Prologue

I awoke in a dimly lit room. I had long since tired of the scenery before me.

How many days has it been now? I wondered.

I was shackled in a corner of this dark, cold room. I couldn’t even ask for help. All I could do was wait once again for another day of having my mana drained to pass as I prayed and prayed for this seeming eternity to end.

No, that wasn’t true. I had already given up. I didn’t know how long it had been; I had stopped counting. I was now a tool for magic, refusing even death. I lived a literal hell on earth.

“Theri...on...” I muttered a familiar name, my voice hoarse. Was he doing all right? I couldn’t help but grimace. Despite my circumstances, who I worried for was him. A soft, self-deprecating sigh reverberated within my silent room.

But one day, my living hell crumbled—along with the ceiling. It had been a sudden happening; I received no warning. But then, I was saved...

By a white mage named Lloyd.

Chapter 1: The White Mage Pays a Visit

The day following the banquet, I received my reward from Daggers before paying a visit to a certain someone. The house belonged to Crumb, a former member of Yui’s party. I was originally a member of the Hero’s party, and really, it should have been her in my current position.

“Um, is this the place?” I stopped before a home that was noticeably larger than those around it. I could feel strong magic from inside. S-rank adventurers really were amazing...

But I could sense two mana signatures—one of which felt a bit off.

“Phew... All right.” According to the map Daggers had handed me, this was it. I had bought some teacakes on the way, and this was probably a fine time to visit. At least, I thought.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. According to Yui, Crumb was easy to talk to. Though, I got the feeling that Yui could strike up a conversation easily, which didn’t make her very convincing.

Still, Crumb was watching over her sick sister. She couldn’t be a bad person.

Just as that thought passed through my mind, I heard a cheery voice from inside. “Wait right there a minute!” It was a woman who sounded quite energetic. Even though she was apparently busy caring for her ailing sister, I couldn’t glean any exhaustion in her tone at all.

I waited outside the door for a short while before a redheaded woman came to greet me. Her eyes had a sharp, somewhat scary look to them. She didn’t quite match what I had imagined, but this had to be Crumb.

I needed to make sure I didn’t offend her. We’d never met before, right? Maybe it was best I spoke politely. “Um... Are you Miss Crumb?”

“Huh? Well, yeah, but... Why do you know my name?” she asked, giving me a wary look.

That’s right. I had heard about Crumb from Yui and the others, but Crumb hadn’t met with them for a while now, so she naturally didn’t know about me. I had been a member of the Hero’s party, but I really hadn’t done anything noteworthy. Maybe it was best I start by introducing myself?

With that thought in mind, I gave her my name and explained that I had joined—or really, was about to join—Yui’s party. I really hoped that was good enough...

“Oh, so you’re Lloyd!” As soon as I was done, Crumb mysteriously raised her lips into a smile. Amazingly, she knew of me.

“Um, do you know who I am...ma’am?”

“Of course, I do! How wouldn’t I? I doubt there’s a single soul in all of Ishtar who hasn’t heard of Lloyd the Savior.”

Oh, yeah. I had forgotten about that. For some reason, people were calling me this city’s savior, which I honestly wasn’t very happy about. Yeah, I had done my best to contribute. But the real stars of the show were Yui’s party and the beastwoman. I had just backed them up. This was their victory. Being referred to as their savior just didn’t sit right with me.

Still, it was convenient that she knew of me. I had no intentions of accepting that title or lording it around, but I guess I could do it just this once. “Um... Well, I think you’ve got the right Lloyd...ma’am.”

“Oh, yeah? Well, there’s no use standing around here. Come on in!” Crumb forcibly led me inside. She had her sister to take care of, so I was hoping to keep this short. But unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to refuse. If I was invited inside, inside was where I had to go.

Just as she commanded, I stepped inside the door.

***

“Th-Thank you for letting me into your lovely home.”

“Right. Oh, take a seat over there. I’ll go make us some tea.” With that, Crumb immediately stepped away. I was hoping to hand over my teacakes, but I had lost the chance. Well, I guess I could just give them to her once she came back.

In order to keep things short, I thought through what I was going to say while I waited for Crumb to come back. Soon, she appeared carrying tea and teacakes.

“Sorry, I haven’t had many guests lately. This is all we’ve got...” she said as she placed a teacup in front of me and took a seat in the chair opposite of the table. “So? What’s the story behind you joining Yui and them’s party?” What a hard-hitting question.

“Um, well...”

“Oh, and I was meaning to ask you. What’s with the ‘ma’am’ stuff? I don’t care much for formalities, so just speak like you normally would.”

“R-Really? I’ll drop it then.” With that, I briefly explained the details of how I got acquainted with Yui’s party. “I used to belong to the Hero’s party, but they fired me. I had nowhere to go and was sitting on a bench in the town square. That’s when Yui suddenly approached me.” Yup, we were in the town square, right before a bronze statue that looked awfully like my old master.

“Sounds like Yui. But wait, you used to be with the Hero’s party?”

“Well, yeah, but... I was never of any help to them. I’m just your average white mage.”

“Huh, so that’s why they were so strong,” muttered Crumb.

“Hmm? Did you say something?” I couldn’t hear the last half of her words, so I asked her to repeat them.

“Oh, it’s nothing. What happened next?”

“She dragged me to the Adventurer’s Guild and...” I explained all that had happened after I met Yui and the others. I told her about how I was tested, and how we chatted at a pub. I also told her about how worried they were for her, which was what led them to look for a new white mage. Lastly, I told her about the battle to defend Ishtar. “That’s it, I think.”

