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 5 Chapter 60  Mizuki:…

“Kana!”

“Got it!”

In response to Mizuki’s shout, Kana readied her massive hammer, her own weapon, and charged towards the monster.

The golem, a giant-like creature made of rock, took a defensive stance to eliminate the threat that Kana posed. However, before its fist could reach her, a mass of flames flew in from behind and collided with it, disrupting its action.

With the golem’s movement momentarily halted, Kana had already reached its feet. Without losing the momentum of her run, she swung her massive hammer upward, shattering the golem.

“Survived another day.”

“Just need to collect the materials and cash them in.”

“No room for complacency.”

“That’s right. Remember last time? You got injured right at the end.”

“Ahaha, sorry.”

Just now, after Kana defeated the last creature, the monsters surrounding Mizuki and her companions had been completely eradicated.

Golems are difficult to defeat, as they weren’t pure biological creatures. They were at least Grade One in rank, and depending on the situation, they could even be considered Special Grade. Nevertheless, Mizuki and her group managed to win comfortably without anyone suffering major injuries.

“Materials collected.”

“Roger. Well then, let’s head back without letting our guard down.”

After Mizuki extracted the core, the essential material, from the golem, Kana spoke with a smile. The four of them, often referred to as the “Quartet,” began their walk from the dungeon back to the real world, Japan.

“See you tomorrow!”

Having exited the gate and completed the material exchange, Mizuki and her friends conducted a brief reflection session, discussed their next plans, and then disbanded.

“Mizuki, this is a surprise. You coming over here.”

“Well, once in a while, you know. I want to walk together for a bit?”

As they all lived separately, normally each would head home on their own path. However, for some reason today, Mizuki walked alongside Kana.

“This place brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. It’s not like I’m not having fun now, but… If I said I preferred those days, would you get mad, Mizuki?”

“No, not at all. I also find myself wanting to go back to those times.”

As they walked for a while, the school came into view before them.

Memories resurfaced from when they used to attend this place.

Even though they had already graduated and had no reason to come here anymore, Kana occasionally found herself coming back to this spot.

For some reason… or for some recollection, Mizuki understood it painfully well.

「「……」」

The two of them stood in silence for a while, gazing up at the school building. Suddenly, Kana diverted her gaze away from the school building and started walking toward somewhere that wasn’t the school. Mizuki followed after her.

“It’s been three years since then…”

“Time really flies, doesn’t it…”

Three years had passed since the abnormal situation known as the “Gate Rampage,” where numerous spontaneous gates appeared due to the Savior Army. Since that incident, Mizuki’s mentor and benefactor, the adventurer Koosuke Igami, had destroyed the core of the dungeon that was generating the sudden gates, causing most of the gates created by the Savior Army to disappear.

Unfortunately, the existing gates that existed before the anomaly remained, and while not all gates were eliminated, the number of new gates appearing had decreased compared to before the anomaly.

The disappearance of the gates and the decrease in their numbers were positive developments, but it didn’t mean that the situation had completely resolved.

However, even so, the anomaly had ended that day—at the cost of a single sacrifice.

“Hey, Kana, don’t you ever think about having a boyfriend or something? I mean, setting aside Haruka, I never hear you talk about it, and Yuzu doesn’t mention anything like that either…”

“…Well, if you say that, you’re the same, aren’t you? The rumor about you having a matchmaking meeting with another hero, that spread, didn’t it?”

Now, three years after that time, Mizuki and her friends had reached adulthood and were about to turn twenty-one this year.

While Mizuki being a hero added to her popularity, all four members of her team were decent-looking individuals, making them somewhat popular in their own right.

However, none of them had engaged in any serious relationships, and even if such rumors emerged, they quickly faded away.

It was simply because they still hadn’t quite sorted out their own feelings.

“Well… I wonder what’s going to happen to us from now on,” Kana said with a touch of humor, but her voice carried a sense of emptiness.

Mizuki probably understood that too. Without saying anything, she glanced at Kana and then quickly shifted her gaze forward.

And so, silence settled in once again.

Given how lively they usually were when acting as a team, the current silence felt almost painfully quiet.

“You know, in the end, how did you feel about him, Mizuki? Do you still like him?” Kana’s words broke the silence.

“…Yes. Well… I’m not entirely sure, since I’ve only had those feelings for someone other than that time. But I think I still like him, probably.”

“I see.”

