I Was Sent to an All-Female Frontline Unit to Get Rid of Some of the Trouble, but the Most Beautiful Girls Who Are Rumored to Hate Men Love Me So Much That I Have a Hard Time at Night - Chapter 44: Consultation (4)

Chapter 44: Consultation (4)

◆◇◆

“Mmm~. The bath felt so good~”

“Yes!”

After we finished changing in the dressing room and stepped outside, Norn-san stretched her body and spoke, and I agreed with her.

No matter how many times I take a bath, I never get tired of it. It always helps me relax and feels really good.

“Well then, I think everyone’s waiting for us, so let’s head to the living room together~”

“Got it!”

We started walking together toward the living room.

“……”

Now that I think about it—

Until recently, I hadn’t really cared much about things like nobles and commoners.

Of course, I always showed respect to noble people, but that didn’t change whether the other person was a commoner or not.

Before I enrolled in the magic academy, my older sister, who treated me very kindly, was from a ducal family.

Even when I was at the academy or the military base, most of the girls I got along with—who could be called my juniors—were daughters of noble families.

But even so, none of them ever looked down on me, and I felt like we had friendly relationships.

So why did I start worrying about those things?

The reason is simple—about two weeks ago, my superior said a lot of things to me.

Since then, and up until I came here, my head was filled with all of that.

After meeting everyone here, those thoughts started fading, but bits of it still lingered.

Even now, I can’t say it’s completely gone—but now…

“Everyone~! Sorry to keep you waiting~”

“Ah! Norn-senpai and Teraward-kun!”

“Welcome back!”

When we arrived in the living room, everyone from the unit greeted us.

And before I knew it, they came running over to me.

“Teraward-kun, you suddenly ran off earlier. Are you okay?”

“Are you feeling unwell or anything?”

“Are you sure your condition is alright?”

“Y-Yes! I’m sorry for making you all worry…”

“Don’t worry about it!”

“As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters!”

“Really, thank goodne──”

Then, hearing everyone’s warm concern and relief—

When I heard that actually everyone was going to come looking for me, but Elena-san stopped them to prevent chaos and went to find me herself—

I took a breath, then opened my mouth to speak.

“Thank you again for waiting for us in the living room like this. The truth is… there’s something I want to tell all of you.”

“Something Teraward-kun wants to tell us?”

“Yes.”

Just thinking about this earlier made me so scared.

I couldn’t even stay in the same room with everyone, and I ended up running away from the living room.

But──now, I can face it properly.

“The truth is, I…”

──You’re a nuisance.

Just stay quiet already.

“I’m not from a noble background like everyone else. I was born a commoner.”

──It’s disgraceful for us nobles to be in the same position as a commoner.

The people I know here aren’t the type to think like that.

“Earlier, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I kept wondering if I really had the right to be in the same place as all of you, and I ran off…”

──Don’t hold it against me, alright? It was decided by majority vote from the upper ranks…

None of that matters anymore.

No matter what the higher-ups think of me, the people I want to be with right now are…!

“I want to stay with everyone, from now on and forever! So… please, let me keep being with you all!”

That’s how I truly feel right now.

This is the honest wish of my heart.

After lowering my head and finishing my words—

Everyone raised their voices at once and said:

“Of course!”

“That’s obvious!”

“Who cares about family or status!”

“Yeah, yeah! We want to be with Teraward-kun!”

“If anything, the idea of Terakun not being here is just… impossible!”

“Exactly. I can’t even imagine living without Teraward-kun anymore.”

“I mean, didn’t we all live without Terakun until about a week ago…? How did we even manage that…?”

“Anyway! We want to stay with Teraward-kun too!”

“Yeah! So let’s keep getting along from now on!”

“Everyone…!”

When I raised my lowered head, everyone was smiling brightly.

The bright expressions of the people I wanted to stay with from now on.

The bright expressions of the people I wished to always be with.

