Kunihiko
After the Demon Lord’s explanation, I got lost in thought.
Seriously, there was way too much to think about.
Like how the Demon Lord was just a little girl smaller than any of us.
And what I’m supposed to do now that my favorite sword is broken.
And how we’re even supposed to do anything about the fate of the world.
And what about settling things with Merazophis?
My tiny brain did its best to think all this over.
It might be the hardest I’ve ever thought about anything, even in my previous life.
Mostly because I’m not that smart.
Usually, I figure there’s no point in thinking about anything, so I just act instead.
I’ve gotten by well enough so far, and Asaka always manages to bail me out if I screw up too majorly.
Guess it’s thanks to Asaka manning the brakes that I’ve been able to charge full speed ahead all the time, huh?
But this time, even I had to give things some serious thought.
I feel like I thought for so long that I started thinking about weird stuff…that’s just part of this whole thinking thing, right?
Wait, huh? Thinking about thoughts leads to other kinds of thoughts?
…Okay, I give up.
If I keep thinking, my head is gonna explode.
Since I couldn’t get my head on straight, I was looking up at the sky when it hit me.
It sure would suck if half of humanity died.
By then, I’d made up my mind.
All right! I’m gonna fight for the ebony god’s side!
Yeah, I know it’s not very smart to spend ages thinking about something only to decide on a random impulse.
But those impulses show how you really feel.
I’ve gotten kinda attached to this world after living in it for over a decade.
Of course, that means I’ve met all kinds of people, and lost my fair share of ’em, too.
Working as an adventurer, I even saw people die.
It was saddening every time, and I often wished we’d spent more time together.
And if Wakaba’s method means half of all my still-living friends and familiar faces might die, of course I wanna stop her.
So I summed all that up to the other reincarnations, and we parted ways.
Oh, Asaka came with me, of course!
We’ve both lost our trademark weapons, but we’re still pretty strong, compared to the average human.
I’m sure we can be of some help in battle.
So I charged all the way to the battlefield, until…
“Wha…?!”
“Oh, you’re awake?”
Huh? Asaka?
“Whuh? Huh? Was I asleep?!”
“Yes, you were. But it’s still early, if you’d like to go back to sleep a little longer.”
Oh, okay…then I guess I’ll take you up on that and go back to…
“Why would I just go back to sleep?!”
Now I remember!
Wasn’t I on the battlefield?!
This is no time for sleeping, is it?!
I sit up and look around wildly, only to find that I’m not on a battlefield at all.
“…Huh?”
I’m in an unfamiliar room, where someone’s put me in a bed.
“…Where am I?”
“Uppenbebetenia.”
“…Up in the what now?”
I’ve never heard of this place in my life…
“It’s a small village. There’s no reason you would’ve heard of it.”
“Okay, hang on a sec. What’s going on here?”
Why did I just wake up in bed in a village I’ve never heard of before?
“Oh, because I knocked you out cold and carried you all the way here.”
“Whaaaaat?”
Uh, now I’m even more confused!
Why the hell would you do that?!
“Because if I let you fight, you would’ve been killed.”
Asaka shrugs, like the answer is obvious.
“…You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Yeesh…”
I sink back into the bed.
If Asaka says I would’ve died, she’s probably right.
Which must be why she stopped me like this.
“Damn, I’m such a loser…”
I mutter before I can stop myself.
In the end, I just tried too hard to think, then came up with an answer that left Asaka to deal with the aftermath.
I didn’t do a damn thing.
If anything, I just made serious trouble for Asaka.
“…You aren’t angry?”
“Why would I be mad at you? If I’m gonna get mad at anyone, it’s my own self for being so damn stupid.”
“But I’m the one who prevented you from doing what you wanted.”
“What’d be the point if I was just gonna die anyway?”
It’s not like I want to die, either.
Sure, I jumped into battle because I didn’t want my friends to die.
But I thought it over real hard before I did that.
Which means I wasn’t sure enough to make a decision right away.
I got where Wakaba and her people were coming from, too.
Besides, after talking to Merazophis, my grudge against him faded a little.
It’s not gone all the way, but I don’t feel like I wanna throw my life away to fight him.
“I thought I’d be able to handle him a little more…but by your calculations, you think I woulda died, right?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
“Oof, that hurts…”
I knew Merazophis was stronger of course. I just thought we might stand a chance of winning if Asaka and I fought him together.
But Asaka shot that right down.
When Asaka’s opinion differs from mine, usually she’s the one who’s right.
Which means I really woulda died if I fought Merazophis.
“Gotcha…”
As much as it bums me out, it also kinda makes sense.
“Guess that’s it for my quest-for-vengeance thing, then. No more playing the tragic hero.”
In my old life, I hated how ordinary I was.
I kept kinda hoping something more exciting would happen, without ever doing anything about it myself.
And then I got exactly what I wished for. I got reincarnated, my clan got wiped out, and I started honing my strength to get revenge.
My despair when my clan was wiped out and my anger when I swore to have vengeance were all real, of course.
But if you ask whether I was maybe getting a little carried away ’cause of the circumstances, I can’t say you’d be totally wrong.
When Merazophis dropped those truth bombs on us, all my dramatic feelings stopped having a place to go.
Then this whole battle for the fate of the world thing hit.
And I figured maybe I could do something important this time.
“Guess I got a little too big for my britches.”
I was always just a normal high school boy, with no special qualities.
Getting reincarnated into a fantasy world didn’t change that. I didn’t magically become a hero who can save the world.
That’s all there is to it.
“Asaka.”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“And, y’know…even if I am a loser and all that, I wanna spend my life with you.”
“Naturally. Why are you stating something so obvious?”
“Obvious?”
“Yes, very obvious. We’ll go on living together, get married, have babies, and finally die of old age surrounded by our grandchildren. All while saying what a good life we had, of course.”
“Sounds good to me. Let’s make sure we’re holding hands when we pass away, too.”
“Perfect.”
Welp…
I didn’t make the cut as a hero. But I better do my damndest to be a good husband for Asaka.
But for now, just for a minute, let me cry a little to mourn the death of the loser I was before.
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