Currently, Hiiro had just returned to the inn where he was staying at. Eveam had told him that because the 『Gabranth』 had unanimously retreated back to their country, they would be capable of somehow dealing with the rest by themselves. As Eveam had asked Hiiro to wait because she would contact him upon the completion of the process, Hiiro had returned. Yet……
For some reason, in his very own room, there were two strangers that Hiiro had neither conversed with nor looked directly at before. One of them was currently occupying the bed he slept in. The other was currently treating the wounds sustained by their body with healing magic.
Even though he could not see them well, Hiiro knew them. The two strangers were two of the four heroes. Although he couldn’t remember their names, Hiiro was not mistaken. Why were these two here? Also, what happened to the other two? He began to make an inquiry towards the one that had created this situation.
He grabbed Nikki by the neck in a manner similar to lifting up a cat.
The one who was floating in midair dejectedly was Nikki. As she saw that, Mikazuki merrily laughed. 「Ba~ka Ba~ka, you got scolded~」(4). Although Hiiro heard Mikazuki say this almost as if cursing Nikki, he simply ignored it for now.
From what Nikki said, at the time when Hiiro returned from the conference location, Nikki felt that they had something important that they had to communicate to Hiiro. Yet, due to an exchange with Mikazuki, Nikki appeared to have completely forgotten about it.
As he received Nikki’s explanation as to how this situation had come about, Hiiro involuntarily began to hold his temples.
As Hiiro flatly cut off Akamori Shinobu who was trying to enter the conversation between him and Nikki, Shinobu, who had seen and understood that Hiiro was in a foul mood, remained silent.
Although it seemed like she was going to pick up her companions that haven’t come back yet, it was no different than just running away because she didn’t want to deal with babysitting Nikki and Mikazuki.
As he scratched his head while expressing grief, Hiiro sent his gaze towards the one sleeping in his bed, Minamoto Shuri. Following this, he spat out a light sigh before directing his face towards Shinobu. She returned his gaze with uneasy eyes.
As he coldly shot out those words, Hiiro turned on his heels and tried to leave the room, yet, Shinobu hastily raised her voice.
As Hiiro was currently taking the form of an 『Imp』, her confusion was not unreasonable. However, from what Shinobu could tell, his voice, physique, and even his attitude clearly belonged to Okamura Hiiro himself.
Hiiro expressionlessly stared at Shinobu who had suddenly lowered her head with great momentum in apology.
As Shinobu’s shoulders trembled, she gently raised her face.
After staring at her eyes for a while, Hiiro let out a sigh.
Hiiro was truly amazed. It seemed that she did not understand her current position at all.
As she could not say anything in the face of Hiiro’s bitter words, Shinobu bit her lower lip.
Apparently, they were still unaware.
Although Hiiro was in this country, Shinobu did not know when he had confirmed it as she wore a blank look.
Impact ran through Hiiro’s words. It was as if Shinobu had been beaten over the head with a hammer.
As if she had received an incredible shock, Shinobu did not blink as she was rendered petrified. Following this, her face gradually grew pale.
As Shinobu recalled the past, due to the fact that it was exactly as Hiiro had indicated, Shinobu swallowed. Upon seeing such behaviour, Hiiro simply shook his head in disgust.
As Shinobu had been unable to stand any longer, her knees buckled.
As if she were expressing disbelief, Shinobu held both hands to her cheeks and made an expression filled with despair.
As she was assaulted by a gaze infused with killing intent, Shinobu was overwhelmed.
Rather than being unable to accept the situation, Hiiro saw that Shinobu did not want to accept it.
As Hiiro continued to talk, he continued to recall the events that occurred when he was summoned.
Alt: Following this, during the time King Rudolf spoke of return magic- no, even up until the point where he spoke of others returning to their own world, he had arranged his sophistry infused words, his speech implying that those worlds did not exist. During this time, Hiiro remembered that, at the very least, Shinobu and Shuri’s themselves wore expressions that seemed to hold doubt towards those words.
As Hiiro saw Shinobu hang her head, wearing a downcast expression that indicated it was hard for her to speak, he was utterly convinced.
In the face of Hiiro’s words, Shinobu’s mouth stiffened. The fact that sweat gradually began to flow from her forehead demonstrated that Hiiro’s words had completely hit the nail on the head.
The reason why Shinobu said nothing in response to Hiiro’s words was because she understood that what Hiiro was saying was right. Certainly, if she had voiced her doubts at that time, she might have been able to create an opportunity for the four of them to have a discussion.
At the very least, there was the possibility of being pulled out from the stupidity of not realising anything up until this very moment. However, she - no, as Shuri was also included, they, as Hiiro had indicated, were elated by the bright future before them, forgetting any of the small discrepancies that may have appeared.
Without knowing that those doubts would influence their own fate, they simply avoided it. The fact that this situation was their fault was completely irrefutable.
Silence followed soon after. As Nikki and Mikazuki who were nearby realised that the current atmosphere did not warrant any unnecessary banter, they remained silent.
In the midst of that atmosphere, the one who had raised their voice was the one who was thought to have been asleep, Shuri.