Chapter 18

We proceeded along our route through the Twilight, occasionally stopping to resupply. Fortunately, we’d been able to travel without running into too many monsters since fighting the Huge Spiders. The only monsters we have run into have been fairly low-ranked.

The Twilight becomes more dangerous the further east you go. As long as you only travel north or south in the safe zone near human civilization, it stays relatively safe. In the safe zone, there shouldn’t be any high-ranking monsters like the Huge Spiders. We don’t really understand the Twilight very well, so it’s entirely possible that a high-ranking monster can be in the safe zone… but I still felt like something was off.

That feeling came from my two years in the Twilight. I’d developed a very keen sense for danger out here, and that was why I could tell something was off.

“Yuria! Hey, Yuria!!” Sherry’s voice broke through my reverie, and I snapped back to reality.

“What is it?”

“We’re going to be arriving at the Third Barriered City to resupply soon.”

“…Got it.”

Sherry had a conflicted look on her face. She knew, of course, that I have somewhat complicated feelings about this particular city.

Being here will just force me to remember… what happened two years ago… Yes… Back then…

***

“Hey, Yuria, why don’t you join our party?”

“Huh?”

Back then, Dan was one of the best Exorcists at the Academy. I, on the other hand, had been tossed from party to party since I was pretty useless in battle. I was even considering giving up on becoming an Exorcist. That was exactly when Dan reached out to me.

He was the kind of person that no one ever said anything good about. People always commented on how he always surrounded himself with women. Some people even thought he was trying to form a harem. He only got away with all of that because he was strong.

“You want me…?”

“You’re good at healing, right? We need a healer. What do you think? Wanna give it a try?” Rebecca and Aria were standing behind him, both of them also excellent Exorcists in their own right.

I can be in this party? This incredible party? Really? I was innocently happy about being invited to their party. I thought maybe someone had finally accepted me. But now, looking back, I can see that I was just a pawn to them.

“Hey, Yuria. Buy us lunch.”

“I want a café au lait.”

“I want… tea!”

“Um… I don’t have the money…”

“Hm? Don’t you understand how great of an honour it is for someone like you to be in this party?”

“I-I’m sorry… I’ll go get it…”

All they ever did was use me. I had to buy lunch for all of them, leaving me with almost no money for my own food. I have no parents to support me, so if I keep living like this I’ll die… But I get a pretty decent reward every time we go hunting in the Twilight, I rationalised.

We went out hunting quite often and were actually making quite a bit of money. Of course, I saw barely any of those earnings, but it was still a lot of money to me.

“Yuria, we’re heading out of the safe zone next time. Got it?”

“B-but… It’s dangerous…”

“But there’s good money out there. Hunting those monsters out there earns a lot of money. Understood?”

“Um… but…”

“We’re friends, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“And remind me, who made it so a useless kid like you can earn money out in the Twilight?”

“Of course, it’s… thanks to you…”

“Good, good, I was just making sure you understood. Right?”

“Yeah…”

I was never allowed to disagree with him. I was just his slave. Just a slave. But Dan always said that that was just how the world worked. He always said we lived in a world where the strong eat the weak. The Twilight and human society weren’t that different, after all. The strong stand atop the weak, using them as they please. It was the law of the jungle, the natural state of human existence. I didn’t even try to defend myself. Because back then… I had absolutely no way to.

And despite everything I did for them, all I got in return was two years in hell. Being out there was far worse than anything Dan put me through. Constantly living one misstep away from death, I somehow managed to survive. I became a survivor.

If I do end up meeting them… what should I do? How should I face them?

***

“Alright, we’ll meet up in two hours. You’ve got free time until then,” Cyrus-san said once we’d arrived at the city. We were quite close to the First Barriered City, so this would probably be our last break.

“Sherry, let’s go shopping!”

“Wait, I was gonna-“

“It’s fine, it’s fine, come on!”

Sophia cut Sherry off, dragging her away to do whatever it was that girls did. As for me… I didn’t even stop to consider what I should do. My legs just started moving on their own, carrying me there: the very same dorm that I lived in here.

I stood in front of my old room. I managed to enter the dormitory without any hassle since there wasn’t anyone around. This is nostalgic, I thought. I hadn’t lived here for very long, but it still felt nostalgic.

“I should go back to the group…”

I didn’t feel the need to enter the room. After all, some stranger was living here now. It wasn’t my room anymore. My room is… that room next to Sherry’s.

