Chapter 178

Jealousy, was it shameful to have such feelings .

Then, what if you hated your friend?

I knew that, it was not that difficult for jealousy to become hopelessness, and then transform into hatred .

It had, always been that way .

Our relationship, no matter when or where, never changed .

Even before we came to this world, I knew that I was no match for Shiori-chan .

TN: Hosoyama’s first name, for those who forgot .

“Even though Shiori-chan is cute and can do everything, Yuuki-chan can’t . ”

“Even though Yuuki-chan is Shiori-chan’s friend, why can’t you do this?”

“Yuuki-chan has a boy-ish name, and speaks strangely . ”

TN: Yuuki can be both a girl’s name and a boy’s name .

The young children’s queries unexpectedly struck at my heart .

Long ago, Shiori-chan and I were always together, and we did everything together .

Since the first friend I made after transfering school from Kansai due to my parents’ work was Shirori-chan .

However, Shiori-chan was everyone’s idol, and I who was by her side was not, and I was always being compared to her .

That’s why, I went so far as to make sure that we were not together in junior high and senior high and I did not talk to her, and because of that, I was finally able to go back to being the lively me .

It took me quite a long time to realize that because we’re different people, even if we were together, it’s inevitable that the things we could and couldn’t do were not the same .

After realizing that, I was able to talk with Shiori-chan just like I had before .

In the first place, it was a story that I didn’t know how to end, and my dialect was a habit, rather, were you complaining, hey .

Even if I thought that, the rumors spread like wildfire and nobody listened to what I had to say .

Other than this person .

“Ueno is funny, and when I’m with you, I somehow become full of spirit . ”

“The way she talks? If you can communicate, it doesn’t really matter? If you didn’t understand anything that was said, then that would be troublesome though . ”

Everyone was going crazy over Tsukasa-kun and saying that he was cool, but the one who said the words that I needed to hear was not him .

「Waki-kun! Did you consult with Shiori-chan about something?」

Even in this kind of situation, I didn’t want the person that I liked to be taken, and so I called out to Waki-kun who had been talking with Shiori-chan .

Waki-kun had been in low spirits ever since he saw Shiori-chan’s fight yesterday .

Shiori-chan again .

「Ou! I asked Hosoyama if there were any tricks to acquiring skills . Does Ueno know?」

I felt the smile on my face stiffen .

There’s no way I knew .

An exorcist was a restrictive occupation and not knowing how to strengthen myself, I had always been worried, and it had been that way up until now .

Most likely, other than Oda-kun who pretended that he wasn’t there, I was the only one who wasn’t assigned someone from the chivalric order or someone who specialized in the occupation .

Oda-kun also had Commander Saran looking after him, so he most likely snuck into the library .

I didn’t know anything .

Since I shut myself in my room when everyone was training .

I couldn’t do anything about being prohibited from entering the library to look for a book about dispelling curses .

Commander Saran, who gave me advice, was also busy with Oda-kun’s training, and even if that weren’t the case, he was the commander, so he probably had various things to do .

I was thankful that he even went out of his way to meet me .

Come to think of it, did I thank Commander Saran .

It was probably because of the princess’s curse, but my memory from when we returned from the dungeon to when we left the castle was fuzzy .

「No, I don’t know . When I came to the castle, I did it halfheartedly? That’s why, I played hooky . 」

That was a lie .

However, I couldn’t give another explanation in the spur of the moment .

Commander Saran told me that he would call for someone who specialized in dispelling curses, but even that couldn’t be done immediately as he was busy, and that promise had not been fulfilled because he died .

Until Commander Saran called for them, I didn’t do anything and shut myself in my room .

Was this something I could tell the person that I liked .

There’s no way that I could .

Or, would Waki-kun blame me for skipping while he was doing his best .

I was trembling with dread, but the words he spoke were encouraging .

「That means that you dispelled the curse put on Satou even though you weren’t really taught anything!? That’s amazing!」

I unconsciously smiled when Waki-kun said that so excitedly .

This person was the same as ever .

As usual, he spoke the words that I wanted to hear .

That’s why, I will do my best .

「Monsters are approaching!! Please get ready!!」

Zeal-san raised his voice, and everyone quickly picked up their weapons .

I unconsciously gave a wry smile when I saw that .

Despite it being lunch time, everyone kept their weapons by their sides .

That had become second nature .

Even if we were able to return to Japan, would we be able to truly return to how we were before .

「Ueno, we’re going back to where Tsuda is!」

「Un!!」