Chapter 160

It’s already been a week since I became the vice commander of the Rescue Squad.

For a while, I was expecting the group of tough guys who didn’t approve of me as vice commander to attack me by surprise, but contrary to my expectations, they were positive about me taking over as vice commander.

On the other hand, it was Ferrum who pounced on me.

[I can’t accept that you’ll be standing over me! You monster of a human!]

I forgave her with a flick to the forehead, but she was still unconvinced and attacked me every day after that.

I began to wonder if this is what it feels like to be a rebellious older brother with a younger sister.

No, I’m an only child, but…

“Usato-san.”

“Hmm? Oh it’s you Nack? Don’t just stand there, come sit down?”

The night before we left for Lukvis for the meeting of the four kingdoms.

After dinner, I was sitting on the training field for a change, looking at the night scenery, when Nack came out of the dormitory and called out to me.

I let Nack sit next to me for now, and then asked him what he wanted.

“So, what’s up?”

“Um, you’re going to Lukvis tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“That’s right ……”

In case you’re wondering, Nea is going to be staying this time.

She wanted to go, but Rose said that there was a problem with taking Nea to the meeting because of her ability to charm and magic, which might make the other party distrust her.

…… Though I never intended to let her use such abilities.

Nea is going to spend her days in training with Ferrum while I’m in Lukvis. Something about …… spiritual training and evasion training with her.

It seems to be a lot of fun, but Nea and Ferrum looked at me like it was the end of the world and asked for my help.

“Well then, can you tell …… Kiriha and the others that I said hello? They were very helpful to me when I left Lukvis. If you happen to see them……”

“Okay. I’ll be sure to tell him you said hi.”

When I get to Lukvis, I plan to meet Kiriha and the others in my free time.

I’ll have a lot of stories to tell them too. I’m sure Kyou and Satsuki will be very interested to hear about it.

“I wish you could have been there, though.”

After assuming the post of vice commander, I went to the castle and asked Welsey-san if I could take Amako with me, and she gave me permission more easily than I expected.

After I told Amako that, I suddenly thought that I could take Nack with me ……, but Nack of all people, refused.

“I’m actually tempted to go too, but there’s …… Meena there in Lukvis.”

“Aah, that girl, ……. Do you still have a hard time with her?”

A winsome girl with striking red twin-tails who used to torment Nack.

However, from the way Nack talks about her, it seems that Nack doesn’t hate Meena, but simply doesn’t want to see her.

Did something happen with her after I left Lukvis?

“It’s not that I’m not good with her. I had a chance to talk to her a little bit before I left Lukvis, but instead of apologizing to me, she just said, ‘You’re the one who’s always dwelling on it.’ It’s true that I’m in the wrong too, but the way she reversed that situation was actually refreshing.”

“And then what happened?　Did you guys just quarrel and break up?

“For the most part, yes, but then she said something about coming to see me after she graduated from school. …… I have no idea what she wants, even though I’m already separated from my parents.”

“…… I see.”

Hoho, this.

I smiled and patted Nack on the shoulder, nodding along.

“Well, Nack. You’re kind of dense, aren’t you?”

“Excuse me, are you serious about that? How could Usato-san of all people say that to me?”

“Huh?”

He answered immediately in a rather serious tone of voice.

I was confused by the unexpected response, and Nack laughed at me, waving his hand to the side as he spoke.

“First of all, it’s impossible. She’s training in magic to get revenge on me, and she’s going to come here after she graduates from the academy, right? No matter how you look at it, she can’t possibly have such a maidenly idea. She just can’t stand the fact that she’s always losing to me, that’s all.”

“Oh, is that so ……?”

“That’s right. She’s hated to lose since she was little.”

I see. So she can’t stand to lose.

I’m not sure I understand.

I can’t fully grasp the relationship between Nack and Meena, but for now, I understand that Nack and Meena are like rivals.

“Anyway, I’ll tell Kiriha and the others about you.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, I’ve been wanting to tell Kiriha and the others about you too.”

There are people I want to meet in Lukvis, but I’m not going there for fun.

As one of the representatives of the Kingdom of Lingle—and as the vice commander of the rescue squad, I have to make sure that I fulfill the mission I’ve been given.

“Oh, that’s right. While I’m in Lukvis, could you feed Bluerin for me? I’ve asked Nea and Ferrum to do the same, but I’m a little nervous because they can be a bit ditzy.”

“Leave that to me.”

“After that, it would be nice if you could let him exercise and stuff. ……”

No, it’s too much to ask for that.

Bluerin will move when he’s motivated, but he’s a bit of a pain in the ass, so it’s a long time before he’ll move.

