Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.2 - Chapter 3.04

4. The Reason for Loneliness

That was a mess. But, well, Barbara-sensei had always been like that. It was just more of the usual. Still, was she like that to all of her students? And if not, did she really hate Haruhiro or something?

“...She seemed to be enjoying herself, though. When she bullied me. I was starting to think that’s just what she’s into...”

Regardless, thanks to Barbara-sensei, he had somehow managed to learn Arrest. Skills were learned in a training camp system, so he hadn’t been able to meet with his comrades during that time. It had only been a few days at most, but he felt a strange sense of nostalgia. Oh, right. He needed to go pick up Moguzo’s weapon from Workshop Masukaze, too. Or had Moguzo already done that by himself? While he was wondering all this, he returned to the lodging house, and there was an uproar waiting for him.

“I’m against it! Against it, I say! Totally against it!”

In the courtyard, Ranta and Moguzo, and Yume and Shihoru had broken into two groups, and they were arguing—or rather, it was just Ranta shouting.

“Did you all forget?! The days we spent in this volunteer soldier lodging house?! You’re heartless! I never knew you were this heartless! I can’t believe this! Seriously, seriously, seriously...!”

“Hey, what’s up? What happened?”

When Haruhiro ran over, Ranta said, “Everything’s up!” and pointed at Yume and Shihoru angrily. “These people! They started saying cheeky things about leaving the lodging house!”

“No, um...” Moguzo tried to interject.

“You shut up!” Ranta shouted him down. “It’s wrong! Leaving this lodging house! It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?! Right?! You agree, don’t you, Haruhiro?! Right?! Of course you do! I knew it! See, Haruhiro agrees with me, so let’s drop the whole idea! Drop it! It’s done! The end!”

“...Uh, no, I didn’t agree with you.”

“What’d you saaaay?! You’re going to betray me, Parupiro?!”

“I’m not betraying you... I mean, we’re gonna be leaving the lodging house eventually, so it’s not that weird it would happen now.”

“That’s right, huh?” Yume crossed her arms and puffed up her cheeks. She was mad. “Yume, she’s used to it now, but the lodgin’ house’s old, and not very clean, y’know? She’s been wantin’ to move as soon as she could afford it. Now she can.”

“...That’s why.” Shihoru raised her hand. “Merry... She stays at an inn that’s just for women, so... we were just asking her about it. That was all, but...”

“Which means you’re leaving!”

What was Ranta so worked up about? Haruhiro didn’t get it.

“What’s wrong with leaving? It’ll be a step up from this place. Right?”

“Gah...! There it is! There! A step up, huh? Hey, Haruhiro, you think you’re too good for this place, huh?!”

“I-I never said that. Not at all...”

“You think you’re so great?!”

“Oh, drop it already! You’re pissing me off!”

“Is that because you think you’re so great, huh?!”

“Man—”

Haruhiro was seeing red.

Whoa, that’s not good. Ranta. This guy’s got a gift for rubbing people the wrong way. But I won’t fall for it. I’m not gonna snap at him for real.

Haruhiro sighed, and relaxed. Then he looked at Ranta.

Yeah, even just looking at him pisses me off. His face, his hair, everything. No, no. Keep it under control.

“What’s gotten into you, Ranta? Drop the nonsense, and if there’s a reason you think Yume and Shihoru shouldn’t move out, explain it properly.”

“I-I have explained, damn it!”

“Well, put it in terms I can understand.”

“L-Like I said!” Ranta looked away and kicked the dirt. “...There’s reasons! Lots of ’em! Like, uh... the memories! This place is full of them, and you know it. Here, there, and everywhere.”

“Memories...”

“Yeah, that’s right! You want to throw all that away?! Just because things are going a little better. Is that what you think? You’re all seriously okay with that?!”

Yume, Shihoru, and Moguzo—they all hung their heads in unison.

Haruhiro covered the bottom half of his face with his hand. What was Ranta trying to say? Was he trying to get something across without saying it directly? Haruhiro knew what it was. Probably, they all did.

There was no way they couldn’t.

They had lived here with him. It was only a short while. But he was here.

He was their comrade.

He was more reliable than anyone, and their leader.

“...That’s what I’m talking about.”

Ranta sniffed, then let out a big sigh.

“I’m all for moving up in the world. But that’s not the issue here.”

“Well, yeah...” Haruhiro scratched his head. “But wanting to earn more, wanting to eat better, wanting to live in a better place... all those things can help motivate us.”