“Wow. To think all that happened while I was on a break,” muttered Crumb.

I had ended up talking for quite a while. Thinking back on it, not even two weeks had passed, but so much had happened that it oddly didn’t feel like that at all.

We continued to chat. Once the conversation reached a lull, I decided to ask about what had been on my mind—Crumb’s little sister. “Um, we’ve been chatting for quite a while. Is your sister all right?”

“Hmm... Honestly? Not really.” Her expression suddenly darkened. Her sister must have been terribly sick. Once again, I questioned whether it was okay to chat for so long if her sister was so unwell.

“She’s sick...right?”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t always. Me and Sylvie used to live somewhere else, and we adventured together as our own party. She was the offense, while I was the healing and support. But one day, she was injured during an S-rank mission.”

An S-rank mission... That meant both Crumb and her sister, Sylvie, were S-rank adventurers. It was quite common for siblings to adventure together, but it was quite rare for both of them to be S-rank adventurers. But something about Crumb’s story had caught my attention.

“She was injured?” From what Yui had told me, Crumb’s sister was sick, but Crumb said she was injured. Why?

“Well, rather than an injury, it’s more like...a curse. Apparently, only high-level purification magic can fully cure her. I’ve done all I could, even found some of the best mages out there, but no one could heal her...”

A curse—that had to be ghost or dark magic. Ghost magic was the domain of shamans and ghost wranglers, and—in very rare cases—monsters could use it too. Some humans could use ghost magic, but it was demons who had high aptitude for the affinity.

Shamans and ghost wranglers were classes meant to counter holy maidens and monks, and while ghost magic wasn’t particularly strong, a few among them could cast very high-level spells.

But could a monster really be capable of such advanced ghost magic? At the very least, I had never heard of such a monster, or any cases of their victims—not even within the books I had read when I was still with the Hero’s party.

And just how advanced did this “high-level purification magic” have to be? I wasn’t well-versed with that affinity, so I had no idea. “High-level purification magic? Like what?”

“Well, I’ve never seen it myself, but a spell like Clear, I guess? It’s a purification spell that only the captain of the Holy Principality’s Holy Knights can manage these days.”

The captain of the Holy Knights... I had heard quite a bit about them when I was with the Hero’s party. They were the strongest knights within the Holy Principality, and their might rivaled Heroes’. I had never met one before, but they had to be pretty tough.

“Clear, huh? Wait a second.” I had heard of that spell before—actually, I had witnessed it. Lily, one of Master Merlin’s very few friends, could cast it. That was a high-level purification spell? Wait, no way...

“Clear? Is that the spell that heals all status effects within a certain area and purges those who inflicted them?” I asked.

“Yeah, exactly. So you know about it too. I guess it makes sense that the city’s savior would know his stuff.”

“Well, I’ve just seen it in action before...”

“Huh?”

“Huh?” I parroted.

Crumb gave me a dumbfounded look, as if she didn’t believe me. She almost seemed afraid to ask her next question. “Are you...for real?”

“Yeah, my old master’s friend Lily used it.” Once those words had slipped from my mouth, I realized my memories had to be faulty. I had never met the captain of the Holy Knights before, but there was no way someone who could use a spell unique to someone so amazing could be a friend of Master Merlin’s. I mean, this was Master Merlin, after all. I had a lot of respect for Lily, but I had a hard time believing that someone so amazing could be Master Merlin’s friend.

“Sorry, I must have been mis—”

“Wait, Lily? No way. You don’t mean Lily the Lost Sword Saint, do you?”

“Lilythelostswordsaint”? I had never heard that word before. “What’s a ‘lilythelostswordsaint’?” I asked, completely unable to follow what Crumb had said.

“The legendary adventurer, Lily the Sword Saint...or sometimes, the Sword Fiend. Tons of adventurers dream of being just like her. Is this really the first time you’re hearing of her?”

The Sword Fiend? How terrifying. “Sword Fiend, Sword Fiend...” At the very least, that title didn’t fit the Lily I knew. She was the serious type, and really kind.

“She wields a sword as long as she is tall. Enveloped in light, it sunders her enemies in one fell swoop. Lily the Sword Saint, the strongest swordsman in the world! They say her strength rivals that of the Holy Knights’ captain—no, exceeds it.”

“I-Is that right...?” This woman sounded terrifying. Yes, the Lily I knew was amazing and worthy of respect, but she wasn’t a fiend. As I already said, she was the serious type, and really kind. I was pretty certain this was a different Lily. “I’m sorry, I think I’ve gotten my spells mixed up...”

“Well, I guess you must have. After all, she’s already...” Crumb’s expression looked pained. I guess that made sense considering this Sword Saint was one of the few people capable of healing her sister.

I was starting to feel guilty. I searched for something to say that could lighten the mood. “Th-That’s right! I bought some snacks on my way here. Please share them with your sister,” I said, handing over the bag of cute, colorful cookies. Obviously, I wasn’t the one who picked these out. I had just remembered Yui mentioning that this shop sold tasty sweets during our quest to defeat that pack of high wolves. I’d never tried them myself.

“Wait, I love these! Thanks! I really mean it!”

“I-I’m glad you like them.”

Crumb promptly took a cookie from the box and began to chow down. She seemed to be enjoying herself. I was right to refer to Yui’s advice. “Yup, these cookies are the best!” she happily exclaimed as she continued to eat more and more.

