Chapter 40

It's short, but for now, the scene from Yū's (Yūhi) side has ended. Next time, it will be back to Setsu's side.

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Suddenly told that they would depart for the war in the morning, the classmates were all in different states of mind.

Some were flustered and pale, others were already calmly thinking about what they needed to prepare, and some were excitedly imagining the approaching battlefield... Each spent the last night before departure as they pleased.

"Yū, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Hmm? Kōma-kun?"

Kōma stood in front of Yūhi's private room.

Yūhi, who had already consulted with Elka and Grain about their escape plan during the war and finished her preparations without much delay, let Kōma into her room.

"What's up? Are you done with your preparations?"

"Yeah, I'm all set. I just wanted to talk to you a bit before bed."

Hearing this, Yūhi grimaced in a way Kōma couldn't see.

Truthfully, she wanted to get to bed early to prepare for the next day, but Kōma's visit was ruining her plans, making her somewhat irritable.

She asked him to sit in one of the chairs in the room and took the other one herself.

"Um... sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"How about tomorrow?"

Although it seemed odd to have such a conversation between a man and a woman at night, Yūhi, who didn't particularly want to deepen her relationship with Kōma, went along with it.

"Tomorrow... we're going to have to kill people, right?"

"..."

The demons and beasts, though different in appearance, had their own wills.

From what she could tell, Kōma seemed to be hesitant about killing.

(Oh, it's that kind of talk.)

Yūhi felt a sense of disappointment as she listened to him.

To her, who had no intention of fighting the demons and beasts, it was a boring topic.

The difference between Kōma, who didn't want to kill, and Yūhi, who didn't want to kill, was that Yūhi could take a life if it was for the sake of someone important, even if it was a classmate.

Having received training from Elka to be by Setsu's side, she had no hesitation about killing.

"Don't hesitate, Kōma-kun. If you don't want to lose what's important to you, you have to fight. As the leader of the class, if you hesitate, everyone will be paralyzed. So, let's do our best, okay?"

Yūhi intended to encourage Kōma.

Although she was gradually drifting away from her classmates, she would still feel angry if Kōma, Jirō, or Mutsuki were hurt.

"...I guess you've really changed since coming to this world. You've... gotten stronger."

"Have I?"

One often doesn't notice changes in their own mental state.

Trained by Elka and actively exposed to the not-so-pretty aspects of this world, Yūhi had grown tough and strong without realizing it.

When Kōma pointed this out, Yūhi felt a bit of joy inside.

Thinking she had gotten a little closer to Setsu, she relaxed her cheeks a little.

In reality, compared to Setsu, who could no longer take a life, she had already surpassed him mentally, but Yūhi wasn't sharp enough to realize this.

"Even though you've gotten stronger... I don't want you to be in danger. If possible, I don't want you to go to war..."

"...That's not possible."

Kōma's wish would never come true.

If she weren't in Kōma's party, she might have been able to make some adjustments, but it was unacceptable for Yūhi, an important human combatant, not to go to war.

"I understand. So, I'll protect you, even at the cost of my life. Please don't leave my side while we're in the demon continent."

"Uh... okay."

Kōma, who grabbed her shoulder and looked straight into Yūhi's face, had a passionate gaze.

If this were a normal girl, she would probably have fallen for him.

Unfortunately, Yūhi's heart didn't stir at all...

"Then... I'll be going now. Let's do our best in the battle tomorrow."

"Okay, good night..."

After Kōma left the room, Yūhi remained motionless, lost in thought.

(Stay by my side... huh. This is bad; I won't be able to leave easily...)

Her plan to temporarily leave the front lines with a plausible excuse had been complicated by Kōma's words.

If he was around, she wouldn't be able to create the conditions to separate from her classmates.

Even if she relied on Elka and Grain, they couldn't come to the battlefield.

They were able to live in the castle because they had agreed not to participate in the war to avoid being seen as allies of other races.

They had said they would ignore this condition and come if necessary, but she couldn't ask them to leave the castle until the matter of the supposedly dead hero was resolved.

In other words, she couldn't get their help over something this trivial.

(Well, I'll just have to think about it depending on the situation.)

Deciding to let things be as they would, she pushed all her problems to the back of her mind and climbed into bed.

Although she wasn't the type to get tired from an S-rank dungeon, she had been told by Elka to get to bed early, so she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, they were seen off by many citizens and set out from Distenia with an army of 5,000.

What awaited them was a battlefield far worse than anything they could have imagined during their ordinary high school lives—hell.