Side: Kaya
I couldn't do anything.
I watched the village burn.
My body was battered, without even the strength to push myself up; I just lay there in a wretched heap.
In the village, I had been called a candidate for the next captain of the vigilante corps. I took pride in my martial arts, my magic, and my ability to lead with a calm head.
My lover was in that village, too.
He was my childhood friend—a man who was completely hopeless at physical labor, but he was incredibly kind.
We were happy. Our life was modest, but we almost never went hungry. It was supposed to be a village where time flowed peacefully.
But then, one day... Saintess Elju visited our village, and everything burned to the ground.
Or rather, to be precise, after Saint Elju visited and departed, soldiers from the same Roshure Empire arrived and began their pillaging.
They said they had come to "dispose" of us because they found out we were connected to the Gartz Empire.
I didn't understand.
Why were we being attacked? There was no way this village would do such a thing!
I fought desperately to hold them off so the vigilante corps and the villagers could escape. The Fox-kin are a rare race among beastmen, particularly gifted in magic. A masterful Fox-kin uses magic as their primary tool, weaving in physical techniques to become a versatile warrior at any range. Even so, our numbers were overwhelmingly small; we were helpless.
As the Captain and I fought to the last, cutting down scores of soldiers, a man dressed in extravagant clothes approached from the rear... holding a sword to my precious person's throat. Taking a hostage, that coward issued his demand.
"Kill the man beside you, and I shall guarantee the safety of this man and yourself. I am a Minister of the Roshure Empire, Loire Escher. The same applies to the other villagers. I will guarantee the safety of those we have in custody if you kill that man."
What was he saying now...?
Just as I thought that, the rest of the villagers were brought out behind him as hostages.
It was a small village, less than a hundred people. I could tell instantly who was missing. Excluding the bodies of my comrades scattered here, only four or five were unaccounted for.
"If you continue to resist, these villagers will be officially branded as spies of the Gartz Empire. In other words, they will be executed on the spot."
We no longer had a choice.
Even knowing it was a trap and a lie, we had to accept the demand. In the end, almost all the villagers were slaughtered anyway. Several young women survived only to be defiled and killed on the spot. The rest were sold into slavery.
"-ya!! Kaya!! Pull yourself together!!"
"...I'm sorry. Leave me behind. If we stay like this, we'll both be caught."
I'm seeing this dream again.
He was usually so frail, but in this moment, he was incredible.
My childhood friend and lover was running through the forest while carrying me. Still, his stamina wasn't infinite. His breathing grew ragged.
The moment we realized everyone was being killed, the village mages had cast a collective flash spell to blind the enemy. I had fled with him. Perhaps they had anticipated it, because arrows rained down like a storm; very few managed to escape.
Between the previous battle and the wounds from our flight, I had almost no strength left. That's why, at the very least, I wanted him to be saved. But...
"They're over here! It's the one who resisted until the end! Surround them!"
"Kaya... I'll protect you, Kaya! Just a bit more... keep running—!"
"...!"
—An axe was buried in his head.
Someone from the enemy must have thrown it.
He collapsed, and I fell with him as he stopped moving.
"This woman is a wreck, but she's a beauty. It wouldn't be profitable to kill her like this. Treat her wounds and sell her!"
The man called Loire grabbed my hair and pulled so I would look at his face.
I heard the sound of the hair he once called beautiful tearing away.
"What about the man?"
"No one survives an axe to the head. Leave him."
I was pulled away from him.
I squeezed the hand I was holding with my last bit of strength in a final resistance. But that strength was easily shaken off, and I left him behind.
Tears flooded my eyes. They wouldn't stop.
"...!"
I wake up in the dim room.
...Where was I?
I look around, and seeing Tori and Riel in my field of vision, I finally remember.
"...The inn, huh."
That's right. This is the inn on the lowest floor of the dungeon.
It's a private suite given to us by the Dungeon Master.
Though, most of the members end up gathering in someone's room to sleep in groups of three to five. I think to myself that it's quite a luxurious room. Even with Tori and Riel sleeping here, we only use one part of it.
The suite is divided into three main rooms—Yuki called them 10-tatami, 8-tatami, and 8-tatami. He said the 10-tatami room is the living room, one 8-tatami is the bedroom, and the last is the hobby room.
It even has a toilet and a simple kitchen. There's a closet too. Apparently, he didn't put a bath in the room because "-Having a private bath in your room at an inn? Are you an idiot? Do you want to die?" or some such reason.
"...Water."
My nerves aren't thick enough to go right back to sleep after a dream like that.
I slip out of bed, careful not to wake Tori or Riel. I go to the kitchen and pour a glass of water.
"...It's a luxury. This place will become a very luxurious, happy home."
Yuki said people get used to things, and it seems he was right.
It's only been six days, but I've already stopped being surprised by the kitchen or the convenience of this facility. And I understand. This luxury, this convenience, will surely make the people who live here happy.
Not only that, if this dungeon is managed according to Yuki's policies, the residents will be able to choose the things they want with their own hands. As long as Yuki and the rest of us don't become consumed by greed, this dungeon is an incredibly effective fortress against outside enemies.
