Published: March 21, 2026
“Pathetic.”
There’s probably no expression that captures my current feelings more accurately.
Since we entered this forest… no, ever since Sato and the others fled the castle and we had our first fight, this emotion has been smoldering in my chest.
All the boys except me can fight. I’m stuck behind Tsuda’s shield with the girls.
A trainer is normally a non-combat class, but that changes if they can command demonic beasts.
And yet the only things I can command right now are animals.
I know I can’t command stronger creatures until I level up.
But it’s hard not to get impatient.
Even when I level up, the others spend that time leveling more. Even within the same party, those who fight demonic beasts will inevitably pull ahead of those who don’t.
Training can only do so much; fights with demonic beasts give far more experience, so it’s unavoidable.
I could have made that excuse forever before.
“But still, this is just… wrong.”
Hosoyama was the one who dealt the fatal blow to the whale demonic beast.
She’s a healer—a non-combat class that should have lower base stats than me—yet she killed such a huge beast with just one finger.
My excuses no longer hold.
The self-justification I’d been clinging to, that it’s because of different classes, can’t be used anymore.
If Hosoyama, a healer, could do it, there’s no reason I can’t.
Even without using her skill "gluttony," I should be able to fight too.
“…But I’m stupid, you know.”
Middle school and high school were for club activities for me, not studying. Apart from the period when club activities were banned before exams and the assigned homework, I never really studied.
I’m especially bad at subjects that require flexible thinking.
“Kazuki-kun, is something wrong?”
Tsuda, who was washing the cooking tools we’d used for our meal in the nearby river, reacted to my mutter and looked up.
Come to think of it, he was nearby.
Even back in class he was kind of unobtrusive—less noticeable than Oda but still hard to sense.
Honestly, I don’t remember talking much with him.
On top of that, his feminine face, tilting his head and looking up at me with that gaze, made me feel a little weird.
“No, it’s nothing—”
My denial was cut off. Tsuda had hit the nail on the head.
“You were worrying about Hosoyama-san’s skill earlier, right?”
He looked at me with sparkling eyes as if to say “See?” I tilted my head—was he always like this? Maybe I just hadn’t seen this side of him because I didn’t hang out nearby.
He might be surprisingly friendly.
I decided to swallow my pride and consult him. He’s probably smarter than me.
“If a healer can defeat demonic beasts by stealing their life force, I wondered if there’s some way I could defeat them too. I’m not very smart—do you have any good ideas?”
“Hmm, the trainer’s way of fighting…”
Tsuda crossed his arms and tilted his head, thinking seriously.
I smiled a little and watched him.
I never imagined that quiet Tsuda, who kept to the back of the classroom, and me, who made a ruckus in the center, would end up traveling together.
I’m surprisingly content with this life.
If someone asked whether I wanted to go home, sure, I sometimes miss my mom’s cooking, but it’s refreshing not to hear her nagging voice.
All the club effort I put in every day—I’ve probably been removed from the regular lineup now that this happened. Besides, there’s no guarantee time flows the same way here as it does there.
The tournaments we aimed for might already be over, or maybe, like Urashima Tarō, we’ve been sent hundreds of years into the future.
Since there’s another world, that possibility can’t be ruled out.
“In my opinion, trainers are fundamentally unsuited to killing demonic beasts.”
I snapped my head up.
Right—I was asking Tsuda for advice.
Something bumped my leg. I looked down to see the cat, who’s practically my partner, rubbing its head against my knee.
Did I command a cat before the monkey back in the castle?