But even such words quickly trailed off.

The conversation falling silent here wasn’t because Mizuki had a bad attitude or because she and Kana were on bad terms. Mizuki was generally friendly, and he got along well with Kana to the extent that they were walking home together like this.

It was just how it always went. Whenever this topic came up, they would naturally fall into silence, regardless of who initiated it.

Yet, deliberately bringing up this topic was an attempt to overcome the pent-up emotions that still hadn’t been sorted out within both of them and the past that caused them—despite the fact that unfortunately, this approach wasn’t working all that well.

Forget it. I want to forget.

Even if they tried to think that way, the moments of joy they had shared suddenly resurfaced at unexpected times. And that last troubled yet kind expression on his face remained unforgettable.

“What’s the plan after this?”

“Hmm, well, I guess there’s not much else to do but head home. My place is just around the corner.”

This area isn’t particularly pricey. Despite being about an hour away from the capital, due to being a bit farther from the city center, there are places that go for around thirty thousand a month for a 2LDK apartment. Kana’s apartment is one of those affordable ones.

Not just Kana, the earnings of Mizuki and his team, who are first-class adventurers and heroes, are quite substantial. They have savings substantial enough that they could even move to a house in the heart of the capital.

Considering that, Kana could afford to live in a nicer place.

However, living in this relatively affordable apartment like she does now might be influenced by the person she heard was living around here before. Or perhaps, it’s because she still can’t forget that person. Or maybe, it’s because she doesn’t want to forget…

“Right. Well then, let’s call it a day around here. See you again tomor—”

Again, tomorrow. Just as Mizuki was about to head home, in that moment…

“Oh, looks like it’s gone after all, huh? Yeah, that makes sense. Of course. Not paying rent for three years could definitely lead to some sort of eviction or something, right?”

A voice they hadn’t heard before, yet strangely familiar, reached the ears of the two.

The voice, though faint and seemingly coming from a distance, was unmistakably that of a man.

The curious and oddly lingering words he uttered were not something to be openly discussed, as they carried a sense of embarrassment and insignificance that shouldn’t concern the two.

Yet, despite their lack of relevance, both of them found it difficult to divert their attention from the voice.

“What should I do, I wonder… No money, no official records to work with… Well, I’ve been missing for about three years, so is anything still in place? But even if I wanted to work, I don’t have an address. Heck, even these clothes are stolen… It’s still better than being caught butt naked, but I’ll have to explain myself and apologize later.”

As if in response, the two individuals, without any prior agreement, found themselves naturally scanning the surroundings to identify the speaker—and there he was.

The man who seemed to be the source of the voice sat on the grass, gazing at a small river nearby.

His words contained unsettling terms like ‘missing person’ and ‘stolen’, but there was no discernible trace of guilt or remorse in his tone, just a touch of petty wrongdoing.

In fact, it seemed to evoke a sense of nostalgia and familiarity.

“Should I head to the lab? But walking all the way there is a bit of a stretch. Not that I can’t walk or anything.”

The word ‘lab’ caught the attention of Mizuki and Kana, and in that instant, their eyes met.

There weren’t many places referred to as a ‘lab’ within walking distance from here.

The only ones they knew were ones they had been introduced to as students and occasionally visited even recently. However, the man before them was a complete stranger.

Of course, they couldn’t possibly know every staff member, and it might be a different ‘lab’ from the one they had in mind.

Yet, such thoughts didn’t cross their minds. Instead, a single idea—concerning a single individual—dominated their thoughts.

“Moreover, if I head to the lab, Nina’s bound to give me an earful. And given my current state, if she does, I might just drop dead. Originally, the reason I managed to survive was that she played around with me to some extent… sigh.”

Unbelievable. That can’t possibly be true. He wasn’t in that state.

Although they hadn’t seen the man directly face-on, his profile and back resembled someone Mizuki and Kana knew.

However, it was just a resemblance. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, considerably younger than the people they knew. Therefore, such a thing couldn’t be possible.

Mizuki and Kana tried to cast aside the hope that had emerged within them.

Yet, they couldn’t.

No matter how much they denied it, the thought still clung to them, a lingering “maybe.”

Above all, the man mentioned the name ‘Nina.’ ‘Lab’ and ‘Nina’ side by side. Considering those two words together, the pool of potential individuals who could fit the bill was limited. And if someone were to casually refer to ‘Nina’ by name, it narrowed down the possibilities even further.