“You’re shallow. Too damn shallow! That’s the problem with you, Haruhiro. You’re so unsophisticated!”

“And you aren’t...?”

“You won’t find many people as high-minded as me.”

“Oh, yeah...?” Shihoru said coldly.

“Hah!” Ranta shrugged his shoulders. “You philistines wouldn’t get it. My high-minded thinking, that is. Besides, what’s so great about an inn that only caters to women? Only women can get in, right? That’s unnatural. There are men, and there are women. It’s just wrong that there would only be women. Seriously.”

“Ohhh...” Moguzo nodded, a knowing look of exasperation on his face.

The real truth comes out, huh? Haruhiro shook his head.

“That’s what it’s really about, huh...?”

“Wh-What’s what it’s really about? What’re you talking about?! Say it, moron!”

“Basically, the idea Yume and Shihoru might leave the lodging house is making you feel lonely, right?”

“Huhhhhhhhhh?! Wha?! What the hell?! When did I say that?!”

“Lonely...?” Yume furrowed her brow and stuck out her bottom lip. “Ranta, are you gonna be lonely if Yume and Shihoru end up leavin’ the lodgin’ house?”

“I-I-I-I-I’m not lonely! Like I’d ever feel lonely! M-Me? Never! D-D-D-D-Don’t be ridiculous!”

Ranta’s face turned bright red, and spit flew everywhere. He was super—confused. Totally confused. He’s clearly losing it. What’s gotten into this guy?

Haruhiro had pointed out that he’d be lonely. That was, uh, a roundabout way of touching on the issue.

If Yume and Shihoru lived in the same place, that provided a variety of opportunities. This wasn’t a battlefield where they couldn’t afford to relax, so they were bound to show some openings, even if they were girls. There was no guarantee he wouldn’t be able to get away with the occasional, “Whoops, sorry,” or, “No, really, it was a coincidence, I mean it.”

Ranta was keeping an eye out for any such chance. In other words, he was an animal. An absolute beast.

If Yume and Shihoru moved out, he would have zero chance to do that.

Haruhiro had addressed it mildly, indirectly, by saying it was making him feel lonely. He couldn’t very well have said, “You won’t be able to peep on them anymore, right?”

That would have been stirring up a hornet’s nest.

Though it was largely Ranta’s fault, Haruhiro and Moguzo had a record of doing that, too. —But.

From the way Ranta was acting, it might actually have been making him feel lonely.

“I-I-I’m not! At all! I-I’m not lonely! I don’t get it! I don’t get how you losers think! It makes no sense!”

Ranta cleared his throat, then rubbed the bottom of his nose with the palm of his hand.

“Anyway! That’s not it! I’m not lonely, no way!”

“Hmm...” Yume sandwiched her cheeks with her hands. It flattened her face in a funny way. “Well, okay. Now that she’s thinkin’ about it, it makes Yume feel just a little bit lonely, too.”

“Wha...?” Ranta started flipping out again. “I-It does? Y-You feel... lonely? Wh-Why...?”

“Because it’s where our adventures end for the day.”

Adventures... Haruhiro didn’t entirely disagree that that was what they were, so he decided not to poke fun at her.

Yume was pressing on her cheeks. Because of that, her voice was funny, too, not just her face.

“Everyone comes back here, right? Not Merry-chan, though. When we take baths, go to sleep, and wake up, everyone’s here.”

“We are... yeah,” Moguzo mumbled, looking to the courtyard. That made Shihoru look at the yard and the buildings, too.

“We’re already used to it, y’know?” Yume said with a sigh, “Completely. If things ended up bein’ different, Yume’d feel kinda lonely...”

“I-I know, right?!” Ranta suddenly was full of energy. “That’s how it is, isn’t it?! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you! Habits are important!”

“Ranta, man, you didn’t say anything about that...”

“Shove it, Haruhiro! I was saying it in my heart! My heart was shouting it loud and clear!”

“I can’t hear your heart.”

“That’s because you lack training! Train more! Train, train! Train like crazy!”

“Train at what...?”

“Figure that much out yourself, moron! Now, moving on...!” Ranta put his hands on his hips and thrust his chest out. “This discussion is over! We’re going to live happily ever after here at the lodging house, right guys?! Right?! It’s decided!”

Shihoru looked at Yume, then down at the ground. It seemed Yume was undecided.

“...I’ll think about it longer. Together with Yume.”