Volume 7 Chapter 10 The Left Behind Girls
Yuusuke wanted to be alone for a while, so he left the house.
He is a responsible person, so he probably won't go too far in this situation. Maybe he's up on the roof, looking up at the sky.
Isumi Tsukiko, in the heavy silence, couldn't even stand up and stayed in the living room.
Kougarou is already gone. He said everything that needed to be said and disappeared quickly.
The only ones left were Tsukiko and the others, who were suddenly interrupted by the conversation.
(Eris-san... the person Yuusuke told me about in the past)
A while after the sharehouse started, Tsukiko visited Yuusuke's room. For Tsukiko, who gets her heart racing just by holding hands with the opposite sex, it felt like jumping off a cliff.
The story she heard about another world was incredibly bizarre, yet it had a vivid sense of reality.
The world Yuusuke had lived in seemed shining precisely because it was harsh.
Every story was interesting to Tsukiko, but there was one name that she couldn't help but ask about multiple times.
That name was Eris.
Yuusuke speaks enthusiastically about his past comrades and friends. Perhaps because he had never been able to talk about it with anyone before. While he doesn't talk much about himself, when it comes to his comrades, he can boast a lot.
However, when Yuusuke talks about Eris, it's different. He talks about her as if handling a broken treasure.
When Tsukiko saw his somewhat sad and compassionate eyes, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
That's because they resembled the eyes he used to look at Tsukiko with when they were lovers.
However, reality was different.
Yuusuke's feelings towards Eris cannot be summed up with simple words like love. It's even presumptuous to think they are the same as hers.
So, now, Tsukiko pondered over this fact.
"Hey,"
Amongst Tsukiko, Lisha, and Kanami, the unexpected person who called out was Sharla.
"Can we talk for a bit?"
Receiving the gaze of the three, Sharla tilted her head as always, with sleepy eyes.
Tsukiko nodded slowly.
She didn't know what she could do, but she vowed to be a pillar of support for Yuusuke. She couldn't afford to be depressed.
And for that, information was necessary. The only person who knew about Eris well was Sharla.
She seemed to interpret the silence of the other two as affirmation and started talking.
"Was it a shock?"
"I'm fine. I'm worried about Yuusuke now."
"You don't have to worry about that. It may be a shock, but Yuusuke can handle it on his own now. That's why Kou also talked to him."
"I see..."
"Yuusuke probably realized it somewhere. Right now, he just needs time to sort things out."
Tsukiko's heart ached at Sharla's words.
She was a woman who had been next to Yuusuke, a woman Tsukiko didn't know about.
She understood Yuusuke much more than Tsukiko did.
"Is that really so?"
As if denying Tsukiko's thoughts, a voice was heard from the side.
It was a voice that would be impossible if one knew her usual self.
"Lisha-san..."
Lisha looked at Sharla with dark red eyes shining.
She was a kind and devoted girl. A Saint who showed compassion even to the enemy, the demons.
From Tsukiko's perspective, Lisha seemed somewhat unreal and detached from the world, but she always had a friendly demeanor and never seemed angry at anyone.
However, Lisha was clearly glaring at Sharla with hidden anger in her eyes.
And Sharla was staring right back at her.
"What?"
"How can you say that Yuusuke-san is okay? He's been hurt and grieving so much, how could you!"
Lisha herself seemed unable to put her feelings into words.
But her emotions were painfully clear.
"Why... why did it have to be like this? Yuusuke-san was always so kind, why did he have to get hurt? It's not right for the end of someone who fought for us, who had no connection to us, to be like this!"
She said.
The reason doesn't matter. It's wrong, it's unjust.
"Yuusuke-san is still suffering! Since the day he saved me, he's been waking up in the middle of the night, blaming himself! I...I couldn't do anything... but Sharla-san, or Eris-san, could they have done something?! Couldn't we have chosen a different, a different way...?"
Finally, mixed with sobs, inarticulate words spilled out.
While shedding big tears, Lisha was gazing at Sharla.
She is facing the strongest hero.
However, she won't back down.
