CH 180.2

Chapter 180.2: Reunion with Bosom Friend

Having that said, I had a lot of stories to share with Ryuuichi, but I let Class Rep have her fill of Ryuuichi first. She had been acting calm, composed, and decisive all this while, but she cried her heart out the moment she saw Ryuuichi.

That was just how much she missed him. Ryuuichi on the other hand was really composed and just gently embraced her.

Anyhow, it was such a contrasting reunion, but maybe because she was tired of crying, Class Rep now fell asleep.

Everyone was also resting right now.

Ryuuichi and I got away from the women’s camp and walked toward the corner of the plaza.

「Thanks, Yuuto. Taking care of Ryouko must have been exhausting.」

「Not at all, she’s the one who is taking care of me. Yes, she always saved me with her advice.」

「I see. Well, I guess it’s only natural for her to get along with you.」

「But then, Class Rep is also carrying so many burdens with her. That must be the reason she was so happy upon reuniting with you.」

「Humph, I wonder about that. I’m not going to give a shit about the miraculous reunion and something along that way. Who knows that we might be dancing in the pa— nah, I guess it’s not time to worry about that.」

Though I was really happy to be able to reunite with Ryuuichi, I also couldn’t shake off the feeling that this reunion was in fact someone’s machination.

Even the fact that we transferred right in the scene of Reina’s gruesome death was too much to be said as coincidence.

Our entire class got transferred, and then we started dungeon capture ever since then. Yes, everything seemed like we were dancing in the palm of the mastermind. I did feel the same way as Ryuuichi, but… he was right about it being too early to worry about this matter.

「Ryuuichi has also been protecting Rando and Co properly along the way after all.」

「Not really, those fellas just tagged along. I’m barely doing anything for them.」

From the way he spoke, it meant that Rando and Co could fight for themselves. Ryuuichi was never the type to be honest with his words after all.

Though I didn’t interact with them that often, I felt slightly relieved upon knowing that the trio of gals, Rando-san, Nonomiya-san, Yoshizaki-san, was safe and sound. In this way, I confirmed that my classmates were living well.

「Nevertheless, it’s a good thing that they’re living well.」

「Haa, ain’t that obvio— Yuuto, who’s died on your side?」

Ryuuichi heaved a sigh as he said that, but then, he noticed something before he finished his remark and asked that question. It was as if he could see through me.

「I really can’t hide anything from you, after all.」

「That’s your fault for making it so obvious on your face. Like hell I’m gonna miss such obvious expressions.」

I had already somewhat recovered from the shock though.

「Well, it’s not like I’m going to keep this matter a secret. Rather, I have a question for you, Ryuuichi.」

「I don’t want to join you if you’re going to talk about gloomy topics, but I’ll at least hear your question.」

I let out a wry smile upon hearing his usual reply… but, my mood worsened the moment I tried to speak.

「I already know about some of our fallen classmates. Amongst them, the one who died right before me was… Hiroki and Reina.」

Hiroki, who you might call one of my buddies, got himself killed by boss-level govu who wielded a demon sword at the beginning of dungeon capture. The shock when I saw her headless corpse was what awakened me to the bitter reality of this dungeon.

But Hiroki’s cruel death was more or less still a normal death in the hand of a monster.

「Huroki lost his life in a boss battle. To protect Asuna and Kotori-san, he…」

「I see. So, who’s the person who killed Ayase?」

Just how much Ryuuichi had seen through me? From the way he spoke, it looked as if he was fully aware of the source of my pain, sorrow, and anguish.

「Is it Higuchi? Or Yokomichi?」

「I haven’t even said that she’s killed by a classmate yet.」

「I’ve told you right, you’re so easy to read. Look at your face… That’s the face of someone who just got betrayed.」

The most dangerous thing in this place wasn’t just the monsters or the boss… We could be killed by our classmates too.

Surely, even I might not be able to hold myself back to rush at that guy with the intention to kill him if I saw him again.

「… It’s Momokawa. Reina was murdered by Momokawa.」

Naturally, I realized that my voice was trembling with anger when I said his name.

I resented my own weakness for failing to protect Reina and yet… And yet, the anger that I felt toward Momokawa, her murderer who even toying with her corpse didn’t vanish from my heart.

「I see. Momokawa, eh. That fella――」

Ryuuichi made an expression as if he understood what had happened back then, and heaved a sigh as his expression changed to the one when he was about to face a troublesome matter.

「Yuuto, don’t tell the gals about that matter. Things will become troublesome once they hear about it.」

「What do you mean, Ryuuichi? Do you know something about Momokawa?」

「He could be someone you hate a lot for murdering Ayase but… For another person, he’s an important man.」

「What do you me―― No way, who amongst those three dating Momokawa?」

「Okay, let’s stop trying to snoop your nose to where it does not belong to. Just a reminder, don’t let those three know about this matter.」

「Ryuuichi, you… Are you trying to protect Momokawa?」

「Don’t misunderstand me. As long as it won’t hinder me, I won’t poke my nose in another’s circumstances.」

「… I see, indeed. You’re always that kind of man, Ryuuichi.」

If Reina was my childhood friend since kindergarten, Ryuuichi would be considered to have been associated with me for even longer than that. And yet, both of them had never gotten along with each other.

Ryuuichi had this personality that always caused him to overwhelm the other person since back then, which made him an extremely poor match with the timid Reina. Though they knew each other’s faces and names, I’d never seen them talking with each other before.

That’s why for Ryuuichi, Reina was nothing more than an old acquaintance, a mere classmate. His reaction to Reina’s death was just like him.

「Rather than that, Yuuto. I need your help.」

「My help, in what?」

「There’s an extremely ridiculous boss in this area. Honestly, beating that one by myself is impossible.」

「What?」

Since even Ryuuichi went as far as asking for my help, it meant that the boss was really powerful but… No, wait a minute, I don’t even know the extent of Ryuuichi’s current strength and what kind of vocation he had.

「The reason we met in this area might be related to that very boss.」

「Wha-What do you mean―― Or rather, right now?」

「Naturally, I’m tired of waiting already.」

「No, I mean, we just finished boss battle too.」

「You beat by yourself, right? Anyhow, follow me. It’s not like I’m asking you to fight that fella immediately, I’ll just let you watch a part of it.」

「Ha~h, can’t be helped I guess.」

Even though he usually lacked motivation, the current him was the exact opposite of that.

But then, it made me even more worried about the boss monster who forced even Ryuuichi to do this. Anyhow, since we were literally trapped in this place as long as that boss was still alive, our only choice was to beat that boss.