CHAPTER 147
A few weeks passed, and soon it had been a month.
Just as Rapiel and Aigis were about to ramp up the intensity of the training even further, Aranseol said something unexpected.
“Harua, want to go on a date?”
A date.
A term for when two people who are fond of each other spend time together.
Normally, I would have dismissed it as one of Aranseol’s jokes, but for some reason, her eyes were serious. Was there something she wanted to talk about?
I didn’t know her intentions yet, but it was clear Aranseol wanted to speak with me alone.
In that case, I might as well go along with it.
“Sure, why not.”
When I agreed, Aranseol broke into a smile and turned.
“Then let’s meet in an hour.”
She said a woman needed time to prepare, so I decided to go wash up.
My own appearance was a mess from all the training, after all.
When I told Aigis and Rapiel, they both nodded readily and told me to go.
“After all that training, you need a change of pace. Go on.”
So my masters did have a considerate side.
I decided to gratefully accept their offer.
“Since it’s a date, I won’t get too close,” Aigis, my guard, said considerately.
No matter the situation, I couldn’t just send her away.
I thanked her for her thoughtfulness.
After getting ready, I waited, and soon heard a knock on the door.
When I opened it, my jaw dropped.
Standing there was Aranseol, dressed in a Wolun-style dress.
The gown, a harmonious blend of black and gold, had a slit in the skirt that revealed a bewitching charm.
“Aranseol, are you trying to render someone brain-dead with that look today?”
At my question, Aranseol covered her mouth and giggled.
That laugh had surely killed a few men.
“Harua, you have such a pretty way with words.”
“I’m just being honest because it’s the truth.”
“It’s just that people who can be that honest are rare.”
Is that so?
Living honestly can be difficult, but hiding your true feelings all the time seems even more exhausting.
At least, that’s what I believed, so I’ve tried to live a relatively honest life.
“It’s probably also because it’s you, Aranseol.”
Aranseol was the first person I told about my aversion to the people of this world. Because of that, I often found myself being this honest in front of her.
“Really?”
Seemingly pleased by my words, Aranseol gave a gentle smile.
We’re going to attract every single gaze in Wolun today.
“Shall we go, then?”
As I was thinking that, Aranseol took the lead.
I didn’t know anything about Wolun.
So, Aranseol was planning to be my guide for everything.
“Where are we going?”
“Just grab a meal, look around a bit, and then there’s a place I want to go.”
Come to think of it, Aranseol had probably started training the moment she returned to Wolun.
It was only natural that she’d want to see her hometown after being away for so long.
As I started walking, she naturally slowed her pace to match mine and stood beside me.
Then she raised her arm and looped it through mine.
I felt a soft touch, but I didn’t dwell on it.
I’d spent so much time with Aranseol like this that it felt natural by now.
“Harua, your arm has gotten firmer.”
“After the training I’ve been doing, my arm would be disappointed if it didn’t.”
“If it gets any firmer, it’ll be uncomfortable to use as a pillow.”
“That’s a job best left to actual pillows.”
“But it’s easier to sleep when I’m next to you, Harua.”
Aranseol kept smiling, clearly enjoying the casual conversation we hadn’t had in a while.
Thanks to that, gazes naturally drifted our way as we walked through the streets.
They say that in Wolun, staring too intently is considered rude.
So while no one was openly gawking, quite a few people couldn’t help but glance our way.
“You lived in Wolun your whole life before coming to Gladion, right?”
“Yeah. I only went because Master had business with Lady Rapiel.”
“You must have missed your hometown a lot, then.”
“Not really. Wolun is my home, but it’s also a place that brings back painful memories.”
The ones who killed Aranseol’s parents were Transferees.
The thoughts of her deceased parents were surely less frequent in Gladion than they would have been here in Wolun.
“The me back then would never have believed this situation.”
“Because you hated Transferees.”

Aranseol’s hatred for Transferees was justified.
Who could possibly welcome the people who murdered their parents?

Even if she had joined the Radiance Faith, I couldn’t have said she was wrong.
But Aranseol had overcome that to the best of her ability to get to where she was now.
“How about now?”
Here I was, a Transferee, standing right next to her.
I was curious what she thought of Transferees now, given how close we were.
“Harua, to be honest, I still don’t really like Transferees.”
I knew that already.
Aranseol had a tendency to avoid Transferees when they were around.
In fact, she was the one in our party who spoke the least with Lululio.
“And after what happened with that woman, Asheria Eve…”
The memory seemed to make her hold my arm a little tighter.
“Sohan, too.”