When I got back outside the dorm, I ran into three very familiar faces. Wait, familiar faces? No, it can’t be… But it’s possible. Those three people were heading to the same place where the expedition was planning to meet up. I do remember that Cyrus-san told me that we’d join up with some students here before heading to the First Barriered City. But this… It can’t be…

”

”

I stood there, stunned, staring at the three of them. Perhaps noticing me, they looked over. “Hey you, I don’t recognise you. Are you one of the students from another city?”

“Hey, Dan. His face…”

“He looks kinda familiar…”

The three of them had grown. They’d grown taller, of course, but their faces looked more mature. Their voices, though, sounded exactly the same. That hasn’t changed at all.

“Dan, Rebecca, Aria…”

“Huh? Why do you know our names?”

What should I say? I can’t exactly pretend I don’t know them… I have to face… my horrible past. “Yuria Curtis. That’s my name. It’s been a while.”

The three of them gasped. They scrutinised my face.

“Are you serious… That’s Yuria…”

“But Yuria…”

“Yeah… Back then…”

The two girls seemed to feel a little awkward. But Dan, seemingly unbothered, began questioning me. “You lived? How? More importantly, why didn’t you come back?”

“…I live in the Seventh Barriered City now.”

“That’s pretty far away. So, how’d you survive?”

Dan’s eyes were filled with impatience. What Dan did to me was tantamount to murder. He was probably trying to get information from me to defend himself if it became an issue down the line.

“I spent two years in the Twilight, and only got back recently…”

“Hah, if you’re going to lie, you could at least try a little harder. There’s no way you could’ve survived out there. And what’s up with your hair?”

“…My hair went white from stress. I haven’t cut my hair in two years, so it got long. Besides, if you don’t believe me, I can prove it…” I told them things that only the four of us would know. They were surprised, but eventually they were convinced that I, Yuria, had really come back.

“Dan, this is bad…”

“We might end up… you know…”

“It’ll be fine. Yuria, we’re friends, right?”

I was silent.

“What happened back then, you know… It couldn’t be helped. We came back to save you, you know? But you were gone. It was an inevitable sacrifice, right? Right?”

He’s lying. I remember that they set a barrier up behind me so I couldn’t escape. The only thing they cared about was protecting themselves. Ah… Why is it that humans can be so disgusting? I felt my heart growing blacker as I kept on heading down that train of thought.

“Dan… you really haven’t changed at all.”

“Huh? Are you looking down on me? Did your ego grow with your height or something? I’m a Rank 1 Exorcist, you know? Do you really think you can beat me?”

“I managed to come here, you know. That means I made it through the selection process in the Seventh Barriered City. I’m planning to become a Special Rank Exorcist. I’ve already been asked to take on that position, so all I have to do is say yes. Dan, Rebecca, Aria… I’m not the same kid you knew back then.”

“Hahahaha!”

I had been staring at the ground the entire time I was talking. I still hadn’t been able to get rid of my feelings of inferiority. I was still bound by that curse, the habits I had back then.

“Hey, did you get that? Yuria’s a Special Rank Exorcist!”

“Yeah, yeah I heard! That’s impossible, haha…”

“And his hair’s white… Do you think maybe he went crazy?”

The three of them were laughing at me. I didn’t particularly care if they believed me or not. I really didn’t care.

“Yuria, are those three…” Sherry had come back.

“Oh, Sherry… No, it’s nothing.”

“Oh? What’s wrong, Yuria?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, Sophia. I just met a few old acquaintances,” I said, noticing that Dan’s attention had completely shifted from meto Sherry and Sophia’s bodies. How disgusting is this dude…

“The two of you are pretty cute. What city are you from?”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Sophia said, attaching herself to one of my arms. “Yuria, let’s go. I’m not interested in other men.”

“Huh? You’re into Yuria? That weak ass little kid?”

“Weak…? Ha, that’s funny. Yuria’s going to be the 13th Special Rank Exorcist, you know? You’re not even worthy of being the dirt beneath his feet.”

“W-what…? Hey, what does that mean? Yuria!” He said sharply, glaring at me. But I didn’t care. I just wanted to leave.

“…Dan, I’m leaving. See ya.”

And so, I left the three of them standing there. I’ll never forget the bloodlust from behind as I walked away.