Author's Note: Afterword below.

Chapter 10
As he gazes at the sunset, Hikigaya Hachiman ponders.

"We regret to inform you that the Hostess suffered from a rowdy brawl between high-level adventurers last night that incurred damages we cannot currently replace. We shall reopen in a day. We apologize for the inconveniences we may have caused."

–was what the sign on the door of the Hostess said.

After hanging the wooden sign with fresh paint on the front of the tavern entrance, I headed back into the building, where the sounds of hammers on nails were loud and abundant. Construction seemed to be a popular industry to go into these days; even the feared, albeit retired, Black Cat was getting in on this.

"Uuuu… I'll escape, I'll definitely get away from here, nya!" With tears in her eyes, Rollo swung the hammer she was holding as she and Anya worked together in order to replace half of the entire side wall of the dining area.

"Doubtful, nya." Anya muttered as she hammered wooden panels into place at astounding speed, ripping out the damaged wood to replace it with fresh planks. "Mama Mia won't let you get away so easily, nya." Even the normally excitable catgirl was as sober as I was when it came to dealing with Mia, the terrifying tavern owner.

I sighed as I sat down on one of the stools that hadn't been destroyed by the double brawl and contemplated my next step as I picked up one of the tables and began repairing it.

In the end, I hadn't survived the fury of Mia unscathed either.

It had been less than 24 hours since the attempted counteroperation against the two out for Lyon's head, Black Cat and Black Fist. Mia had sentenced the 3 primary perpetrators she could get her hands on–Lyon, Rollo, and Anya–to repair the damages to the tavern.

Did I 'forget' to mention I was involved and I had planned the whole thing?

Oops. Teehee!

Not like that had stopped Mia from finding out. Damn that elf.

The blame had been split between us after Mia stopped Lyon's argument by cracking the fist across the tops of Lyon's head–not strong enough to knock her out, but enough so that it would hurt and leave a sizable bump for a good day or two.

Unfortunately, while I had managed to escape the iron fist, I didn't escape the sentence of menial labor.

I finished hammering the table's center stand back into place before setting it to the side and picking up a splintered wooden chair, eyeing it(condition? broken beyond repair), discarding it to the side, and picking up another piece of furniture.

More importantly, the backers of those two were the bigger problem. The Bruno Trading Company, a merchant organization that was somewhere on the upper-middle tier in terms of size, wealth, and influence. Why would they back two assassins to kill Lyon, and how could I exploit that to take them out?

Looks like it's time for Info-gaya to strike again.

As I finished repairing another chair, there was a bang! as from the double doors to the Hostess, Flova and Lyon came traipsing in, both of them holding large paper bags filled to the brim with vegetables and fruits.

"Hello, everyone! Glad to see you're all working well~" Flova's bright voice filled the room, but both the catgirls ignored it. "Hello, everyone?"

No one replied, but Flova waved cheerily at me in order to break the tension. "Hikigaya, hi! Come on, Ryuu, say hi to your coworker."

"Yo." I raised a hand in response, but I was only met with the stares of everyone else in the room.

Lyon, for her part, ignored everyone present and marched into the kitchen instead.

"Ahahaha…" Flova's awkward laughter trailed off in the room before she decided to follow the elf into the kitchen.

With the exchange finished, I turned back to my original train of thought: taking down the Bruno Trading Company, and with a little luck, the familia behind them as well.

Speed was of the essence. First to strike, first to win. Although most likely, those people were still quietly waiting until they could tie up Lyon, their last loose end. If they were that confident in themselves, it was unlikely they would make any rash actions: at least, rash actions that would expose them in the least.

It'd probably be too much to ask for the Hostess employees to come with me and take them out, and it was near-impossible for me to be able to defeat all of them on my own. I was going to need to get numbers and manpower for this that I didn't have… but both were things that Orario did.

I ran through the options in my mind. First and foremost, of course, was Freya Familia, one of the most powerful familias in the city. Then there was Loki Familia, which was a long-time regular of the pub. Their frequent barside brawls and the messes they made were frequently showcases of their ridiculous strength. There was Ganesha Familia, the justice-centered familia led by Ankusha, who were devoted to enforcing law and order and following it.

If I were to act on direct principle alone, then the obvious choice was Ganesha Familia. With their presence and power, they had been likened to that of the former Astraea Famillia, which had apparently been wiped out by the Dungeon.

