Estimated reading time: 7–9 minutes
Chapter 5
○○○
Six months have passed since I came to this world, and I’ve been able to learn more than ever about Saint Mika and Ryūgūin, with whom I’ve spent time together.
Ryūgūin was the same as always.
Although he was completely useless in battle, he somehow started following me into the dungeon on his own without me saying anything these days.
However, even though he tagged along, the fact that he was a non-combatant hadn’t changed. Nevertheless, he had the nerve to heckle me as if he were a full-fledged member.
「Yamada! Defeat it quickly! If you waste time on such small fry, conquering the dungeon will be nothing but a pipe dream! You want to grant your wish, don’t you!?」
「Shut up, you idiot! Read the room before heckling me!!!」
This exchange took place while I was fighting the Large Mantis, known as the strongest even among the Deadly Series, and right when its scythe had cleanly sliced off my right arm from the elbow down.
Somehow, he had turned into an incomprehensible existence who didn’t contribute to our fighting strength, yet wouldn’t stay at the inn and continued to heckle me.
○○○
There are still things I need to mention about Ryūgūin.
I divided the money I earned from selling monster materials obtained in the lower levels of the dungeon into four equal parts (three parts for each of us and one part for party operational funds), but whenever Ryūgūin got his hands on the money, he would go to… those kinds of establishments.
I often saw Ryūgūin accompanying women when I took a stroll around town to refresh myself.
「Are you enjoying yourself, spending the money I earned while covered in blood?」
「Does the alcohol you drink taste good, paid for with the money I earned while coughing up blood?」
I swallowed the words that were about to come out of my throat.
He must be feeling lonely, having suddenly been brought to a different world.
Should I corner him when he’s already going through that?
Should I have grabbed his shoulders and raised my voice, saying, 「You’re not the only one who’s suffering; I’m suffering too」?
In the end, after much deliberation, I couldn’t find the right words to say to him, so I turned on my heel.
What would have been the right thing to do?
I still don’t know the answer.
○○○
And above all, I want to talk about Saint Mika here.
The six-month period was enough time to deepen the trust between Saint Mika and me.
By that time, I had already received permission from Saint Mika to 「call me Mika.」
I called her 「Mika,」 and she called me 「Ichiro.」
I still vividly remember the warmth that welled up from deep within my chest every time she called me 「Ichiro.」
○○○
When I first met Mika at the royal castle, I had a cold impression of her.
So, for the first month after we met, Mika spoke very little and only engaged in minimal communication, which led me to assume that 「Her Holiness may not like talking to people.」
To make an excuse, it was because even when I spoke to Mika, she would respond calmly, rarely changing her expression.
In other words, her reactions were subtle, and I couldn’t read what she was thinking from her facial expressions at all.
But after spending half a year with her, I realized something.
Mika was simply not good at talking.
In other words, the reason we couldn’t communicate sufficiently was that I didn’t fully understand that she had difficulty speaking, and she also didn’t try to convey her poor communication skills.
I discovered this because of a certain incident.
○○○
Monsters don’t only inhabit dungeons. They sometimes descend from forests and mountains and cause trouble in human settlements.
There was a village located a short distance from the town where the dungeon we were conquering was located. At the time, I had no idea, but that village had also been attacked by a horde of monsters a little while ago.
Around the time when our dungeon attacks had been going on for three months, the three of us decided to take appropriate days off individually.
I spent most of my time resting, training, and preparing for monsters in the lower levels.
On the other hand, Ryūgūin was devoting himself to the Super Hero Battle in brothels and taverns.
Devoting himself (this is important).
To add to that, by this time, it was common for me to smell alcohol on his breath when we met during the day.
Mika usually spent most of her time with me.
She would be by my side as I trained, we would go shopping together for necessary items, and we would exchange opinions and rack our brains for dungeon conquests, deepening our bond.
However, at some point, she started frequently leaving my side, saying, 「I have something to take care of.」 I found it strange but didn’t think much of it, assuming she wanted to be alone at times.
The mystery of her whereabouts was solved unexpectedly quickly.
There was an incident that triggered it.
I had finished training and was taking a bath behind the inn when it happened.
「Um…」
I heard Mika’s troubled voice.
「Ichiro, I have a small favor to ask…」
Unusually, she lowered her head to me with a furrowed brow that anyone could see.
「A favor?」
「Yes, a favor.」
Surprised that Mika, who valued austerity, had mentioned a favor, I urged her to continue.
「I want you to lend me some money…」
Mika had gone astray. Mika had strayed…
○○○
It turned out to be a simple matter when I asked.
Mika had been visiting a village struggling to make ends meet due to monster attacks and had been providing them with food.
This time, the favor was for the expenses needed for the food distribution.
But I answered a little sternly,
「I sold the materials from an ultra-rare monster. It’s not an amount that would run out just from food distribution. With that money, you could easily do 300 food distributions and still have plenty left over.」
「I donated…」
Her voice was soft.
「Huh? What did you say?」
「I donated it…」
「You donated? How much?」
「Almost the entire amount! I donated almost everything, keeping only the bare minimum for myself!」
This was the first time I saw her blushing with such embarrassment and raising her voice so loudly.
Mika, who always calmly continued to use healing and support magic even when my body was messed up by monsters, showed a clear feeling of embarrassment about her own actions.
She took pride in her profession as a saint and absolutely never told lies to decorate herself.
In the first place, I already considered Mika to be the most trustworthy companion. She healed any injury (even fatal ones) completely.
Moreover, she boldly took on my reckless dungeon attacks without a single complaint.
As for party members, there was me, who lacked consideration for women, and Ryūgūin, a useless good-for-nothing.
In her private life, she must have endured hardships that I couldn’t even imagine. Despite all that, she continued to work herself to the bone for my sake and for the sake of the world.
At the end of such hardships, she was able to share the money she earned with strangers without hesitation, without using a single penny for herself, while maintaining her austerity. That was Saint Mika.
Through this exchange, I felt an even deeper sense of respect for her.
At that moment, I couldn’t help but find her adorable, with her emotions laid bare.
Check out my Patreon for early access to upcoming updates. Patreon Link