Kikanshita Yuusha no Gojitsudan : Chapter 36

Chapter 36 Side Story Tia’s Uneasiness

“Nyaaa!”

　Dosu! Zunn!

　A single strike from my short sword decapitates the Maned Wolf.

“Fuu, As expected, the level of the demon beast is high and quite harsh once I reach this point.”

　I complain while regulating my ragged breath.

　The level and the number of demonic beasts increases rapidly after entering the forest that stretches deep into the mountainous area in the north of the continent of Wilterius. It’s quite difficult for me to go through it alone.

　What makes it so frustrating is that I can’t move forward, even though I’m almost at the place where Leiria-san is.

　The reason why I came here alone.

　It’s because I was ordered to do so by Melsuria-sama.

　I was working as Melsuria-sama Lady’s Maid in the royal castle of the kingdom after I parted ways with my master, Yuya-sama, but a few days ago, the Belzee Empire suddenly waged war against the kingdom.

　Naturally, the people of the kingdom made up their minds to war against the empire. I was going to join them as a former member of Yuya-sama’s Hero’s Party.

　I was not born and raised in the kingdom, but in a settlement of the same race of beast-men in the northern part of the empire. But about two years ago, slave hunters attacked the settlement, my parents were killed, and I was captured to be sold as a slave.

　The empire ostensibly denies any involvement, but everyone knows that the slave hunt is an empire-wide operation. In fact, almost all of those caught are sold by the empire, especially the beast-men and elves, who are discriminated against as “subhumans” and have no human rights. Even if you are an ordinary human being, you are still subject to slave hunting.

　Luckily for me, I’ve met with Yuya-sama when the slave-hunters tried to capture him and the others and turned the table on the slave-hunters while they were transporting us. Apparently, Yuya-sama thought they were bandits, but when he checked after cutting them all down, he found out that they were a group of slave hunters.

　Afterwards, Yuya-sama and the others sent us back to our respective hometowns after we were captured. As for myself, I was asked to serve them as I had already lost both of my parents.

　Yuya-sama was kind to me who was nothing but a burden. Bruno-sama and Whisper-sama trained me so that I would be able to fight, and Melusuria-sama taught me magic and told me all sorts of stories, and although the journey was hard and I almost died many times, I was very happy.

　I especially loved it when Yuya-sama stroked my head.

　Such journey too was coming to an end, and the day had come when Yuya-sama would finally return to his world.

　I spent the rest of the day crying from the moment I got to the capital until the day Yuya-sama is repatriated. How I regretted that I hadn’t spent more time with him.

　I really wanted to go to the other world with Yuya-sama, but I heard that there were no beast-men like me in Yuya-sama’s world, so I couldn’t go with him.

　Yuya-sama asked me to become Melsuria-sama’s Lady’s maid so that I would not have to worry about being left behind.

　I don’t mean to brag, but I was able to gain a considerable amount of strength from traveling with Yuya-sama and the others, but even so, there are certainly many places on this continent that are difficult for us beast-men.

　Among them, the Kingdom of Arianas is one of the places where beastmen are treated relatively equally with other races. That’s why Yuya-sama took great care to ensure that I would be able to spend my time safely in the kingdom.

　In the end, Yuya-sama went home before I could even express my feelings.

　A few days after Yuya-sama’s return to another world, Leiria-san came to the royal castle while I was in a state of despair.

　To my disbelief, she told me that she had met with Yuya-sama, who had returned to the other world. As proof of this, she gave us the holy sword that Yuya-sama was supposed to have and she also gave us a very tasty food called “parfait” that she claimed was from Yuya-sama’s world.

　Melusuria-sama and I were given a “special” portion of it by Leilia-san, and it was really delicious.

　I could see a glimmer of hope.

　I might be able to meet Yuya-sama again if I was with Leiria-san when she was summoned. I couldn’t help but wish that I could meet him again, even if it was just one last time.

　Of course, I had to ask Leiria-san to talk to Yuya-sama beforehand. Leiria-san had said that she ‘would check the situation first,’ so I planned to ask her to do so the next time.

　The war with the Empire happened in the midst of all this.

　As I mentioned earlier, I am not from this kingdom, but I owe a debt of gratitude to this country for accepting me, and there are people like Melsuria-sama and Bruno-sama who I love.

　So of course I was determined to fight.

　However, Melsuria-sama ordered me to ‘leave the country immediately and go to Leiria-san’s place’. She said, “This is a war between the Kingdom and the Empire, and Tia should not be involved.”

　Of course, I tried to refuse her orders, but she would not listen to me.

　I asked for help from His Majesty and Lord Bruno, but they all said that they could not involve people from other countries.

