Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari (LN)

Ep

Epilogue

The feast was long over . We found a room that hadn’t been used, a dusty servant’s room, and rested there .

It was nothing like the last time I’d stayed in the castle . That piece of trash of a king seemed like he would do whatever he could to heap misery on me .

That’s what I’d call him . Trash .

As for Myne, I’d already decided to call her Bitch… And it was only fitting, considering her behavior .

As for Motoyasu, I’d call him Man-Whore… or no… Clown .

Then again, I suppose it was possible that he was just being used by Bitch, so I decided to hold off with the nicknames for the time being .

Raphtalia saw that I wasn’t eating much and went out for a while .

“The cooks gave me some food from the kitchen that they weren’t using . ”

“Ah… Thanks . ”

She gave me something like a sandwich, and I ate it .

“Well, it’s not very good…”

I couldn’t taste it anyway, so it didn’t matter what I ate . I took a bite .

“Huh?!”

I’d been expecting something flavorless and gross, but it reminded me more of the first meal I’d had here .

Was I imagining things? One more bite .

“What is it?”

“It… I… I can taste it . ”

“Hm?”

“Ever since they framed me, I haven’t been able to taste anything . ”

But why? Even though I’d done all that crying, I felt tears welling up again .

I didn’t know that being able to taste food would feel so… so warm, so good .

“Good, I’m happy . You always made such delicious food for me, and I was sad to see that you were unable to enjoy it yourself . ”

She smiled, and took a big bite of her own sandwich .

“Let’s eat all kinds of yummy things together . ”

“Sure . ”

Someone believed me . Just that fact made me feel… lighter .

My sense of taste vanished when Myne betrayed me… but it was back .

It was all because she believed in me, all because of Raphtalia .

Who knew that being trusted and believed in would make your heart so light?

“What should we do tomorrow? Want to level up? Or make money?”

“Right… I want to get new equipment with our reward money . We’re a month behind the others, and so that’s where we need to start . Let’s find a good place to work . ”

Now I would have to fight to save this world, again . But this time, I’d be with the one person who understood and believed in me .

I didn’t want to . I was afraid so many times, but I made up my mind to stay positive, if only for Raphtalia . How else could I repay her trust?

“Mr . Naofumi?”

“What?”

“Let’s do our best . ”

“Right on!”

I didn’t want to just stay alive anymore . I wanted to actually move forward, because she believed in me .

It was a whole new world, full of dreams and adventures, like an anime or a game . But it was a horrible place as well . But I… I still wanted to try .

I wanted to try for myself, and Raphtalia too .

“Raphtalia . ”

“What is it?”

It might have been rude, but I leaned over and kissed the cheek of the girl who believed in me .

“Thank you . ”

“Ah… ahhhhh…”

“Um… Sorry? I guess you don’t like that kind of thing . ”

“No, I… I… Oh… Um…”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry . That was rude . I won’t do it again . ”

“It’s okay!”

I got it . She was filled with purpose, and she didn’t want that to happen . She would be angry . I learned an important lesson .

Had this been an anime, they would have depicted us in a physical relationship . But in the real world, that wasn’t going to happen .

There it was, that bad habit of mine . That way of thinking wasn’t going to work .

This wasn’t a dream world . It was reality, just a different reality . If I treated it like a fantasy game or anime, I was going to end up hurt . We needed a solid plan if we wanted to survive .

Raphtalia squeezed my hand, and I squeezed hers back .

We’d be okay; we could overcome whatever we were faced with . If I was with someone who believed in me, I could take the first step .

My fight was only just beginning . I didn’t need to rush, just take one step and a time .