"Puhah—"
"Although Sakumura can seem a little overly neurotic at times, at least—his values haven't gone completely wrong."
"At least he knew to prepare a hot spring and some sake after making a mistake. Right, Ryoma?"
In the hot spring Sakumura had made, Okada Izo, Sakamoto Ryoma, and Takasugi Shinsaku were enjoying a moment of peace. Okada Izo held up a cup of sake, his face clearly already flushed with a pleasant buzz.
"Hey, I've been listening the whole time."
Because he had somehow grown wings, Sakumura could not conveniently soak in the hot spring. He could only sit on a roof beam, boredly swinging his legs.
"It doesn't matter if you're listening. At least I don't think Okada said anything wrong."
Takasugi Shinsaku spread his arms, looking thoroughly content.
"Of the four of us, I always thought Ryoma was the gentlest—and the one most prone to fantasies."
"And you, Sakumura, are actually no less gentle than Ryoma. Yet you've always been forcing yourself to become ruthless, to become cruel."
"You drove yourself insane."
Okada Izo blinked.
The fourth person out of the four... was that me?
Sakumura fell silent. Even the wings that had been faintly fluttering stopped.
"I won't deny that."
Ryoma gave an awkward laugh and shook his head.
Within the Four-Person Alliance, Sakamoto Ryoma was an idealist through and through. He imagined everything as something gentle and calculated everything so perfectly. Takasugi Shinsaku and Kido Takayoshi leaned more toward pragmatism, while Sakumura Anno stood somewhere between the three of them.
He wore the shell of a pragmatist, but in truth, just like Ryoma, he was a gentle fellow to the point of being almost fussy.
"Honestly, if someone like you hadn't taken up the sword, you might have accomplished something even greater."
Takasugi Shinsaku smiled, picked