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Renya Gouto is a natural-born leader.
From the moment they had all awoken from their pods, the others had continued to turn to him for guidance. Maybe it was due to his position as one of the oldest among the compatibles, or maybe they were simply used to following his commands from battle—either way, Renya had found pride in their faith in him.
Almost a year had passed since they woke up on their new earth, and solving problems around their community was a part of Renya’s routine. From minor inconveniences to major developmental mishaps, he had it covered. The current system they had was a result of countless trial and error. He made sure that everyone’s needs were accommodated, and things were rearranged with every concern he received.
One would think that by then, he would have had everything figured out. Really, he should’ve known that managing a whole community would not always be smooth sailing.
It had started small, nothing like what Renya couldn’t usually handle. Miura had approached him, sharing his concerns about how the farm animals had been behaving unnaturally — refusing food, being less active in general. Renya noted it down, and assured Miura he would look into some databases on animals for him.
Then, while Renya was still amidst his research, Kurabe reported that the construction of their second facility had been forced to a halt due to lack of materials. Kurabe also reported that he had talked to the production team about it, but there wasn’t much they could do since they were also working with what was available.
Next entered Minami, who had come to him to deliver the production team’s report of the week. This itself was rare, as Kisaragi was usually the one to report—or complain—about things to him. Renya noticed that she had looked troubled, and after he decided to inquire, she confessed that she was uncomfortable with working mostly indoors.
At that point, he was starting to feel a nudging pain on the side of his head. Perhaps they were starting to overwhelm him.
Renya sighed. No. He could still handle this. He would handle this.
Because if he couldn’t, who could?
Renya let out a frustrated groan and increased his walking pace. He still had things to do, and dwelling on them surely would not help things get better. He took out his personal tablet and opened his timetable for the day. His next agenda—
“Oh, goodness!”
Renya halted his steps immediately, taking a few steps backwards by reflex. Standing in his way was none other than Tamao Kurabe, her hand resting on her chest as she looked up at him in surprise. Renya regained himself quickly.
“My apologies, Tamao-san, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Oh, it’s no problem at all!” Tamao replied cheerfully. “Although, it is pretty unusual for you to be so distracted, Gouto-san.”
“Ah, yes, apologies,” Renya repeated. “It’s been a long day, I admit. I may be feeling a little run down.”
“Oh my, you do look a little worn out,” Tamao frowned, “and it’s only midday!”
“Thank you for your observation,” Renya replied flatly. “I might need to pick up some vitamins from the health center.”
Tamao shook his head. “I think what you need is a break, Gouto-san. The weather is great today, would you join me for tea?”
At that moment, Renya couldn’t find it in him to refuse.
Tamao led him to the small gardens outside of their facility, but not before making a quick stop at the cafeteria to get some tea and snacks for both of them. Once everything was served and they were seated at the picnic table, Renya took a small sip of the warm tea. He let out a content sigh and took a moment to enjoy the scenery around him. They had managed to clean up more areas around the facility, giving them a clear view of the untouched hills surrounding them.
Renya felt his headache receding a little.
“So? Will you tell me what’s wrong?”
Renya brought back his attention to his companion in front of him. Tamao was smiling at him, resting her chin on her propped hand on the table.
“Pardon?”
“I know you, Gouto-san,” she remarked, “you’re always so well-rounded, always on top of things. But today—”
“Am I not allowed to feel drained?”
“That’s not what I meant at all!” Tamao said. “Everyone has their limits, of course. What I meant is, it must have been something big for it to wear you out like this.”
Renya was silent for a moment, reflecting his choices. He, for one, didn’t really feel like burdening other people with problems that weren’t theirs. Especially not Tamao, of all people, after how he had treated her back in the simulation. But on the other hand, he wasn’t in the mood to argue. He looked up to face Tamao again, who was still smiling with determination in front of him, waiting patiently.
Renya sighed.
“There’s just been a lot of issues in the community lately, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about them.”
Tamao’s smile widened, eyes sparkling with anticipation. “Oh?”
Renya let out an amused hum. He then explained about what Kurabe had told him about their construction progress.
“Oh my, that is a problem,” Tamao commented. “Have you discussed it with the scout team?”
“I have not, but per our last meeting, they haven’t reported any new findings.”
“They definitely know better than us,” she hummed to herself. “But I think we can figure something out!”
Renya appreciated the positive mindset, so he continued. He told her about Miura’s concerns regarding the farm animals, something Tamao probably already knew about.
“Oh! Yes!” Tamao exclaimed. “Pretty worrying.”
“Exactly,” Renya sighed. “He told me that he hasn’t done anything different lately. The last time he changed their diet was months ago, everything was fine. So we’re not sure what might have caused this.”
