Heroism

His words lifted the Takemikazuchi familia members' heads. They did not seem to be surprised by his acceptance. However, Haru did not feel he deserved such treatment, as Mikoto looked at him with deep respect.

"The help that you will provide us will not be forgotten. We thank you for everything, and we accept the will of someone who wants to help us, even if it is not part of our familia, it matters little as long as the desire to save that girl is deep within your heart."

These were his words. However, Haru scratched the side of his head with a finger out of embarrassment and resentment in himself.

"... I should apologize. I do not address particular emotions to this noble lady as myself have had the opportunity neither to know her nor to know what she will have endured in life. My decision to help you laid its foundations in my heart only because the pain of losing someone who had made your life an immense variety of colours isn't foreign to me. I selfishly want no one else close to me to bear these sufferings, and if there is a way to help you, then I decided to do it for myself, more than for you."

If there was one thing Haru hated, it was to manipulate and be manipulated. All he was doing was protecting himself from seeing people who undergo a suffering same to his. He was afraid that lingering close to people like that would only cause the wounds in his heart to open, Haru did not want to see despair, he needed to see happiness driving along his way serenely, and that is why he would do anything to help them.

His words caused different reactions among the people who had been able to hear him. Misha first, limited herself to looking down with a smile showing sadness, confirming that indeed what had happened the other day had to be the result of a relationship with a girl, who had marked Haru to such an extent.

Mikoto, however, was surprised. At first, she thought Haru had no heroic qualities. But his character seemed to represent a hero who saw the world from a different perspective, which in reality only served to increase her admiration for him as a fellow warrior. Even if she had never seen this form of heroism, his words had been enough to make her wear a smile a little more relaxed, but that did not quite reach her ears.

As a first reaction, Ouka had the idea that comparing himself to Haru was simpler than before. He had assumed for a moment he was one of those heroes wearing a cloak behind him carrying all the suffering with honour, but it was not so. Haru had no mantle. He faced his suffering directly. However, he only wanted to prevent the surrounding people from feeling the same pain, and this was much easier to understand than a hero in his eyes.

"What Mikoto said earlier is true. It certainly takes wanting to protect the lady wanting to save her, but it's alright to be selfish. Like you, I've made a lot of selfish choices. However, you are a better person than me as I've never truly said the motive behind my thoughts. It caused me to regret it. A wish to go back and change my actions has always been in my heart. However, I am this familia's Captain, with the duty to guide the familia in the right direction. My only choice was to face my selfishness and realized that although many choices are still the source of my pain today, I can only continue to fight and hope one day to remedy."

The members of his familia knew this trait of his personality, but if Chigusa tried to comfort the Captain as she could, Mikoto was shocked to her core. She could see an expression he had never seen Haru wear.

'At least you can think of a way to remedy.'

Even though Ouka could think of a way to make up for his mistakes and that was enough to keep his mind focused on what his job was, Haru could not fix it. He could only regret the decision he made with confidence a year and a few months earlier in his memories. If he hadn't confessed his feelings, now Haru would not even be here to 'enjoy' a second life, and the price of this was only pain. His choice would have marked him forever, and Ouka was lucky enough to have the chance to think of it that way, as all he could do was act indirectly to lessen his pain.

But this feeling didn't last long. Haru's eyes regained the clarity they possessed, while Misha who had been able to observe how Mikoto the whole scene take part, would have wanted to throw a punch to Ouka. What he had said hadn't the desired effect. But soon after, seeing that Haru had regained his calm, she sighed as Mikoto did not understand well what was happening. However, Haru's calm gaze turned to her, Mikoto chose not to say anything with the conversation passing onto other matters they had to discuss before they would finish for the day.

---

About half an hour after, Haru left the room with Misha sighing. Their conversation about the girl called Sanjouno Haruhime and the fact every three days Haru and Mikoto would spar one against the other. However, there were still his drops from the Killer Ants, which Ouka did not hesitate to take and deliver.

Out of curiosity, Misha asked Haru how many Killer Ants he had slain. But his answer brought a dread feeling as if the room had immediately fallen into an icy temperature.

"...64 Killer Ants...You managed to kill them all by yourself."

The sheer number alone was terrifying. However, it placed great weight on the mind. Faced with a situation where one has no escape, with monsters powerful enough to hurt Haru badly even if the parameters didn't differ much. All of these things generated a feeling of terror in adventurers as if they wanted to cross an impenetrable wall. And many were stopped.

But while Misha remained in shock, Haru was puzzled. Probably, that amount of magic stones mixed with the few drops he managed to get, would be enough to afford a B-grade weapon. Yet, Haru felt compelled to pay them back as they had saved him since, in the end, he would help them out of selfishness. However, Ouka refused to split the loot and even less to obtain a small percentage over it. Replying these monsters were his loot because he had killed them, And that was a rule of guilds they couldn't ignore.

'There was no need to refuse the loot. It would be useful to support their shrine...'

That was his thought. He remembered well when Misha had offered him the Takemikazuchi familia's offer, and this meant the more Valis accumulated, the easier it would be for them to pay and support their shrine.

'Unfortunately, I couldn't convince them.'

Having had time to recover during their continual retort about sharing or not the loot, Misha had regained her composure. The fact Haru had decimated such a high number of Killer Ants was beyond her expectations. As confirmed by the Takemikazuchi Familia's members, Haru did not need help, which is why they decided not to step in, remaining within the limits the guild itself had stipulated.

'How to blame them. I never heard of an adventurer who in danger of life did not require the help of someone or seemed to want it. If a person was not in difficulty, they could not casually help him, as it would pass the Takemikazuchi Familia for a bunch of profiteers. As others would think while the monsters focused on an adventurer, they took advantage of to slowly kill the monsters, while keeping the loots for themselves. It would be a situation able to make their familia fall behind in shame, without them being able to say anything.'

In addition to the guild's punishment in case one of these things happened, many adventurers stopped for this. No one wanted to trade with a member of such a familia. So, they would not receive quests. People would no longer turn to them. In short, anyone who tried to do this lost so much this strategy was not very profitable, or at least in most cases.

In this world, the presence of slavery, abuses of all kinds and forms, these things would never change, no matter how much the guild tried to keep the dungeon a place where any adventurer would be put in line, it didn't always work.

Haru had even tried saying he wanted to give them a percentage as compensation, but it was Mikoto who firmly refused. Adding that it was not a mission, but her instinct as a fellow warrior and that Haru did not have to seriously worry about anything with Ouka and even Chigusa who nodded in a determined way.

Help in finding Sanjouno Haruhime was very much appreciated. However, the members of the Takemikazuchi familia wanted to support the shrine, symbol of their family, without outsiders help. They offered the emblem of their familia to anyone because of this, after all.

With these thoughts in mind, Haru decided to go and swap all his loot for Valis so that he would have a great deal of money that would come in handy in the future. As well as blabbing to Misha how his parameters had almost all reached grade E. When heard, it delivered another shocked expression on her face. However, it vanished faster than usual. She was getting used to the fact Haru somehow managed to increase his parameters so quickly from being crossing floors one after the other in mere days, which was already amazing in itself. On the other hand, the number of Killer Ants he had exterminated spoke clear, Haru was strong enough to take care of himself.

'I wonder if it's me who's too worried or Haru who's too incredible for me to realize sooner...'

She wouldn't have had the answer to this question for the time being.

---

(I have a leaderboard about the most important relationships Haru will have for each arc, there are males too for people wondering where are the bros. My discord server: y8VBZAp)

(Just to let you know, some people complained about the lacking grammar in early chapters, so I'm working to correct them in that regard, which is why I'm now later than usual.)