VOLUME 2
Chapter 2: The Curse of the Pyramid
Part 5
They secured a campsite before night had fallen. That was the trick to having a safe and comfortable trip. Taught by the few experienced campers and former boy scouts, much of the adventurer population had now become pros at camping.
Ryuka, who had rarely left the city, was unable to help set up the conjured tent or gather firewood and stones, and so felt dispirited.
“Don’t worry, it’s okay…” Kasumi received Jun’s instructions and took Ryuka with her to the nearby river to go bathe.
“Aren’t I pitiful?” With water up to her torso, Ryuka sighed. “In battle or in camping, I’m nothing but a burden.”
She was already in her sixth year of elementary school, and hadn’t worried about that stuff before. It was simple.
(I don’t understand.)
Kasumi didn’t like people who encouraged others. Kasumi Yukasaki was, one way or another, the type of person who others always encouraged. She was encouraged by many people, such as Jun and Eri.
Though Jun should have known…
She suddenly realized it.
She hugged Ryuka, who was shivering from the cold river water.
“Let’s do it openly.”
“Huh…”
“Even if we make mistakes, let’s enjoy ourselves. At least, I found it fun to be able to go on a trip with you, Ryuka-san.”
“Huh, but… it’s my fault that everybody’s going to deal with so much dangerous stuff.”
“Even if that happens, it doesn’t mean that we would give up our lives. This is a world where we can come back to life after death. …Are you scared?”
“…yeah.”
“Well then, let’s enjoy being scared.”
“Enjoying… being scared? But that’s…”
“At first, I too didn’t really understand how I could do that. I wasn’t able to enjoy myself. But then, I met Jun-san… He was having fun no matter what he did in this world. He was traveling alone, and yet he was so lively.”
She remembered. She remembered the time when Jun gave up some of his own time to train Kasumi.
Jun said that understanding and appreciation lead to enjoyment. That was certain; the shortest route to joy was learning about the rules of the world, the way things were organized, and the nature of existence.
At first, she didn’t understand what any of that meant.
He also said to keep in mind monsters’ movement patterns when fighting, and that by acting with that in mind, one could always respond to enemies’ attacks. As she was thinking about these things almost as if she was daydreaming… she realized.
She realized that she had fallen into a daze.
Kasumi Yukasaki seriously, and sincerely, wanted to take on the world. She felt like she wanted to reel in the unknown. She shivered in light of this new breakthrough.
(——This is fun.)
She realized that she already felt that way for a while now.
“Let’s be excited. Surely you can do that, Ryuka-san.”
“But… I’m a coward. My cowardice led me to seclude myself in the shop. In the secondhand shop, I’m known as important and clever, even as an elementary school student.”
“Ryuka-san, you are clever. But it’s fine to be a silly fool sometimes. It’s fun.”
“Well if you can say that, Kasumi, I think you’re really strong.”
Kasumi smiled bitterly. She was not strong at all. She knew that. “It’s just that everybody is supporting me.” Jun and Eri, and possibly Sakuya, who was somewhere far away, were always supporting her, so she was able to feel so happy. “Ryuka-san, there are lots of people out there like Genta-san who are supporting you too.”
“Genta-sensei…right, maybe I really am being supported everywhere.”
She pondered over why.