Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru-Chapter 137.1: Homecoming III & IV

<Homecoming III>

To cool off, I wandered aimlessly through the night streets.

Perhaps it was because everyone had already gone to sleep, but the snow-covered city of stone felt unusually cold. That said, it was nothing compared to the snowy fields of Neomia. My skin froze and my flesh stiffened, but the cold didn't reach my bones.

My feet automatically brought me to the stores of my acquaintances.

Needless to say, both stores were already closed.

I left, and since the brothels would be a bad idea, I steered clear of them. The normally noisy streets were so quiet it was almost painful to the ear. There were neither prostitutes looking for customers nor intoxicated adventurers.

I was struck with a strange sense of loneliness.

It was as if everyone had perished, leaving behind nothing but the traces that they had existed in the snow. It seemed like I was walking through a city that had fallen into ruin.

It felt to me like hundreds of years had passed without my knowledge, and that no one would be there even if I returned home………………

「How utterly foolish」

Both my head and body have cooled off enough. I should hurry home.

However, the wintry landscape and the atmosphere of the night had made me lose track of where I was.

This problem would have been resolved right away if I had just asked Yukikaze, but I simply kept on walking aimlessly. By chance, I stumbled upon a place I recognized.

It was Tyutyu's store, which had a red awning over it.

Perhaps it was because she had more money now, but the tables and chairs were a bit newer. They were probably second-hand, but even though they looked a bit old, they were still an upgrade over the battered ones that were there before.

The snow looked freshly shoveled, causing me to think, “Surely not……”

「Welcome back, Barfuru-sama………………Sorry-nya, I guess I got your scents mixed up-nya」

Tyutyu had emerged from the shack. She had wrapped herself in a blanket, but she had practically been outdoors in this temperature. Even a beastkin must find it too cold. As proof, she was shivering a little.

「Surely you haven't been sleeping here?」

You have a proper house, so what are you doing here?

「Hmm? Whenever Barfuru-sama goes off, I sleep here instead of at home. That jerk-nya, he would never stop by my house-nya」

「………I see」

Barfuru had said that this was not the place he had to return to. And yet, there’s someone waiting for him in this place.

I was overcome with a feeling that was too much to bear.

「What about you, Souya? What are you doing here at this hour-nya?」

「I had just returned from work. I thought I'd take a quick stroll around, but at this hour……」

「Then hurry on home-nya. You have people waiting for you at home. You're a lucky man, Souya-nya」

「………………」

I wanted to reply, but found myself at a loss for words.

The person she's waiting for will never return. Because I've killed him.

「Tyutyu, about Barfuru-sama……」

「Hmm?」

「He's not going to come back here anymore」

I went and said it.

I just couldn't keep quiet about it.

「Why?」

The eyes that she had fixed on mine were terrifying.

I had thought that I had become stronger, but I guess I'm still weak against women.

「He's gone back to where he has family waiting for him. A place far away」

「………………Is that so?」

「So stop waiting for him here and go home. If you sleep in this kind of place, you’ll――」

「Don’t call it “this kind of place”!」

Tyutyu's voice echoed in the still of the night.

「Oh………sorry-nya. But this is the store my mother left me, and Barfuru-sama is………」

The hypocrisy I had spouted had been no better than a load of bullshit.

Tyutyu broke out in a shiver and crouched into a small ball. I stretched my hand towards her, but………

「Souya, please just go home. That kind of thing………I don't need it」

My shallow sympathy was rejected.

There was nothing more to be said. I dragged my legs, which were stiff with reluctance, and left her side.

I heard the sound of stifled sobbing.

It's just my imagination.

She's not such a weak woman.

If not for me, if I hadn’t come to this alternate world, Barfuru and Tyutyu's everyday life would surely have continued.

The beast from a nightmare, despite his obsession, would continue to distract himself with alcohol, and though she would only see him as a good-for-nothing, the beastkin girl would continue to experience what it was like to have family.

But……

But so what?

I had simply brushed off the sparks that had landed on me(defended myself from what was threatening my life). Why should I give a damn about the feelings of those sparks?

The sorrow of just one girl should be nothing to a follower of Misuranika, the god of misdeeds.

Don't worry about it.

Don't pay it any mind.

My footsteps on the snow gradually became faster. Once the sobbing could no longer be heard, I started running.

I had no destination in mind. I ran, and I ran, and until I was out of breath and my heart was pounding, I kept on running. On impulse, I started to throw away the things I was carrying, but my calculating mind took over and stopped me at the last second.

Losing my balance, I slipped on the snow and fell awkwardly. I hit my back so hard that I couldn't move for a moment.

To Barfuru……

And the king of adventurers……

I offer these words with all my heart.

「If only I could live shamelessly like you guys! I'd have it so much easier!」

Go to hell.

No, live and suffer.

「You stupid bastards」

The sky looked so ridiculously beautiful.

I just lay there and watched the stars.

It took a while for me to get my ragged breathing under control and for the sweat on my feverish body to dry up. The sky was filled with so many stars that it felt like I was in space, and so beautiful that it brought tears to my eyes. Shining brightly, as if sneering at me, were the three moons.

「Souya」

So