“Err, Mizuryu-cchi?”

“Yeah. It’s me. Mizuryu Shin. I’m sure some of you must have figured out that this world resembles the game Phantasy Reverie Online. I got summoned here just like, except I turned into my game avatar.”

I deliberately decided to not tell them the actual truth. It would be too much trouble and Miyuki would flip all around the place.

“Look, as it can’t be helped now I’ll lend you a bed. You girls are deep into demon territory and even if Lotte is trying to unify the races, so far this place is no good for you. So when night comes, go back to wherever you came from, alright?”

“Ah, w-wait a sec! Shin, what’s with that cold attitude?”(Miyuki)

“I would appreciate it if you stop calling me Shin. I left that name long ago. I’m Yufine now. Call me Yufi at least.”

“Eh……ah, you know……you really are Mizuryu-cchi……right?”(Kaga)

“What of it?”

“I’m so sorry-! We got no place… to return too. I know that you have no obligation to listen to my request! But besides you, I don’t have anyone else I can rely on!”

“…………”

“Since there’s so many demons around here, we can’t carelessly leave here……that’s why……”(Kaga)

“Please shelter us for a while……is basically what you’re getting at, right?”

As Kaga’s shoulders trembled, she gently raised her face.

“……can’t you……do it?”

After staring at her eyes for a while, I let out a sigh. Look, I’m not trying to be cruel here. But before anything else, I need to give them their wake-up call.

“Look here, you guys are the enemy, you know? The humans most likely sent you here to kill demons. In addition, although it’s due to a request, I’m currently placed in a position where I have to protect this country. What kind of nerve do you have to be able to ask such a thing?”

It seemed that this girl did not understand her current position at all.

“You guys are heroes, right? You are the saviors summoned by the humans in order to destroy the demons. Yet, you guys are asking ‘since we can’t fight anymore, can we please live here until our wounds heal?’. You really have quite some nerve.”

“Shin… I mean Yufi, that’s going too…”(Miyuki)

“In the first place, didn’t you guys think something was strange? For example, the reason why a group of carefree, airhead brains like you were sent to the battlefield?”

“……eh?”(Kaga)

Apparently, they were still unaware.

“……haa, you guys are merely discarded pawns.”

The same words said by Onyris.

“Actually, how were you guys able to put your trust in such a king? A king that sacrifices his people can’t possibly be a just king. Did you even try questioning him?”

“……-!?”(Kaga)

“You guys were baited with the promise of returning to our old world. But… have you guys read any of the literature and books of this world?”

“Books……?”(Miyuki)

It doesn’t have to be on the Grand Dectus Library level.

“Although it’s written that the summoned heroes certainly saved the humans in the past, no matter which book you read, none of them say that the heroes returned to their original world.”

As if she had received an incredible shock, Kaga did not blink as she was rendered petrified. Following this, her face gradually grew pale.

“You guys, ever since we came here, what exactly have you guys been doing? Admiring butterflies? At any rate, you probably completed missions as instructed by the King, faced off against great opponents, and enjoyed every single day in the castle, am I wrong?”

As Kaga recalled the past, due to the fact that it was exactly as Yufi had indicated, Kaga swallowed. 

“As I thought. As long as you walked on the rail laid out before you at the instructed pace, you thought that you would win the war? Aren’t you guys severely underestimating this world? Have you guys ever tried to leave on an adventure by yourself even if it was just once? Have you nearly been killed by a monster? Have you cut down a person with your very own hands? Have you killed?”

“Uu……”(Kaga)

“Yufine… that’s enough, please…”(Miyuki)

“Someone has to spell it for you. There’s absolutely no way that a dog tenderly raised in a comfortable environment would come out unscathed after being thrown out onto the battlefield of feral beasts and rabid dogs. The king was most likely aware, you know.

The fact that you were a useless bunch that was incapable of killing people. That’s why he turned you into disposable pawns and sent you here. In the event that you guys were to die in this war, the King would use that as a reason to fuel the people’s anger and spark further war. Something along those lines.”

“that can’t be……if that’s the case, all that we’ve been doing up until now……”(Kaga)

“……we were horribly mistaken……weren’t we?”(Miyuki)

“……just what should we do……?” (Kaga)

Whether those words were actually directed towards someone, or if she simply wanted to voice out those thoughts, even she herself did not know the real reason why she said that.

She wanted an answer as to what she should do. She wanted someone to answer that. Because that would be easier. In particular, since they had come to this world, they had obeyed the orders of another and lived without having to seek out any answers.

It was possible to say that their environment had been manipulated. Even so, it still would have been possible to hold their own opinions within that and move while thinking on their own. That was something that they had not done.

That was exactly why she had been incapable of refuting Hiiro’s lecture that could have been thought to be too severe.

“Listen, I’m not turning you girls down. For the sake of our past together, I’m willing to put a good word for you. Lotte will accept you if you devote yourselves to our cause, but this time, it has to come from you.

Not because somebody else is telling you what to do. It’s something you must want to achieve.”

“…….Akayama-san” (Miyuki)

“Hm? What is it?” (Kaga)

Upon raising her face to look at Miyuki, Kaga was involuntarily rendered speechless upon gazing at her serious expression.

“Akayama-san, I’ve decided.” (Miyuki)

“…….decided what?” (Kaga)

“Ah, what are you guys gonna do?” (Yufine)

“Please take us in.” (Miyuki)

“Miyuki-cchi!?”

“It’s all right, Akayama-san. They were harsh words, but they are correct. Even so, Yufine doesn’t have any hostility towards us. I know Shin. And I know he’s a good person. He was never afraid to speak his mind even when got bullied. If we follow him… err… her, it should be alright. It’s about time we wake up from this dream and actually do something meaningful.”

That’s the Miyuki I know! I couldn’t help but smile. She’s trying to move forward even after falling down. That’s one of life’s lessons. It will push you down many times. And it’s up to you to decide whether you want to stand back up, or stay down. Eventually, Kaga also took a deep breathe and calmed herself.

“I’m sorry, Yufine-cchi, but for now I agree. We really need your power and guidance. So will you have us?”

“Sure. But as close as I am to the Demon King, at the end of the day, it’s gonna be her call.” (Yufine)

“Thank you very much! Really!” (Kaga)

Kek. Guess we can have a smaller chat now. And I need to explain this to Lotte as well. My mouth sure is going to be thirsty after this.