Chapter 375: Interlude – Return of the brave warriors
Having managed to obtain independence, the city of Tsige has been in a festive mood for consecutive days, and that heat still remains vividly.
But there’s people missing.
There were a number of parties that cooperated in the war of Tsige but haven’t returned.
There would be no problems if they could be contacted, but there’s sadly some cases where it isn’t connecting.
One of those cases is the top team of Tsige, Alpine.
When contact was finally made just the other day about their safety, Rinon -the little sister of the leader Toa- who was acting tough, began to cry bullets.
They finally came back today.
“We stayed too long in Louisa’s place.” (Ranina)
“Sorry, I didn’t expect kyuudo to get that popular there.” (Louisa)
“Oh, Louisa, there’s no need to apologize. That was impressive.” (Ginebia)
The exasperated words of the dwarf warrior Ranina were followed by an apology from the elf archer Louisa.
And then, the priest Ginebia, who was serving as their guardian and seemed to have completely meshed in with the group, jumped into the conversation.
By the way, the Kuzunoha Company was aware from an early stage that Ginebia was accompanying them, so they didn’t really worry about the safety of Alpine, including Makoto.
Komoe was sure of the safety of Rinon’s sister thanks to Makoto telling her, and she told this to Rinon, but the fact that news of her sister had been cut off in the middle of the war must have been a heavy hit on the heart of Rinon, she didn’t return to her usual cheerful self.
And so, it is after today’s reunion that the everyday life of the sisters has finally returned.
“Sorry, Rinon. It was a bit of a dangerous situation, and it was about to bring harm to the city as well. We had no choice but to hide ourselves till we could consider it safe… I am sorry.” (Toa)
“In the end, we went to the hometowns of everyone except Toa. How about accompanying Toa and Rinon in their return to their hometown next time since we have the chance?” (Hazal)
“Listen here, Hazal.” (Rinon)
“? What is it, Rinon? It is rare for you to call me without honorifics all of a sudden.” (Hazal)
“It is because you say unnecessary things at an unnecessary time that they tell you that you can’t read the atmosphere, you know? Keep your mouth shut.” (Rinon)
“…Okay.” (Hazal)
The scary smile of Rinon made the only man of the party, Hazal, fall completely silent.
It certainly isn’t the kind of topic you bring out in a situation where two sisters are enjoying their reunion in tears.
As expected of Hazal. You could even say that’s Hazal.
But the usual laughter came out from the party members.
“…Leaving aside the joking. It has been a while since I managed to witness j.a.panese archery. He does a good job. Well then, as an outsider, I will be taking my leave now. It was a nice stimulus for me having been together with adventurers that are still active.” (Bia)
Seeing the figure of her partner having come for her, Ginebia comes out from the circle, and with a gentle smile still on her face, she moves away from Alpine that’s surrounded by a lot of people.
“Ginebia-san! It seems the Kuzunoha Company-san is teaching the children of the orphanage kyuudo! How about showing up there if you want! This journey we had together with a great pioneer was an irreplaceable experience that taught us many things. Thank you very much!”
Toa, whose limbs are already all attached and doesn’t have any visible wounds from the battle against the Apostle of the G.o.ddess, shouted her thanks in a loud voice at Ginebia without being obstructed by anyone.
Louisa, Ranina, and Hazal also follow the lead of their leader and lower their head deeply.
Ginebia stopped her feet for a short instance, and without turning back, she disappeared into the crowd of people.
Everyone from Alpine was once again surrounded by adventurers and were showered with praise.
“It really was a journey that made us think about a lot of things.” (Toa)
Toa said embarra.s.sed with her head hanging slightly down as if pensive.
“True. It served as an unexpected marriage report after all.” (Louisa)
“It may have been on the fly…but I ended up doing quite the feminine thing.” (Ranina)
“…Eh?” (Rinon)
The moody words of Toa were answered by Louisa and Ranina with shocking statements.
Even Rinon who was exploding with emotions of delight was so surprised that she ended up retorting with a ‘what?’.
Everyone surrounding Alpine turned silent for a moment.
“M-Marriage?” (Rinon)
Rinon confirms with Louisa.
It goes without saying that the many adventurers that are fans of Louisa were giving words of praise to Rinon for asking.
“? Yeah. Actually, a lot of things happened on the way and I decided to marry, Rinon.” (Louisa)
“C-Congratulations. And so…who is your partner?” (Rinon)
“Hazal.” (Louisa)
““?!””
The people around who were thinking ‘so she really did have a fiance in her hometown’ had that thought crushed in an instant.
Louisa, who is normally the cool type outside, had her cheeks redden at the same time as she announced the name of Hazal and looked at him.