Were they really that good? I’d have to try them myself sometime.

Once Crumb had eaten about half the box, she reluctantly closed the lid and turned her attention toward me. She was probably saving the rest for her sister. “So? Do you like hanging with Yui and them?”

“Yeah, I guess...” It hadn’t even been a month yet, but all sorts of things had happened, and each one was much more fun than the time I spent with the Hero’s party.

“They all really helped me out in my hard times too. Honestly, I wish I could still adventure with them.” Apparently, Sylvie’s illness had progressed to its current state about a year ago, which was when Crumb met Yui’s party. As a white mage, she must have had a hard time adventuring on her own. But once Crumb explained all that, her demeanor grew more serious. “They’re a bright bunch, but...they’ve all got their troubles. Like Yui. Her hometown was attacked by monsters, and her parents were victims.”

That’s right. Yui had shared that with me too.

“Thanks to that, she tends to take things way too far. She’d sacrifice herself if it meant saving someone else. Jeez, just watching her gets me so worried.” I could tell from her expression that she deeply cared and was concerned for Yui. “Anyway, I’m relieved. With you around, I can leave the party without any worries,” she said, grinning.

I guess that meant she had recognized my worth as a member of their party. I was thankful, but would she be okay? She had lost her job. Wouldn’t she have a hard time paying the bills? “You’re going to leave the party?”

“Yeah, I wanna focus on taking care of Sylvie. Fortunately, we’ve still got plenty of cash. But right now, I can’t be away from home for all too long...”

That made sense. Her sister’s injury must have been serious. But just what had been able to put an S-rank adventurer in such a critical state? “Was it a monster that hurt Sylvie?” I imagined it was, so I decided to ask Crumb.

For a few seconds, she pondered this question. Then, she slowly began to speak. “I...don’t know. She was attacked from behind, and by the time I got there, she was already starting to lose consciousness.” She looked quite pained. She had arrived too late to save her sister, which must have been hard on her.

“What are her symptoms?” I was hoping that information could be used to determine what monster had attacked her. The single thing I had some confidence in was my monster knowledge, but I hadn’t been expecting her answer.

“Her mana’s rampaging.”

“Rampaging mana?” I asked. You didn’t hear those two words together every day. Newbie mages sometimes had a hard time controlling their mana, but that had never been much of a problem.

“Yeah. You know that high concentrations of mana tend to crystallize, right?”

I nodded. Highly concentrated, crystallized mana—magic stones, essentially. They’d occasionally be recovered from the depths of caves, where the air was dense with mana. But I had never heard of the mana within someone’s body crystallizing before.

“Sylvie’s illness...is slowly turning her body into a magic stone. We’re able to slow the progression by occasionally releasing her mana for now, but it’s progressing faster and faster with each passing year, and we’re having to drain more and more of her mana. It’s only a matter of time before her body fully becomes crystal...” Gloom filled Crumb’s expression. The situation was much more dire than I had imagined.

“A matter of time, huh...?” I pondered.

Hmm? Wait a second. Rampaging mana that needed to be drained. Could that be...? It was only a possibility, but if I was right about this, then...

“Crumb.”

“What?”

Sylvie’s rampaging mana was preventing her from controlling it, and the resulting high concentration of mana was transforming her body into a magic stone. In that case...

“I might...” If I was right about this, then maybe I might...

“...be able to heal Sylvie.”

“R-Really?” Her eyes flew open. I could tell she was shocked.

“I don’t know for sure. There’s no guarantee, but...”

“But it still might work, right?”

“Yeah. Could you take me to her?”

“Y-Yeah. Follow me.” Crumb stood up and led me to her sister’s room.

***

“Sylvie? We’re coming in,” said Crumb as she knocked on the door. She received no response. Her sister must have been terribly weak...

Crumb didn’t wait for an answer before slowly pushing open the door. It almost seemed like she had expected silence.

But the moment the door flew open, a heavy aura overwhelmed me. The mana trapped inside the room had escaped as soon as the door swung open. Even just breathing it in was enough to make me feel sick, and Crumb seemed slightly uncomfortable too. Had it been a random person in town who rarely got to interact with magic, they’d likely feel more than just malaise. It couldn’t be easy finding someone to care for Sylvie.

“That’s her,” said Crumb, pointing to a bed beside the window. Atop it was a silver-haired, gaunt young woman—Crumb’s little sister, Sylvie. The two of us approached the bed.

“I’m going to lift the covers,” said Crumb. She received no answer, and I could tell just from watching that she hadn’t expected to. She gently moved the blankets.

“So this is how she’s crystallized...” Sylvie’s arms and legs had morphed into purple magic stones that resembled amethysts, which emitted a dull, unsettling glow. Magic stones came in a variety of colors, and this was the color that resulted when high concentrations of mana condensed. Typically, magic stones were instead blue. “So only her limbs have crystallized...”

“It started with her fingertips and toes and gradually spread from there. I had capable healers take a look at her, but they didn’t know what caused it either...”

Healers? Monks were the only class more skilled at healing magic than white mages. Above even them were holy maidens, but the only one in town was attached at Allen’s hip, so it seemed safe to assume she wasn’t the one who had taken a look at Sylvie. She wasn’t the type to let money drive her to action either.

White mages could also use healing magic, but their forte was more support magic they could cast from the back lines. They weren’t really a healer class, while monks were capable of high-level healing magic. However...

“Yeah, that makes sense...”

“Huh?” Crumb looked dumbfounded.

