Epilogue
The feast was long over. We found a room that hadn’t been used, a dusty servant’s room, and rested there.
It was nothing like the last time I’d stayed in the castle. That piece of trash of a king seemed like he would do whatever he could to heap misery on me.
That’s what I’d call him. Trash.
As for Myne, I’d already decided to call her b.i.t.c.h… And it was only fitting, considering her behavior.
As for Motoyasu, I’d call him Man-Wh.o.r.e… or no… Clown.
Then again, I suppose it was possible that he was just being used by b.i.t.c.h, so I decided to hold off with the nicknames for the time being.
Raphtalia saw that I wasn’t eating much and went out for a while.
“The cooks gave me some food from the kitchen that they weren’t using.”
“Ah… Thanks.”
She gave me something like a sandwich, and I ate it.
“Well, it’s not very good…”
I couldn’t taste it anyway, so it didn’t matter what I ate. I took a bite.
“Huh?!”
I’d been expecting something flavorless and gross, but it reminded me more of the first meal I’d had here.
Was I imagining things? One more bite.
“What is it?”
“It… I… I can taste it.”
“Hm?”
“Ever since they framed me, I haven’t been able to taste anything.”
But why? Even though I’d done all that crying, I felt tears welling up again.
I didn’t know that being able to taste food would feel so… so warm, so good.
“Good, I’m happy. You always made such delicious food for me, and I was sad to see that you were unable to enjoy it yourself.”
She smiled, and took a big bite of her own sandwich.
“Let’s eat all kinds of yummy things together.”
“Sure.”
Someone believed me. Just that fact made me feel… lighter.
My sense of taste vanished when Myne betrayed me… but it was back.
It was all because she believed in me, all because of Raphtalia.
Who knew that being trusted and believed in would make your heart so light?
“What should we do tomorrow? Want to level up? Or make money?”
“Right… I want to get new equipment with our reward money. We’re a month behind the others, and so that’s where we need to start. Let’s find a good place to work.”
Now I would have to fight to save this world, again. But this time, I’d be with the one person who understood and believed in me.
I didn’t want to. I was afraid so many times, but I made up my mind to stay positive, if only for Raphtalia. How else could I repay her trust?
“Mr. Naofumi?”
“What?”
“Let’s do our best.”
“Right on!”
I didn’t want to just stay alive anymore. I wanted to actually move forward, because she believed in me.
It was a whole new world, full of dreams and adventures, like an anime or a game. But it was a horrible place as well. But I… I still wanted to try.
I wanted to try for myself, and Raphtalia too.
“Raphtalia.”
“What is it?”
It might have been rude, but I leaned over and kissed the cheek of the girl who believed in me.
“Thank you.”
“Ah… ahhhhh…”
“Um… Sorry? I guess you don’t like that kind of thing.”
“No, I… I… Oh… Um…”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. That was rude. I won’t do it again.”
“It’s okay!”
I got it. She was filled with purpose, and she didn’t want that to happen. She would be angry. I learned an important lesson.
Had this been an anime, they would have depicted us in a physical relations.h.i.+p. But in the real world, that wasn’t going to happen.
There it was, that bad habit of mine. That way of thinking wasn’t going to work.
This wasn’t a dream world. It was reality, just a different reality. If I treated it like a fantasy game or anime, I was going to end up hurt. We needed a solid plan if we wanted to survive.
Raphtalia squeezed my hand, and I squeezed hers back.
We’d be okay; we could overcome whatever we were faced with. If I was with someone who believed in me, I could take the first step.
My fight was only just beginning. I didn’t need to rush, just take one step and a time.