Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Raising the Lowest-Ranked Adventurer, the Heroic Girl – Wasn’t I Just a Substitute Old Man?

Volume 2  Chapter 25   Mizuki: Story in the park

——Mizuki Miyano——

After Igami left the bus stop alone, Mizuki and the other three were left standing there in silence.

“…………Hey. Um, I’m sorry,” Mizuki finally spoke up after about three minutes.

“It feels like things have gotten weird,” Kana slowly opened her mouth.

“No, it’s our fault too for not thinking it through—” Mizuki began to say.

“I’m sorry. It wouldn’t be good if I stayed with you guys like this… Well then, see you!” Kana interrupted.

“Wait, Kana!”

Without listening to what Mizuki and the others had to say, Kana said her piece and ran off, distancing herself from the team members.

“Both of you, let’s disband for today! I’ll go after Kana!” Mizuki exclaimed.

“Mizuki-chan! We should also—”

“No!”

Just as Yuzu was about to follow, Mizuki shouted, cutting off her words.

At that moment, the bus arrived, and Mizuki quickly regained her composure, continuing her words.

“It’s not allowed. Please, when I talk to Kana, we’ll be discussing things that we don’t want others to hear, so please understand.”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Haruka-chan.”

Taking Yuzu’s seemingly objectionable hand, Haruka proceeded onto the bus.

However, she didn’t disappear into the bus. Instead, before vanishing, she turned back to Mizuki and spoke.

“But once it’s over and we can talk, let me know.”

“Yes, of course.”

With that, Haruka exchanged a nod with Mizuki and finally disappeared onto the bus. Mizuki, fully utilizing her adventurer’s abilities, ran after Kana.

“Kana.”

The place Mizuki arrived at was an empty park.

There were no playground equipment, and the grass had grown wild. It could be more accurately called an open space, but there was a bench and a vending machine, so it was surely still a park.

“Mizuki… You’re really good at finding this place,” Kana said.

“I wouldn’t say ‘good at finding.’ It’s more like an application of sensing the presence that I learned from Igami-san. I just had a hunch that you might be here,” Mizuki replied.

“I see.”

“…”

“…”

Silence. Normally, these two would have more to say, but their conversation was limited to just those few words.

“Actually, I’ve had a little doubt for a while now,” Mizuki began after the silence.

The silence lasted for about five minutes. Mizuki, who had been standing in front of Kana, slowly sat down next to her on the bench and started talking.

“Igami-san always focuses on teaching us ways to survive. And while it may be necessary to survive in the dungeon, it feels excessive, like he’s overly averse to someone dying.”

It’s only natural for adventurers to consider various strategies and countermeasures to survive in the dungeon. But Igami’s approach was different. His measures were somewhat excessive.

“This may sound rude, but… Igami-san, he’s really skilled in combat, and even I can’t win against him in a mock battle. But he is only C-rank. He has much less magical power compared to me, let alone Haruka and Yuzu.”

That’s right. That assessment is accurate.

Igami has taken various countermeasures and survived until now, but if asked whether he is a strong individual, everyone would answer differently.

To put it bluntly, he’s a weakling. That’s how Igami’s evaluation would be if it were based on numbers.

However, Kana was slightly irritated as she listened to Mizuki’s words.

Though Kana’s own feelings weren’t yet clearly acknowledged, she had a vague awareness of her own emotions, thanks to her naturally troublesome personality. That’s why she brought up the topic of Igami’s girlfriend today.

It resulted in angering him, but in such a situation, could she stay silent when the person she liked was being belittled?

— No.

Kana couldn’t help but feel frustrated by Mizuki’s words. It wasn’t about their friendship or any deep consideration. It was simply her raw emotions.

However, Mizuki’s assessment of Igami wasn’t entirely wrong, and the conversation didn’t end there.

“But he’s strong. He can defeat even special-class monsters. Isn’t that extraordinary? Don’t you think it’s abnormal?” Mizuki continued.

Earlier, she had labeled Igami as a weakling. Yet, he had repeatedly encountered the worst-case scenario, facing special-class monsters that even top-class adventurers struggle against, and managed to survive unscathed. Moreover, he saved other adventurers who happened to be present.

Wouldn’t it be normal to take such extreme measures to ensure you can defeat any monster that poses a threat, even those that give trouble to special-class adventurers?

“In reality, despite complaining and finding it troublesome, he goes out of his way to keep us from dying, and he helps other adventurers so that no one dies, right?”

Upon hearing Mizuki’s words, Kana couldn’t help but realize that there was some truth to them.

When Kana and the others delve into the dungeon, they occasionally encounter other adventurers, many of whom are injured.

While there is some insurance coverage for deaths that occur within the adventurer’s gate, diving into the gate itself is a personal responsibility. Even if someone dies, it is treated as an accident.

Helping injured adventurers is recognized as a noble act, but it is not officially recommended.

After all, the dungeon is a dangerous zone. Even if someone is diving in a relatively safe area, if they continue to act burdened with injuries, the assisting adventurer may end up losing their life as well.

Therefore, adventurers helping each other within the dungeon only occurs in situations where they have ample leeway.

In other cases, it is limited to simple actions that can be performed on the spot.

However, igami assists others almost every time.

Though he may complain or find it troublesome, he helps them with the reasoning that it will benefit Mizuki and the rest later. But even so, he helps every injured adventurer and ensures their safety until they reach the exit, even if it means endangering himself.

However, this raises the question of “why.”

Why does he risk his own safety to help other adventurers when he often says, “As long as we survive, that’s enough,” and shows a disregard for others?

Why does this person named Koosuke Igami dislike the idea of someone dying in the dungeon?

“And… when we talked before, I felt something off about Igami-san words. He said, ‘She’s not here anymore,’ but there was something strange about the way he said it. And his expression at that time didn’t seem like a simple farewell. It was different… It felt like something sadder had happened, that kind of expression.”

“An accident… a death inside the dungeon during an adventure?”

“I think so. And this is just my own speculation, but I wonder if Igami-san aversion to someone’s death and his excessive caution towards the dungeon stem from the same reason. I’m probably not too far off with that assumption. So maybe he’s still carrying that burden…”

Kana was stunned as she listened to Mizuki’s words.

Did she really tell such a person to “just forget about it” like that?

But the words had already been said and couldn’t be undone.

Kana recalled her own words and clenched her fist tightly with all her strength.

Blood overflowed from her hand, but she paid no mind and continued to hold onto it.

“I knew that, but I didn’t stop you. This time, it’s my fault.”

However, not only Kana but Mizuki was also biting her lip with regret.

“No! It was me! It was because I recklessly barged in without thinking! That’s why… I made him, Haruka, Yuzu, and even Mizuki feel unpleasant… I’m really sorry.”

Kana stood up from the bench while shouting loudly, then slumped her shoulders weakly and bowed her head to Mizuki.

“…I… I never wanted to become a hero. On top of that, I didn’t want to become an adventurer. I wished this power never awakened. That’s the hidden truth in my heart.”

While watching Kana like that, Mizuki, for some reason, spoke about her own “something she didn’t want others to know,” as pointed out by Igami.