugation.
While drying wet equipment, he would silently accept a bowl.
I remembered that.
Perhaps Kurose remembered it, too.
Yet, he said nothing.
At that moment, another car climbed up from below the mountain path.
It was a taxi.
It stopped right before the village entrance, and a single woman stepped out from the back seat.
Reina Shiratori.
Her complexion was poor.
Yet, in her hand, she clutched a small protective case.
Kurose turned around.
“Reina.”
Reina’s shoulders trembled for a single moment.
Even so, she did not run away.
She walked right up in front of Saeki-san and bowed deeply.
“Auditor Saeki. I have brought the auxiliary recording crystal.”
The color drained from Kurose’s face.
“You, what are you doing?”
Reina looked at Ren.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
Still, her voice came forward despite trembling.
“Ren-san. Please, stop this already.”
The golden line drawn at the village entrance shone quietly in the setting sun.