I ignored her and outstretched my hand toward Sylvie.

“What are you planning, Lloyd?” she asked, glaring at me. Likely, her real question was, What’s a white mage going to do that a skilled healer couldn’t? Or perhaps, it was, You’re not gonna do anything weird to my sister, are you?

But after seeing her current condition, I was now certain—I could heal her. “Crumb, could you leave her to me?”

“B-But...” She clearly didn’t know how to respond. “C-Can you really cure her...?” she asked with doubt in her eyes.

“Just leave it to me,” I said before placing my hand on Sylvie’s forehead and activating mana transfer—or really, activating reverse mana transfer.

I groaned. Immediately, an inordinate amount of mana came rushing into my body. Just how many mana potions’ worth was this? You typically couldn’t feel mana absorption, but this was quite painful...

“A-Are you okay?” asked Crumb. She watched me with worried eyes.

I managed to croak out a “yeah,” but I was having a hard time keeping things in check. Since mana transfer was possible, I thought absorption had to be too, so I gave it a try. But unlike handing over your own MP, there wasn’t a way to really control how much you were absorbing from someone else. If I let my guard down, all her mana could come rushing into me at once. At the same time, I had to control the mana within her body too, and naturally, I couldn’t afford to make a single mistake.

Sylvie let out a groan. Thankfully, she was still asleep. But if she awoke, she’d immediately wail from the excruciating pain.

When it came to mana transfers, the burden was heavier on the transferrer than the receiver. In other words, it was harder on the person losing MP than absorbing it. If possible, I wanted her to stay asleep until this was over. That was the thought on my mind as I continued to cautiously absorb her mana, praying that this would be as easy on her as possible.

“Almost there...” I couldn’t absorb any more mana. If I did, then I’d start to crystallize. Now, I needed to segue from absorbing MP to expending it, so I cast the spell Heal. This version was crazy inefficient, and one of my failures in my attempts to improve the spell. Who’d have thought I’d actually get the chance to use it, much less at a time like this?

But thanks to the spell, I could expend MP faster than I was absorbing it and continuously heal Sylvie while doing so. But to be honest, I wasn’t sure how much it was helping.

I continued to absorb Sylvia’s MP via mana transfer and expend it by casting Heal, gradually depleting Sylvie’s mana. Fragments of mana crystal began to break off her skin, and after a few dozen minutes, I was nearing the ending of her mana reserves. The unpleasant air was subsiding.

It’d only be a little longer, now. Once Sylvie’s mana was controlled and stabilized, then...

“Hmm?” But just as I was about to focus on controlling her mana, I noticed something strange within her body. It had been concealed by her rampaging mana, but now that it had subsided, I was picking up on something that slightly emitted mana itself. Just what was it?

“Is this where Sylvie was injured, Crumb?” I asked, pointing at Sylvie’s right side.

“Yeah, I think so. But how’d you know that, Lloyd? Was it a function of your healing spell?” asked Crumb.

I shook my head. Obviously, Sylvie was clothed, so I couldn’t see any scars or injuries. I also didn’t know any healing spells that could discover wounds. In other words, even had a mark been left behind, you’d have to undress Sylvie to see it.

So why had I asked that question? Because I had picked up on something strange right where I had been pointing—a foreign object that seemed to have been buried in her skin by accident when she was injured. I concluded it’d be best to remove it. From what I could tell, that couldn’t pose any issue.

“Do you have a knife, Crumb?”

“I have kitchen knives.”

A kitchen knife... I was hoping for something smaller, but that’d have to do. “Can you bring me one?”

“Yeah... On it.” It was clear she didn’t quite follow, but she left to bring me a knife anyway. “Here.”

“Thanks. Can you hand it over?”

“S-Sure...”

I took the knife from Crumb and cut open Sylvie’s (likely) old injury. Then, I slowly extracted the foreign object from inside. I was a novice, so it wasn’t a clean job, but we didn’t have much of a choice. Finally, I closed Sylvie’s wound with healing magic and took the object into my hand.

“A red magic stone?” The stone I recovered from Sylvie glowed crimson. I could feel it emitting mana as well. There was no doubt about it—this was a magic stone. But I had never heard of a red one before. It was incredibly strange.

“What the heck is that?” asked Crumb as she gazed at the crystal in my hand.

“It looks like a red magic stone, but...I’m not really sure.” The only thing I did know was that this was definitely the source of her mana’s rampage, especially considering it had subsided as soon as I had removed it.

“Ngh...” I turned my eyes toward this voice to discover Sylvie, her eyes slightly open. That was probably thanks to the fact this stone had been removed, and that I had cast an abnormal amount of Heal spells on her.

“Huh? Sylvie?!” Crumb’s eyes flew open as she stared at the bed.

“Huh? Cr...umb?” Sylvie blinked her eyes and stared at her sister. She was conscious, and her mana seemed to have stabilized. It appeared safe to assume that I had succeeded at calming her mana’s rampage.

“Crumb, I...” Sylvie slowly sat up in her bed. Once I took a good look at her, I could see she was slightly shaking. Her crystallization had concealed her current state, but she was terribly gaunt. Her legs were still hidden beneath the blanket, but they were likely similarly worse for wear. Still, that was expected considering what she had been through.

“Sylvie! Are you okay?!” asked Crumb, watching her sister with worried eyes.

“Yeah. I don’t have much strength, but I think...I’m fine...” Sylvie tried moving her hand. She had a decent range of motion and could probably manage to eat on her own.

