Chapter 49

!? With a gasp, Shigenobu’s words bring me back to my senses.

That’s… right. Meguru-san gave her life for me. That’s why this life belongs to Meguru-san, not me…

Shigenobu: “Who here blames you!? Thanks to you, everyone’s lives were saved from Ono! Returning to Japan? Who cares about that!”

Minori: “Well… I’m really envious, but when Taniizumi-kun and the others were here, who knows what would have happened if they had known. Meguru-san probably felt the same way.”

Hagisawa: “Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t have done anything different. I got to eat a lot of Japanese food thanks to Hanebashi.”

Shigenobu and the others answer as if to protect me from everyone. That’s wrong… I didn’t say that I wanted to be accepted by everyone.

Battle Group: “We’ve disappeared from Japan. With something as mysterious as that having happened, considering that strange might be wrong.”

Someone in the battle group murmurs. A person from the base group agrees.

Classmate: “Hanebashi, were you hiding that everyone could return home?”

Yukinari: “No… I noticed my ability on the first day, after getting hit by Otsuka but before going to bed.”

Classmate: “Then try sending me back as a test.”

Yukinari: “Got it. Minori-san, I want you to restore my magical power.”

Minori: “Mn.”

As an experiment, I use my ability to try and transfer my classmate to Japan. My Lv has gone up. Maybe now it’ll work. I can’t specify a location, but I try to visualize the transfer with all my might. Yeah, I’m getting hold of the image. I grasp it and attempt the transfer.

Classmate: “…? It feels like I’m being pulled?”

The student I tried to transfer tilts his head in confusion, but nothing happens.

Yukinari: “I couldn’t do it…”

Shigenobu: “In other words, Yukinari, you can go back to Japan, but that doesn’t mean we can… rather…”

Hagisawa: “Sakaeda!”

Hagisawa cries out. That must not be talked about it. The hope placed in front of everyone’s eyes… vanished at the same time.

Shigenobu stares at the place where Meguru-san’s… lay. Minori-san collects the ashes and starts to make a grave. I had already excavated a large hole earlier due to transferring dirt with my ability.

There…

I also help with the burial, a burial for all those who were killed by Ono…

Shigenobu: “At any rate, Hanebashi being able to go back to Japan doesn’t mean that we can. Sure… it feels like he’s living in luxury compared to us, but it’s a fact that instead abandoning us, he’s here trying to help!”

Shigenobu spreads his arms and asks.

Shigenobu: “Haven’t those of you in the base group received something from Yukinari in secret?”

Those who I handed sweets to nod at Shigenobu’s words.

Shigenobu: “The fact that Yukinari saved everyone of the battle group today won’t change. You all followed Taniizumi’s orders and belittled the base group. Had you stood against him, our environment would have been better.”

Everyone nods.

Shigenobu: “Don’t just push all the responsibility onto Yukinari… the curse of Taniizumi, Ono’s terror… the nightmare is over. Let’s find a way home together. Let’s all go back to our original world.”

Hagisawa: “There might be some of you who don’t want to go home, but it wouldn’t hurt to help us out with the search, right?”

Everyone nods in unison to the words of Shigenobu and Hagisawa.

Hagisawa: “Well, those who went as far as prostitution probably hate Yukinari to the point of wanting to kill him.”

Hagisawa interrupts the conversation, or perhaps reminds us, of the female students of the base group who curried favor with the battle group.

A Girl: “It’s love, not prostitution!”

A Girl: “That’s right!”

A Girl: “It’s normal to fall in love with someone who helps you when you’re in trouble!”

A Girl: “All the girls who were selling their bodies for food got killed by Ono!”

Hagisawa: “You can say what you like but-”

Hagisawa says that, but those same words can be thrown back at him. It happened, so bringing it up was only a matter of course, but unlike his words, his expression isn’t smiling. But I think that’s just Hagisawa’s thought process. I wonder if the girls that he’s teasing understand that.

A Girl: “Hagisawa, stop with your careless words or I’ll get mad!”

Hagisawa: “Ah, alright, alright! You’re going to blame Hanebashi for everything anyway? Whether you’re a virgin or whatever, offering yourself up was own choice.”

A Girl: “Well… Hanebashi-kun and Sakaeda-kun did share their food.”

A Girl: “It’s wrong to hold grudges.”

All the female students say that they don’t blame me for remaining a bystander.

Shigenobu: “Yukinari.”