However, should they investigate further than I like, I would be forced to disclose information about the two fugitives of the law inside the pub, who were Lyon and Rollo; that potential problem was more trouble than it was worth asking them to take out the Bruno Trading Company.

The choice here would then fall between Freya and Loki. From a purely logical standpoint, Freya was the stronger familia of the two; possessing 4-5 Level 6 adventurers and one Level 7, they held the advantage in numbers over Loki Familia. However, judging from what Mia had said about them, the goddess and her followers were more about personal gain and collecting valuable followers than anything–in other words, Freya was amassing a bunch of almighty gacha characters but would never commit them to anything this trivial. They would only act by her order and her whim.

So, Loki Familia was the only one left by the process of elimination.

Now, all I had to do was nudge them in the right direction.

~~This is a Line Break~~

My finances had suffered a pretty debilitating setback thanks to Lyon's near-successful murder attempt, taking away more than 60% of the allotted finances I had accumulated, leaving me with a (comparably) measly 40,000 to my name.

Now, after another trip to meet 'Spider', those finances would be depleted by another 10,000.

As I slowly moved through the alleys of Daedalus Street, covered in the black cloak and very much at the ready for combat situation, I brushed through the commuting crowd before ducking into a smaller alley, where I was promptly greeted by a thin, lanky man with a broadsword strapped across his hip and a wide-brimmed hat tilted at a jaunty angle, as if he was a cowboy messenger. A leather bag hung across his shoulder. Unexpectedly, a white face with a black spider emblazoned across the mask was hung over his face, obscuring his facial features.

'Spider' himself had come out to meet me.

"You aren't a bounty hunter." A question, not a statement. I nodded in assent. "Interesting… were you perhaps behind the disappearances of Black Cat and Black Fist?"

"..." I silently looked at him. With the hood shrouding my face, it would appear as if I was contemplating something else, such as making him disappear too. Black cloaks were always suspicious, even in other worlds; I'd be absolutely shocked if they weren't.

I mean, Lyon even made green cloaks a symbol of terror well known throughout Orario. I'm sure black cloaks are already notorious.

"All right, you don't have to tell me." The man raised his hands in a clear gesture of defeat. Putting a fist to his mouth, he cleared his throat. "Anyways, I have what you were looking for. Receipts of the Bruno Trading Company's darker dealings, illicit activities… Here are the two copies." From his satchel, he pulled out 2 thick folders filled with paper, which I took and silently skimmed over before stashing away inside my cloak. "And there's one more thing I want to talk to you about."

"What do you want?"

"Simple. You seem like a potentially well-paying and valuable customer, so I was wondering if you were willing to enter into a contract."

Contract: A written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.

At first glance, it seemed simple enough. Two people agreed upon the conditions and entered into an agreement which would allow both of them to benefit mutually: usually, the contractee would have a desired condition fulfilled while the contractor would receive compensation for their efforts. For example, the contract between a restaurant's employer and employees. The employees will cook, serve, clean, and in general maintain the wellbeing and stability of the restaurant in order to attract customers, completing the employer's desired conditions. In return, their employer will compensate them with monetary values in order to fulfill their side of the obligation. If the employer failed to pay the employees, then the employees could report the problem to the government and enforce the law to receive compensation. If the employees failed to fulfill their conditions, they could be removed from their positions and replaced.

The problem existed in the wants and needs of humans. The employee wants to acquire more wealth. The employer wants to not only have his desire condition fulfilled, but also keep as much wealth as he possibly can. As a result of these conflicting goals as well as the financial position of the employee, corporate slavery exists as a result.

"What type of contract, exactly?"

Therefore, one had to take extra care not to enter into a contract which could be twisted and manipulated to suit the other's needs without benefiting the original contractor at all.

'Spider' spread his hands in front of me as he made his pitch. "Simple. We enter into a constant informer/informee contract. For constant payments of around 4,000 Valis each month, I'll create a sheaf of papers that'll keep you up-to-date on the current situations and events in Orario every week. For more specific investigation requests, I'll cut you a 30% discount if you agree to the aforementioned contract as well."

The isekai equivalent of a modern-world magazine subscription, or a newspaper. That could definitely be extremely useful in improving my knowledge not only of this world, but also of how I should react to situations, since I now had enough information to act on an event.

I nodded. "I accept your deal."

