"Oh, you're here."
"Yes, I'm glad to see you're doing well."
"Kya-ha-ha, I've never even heard of a monster getting sick. Don't just stand there talking—come on in."
I visited the place where the Xenos were staying after a long time. Lately, I'd been so busy that I felt like I'd been seeing them less and less.
That wasn't good. To be blunt, I was the only point of contact between them and humanity. If I left them alone like this, what would they think? Unlike their appearance, they had delicate hearts, so this kind of careful attention was more important than anything else.
"You said you were busy, so what brings you here?"
"Oh? Did Fels tell you?"
"Yeah. Something about going to hunt that huge monster called Leviathan?"
...It wasn't as if information would leak easily, but did he really have to say that much? Fels, too, was surprisingly loose-lipped.
Then again, with the Xenos, there wasn't exactly anywhere for information to leak from in the first place. Maybe for Fels, it had just been a way to let off some built-up steam. The Xenos even found that sort of thing entertaining, so maybe it was a win-win after all.
"That's part of it. I came to say I won't be able to visit for a while."
"You could've just had Fels pass that along."
"Things like this are supposed to be said face-to-face."
"Tch, what a serious guy."
"Gross, really. What kind of tone is that toward someone who came all this way to see you?"
"Exactly. What if Mister Vesta doesn't come anymore? We already heard he was coming, and Rey even got all dolled up—"
"Eek?! Are you crazy? What are you saying?!"
"Hahaha, it's nice how noisy this is!"
...Was it? To me, it just looked like they were bickering.
At a glance you might not notice it, but compared to people from the original timeline, the Xenos were often lacking in both intuition and the ability to express their feelings. Maybe because their faces were all the same, but whenever those parts showed through, I sometimes felt a strange sensation I didn't get when looking at other people.
"Do you need anything? If you do, I'll get it for you."
"Ah~ no, no. Monsters don't really have much that bothers them."
Especially when I saw Reed chuckling and waving it off, it felt even more so.
"Please don't say things like that."
"...Huh?"
"If you keep saying things like monsters are fine as they are, then your dream will only get farther away."
"Uh... well..."
"If you don't believe in yourselves, then who will believe in you? It's better to throw away the idea that something is impossible just because of what you are."
At my words, Reed looked unusually flustered.
Maybe he thought I'd hit the mark. In truth, his attitude was less self-loathing and more a lack of expectation.
We can't do this. We can't do that. He was trying to accept his circumstances as fate and settle for them.
That couldn't happen. If it was anyone else, maybe, but not them.
"Reed, you're the leader of this group. You're also its representative. And its spokesperson. If you show that kind of attitude, then what can the other three do? And beyond that, what can the Xenos yet to be born do?"
"That's..."
"A leader is not someone who simply submits. You have to bear responsibility and duty and lead many others. So you can't just brush the world off with the excuse that you're only a monster."
When I first met them, the irreparable rift between humans and monsters had already been carved into the Xenos.
But now, maybe. Maybe I could stop that rift from deepening.
Maybe I could accomplish the great feat that the original timeline had failed to achieve: the reconciliation of humans and monsters.
This alone wouldn't be enough. But it would surely be enough to lay the groundwork for that future achievement.
Then all I had to do was point out their mistakes and support them so they wouldn't break.
Even if I was only a support that would one day disappear, if I could make sure they had hearts that wouldn't bend before that happened, then this time would surely not be in vain.
"...Then can I ask one favor?"
"Of course. Say whatever you like."
"I want to try some human food... was it potato balls? Could you bring me some?"
"...Of course."
At Reed's shy request, I gave a small smile and nodded.
Honestly, I didn't know whether this situation was truly the right thing to do. No one could know that, unless they were a god. No—perhaps even gods wouldn't know.
If absolute righteousness existed, then no one in this world would ever have to suffer. There were so many people in the world, so many circumstances, so many different kinds of justice.
But what matters is the will to move forward. No one can know the answer, but it is surely something granted only to those who step into the darkness.
So I'm sure we can reach it. Because we're moving forward properly.
Using the faint pain I can feel as my guide, I take another step today as well.
"Um, could I ask one more thing?"
"Of course. Ask me anything."
"S-so... can we say we're friends now?"
"No?"
"Huh?! We weren't?!"
"Th-th-th-that's right! Of course a monster wouldn't want to be friends with us. Ahaha..."
"So humans really can't be trusted..."
"Mister, that's harsh."
"We were already friends, weren't we? Why are you saying something so hurtful?"