Once they thought about it in that way, it was already too late. Denial was no longer an option.

The realization hit them—though the person standing there seemed to have regressed in age, it was undoubtedly the despicable individual who had left them behind and disappeared on his own.

“And then, there’s the matter of those guys too. If I go to the lab, Nina will probably catch wind of it. But at this point, no matter when I show my face, it’s a given she’ll be furious. I might have said something quite embarrassing towards the end… Well, I don’t remember, though.”

Those words held a tone of trying to convince oneself to forget, a hint of trying to brush something aside.

As they considered the identity of the man murmuring to himself, Mizuki and Kana exchanged glances. Mizuki sported a somewhat incredulous smile, mixed with a sense of exasperation. Meanwhile, Kana’s tears of joy flowed as she chuckled.

When they turned their gaze back to the man, ready to take a step forward, their feet inexplicably froze after just one step.

It’s almost certain that the man is the person they believe him to be. His appearance has changed, but it’s not enough to confuse them.

… But, what if they’re wrong?

They had hoped that the person was alive, but if this turned out to be someone else…

With that thought, they found themselves unable to move any further.

“Anyway, I’ll have to brace myself sooner or later, that much hasn’t changed… sigh. I might get scolded for saying this, but it might have been better if I hadn’t come back and just died like that…”

The moment they heard those words, spoken by the man as he sighed, Mizuki and Kana unconsciously radiated anger towards him. The man immediately stood up and turned around in response.

As he rose to his feet, he lowered his hips and placed his hands on his back, a gesture that was familiar and reminiscent of movements they had seen many times a few years ago.

“If you know you’re going to get scolded…”

“Could you not say things like that?”

The instant they looked at his face, Mizuki and Kana felt like crying, thinking, “Oh, I was definitely right.” However, they couldn’t afford to cry just yet. They had so much to say, and until they could express their grievances about that time, they held back their emotions and addressed him as calmly as they could, trying to maintain an attitude reminiscent of the past.

“No, what I just said was just talking to myself… Wait, who are you?”

“Huh?”

However, in response to the man’s perplexed gaze and his words, Mizuki and Kana were left dumbfounded, swept away by a torrent of various emotions.

“While it may not have been appropriate for me to say that it might have been better if I had died, I still believe that one shouldn’t… intervene in someone else’s private thoughts?”

However, the man’s initially confident words gradually faltered. His eyes widened with surprise, his momentum waned, and finally, he averted his gaze from Mizuki and Kana, wearing an expression akin to a mischievous child who had been caught.

“Um, Igami-san?”

Seeing this display, Mizuki thought that their suspicions were indeed correct. However, being denied by the man about their identities was a fact, so Mizuki cautiously spoke up to seek confirmation.

Yet, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable for the man to mistake them, even if only slightly. After all, several years had passed since they last met. While their physiques might not have changed much, their hairstyles and overall aura might be different.

“…And who might you be? I am not familiar with this person named Igami.”

Nevertheless, the man continued to deny. Deep down, he knew that the truth was already out, and he didn’t expect to escape. However, caught in a situation where he wasn’t mentally prepared to confront them, he didn’t know what expression to put on, so he simply wanted to flee this scene for the time being.

“Ah, I think it’s best for both of us not to get involved any further. With that said, please excuse me.”

Consequently, even though he understood that this was just postponing the inevitable, the man hastily wrapped up the conversation, turned around, and began walking away.

“Hey, wait a moment! Wait, I said!”

Kana shouted, but even so, the man didn’t stop in his tracks.

“…Ah. Igami-san, you dropped your wallet.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry… Wait, that’s nonsense. I don’t have a wallet on me now. Because of that, I’ve been troubled since earlier—huh?”

Trying to stop him would likely be futile. Understanding that arguing would only lead to more excuses, Mizuki decided to address the man by his name, just like they used to do when they were together.

Surprisingly, perhaps because Mizuki’s words came across as natural, the man—Igami—reacted genuinely to the sudden encounter, despite his initial surprise.

It seemed Igami himself realized that this was a problem, but it was too late.

“It’s definitely you!”

With that shout, Kana dashed forward and embraced Igami’s back with great force.

“Ngh!?”

Naturally, Igami couldn’t withstand Kana’s tackle, and he was knocked down. Kana held on tightly as if she wouldn’t let go.

“Wait… dying…”

“Don’t say you’re going to die!”

