LEVEL 1: A Whisper, an Aria, a Prayer, an Awakening
Chapter 19: Ad Interim, Tomorrow
Before they met up with Mary at eight that morningâthat is, before falling asleep the previous nightâHaruhiro and the others racked their brains over what they would do, what they would say to her. But no one could think of anything. Then, when they reached Damrowwâs Old Town, they had to focus on work, and they didnât have the luxury to worry about anything else.
This crucial time for all of them seemed to fly by, and it wasnât until they returned to Altana in the evening that Haruhiro finally mustered up the resolve to approach Mary.
âMary, thereâs something I want to talk to you about,â Haruhiro said frankly, as they exited the store where they sold their dayâs loot.
âI see,â Mary replied, bringing her arms around herself defensively. âGet on with it then.â
Because everyone had been preoccupied last night with what turns their relationship with Mary might take, none of them could act like their normal selves around her today. They had heard Maryâs story from Hayashi, and Mary couldnât have known that; but she couldnât have missed the change in everyoneâs behavior either, and she must have guessed something was up.
She probably thought that they were preparing to kick her out of the party. She was probably playing out the scenario in her mind now, Haruhiro saying, âSorry Mary, but can I ask you to leave our party?â
And not wanting to make a fuss, she would immediately reply, âFineâ, and take her leave of them.
She was steeling herself for the announcement, or so it seemed to Haruhiro. It had probably happened like that numerous times before, with many other parties. It was just too depressing, the way it always ended like that for her.
âMaryâŚâ Haruhiro said, saying her name as a friendâs, as one of them.
He met her eyes and held them, as if to say, Itâs not what you think. Maryâs eyebrows narrowed slightly. Haruhiro wasnât alone in this intent gaze; Mogzo, Yume, Shihoru, and Ranta had their eyes locked on her too. She noticed their stares and stiffened, uneasy.No, itâs not what you thinkâŚÂ Haruhiro repeated inwardly again.
âMary,â Haruhiro said, out loud this time. âWe had a Priest in our party before. His name was Manato, and he died⌠or maybe a better way to put it is, we got him killed. You could say that he was almost a perfectionist, and we depended on him way too much. When we got hurt during fights, he would heal us even if it was just a scratch.
âManato was our leader,â said Haruhiro, âa healer we trusted, and he and Mogzo would always fight in the front, so he was a tank too. It was like he was three people in one. He was really an amazing person, but at the time, we didnât realize it. He was just an ordinary guy to us. I donât think any of it was easy on Manato, but he never showed it, and none of us ever tried to imagine how hard it really was for him. Even now, I donât think I can imagine⌠but heâs dead. Heâs not here anymore.â
Mary surely must have seen the similarities between herself and Manato. She might have even figured out that Haruhiro was telling her all this because they knew the story of her past.
Haruhiro had been debating it for some time. Having heard Hayashiâs story, he had a pretty good idea of what happened to Mary, and he could kind of understand why she was the way she was. But should he tell Mary that he knew?
Something told him it wasnât as clear-cut as that, though.
âAâ happened, therefore âBâ. Haruhiro knew that human beings were neither simple nor straightforward creatures, and he didnât pretend to be able to see into Maryâs heart. No one was going to be so flippant as to claim they knew everything there was to know about her. So, the only thing he could tell her about was himself.
âTo be honest, with Manato gone, I thought that it was over,â began Haruhiro. âI thought that it was impossible to keep doing this without him. But even if he was dead, we were still alive. We had to live on, and we couldnât live on by sitting around. We stayed on as Crimson Moon trainees, if only to feed ourselves.
âThen we invited you the join the party. A party has to have a Priest, that was why. No other reason. Now, me, Ranta, Yume, and Shihoru, we were the good-for-nothing dregs from the start. Mogzo was different. He was recruited by Raghill, but got thrown out after they took all his money. Manatoâs the one who brought us together, as ragtag as we mightâve been, and we became teammates, and friends too.
âThat was all there was to it in the beginning. But since then, weâve become a team for real. Sometimes things donât go so great, sometimes we get angry, sometimes we fight, but in the end, we still consider each other friends. The circumstances that brought us together donât matter. What matters is that here and now, everyone is my precious friend and companion. That includes you, Mary.â
Mary didnât say a word. She stared long and hard at Haruhiro, motionless, except to blink now and then.
âMe too.â Shihoru quietly raised her hand. âI consider you a friend, too.â
âAgreed,â Yume smiled broadly. âMaryâs super adorable!â
âO-of course I agree.â Mogzo still had his barbute helm on. âOf course I consider you a friend. Itâs reassuring for me to have you with us.â
Ranta harrumphed. âIâm⌠Iâm⌠you know. I make a big fuss when Iâm hurt. Itâs something I need to work on⌠maybe. But, uhhh⌠yeah, I guess. Arenât we friends?â
âHell is gonna freeze over tomorrow,â Haruhiro said, looking up at the cloudless sky. âRanta, admitting heâs not perfect. Hell, heaven, and earth are all gonna freeze over.â
âHey! I admit all the time that Iâve got things I can improve on! My self-improvement talents are off the charts! Youâve known mehow long and you still donât know that?!â
âIf you say so, then, sure.â
âOy! Haruhiro! Donât just leave it at that! You make me sad!â
âI think itâs a good idea to set a goal for ourselves sooner rather than later,â Haruhiro continued. âEven if itâs a temporary goalâŚâ
He stole a glance at Mary. She looked unaffected so far, still staring intently at him. He hoped that she wasnât intending to rebuff them and their offers of friendship. It would be a good enough start for her not to.
ââŚEverythingâs become muddled recently,â Haruhiro said. âI donât even think weâre working like crazy to save up enough to buy our Crimson Moon contracts anymore. Weâre just going from day to day with no real purpose. Letâs stop that and at least figure out the direction we want to go next.â
âOur goalâs to become BILLIONAIRES! Then WORLD DOMINATION!!!â
Haruhiro thoroughly ignored Ranta and proposed his thoughts to everyone. Everyone except the irritatingly loud Ranta and the deathly silent Mary agreed.
âI donât care about anything other than money and power,â Ranta declared. âAnd being popular with girls too, I guess. But girls come with money and power soâŚâ He paused. âI guess your idea for a goal is okay for something to do before the start of the beginning of the first step towards world domination⌠I guessâŚâ he said grudgingly.
Yume heaved a heavy sigh. âRantaâs talk is longer than long-winded and more monotonous than a monologue.â
There they go again, Haruhiro thought, and turned to Mary. âMary, what do you think?â
Mary, avoiding his gaze, seemed to give the slightest of small nods. He took it as a sign of her agreement.
âWould you like to eat dinner with us tonight?â he asked.
âNo thanks.â Then she added, in the quietest of voices, ââŚnot yet, anyway.â
âAlright.â
What did you expect? Haruhiro told himself. Itâs not like everything will magically fix themselves instantly, just with that. But of course he was impatient. No one knew when their time together would come to an end. They had burned up some of that precious time already, just to take this first step forward. And who knew if their end was already near, having pursued them all this while?
But one step was still a step. For Haruhiro and the others, incompetents beyond incompetent, one small step at a time was their only way forward.
And if his ears hadnât deceived him, just before Mary turned away to leave, she had whispered, âSee you tomorrow.â