"Excellent!" 'Spider' rubbed his hands before reaching into his satchel and pulling out a singular paper and handing it to me. "Just write your name here and sign."

As soon as I did, the man nodded at me. "It's a pleasure to be in business with you, Hi.. Hikigaya…" He squinted at the paper, trying to puzzle out my name. "Hikigaya Hachiman. Ahh, so you're from the Far East, then?" Man, why was Japan always called something like the 'Far East' or 'Eashen' or something like that, and why were we always stereotyped as katana-wielding warriors? I'll have you know that I'm the proud user of a top-grade longsword, okay? Katanas really aren't something to write home about compared to my weapon, you know? "I'll see you around, then."

Disappearing into the darkness of the alley, "Spider" soon left as I headed towards the Guild, taking out one of the sheaf of papers that would tie up one of the loose ends I had.

~~This is a Line Break~~

Castles were stupid.

And no, I wasn't saying that from a misplaced sense of jealousy. I was speaking from a practical standpoint–although it admittedly was true that I was more than a little envious of the wealth one had to have to acquire a castle.

A castle was nothing more than a glorified fortress or a flaunt of wealth that served no purpose whatsoever. Making an entire building out of stone was not only tiring, but also meaningless. Such things would lack lighting and insulation and the defenses were all but useless compared to having a Level 5 or 6 adventurer as a defender. The guard towers and gates were about as useful as foam swords against any serious Level 4-and-up adventurer.

Staring up at the homebase of Loki Familia, Twilight Manor, I couldn't help but be a little irritated as I approached the gate. I had already ditched my black cloak and stuffed it into my pack, unwilling to wear it any more than necessary. Besides, Stealth Hikky operated best when there were no defining features about me whatsoever.

"Halt there! State your business!" Damn, for faceless guards they were pretty good at noticing a nobody like me. Was it like how loners could instinctively sense other loners? Could mob characters also notice other mob characters as well?

"I have business with the captain of your familia." The guards looked at me suspiciously before crossing their spears in front of each other and I sighed. "It's fine if I don't meet with him, but at least deliver this to him, will you?" Taking the remaining folder of paper in my bag, I passed it over to the guard, but instead of taking it, he held up his hand.

"There's no need. I'll send a messenger along to the interior to alert the captain." They even had special messengers just for relaying information between the walls of the compound? These guys really were that good, huh…

A few moments later, there was a rumble as the gates opened up and the guard nodded at me. "Wish you a good day." I grunted in reply but that was all as I moved into the familia home.

As I entered the inner complex of the castle, almost no one seemed to notice me as I wandered about the home. To my left in the courtyard, a blond girl dutifully practiced her sword swings, the sword making slight swshhes as it cut through the air. To my left, I saw a boy about my age dashing nervously towards the outer complex. The messenger, then?

"So, you're here to see me?" I turned in the direction of the voice, and was greeted by the riajuu pretty-boy pallum Finn Deimne himself, who flashed me a smile that I was obligated by social custom to return. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you. What's your name?"

"Hikigaya Hachiman." I shook his proffered hand before he gestured for me to follow as he began walking back towards the inside of the complex. As he led me through the hallways of the castle before we finally entered a room with a large wooden desk that surely must've been Deimne's office, he pulled aside one of the chairs before taking his own. I sat.

"So, Hikigaya, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Putting both elbows on the table, he stared me down from across the table. Crossing your fingers, Deimne? How cliche. Unfortunately, it only works when you're eye-to-eye with me, and I'm sorry(lol) to tell you that being toddler-sized does not help you whatsoever.

Wordlessly, I passed over the sheaf of papers and gave it to him. "The Bruno Trading Company has ties with Evilus. Recently, they hired twin bounty hunters which caused quite a mess in the area; I'd like for you to arrest them and shut them down."

Deimne flipped through the sheaf of papers before setting them down and looking me in the eye with that plastic smile still plastered to his face. "Thank you for your effort. I'll be sure to send someone to investigate in this matter–"

"You're not doing it, are you?" I interrupted him, levelling a glare at his expression. Deimne was a near copy-paste of Sobu's beloved Hayama Hayato: polite, charismatic, inspiring, handsome, and above all, fake. With his smile and his kindness, Deimne strove to be the 'Braver, hero and captain of the Loki Familia' just like how Hayama strove to be 'everyone's Hayama Hayato'.

"Excuse me?" Something shifted in his eyes, but he still kept his mild expression on his face.