“No, it’s your fault… gah.”

As a result, Igami’s abdomen felt like it was going to be crushed, and he tried to free himself, but Kana tightened her grip even more.

“Why… how?”

While Mizuki regretted not being able to straightforwardly hug him like Kana did, thanks to their combined effort, he managed to regain some composure. Mizuki intervened, pulling Kana away gently, and after calming her down, he spoke.

Perhaps feeling there was no escape now, Igami let out a sigh and then began to speak slowly, his gaze averted from the two of them.

“After the gates closed, the dungeon gradually started collapsing. I was already prepared for the abnormal collapse of the gates, so I tried my best. After all, if they could open gates, and I was inside the dungeon, I thought maybe I could find a way to return somehow through trial and error. So, I kept attempting different things until I found a gate that led somewhere, and that’s how I came out.”

Hearing this, Igami’s explanation seemed rather concise. There were likely more details behind it than he was sharing. Yet, both Igami and the two of them felt that it wasn’t necessary to delve into all the specifics at that moment.

“Now, in terms of my appearance… Sorry for this in advance. After the battle, I was feeling a bit dizzy, and due to my blurred consciousness, I accidentally took the medicine you had given me,” Igami admitted.

The day before the operation three years ago, Mizuki had forcefully given Igami an expensive medicine, as a promise to come back alive. The deal was, if he wanted to return it, he had to return alive together.

“Well, it was my fault that I couldn’t uphold that promise.”

“The rejuvenation potion…?”

“You idiot! You big idiot!”

Understanding the reasons for his changed appearance and realizing that he was indeed Igami, Kana embraced him tightly, and with a burst of emotions, she let out a loud cry.

“There are so many things… so many things I want to say, but that can wait. We can be together again,” she managed to say through her tears.

Seeing Kana break down in tears, Mizuki had intended to hold back her own emotions, but she couldn’t contain them either. Tears welled up in her eyes as she smiled at the sight.

“Oh, I’m truly grateful and happy that you’re glad I survived, but… doing things together again, like being adventurers? No way. I intend to spend my remaining years in peace,” Igami remarked.

While Igami looked appreciatively at the tearful pair who were rejoicing at his survival, deep down, he had no desire to venture into danger or engage in battles anymore.

It wasn’t due to the same escapist feelings he once held towards the adventurous profession, but simply because he genuinely disliked it.

However, that was only natural. After experiencing years of being left alone in solitude, he couldn’t possibly want to jump back into it again.

But then…

“No, you can’t. This is an order from the Leader. I won’t allow it,” Kana stated firmly.

“Well, even if it’s from the Leader, I’ve already left the team,” Igami countered.

“Not yet. Your team registration is still active,” Mizuki interjected.

Given the situation when he vanished, and considering several years had passed, Igami assumed that his death status and team registration would have disappeared. However, Mizuki shook his head in denial.

“Huh? Hey, Hero. Shouldn’t you have already fired a guy like me? And replaced me with someone else? I told you not to fall for someone like me again,” Igami argued.

“I didn’t hear that.”

Muffled by her embrace, Kana responded with a subdued voice.

“Huh? …Oh, was that something you said after you guys went to sleep?”

“Besides, you can’t… just erase it, can you?”

At the sight of their sorrowful faces, Igami found himself unable to say anything more.

With Kana sobbing as she clung to him and Mizuki holding back tears while looking at him, Igami considered moving to a different location for a more meaningful conversation. But then he remembered that he no longer had a home.

“Now that you’ve become younger, there’s no reason to quit just because of your age!”

As they pondered their options, suddenly Kana’s face lit up, and she shouted at Igami with unwavering determination.

“That’s right. From now on, forever and ever, we’ll be together. I won’t let you retire until death do us part.”

“Don’t mess with me! I’ve worked more than enough already, haven’t I!? I’ve worked to the point of almost dying! Taking a break now won’t bring bad luck upon me anymore! Just go ahead and fire me already! Damn hero!”

Igami yelled back while trying to pry Kana off him, but Mizuki and Kana weren’t about to back down.

In fact, not only did Kana persist, but now Mizuki also joined in, embracing Igami.

“We won’t ever let go!”

“We’ll be together from now on!”

And so, in that moment, there stood two women with radiant smiles on their faces, much like young girls, and a man whose expression, though somewhat reluctant, held a hint of happiness as he looked at them.

〜END〜