Last night was really tough . ……!


    Challengers came one after the other .


    The heat of the moment made me accept the challenge and beat them all, and as expected, I was officially judged as inhuman by the beast children .


    No, to be more precise, I guess it’s more accurate to say that I made them realize that humans are such creatures .


    Anyway, I became friends with the old beastmen .


    “Well, that’s good . It’s much better than being stared at, right?”


    “Yeah, but, you know, there’s something about this difference in treatment ……”


    Early in the morning, I was sitting at the table in Kagari-san’s living room with my head in my hands, being comforted by Amako sitting next to me . Aside from me and Amako, there were also Arc-san, Nea, and Rinka sitting at the table .


    Last night, I left too much to the momentum of the moment, even though it was my own fault .


    Towards the end of the party, I felt like I was treating the tough guys from the rescue squad . I don’t know, maybe I got drunk from the smell of alcohol .


    “Haha, because I noticed that you were arm-wrestling with a belligerent smile on your face . ”


    “Was I showing such a face?”


    “Yes, you looked like you were having a great time . ”


    Sure, the arm-wrestling itself was fun, but it wasn’t as painful as the obviously donkey-eyed kids and the stares of the women .


    “Nea, you’re the most wicked vampire …… who’s ever shown herself off to a child!”


    “What do you mean, ‘most evil’?”


    Nea, who was sitting in front of me, reacted to my complaint without concern .


    I was joking about the evil, but I wondered why I was treated like a monster and she, a demon, was treated like a human .


    “Your face is not scary at the very least . ”


    “I’m aware that I’m scary, but not to the point of being evil . ”


    “Hmm, only you don’t know that . ”


    I couldn’t say anything back to Nea, who said that to me in a very triumphant way .


    Amako puts her hand on my shoulder .


    “It’s okay, Usato . Even if you look scary, Usato is still Usato . ”


    I thought she was comforting me, but she affirmed my evil face .


    Yeah, is it a known fact that I already have a vicious face ……?


    I don’t know what kind of face to make in anger from now on .


    My shoulders slumped and I felt depressed . At that time, Rinka, who had been silent for a long time next to Amako, gushed out .


    “I don’t know, I just feel stupid for being so weirdly scared . ”


    “Rinka?”


    “I’ve been thinking about it since last night, and I knew Amako was right . The people you believed in weren’t bad people . ”


    Amako rolled her eyes at Rinka’s words .


    When we were as surprised as Amako, Rinka turned her gaze to me .


    “It’s true that Usato is strong enough to beat all the adults in our village, and he’s also faster than me, a wolf beast . He’s a monster, to be honest . But if you look at him properly, you’ll see that he’s not a bad person . Yesterday, he was thinking about Amako and let me talk to her . ……”


    After saying that, Rinka gets up from her seat and walks up to me .


    Confused by her behavior, she bowed her head vigorously .


    “I’m sorry about yesterday! I didn’t know what was going on and shot the arrow!”


    For my part, I didn’t expect her to apologise because I had scared her more than she had scared me .


    Confused by the sudden apology, I responded with a smile that was as reassuring as possible .


    “I can’t help it if you were acting to help Amako . Besides, I scared you too, so we’re even . ”


    “Oh, really? I’d feel a lot better if you’d just say that . ”


    “Hmph!”


    “Kyaa!?”


    Amako, who had a smile on her face, slammed her hand into the back of Rinka’s head .


    It was only a light tap, but Rinka jumped up with a cute scream at the sudden hand sword from behind .


    “Hey, what are you doing! You startled me . ”


    “I don’t think you should do that after apologizing . ”


    “No, it’s fine! Because Usato says he’ll forgive me!”


    “What?”


    “Hee! I won’t be frightened even if you give me such scary eyes!”


    Amako’s face was expressionless as she faced the teary-eyed Rinka .


    Even though she says she’s not scared, Amako’s gaze becomes even sharper as Rinka hides behind me while I’m sitting down .


    They’re such good friends .


    It’s not often that I see Amako bare her emotions like this, which makes me smile .


    “Amako, the Hootbird I sent yesterday is back . He also had a letter from my son . ”


    While I was watching their exchange, Kagari-san came into the living room .


    That’s fast of them to answer .


    After receiving the letter from Kagari-san, Amako opened it, which was neatly folded, and looked through it .


    “…… Kagari-san . Can I trust you with this?”


    “My son is your mother’s best friend . And he’s not the kind of man who’d be clever enough to cheat anyone . ”


    “…… Yeah, okay . ”


    “Amako, what did it say?”


