A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 57

Chapter 57   Into the Summer Vacation

“—So, Seiji-chan is popular in class too now? That’s great!”

“What’s so great about it? There’s nothing good about this. You know what I wish for.”

In response to the carefree words of my senior, all I could do was sigh.

She should know that I’m not in a position to be celebrating so easily right now. My current situation is that ever since people found out I’m one of the ‘Blessed,’ my classmates have been bombarding me with invitations.

By invitations, I mean things like asking if I’d join them after we graduate, or if I’d like to come over to their house. Some of the foreign students even suggested I move to their country someday… basically, they want me to naturalize.

I understand that ‘Blessed’ are a rare and valuable existence, but when people’s attitudes change so abruptly, it gets really tiring.

“You’re helping people, right?”

“That’s not what I mean. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Sure, helping people is part of my ‘wish,’ but that’s not it. It’s not something planted in me because of this blessing—it’s the pure, genuine desire I have right now.

I just want to live a normal life. I want an ordinary life.

Even she should understand that much.

“But you knew that a normal life was impossible from the start, didn’t you?”

“…As long as humans don’t give up, nothing is impossible.”

“That’s true~. Good luck!”

In reality, though, now that my identity as a ‘Blessed’ has been revealed, it’s going to be hard for me to live the normal life I want. Even before people knew, my life was far from normal. I would occasionally get requests from the government, and they would deposit money into my account.

Now that I’ve officially been recognized as a ‘Blessed,’ there’s no doubt that my life will be even further from ordinary.

Perhaps because she understands all of this, my senior cheerfully smirked as she casually offered her encouragement.

“More importantly, aren’t you being recruited by a clan right now~?”

“You’re well-informed, or should I say… you’ve got sharp eyes?”

Knowing her, she’s probably been watching my movements at school too. She doesn’t go out much, but she loves using her abilities to observe the world.

“This time, it’s through my ears~. Mocchi told me, and then I took a look~.”

“Either way, you guys are quick to catch on to things.”

“It’s pretty convenient, right?”

“It’s handy for work, but from a privacy perspective, it’s a bit concerning.”

It’s good that the government agency is great at gathering intelligence, but it feels uncomfortable knowing that they could easily pry into the things I want to keep secret.

“So, Seiji-chan, are you going to join?”

“No, I’m not. I have no intention of joining a clan and getting dragged into power struggles.”

The ones currently trying to recruit me are just looking to expand their influence, and I feel like joining would lead to a lot of headaches. The most prominent example is Kujou’s clan. I’m not sure if it’s already formed or not, but she didn’t even try to hide the fact that she wants to use us.

“But you’re going to join us, right~?”

“Yeah, for now, at least. Your clan seems pretty laid-back, and it’s not that I’m against joining a clan itself—what I don’t want is to get dragged into clan disputes.”

If it’s a clan where someone this easygoing can live freely, it might actually be the best place for me to live a ‘normal’ life. Plus, if it’s the number one clan in the country, there’s less chance of getting caught up in unnecessary conflicts.

That’s why I think joining the clan my senior belongs to, The Creator’s Blessing, is the safest option.

“Exactly~. You’d rather spend your time helping people than wasting it on trivial stuff, right~?”

“There you go again. I keep telling you that’s not what I mean.”

Even if I join the clan and get some free time, I definitely wouldn’t spend it on such “meaningless” activities.

“But you keep saying you want a ‘normal’ life, yet you’re not living anything close to a normal life. You don’t do regular club activities, and you don’t hang out with friends, right~?”

It’s hard to argue when she puts it like that, because based on the situation, she’s right.

“…I didn’t join a club because I didn’t want my blessing to be exposed. For some reason, every club at that school assumes you’ll use your skills.”

Now that my identity as a Blessed has been revealed, it’s too late, but originally I didn’t plan on that happening. I intended to spend my time at the academy as an ordinary student. I wanted to join a normal club, but… there weren’t any.

Well, technically there were a few, but at that academy, joining a normal club was in itself “not normal.”

So, I had no choice. To avoid drawing attention to myself, I ended up joining the travel club—a somewhat odd choice where I wouldn’t have to use my blessing or skills. Besides, it did seem genuinely fun.

“It can’t be helped, right~? In today’s world, regular sports don’t get much attention anymore~.”