"You heard me, Deimne. That facade isn't–"

BAM

"Yahooo! What's up, Finn?" Before I could finish, conveniently the wooden doors to Deimne's office opened and a redhead with slit eyes and comparably modern attire: a hoodie that only covered her shoulders and arms, a band around the cutting-board of a chest–I didn't think anyone could get flatter than Yukinoshita but it seemed that this world was dead set on proving me wrong–a pair of jean shorts, and long knee-high socks.

Instantly ignoring me and sitting on top of Finn's desk, she smiled at him. "How's my captain doing?"

He smiled tiredly. "I'm fine, Loki."

"Oh, and who's this adorable kiddo?" She took one look at me and instinctively, I took a step back and averted my gaze. There was only one other person whom I had seen possess such a crafty look in her eyes, which was none other than the enigmatic Yukinoshita Haruno. And now, there was another person who I knew that I had to avoid at all costs.

Loki. She sure didn't look like anyone threatening, especially compared to those movies that depicted Loki as a he with a horned helmet and many, many knives, but her eyes instantly told me all I needed to know. She was an enemy I could never afford to make.

"His name is Hikigaya Hachiman." Deimne cut in. "He's here to approach me about some private business. It's fine, Loki. You can leave now."

"Well, if you say so…" I suppressed a shudder as the goddess hopped down, looking at me in the eye and smiling sweetly with well-concealed venom. "Haha, it looks like you're smarter than ya let on." The last line spoken with a mutter, she waved her hand in farewell before leaving through the doors and closing them behind her.

"So returning to the subject at hand…" This time, Deimne firmly looked at me in the eye. I was less-than-surprised to see the riajuu pretty-boy persona disappear. Replaced was the expression of a popular and charismatic familia captain; instead, the features and cold eyes of a strategist had taken over.

"I see." To Deimne's surprise, I backed down, getting up from my chair and preparing to leave.

"...Huh?"

"There's no convincing you, after all. What else can I do?"

"Ah, I see." Deimne nodded. "Well, it was a good talk, I suppose. ... You aren't going to take the papers?"

I didn't bother turning around before replying. "You can keep them." As I left without turning back, passing through the halls of the Twilight Manor before departing through the outer gate, I finally let my triumph curl one of the corners of my mouth into a smirk.

In society, people were almost pitifully predictable in how they stuck to their masks and facades. From all the months of silently watching Loki Familia frequent the Hostess, there was one thing I had always noticed about Deimne: he had never let his guard down. At times he would relax, but he would never freely down alcohol like Loga or Landrock. After all, the 'hero of the masses', the 'Braver', could never afford to suffer from a drop in reputation; every single action had to be carefully calculated so that his reputation wouldn't crumble down around him.

Deimne had reacted exactly how I expected him to react. Rather than taking the initiative and pursuing the ideal of moral righteousness to rid the city of Evilus, he had instead stubbornly clung to his reputation as well as the name of his familia in order to avoid being bogged down by the problem.

But two could play at that game.

I didn't visit the Guild for nothing, after all.

~~This is a Line Break~~

"Hey, did you hear? Someone leaked the Bruno Trading Company's receipts to the Guild…"
"And they were arrested shortly thereafter, weren't they?"
"It was Loki Familia, wasn't it? After defeating a majority of Evilus…"
"Those guys are still on the prowl? That's super commendable, isn't it?"
"Yeah, yeah, Loki Familia is really one of the best in Orario, right?"

It was simply another day. Murmurs bustled around in the tavern as people continued eating and dining and drinking. Rumors and stray bits of sentences floated across the customers carried on with their lives, partying it up as there was yet another victory for the city.

The Bruno Trading Company had been arrested and shut down, and Loki Familia had gained all the reputation. The official report was that they had 'taken the initiative in hunting down the remnants of Evilus which would cause further problems for Orario's wellbeing. In any case, it was just another achievement to add to their long list of accomplishments.

"Uuuu, nya!" crash! There was a stumble and a crash as the newly-hired waitress to the Hostess tripped over one of the loose floorboards, dropping the food she was holding and spilling it all over the floor. Are you really that unused to waitressing, Rollo? I'd have thought with your assassin repertoire that you'd be better at disguising yourself in order to get closer to your target, but apparently not. Even Lyon's doing better than you, you know?

