A hero who wants to help others wants to live a normal life

Chapter 66 Familiar Adults

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“——Sorry. I’ll be right back, just need to use the bathroom.”

“Oh, sure.”

After returning to my room and killing time for a while, it was time for dinner, so I joined the others who had come for training in the large dining hall.

This must also be a form of socializing. Despite being strangers, everyone was eager to talk to us.

I debated whether or not to bring it up, but in the end, I decided to tell them that we were ‘Blessed Ones.’ After all, my name, location, and position were probably already known to the higher-ups, so hiding it here wouldn’t really make much sense.

But I couldn’t help but feel that this was a mistake.

It was true that the higher-ups probably had my information, but it seemed that the children hadn’t received all the details. Some were surprised by us, while others tried to recruit us into their circles.

Their attitudes were a bit irritating, so I smiled and politely declined before standing up and walking down the hallway. I didn’t have a specific destination. Honestly, I didn’t even remember where anything was.

I just needed to get a bit away from that noisy and annoying space.

“…Sigh.”

“What’s wrong? You seem to be sighing. You looked like you were adjusting to things here, so is something bothering you?”

“Sensei? What’s going on, suddenly?”

As I slowly walked down the hallway, letting out a sigh, Tenma appeared in front of me.

But just a moment ago, I hadn’t noticed him at all—where did he come from? Even if I asked, he’d probably just say something about my lack of training, and then start something else, so I didn’t ask.

“I saw you talking with Kiriya’s son earlier. And you’ve been speaking with the other kids too, right? You seemed to fit in more than I expected.”

“Well, it’s fine to have a casual conversation. But because they found out that we’re ‘Blessed Ones,’ the attitude is different from Kiriya’s. It’s like there’s a wall, or it’s more like a calculating approach. I guess that’s just how people are.”

I don’t dislike noise. After all, those kinds of places are part of what I had been looking for in terms of ‘normal.’

…But, it feels like the kind of noise here isn’t quite the same as normal.

Kiriya had said it too, but after all, the conversations were just for socializing, and the smiles were backed by ulterior motives.

Of course, I understand that in normal human relationships, there are always ulterior motives and emotions hidden behind smiles.

But here, it feels so blatant, and it seems like everyone is just talking on the surface, knowing full well that it’s all a façade. The smiles pasted on, and the template-like phrases.

I don’t know… I just can’t accept it.

In society, I understand that these things are necessary, and even in normal friendships, such things might exist.

But I just want normal, genuine friends.

…I know, I probably sound a little messed up, huh?

“…I’m sorry about the other day.”

“Huh? What’s this all of a sudden? That’s not like you.”

As I was thinking about such things, Tenma suddenly apologized, something I didn’t expect from him. I couldn’t quite figure out why he was apologizing, and to be honest, it’s rare for him to apologize at all. At least, I had never seen him apologize so seriously before.

“It’s about the ambush.”

“Ambush? But why is Tenma-sensei apologizing for that?”

“Although there were various circumstances, the academy and the country’s decisions ended up causing trouble for you all. You had to use abilities you were trying to hide, so there must be something on your mind about it, right?”

“Well, I won’t lie and say there’s nothing, but it’s not something I’m worried about. I can handle that much on my own. There’ll be more trouble in the future, but we’ll handle it when the time comes. That’s why we’re being trained today.”

The ambush, in the first place, was because of those guys from the Qliphoth, not Tenma’s fault. The ones who caused the trouble are the fools who did something that needed to be stopped, not the ones who couldn’t stop it.

So, Tenma doesn’t need to apologize for anything.

On the contrary, even though we’re ‘Blessed Ones,’ we’re getting direct training from the former head, so we should be grateful for that. There’s no need for apologies.

In the future, something will likely happen now that we’ve been exposed as ‘Blessed Ones,’ but that’s just something we’ll have to deal with.

Anything that happens will happen, and we’ll handle it ourselves. We have the power to do so, and there’s no choice but to deal with it.

Because—no one is going to help us.

“…You should rely on others a bit more.”

After hearing my words, Tenma furrowed his brow and spoke to me with a somewhat displeased expression.

But this is really unusual. For him to act like this… I was told something similar when I talked to Tenkei, but is our situation really that bad right now, for both me and Inori?

“Is there really something that bad about it? Tenkei said the same thing.”

“Is that so? Well, he would say that. He’s the type to act out of calculation, but when it comes to children, he tends to think with a naive mindset. In that way, he might actually be a bit like you—wanting to help someone else.”

So, that’s what kind of person he is… But I’m a little upset by the comparison. It’s not that I dislike being compared to him, but rather that it’s him who is like me.

Tenma said that my essence is suited for helping others, but I don’t feel that way myself.

So, if Tenkei really is someone who helps others, then it would be disrespectful to compare me, who wishes to help someone using the blessing’s curse, to him.

Seeing my reaction, Tenma shook his head slowly and returned to the topic.

“Well, I understand that relying on others is difficult for you. The closest adult you had disappeared, abandoning their closeness to you. The next closest adult is… well, ‘that person.’ You probably don’t find them dependable.”

By “that person,” he must be referring to Senpai. Indeed, when it comes to the adults closest to us, it would be them. They don’t exactly feel like a typical adult, but I also know that there are parts of them that are reliable.

“…It’s true that there are surprisingly competent aspects to them.”

“I don’t deny that. But before even considering their abilities, there’s the question of whether you would want to rely on them when you’re in a hopeless situation.”

Hearing that… I think about Senpai, and what comes to mind is her lazily eating snacks or intensely focusing on drawing, as if in a trance.

Either way, when asked if she would be someone I would turn to for help, I hesitate to answer.

“…I’d probably rely on her if it really came down to it.”

If it becomes truly necessary, I’d probably turn to her. After all, when we were trying to find the ones who attacked the school the other day, we went to Senpai. …Though she didn’t help at all. But that was because of the country’s circumstances. At least we tried to rely on her.

So, I think that if something happens again, I would rely on her then, too.

“By the time you’ve reached that point and can’t even say for sure you’d rely on them, the answer’s pretty much already obvious.”

Tenma sighed as he said that, and I could only look away in response.

“Well, enough about that person. The real issue is that there were no adults close to you. The next closest adults are from the country, and they’re all people who approach you for their own gain or calculation. It’s fine if you want to rely on us, but we’re too far removed from you to be someone you can turn to. I understand why you couldn’t rely on us. But remember this: even if you’re called ‘heroes,’ you can’t do everything by yourselves. If you forget that and insist on doing things your way, you’ll eventually ‘break.'”

Tenma, who had spoken in a much more sorrowful tone than during our training, stared at me for a moment, then turned and left without saying anything further.

“…I’ve already broken once. So breaking again wouldn’t make much of a difference.”

I murmured under my breath and exhaled, but this time my words dissolved into the air without anyone hearing them.