The reason there aren’t many normal clubs for things like soccer or baseball is exactly what my senior said.

In today’s world, sports without skill use have fallen out of favor. More accurately, sports that use skills have become more popular.

“I get the appeal of watching battles that involve blessings and skills, but not everyone wants to see blood. Wouldn’t it be nice if more regular sports caught on?”

At that academy, every student has some sort of skill or blessing, but in the grand scheme of things, only about ten percent of the population can actually use skills. It might even be less than that. Expecting everyone to participate in skill-based sports doesn’t make sense, and I think regular sports should be more popular.

“Hmm, maybe~. But compared to hand-to-hand combat, it’s harder to understand and not as thrilling~.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that…”

When watching sports, you need to start by understanding the rules. But with hand-to-hand combat, it’s just a fight—whoever gets knocked down loses. You don’t need to know the rules to understand that.

Plus, it’s flashy and exciting to watch. Seeing fire clash with ice, or watching someone with the strength to crush iron go toe-to-toe with someone who can dodge at high speed… even people who can’t use skills would find that thrilling.

There are even clans that focus more on that kind of entertainment than actual monster hunting.

Still, I would have preferred a club that didn’t involve using skills.

“So, leaving the club aside, how about your friends~? It’s summer vacation, so aren’t you going anywhere?”

“I have friends. But one of them is the son of a high-ranking official, so he seems to have a busy schedule during summer.”

Kiriya always says his family isn’t anything special, but that doesn’t mean he’s from an average household. I get that he’s probably got a lot of plans.

If possible, I would’ve liked to befriend some students from ordinary households. That way, I could’ve spent summer vacation like a regular high schooler. But I gave up on that the moment I ended up in that class with Inori. Everyone in that class is rich, or connected to the upper class in some way. So I figured making a regular friend would be a stroke of luck. Still, I’m genuinely glad I was able to become friends with someone as easy to talk to as Kiriya, even if he’s from a wealthy family.

“Anyway, his schedule seems to free up in the second half of summer vacation, so I plan to visit his house then.”

“Wow… Seiji-chan seems so excited~!”

Her teasing made me realize that I was actually looking forward to it more than I thought. But I didn’t want to show that in front of her, so I quickly reverted to my usual expression, though it was probably too late.

“…Fine, I’ll admit that I’m a bit excited. Visiting a friend’s house is a ‘normal’ thing to do, after all. And I haven’t gone to anyone’s house since… well, since a long time ago.”

Ever since I received my blessing, I haven’t really played with anyone.

I became a Blessed back in elementary school. Since then, I haven’t been able to live a normal life. I didn’t even need to attend school anymore—the government sent a tutor to my house. And our home was no longer a regular house; it was moved to a facility that felt more like a government research lab.

Middle school was more of the same. Although halfway through, I managed to convince them to let me live with Inori, but I still didn’t attend a normal school. So, naturally, I never really had the chance to hang out with anyone.

“What about me~? You come over to my house to hang out~!”

“Your place is more like a part of my work routine, right? We only talk because there’s always some extra time after I give my reports.”

Besides, you’re just my senior. You’re not a friend; we’re more like colleagues. Well, it’s not purely a work relationship, but it’s definitely not a friendship either.

“How mean~! Is my relationship with you really that insignificant~?”

“Okay, then let me ask—has there ever been anything ‘special’ about our relationship?”

My senior acted as if we were in some sort of messy love affair, but we’ve never gone out anywhere like friends, nor whispered sweet words to each other like lovers. Where in our relationship could there possibly be anything special?

“…Wanna eat some snacks~?”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you made some friends or found a lover, Senpai?”

“Ehh~? That’d just get in the way of my drawing~!”

“You never know. Maybe if you got a lover, your perspective on the world would change, and you’d be able to create new kinds of art.”

“Hmm… Hey, Mocchi! Come over here~!”

Apparently giving some thought to my words, Senpai briefly appeared to contemplate before calling out to Mochi-san, who had been sitting nearby working on her computer. However, Mochi-san frowned, either from being interrupted or sensing that she might get dragged into something annoying.

“Mocchi, do you have a husband~?”

“Uh, I’m still single, much less having a husband…”

“Really~? Well then, let’s start by finding Mocchi a boyfriend~!”

And so, like always, Senpai launched into one of her typical, meaningless conversations.