　I understand that they are saying this out of concern for my safety. I also understand that it is difficult to survive against tens of thousands of Imperial troops, no matter how skilled you are.

　Even so, I became sad because I felt that they didn’t really accept me.

　In the end, I had to accept the order that was issued to me in the name of entrusting me with the role of an emissary, saying, ‘I want you to ask Leiria-san if she can help us’.

　But there’s hardly any chance for Leiria-san to intervene in a war between people.

　It was only because of Yuya-sama’s existence that she was willing to lend us her strength against the Demon King’s army and the forces of the evil gods.

　That’s probably why she added, ‘Please don’t force or hold a grudge against her even if she refuses your request’.

　Then, she also ordered me to ‘Keep an eye on Leiria-san for at least one year to make sure she doesn’t bring any disadvantage to the kingdom.’

　In other words, she ordered me to don’t come back.

　Melsuria-sama also told me something contradictory, saying, ‘If you are able to go to Yuya-san’s world, do so.’

　Still, I came this far to meet Leiria-san, betting on the sliver of hope I had.

　Soon, I will arrive at the cave where Leiria-san lives.

---

“Tia? Are you alone? Aren’t you supposed to be at the royal castle?”

　Leiria-san was waiting in her human form at the entrance of the cave when I arrived.

　It seemed that she sensed me approaching.

“Leiria-san…… Uu…… uwaaaan.”

　As soon as I saw Leiria-san’s face, I couldn’t hold back the flood of tears and started crying.

“Ti, Tia? This. I’m not sure if you’re crying. Or not. Anyway, get inside.”

　She urged me inside as she said that.

“…… I see, the Empire is …….”

“I beg you! Just once, please! Please lend your strength!”

　I plead desperately.

“I understand what you’re feeling, Tia. I’m no strangers to Melsuria either……. But, I can’t help you.”

“No way!”

“It is true that with my help, the empire could be destroyed. But I do not wish to get involved in conflicts between people. In the conflict against the demons and evil gods, I was only ‘Assisting My Lord’, and I did not help beyond that. And since My Lord is not in this world, I cannot help him. The problems of the ‘People’ of this world must be solved by the ‘People’ themselves. Originally, I did not approve of them solving the problems of this world by summoning My lord, a person from another world. I’m sure even you understand that, Tia. And it’s the same for us, the dragon species with extraordinary power. If we allow that to happen once, there will be no end to it.”

　I can understand what Leiria-san is saying.

　But still, it is painful to abandon the people of the kingdom; It is as if my body is being torn apart.

　Leiria-san waited for a while until I calmed down.

　Then I told her what I had been told in the kingdom and what I would do from now on.

“My Lord promised to summon me at least once every two months. My Lord will summon me in a few days, if he hasn’t forgotten. I think it would be best if Tia went to My Lord’s side at that time.”

　Leiria-san suggested to me with a very gentle expression.

　It is true that my greatest desire is to be with Yuya-sama. But ……

“It’s not like the kingdom is going to be destroyed easily. The other nations will not remain silent either.”

　Is that so?

　I can’t help but hope so.

“I’ll tell you in advance, once you come with me, you won’t return to the kingdom until the situation settles down, so keep that in mind. And if you do meet My Lord, do not speak of this.”

“…………”

“If My Lord finds out, he may try to come back to this world again. But, this time there is no guarantee that he will be able to return to his world again. Tia, you know how much My Lord wanted to return, don’t you?”

　Of course I know that.

　I’ve always been by Yuya-sama’s side, and I’ve seen how he trained and worked hard to become stronger to defeat the evil gods so that he could return to his homeland, to the point where an ordinary person could have died many times.

　So it’s only natural that Leiria-san warned me of this.

　A few days passed, as my consciousness became dyed with resignation, it happened when I fell asleep leaning on Leiria-san who had returned to her dragon form.

　Overflowing amounts of magical power enveloped us, and I could see the clear air and blue sky even though we were in a cave.

　And then I hear Leilia-san’s voice.

“Hmm. It seems that you didn’t forget your promise. It’s been a while, My Lord. Even so, …… it looks like you’ve spoken to Akane and Ayumi, too.”

　I hurriedly looked around.

　And then, on the other side of Leiria-san, I saw Yuya-sama’s figure that I had seen in my dreams so many times.

　At that moment, I leapt into Yuya-sama’s chest.

“Yuya-sama ~~ ！！！！”

“Ti, Tia?!”

　I could hear Yuya-sama’s bewildered voice, but I continued pressing my face against his chest, which smelled nostalgic, and hugged him.

　I will never be separated from you again.

---

Translator’s Note:

I’m really sorry.

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