The three idiots who couldn't become heroes are preparing a man's meal today as well. - Chapter 35

Episode 35: The Outcast, Increasing

The hero summoning took place a few days ago.

If that’s the case, they wouldn’t still be staying around the castle.

At most, they’d only be able to travel a reasonable distance on foot. If they were brought here from Japan, walking for half a day straight would be difficult.

With that in mind, I focused on gathering information along the main street leading from the castle to the guild.

Has anyone seen someone dressed strangely? Has anyone spotted someone with black hair and black eyes like us within the past few days?

I went around asking these questions to anyone who would listen.

Honestly, we had no obligation to help.

If someone we don’t know dies somewhere, and it has nothing to do with us, there’s nothing we can do about it.

But knowing about it and still turning our backs on someone thrown into the same situation as us—it would feel like we were no different from the people in the castle. That idea left a bad taste in my mouth.

From the inquiries, I learned three things:

• A pair of unfamiliar men and women, who seemed far apart in age, had been seen walking together.
• A man who might be one of them had recently been spotted begging in the area.
• The woman hadn’t been seen lately, but she had pure white hair.

With that information, we split up to search for them.

Azuma took the back alleys and deserted streets.

I ran around rundown areas, almost like slums.

If Nishida reported that the two had become Walkers, then that would be that.

But since there had been no such report yet, and since the man was seen begging, that possibility seemed unlikely.

Damn it! I really wish I had my smartphone to keep in contact!

“Hey, kid. You looking for something?”

“Hah!?”

“Whoa, scary. You looking for Walkers?”

The one who spoke was a filthy old man.

He was sitting beneath something that could barely be called a tent—worse than the ones we used—grinning at me with a nasty smirk.

“Mind sparing me a little change? I might be able to help you out. I know this place like the back of my hand.”

Could I trust him? Hard to say.

But it was worth a try.

Still, accepting his terms right away felt like a bad move.

I wasn’t good at negotiations, so I decided to come out strong.

“Hey, old man. Have you seen anyone dressed strangely around here lately? One’s a man with black hair and black eyes. The other is a woman with pure white hair. If you’ve got important info or know where they are… I’ll give you this.”

I pulled out a gold coin.

That’s worth a hundred thousand yen in Japan.

To a homeless guy, it had to be worth more than anything.

Hell, I wanted it too.

“Wha—!? Are you serious!? You’ll really give me that!?”

“Do you remember what I just said?”

“Of course! Just wait here! I’ll bring them right to you! Don’t go anywhere, got it!?”

It seemed to work like a charm.

The old man ran off at an incredible speed, and I immediately stuffed the gold coin back in my pocket.

People had been staring ever since I took it out.

Flashing gold in a slum might not have been the smartest move.

With a deep sigh, I waited for the old man to return.

“Move it! I said, move it already!”

“Ouch… Let go…”

A few minutes later, the old man returned with a girl.

She had barely any reaction.

She was thin—too thin.

Her blue eyes were lifeless, filled with nothing but despair.

And what she was wearing was unmistakably a Japanese sailor uniform.

“Well, boss? Is this the girl you’re looking for? She suddenly showed up about two days ago. Since her hair’s that color, people thought she might be diseased or something, so no one’s touched her. She’s probably still a virgin. Heh. Ah, but if she got ‘used’ before coming here, don’t get mad if she’s secondhand, yeah?”

The old man was practically giddy, running his mouth nonstop.

That gold coin must’ve really excited him.

But on our end, the mood only worsened.

Dragging an unresisting girl along while rambling about whether she was a virgin or not…

Maybe in this kind of place, that was just normal.

I tossed the gold coin from my pocket to him, making him let go of her.

And then—

“Get lost.”

“Huh?”

“I’m grateful you brought her here. But I can’t stand to look at you. I can’t stand to listen to you. Get lost. Right now. Or I might just cut you down where you stand.”

“Hi-Hii!?”

With that, the old man clenched his gold coin and bolted.

Honestly, sorry.

I do appreciate the help.

But I just can’t stomach the way he thinks.

Maybe, since we also bought someone—Minami, a slave—we’re no different in the end.

“Ojisan, who are you?” (Means uncle)

“W-Wait, ojisan…!? I’m still in my twenties, you know.”

I don’t mind being called “ossan” by kids or people my age, but hearing it from someone this young stings. (*Old man)

“Oh, sorry. I couldn’t tell because you’re wearing armor.”

“Ah, yeah. That’s fair. My bad.”

