A Goal?

"Come in here, Kiyotaka-kun."

"I'm coming," the man in question replied in his iconic monotone as he entered the kitchen space separated from the dining room. He was wearing his plain white cloth shirt and black shorts, as usual. "So it's my turn to learn the ropes?"

The kitchen was not that big. It consisted of a primitive stone stove, using wood or charcoal as fuel, and there was a hole for you to store them and for cooking tools such as pots or woks placed on top. 

"With Kei, yes."

"Let's just get this done quickly, Kiyo," Kei said as if it was natural. 'Kiyo?'

The man also noticed that. Suzune glanced shortly but didn't say anything. Kiyotaka was the same. They were indifferent.

Kei was behaving a little awkwardly. I know she has a strangely high opinion of Kiyotaka, but at the same time, I also know that affection is not the only reason for that. Despite her seemingly airheaded nature, Kei was surprisingly observant at times. 

'Still, Kiyotaka is really an all-rounder...'

"How does it taste?" he asked.

I tasted his cooking. "...It's good. You used too much salt and sugar, though. Too little spinach as well. Try adding string beans. I'm sure it'll be more flavorful and nutritious."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He apparently had trouble judging whether a food was delicious or not, so Suzune or I should always try to taste it to determine the flavor. In addition, he could follow Suzune's or my lessons with a single observation. Well, since he merely imitates, the result doesn't vary. He's not very knowledgeable about cooking, that much is clear. Well, I'm sure he'll master it quickly. This is Kiyotaka we're talking about.

"Ugh, this sucks." Even though she wasn't bad either, Kei always complained. She's just slow with cutting things, washing the ingredients, and all that. "Hey, Kiyo. Can you teach me how to cut that quickly like you? This'll take forever, really."

"Sure," Kiyotaka immediately approached her. Kei let out a weird "Whuh?" as Kiyotaka unhesitatingly grasped Kei's knife-wielding hand. "Your movements are still sloppy. Going through the paces like I or Suzune and Chiaki would be too dangerous for you now, so you should adjust your hold to one that's more suitable for the current state. From this angle... this should be fine. What do you think? Kei?"

"Huh?! O-Oh, yeah. I... think it's comfortable... Yeah, I think so."

I glanced at Suzune involuntarily. Her reaction to the couple-like act seemed indifferent at first, but looking more carefully, there was annoyance within her eyes. 'Is she jealous, perhaps?' 

Nah, she's probably just upset they're not seriously studying.

'Yep, let's get along with that.'

***

"Do you think romance will work out, Chiaki?"

While we were shopping at the market, Kei raised that question. Kikyou went with the other party members, Shihoru and Yume, to hang out together. She seemed to really like them. Between being with us or them, she almost always chose them. Suzune, on the other hand, is a natural loner. She wouldn't walk with us unless there was an imperative reason for it. Even if she did come along without any imperative reason, I'm sure she wouldn't feel comfortable and instead feel alienated because of each of our natures.

"If it doesn't affect our work, I guess you can do it," I answered truthfully. 

Kei had a fiery expression on her face. "Yeah, you're completely right. Me, I want to have him as soon as possible!"

I smiled dryly. "Have him? You think he's an object or something?"

"I mean, he's popular, isn't he? If I'm not mistaken, there has been a fanclub or something dedicated to him in Alterna. Well, do you think he's interested, though?"

"I wonder..." I chuckled. "He's got that classic poker face."

"But he does express himself once in a while."

"It's only a frown, a look of puzzlement, or of surprise. They're not all that obvious either."

"You've got a point. I wonder what would happen if he were to smile..."

I laughed. "He'd probably be a lady killer."

Kiyotaka wasn't an expressive person. His tone rarely changed. Sometimes, or more like, quite often, it was hard to tell what he was feeling because of those two things. How could he be like that? With no way to even remember our past, it would be useless to do so. 

'I feel like I ought to be more inquisitive than this... Either I'm overthinking it, or the Forbidden Tower is the reason for this feeling.' I can't remember the details after passing through that tunnel-like passage. All I know is that we're already on the hill behind Alterna without any idea how. We were probably done something by whoever it was behind the Forbidden Tower to be able to get this strange symptom.

"Chiaki, what do you think about Kiyo and Suzune's relationship?"

"Eh? Why'd you ask that?"

Kei had an unsure expression. "It's... just a feeling, I guess. That something happening between them or something."

"Oh..."

"B-But you felt that, didn't you? Well, no. Maybe not."

'I actually do.'

I once stalk— followed Suzune from behind when she came out of the room by herself to go somewhere. At that time, I had seen her having a serene exchange of words with Kiyotaka-kun. She seemed calm, unlike when she was with us. 'However, it's not that she doesn't like us. It's simply in our nature. With Kiyotaka, it's different.' 

"What about you, Chiaki?"

"Hm...? How about what?"

"Do you have someone you want to have?"

I couldn't help but burst out into a laugh. "Nah, I don't think I do, and I don't have any plans for romance in the near future as well."

To be honest, I was still more confused about what I wanted to do at 'this' point in time.

We work as volunteer soldiers because we have no choice. The situation was deliberately set up to help Alterna.

What exactly is the relationship between Alterna and the Forbidden Tower? Yeah, no. I don't really care about that. 'Can we go back to a place where the moon isn't red?'

Alterna is part of a kingdom called Arabakia. Its mainland was behind the Tenryu mountains, and I logically assumed that Alterna was placed as a fortress to protect against the current frontier inhabitants. That said, this mainland in question didn't look like it was even trying to support its own fortress.

I've heard grand stories about the greatness of the mainland of Arabakia, but their very actions made me doubt them. The frontier army had to rely on a group of amnesiacs from somewhere suspicious instead. Even the inhabitants weren't particularly fond of them.

If the Forbidden Tower, which I guessed to be the place where we came out of the tunnel, was somehow Arabakia's doing, why would they do that? What was the point of stirring up hatred from the people who were doing everything they could to protect the kingdom? It sounded absurd and pointless.

Every time I thought about all this, I always felt frustrated as I never got the answer, and eventually gave up searching for one.

I think I'm already at a loss in the first step.

'I don't have time to think about romance.'

'If I hadn't even settled on the obvious goal, and simply lived aimlessly on a battlefield, everything else would become worthless.'