Plus, while she was thin, she wasn’t as thin as Claire had been when we’d rescued her. This was probably thanks to Crumb’s watchful care. If she underwent some physical therapy with the help of Crumb’s buffs, she’d recover her strength and senses in no time.

Since Sylvie was staring at me, I decided to offer a short introduction. As we chatted, Sylvie turned her attention to the red magic stone in my hand. “What is that?” she asked, pointing at the stone.

“This? I recovered it from inside your body. Do you recognize it?” I asked, just in case she had anything to share. Though she almost certainly didn’t. Nobody’d purposefully bury a magic stone inside their body.

“Huh?! Th-That was inside me?!”

“Yeah, right about there...”

“N-No way,” said Sylvie as she brought her hands to where I was pointing. I had cast enough healing magic that it likely wouldn’t leave a scar, but yeah, hearing a magic stone was found inside your body would definitely be quite a shock. Even I’d be pretty surprised.

Sylvie herself didn’t seem to realize the stone’s presence, and since her mana wasn’t stabilized, it was naturally impossible to discover a tiny mana-emitting stone within her flesh.

“Well... Anyway, I’m glad you’re all right now.”

“Y-Yeah... Thanks...”

As I turned my attention to Crumb, she bowed. “Thank you. I can’t believe you healed her... I don’t even know what to say.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“But...” It seemed like Crumb wanted to thank me. She even invited me to dinner, and since it was just the right time for it, I was thankful. But ultimately, I turned her down.

Why? Because tomorrow morning, I was going to meet with the noble who ruled these lands—in other words, Rina’s father. But anyway, I hadn’t slept at all last night thanks to the party, so I wanted to hit the sack early. Unlike Master Merlin, I couldn’t cast good spells when I was sleep-deprived, and I couldn’t afford to oversleep either.

“Anyway, that’s the deal...”

“I see. I really wanted to thank you, though,” said Crumb, looking somewhat disappointed.

But considering how busy I was, there wasn’t much else I could do. “Anyway, thanks for the invitation, but...”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll pay you back some other time. Once Sylvie fully recovers, we’re gonna go adventuring again. I’m sure it’ll be a while, but I hope we meet again someday.”

“Me too. I’ll accept your thanks then,” I said before heading for the door.

“Oh, that’s right!” I turned back to face Crumb.

“You’re meeting with Abel tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, I am. What’s he like?” All I knew about him was that he was Rina’s father.

“Well... Amazing, if I were to use a single word,” she said.

“Amazing?”

“Yup. He knows his politics, and he’s as strong as an S-rank adventurer, if not even stronger. He was unfortunately away during the battle to defend the city, but he’s still reliable, even though he’s stepped away.”

Huh. “Is he strong?”

“Yeah. About twenty years ago, was it? He contributed a lot to defeating the Demon King. Even our king gives Abel some preferential treatment.”

“He’s really that amazing?”

“Yeah. I’ve only talked to him once, but he’s nice, so don’t worry.”

“Right.” Crumb was likely just trying to be kind.

Anyway, by the time I was on my way home, the sun had already set, and the sky was dark. “It’s already this late? I better hurry.” I speedwalked back toward the inn.

“Still...” I took the red magic stone out of my pocket and held it up toward the sky. “This looks awfully similar to that.”

“That” being the black magic stone on that farm. They differed in qualities, but they had the same feel. This texture, their similarity to magic stones...was it just a coincidence?

“Well, not that I can do anything about it now.”

Chapter 2: The White Mage Meets the Local Lord

The following day, we met early in the morning to go see the local lord. Apparently, his house—or really, manor—was located a short way from the city. After about a thirty-minute walk, an eye-catchingly large mansion came into view.

“W-Wow...” Yui muttered as she looked up at the giant house before us.

“Yeah, you can say that again.” I shouldn’t have expected anything less from a local lord. He was a noble, I guess. The vast grounds held a huge mansion, as well as multiple other smaller buildings, including what looked like a storehouse. Even its sizable gardens were clearly properly cared for, and the sweet scent of flowers carried by the breeze tickled my nostrils.

“This smells amazing...” I muttered.

“Indeed,” agreed Silica. The scent brought me back to my time living in the woods with Master Merlin. I hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with flowers since I had arrived in Ishtar, and my nostalgic days living in the forest came flooding back to me.

The local lord must’ve loved flowers. I had never seen such a beautiful garden before. However, it seemed like Silica and I were the only ones interested. Daggers alone just gave them a glance before immediately turning away, while Yui and Cross were just staring at the manor. They didn’t even look at the flowers for a second.

I guess I couldn’t blame them. The manor before us was amazing enough to deserve it.

We spent a short while staring up at the building before the front door opened, and a single old man stepped outside. He wore a black suit with a red tie, and his hair was pulled back and fixed in place. He likely served the local lord.

“Uh, who are you?” asked Daggers.

“I am Sebas, the local lord’s butler. He has instructed me to serve as your guide,” said the man before giving us a deep bow.

“No, don’t worry about it. Thank you for today,” said Daggers, bowing back in a panic. The rest of us followed his lead.

“In that case, I shall take you to the local lord. Please, follow me.”

With Sebas as our guide, we stepped inside the manor. As we slowly walked down the long, lavishly decorated halls, we passed by a few others dressed in uniforms and working diligently. And since they always stopped to bow at us, I bowed back a little too.