"...That's why I have to eliminate my personal feelings as much as possible... I can't bring conflict into this dungeon."
I tell myself this firmly.
The day after I arrived here, I learned the reason why my village was burned.
Saintess Elju had been manipulated by Loire—who was receiving support from the Rithea Holy Kingdom—and had taken actions that incited war. Or rather, Loire had deliberately burned the towns and villages Elju visited, blaming it on the Gartz Empire to force a state of war.
That's why, on that day, I couldn't help but hate Saint Elju for appearing before me so nonchalantly. By then, Loire had already been disposed of. The only "enemy" I had left was Saintess Elju, right there in front of me. Milly had thrown her teacup and screamed, drawing everyone's attention, but I was also being held back by Tori and Riel.
However, perhaps because Saint Elju had her own regrets, she bowed her head to Milly and apologized. That doesn't mean it's something I can forgive, but it was unexpected. I thought she was the same as Loire.
Since then, Saintess Elju found something she ought to do—her own way of atonement, perhaps—and went so far as to bow to us, asking to be allowed to help.
"...It's throwing me off."
Yes, Saint Elju is a strange person. I thought she would either desperately beg for forgiveness or just act superior, but she was different. In a way, she was simply doing what she thought was right.
I heard about her relationship with Mobu-san and the others, too. She apparently bowed and apologized to the very people who had taken her as a slave and intended to violate her... What an absolute ditz.
"...I'm sweating. A bath."
After finishing the water, I realize my body is damp with sweat.
I can't sleep like this, so I'll go to the bath to change my mood. With that thought, I grab a spare yukata and slip out of the room.
"Ah."
"...Ah."
When I enter the changing room, someone is already there taking off their yukata. It turns out to be...
"Kaya...-san, was it?"
The other person I should call my enemy, Rurua-sama, was there. She spoke to me as if gauging my mood.
"..."
"..."
"...I'm sorry. I seem to be in the way. I'll leave..."
"...I don't particularly mind."
I say only that, strip off my yukata beside her, and head straight into the bathing area.
"...Aren't you coming in?"
"No... please let me join you."
"...You don't need my permission."
An awkward air hangs between us, but since I haven't said I dislike her presence, she doesn't keep an unnecessary distance. We wash ourselves and soak in the tub together.
In the sky... though it's a fake, a beautiful night sky spreads out.
Silence continues.
"...Why are you at the bath at this hour?"
For some reason, I tried asking Rurua-sama a question.
"I was just... thinking. About what I should do from now on."
Ah, I see. I've been completely occupied with myself and this dungeon, but Rurua-sama is having a hard time too.
Unlike Saintess Elju, she wasn't taken in because of a request from the Roshure Empire. She was thrown away because she was a hindrance, almost assassinated, and ended up tumbling into this place.
In a sense, she's the same as me. She's here after losing everything.
As I lapsed into silence thinking about that, Rurua-sama must have felt the awkwardness...
"...Do you hate me?"
"Yes. Enough to want to kill you here and now."
I give her a straight answer. This feeling is no lie.
"But, Rurua-sama... I hope there will come a day when I can forgive you and Elju-sama."
"What do you mean?"
"...Even if I killed you, the person who was precious to me surely wouldn't smile about it."
"...!"
Saying that, I realized.
Ah, there's still something left...
"...I want to live a path that makes him—my precious person—smile... It was still there. I thought I had lost it... everything."
Tears fall from my eyes.
"A-Are you alright?"
Rurua-sama speaks to me as she watches me cry.
That's right—she herself hasn't actually done anything wrong. Well, as a leader of a country, she might be a failure.
"...I'm fine. Rurua-sama, thank you. Thanks to you, I remembered... The village, everyone, my precious person... I thought I had lost my everything, but I was wrong."
I close my eyes. I can easily recall the smiles of the villagers and my precious person—memories I couldn't reach until now.
"...There's no doubt that I lost them. But here, certainly, the memories of everyone still remain. Even if I took revenge, everyone in the village would surely give me a complicated look."
That's right. Even if I stained these hands with the blood of revenge, the villagers—and he—wouldn't necessarily deny me, but they would look troubled.
Because they were kind. If that's the case, I'll live in a way that makes them smile. I'm sure that would make me happy, too. Ah, I'll probably still have nightmares about the village and him being burned. But it isn't enough to make me steep myself in revenge.
I wonder if Mobu-san and the others felt this way? No, since Mobu-san and the others actually went on a rampage, they must feel quite awkward.
"...I'm getting out first."
"Ah, yes..."
I say that and leave Rurua-sama behind as I get out of the tub. I feel like I can sleep soundly tonight.
"...Rurua-sama. Even someone like me who had lost everything still had something left."
"......"
"So, there must be something left for you too. If you find it, I think your worries will be resolved."
I don't understand her struggles. But I'm sure something remains.
Something she could decide on for her future with complete conviction from the bottom of her heart.
"...What I still have left..."
