Day 26 Late at night, Omui town gates.

When we left the dungeon we were told to immediately go back to the town.

A nearby village was destroyed.

A message came through magic. It was overrun by monsters.

But the village that sent that message, soon also couldnt be contacted anymore.

Judging by the direction of their movement, this town should come under attack next, so the guild called for an urgent assembly.

At the moment they are building barricades, making bonfires, and getting ready for combat.

And things just turned peaceful.

Haruka-kun brought peace just a short while ago.

Fighting in the forest all alone.

So this time, we are going to protect him.

Even Kakizaki-kun and others, who were sleeping, recovering, joined us.

Their equipment was in scraps, but Oda-kun and his friends gave them spares.

Its about time, the monsters might come any moment now. Or rather, they are a bit late.

The guild was working on intercepting them since the morning.

On the walls on top of the gate stood the daughter of the local lord, in full battle gear.

That says a lot about the seriousness of the situation. The very existence of the town seems to be at stake. But we are here.

Haruka-kun saved us, risking No, trying to throw away his life.

Sorry for being an idiotprobably wasnt about Kakizaki-kun and the rest, but actually were meant to be the last words of Haruka-kun Everyone understands that.

And everyone knows that we were protected by him. That once again, we couldnt do anything. That we just left him for dead.

But, he came back. And for some reason, even he himself wasnt fully content with coming back Yet, he returned.

Thats how little he thought of his chances to come back alive. He was planning to die there.

And we were useless again. Unable to defend anything. We couldnt save anyone. We are just getting protected and rescued over and over. Even though we became stronger. We couldnt protect what we wanted to protect the most. Back then, everyone thought that we lost him. But, Haruka-kun managed to save even himself. And in turn, saved us from that regret. All by himself. And came back to us.

So this time, it is our time to protect.

Using the strength that Haruka-kun gave us.

This time, its our turn to save others.

Just like he did for us.

And we will protect him as well.

He might do just fine even without that.

But he still doesnt understand that he is not that strong.

He acted as usual, but he probably was badly hurt, he surely mustve had wounds all over his body.

There is no way that he was unharmed. The enemy was someone who tore off Kakizaki-kuns and the others limbs, and he took a lot of his attacks. For our sake.

There is no way that he is fine. Even so, he came back. Acting, as usual, saying that he is back.

So today, we are going to protect. At least so Haruka-kun can rest without worry.

Thats all we can do.

Luckily, Haruka-kun is not an adventurer, so he wasnt summoned.

It bothers me a bit that Kakizaki-kun and the others said that they didnt see him, but I hope he will allow us to protect him, at least today.

After all, after receiving so much, we still havent paid him back at all.

I hope he will allow us to protect him at least while he is healing his wounds.

And yet No monsters in sight

But instead, Haruka-kun showed up?

Why are you having a campfire by yourselves? Why are you leaving me out? Is it because Im a Loner? While I was hungry and tired, you were having a BBQ? After I proved my innocence through the fruitcake?! I wanted to have a BBQ as well! If you are going to bully someone, why not just settle with the geeks? I mean, we finally got them? Why only me? Ah, Im so hungry.

Eehm, looks like he is hungry? BBQ?

Ehm? Haruka-kun? Its not like we are leaving you out? And this is not a campfire. Its dangerous here, so please pass through the gates? Okay?

I dont know when the fruitcake proved his innocence, but I cant allow Haruka-kun to fight a horde of monsters in his current condition.

He isnt complaining, he acts as usual, but he must be injured. He is in no state to fight. Potions can heal wounds, but we dont know how much damage and fatigue he accumulated. Its obvious from his face that he is exhausted like he might collapse any moment now.

Look, the nearby villages were overrun by monsters, and now this town is in danger. Soldiers and adventurers are working together, preparing to meet them in battle. We also will protect the town, so you can relax and rest. We will handle this.

I wonder if my explanation was too long? Haruka-kun began frying fish in the middle of it, and by the time he poured soy sauce on it, a crowd gathered around him.

Everyone enviously looked at Haruka-kun, eating with great appetite, while the smell of burned soy sauce made everyone gulp.

Some tried to start a conversation with him, when Haruka-kun put his hand on the ground, then a table suddenly emerged from it, on which Haruka-kun set up fish and began frying it.

Before I even noticed a line formed, taking fish from Haruka-kun and giving him money in return. Is this a food stall? Ah The price is a total rip-off.

Eem? Isnt a horde of monsters supposed to attack? Why is everyone eating fish? So this actually was a campfire?

Haruka-kun, you are going to get in trouble for opening a stall at such a place. Wait, why is even the guild master standing in the line? Why is the daughter of the lord munching on fish? Why did he give the biggest fish to Vice President B? Or rather, when did she even get in line? Eh? Arent we going to fight? Arent we supposed to protect the town? Why am I even standing in the line? I wont forgive you if my fish will be smaller than B-sans! Absolutely!

They arent coming?

Haruka-kun is talking with Oda-kun and others.

Even though its dangerous for him to remain here.

Haruka-kun was dragged to the guild master?

There seems to be some kind of argument? So that stall was a problem after all.

They even called the daughter of the lord? Did something happen?

For some reason, the young lady is stamping her feet on the ground. For some reason, Haruka-kun is doing the same? Why does he look so puzzled doing it?

A clerk from the guild came to call me? Is it really okay for me to leave my post like this?

Posts, alert, scouting, it all doesnt matter anymore, so please, come with me. We need an interpreter. But its not about languages

While I thought that this is not good, I still followed Aah.

The culprit was Haruka-kun.

Well? I heard nothing of it? I dont know anything about a monster raid? I just kept whacking when something popped up? Kind of? Eh? Since the morning? Well, what can I do if they keep popping up? Yes? All the time until night. A raid? No, it was an aggressive shopping tour? Some town, forgot the name, is very popular at the moment? Or so it seems? No, I didnt hear anything about this? Who? Orcs? Ah, yeah, orcs, they had orc faces? Eh? No, those were real orcs? Anyway, I was just whacking them. Why? Because they kept coming? Like, Whack A Monster? But it might be Monster Master? So I just kept hitting them all, but there was no prize in the end! Im the victim here?! I didnt get anything? Even though I cleared it. Eh? What do I mean by cleared? I got Orc King, ah? Yes. No? No, I got tricked! I mean, they just kept popping up? I did my best, even though I was very hungry. What? No, I only hit them, or rather knocked? Whacked? Right? Im not wrong here? I mean, if a monster pops up, youd hit it, right? Normally? See, I did nothing wrong? Youd hit them, right? Right, everyone?

Looks like everyone couldnt understand what he was saying. Myself included. Indeed, the problem is not the language.

But when Haruka-kun says I did nothing wrong?it usually means that he did.

So far, there hasnt been even one case when he was innocent.

In fact, the culprit is always Haruka-kun.

By the time the sun began to rise we headed to the scene of the crime, which the culprit described in his testimony.

The corpses of the monsters disappeared by now, leaving only huge mounds of magic stones and clubs as far as the eye can see.

With the passage of time corpses of monsters disappear, leaving only magic stones behind. Which means, this is where the crime took place. A massacre, caught red-handed.

Usually, people that manage to fend off an invasion of monsters become heroes. I think its quite rare for someone to be treated like a criminal after that

But there is no room for excuses. After all, he fried fish as if nothing happened, and earned a huge sum of money, selling it at an outrageous price.

And then also, there is an element of recidivism. He is a repeat offender, and yet he has no remorse at all.

Verdict.

A sermon, as expected.