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Chapter 4 Part 1

The other side of my best friend that I never know

 

A rural, ordinary, and peaceful village far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

To think that a dungeon would appear in such a village. Just what kind of divine joke is this?

 

「….What’s wrong, Russell-kun?」

 

「Ah, no, it’s nothing.」

 

The people in the village didn’t know about my past, that I left the city after being kicked out of the party because I wasn’t useful to them in the dungeon exploration.

So I decided to tell her a cover-up story and ended the talk there.

 

「Well then, I’ll be going to the orphanage now. I was going to go there but decided to come here first because of what Brenda had told me.」

 

「Ah, of course, I’m sure you do. I’m really sorry that we bothered you.」

 

「Please don’t mind it. Also, thank you for the meal.」

 

I thanked her for the meal and stood up right away.

The two of them even came to the door to see me off.

 

「Will we meet again?」

 

「Maybe. Well, I do think that I will stay in the village, but I’m still not sure.」

 

「I think you should consider living here!!!!」

 

I patted Brenda’s head lightly and gave her a reassuring smile before letting go of her hand softly.

As expected, I can’t just go to another village just because a dungeon appeared near this village. Besides, I don’t think I can live anywhere else but in this village, anyway.

And I had no desire to go back to the city again.

 

As my feet take me away further from their house, I head for the orphanage where I used to live for years.

The day is getting dark, but there should still be some kids playing around there.

But now, strangely enough, I did not see anyone even though it wasn’t quite dark yet.

 

But still… a dungeon huh.

Even though I decided to take a break from dungeon exploration… what bad luck.

 

The sun was already setting by the time I arrived at the orphanage.

It’s really getting dark fast once the sun goes down.

 

I knocked on the door, and without waiting for a reply, I opened it without hesitation.

 

「Wait! Don’t you know it’s a manner to wait for a reply before opening the door!?」

 

「Come on, don’t be too harsh on me.」

 

「……Is that you, Russell?!」

 

「I’m home, Aunty Jema.」

 

Jema, one of the two people assigned to take care of the children at the orphanage was surprised when she saw me.

She’s a hearty old woman who takes good care of everyone here.

 

「You could at least let us know beforehand if you’re coming back. Frederica is out right now and I haven’t prepared anything to eat. What about Vince and the others?」

 

「I’ve eaten earlier, so don’t worry about it. And, I came back alone.」

 

「…..It looks like that your atmosphere has changed.」

 

「You could say that.」

 

I dodged the question somehow, but Jema Baa-san could still tell that something had changed in my atmosphere.

….There wasn’t even a goodbye, there’s no way I can put on a bright face.

 

「More importantly, why is it so quiet here? I haven’t seen a single kid around. And there was hardly anyone even before the day got dark.」

 

「Ahh, that? It’s because there are monsters appearing at night.」

 

「…..Monsters? Inside the village?」

 

「That’s right. It’s really troubling.」

 

According to her story, there were several bat-like monsters spotted in the sky above the village, and some kids were even attacked too.

I haven’t heard anything about this in the city though.

 

「When did they start appearing? Do you know what they look like?」

 

「It was about half a month ago… around when the dungeon appeared. I did get a chance to see it up close once, and it was red. It’s somewhat big, and it’s about the size of my body when it spreads its wings.」

 

「A “Dungeon’s Scarlet Bat”, huh?」

 

It’s one of the monsters that live inside a dungeon, and they’re actually the type that rarely comes out.

It’s not strong by any means, but defeating them is not easy unless you’re an experienced adventurer.

Well, I alone should be able to manage it somehow.

 

「Still, why are you returning alone?」

 

「That’s… Well, I guess it’s fine to tell you, Baa-san. It will be a bit of a long story.」

 

And so, I told her about the event that happened yesterday.

Of course, I also included everything that led up to it.

 

Jema Baa-san listened quietly the whole time I was telling her the story.

She didn’t interject or ask questions in between, so I finished telling the story faster than I thought.

 

「….And that’s why I came back today.」

 

「Haa~……」After listening to the entire story, Jema Baa-san let out a big sigh.

 

「I can’t believe that the four of you, who were the pride of our village, ended up like that. I guess it’s true that you never know what fate has in store for you, huh?」

 

She then puts her hand on my shoulder.

 

「I now understand why you’ve changed. But let me tell you this. For you to come back to the village and didn’t fall into depression after all of that. These alone make me very happy.」

 

After she said that, she patted my shoulder, looking a bit difficult to reach it.

….I didn’t notice it right away, but Baa-san had looked so much smaller now, huh.

 

「But seriously, I was a little worried about Vince, but to think he’d do something like that…」

 

「You’re worried… about Vince?」

 

「Ahh, you might not know this because you’re always such an innocent kid, Russell.」

 

There’s something in the way she says it that implies something.

Baa-san folded her arms and groaned as her eyes looked distant as if she was reminiscing.

It seems that Jema Baa-san knows something about Vince that I don’t.

 

「That kid, Vince you see… he always had eyes for women.」

 

「….Ha?」

 

The story suddenly went in a strange direction, and I couldn’t help but let out a silly noise.

 

「It means just as I said it. Vince was constantly eyeing Emmy and Janet, as well as Frederica. But it’s because of their bodies, not their beautiful faces.」

 

「……」

 

「You, on the other hand, Russell, always looked away when they were almost in your view, right? Girls can tell about something like this right away, you know? That’s why Frederica always liked you because she thought you were cute, and was always wary of Vince because he’s like a man in a child’s body. The women in the village generally shared the same opinion of him.」

 

I see, so that’s how he was.

I thought I knew Vince well, but I guess I didn’t know much about that part of his life.

 

「But that can’t be the reason why he kicked me out of the party, isn’t it?」

 

「It would be great if that were the case. This is where men and women will have a different way to look at it, that’s why it would be better to at least keep this in mind. …Besides, Emmy turned down Vince once when he made a pass at her in the past.」

 

「….This is my first time hearing it.」

 

「This is when you all were still a kid. He also made a pass at Janet the next day right after she turned him down, wasn’t he? Even though the walls here are thin, fufu.」

 

「Honsetly, I don’t really want to know about this information, the last one in particular…」

 

It could be that Baa-san also knows some things I said back in the day.

I always thought she was watching over us closely and had good instincts. But, I see, so this is how she knew everything.

But still, to think he would make a move on Janet only a day after he was turned down by Emmy, that’s way too fast no matter how you look at it. I can’t imagine myself doing the same.