“I’ve been given permission for voluntary training too, so I’ll exercise with Bluerin.”

“Are you sure? That guy might mistake you for me and put you on his back. ……”

When I asked him that, he smiled in annoyance and said, ‘In case of emergency, I’ll call for help from the people around me.’

I stood up, inwardly happy to see his growth, as he had never relied on those around him in Lukvis.

“Well, I think I’ll get an early night to get ready for tomorrow.”

“Well then, let’s go back to our quarters.”

Brushing the leaves from my clothes, I stood up and Nack and I walked to our quarters.

I’m going to leave here early tomorrow morning, so better make sure I don’t oversleep.

Early morning the next day.

I was able to wake up without oversleeping, so I grabbed my luggage that I had prepared beforehand, and after saying goodbye to Rose, I went to pick up Amako.

Nea, who had transformed into an owl, was hiding in my luggage and was trying to follow me.

Even I, who was carrying my luggage, didn’t notice that she was lurking, but she met the wrong person. When I greeted her, Rose thrust her arm into my luggage and immediately caught Nea from hiding.

When I asked her how she’d managed to snuff her out, she simply replied with a short “hunch”.

It was a moment that made me realize that the sixth sense is even more supernatural than magic.

After such a commotion, I left the rescue squad’s dormitory in a bit of a hurry, and headed to the city to pick up Amako as planned.

It had been a long time since I had worn the uniform of the group, and I was deeply moved by the feeling of “this is it after all” as I walked through the city in the morning mist.

“Good morning, Usato.”

“Good morning. Looks like you didn’t oversleep and woke up.”

I teased Amako about that as I returned her greeting, and she looked up at me with a slightly miffed expression on her face.

“I’m not that much of a kid.”

“Haha, I know.”

Although small in stature, this girl is as strong as an adult …… or even as mentally strong as an adult.

But even so, she occasionally responds in a way that is appropriate for her age, like now.

“Where’s Nea?”

“She’s at home. In the meantime, she’ll be training with the Leader.”

“Really?”

The image that comes to my mind is the one from just a few minutes ago, where Nea was caught by Rose as she tried to follow me, and was dragged to the training grounds with Ferrum, who somehow got caught up in it.

I want to protect her, but it’s impossible with Rose as her opponent.

After that, I headed for the castle gate with Amako, exchanging idle chit-chat.

When we reached the castle gate in about ten minutes, we saw several familiar faces and knights gathered in a large carriage.

Senpai, Kazuki, and then Sigurs-san and Welshy-san.

When I saw the four of them and the knights, I raised my hand and exchanged greetings with them.

Since there was no battle involved, Senpai and Kazuki were wearing clothes similar to their normal clothes, unlike when they left for the trip.

“So the journey is already familiar to you two?”

“Yes, we are. It’s not like we’ve been traveling for months on end.”

“We’ve been through it once, and we’re not as nervous as we were the first time.”

Senpai and Kazuki replied to my question.

In fact, the trip is something I’m familiar with as well, so I think I’ll be able to leave much more relaxed than I was at the beginning.

I shift my gaze from the two of them to Welshy-san.

“Welshy-san. Are we leaving soon?”

“Ah, good morning, Usato-sama. We’re just getting ready to leave now.”

Well then, it looks like we arrived at just the right time.

When we were told that everything was ready, the five of us (me, senpai, Kazuki, Amako, and Welshy-san) entered the carriage. Sigurs-san and the knights are going to escort the carriage with their horses.

“Man, it’s kind of the same as when we first set out on our journey, isn’t it?”

“It was us five people, including Welshy, at that time too, wasn’t it?”

“Ah, you’re right.”

I nodded at the words of senpai and Kazuki.

Then, perhaps remembering that time, senpai let out an emotional exhale.

“Compared to that time, I feel like we’ve grown up too.”

“Well, it was only a short while ago, though. Well, I’m sure we’ve had such a dense journey that we feel that way, too.”

“When it comes to Usato, it’s probably more accurate to say that he’s mutated rather than grown.”

“You make it sound as if I’m changing from a human to a different creature.”

I give a twitching smile to Amako, who interjects next to me.

I’m sure I’ve grown, but not to the point where I look different …….

“It’s not like it’s another creature, it’s more like a new creature called Usato.”

“Finally, my name is now the name of my species…….”

“Usato-kun, I think that’s possible! One family, one species, one superbeing! There’s something about that…… that makes me smile! It’s like a one-of-a-kind thing!”

“I can’t understand why you feel that way, but if the subject is me, it’s completely ruined. ……”

Is senpai really following me?