Until she receives a satisfactory answer, Lisha's eyes were saying, "I won't forgive you."
In response to that girl's question, Sharla lowered her gaze for the first time. As if looking down on the past that exists there.
"If we were to reveal the truth, Yuusuke would have definitely remained in Asteris. Because we knew that, we didn't convey anything. I'm not asking for forgiveness at this late stage. Both me, Kou, Mevia, and even Eris... we all chose that path knowing it would hurt Yuusuke."
Those words were surprisingly weak, to the point of not seeming like something Sharla would say.
Tsukiko, who made the same choice in the past, understands.
She knows the kind of feelings they had when they arrived at that choice, and how much despair they carried with them.
And that pain is incomparable to what Tsukiko herself felt.
"Such selfishness... Isn't that just selfish? What will happen to Yuusuke-san? Was it all worth it, losing everything, just as long as he live...?"
Sharla faintly smiled at Lisha's words.
In the depths of her heart, she rejoiced at that moment, albeit fleetingly.
"I wanted him to live. I'm truly glad that he's alive."
The moment Tsukiko and Lisha saw her face, they understood.
They were made to understand.
'If you're going to fight, show your resolve. Neither I, nor Sharla, nor Mevia, nor even Eris will allow you to participate with half-hearted intentions.'
It wasn't just Eris.
Kou, Sharla, and probably this person named Mevia as well.
They were all people who threw everything away for the sake of Yuusuke's wish to live.
Having Yuusuke there, being able to talk and share joy and sorrow, to touch each other—what Tsukiko and Lisha considered normal was a miracle for them.
"..."
Lisha remained silent and bowed her head.
She sensed the depth of the woman standing in front of her, the woman who stood beside Yuusuke.
The accumulated years, feelings, and past were too different.
To brush away the pressing silence once again, Sharla clapped her hands together.
"It's no use being down. We have to do what we have to do."
"——What do we have to do?"
"That's right. It's actually an opportunity."
"I can't think of it as an opportunity in this state, though."
When Tsukiko expressed her honest feelings, Sharla tilted her head.
"Men who are down are easy to bring down, that's what the older sisters said."
"Bring down? I don't have any intention to——"
As Tsukiko hurriedly tried to deny it, Sharla interjected.
"Don't you?"
"Well..."
"If you don't, then it's okay. The older sisters also said that it's better to have fewer rivals, they always said that while glaring at each other."
"Um, who are these older sisters that keep coming up?"
"The consorts of the God of the Hell."
Receiving a response that made no sense, Tsukiko held her head.
She had thought that the Anti-Demon Officials were all crazy, but Sharla was far beyond that.
"But, one piece of advice. If Yuusuke's feelings continue to go towards Eris, no one, absolutely no one, can win."
Sharla asserted.
At those words, the shoulders of Tsukiko and the three girls trembled.
"Yuusuke is a genius when it comes to magic and combat, but he's an idiot and clueless when it comes to dealing with women."
"Wha——idiot? Don't say it like that..."
"It's the truth. If you want to blame someone, blame Eris. She's the one who raised him to be like that."
Eh, w-w-what...?!
Tsukiko couldn't help but let out a surprised voice at the shocking revelation that was casually mentioned.
There have been more than a few times when she thought Yuusuke was clueless.
Lisha and Kanami were also wide-eyed with surprise as they looked at Sharla.
Indeed, Eris had subtly educated Yuusuke from an early stage. It was a means to protect Yuusuke, who had poor social skills, from noble children who were more devious than swamps and battle-hardened assassins. Whether there were other intentions, only the person themselves knew.
"Even in that state, Yuusuke was admired by princesses and great women from all over the world. However, most of them gave up on their feelings for Yuusuke. Because Eris was there. They couldn't win against her."
Sharla's words, standing by the two, carried immense weight.
Unconsciously, a sound of clearing one's throat could be heard.
"For the sake of the battle, it is necessary for Yuusuke to recover as soon as possible. And, opportunities are equal. No interference. If we doesn't act quickly, the next one may come."
Perhaps it was a temptation from the devil.
However, there was no one who opposed that proposal.
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