The way they reacted to every word I said, overjoyed one moment and crestfallen the next, felt more human than humans themselves.
They were such good people. It was a shame to see those who wouldn't even try to understand that side of them.
Still, it would be fine. Someday, they would surely wander the surface and live side by side with humans.
I wouldn't be there to see it, but even imagining that scene made my heart warm.
For me, they were like another Familia. Perhaps the most meaningful thing I could leave behind.
"Ahem. Anyway, now that we know we're friends, I'd like to call you by a nickname..."
"A nickname?"
"Yeah! Vesta is too long. Let's go with Vechan, to make it feel more familiar."
"..."
For a moment, I was at a loss for words.
"—Bell-chan!"
Their voices, welcoming me, echoed in my ears.
Maybe because it sounded so similar, it especially lingered.
I have no regrets. Not about anything I've done so far, and not about anything I'll do from here on. I won't regret any of it.
Only, there was envy and jealousy toward the existence that was not me—the me who would one day laugh and talk with them.
I was so envious of the me who would naturally enjoy a scene I would never get to see.
-
"Take care, Vechan~!"
Seeing Reed and the others off, I returned to the surface.
"..."
I parted with a smile, pretending I was fine, but beneath that smile was a complicated feeling I couldn't simply laugh away.
Yes, unlike me, they would go on living for a long time.
And unfortunately, the me I am now would not be part of that future.
What a strange thing. Once, I had glimpsed future bonds in them, and before I knew it, I was imagining them in ways I didn't understand.
Maybe as the future began to change, I had started changing along with it.
People grow with the passage of time. I was no exception. Even though I had flown back into the past, I, too, was changing little by little as time went on.
The difference between us was that I was living on borrowed time. Somehow, I was beginning to understand a little why the heroine of a tragedy had acted so recklessly.
The existence that would be me in the future would be born again, but could that really be called the same as me? And beyond that...
"Could I bless that?"
My own birth. Ridiculously enough, I was starting to dislike that existence a little.
The future self resenting the past—my own past, no less. Looking back, there had certainly been regrets, but this was a first.
I felt a little put out, but it wasn't as if I was going to do anything about it. It made no sense to do something to my past self, and I had no intention of watching someone else suffer.
It was only a little jealousy toward the me who would be born later. A shameful feeling toward some careless brat who would get to enjoy the happiness of being born in full.
"Haa..."
What am I even doing?
Am I getting too comfortable? I'm thinking all sorts of nonsense. Maybe it's because my body's at ease, because I'm full, so my mind has gone wandering.
"Should I ask someone to spar with me?"
There were plenty of strong people in this era. Beasts like that would be hard to find, but if I picked someone around Level 7 and crossed blades a bit, it would be good training.
Once I worked up a sweat, these stray thoughts would probably disappear soon enough. And fortunately, that chance came quickly.
"Zald has fallen aaaaaaah?!"
"Healer, heeeeeeelp!"
"W-wait, Arphia, that's too much—uaaagh?!"
"Uwooo, stop Arphia!"
A rare sight came into view: Zeus Familia and Hera Familia joining forces to face a powerful enemy. So this was how they had brought down Behemoth? My chest swelled on its own.
"Cranel, you son of a bitch! You crazy bastard, you actually went and did it?!"
"Well done! So he really was one of my children after all!"
"Ugh, enough already, someone stop that thing... uaaagh, Captain! Captaaaain!!!"
Hmm... somehow I'm especially tired today. Is it because I've been running around the Dungeon?
Since I'm tired, I should head back. Maybe I'll return to the church and rest for a while.
"Aaaah! Somebody, anybody, save me!"
"Call Meteria!"
"Where's Cranel?!"
"Those bastards ran off by themselves! This whole mess started because of them, those damn—kuhehk?!"
"Ah, over there—no, that's not Meteria. It's Rabbit-chan."
"Bring him too... Ah, he's running away! Catch him, don't let him get away!"
I tried to run away—because I was tired and wanted to go back—but I got caught.
"Tch..."
"Did you just click your tongue at us?"
"No, I didn't?"
Of all people, for me to fail to escape. What a blunder.
But since I'd been caught, there was nothing to do about it. Personally, this was a situation I absolutely didn't want to get involved in, but unfortunately the world wasn't about to let me off that easily.
Well, honestly, I was a little curious about what was going on, and hearing them out at least...
"What?"
"So..."
...Was that carefree thought what went wrong? At the answer I heard, which I could hardly believe, I forgot to breathe and could only stare blankly before asking again.
"Meteria is pregnant. By that Cranel bastard."
Oh, shit.