Goodbyes are Just a Part of Life

(What happened…)

Serge wondered. Something happened. There was no mistaking it. However, he didn't understand exactly what happened.

Right now, their group was heading to Maal's hometown.

Thinking that they would be separating soon, Serge was a bit lonely.

But, as though compensating for the loneliness, Shizuna was being friendly.

Nestling between Maal and Ria, she was being looked at with eyes similar to a mother's.

To be exact, her stinging attitude toward Ria had disappeared.

Her forced rudeness was gone, she even looked feminine.

What happened in this short time?

It seemed like she was seriously contemplating the words said in the ogre village. It was like she'd turned into another person.

"I think it's a good trend though?"

Lulu said that, and he agreed with her.

Shizuna seemed to have grown as a human.

He consulted other people too, but Carlos wasn't interested in human women. Gig was an innocent child when it came to subtleties like that. Even asking Irina would have been useless.

So, he had to brood on it alone.

On a day like that, they were on the evening before the day they would arrive at Maal's hometown.

"Let's have a talk."

Since he called that out to Ria, they separated a bit from the rest of the group into the woods.

[You're a man yeah?]

Naturally, he asked in Japanese.

[Do I look like a woman? I'm the same man I was in my previous life.]

Ria nodded with a hmph.

[If you're a man, why the secrecy?]

[I wouldn't be talkative about it, but I will absolutely keep the promise if I'm told to not saying anything.

Again, Ria nodded with a hmph.

[We're comrades that have trusted our lives to each other. Can't best friends talk with each other?]

[Persistent.]

Since they were speaking in Japanese from the start, you might think they were talking about an extraordinary secret.

[This is an absolute secret. In truth, I slept with Shizuna in the ogre village.]

Huh?

[But I thought Valis said—]

[H-hold up. Hold up a second. I said sleep, umm, that's—]

She swallowed back her saliva.

[H-how did you do it?]

[Ah~, that's…]

It was hard to explain. Even though Serge had also heard everything Valis said.

[Though I thought that I might be able to turn back into a man if I really tried…]

Since she wasn't able to turn back, she made good use of her previous life's knowledge, turning Shizuna into a woman while still being a woman herself.

Ria told him.

[You're the worst.]

For the first time, Serge despised Ria. It was the fastidiousness particular to a virgin.

[No, but, I didn't think she'd be so cute…]

It could also be called the shame of a man being unable to resist the feast in front of him.

Hearing the whole story, Serge consented. There was no helping it.

Honestly, to be frank, it was because he really felt envious.

[So, you went with the Shizuna route?]

Since this wasn't a game, it didn't mean they would pair up in the end.

Actually, you'd have sex with them! You would spend time in happiness together from then on! Stuff like that didn't happen in reality.

[But I don't know how to turn back into a man anymore…]

Ria was telling him that she didn't know what to do, but since even the God Dragon-sama couldn't answer, neither could Serge.

To the end, all of Serge's knowledge was just as an otaku virgin.

[Well, now I understand why Shizuna's seemed incredibly happy recently.]

[Even though that's good…]

She folded her arms.

Ria was a person of common sense. She just happened to calmly exceed common sense. She properly knew what common sense was.

If you were to think about the world's common sense in general, it was natural for a man and woman to be together. There were the eyes of other people, and they couldn't make children.

As far about the eyes of others, she didn't care about being seen if it was just a problem for herself. But it was a different story if it was for her partner.

She wanted to make Shizuna happy. That's what she felt.

If she were to choose another man for her…

He would have to match up to Vargas, or he'd probably have to surrender himself to her father's fury.

[Well, Shizuna's calmed down, so that's good. Maal will be leaving soon though.]

Ria was obviously depressed by those words.

Their group would arrive at Maal's hometown the following day.

They would separate from Maal there. They wanted her to live quietly in happiness.

Although she felt lonely, Ria wished for that strongly.

 

 

The beastkin village was supported primarily by hunting.

When Ria's group arrived at midday, a number of people were in the village.

The village went into an uproar when they saw a group that had a hellhound, but calmed down when they saw Maal's figure.

While calling out her acquaintances' names, Maal ran into the group of people.

Before long, beastkin of the same breed as Maal ran out of the inner part of the village.

The man and woman beastkin were probably her parents, the small beastkin her siblings.

Aah, they hurried a bit too fast. They fell down.

"Maal!"

The beastkin that seemed to be her mother embraced Maal tightly.

