The Healer in a Japanese-Style Game World: Mastering Healing to Save My Favorite Character in a Brutal World, Only to Find Everyone Around Me Becoming Obsessed - Chapter 38: Confession

Chapter 38: Confession

“Yomi-san, it’s Sanae—um, are you awake?”

In the dead of night, someone knocked on my door and spoke those words. Since I was just lost in thought and couldn’t sleep anyway, I opened the door and let her in.

“I’m awake… You need something?”

“I thought I should talk about this situation properly…”

“Okay. Come on in.”

“Thank you.”

After inviting her into the room, Sanae-san looked at my face and began to speak.

“First of all, I’m really sorry for lying like that. I just really didn’t want to be taken away at that time…”

“Ah… it’s fine now. I even went along with it and told the princess I fell in love with you at first sight.”

I said this to put her at ease in the room that had started to get a bit chilly due to the autumn night.

“So, can you listen to my story?”

“Of course. I was thinking I should hear it anyway.”

I still didn’t know much about her. 

From our interactions, she seemed like a kind person, good with children, and not a bad person at all. Most importantly, she was someone willing to risk her life for others.

“I… ran away because I was scared of dying during the trial.”

“I heard about that. I understand… it’s only natural.”

“Yomi-san, you’re kind to say that. But… I never thought it would come to this. By running away, I must have disappointed my sister, and above all, I never considered the possibility that you might get killed because of it.”

“…If I remember correctly, Nagisa-sama hates lies, right?”

“Yes… I forgot even that and said such things. She always looked up to me. When I think about why I was born, I realize I shouldn’t have run away.”

…The reason she was born?

Those words made me lean in a little. In the room lit only by moonlight, with barely any visible expressions, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking… but I knew this was important.

“Yomi-san, I was… raised solely for the trial. As soon as I was born, I was given blessings, and for fifteen years, I was raised only to become stronger. I hunted yokai, trained… lived to become a vessel to overcome the trial and accept its power.”

“That’s—”

I can’t say this is terrible.

This isn’t something that can be judged by the standards of my previous life.

Living in the Shiranui family made me painfully aware of this. I was raised for the next generation, and since I failed to meet those expectations, I couldn’t think of any comforting words for her.

“―I couldn’t do the things typical of a young girl. My daily routine was watching the town from the castle. Amidst all the training, I enjoyed listening to the castle maid’s stories. I often admired them and found joy in dreaming about such things.”

As she continued, talking about eating sweets, playing with friends, and falling in love, she seemed like a girl full of dreams, speaking happily. I understood how much she longed for those experiences and deeply felt her desires.

“And well, the trial began. It was fine to fight. I faced Ryusui-sama’s power as Kuzuryu the Great Deity. But as I fought and felt like I was going to die, I thought, ‘I don’t want this’—if I died, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I wondered why I was born.”

“…And then, what did you do, Sanae-san?”

“Haha, as you know, I ran away. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn’t help it, so I fled. Toma-san found me, and for the first time, I could do what I wanted. I played, interacted with others, and laughed over trivial things…”

…Seeing her smile like that, I could definitely understand.

The way she interacted with the children, talked with Makami and me… and most importantly, how she engaged with the customers in this restaurant—all of it seemed genuinely enjoyable.

“The day I first met you, Yomi-san, I was really surprised. I had never imagined being protected by someone… and you looked so cool, like a hero from the fairy tales I saw as a child.”

“Ah… is that so?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Suddenly being praised like this created an awkward atmosphere… and the room felt even colder. Actually, isn’t it really cold? Even though I’m wearing pajamas and it’s a bit thin, it feels way too cold… I thought, and at that moment, I noticed that parts of the room were frozen.

“—Huh?”

Confused by the situation, I looked towards the door, which was slightly open… and I saw a tail and fox ears peeking through the gap.

“…Oboro-sama?”

“…Kon!”

“That’s not how a fox sounds… You can come in, Oboro-sama.”

“Aww, how did you notice me?”

“Well, looking at this mess… it’s pretty obvious.”

It was a rather terrible sight, with even icicles growing. Only Oboro-sama could do something like this, and besides, her fox ears and tail were showing…

“…Um, Oboro-sama, how long have you been listening?”

“I happened to see Sanae-sama enter the room… so, from then on.”

“So, from the beginning, huh?”

“Yes, that’s right—by the way, Yomi-sama, what did you mean by ‘love at first sight’?”

“Uh, well—you know, I just said it to go along with what we told the princess in the castle.”

“And yet, you don’t say such things to us?”

The room’s temperature dropped even further.

There was a cracking sound as the ice expanded, and even the wind seemed to howl through the room. Was it Oboro-sama’s divine power? The room was freezing over uncontrollably.

“Sanae-sama, could you wake Kagura-sama and the others? This concerns the future of the shop.”

“―Yes! I’ll call them right away!”

“Wait, hold on—Sanae-san!?”

“Fufu, Yomi-sama, you and I will have a little chat.”