    I ask Amako, who is upset by the letter .


    “It said that they would arrange for us to come in from the back . ”


    “Does that mean we’re in?”


    “Yes . That’s what it says . ”


    I could understand Amako’s suspicion .


    At any rate, it was strange to think that they would allow not only Amako but also me and Arc-san to enter the country . You can suspect a trap against me and Arc-san, who are human .


    “It’s okay, Amako . My dad, he’s the kind of guy who’s always smiling and laughing . ”


    “Yes, but ……”


    Amako is stunned by Rinka’s words .


    Anxiety, I guess .


    My healing magic is essential to saving Amako’s mother . If I get caught before I can save her mother, that won’t happen either .


    “What should we do, Arc-san?”


    “I think we should go . Currently, the only way to enter the beastmen’s country is to hide our identities or enter without being seen, so this story is not a bad one for us . ”


    Normally, it would be difficult to even enter this place just because you are human .


    As much as I have to hide my identity, there is no better story than if they invite me in from that side .


    “Is it worth worrying about now? Either way, we have no choice but to enter the beastman country to help Amako’s mother . ”


    “…… I guess so . ”


    I nodded at Nea’s words .


    If they betray us, we can think of another move . It’s a shame that we won’t be able to give them the letter, but as long as we can save Amako’s mother, which was our original goal, it’s fine .


    “Amako, let’s go to the beastmen’s country for now . ”


    “…… Yeah . ”


    Amako looked uneasy, but nodded .


    “Kagari-san, how far is it to the Land of Beastmen?”


    “It’s not that far from here . On foot, it’s about an hour or two . ”


    That’s pretty close, isn’t it?


    Then we can head there today .


    After confirming with Arc-san and the others, I tell Kagari-san that we’ll be leaving today .


    “Then, we will leave for the Beastmen Country after I send a letter with the date and time of arrival to the Beastmen Country by HootBird . ”


    “That’s fast . Well, I guess that can’t be helped . …… Rinka”


    “Hmm? What, Grandpa?”


    “Take them to the Beastmen Country . And while you’re at it, go show my late son some face . ”


    “Yeah, I’ll show them around, but I don’t want to see my father . ”


    Rinka gives him a wry look .


    He doesn’t like her father? But it’s not that she doesn’t like him, it’s that he’s a pain in the ass .


    I wonder what kind of person he is . I’m sure he holds a high position in the beast tribe because he is in a position to invite us in .


    …… Let’s ask her name, just in case .


    “Kagari-san, may I ask the name of Rinka’s father?”


    “Oh, I didn’t tell you that . My son’s name is Hayate . He’s the assistant to the chief of his country . ”


    “Chief’s assistant?”


    The chief is the chief of the beastman tribe, right? Isn’t it pretty amazing to be an assistant to someone like that?


    I didn’t know that Rinka’s father is a higher-ranking person than I thought .


    As we were making preparations at the exit of the village to leave the hidden village, we saw many beasts gathering there .


    I wondered what was going on, but it seemed that the people in the village had already heard that we were leaving for the land of the beasts .


    Arc-san was saying goodbye to the beastwomen he had talked to yesterday, Nea was saying goodbye to the children, and as for me…


    “Go for it, Usato . ”


    “I’m looking forward to the day when we can compare strength again!”


    “You may look human, but inside you’re even more impressive than we are!”


    I was about to be sent off with a smile by men who were a size larger than me .


    The temperature in my vicinity was rising . ……! I’m glad that everyone is trying to send me off with a smile, but I can’t help but feel my smile twitching .


    It’s not that I’m not a good person, it’s just that I’ve been treated more like an alien than a beast . ……


    “Usato . ”


    “Oh, Daitetsu-san . ”


    In the midst of all this, Daitetsu-san called out to me .


    “I didn’t expect you to leave so early, man . ”


    “I’m sorry, …… . ”


    “No need to apologize . I know what you’ve come into our land for . ”


    Did the chief tell the people of the village about us last night?


    For a moment, Daitetsu-san glanced toward Amako, then placed his large hand on my shoulder .


    “Hang in there, Usato . You’re definitely going to save that kid’s mother, right?”


    “Yes, of course . That’s why I’m here . ”


    I nodded, and Daitetsu-san smiled pleasantly at me .


    It all started when I asked Amako to show me a future where inugami senpai and Kazuki would die . Then, after going through many hardships, we finally arrived at this point .


    “Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine . If there’s anything I’m worried about, it’s what happens to people who fight with you! After all, you have more strength than an ogre! I don’t even want to imagine being hit by the fists of a monster like that!