No, I could tell from the smile on her face that she meant what she said.

Looking at my slumped shoulders, Welshy-san and Kazuki laughed as if they were troubled.

“Ha ha. …… But what’s different from that time is that the purpose of this time is a meeting, right?”

“Ah, yes. The fact that I’m aware that I’ll be able to leave earlier than last time, that’s going to change my mind and stuff a lot.”

The previous trip to hand over the letter was expected to take a long time, but this meeting will allow us to return to the Lingle Kingdom in a relatively short time.

The meeting itself will begin as soon as the representatives of each country have gathered, so it won’t take more than a week from the time we arrive at the latest.

If there is an accident or something, though, the schedule of the meeting might be delayed a lot.

“Oh, that’s right. I’ll tell everyone about the meeting while I’m at it.”

As I was thinking about this, Welshy-san approached us.

Rose has given me a general idea about the talks, but I don’t have a good grasp of what I need to clarify.

Will there be an explanation for that as well?

“Your role in the meeting will be to meet with the representatives of the kingdoms you have each visited. Sigurs-san and I will be running the meeting, so please don’t worry about that.”

“Besides the face-to-face meeting, is there anything else we should be doing?”

“Kazuki-sama and Suzune-sama, as the heroes of Lingle Kingdom, and Usato-sama, as the vice commander of the rescue squad, please behave in a manner befitting your titles. The meeting will probably be attended by the powerful people of each kingdom.”

“Powerful people? That’s …….”

“Those who are in the same position as Sigur Rousseau in our country, and also have the ability. If you’ve been to each of these countries, I’m sure there’s someone you can think of.”

Kazuki and senpai nodded, as if someone had come to mind with Welshy-san’s words.

The most powerful person in Samaria, the country I went to is …… Fegnis-san, but that person was probably a problem before he came here.

He lost the curse that he had been protecting, and on top of that, he found out that he had been helping the magician in his evil deeds.

What he was trying to do was unforgivable, but unlike the magician who was acting out of self-interest, he was acting for the sake of the Kingdom of Samaria.

If Fegnis-sama’s family hadn’t been distorted by the existence of magicians, he might have been a genuinely good person who cared about his country.

“Usato?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just a little zoned out.”

I seemed to be in a daze, lost in thought for a bit.

I smiled back at Amako, who had approached me with concern, and listened to what Welshy-san had to say.

“One of the purposes of this meeting is to make friends with the people who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in the battle against the Demon King’s army.”

“I see. It’s not like we can immediately trust each other after being asked to fight together for the first time, right? It’s true that we need to meet beforehand. But I wonder what kind of people will be there. I get a little excited when I hear that it’s someone from the kingdom.”

I laughed at the same old senpai who said that happily.

“Senpai, please don’t ask me to fight a duel out of the blue.”

“I’m not going to do that! What do you think I am, Usato?

“No, it’s just a precaution. I can’t predict what senpai will do, you know.”

“I don’t want you to say that, Usato-kun! Hey, Amako, you think so too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I don’t think Usato should say that.”

Ooh, here Amako went with senpai.

I can’t hide my upset at this unexpected betrayal.

As I was about to open my mouth to at least argue, Welshy-san and Kazuki, who had been listening to our conversation, spoke up first.

“Usato-sama has an image of doing terrible things if you take your eyes off him for a moment. Like when he was trying to forcibly acquire the enhancement …….”

“I’m sure that Usato does things that you wouldn’t normally think of. That’s the great thing about Usato, though.”

Aside from Kazuki, who smiled and praised me, I never thought that I would be in a situation where I would be pushed into a corner in this situation.

As I was wondering how I should argue after being told so much, Amako shifted her gaze from me to senpai.

“But Suzune also does unexpected things in a different direction than Usato, so in the end, it’s either one or the other.”

“Amako!”

“Oh, sure. She forgot herself when she was with Flana.”

“Kazuki-kun!

“Suzune-sama is just as much of a mess as Usato-sama, you know.”

“Even Welshy ……. I’m going to be dissed by this trend!”

As if to drive home the point, Amako, Kazuki, and Welshy-san in that order retorted her, and senpai slumped her shoulders in shock and depression.

After struggling for a few seconds, senpai turned her gaze to me and smiled coolly for a change.

“I see. …… Usato-kun and I are the same. That means you and I are avec, right?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying because you’re spinning theories so much. I’m sure you’ll be able to understand what I’m talking about.”

Her shoulders slumped as she heard me say something completely absurd.

It’s a good thing we left the Lingle Kingdom, but I’m sure I’ll be exhausted from all the retorts and stuff until we get there.