The elf in question, meanwhile, was currently washing a massive mountain of dishes, deeply concentrated as she stuck to her task, her hands mechanically scrubbing, rinsing, and stacking on the rack next to her. To her left was Anya, who was trying to act like Lyon's senpai… but unfortunately, failing miserably as her antics were only met with cold indifference.

I rolled my eyes and went back to cooking. Even though I still couldn't strain my left arm too much, my right arm was perfectly fine now, so I simply needed to switch the two different hands that were holding the pan and the utensil of choice.

"Flova, Table 8's order is done." The blue-haired girl flashed me a light smile as she quickly took it and deftly placed it down at the aforementioned table, talking and greeting customers along the way and becoming the focus of the tavern's attention.

Table 9. 15. 3. 4.

I continued bustling around in the kitchen, fulfilling orders until I heard a shout from Flova. "Hey, Ryuu and I are going somewhere really quick, so mind covering for us? Thank youuuu~" And with that, the two girls disappeared out the door, Flova no doubt dragging Lyon around by the hand.

"Wow, they left, nya…" May muttered as she quickly tossed a salad. Unfortunately, her voice was caught by Anya's ears.

"Nya! What did nya say?! I'll go get–" Anya's yowling voice and her attempt to chase after the duo was met with the shadow of a dwarven tavern owner looming over her with an aura of 'certain death'. Hey, if you look closely enough, you can almost see the ゴゴゴゴゴ katakana!

"And just where do you think you're going?" Oh look, even the 'Coveted Collar Choke' makes its reappearance! Every time something involving skipping work comes up, it seems that the scene will instantly transition to a comedic slapstick gag.

As Mia dragged Anya by the collar back towards the waitresses' station, she passed me and I could hear her growling angrily to everyone in the kitchen, "Finish your work before worrying about someone else… you dumbasses, you got that?"

" " "Yes, Mama/Yes, Mia." " " The kitchen chorused obediently.

3 orders left.
2.
1.
Finished.

As the list of orders slowed and finally stopped, I heaved a sigh as I dropped the pan in the sink and it landed atop the mountain of dirty dishes with a clatter of finality.

Collapsing on the rest bench with a cup of coffee, I took my long-deserved break, delighting in the silence. As I sipped the sugary drink, finally closing my eyes and leaning the back of my head against the wall, I relished in the comfort of not having to move at all. I remained in that trance, relaxing and taking periodic sips of coffee as I did absolutely nothing at all, my mind a complete blank.

Truly, this was the optimal state of the loner: A state of bliss where only minimal movement is necessary, and no energy needed to be expended. Some might have called it 'lazing around', but I preferred to say that I had attained the so-called 'State of Zen'.

How relaxing–

"Hikinya, Hikinya!"

… Leave it up to Anya to ruin my bliss. Lazily cracking open one eye, I shot a glare at Anya, who was standing in front of me. Unfortunately, with Anya being the oblivious catgirl she was, it bounced right off of her without any effect whatsoever.

"What is it, Anya?"

"Syr and Ryuu still aren't back, nya! If they don't come back on time, Mama's going to be really angry, nya! There's only 30 minutes left, nya! I need to go buy extra supplies, so here's a list of Syr's favorite spots, nya! Go find them, Hikinya!" With Anya pestering me, I was forced to comply.

I really can't enjoy anything here, huh?

~~This is a Line Break~~

2 locations later and the buzz from the coffee was already beginning to wear off as I began trudging towards the next spot. If there was one good thing about the scenic spots Flova chose, it was that they were all in the same district, they were all high up, and it spared me from extra running. All I had to do was to make a cursory glance as to whether they were there or not, since the locations were so high up that they could easily be spotted.

At the 3rd location, an abandoned church, lo and behold, to my surprise–disclaimer: no, not really–I spotted the green uniforms of the Hostess on the balcony.

Trudging up the winding staircase, I slowly made my way to the balcony, the staircase bringing back more than a few memories, both pleasant and miserable alike. As I reached the top of the stairs and reached to push open the double doors, however–

"You're wrong." Lyon's low voice stopped me.

I could feel Flova hesitate as there was a short pause before she spoke again. "You deserve to be happy, Ryuu."

"No… you're wrong! When my friends were killed, I wasn't fighting for peace! That wasn't justice!" Lyon's shout died as she trailed off on the last words, but somehow she regained the strength in her voice to keep speaking.

