Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 14: Determination
After resolving the saturation of the dark dungeon, the knights successfully protected Hyde and the others.
Though there were injuries and damage to buildings, the result was zero fatalities, and including Dolph, the overall atmosphere was very bright.
And then, they returned to the Rugen estate.
The carriage stopped in front of the mansion, and Cordelia appeared from the entrance.
After exchanging embraces with Dolph and the others, she flashed an unusually intimidating smile as she looked down at Enju.
“…I’m home, Mother.”
“Welcome back, Enju. After you change, come to my room.”
“…Brother.”
“Even if you look at me like that, I won’t help. It’s Enju’s fault, you know.”
For Hyde, who had once asked what kind of thoughts Cordelia had while seeing off Dolph on his expedition, it was not hard to imagine the emotional strain she was feeling this time.
Enju had already reflected enough, but that was a separate matter altogether.
◆ ◆ ◆
A month had passed since then.
While investigating the dark dungeon, multiple corpses were apparently discovered inside the dungeon.
It seems that those who had attempted to monopolize the dungeon lost their lives within it.
As a result, with no one left to defeat the monsters, the saturated dungeon formed a large-scale gate.
It was a troublesome story.
Dolph, who was swamped with paperwork, grumbled that the obligation to report such incidents was to prevent situations like this from happening.
In addition to handling the aftermath, Dolph had been working hard on the search for a person named “Shou” who had appeared in Rurya Village.
However, it seems that they were unable to grasp any leads, and the search was proving difficult.
Hyde, unable to say that continuing the search was futile, silently apologized for increasing his father’s workload.
Thus, the peaceful daily life at the Rugen estate was restored, but even here, various changes had occurred.
Among those changes, the most significant one was undoubtedly Enju.
“Ha! I did it—!”
At the training ground, where the knights were away dealing with the gate situation, Enju was practicing swordsmanship without using any skills.
Since returning to the mansion, Enju had become dedicated to sword training, something she had previously neglected.
As a result, it seemed like her skill in swordsmanship had improved as well.
And that wasn’t the only change.
“Brother! How was it?”
“Yeah, you’ve really improved. At this rate, you might not have to wait too long before you’re taken on another expedition.”
“No, I’m still not good enough.”
Enju shook her head and spoke with a determined look in her eyes.
“Brother, I’ll become stronger. Just like you.”
“Enju, you’re already much stronger than I am.”
Startled, Hyde responded awkwardly, but Enju flashed her usual mischievous grin.
(Does she know? No, that can’t be. After all, it’s clearly a different person.)
There was no way that Shou and Hyde could be connected.
After seeing his sister look at him with even more respect than before, Hyde eventually concluded this.
When it came to change, it wasn’t just Enju who had undergone it.
Hyde was also deep in thought.
“Adventurers are people who belong to guilds and explore dungeons or defeat monsters, right?”
The Rugen estate’s library, which Hyde had frequented until a few years ago.
Now that he had grown and no longer needed to hide like he did back then, Hyde openly brought books into his room.
He spread several books out in front of him on his desk.
They contained information about adventurers, guilds, and dungeons.
A guild is an organization established in various countries to manage dungeons and adventurers. Unlike the nobility, it’s a place where people without powerful skills gather, dreaming of striking it rich.
Nobles and their knights deal with monsters or gates that appear on the surface.
In contrast, adventurers are focused on addressing matters more fundamentally.
That is, hunting monsters inside dungeons.
Adventurers continue to hunt monsters in dungeons to prevent gates from forming on the surface.
Originally, it was also the nobles’ job to control these dungeons, but due to delays in dealing with gates that appeared on the surface and their inability to manage all the dungeons within their territories, guilds were established.
“In other words, adventurers, like the knights, are protecting people, right?”
Even if it’s for money, the fact that they fight monsters without considering the danger is the same.
“…Adventurers, huh.”
Closing the book with a snap, Hyde collapsed onto his bed.
Lying on his back, he stared blankly at the ceiling as he pondered.
For the first time, he saw a monster, for the first time, he defeated a monster, for the first time, he used his skills to help someone, and for the first time, he was thanked.
A question was running through Hyde’s mind: Was it okay to continue without using his power?
(There must be many people suffering from monsters that I don’t know about. …If it’s me, I could probably reduce the number of such people a little.)
Ad
It wasn’t arrogance or anything like that. It was simply the truth.
What had been his true failure in his previous life?
Hyde thought about it.
His failure in the previous life wasn’t about having a large sum of money. It was that people found out he had it.
“If no one had known I had that fortune, and if I had used it to help someone in need, wouldn’t I have avoided such a tragic end?”
He thought he could have avoided being abandoned by those he had once been close to, losing even the smallest of happiness, and dying alone.
Yes. It wasn’t the problem of having power that was excessive. The problem was that people knew he had that power.
“But, if I use my power as Shou… I, Hyde, can still live a happy life as myself.”
The happiness of someone he didn’t know, and his own happiness.
To balance those, all he needed was to prepare a scapegoat.
Hyde slowly stretched out his right hand toward the ceiling.
Then, he clenched his fist tightly and whispered.
“I will become an adventurer.”