Following our discussion, Yukariko Shiki looked around at us and said, “By the way… I wanted to ask. Kazu, Arisu, Tamaki—aren’t you going to see your families one last time? I understand you’re ready to leave this world behind, but shouldn’t you at least say goodbye to your families first?”
The three of us that Shiki had named exchanged glances before giving wry smiles.
“Arisu and I are, well, technically part of a foster family, and our relationship with them wasn’t… the best,” Tamaki answered.
“Exactly,” Arisu agreed. “It’s too late now.”
“But, what about you, Kazu? Come to think of it, you’ve never mentioned your family.”
My family, huh… She’s right, I haven’t talked about them.
“It’s not that we had a bad relationship, but, well, it doesn’t really matter.”
“If you’re just being considerate because of us…”
“It’s not that. It’s really not my problem. A big part of why I went to a private school with a dorm was because my parents wanted me out of the house.”
To them, taking care of me had been more of an obligation they had to fulfill.
I understood how they felt, and I didn’t think it was worth rebelling over. I also didn’t think they were worth hating or getting angry over.
“If I had to say, it’s more like indifference… So, yeah, it really doesn’t matter to me.”
“But you went to a cram school in Shibuya, so you must have lived pretty close by.”
“Well, yeah. But the fact that I don’t feel any inclination to visit says it all.”
Shiki didn’t press any further; she could probably tell how I felt from looking at my face.
“All right. After we defeat the Demon King, we’ll all head back to the other world. As soon as we find a way back, we’ll leave this world behind. That’s the plan, right?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. Earth isn’t our home anymore. It may have only been a few days, but the other world has become our new home.”
I looked at Rushia. The elf girl gave a small nod and a graceful bow. “As a representative of the other world, I welcome you, visitors.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Shiki gained seven skill points, enabling her to increase her Reconnaissance skill to Level 7—which did a lot to enhance her safety and, by extension, the safety of the entire group.
✦ ✦ ✦
Back in the alley, the fight continued with five skeletons remaining. Following the strategy we’d discussed, the plan was to reduce the enemy’s numbers swiftly.
“Until there’s only one left, let’s take them down fast.”
“Got it, let’s go!”
“Leave it to us!”
Arisu and Tamaki worked furiously, obliterating the skeletons.
Wan looked on in amazement. “This is… impressive,” he murmured.
“It’s all thanks to our skills.”
“Seeing it in person, it’s truly a remarkable system.”
Our ability to fight and grow infinitely stronger is all thanks to our skills. And moving forward…
“Oops.” Tamaki let out a sheepish cry. Her sweeping attack had inadvertently annihilated the remaining two skeletons.
“Sorry, Kazu. I ended up taking down the last one, too.”
“Ah, come on, that was supposed to be about incapacitating it, not killing it. The plan was to use that last skeleton as a catalyst to pinpoint the Ghost King’s location,” I explained with a sigh.
The strategy I had devised was based on the premise that if the Ghost King attempted to evade us, we could employ a detection spell to locate him. Given that Mr. Wan and his group had seen us coming, it stood to reason they might be able to perform detection spells.
When I’d asked him, Mr. Wan had indeed confirmed this, and he’d even agreed to my plan. However, the effectiveness of the detection spell hinged on having a catalyst linked to Diasnexus, hence the idea to capture one of his summoned skeletons.
Now, that plan was in ruins.
We all slumped, disappointment weighing heavily on us. Despite the enhancements granted by our skills, it seemed we were still prone to bouts of carelessness.