Hearing her voice, I opted to remain where I was. If I stepped onto the balcony, everything would be ruined. This was not the time to intervene. Lyon was experiencing something called 'character growth'! A marvelous wonder, indeed!

Flova, for her part, continued to try and encourage Lyon. "Ryuu… don't you see? What you've done here… you saved the city. Isn't that something you should be happy about? People have said it before… 'Orario was reborn'."

"But I… I gave in to revenge. Attacking people left and right, rampaging because of my feelings… I lost my temper because of a personal grudge and a thirst for revenge. That thing they speak of called 'justice'... it no longer exists for me." The elf's voice died to a whisper. "I even blindly attempted to kill the man who saved me… not just once, but twice. What would he say if he were here?"

"... Hikigaya-san?"

… No.

"Hikigaya-san, are you there?"

No. Just no. No way. No to all of it.

That shouldn't have been possible. Flova, what sort of thing are you? No ordinary human would be able to hear me move from behind this door, let alone from 10 meters away.

Regardless of how hard I tried to ignore her, Flova's calling persisted, and finally I gave up. Tropes, let it be known that today is the only day you have ever won over the genre-savvy Hikigaya Hachiman! A loner never falls twice for the same trap!

Silently letting out a breath, I pushed the door open before stepping through.

I could not afford to get involved. Therefore, the first words out of mine were meant to act as something that distinguished me as being outside this conversation. "Listen, Mia wants you two–"

"Wait." the rest of the sentence died in my mouth as Lyon looked at me. And suddenly, I've been wrapped into this emotionally gripping scene. "Hikigaya, may I take up some of your time?"

No. No, you may not... was what I wanted to say, but the words stuck in my throat as I held Lyon's gaze.

"Ahahahahaha, I think that we should head back now, right, Hikigaya?" Flova's forced laugh wasn't fooling any of us, and Lyon softly shook her head as she opened her mouth again.

"No, Syr. I want to hear what he has to say." The elf began slowly tremulously, but as she spoke her voice gathered strength. "Hikigaya, I have murdered countless innocents in cold blood for nothing but the crime of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have attempted to take your life twice because I wished for revenge. Consumed by vengeance, I let my emotions take hold of me." Lyon blew out a long sigh before continuing, the sound trailing out and dissipating amongst the noise of the city below.

"Hikigaya, when I returned to my familia home with this same look in my eyes, do you know what my goddess said?" Standing at the edge of the railing and staring out across the city, her soft voice was clear and without a hint of hesitation as she delivered her confession. "She asked me to forget about justice. Astraea-sama had lost hope in me, and the Blessing on my back only remained there because of her pity. Giving up on my principles, I chose revenge over justice." Another sigh. As much as I would've loved to make a mental snark about the situation, no amount of joking would even improve the situation; it would just worsen. "And now, I'm using this tavern to hide from reality, running away from the truth. Hikigaya… do I really deserve forgiveness?"

"Hikigaya-san…" Flova's voice trailed off as she looked at me. That look was the look of someone asking for help, a look that brought back a memory I didn't need to remember at this moment. But nonetheless, those words came back to the front of my head all the same.

"Hey, Hikigaya-kun… help me one day, please."

I breathed out a sigh. What I did next was probably something that would end up coming back to haunt me somehow. I shouldn't be meddling here. I shouldn't have bothered to follow my tasks seriously. If it weren't for me and the minuscule butterfly effect that I had, perhaps Lyon's problem would've been solved here.

I was an outsider. There should've been no space for me to intervene.

But I couldn't turn away. Those words rooted me to my spot, and those words were what made me turn towards the problem.

Flova wanted me to help Lyon. But what could I do?

Diverting the topic now, so far in, would stop Lyon's growth, a cowardly way of avoiding the issue. It would only serve to suppress the question and allow Lyon's internal doubts and problems to persist. She would continue to live her life treating it as a lie, believing that she was using the tavern as an excuse to deny the idea that she had no reason left to live.

Flova wanted to help Lyon move on from the regrets of the past as well as the clouded vision that told Lyon she had no future. With her words, her actions, and above all her compassion, she could perhaps convince Lyon to find purpose in ensuring Orario's future as its silent guardian, watching from the shadows.

But plans always had their flaws, and Flova's was currently standing in front of her and being forced to address the one core issue she had neglected to realize.