***

But really, this place was gorgeous. There wasn’t a single speck of dirt or dust in sight, which had to be a sign of the staff’s proper training. I wished I could have Master Merlin work here since they might actually be able to teach her a thing or two. She had one talent, which was magic, but when it came to everything else, she was absolutely incompetent. That was the thought on my mind as we climbed our way to the second floor and traversed another long hallway.

Finally, Sebas stopped before a door at the end of the hall. “This way,” he said before opening it and urging us inside.

“E-Excuse us, then.” Daggers took the helm as we stepped through the door. As far as I could tell from looking around, every piece of furniture was expensive. Still, the furnishings were all functional, giving me the sense that the only things here were the absolute necessities. Very little had no purpose to serve.

I was last to walk through the door, which slowly closed behind us. Sebas must have had other business to attend to.

“Hey, there. Are you that adventurer party who saved Ishtar?” I turned toward the voice to find a young man.

Oh, so this guy was... He had similar facial features to Rina, so I recognized him immediately. The two of us had spent a long time adventuring in the same party together under the Hero, after all.

Obviously, Yui and the others didn’t have the same frame of reference. “Um, where’s the local lord?” asked Yui as she glanced around the room. Daggers and the rest were looking around too, though not as much as Yui. Still, I could understand them. This local lord seemed to lack presence. Was that just because he looked so young?

The man watched them and chuckled. “What do you mean? That’s me, Abel Lucas, the local lord.”

“Huh?!” Yui and the rest audibly gasped. I was the only one who didn’t follow. What was there to be shocked about?

Silica seemed restless as she raised her hand. “Um...?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“My apologies, but I heard Lord Abel turned forty-five this year.”

“Yup, I did,” answered Abel, grinning from ear to ear. He looked perfectly calm. “But why mention that?”

“Oh, I mean... You just look so young.”

“I’ve been exercising diligently ever since my time at the Knight Academy, after all. I practice my swings, go jogging...”

“D-Do you? I s-still get the sense you appear a little too young...” Given Silica’s response, it was clear she didn’t really take Abel’s words as a real answer.

Suddenly, Yui realized my composure and started staring at me. “How are you so calm, Lloyd?” The look on her face practically screamed, I just can’t believe it!

“Well, I mean...”

Abel was Rina’s father. With a daughter of nineteen, it was easy to guess he was in his forties, if not older. I mean, Yui and the others were right—he was old enough that you’d expect his age to show a bit more. Still, Master Merlin’s friend Lily was about the same age, but she also looked young. Was it really that weird?

“Isn’t how young you look related to how hard you work?” I asked.

“No, you just don’t... There’s gotta be a limit, right? This is...impressive. Maybe there’s beauty magic or something?” wondered Yui.

Beauty magic...

“Isn’t there?” I asked.

“Huh?” They all spoke in unison.

“Huh?” I responded back. They were all looking at me with expressions that seemed to be saying, What the hell is this guy talking about?!

Seriously, what was with their reaction? Even Silica and Cross looked as dumbfounded as Yui.

Abel alone was grinning at me, looking even a bit happier than he had before. “Yup, you’re exactly right, Lloyd. Looks all come down to hard work. For example—”

“Ahem!” A cough from one of the maids interrupted him. “Lord Abel, I do believe it’s about time you...”

“Oh, yes, I guess I chatted a little too much there. Um, then let’s move on to business. You all know of the second imperial pr—I mean, Claire, yes? Especially you, Lloyd,” said Abel, still grinning.

“You know Claire?!” I couldn’t help but ask as soon as I heard her name. The question slipped from my mouth before I even realized it. Now that I was thinking about it, I hadn’t seen her since before the night of the festival—or really, ever since she lost consciousness after the defensive battle. I tried looking for her after the banquet, but Vice Chief Ulgo of the Adventurer’s Guild wouldn’t let me search for her and instead only told me, “She’s somewhere safe, so you need not worry.”

But according to Abel, she was somewhere within this manor.

He was right. Perhaps it was only because I had gotten so familiar with her mana signature, but I could sense it clearer than I could anyone else’s here.

“Don’t worry. Claire’s fine. She’s weak and can’t walk properly quite yet, but that’s only a matter of time. She has no long-lasting injuries.”

“R-Really?” I asked, sighing a breath of relief. Abel didn’t seem to be lying, and nothing he said had sounded suspicious either. I could even tell her condition was stable given how steady her mana signature was. They must have taken some measures to help her.

But that was exactly why a certain question was stuck in my mind. I had meant to ask earlier, but now, the mysteries surrounding her had only grown deeper. “Um... Who is Claire, exactly?”

She possessed magic I had never seen before and could manipulate monsters. In order to take her for themselves, the demons had braved entering the Three Great Nations’ territory and imprisoning her.

“Yup, I was just about to explain that. You guys will be watching over her for a while, after all.”

“We’ll be what?”

“I’ll say this simply: Claire...is the second princess of the empire.”

“Huh?!”

“Oh, and while it seems like she told you guys her name was Claire, it’s actually Claira.”

He had to be kidding. I had already gotten the sense that she had given me a fake name, which was why I had assumed she must have some extenuating circumstances. But the second princess? I didn’t know much about royalty and nobility, but if she was a “princess” she had to rank pretty high in the empire. Given her magic and the demons’ obsession with her, I assumed she had to be important. But a member of the imperial line? I definitely got why she had given us a fake name.

“Is this a joke?”

“No, I mean it. She’s the imperial princess shrouded in mystery, Princess Claira,” said Abel, still wearing the same smile as he continued, ignoring our surprise. “She was kidnapped a year prior, but you guys don’t know that, do you?”

