Chapter 21: Leon’s New Life

"Leon, you’ve been getting offers to rejoin a party, haven’t you?"

"…Well, yeah."

Leon had been injured ten years ago, during a monster subjugation request in Iwadou. He got caught up in a monster outbreak, separated from his party while protecting a comrade, and by the time his less experienced companions managed to find him, it was already too late.

Leon was naturally a cheerful person. He liked people and had no trouble making connections. That was why he got along well with Falco, who was somewhat difficult to approach. His time with the party he had joined as an apprentice had been fun, and his last party had been together for nearly twenty years, starting when he was fifty.

Maybe that was the problem.

Fifty was the age when he had taken down an Akabane Saurus, earning the title of Hero and getting full of himself. He had been strong, and strong comrades had gathered around him.

But once he lost his strength, that was it.

His party members tried to convince him to stay, but the truth was, he had become a burden. His pride wouldn’t allow him to accept a support role, and more than anything, he couldn’t bring himself to depend on his lover for survival.

Now, with his recovery, he was back on equal footing.

"Even Bianca stayed single, didn’t she?"

"Hey, Falco, how do you know about that…?"

"It was pretty well-known back then—how hard you fell."

"Seriously…? She didn’t really try to stop me when we broke up, so I figured it didn’t mean much."

"It wasn’t her who thought it didn’t mean much—it was you."

"I don’t know about that… But even if we had stayed together, we probably would have broken up eventually."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Hmm."

Falco had never had a serious relationship. He found it troublesome to be held back and didn’t like anyone clinging to him. As long as he had a companion for the night, that was enough. There were plenty of women who were fine with that arrangement, and he figured he had always treated them fairly.

"Wow, you really are the worst, Falco."

"Is that so?"

"Imagine if Shou ended up with someone like you."

"Wha—?! What the hell are you saying?!"

"I mean, what if some random hunter came along, took advantage of Shou, got what he wanted, and then dumped her? Damn, I’m getting pissed just thinking about it. I wouldn’t let that bastard live."

"Neither would I. If anyone… No, I wouldn’t even let anyone get close to Shou in the first place."

"Right? That’s why I’m not going back to my old ways."

"And what does that have to do with anything?! This has nothing to do with Shou!"

"For me—"

Leon stared into the fire.

"Even if I couldn’t fight, I didn’t want to live as if I were dead. I didn’t want to cling to the past. I wanted to find my own way of living and enjoy it."

"That’s true. You were popular, after all."

"Kindness is important. But then… Shou appeared, and my world changed."

"You don’t even live with her."

"I could if I wanted to."

"No way."

"It’s not just about healing my leg. Being around Shou, who doesn’t know much about the world, makes me feel like I’m reliving life from the start."

That was true.

Falco had been dragged around by his mother, Lyla, never really belonging to the younger groups in town or integrating into the community. At fifteen, she had abandoned him.

Wherever he went, he had always been an outsider.

The Northern Town, where he had earned recognition at twenty, was the only place that ever felt comfortable.

But it had never felt like home.

Or so he had thought—until Shou came along.

She had effortlessly become a part of the community. And before Falco even realized it, he had, too—not as a hero, but as Shou’s unreliable guardian.

Now, when people looked at Falco, they weren’t admiring a legendary hunter.

They were worried.

Would he raise Shou properly? Was she dressed warmly enough? Was she eating well?

When it became clear that Shou was actually the one taking care of Falco, the town stepped in to help. They made life easier for them, taught them what they didn’t know.

Even the boys who had once admired Falco from a distance started inviting Shou to hunt slimes. They treated Falco like an older brother, asking him for sword lessons.

The girls—like Shou—just looked at Falco with exasperation and tried to take care of him.

In just one year, Falco had talked to more people than he had in his entire fifty years of life.

Leon continued.

"That’s why, if I go back to being a hunter, I want to return as a new version of myself. I don’t want to go back to my old party."

"But… you spent some nights with Bianca, didn’t you?"

"Yeah. I mean, it was comfortable, familiar. But… we’re just heading in completely different directions now."

Leon shrugged.

They were both selfish men, after all.

"Well, realistically, you team up with people close to your own age at first. Shou likes traveling. I wonder who she’ll end up working with."

Both of them gazed at Shou, working across the fire.

"We can’t entrust her to just anyone. At the very least, they’d have to be better than me."

"Pfft. In the Northern Town, that leaves only me or Gaius."

"Gaius, huh… Well, I guess—"

"He’s a hundred years older than her."

"But at least Gaius wouldn’t get any weird ideas."

"You—!"

Leon burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.

At that moment, Gaius walked past and stopped.

"I heard everything. So, I passed the test?"

"Not really a test, but… yeah, I guess."

"Heh."

Gaius smirked.

"Shou, huh? She was beautiful under the starlit sky that night. I can’t wait to see how much more beautiful she’ll be in ten years."

"Wait a second—NO, YOU’RE DISQUALIFIED!"

"Well, that’s not for you to decide. That’s up to Shou."

"NO WAY! There’s no way a hundred-year age gap is acceptable!"

Gaius obviously wasn’t being serious.

But damn it, Falco was fun to tease.

Leon chuckled as Gaius continued to torment Falco. Then, once again, he turned his gaze back toward Shou, watching her with a quiet sense of amusement.