    “Ha… ha… . ha… . ”


    I was impressed that I got nothing to say .


    Well, I can’t say I’ve ever punched an ogre before . But I’d go easy on a normal human opponent, okay?


    It’s just that the ones I’ve had to really move against, like the wicked dragon, Karon, and Leona-san, have been strange .


    “Usato-dono, we’re about to leave . ”


    “Ah, yes . Take care, everyone …… . ”


    “Oh . Take care, Usato . ”


    After replying to Arc-san, who had his horse and Bluerin carry my luggage on his backs, I said goodbye to Daitetsu-san once again, then departed the hidden village and headed for the Land of Beasts .


    I had no idea what kind of place the Beastmen Country would be, but now that I had come this far, I had no choice but to go there .


    If we can save Amako’s mother without any trouble, that would be fine .


    We left the hidden village and headed for the land of the beasts .


    Currently, Rinka is guiding us along a treeless path through the trees, but I’m still worried about not having a path to walk on .


    If we were to get separated, I’m sure I’d get lost as I don’t know the area .


    By not creating a …… path, was this an attempt to lead people astray as they entered the beasts’ territory? I may be overthinking this, but I’m not used to this land, and I’m sufficiently annoyed by it .


    “Lemme borrow your shoulder!”


    “Yeah, no problem . ”


    As I walked along, lost in thought, Nea, who had somehow transformed into her owl form, jumped onto my shoulder .


    As for me, there’s no reason to refuse her since it’s something I do all the time, but I’d like her to walk by herself once in a while .


    “Usato . ”


    “Hmm? What’s the matter? What’s wrong with your voice?”


    As I was thinking this, Nea jumped on my shoulder and spoke to me in a hushed voice .


    When I turned to Nea in question, she looked sideways at Amako and whispered in the same way as before, so that only I could hear .


    “Amako has a good ear . ”


    …… Is there something she doesn’t want Amako to hear? The fact that she cut it out before going to the land of the beastmen might mean it was that important .


    …… Amako is chatting with Rinka at the front?


    I casually slow down and step away from Amako, and speak to Nea in a hushed voice .


    “So, what is it?”


    “I want to ask you something about the future . ”


    “The future?”


    “It’s about what’s going to happen after we enter the Land of Beasts . ”


    “……”


    After we’ve entered the land of the beastmen, huh?


    Well, if Nea had to talk about anything right now, it would be this topic .


    I look over at Amako walking in front of me and open my mouth to Nea .


    “As you probably know, Amako is a very special person even in the Land of Beastmen . ”


    “Yeah . ”


    Rose is the Princess of Time Chanting, or something like that .


    She recites time, and is a user of precognitive magic . She has no physical attacks, but she is the most powerful magic I know .


    How could I not consider such magic to be special?


    “I think it’s fishy . Because there are too many weird things about it . Amako’s mother slipping into an unexplained coma, beasts relentlessly searching for Amako . And the letter that said it was a good idea to let the humans Usato and Arc into the beastman country today . ”


    Nea was right, there were many oddities .


    Why didn’t Amako’s mother wake up? There must be a reason why she collapsed .


    Was she cursed in some way, like Eva, or did she fall ill? Worst of all, there was no denying the possibility that a third party had prevented her from waking up .


    “Maybe the girl knows what she’s doing . ”


    “…… I’m sure she does . But we can’t afford not to go . ”


    There’s still hope to save her, so we can’t abandon her .


    It’s like the bait that calls out to Amako, who has left the Land of Beastmen–


    “Huh, no . You’re taking this too far in a bad way . ……”


    What I’m thinking is just my imagination .


    And yet, it’s not good to get a bad impression .


    “If possible, I want this to end without incident . But if that’s not possible, I’m thinking of saving Amako and her mother at least . ”


    “…… You’re still not thinking straight, but that’s fine for now . There’s a big difference between being prepared and not being prepared . ”


    Nea was taken aback by my words, but she replied .


    She must have known that I had chosen my words carefully .


    The worst thing that could happen is that I might have to choose between Amako and her mother .


    I don’t want to imagine a situation where I would have to make that choice, and I don’t intend to put myself in that situation .


    “Well, I’ll abide by your decision in any situation, okay? I trust you enough to do so . ”


    I was momentarily taken aback when Nea added that .


    Trust, huh? I chewed on that word and looked at Amako, who was walking in front of me .


    I trust the people I’ve traveled with so far . I’ve overcome hardships because I’ve trusted them so far .


    When I think about it, the obstacles that may be waiting for us now seem like nothing .