There was nothing I could do on my part. Lyon had shown the innermost part of herself to me, the part where she was truly vulnerable, but I could do nothing to change the pain. It was not something I could heal instantly with a flick of the wrist or a snap of the fingers.

How could I answer her?

~~This is a Line Break~~

Forgiveness is one of the most idealistic things in society.

Someone commits an action which harms you, either physically or mentally. Having been harmed, negative emotions fester within you and you seek reparation for this damage. However, through the act of forgiveness, which amounts to somehow releasing this negativity, you can move on with your life after healing from this incident. After this, everyone is friends again and no one is hurt.

Reality is not so simple. A situation occurs, and everyone involved is left with antagonistic emotions. What does society do?

Easy. It pretends the situation never occurred. An apology, no matter how reluctant or sarcastic it is, is taken as one, shoved down the throats of everyone involved and the situation is smoothed over as a result, with 'all being forgiven'. Through the use of 'forgiveness' and instead equating the concept to 'forgetfulness' instead, everyone sweeps the problem under the rug. The situation never happened.

Growing up in this sort of society where no 'conflict' occurred, I had long learned that true forgiveness was nonexistent. Rather than forgiveness, I learned to move on in society by myself and myself alone. Time would flow on regardless of whatever I did to stop it, and with its passage the problem would bleach itself away into meaningless insignificance.

Lyon was asking forgiveness from me, despite the fact that I had already moved on. For someone as upstanding as Lyon, she would never accept the answer I had arrived at. Instead, she would continue to search for that false forgiveness rather than accepting her actions and choosing to live with them.

Even if I told her the answer she had wanted to hear, it wouldn't do anything. She would continue to look for forgiveness from others instead of just me.

Since I could not solve her problem, the only thing that was left was for me to dismantle it.

"Lyon…" With that in mind, I chose my next words carefully. "Just who are you asking forgiveness from?"

As I expected, the elf's mouth opened in an expression of surprise.

"That's not the question I wanted to–"

"You've already received forgiveness." I cut her off, not giving the elf a chance to reply. "However, you question whether or not you're worthy of the kindness that Flova, Mia, Anya, and the others have shown you, because in your own eyes, what you've done is considered unforgivable. You seek atonement for your mistakes, yet you're unable to find it within your heart to forgive yourself despite the actions of everyone around you who has shown you the contrary. Instead, you cling to your mistakes desperately, hoping to seek validation of the ideals you look for in someone else… someone like me." As I continued, the elf's mouth tightened into a grimace, but no words came out.

"I… I…" The elf tried to stammer out a response, but I pushed forward.

"Are you really asking me whether you deserve forgiveness? Are you asking Flova? You're looking for a forgiveness that no longer exists anywhere, Lyon. You ask others whether or not you're deserving, but in reality that's simply dodging the question of whether or not you yourself think you deserve forgiveness." For a second, it felt like Lyon's gaze had deadened to the point of absolute despair as she stared at me, but as I blinked and continued that moment had passed. "Lyon, forgiveness isn't something that I can give to you. It's not something that anyone can give to you but yourself. Are you going to keep looking for something that doesn't exist in order to run away from the reality that faces you? Or are you going to answer the question yourself?"

"..." The elf was silent. "I…"

"Ryuu..." This time, the voice came from neither Lyon nor I, but instead from Flova. "Ryuu, you have to live for them. Your friends died for you, Ryuu. They died because they believed in you, and they died because they believed in the ideals that you upheld. Ryuu, look around the city. Do you think that your friends would have regretted giving their lives for this? Orario is reborn, because of you. Ryuu… thank you."

A drop of water fell onto the ground. Then another. And they kept falling.

Ryuu Lyon was crying. As the elf's tears flowed from her eyes, Flova stepped in and pulled her into a tight embrace.

Moving towards the railing and staring at the sunset as far behind me, the two hugged together, I blew out a sigh.

The scene was all too reminiscent of something that had happened in what seemed like a lifetime ago, but this time, I wasn't sure if what I had said was right or wrong. Perhaps I shouldn't have interfered in this problem, for that was another mark left on the world that would be left in my absence.

These words, these scenes, these memories… they would all become irrelevant one day once I returned home. Just like problems, relationships, too, would fade away with the passing of time. I was sure that one day, this scene on the balcony would be forgotten, much like my youth.

I looked up at the sky, the afternoon sun slowly sinking towards the horizon, blurring the world around me with soft rays of light.