I shook my head. Apparently, even the others hadn’t heard that she had been kidnapped.

“The kidnapping of the second princess—Claira Rizelst is her name—is a secret only known to the royal family and a select few nobles.”

Claira Rizelst... To be honest, I had never heard the name before. I hadn’t even known there was a second imperial princess.

“But why didn’t they announce what happened to Claire—I mean, Princess Claira?” asked Yui.

For some reason, Abel turned toward me. “You saw her magic for yourself, didn’t you, Lloyd? What do you think?”

His words prompted me to consider our current situation. “On one hand, her magic was amazing. On the other...it was terrifying,” I said, answering honestly.

“Yes, exactly. Her magic is magnificent, with the potential to crush nations.”

The expressions on Yui and the others’ faces froze. Abel was right—Claira’s magic was that dangerous. Earlier, we had no other choice, and Claira herself understood that, which was why she had helped us.

But if that power made its way into someone else’s hands, then... I shuddered. Based on what I had witnessed, it didn’t seem like Claira alone could manipulate enough monsters to destroy a nation. But with help, it’d be possible. The previous incident was proof of that.

“Her magic is special, which is why she was kept under close watch and guard. But still, she was kidnapped—and by demons, no less. The empire’s defenses were compromised. If their citizens knew that, they’d panic.”

Abel was right. They definitely would.

But no, it wouldn’t just be the subjects of the empire. If Claira’s magic and her kidnapping were made public, discord would consume the whole continent.

“So they wanted to avoid inciting panic in the people of the empire and kingdom.”

“Yup, exactly. The few of us nobles who knew of the situation, including myself, searched for her in secret. But then, one of my friends aiding the effort suddenly brought her back. I couldn’t believe it.”

The imperial princess had been missing for a full year, only to suddenly return. Yeah, I could understand why he was shocked.

“So is Princess Claira...all right?” Yui sounded nervous.

“Yes. As I’ve said, she’s currently recovering. You have nothing to worry about. It’s only a matter of time before she’s fully well again.”

“Thank goodness...” Yui breathed a sigh of relief.

For some reason, this caused Abel to grin. He once again spoke. “Yup, yup! So anyway, I have a direct quest for you guys.”

“A...direct quest?”

“Yup, and it’s a bit of a hard one. I want you to serve as Claira’s guards and escort her to the royal capital.”

“Huuuh?” Everyone but me spoke in unison.

Abel ignored them. “You see, I’ve been asked to take her there, but unfortunately, I’ve got my own work to take care of. Wrapping up this whole incident will be time-consuming, so I’m not in a position to leave the city.”

With that, Abel took a letter out of the drawer in his desk and handed it to us. Yui accepted it, opened it up, and laid it flat on the desk. Then, we all began to read. The language was a bit formal and flowery, but in short, it was a letter from the emperor, and it said, “I’d like you to bring the second princess here to the capital.”

The phrase “I’d like you to” was more of a demand, from what I could gather.

“As I’m sure you now understand, the emperor wants your party to head to the royal capital to take temporary refuge. At the same time, he wants me to bring Princess Claira there. In other words, if you guys take her, I can focus on my work. We’ll be killing two birds with one stone!”

We were silent. During our whole conversation, Abel had maintained a smile. But we were at a loss for words, and the one thought on our minds was, What the hell is this guy on about?

***

Within a small hut near the empire’s borders, Grist of the Four Fiends sat across a long table from a gaunt demon with green hair. The two were sharing a meal.

“So? You’d like me to help?” asked the green-haired demon, sneering.

“Yeah, I do. You were once the Demon King’s advisor, said to be his right-hand man! I’m sure I can trust your skills, at least.”

“And nothing else?”

“Of course not. It’s hard to trust a man who betrayed the last Demon King, don’t you think?”

“I suppose so. Well, I can overlook that as long as you have payment to provide,” said the green-haired demon, Mischel, with a creepy smile. “So? What’s on the agenda?”

“We don’t know yet. But from what I can tell, the second princess is about to move. She’s apparently in Ishtar, but that place is on the verge of collapse. They’re not gonna leave her there.”

“Oh, is that right? So we’re simply going to wait until our target makes her way back to the empire?”

“No. I’m almost certain she’ll stop in the royal capital before heading back. We’ll make camp at a nearby village and ambush her.”

The Forress Empire had already begun looking for a traitor, and naturally, the news had made its way to Grist’s ears. He had infiltrated the empire as Reveeve, one of their Five Commanders.

“The emperor already suspects there’s a traitor in his midst, and he’s even beginning to doubt the Five Commanders. Do you really think he’ll have the second princess return given all that?”

“I suppose not.”

“Right? Plus, Ishtar’s not too close to the empire. It’s obvious she could be attacked on the way, so they’re definitely going to keep her in the royal capital until she recovers, where the Heroes of Thunder and Destruction are. At least, that’s what I think. Don’t you?” asked Grist.

There seemed to be a hint of doubt on Mischel’s face. There was no sugarcoating how ignorant and dumb Grist looked given his appearance. In addition to his title as one of the Four Fiends, he was also known as the Warrior King, and his bulky muscles supported that nickname. He stood over two meters tall.

“I was sure you had muscles for brains, but I see your cognitive faculties are surprisingly strong.”

“Not as strong as your apprentice’s. Zifer’s an absolute devil.”

“Zifer, huh? I had heard he joined the Four Fiends. Is he doing well?”