Other beastkin gathered around Maal as well, she was being jostled around by them.

It was a kingdom of soft fluffiness.

(Welcome home, Maal.)

She was happy.

 

 

That day, Maal returned to home for the first time in a long time. Ria's group was taken to the village chief's house.

Accordingly, she spoke of the big alliance that would include the ogres and beastkin.

"So suddenly, it's hard to believe…"

The white-bearded cat beastkin spoke carefully.

"Yeah, I understand."

Ria also agreed. Even though she was a person that saved one of their village's children from slave hunters, they wouldn't trust a human so easily.

However, they wanted to express their gratitude. For that reason, they provided them with dwelling.

"I want you to tell the surrounding villages about it. In a little while, a formal messenger should be sent from the ogre village."

The message wasn't to submit under their rule.

It was a request to fight together.

"The villages in this area are all angry about Cordova's slave hunting."

In the case of Cordova subjugating a human village, they could pay a tax in exchange for defense. It was a different story for beastkin though.

Cordova was a country of human supremacists. They looked down on everything that wasn't human, removing people that disagreed.

Heavy tax, severe labor, but nevertheless due to its laws, the country settled itself under the king.

It was inhuman, but it was a powerful nation. That was Cordova.

From here on Ria's group would visit and speak to the dwarves.

Though the race of dwarves were dexterous with they hands, they were above all a warrior race of blacksmiths.

Their physical robustness was not at all inferior to, or maybe even surpassed, the ogres'. Still, they didn't think to build nations that took up large areas.

"Seeking their cooperation might be hard…"

"However, if I can turn the dwarves into comrade, I want you to prepare the beastkin race as well."

The village chief thought for a while, but nodded strongly before long.

"If you can make those crusty dwarfs your comrades, we beastkin will join as well."

"After this, we'll be going to Manesh. They oppose Cordova as a human country, so we should go there first."

Above all, the Dragonslayer was there.

The nation's capital was attacked by a wicked dragon before, two percent of its citizens were killed in a single breath.

It was opposed by five heroes. Now, three of them survive.

The princess that survive was turned into the present queen, the [Queen of Dragon Eyes] Guinevere Sarion Manesh.

Piercing through the wicked dragon's heart, the one said to finish it, the [Sage Knight of Silver] Carla Raparb Uslan.

No one know where they came from, [Nanashi], the anonymous John Doe mage.

She'd heard about them from stories, but she really wanted to meet them. And fight them if possible.

If she met John Doe, she'd probably quip about him being a reincarnator at full strength.

"Manesh is also open-minded towards beastkin."

She wanted to add their power as an ally by all means.

 

 

The next morning, Maal stood in front of Ria's group as they were leaving village.

Maal was wearing in travelling attire.

"Thirteen years old is already old enough to be an adult for beastkin. I want to stay with Ria-chan, can't I?"

"You can!"

Ria embraced Maal tightly, lifting her up and twirling in circles.

"You can! You really can!"

Continuing until Maal's eyes were spinning, she finally calmed down and spoke.

"Although, it would be better for you to stay with your parents and siblings for a while. We'll come back here from the dwarf village after all."

Maal's family were happy with her proposal as well.

Their eldest daughter they thought they'd lost had returned alive. Even though they were so happy, she said she'd wanted to leave already.

To return their gratitude, they wanted to respect their daughter's feelings even if they were painful.

However, they wanted to stay together even if it were just for a little longer.

"Maal-chan, are you staying?"

Irina spoke in a lonesome tone. She was the person she was most attached to.

So she proposed again. To be together with Irina, to learn this world's common sense.

If she was going from journey to journey every day, she wouldn't be able to quietly sit down and be taught things.

"Onee-chan and Maal-chan, which should I choose…?"

It was a problem.

Although it was a rare thing for Irina to brood about something, Ria decided to leave Irina there.

In truth, Maal had been the one to look after her the most so far. In the dwarf village they'd be going to after this, there was a high possibility for a lot of time to be taken by political maneuvering.

"Alright, we're off then."

"See you soon."

The two waved their hands, and were waved back to in return. Their group departed from the beastkin village.

As for why this was the right decision, that was a story for a bit later.

 

 

It's said that goodbyes are just a part of life.

However, if you didn't meet anyone, goodbyes were also impossible.

Though you could meet people you bid farewell once again.

While she felt a little lonely, Ria kept on her journey with her chest filled with anticipation for their reunion.