Then, Shigenobu turns towards me and with tears in his eyes, scolds me.

Shigenobu: “Yukinari, calm down. Meguru-san, she was very happy at being able to help you.”

Meguru-san…

Meguru-san’s words come back to me.

Meguru: “Then… if we all return to Japan, and I find out what Yukinari-kun is hiding… will you listen to me again?”

Meguru: “Then Yukinari-kun, if you want me to stay quiet, will you consider accepting my confession once more after we return to Japan?”

My promise with Meguru-san that will never come true… but I have to fulfill that promise. Everyone wants to go back to Japan. For Meguru-san, I have to succeed on behalf of Meguru-san.

This all happened because I was a bystander. I won’t be a bystander anymore. I don’t want to be one.

I’ll put everyone’s skills to good use and return to Japan. I have to become the ideal me that Meguru-san said she loved!

Yukinari: “Alright. Shigenobu, everyone… I won’t punish myself anymore. But it’s fine if you don’t believe in me. Murderers… aren’t trustworthy.”

No matter what happens… even if I have to sacrifice myself, whatever I have to do for everyone… I will become the ideal me that Meguru-san can be proud of and atone for my sin of being a bystander. However, here at the start, I’ve already failed. Can a murderer… really become Meguru-san’s ideal me?

As I waver in my determination, people from both the battle group and base group gather and lightly poke me.

Battle Group: “No way. You hid the fact that you could go back to Japan. I can’t accept anything you say. Although, I’ll believe in a person who got his own hands dirty and became a murderer in order to protect us. Do your best at least for that.”

Base Group: “So you can get new powers and expansion abilities by raising your Lv? Then, if Hanebashi who can return to Japan is strengthened, we all might become able to return home. Don’t give up so easily.”

The class representative gives out some advice.

Class Rep: “By the way, a while back I read an old story where the protagonists couldn’t receive the method for returning home until after they fulfilled some mission. Everyone, I might be wrong, but staying here is distressing. Maybe it’ll be for the best if we all leave the forest?”

Classmate: “That’s right. We haven’t been able to figure out the mystery of why we’ve been given these abilities. If this is a game, let’s go somewhere to solve the mystery and save the world. We won’t be able to return to Japan just by staying in the forest.”

Everyone nods in response to that student’s words.

Hagisawa: “It’s dangerous even if we continue surviving here, so let’s search for a way out. This is another world and no one is going to come help us. Hanebashi proved that.”

“I don’t believe Hanebashi’s story. We’ve been forgotten in Japan? What a joke, but we should still put in some effort into going home.”

“We’re not going to be saved by anyone, we have to overcome this predicament ourselves. What just happened proves that.”

“Well, either way, we no longer have a barrier, so we have to move. With that being the case, let’s aim for the western exit of the forest.”

Voices of support gather for Hagisawa’s words.

Minori-san takes hold of my hand and hugs me.

Minori: “Meguru-san’s death was very sad…but don’t follow after her Yukinari-kun. Please…”

Yukinari: “Yeah… I know. Meguru-san put her life on the line to protect me. I’ll succeed Meguru-san’s goals with this life, I want to.”

Minori: “…Right now, that’s fine… but… yeah. I understand.”

Minori-san releases me and smiles.

Minori: “Please don’t despair. Please promise me that at least.”

Yukinari: “I understand. I promise.”

Minori: “Really, I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt… or dying.”

I really understand that feeling. I lived carelessly and something that couldn’t be undone happened. Everyone else might have forgiven me. But…no, that’s exactly why I have to atone.

Shigenobu: “Then… let’s get out of this dangerous forest before anything else happens.”

Everyone nods to Shigenobu’s words, and we begin preparing for the departure. It’s most likely that… because everyone’s hearts were so worn down, no one could do anything without someone in charge. Otherwise, there’s no way I would have been accepted.

However, that’s fine right now. I’ll do anything if it’s for sending everyone back. Everything that Meguru-san meant to do, I’ll see it through.

…I don’t want to lose any more people. I’ll protect them even if I have to give my life in exchange. In order to avoid any more regrets, I’ll never be a bystander again. So, please… wait for me until I get there. Yeah… I’ll bring everyone back alive no matter what.

I keep thinking the same thought over and over.

The flowers offered on top of the grave for Meguru-san and our other classmates sway peacefully…

Like this, we cast aside our base for a journey to leave the forest.