~~This is a Line Break~~

It was a couple more minutes before Lyon and Flova broke apart from their embrace and Lyon wiped away the tears on her face. I, for my part, had spent the entire time watching in awkward, discomforting silence, but had made no attempt to interact after trying my best not to relive the traumatic flashback of having broken into a cringe-inducing speech.

Secretly, though, it was all I had on my mind. I wanna die. You moron, Hachiman! You idiot! I wanna go home!

"We're going to be late. Come on, Ryuu, Hikigaya!" Flova happily waved to us before beginning to move towards the stairs, humming a happy tune as she went.

"Please give me a few moments to compose myself. I'll be with you two shortly." Lyon instead turned to gaze out at the city again.

I, too, began moving towards the stairs, but Lyon's voice called out to me.

"Hikigaya." I turned and looked backwards at the elf. "Hikigaya... thank you."

"Mmhm." Having nothing to say, I could do nothing but nod at her, before turning around and heading back down the stairs.

From there, it was a short journey to the Hostess, with me moving in front of Lyon and Flova, who were both silent but seemingly happy with smiles upon their faces.

"Oh, you're back, nya!" To our surprise, Anya, May, and the 2 other members of the Hostess were sitting out in front of the tavern, waiting for us. Aren't all of you skipping work at this point? Mia's going to be super mad, you know? "Good job on finding them, Hikinya."

"Yeah." Nodding at Anya, I headed back into the tavern to start preparing for the night shift.

There was a loud yowl which made me turn around after passing by Mia. It looked like Anya had made some sort of declaration, judging from her pointed finger and haughty stance. As I watched, the catgirl made a grabbing lunge for Lyon's hand, only to be knocked backwards as Lyon's natural instincts activated before Flova glomped Lyon, who was suddenly looking very flustered.

Ignoring the rest of their antics, I headed back into the kitchen.

In the end, everything here was their world, not mine. I had not been struck by a wayward lightning bolt, nor hit by a truck, nor been stabbed by a wayward robber while protecting my co-worker.

I had no harem and I had no plans to achieve one.

I was not even close to being overpowered; rather, compared to everyone else, I was behind.

The only thing I wanted to do was to go back to my old life, not to make my life here in this world.

So in conclusion…

My otherworldly adventure is a disaster, as I expected.

Afterword

Ahhhh, shameless self-satisfaction. The primary motivation of fanfiction writers like myself. Or, as other words would put it, "This fanfic is bad since I'm writing for myself and myself only and thus reader decisions are mostly irrelevant, but not really since I value feedback and I want to improve as a writer, but who knows how things will turn out in the end?" … Or something like that.

This chapter took forever. I can say with complete confidence that this was probably the hardest chapter of writing I've ever undertaken, especially with that two-week deadline I had set for myself.

Tying up loose ends, dealing with several plot points, trying to avoid derailing canon too much because the derailing comes later… oop! You never heard me say that.

Especially the last part. AGH, I cannot write the last part. It's so bad, I'm ashamed. I wasn't able to capture the level of interaction and proper subtext that I wanted to. I'm so sorry for not reaching the expectations of you, my dearly treasured readers. Also, I 10/10 wanted to cut the chapter off at the part where Hikigaya questions what he would say, but I wasn't sure if I could figure out how Hikigaya would answer that if I just stopped there and lost all momentum.

On the bright side, at least this volume has been finished! Woohoo…. Maybe. I didn't feel like I nailed the last bit at all. I'm so sorry.

With this first volume out, I'm going to start taking more time on the chapters because of the pressing schoolwork which bears down on my grades with all the ferocity of a Level 6 Monster Rex. I'm not going to be releasing anything for the rest of the month unless I have time, so count it as a pleasant surprise if I do.

I'm looking at around 10,000 words or so a month, divided into two 5,000 word chapters. At least for the next couple of months. I'm going to be releasing another omake before the next Volume kicks off.

It's most likely going to be a LN-styled series with each volume comprising around 50,000~ words per volume, with many, many volumes to come… eventually. With this initial volume that only lays down initial plot threads to be picked up later, as well as setting up Hikigaya's entry into this world as well as his established relationships.

Well, I hope all of you have enjoyed this first writing journey of mine as thus far. And I hope the rest of you will continue following me as I continue.

With regards, somewhere at home struggling over what to write with their fingers on the keyboard,

Oreo the Cookie