“No way.” (Rinon)
“Sadly to say, it is the truth. By the way, my partner is also him.” (Ranina)
“?!?!”
Rinon who couldn’t keep up with the situation let out a dumbfounded voice, and Ranina threw another bomb.
On top of that, she pulled the arm of Hazal her way.
For the adventurers who admired Ranina, this was an extra large bomb.
An announcement of marriage would normally be a moment of celebration, but today, the atmosphere just wasn’t like that.
This was too much of a shocking announcement.
“…”
It was taking Rinon her all to just blink.
She was on the verge of forgetting to breathe.
Hazal was scratching his head.
It is the usual him that can’t read the mood at all.
Rinon doesn’t think Hazal has no good points.
He is good looking, has the ability, and even when he has become a top cla.s.s adventurer he hasn’t become arrogant and maintains a modest personality, which makes him a great guy, so she does evaluate him highly.
Because of all these strengths, he does have times when he is absentminded to a fatal extent which is the only negative he has.
In the eyes of Rinon, that shortcoming of his reminds her of the acquaintance of hers that is always laughing in the middle of a storm, the young representative of the Kuzunoha Company, which makes it hard for her to hate him.
By the way, Komoe and Rinon normally end up arguing when it comes to this matter.
It is the silly discussion of ‘he resembles him!’ ‘he doesn’t resemble him at all!’.
“…”
A strange marriage announcement where you don’t hear much congratulations.
There are many who do want to speak out their blessings to them, but the problem was the partner.
If asked who is the lowest within the group of Alpine, everyone would answer Hazal.
And yet, he has enticed both Louisa and Ranina, so the male adventurers had complicated feelings about this.
Well, Hazal may look like an underling, but he is a skilled one.
He simply doesn’t stand out because he acts mostly as a support, and the reality is that there’s no adventurer who could replace him.
It is at these kinds of moments where the evaluation of not being an adventurer that stands in the spotlight brings pain.
“?”
And then, in this atmosphere at the Adventurer Guild where people were either giving their blessings to the two, or cursing Hazal, Rinon noticed…
The one that is making a troubled face as she averts her gaze from Hazal and the others… At her sister.
“…Onee-chan?” (Rinon)
“……Hm? What’s the matter, Rinon?” (Toa)
“Is there something…Eh? Eeh?! Eeeeeeh?!” (Rinon)
““?””
Attention gathered at Rinon who was shouting consecutively with her eyes wide open in surprise.
The little sister who hadn’t heard a voice like that from her sister before had noticed her change.
Moreover, she was clearly showing shyness towards the person that the two are going to marry, and the man she herself knows well.
This is hard to believe.
It was a truly shocking and hard to believe thing, but it is the reality.
Maybe because they are sisters, Rinon could tell instinctively.
“W-Wait.” (Rinon)
Her sister, the adventurer Toa that rampaged in the wasteland was making the face of a woman.
There was no doubt left.
“Could it be…Onee-chan as well?” (Rinon)
“I was, uhm…also thinking that it was about time, and on a whim…” (Toa)
“Whim?!” (Rinon)
“Ehehe.” (Toa)
“Don’t give me a ‘whim’! I do think he is not a bad person! But are you okay? Are you really okay with Hazal?” (Rinon)
“…Yeah.” (Toa)
““?!?!?!””
It was at this moment when the adventurers in the surrounding -regardless of men or women- nodded at the same time with blank eyes.
“You are all saying something outrageous, you know?! Unless I listen in detail one by one, I think I will go crazy here!” (Rinon)
Rinon pushed Toa, Louisa, and Ranina to the exit of the guild with her small body.
The return of her sister is a joyous moment, but her sister and her group brought back an unbelievable bomb.
They must have had many life or death situations due to the nature of their job, but what was it that made the three decide something as important as marriage all together.
Leaving aside acknowledging it, she must hear what they have to say first.
Rinon hardened her resolve to go ask for the details from that priest woman too if necessary, and she hurried their return to their home.
“Ah, Rinon, if you are going back, I will go too.” (Hazal)
“No.”
“?” (Hazal)
Being called to a stop by someone, Hazal looks around.
“Brother, there’s a mountain of things we would like to ask you.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Quite the grand return you made there, Hazal-chi.”
“I don’t know how much alcohol your body can handle, but don’t worry about the drink bill.”
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d. It would have been one thing if it had been only one of them, but what’s that about all three, huh?!
“You dirtied Louisa-oneesama.”
“Having Ranina-san make such a face, you d.a.m.n twig.”
““You better be prepared.””
Condolences to Hazal.
The return of brave warriors comes with explosives.
It may be mixed with blood and screams, but one new hearty topic was added to Tsige.