“I see.” She nodded. “But Keitaro-san also told me that there hasn’t been any change to their production quality, right? I think we’ve been farming them just fine.”
“Yes, that is fortunate,” he responded. “But of course, while it may not be a problem for us now , we don’t know what might happen if we let this unnatural behavior continue. None of us are animal experts, so I’ve been digging about animal behavior in our archive, to no avail, unfortunately.”
“Then time is all we need! I’m sure the research team will find something soon!” she beamed. “Oh, speaking of, how’s Ryoko-san?”
“She’s getting better, rest is doing her well.” Renya leaned back on his seat. “Although I have been handling her workload these past few days, which is why I haven’t had much time to deal with this lately.”
Tamao frowned, clearly unhappy with his answer, which made Renya even more reluctant about sharing all this to her. He sighed, then debated whether or not he should tell Tamao about Minami’s troubles. It was a personal problem, definitely not his to share.
But in front of him, Tamao was still waiting. If he didn’t tell her, she’d probably continue to probe until Renya finally fessed up. So he did, leaving the person involved anonymous and the details as general as possible.
“Ah. I guess that makes sense, if they’re probably used to going outside and moving around a lot.”
“Agreed. So, lately I’ve been trying to figure out how to modify the work delegations to facilitate that.”
Tamao frowned. “I mean, I understand where they’re coming from. But, they’re not bound to be indoors all the time, right? I’m sure they can still go outside from time to time.”
“I know,” he answered. “But still, I would much prefer to have everyone comfortable with their own task, to ensure efficiency and productivity.”
Tamao smiled. “That is very considerate of you, Gouto-san.” Then she was silent for a while, looking thoughtful. “You know what?” She turned to him again. “Why don’t we have a community meeting today? I think we can sneak one in before dinner, right?”
Renya blinked at her. “That would be manageable… but why?”
“To talk, of course!”
Then as Tamao had proposed, they set up a community meeting that very night. One by one, each of them entered the meeting room after their long, hard day. Renya secretly hoped that this wouldn’t take long.
Renya cleared his throat to gain their attention. “Hello all. There are some… matters that I’d like to discuss with you.”
Renya spoke clearly as he elaborated about all the existing problems within their community.
And, to his surprise, everything was solved by the next half hour.
Sekigahara, of all people, had piped up first. “Actually,” he said, “we found a new digging site just the other day.”
He then continued to explain that the team had been focused on expanding their territories, so they hadn’t shared the news yet. He assured them that they could afford to focus more on farming the mines for materials in the future.
Next came an unexpected confession from Ogata. “I might… have been feeding the animals some snacks during my break time,” he had said, and a collective groan could be heard around the room as he tried to defend himself, claiming they just “ looked so happy to see him!” . After a long scolding from Kisaragi and an agreement with Miura, Ogata agreed to come by only during their actual feeding time.
Another problem down, Renya contemplated for a moment, still unsure whether or not to share Minami’s concern to the group. But his turmoil proved to be unnecessary when Minami herself decided to express her worries to everyone. The group listened intently, with the girls sending worried looks and landing reassuring pats onto her.
Then Amiguchi came to her rescue. “Oh! Do you want to switch with me, Minami?” Her face lit up immediately, Amiguchi then explained that while he did enjoy driving around to scout, he would much rather work indoors. With that, a deal was sealed: Minami would be a part of the scouting team, while Amiguchi would join the production team.
With everything settled and the meeting concluded, the group quickly busied themselves with one another. Renya left the meeting room quietly, and finally let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“Well done, Gouto-san,” a voice called from behind him. Renya turned to see that a certain someone had followed him out.
“Tamao-san,” he greeted her with a smile. “I should be thanking you, my most gratitude for your assistance today.”
“Oh, shush, all I did was listen to your woes.”
“Still, I am grateful.”
“You are very welcome,” Tamao beamed at him. “And you know, Gouto-san—I understand that you must have a sense of duty to lead and take care of us. As admirable as it is, I just want to remind you that you are not responsible for every problem we have.”
Tamao smiled as she continued. “You have us, and we’d be more than happy to share those burdens. Have faith in us, as we have in you.”
Renya stared in awe as he absorbed what Tamao had told him. He very much wanted to retaliate, but couldn’t find any injustice in her words in the end. Renya had always been able to manage everything well by himself. He never had any problem with handling things alone, and had considered that getting help was a sign of weakness. He had always viewed things from his own perspective. It had never occurred to him that refusing to seek aid from others wasn’t always considered a strength, but instead implied his own distrust of his own companions.
The events of today should be enough evidence that sharing those burdens proved to work to his— no, everyone’s advantage.
Renya sighed in defeat, and returned her smile. “Thank you, Tamao-san. I’ll be keeping that in mind.”
Renya Gouto is a leader, but—that doesn’t mean he has to work alone.