Epilogue
After the meal, Raab took them to a nearby town in his wagon.
Arnold: “Are you leaving already, Raab?”
Raab: “Ah, the pursers from beast cage will probably still come after us. So, we’ll be heading to the beast kingdom someday.”
Adventurers called the human continent; the human world, the beast continent; the beast kingdom and the demon continent; the underworld.
“Isn’t it fine if we travel together?”
Since they were heading to the same destination, Arnold thought it was fine to travel together. Arnold felt more at ease if Raab travelled with them since he was a skilled adventurer.
Raab shook his head at Arnold’s anticipated words.
Raab: “Sorry, Arnold. There’s a place we have to visit.”
Arnold: “Where’s that?”
Raab: “Well I am from the 『Human Race』, so my parents and siblings live here.”
That’s right, Raab was a human not a beastman. Which meant that his family lived in the human world.
Raab: “So I want to say my farewells before I head off to the beast kingdom. After all, my parents raised my brothers and me together.”
Arnold: “… I see. Yes, you’re right.”
His excuse was on point. No matter how freely one lived, their family would always worry about them. There was also a chance that he would never see his family again. That was why it was only normal for him to want to burn the image of his hometown into his mind and tell his family his whereabouts.
Raab: “By the way, you’re headed straight for the country border, right?”
Arnold: “Ah, it’s currently hard for beastman to live in the human world. There’s also 《Beast Cage》to worry about. Life on the run is harder than I thought.”
If the incident with beast cage didn’t happen, then they wouldn’t have had to rush. After hearing Folse’s final words, Arnold couldn’t afford to be careless. Therefore, he wanted to head towards the country border as fast as possible and cross over into the beast kingdom.
Raab: “I see, what about you, Red-Robe? You look human.”
Raab turned to face Hiiro. Hiiro replied with a glumly attitude,
“Hah? I’m under no obligation to answer.”
Raab: “Hah? This Brat…”
Ur puffed her cheeks out and then looked at Hiiro,
“That was also cool! Right, mum?”
Jill: “Fufufu, that’s right.”
Raab got angry upon hearing their conversation and a vein popped up on his forehead. Raab rushed towards Hiiro and held out his hand. It appeared that he wanted a handshake so Hiiro shook his hand. Raab’s grip was frighteningly strong and his grim face was extremely close to Hiiro’s.
Raab looked like a member of the mafia threatening their enemy but for some reason tears were flowing out from his eyes.
Raab: “… I’ll thank you. But, I won’t give you my daughter!”
“What are you trying to say while crying? Get your stuffy face away from me, Skinhead.”
Raab: “Gah… Hey Arnold! I’m surprised you can travel with such an arrogant brat!”
Arnold: “… Haha.”
Arnold understood what Raab was trying to say but he was currently interested in Hiiro. So all he could do was smile bitterly.
Ur: “Hey onii-chan! No, Hero-san, cya ~!”
Jill: “Thank you so much ~!
Raab: “Stay well, Arnold and Muir! Brat, I’ll make you cry someday!”
Ur, Jill and Raab all got into the wagon and respectively said their goodbyes.
“… Why does the Old Man see me as an enemy…?”
Unfriendly Hiiro didn’t even notice that he had received Raab’s wrath because Ur was interested in him.
After splitting up with the three, they decided to stay overnight in the city and head to the country border the next morning but then Arnold said,
“Can I talk to you for a bit?”
Hiiro had an annoyed look on his face but after seeing how serious Arnold was, he also returned the serious look.
Arnold: “Are you going to be fine with us, Hiiro?”
“What do you mean?”
Muir who was standing to next to Arnold, also had an apologetic expression on her face. Hiiro had no idea what Arnold was talking about and had a dubious expression on his face.
Arnold: “We caught 《Beast Cage》’s attention with what happened.”
“…”
Arnold: “I’m sure they’ll pursue us. They know we’re heading to the country border because we told them, so they might be headed there too. There’s a high possibility that crossing the border would be quite troublesome.”
It was just like he said, Folse had declared that he’d remember their faces. Which meant that he would certainly be coming to catch them. If Hiiro stayed with Arnold and co, there was a high chance that he’d get involved in something troublesome.
Arnold: “It’s also our fault that you got dragged into this… I feel bad about it.”
Arnold wasn’t acting like himself, he seemed to be really apologetic.
Arnold was interested in Hiiro and wanted to travel with him but he didn’t want to bother Hiiro any further. Therefore he would obediently accept, if Hiiro wished to return to travelling alone. Surely no one would pursue him if he were to travel alone.
It was risky travelling with Arnold and Muir and Arnold didn’t want to unreasonably force Hiiro along. What Hiiro said next, completely threw them off guard.
“That doesn’t matter.”
Arnold: “… Hah?”
“I don’t like blaming other people for things that I’ve decided. Of course, being pursed was something I was prepared for beforehand.”
Arnold and Muir stared blankly at Hiiro when they heard his words. It was as if they had heard something unusual.
Arnold: “What kind of stupid things are you saying?”
Muir: “Eh, ah, no…”
Arnold was surprised and taken aback by Hiiro’s unexpected answer. Due to Hiiro’s nature, there was a high probability that he would choose to leave troublesome people. But the answer he gave contradicted that. Of course Arnold was happy at this miscalculation.