Saying that, I took off just my helmet.

Ever since I came to this side, I developed the habit of never taking off my armor unless I was in a truly safe environment. So even when running around town, I wore my helmet without a second thought.

No wonder she couldn’t tell my age.

Letting out a sigh at my own actions, I turned to face her properly.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Kitayama Kouta.”

When I introduced myself, she finally reacted.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

“No way… Are you Japanese?”

“Yeah. I was summoned to this side and then abandoned. They said I was a failure because I wasn’t a Hero.”

“The same as me?”

“Probably. That’s why I came to get you. Are you hungry? I have other comrades, too. Want to come with me?”

I held out my hand, and she stared at my palm for a moment before quietly murmuring,

“You won’t do anything bad?”

“I won’t. Neither will my comrades. I promise.”

“You won’t hit me? Lock me in a warehouse? You’ll give me food?”

“…That’s how they treated you on the other side, huh? I swear, we’ll never do that. As long as you stay with us, we’ll protect you and make sure you’re well-fed. We’re usually out and about, so you’ll have plenty of freedom. And if you ever decide you don’t want to stay, you can go off on your own.”

She was saying some pretty disturbing things, but the moment I reassured her—

“I’ll go.”

She took my hand.

It was small and trembling slightly, proof that she didn’t trust me completely yet.

Of course not.

She had been suddenly thrown into this world without any support.

And I was just some stranger—a man in pitch-black full-body armor.

Suspicious as hell. Honestly, I’m surprised she took my hand at all.

“Well, let’s get going. First, food and a bath. Then you can rest.”

“Mm. But… there’s one more person.”

“Where are they?”

“They went into town. To get food.”

Short responses.

So they were moving together.

First things first, I needed to take this girl back to my group. Then we could deal with the other one.

They might have already been picked up by someone on the east side.

And so, we secured one.

She didn’t show much emotion, but as we walked, she kept gripping my hand tightly.

As if she would never let go.

Like a lost child clinging to safety.

A girl who looked almost identical to Minami, being led by a man in black armor.

From an outsider’s perspective, I must have looked shady as hell.

With that thought, we headed toward the inn.

———

“That’s mine.”

“Huh? Oh, my bad. I’ll take this meat instead.”

A girl in a sailor uniform and a man in a suit were devouring their meal.

The food in front of them was monster meat.

I had explained it to them, but they didn’t seem to care and just kept eating.

“Um, Master, should we start explaining soon?”

“Kitayama-san~? Who do you think is going to write the report for this?”

“Kahaha! You lot are truly amusing!”

Thoor and the others, who had been drinking even after we left, were also gathered at the tasting table.

Two members, however, were giving me icy stares.

“Well, at least we found both of them. I panicked when the guild had no information.”

“Yeah. Sounds like only these two were thrown out.”

By the time we got back to the inn, Nishida and Azuma had already returned.

With an unfamiliar man in a suit.

While preparing food, we learned that five people had been summoned this time.

One was a male high school student—apparently the “Hero.”

Tch, classic isekai protagonist.

Then there were two female high school students.

One was a “Saint.”

The other had an undisclosed title and was kept at the castle.

And finally, the two without any titles, no levels, nothing—just like us.

Naturally, they were kicked out of the castle.

This time, the princess didn’t show up.

The two wandered the streets until they ended up in the slums.

The man begged for food while hiding the girl.

We really cut it close, picking them up in time.

“Minami, Airi. First, let me apologize. Due to certain circumstances, we’ll be adding these two to our group. Since they’re both Level 1, we’ll probably have to take them back to the—”

“Oh, no. We expected this. What we want is an explanation. Why did you pick them up? And why did you go out of your way to search for them?”

“Same here. How am I supposed to write this report?”

“Kitayama~! A good drink calls for good stories, you know~?”

I ignored the last drunkard.

But how should I go about this?

Even if I explained our situation, it wouldn’t be easy to believe.

And with the newcomers here, I didn’t want the mood to turn too grim.

As I glanced at Nishida and Azuma for help—

“Hmm… Well, we could just tell them. They probably won’t believe us, though.”

“We don’t know all the details ourselves, so we can only explain what we do know…”

Looks like we’ll have to tell the whole truth.

Fortunately, everyone here is reasonable.

With that resolve, I turned back to them.

“Okay, this might be hard to believe, but… we’re not from this world.”

A lot had happened since coming to this side.

But this was the first time I truly revealed everything to my comrades.