Sohan, who betrayed his master.
For Aranseol, who had lost her parents, Soun was a parental figure.
Seeing Sohan betray Soun must have made her relive the loss of her own parents all over again.
The feeling of hatred toward Transferees.
That feeling hadn’t disappeared; the seed of it remained, festering.
It wasn’t something that could vanish overnight to begin with.
And the circumstances surrounding Aranseol always seemed to compel her to hate Transferees.
“It’s pathetic, isn’t it? I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did, yet I can’t seem to change myself.”
She bit her lip, a bitter taste in her mouth.
“I know there must be Transferees like you out there, Harua, but I still can’t get rid of this prejudice in my eyes.”
“Aranseol.”

I reached up and poked her cheek.
You’ll hurt your jaw if you keep clenching it like that.
“I’m not disappointed in you for hating Transferees. You were the one who told me your story, after all.”
Aranseol looked up at me, rubbing her poked cheek.
I tried my best to imitate her smile for her.
“Conversely, Aranseol, would you be disappointed in me if I still hated the people of this world?”
“No. Your circumstances more than justify it.”
“I feel the same way. Lately, I’ve reached the point where I think both Transferees and this-worlders are all idiots.”
I still dislike the people of this world.
And I believe Transferees possess the same uncivilized nature.
As time goes on, I find myself more and more disappointed, sighing and lamenting at the nature of people.
“In a way, since I hate everyone equally, maybe I have the most impartial view. Right now might be the time I see everyone most equally.”
But despite all that, there was a reason I didn’t just blindly hate them, even if I thought they were uncivilized.
“But some people show you otherwise.”
When the great earthquake hit, there were people who set up tents to help anyone and everyone, people who rebuilt collapsed houses.
People who prioritized others’ injuries over their own, trying to save even one more life. People who threw themselves into danger without a thought for their own lives to stop the terror of Black Dawn.
People who, despite their own difficult circumstances, shared what little they had to help someone else.
So many people like that live in this world.
“Aranseol, you said I was special.”
“Yes. Harua is precious enough that it doesn’t matter if you’re a Transferee or not.”
“It’s the same for me. To me, Aranseol, and by extension Babiyen and so many others, have become precious enough that it doesn’t matter if they’re this-worlders or Transferees.”
Human affection is a frightening thing.
The bonds that deepen just by being near someone are impossible to sever.
And through those bonds, you learn things.
“The number of people like that in our lives will only continue to grow.”
I’m sure I’ll be disappointed again in the future, and I’ll come to hate someone again.
But just as surely, I’ll find people I can trust, people I won’t hate.
“We don’t need to like everyone in the world. And we don’t need to be acknowledged by them.”
We don’t need that many people.
Just having the precious people by my side is enough.
“Whether it’s for a selfish reason or a grand cause, I don’t care how the people around me frame it. Everything I’ve done has been for myself, and for the things I’ve come to cherish.”
For that, I would gladly become a Saint and defeat Black Dawn.
“You are one of those people to me, Aranseol, and that will never change.”
“...How can you be so sure, Harua?”
“Because that’s the kind of person I’ve seen you be.”
I reached out and gently stroked Aranseol’s hair.

To dispel the vague anxiety she must have felt, and the disappointment she had in herself.
I returned the warmth she had given me.
“Just like the person you saw in me, Aranseol.”
Aranseol looked up at me quietly.
A few tears welled up in her large eyes.
Realizing a moment later that she was crying, she touched the corners of her eyes.
“Really, Harua… you have such a beautiful way with words.”
Wiping away her tears, Aranseol gave a small, bashful smile.
To be a precious person to someone meant you could also have precious people of your own.
That was why Aranseol and I could cherish each other.
A breeze blew past.
At some point, our steps had led us to the outskirts of Wolun.
I could see a shaded forest and a stream flowing nearby.
It was a place where a pleasant, natural wind blew.
“Today is the anniversary of my father and mother’s death.”
So that was it.
No wonder Aranseol’s mood had been more subdued than usual.
Where she was looking, I saw two stone monuments standing under a tree.
“I’m sure they were always worried about me, so… I wanted to show them.”
She rested her head on my shoulder.
“That I have someone so dependable by my side.”
Then, she slowly stepped in front of me and rose onto her tiptoes.
Her lips, now just inches away, met mine.
A soft sensation enveloped my lips.
For some reason, I wasn’t surprised.
It felt as if I’d always known this would happen someday.
And Aranseol must have felt the same.
“That I, too, had found someone I could love this much.”
Aranseol smiled, her hair fluttering in the wind.
It was the most beautiful smile I had ever seen, a lovely smile that would remain etched in my memory for the rest of my life.