Profession, Merchant Volume 9 Chapter 9

Finale – Last Two, I

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“Ugh, that hurt.”


On the main road, or primarily, the same location where I had separated from the female warrior and the holy knight carrying the priestess, I dropped to my knees and slumped down.


I tried to bear it when everyone else was around, but the lynching earlier had taken its toll, causing a lot of pain in my stomach.


“Are you all right?”


Says someone, a woman’s voice, from above.


What a kind soul she has, taking care of a stranger who had collapsed in such a horrible way.


But it would not be good if I was taken to the hospital here.


“Yes, I’m fine… just… Leave me alone….”


But when I looked up, I froze.


Standing there in a sleeveless red martial arts outfit was the bully girl, with a cheeky pout on her red lips.


“Shall we go home now?”


“Eh? N-no, that’s…”


“I want to eat, I’m starving.”


“Um…”


I was at a loss for an answer. I managed to stand up, but I couldn’t look at her.


But then it happened. The bully girl grabbed the hem of the maid’s uniform I was wearing.


“What?”


I asked.


“You’ve got your memory back, haven’t you?”


“Oh, yes. How did you know…?”


“By the tone of your voice. Also, your face, it has a different look on it now.”


She is crying.


And to think that despite her appearance, she would be the kind of girl who cries a lot.


“I don’t know, I don’t understand. I don’t know which one I like more, you or the one who was with me just now. If it’s you who was with me, then I think I love someone who is no longer in this world. That’s what I’m afraid of… and I can’t help but feel afraid…”


The bully girl buried her face in the blouse of the maid’s uniform her family had provided for me.


I could feel faint breathing and tears running down my back.


“I knew it. You’re going far away again.”


“Yes.”


“Then take me with you this time.”


“I can’t.”


I gave the same answer again.


“Why not? You said we would be together forever, didn’t you?”


I couldn’t argue with her, so I had to shut up.


“You don’t like me?”


“I hate you.”


I looked back at her. I stared into her eyes, again.


“I… hate you.”


The bully girl’s fingers left the hem of her skirt, and I carried on.


By the time we have crossed paths, her tears have stopped.


I feel a tangle of pain in my stomach and an icy sensation in my chest.


Come to think of it, this has happened before.


But I know very well that I should never take someone like her, who has a place of her own, on this journey.


Because the lives of people who have a place to stay, who have a ‘home’ to stay, are not theirs alone.


In the case of the bully girl, the environment in which she was born and raised – her father, her mother, her dojo, and all the life associated with it – has to be a part of her.


Getting out of it should not be a decision based solely on her own feelings and will.


I mean, if I accepted her here, I should be prepared to take not only her but these people with me.


I can’t accept that.


People who have a place to stay have an obligation to stay and live there.


Going on a journey is the last resort for those who don’t.


“Liar!”


I hear the bully girl’s voice behind me.


But now there is a difference.


“Everything you say is a lie. You pretend to be a woman when you’re actually a man, you claim your dick is a dildo, and you lied about staying with me forever. You can’t fool me with these things anymore! If you think I’m going to give up on you because of this, then you are wrong!”


Because this time, my words had lost all credibility as a result of the lies I had told her over and over again.


〇●〇●


Now, where was I again? Ah, right. The bully girl was a person with a ‘home’ to return to, but there are also people in the world who do not have such a thing.


Of course, it’s not that I only care about these kinds of ‘homeless’ people.


In fact, it’s quite the opposite; to each their own.


But when it comes to contracts, it’s a different story.


So I have to go quickly. It may be too late, but I have no choice but to go.


“It was around here, wasn’t it?”


Murmuring, I turned away from the road and found a building in a half-destroyed state.


Yes, it was the one where the hero and the ‘fake hero’ had fought.


Luckily, the people who had been concentrating on the parade have just noticed the anomaly and have just turned into onlookers.


But it is only a matter of time before the police arrives.


Too conspicuous to enter from the front, I went up the spiral staircase of one of the neighboring buildings.


I went up and up until I reached the roof, which was the same height as the adjacent one next door.


It is about three meters to the next building. It’s not a distance you can’t jump over if you’re not scared.


But if you put your mind to it, you’ll be fine.


“Haiyahhh!”


So I yelled and jumped.


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