A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life - Chapter 62

Chapter 62   Former Head of Kamiarizuki

“Father, you’ve come here? What happened to the other children?”

Despite the sudden intrusion, Tennsei spoke to the person without any signs of surprise.

It made sense, though, because the “intruder” was someone we knew—Tennsei’s father, the previous head of the Kamiarizuki family. From his words, it seemed like this meeting had been planned in advance.

“I finished with that long ago. That’s why I came here. There was no one here who would refuse a reunion with their teacher, so I decided to come.”

Kamiarizuki Tenma. That was the name of this hulking mass of muscle. And, if possible, he was someone I never wanted to see again.

This man had nearly caused my death multiple times… He was a traumatic figure from my elementary school days.

If I could avoid him, I would. I’d run away immediately if I could.

But that would be rude, and more importantly, if I tried to escape, I’d definitely be caught.

“…It’s been a while, Tenma-sensei.”

“Long time no see.”

Reluctantly, I greeted him, and Inori followed my lead. But unlike me, Inori didn’t seem to have any particular feelings about this person. Well, it made sense—after all, for Inori, he was just the person who taught her the skills she needed.

Though the previous training must have been tough for Inori, she understood it was necessary, so she went through it without complaining. There was no resentment or fear in her; she just did what was required.

“Hmm. You two seem to be doing well, which is good. I never expected we’d meet again in this house, but I suppose this must be what the heavens have ordained.”

If this situation is what the heavens have ordained, then I say that heaven is a damn fool. Wait—no, heaven was always a jerk. After all, it was the one who forced this curse on us.

“So, is the discussion over?”

“Yes. There wasn’t much to discuss anyway. We were just going over greetings and future plans.”

“Then let’s go.”

With that, Tenma took a heavy, commanding step forward, each one seemingly designed to intimidate.

Watching him approach like that, it was impossible not to feel a sense of trepidation.

“Um, Sensei, about our training partners…”

Even at this point, I couldn’t help but hope, deep down, that things might be different. But…

“Of course, it will be me.”

“Ah…”

The answer was as expected, and I sighed, resigned.

“Um… It’s not like we absolutely need to become stronger desperately like we did before, so wouldn’t it be fine if it wasn’t you teaching us this time?”

Seeing me like that, Inori asked Tenma. I was grateful for it. If saying it could make the training easier, that would be perfect. But… I knew it was probably impossible.

“What? Is it that you two hate training with me so much?”

I hated it. But, despite how tough the previous training was, it was effective, and Tenma had been the one to teach me. I couldn’t honestly tell him that I didn’t want him as a teacher. So, I hesitated and tried to express my thoughts indirectly.

“No, it’s not that I hate it… it’s just that, since it’s summer vacation, I was thinking it might be nice to interact with others a bit more…”

“I see? But as for interaction, I’ll let you do as much of that as you want later. You’ll be eating and sleeping together anyway. The only difference is the training content, and during training, no one has the luxury to engage in idle chatter. Even if you trained somewhere else, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.”

But it was futile. Well, of course, that was expected. If I said it outright, Tenma would probably force the conversation along, and trying to dodge it with vague words wouldn’t change anything.

“Also, you said that Inori doesn’t need to train, but do you really think that’s the case? With strange people like the Qliphoth starting to move, and the academy being attacked the other day, do you still think there’s no need to train?”

Well, when he put it like that…

It was true that the upperclassmen had predicted that there would be more fighting opportunities in the future, so the idea of training wasn’t wrong.

“If you planned to continue hiding your abilities, then maybe there wouldn’t be a problem without training. But now it’s different. Once you were revealed to be a ‘Blessed One,’ they will target you too. Even if they don’t target you directly, the students of the academy will. At that time, will you be able to simply turn a blind eye? Even this time, despite hiding your identity as a ‘Blessed One’ while attending the academy, you still gave up your ‘normal’ life and helped others when they were in danger. Can you say that such things won’t happen again?”

“That… is…”

“The Qliphoth often target ‘Blessed Ones’ to destroy the current societal structure, or perhaps they target healers who hold the power to maintain the balance of war. So, it’s highly likely they’ll come after me.”

“Even if they don’t target me directly, if the people around me are attacked, that’s still a problem.”

Until now, I had restrained myself, hiding my status as a ‘Blessed One’ and holding back in situations where I could have used my powers. But now, it was already exposed, and there was no need to hide anymore. In a sense, my restraints were off.

“What if someone gets attacked right in front of me? What if everyone is in danger? Would I be able to stay silent?”

I didn’t want to save everyone, nor did I think I could. But I was sure that if I saw someone in front of me suffering, I would act to help. Because that was the curse of the blessing I had received.

“How about it? You can’t say for sure, can you? But I can say for certain. You won’t be able to hold back. If someone is hurt right in front of you, and asks for help, even if you hesitate, you will ultimately ‘reach out’ to help them. That’s the kind of person you are.”

“Is it because of the curse of being a ‘Blessed One’?”

It was such a troublesome situation. This was exactly why no one should ever want to be a ‘Blessed One.’ To have your actions restricted and your will twisted like that was nothing but absurd.

However, in response to my thoughts, Tenma furrowed his brow and shook his head seriously.

“You’re wrong. You are ‘that kind of person’ from the start. You call the side effect of the blessing a curse, but if you didn’t have that kind of heart, you wouldn’t have manifested the blessing at all. It’s the opposite. The curse doesn’t exist because of the blessing. The blessing exists because you have the heart that can lead to it. Even if there was no such thing as a blessing, you would still have reached out to help others.”

That was… but still! … But anyone in that situation would wish the same thing.

In the middle of a hellish battlefield, where monsters were killing each other in a city turned into a warzone. If I didn’t run away quickly, I would be caught in it too and die. Even in such a situation, she was my one and only sister. If I saw her trapped under rubble, almost dead, even if death was closing in on me, I would still help her. Reaching out to save her was the natural thing to do.

Even if I knew I couldn’t save her, even if I understood that running away alone was the best choice, it was only natural to want to hold her hand and wipe her tears.

What I wished for and the actions I took at that time were nothing special. My wish was simply the result of “bad luck.”

But before I could voice these thoughts, Tenma had already moved to my side and was holding me under his arm.

“That’s how it is. Since we know that we’ll be facing more danger in the future, there’s no harm in training now, is there? Alright, let’s go!”

“Wait, hold on…!”

Without even waiting for me to finish, Tenma marched out of the room, with Inori following closely behind him.