As I looked at them happily chatting, I felt warmth growing inside me—

And then, Elena-san came over to me and said:

“Finn-kun, back when I broke the promise I made with you, I didn’t know if I deserved to stay by your side, but you said to me, ‘If anything, I’d like to ask you! Please stay with me from now on!!’ right?”

“…!”

“So this time, let me be the one to say it──”

Elena clung to my left arm and spoke with a gentle expression.

“Just like we promised back then, I’m the one who wants to stay with you forever, Finn! So let’s always be together from now on too!!”

“Elena…! I understand!”

As I felt the warmth of her words, Sephia came over to me next.

“I don’t care at all about Finn’s background… The reason I wanted to teach the sword—something I’ve cherished more than anything until now and wanted to touch—is because it was you, Finn, someone with such a kind heart.”

As she said that, Sephia gently placed her hand over my right hand and spoke with a calm expression.

“So please, Finn. From now on, let’s continue getting along as comrades in the same unit who care for each other.”

“Sephia…! I should be the one saying that. Let’s get along!”

Elena and Sephia.

As I felt the gentle emotions coming through their arms and hands, I suddenly felt something large and soft from behind.

Then arms wrapped around me from the front in a hug, and Norn leaned over from behind to look into my face and said:

“Of course, I want to be with you too, Finn. If you ever have any worries, you can talk to your big sister about anything, okay? Let’s stay together forever.”

“Norn… Thank you so much!”

After that, I chatted lightly with the three of them.

Then, because something came to mind, I said it out loud.

“Come to think of it, I was still in the middle of eating…! Is my food still there?”

“Of course! Look, over there!”

As she said that, Elena pointed to the place where I had been sitting earlier.

And right there, on the table, was my half-eaten meal, still sitting neatly.

Of course, I couldn’t just leave it like that, so I sat back down with the three of them.

“…! Terraward’s about to start eating!”

“He really is…!”

“I’m watching…!”

Everyone else gathered around us.

I resumed eating, determined to finish the meal in front of me.

There had been a gap in time since I had taken a bath, so the food had gotten quite cold.

But eating together with everyone here—

“It’s delicious!”

Even the cold food felt warm and tasted delicious.

When I said that, everyone gave me such bright smiles.

If I could stay with all of them forever…

If it’s for everyone’s sake, then I’ll do anything—

◆◇◆

Luvankrum Empire’s military headquarters.

In a meeting room there, four high-ranking officers were seated in their respective places.

Usually, the meeting would have ended by now, but today, the original schedule was thrown off because there was news that 3,000 troops from the Granzenia Kingdom were approaching the front lines. So the meeting hadn’t ended yet.

“When I heard that 3,000 soldiers were advancing, I wasn’t sure what would happen, but to completely drive them back—truly impressive. As expected of the strongest front-line unit of the Luvankrum Empire’s military.”

“Yeah. And while Finn Teraward is capable, he’s still just a trainee… We had no idea what his future might have been, but surviving the brutal real battles of the front lines at this point is nearly impossible. That front-line unit is important to our country, but if only Finn Teraward is dead, then that’s enough.”

“However, if those women really have accepted Finn Teraward, then perhaps he’s still alive.”

“About that—those women in the front-line unit are from noble families, aren’t they? Why would nobles, especially ones known for hating men, accept that boy specifically?”

A well-dressed man with a short beard said that.

Deandre nodded in agreement.

“I’ve thought about that too, and I believe it’s probably because Finn Teraward is still a boy.”

“I see… So even if he’s a commoner and a male, it would leave a bad aftertaste to let someone that young die?”

When the overweight man said that, Deandre nodded again.

“Yes. And now to the main point—I intend to strip away that superficial compassion of theirs in order to eliminate Finn Teraward.”

“Oh? But how would you manage that?”

“It’s simple. If we try to take on Finn Teraward along with the entire front-line unit, it would be a hassle. But what if we could turn the front-line unit to our side? Yes… I will—”

With a confident expression that showed he believed success was certain, Deandre spoke.

“I propose that we use money to strip away their fake compassion and command the front-line unit itself to assassinate Finn Teraward!!”