“Besides, I told you that I was heading towards the country border. We’re both heading to the same place. If you think that you owe me, Old Man, then pay me back on this journey.”
Arnold: “Hiiro… You…”
Arnold looked at Hiiro and was a bit moved. Hiiro was beginning to think that this journey wasn’t so bad after all.
It was true that there were a lot of troublesome things but it wasn’t boring. Also the information that Arnold and Muir had would become necessary in the future.
If something happened, Hiiro could always use 《Word Magic》to escape. He had a lot of confidence in his magic so he could be a bit optimistic.
Arnold had also saved Hiiro from a dangerous situation. He wanted to pay that debt back before they split up.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
[Muir]
Muir: “A-ah… I am sorry about what happened. I, I… Even got you injured…”
Muir suddenly took off her hat and lowered her head while facing Hiiro. She wanted to apologise for being a burden during the battle with Folse.
“I told you not to worry about it, didn’t I?”
Muir: “B-but… Uoh…”
Muir looked down in shame before suddenly raising her face again.
Muir: “A-and also, thank you very much for shaving… Ah!”
“… Shaving? Is that a new phrase?”
Muir: “A… Ah…”
Muir had quickly tried to convey her apology and gratitude and as a result she fumbled over her words. Instead of saying ‘saving’, she had said ‘shave’.
Muir looked down in embarrassment.
“Hey.”
Muir raised her head when she heard Hiiro call her.
Muir: “Oh, Ye-yes…”
Hiiro lightly touched Muir’s forehead with his index finger and said,
“If you’re so worried, then get stronger.”
After saying that, Hiiro walked towards the town by himself. Muir blushed while staring at Hiiro’s back.
Arnold grinded his teeth while watching the interactions of the two.
Without realising Arnold’s doting feelings, Muir gently touched her forehead and blushed. Moreover she noticed that her heart was beating faster than usual. Without thinking she pulled her hat all the way down to hide her face.
(Wow ~, for some reason that was super embarrassing.)
Muir didn’t think that anyone noticed but she still unconsciously hung her head down in shame.
“Hey, hurry up. Who said you could rest?”
Hiiro looked back at them displeasingly and adjusted his glasses. Arnold raised his finger and pointed at Hiiro.
Arnold: “Stop messing with meee! You really do piss me off!”
“Stop shouting and do your work, Lolicon.”
Arnold: “What work!? Stop calling me lolicon! The lolicon is you, right?!”
“Hah? What kind of crazy things are you talking about?”
Arnold: “Shut up! Anyway, I won’t give you Muir!”
“Whatever. Hurry up and find an inn, Pervert.”
Arnold: “Argh! Who’s the pervert?!”
Muir watched the two argue and laughed.
(Aha, things are going to be fun from now on!)
She ran after the two.
◊♦◊♦◊♦◊
On the other hand a few days after the incident, news of Hiiro’s fight with 《Beast Cage》reached the【Human Country・Victorias】. Taishi Aoyama and co were chatting about the deeds of the mysterious red-robed person during tea time.
“Heh, so the Red-Robed guy has been active again ~?”
Taishi turned his line of sight towards the first princess, Lilith and asked while sipping on his tea.
Lilith: “Yes, but this time my father made an officially investigation.”
“Oh?” One of the heroes, Shinobu Akamori asked.
Lilith: “Yes, the members of 《Beast Cage》are certainly human, but the way they do things is too extreme. A lot of people have been complaining about them.”
“If I’m not wrong, they sell beastman to important people at expensive prices and they also put them in the slave markets, right?” Chika Suzumiya said in disgust.
“Even if they are from a different race that is just too cruel.” Shuri Minamoto said.
“Well, this time the red-robed guy saved a beastman child, right? Didn’t he do a good deed?” Taishi praised the red-robed person while smiling.
“Yes, but…” Lilith said hesitantly.
Taishi could feel something was wrong.
Lilith: “A-ah, it’s about the Red-Robed person. It seems that his characteristics match… That person.”
Taishi: “That person? Who…?”
Lilith: “The person who was summoned here together with everyone…”
Taishi: “Eh… Okamura? Haha… It can’t be…”
It wasn’t just Taishi, the other three people also laughed. People who knew Hiiro would not think that he was the type of person who helped people.
Lilith: “H-hah, if everyone says so, then it must be right…”
Taishi: “Well, I’m curious about the Red-Robed guy. But I wonder what Hiiro’s doing right now? Is he still in this country?”
Chika: “Who cares about that ill-natured guy?”
“Chika-cchi you actually like Okamura-cchi, don’t cha?” Shinobu said amusingly.
Shuri: “But, I wonder if he’s safe… Okamura-kun.”
“What? Are you worried, Shuri? Stop it. There’s no reason to be worried for him.”
Lilith had said that the red-robed person would also be included in the investigation. A more detailed report will arrive later on.
Taishi: “Rather than that, we’ll just do what we can!”
Taishi turned towards Lilith and laughed. Lilith embarrassingly replied with a, “Yes”. Chika looked at the scene in boredom and kicked Taishi’s shin.