Chapter 13

Kurahito explained simply.

That Yukishiro had saved him from being attacked by a spider.

It was a rather arbitrary shortening, but he wasn’t lying.

"Is that so? Thank you."

Akari bowed her head naturally, seemingly unaware of anything unusual.

Upon closer inspection, Akari had matured somewhat compared to a year ago.

With her short black hair, petite and slender build, the impression of being serious and quiet remained unchanged from before she was summoned, but her tired eyes gave off an air of misfortune.

She wore a well-used white breastplate over a leather tunic, and it seemed she had discarded her belongings while running. The bow and a large knife had been confiscated by Kurahito when she was unconscious.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll return tomorrow morning, so if it's not too much trouble, could I stay the night?"

While listening to the expected response, Kurahito used earth spirit magic to create a pot with legs over the hearth and threw in the meat, wild herbs, and the dwindling supply of portable food he had prepared.

He then added water from a jar and put the lid on.

Akari watched this with wide eyes.

"H-How did you learn magic?"

"Hmm? Oh, from a textbook."

"A textbook, huh?"

While waiting for the pot to finish, Kurahito explained to the puzzled Akari why he was here.

After hearing the explanation, Akari looked apologetic.

"…S-Sorry."

"Hmm?"

"I didn't ask the higher-ups to search for the janitor because I wasn't sure if they were in this world."

"Oh, that. It's fine, really. Besides, it would have been a bother if they had searched."

"Also, the student who stole the janitor's power is in the same class as me…"

"That's not your fault."

"…My name is Akari. Fujishiro Akari. Here, I'm Akari Fujishiro."

"Akari, then."

"You can call me by my first name. What's the janitor's name…?"

"Hmm, oh, Branch Kurahito, but you can call me janitor. There's no need for you to apologize, Akari."

Still, Akari kept her head bowed, looking truly apologetic.

The room was lit only by the fire spirit in the pot, casting a soft orange glow over everything.

After a while, Akari opened her mouth as if making a decision.

"In this world, Elpis, there are said to be seventy-eight heroes."

While stirring the pot with a knife, Kurahito listened silently.

According to Akari, there are twenty-five heroes per grade, five per class, and three teachers, making a total of seventy-eight heroes in Elpis.

Kurahito is not among them.

As the seventy-ninth summoner, the janitor, Kurahito's existence has been tacitly taboo among everyone, kept secret from the people of this world.

While everyone was confused by the summoning, Kurahito's existence was forgotten. However, if that were the case, it wouldn't be strange for someone to speak up eventually.

This didn't happen because one person quickly demonstrated their power in this world and showed their worth.

Ichihara Satoru.

The student who stole Kurahito's power.

The only summoner with two 'Divine Blessings,' he defeated a man-eating bird that flew into the school within a month of being summoned. He then destroyed a human trafficking organization, obtained medicine to cure a princess's illness, and improved the school cafeteria.

Currently, he lives like an adventurer, working as a hunter, explorer, and pioneer, and is deeply involved in the country's politics, essentially a political cheat. His followers span all grades of the summoned, and even one teacher is part of his group. The mage who summoned him is also with him, making him the most powerful faction among the summoners.

No one could criticize or condemn him for stealing someone else's power.

In a world where some try to use or ostracize summoners, such a scandal would only harm the summoners, not benefit them.

His ultimate goal seems to be 'returning to Japan,' but since it's hard to trust him, Akari left.

No one criticizes or voices opinions about him among the summoners.

This made her feel uneasy, so she joined Maxim's invitation.

While this means she doesn't benefit from Hayato's influence and is at the mercy of the country's politics, she sometimes feels she's at a disadvantage, but she thinks it's inevitable. She doesn't trust what she can't believe.

Akari finished speaking as if spilling out what she had been holding back.

"Hmm, maybe it's for the best."

To Akari, who was waiting for a final judgment, Kurahito offered a crude bowl and chopsticks made from a fallen log.

"Being hailed as a hero would be annoying, and as an adult, being told to take responsibility for the students would be troublesome. Being called a hero and brought here now would be a problem. So, let's keep this a secret, okay?"

In the bowl Akari received was a stew-like dish.

"Here, eat it before it gets cold. You won't grow big if you don't."

Kurahito also placed a bowl in front of Yukishiro.

It was like a snack. Yukishiro was skillfully licking it, even though it was hot.

"…It's not small."

By the time Kurahito made a silly sound, Akari was already eating from the bowl.

"Wow, it's delicious. Is this stew? Or curry?"

"It's a stew with a curry flavor."

"…Which is it?"

He apparently added wild herbs that tasted like curry.

"Pretty good, I think."

"Wait, are you using me as a guinea pig?"

"…Don't worry about it."

"I do worry. And what is this stew base? There's no such thing, right?"

"Hmm, oh, it seems to be the portable food I brought when I came here, melted into this. It's very nutritious, you know? Yukishiro grew up eating this."

Akari looked up from her bowl and saw Yukishiro struggling with the hot stew.

"Yukishiro, is that the Ilneek?"

"Yeah. The child of the big Ilneek you hunted."

Akari's face turned pale, and she bowed her head again.

"I don't think you need to worry about Akari. I've explained it to her. Well, I'm not sure how the hunters who fought it directly will react."

"…Why did you save me? I'm the child of your enemy. And I think the Ilneek was the one who incited the giant thorn spider."

Kurahito had been thinking about this while talking.

Should he tell the truth or just bluff?

"Who knows?"

"…Huh? But how did you know we hunted a big Ilneek?"

"I saw it and heard about it."

Kurahito chuckled.

"Wait, so you've known since last year—"

"—I knew. And I knew someone would come here again this year."

Akari frowned.

"…Did the janitor incite the giant thorn spider?"

"What do you think?"

"…Why would you do that?"

Kurahito smiled, genuinely amused.

Even he didn't understand why he felt this way.

"Even if I did incite it, is there a problem?"

Caught off guard by the question, Akari hesitated but then replied indignantly.

"Because inciting that 'nightmare,' especially right after petrification, is—"

"—a complete act of murder, right?"

"Y-Yes."

"Right, it was an act of murder. Because they came to kill, right?"

Akari was speechless.

There was a janitor she had never seen before.