“Yup. The lunatic’s probably locked up in the castle and happily doing something or another that I can’t understand.”

“I see...” Mischel let out a satisfied chuckle before setting down his fork and standing from his seat.

“You good? You haven’t finished your food yet.”

“I am. I’ve heard your request and asked all I wish to ask. Plus, I have my own preparations to make.”

Grist nodded. He was perfectly aware that Mischel was no fool; he was a fearsome demon who didn’t just aid the Demon King, but had served as his right-hand man. His brains and skills exceeded the average demon’s. Thus, Grist concluded there was no need for detailed orders.

“Then until another day. Let us meet again once it’s time to put your plot into action,” said Mischel before suddenly and unnaturally disappearing into a purple miasma.

“Jeez, he’s just like the rumors say,” muttered Grist as he watched the food come into contact with the purple mist and spoil.

***

A few days had passed since our visit with Abel, the local lord of Ishtar. Currently, we were in a nearby forest. But no, this wasn’t a picnic—we were armed and armored.

Once we arrived, Abel approached, waving his hand with a smile. “Hey, there! Did you sleep well?”

“All right, I guess.” Daggers, Silica, and Cross were looking a bit sleep-deprived, and I could tell they were pretty nervous. On the other hand, it was business as usual for Yui and me.

Abel looked at us and smiled. Yup, we had failed to turn down his quest. We had done everything we could, but in the end, our words just didn’t reach him. But really, he had to have been pretty cornered to call on us in the first place. We had never possessed the right to refuse, especially since the Hero had left. Thus, we had reluctantly accepted this mission.

The quest was tough, but simple: Escort the second princess to the royal capital. To be more exact, we couldn’t follow the shortest route and instead had to take detours to defend against a possible ambush. We’d set out from Ishtar, stay in various towns along the way, and slowly make our way to the royal capital.

The mission was rated “Special S,” which was exactly what it sounded like—a special S-rank mission. Typically, I couldn’t participate in S-rank missions, as I was only D-rank, which made me a novice adventurer completely incapable of such difficult quests.

But thanks to Abel pulling some strings behind the scenes, a special exception was made for me. Next to my tag that proved I was a D-rank adventurer were the words, “Considered S-rank when adventuring with parties consisting of four or more S-rank adventurers.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes at first. Typically, an adventurer could only rise in rank by completing quests and proving their skills, and even the strongest of adventurers only set their sights on C-rank at first. But despite these rules, Abel had somehow been able to break them.

I only learned this after the fact, but apparently, Abel was crazy famous, particularly for his strength and selflessness. According to the rumors, he was unmatched in these faculties—not just compared to other nobles, but even the royal family.

“Anyway, are you ready?” Abel asked me.

I nodded.

“Then take good care of Claira, okay?” On that signal, she appeared from behind the trees. She had a black hood pulled far down on her face and clothing that acted to neutralize her mana signature, making her impervious to detection magic. I had been using it myself, but until this very moment, I hadn’t noticed her.

Claira was also moving around like normal, which was likely thanks to a certain potion. While its effects prevented the use of magic, it also greatly enhanced physical abilities. Apparently, both these potions and her clothing had been the work of a certain alchemist. As Abel talked, he kept proudly saying, “My friend made it! Isn’t he great?” Though, oddly enough, he never divulged this alchemist’s name.

“Let me introduce myself once again. I am Claira Rizelst, the second imperial princess. But please just call me Claira,” she said before bowing to us.

Daggers and the others clearly questioned whether it was really okay to call her by first name alone, which had me feeling nervous too.

“Yup! Nice to meet you, Claira!” But Yui broke the ice and grabbed a firm hold of her hand. Really, it was just like her. That was all I could say.

Claira must have known it’d be hard for us to open up to her, and at first, she couldn’t hide her shock at hearing her name without a title.

“Yes, it’s nice to meet you too, Yui.”

“Leave everything to us! We’ll definitely get you to the royal capital safe and sound!”

“Yes, I will!”

The two girls were grinning at each other. But thanks to Yui’s efforts, the rest of us gathered the courage to talk with her too, even if not truly relaxed and casually.

Thus, our quest was off to a fine start.

Abel watched us from far away. “What a fine apprentice you had, Merlin.”

I could tell he had muttered something, but I couldn’t hear what.

Chapter 3: The White Mage Makes the Same Mistake

It had been a few dozen days since we left Ishtar. During our journey, we’d stop in the towns Abel had designated as waypoints to rest before making our way to the next village. Of course, the towns didn’t know we were traveling with Princess Claira, so we had to be careful to ensure no one found out.

At least, we were supposed to be...

“Hey, Claira! Doesn’t this look tasty?” Yui grabbed Claira’s hand and dragged her toward a food stall with a tasty scent. Claira, meanwhile, didn’t look like she minded at all and was happily running alongside Yui with a smile on her face.

Cross sighed. “There she goes again. I get we need to take breathers, but shouldn’t she be at least a little more nervous?”

“Maybe...” Cross had a point. While we were traversing a relatively safe route to the royal capital, the Demon King was still after us. We couldn’t afford to let our guards down. Still... “I think Yui’s trying to watch out for her.” In reality, we would have spent a few days pretty awkwardly and nervously if not for Yui.

“I mean, yeah. But...”

“Isn’t it fine? Claira was imprisoned for a long while, and Abel told us she never had much opportunity to leave the palace in the first place,” said Silica, smiling as she watched Claira.

“Guess giving the princess a hand is how it’s gotta be.”

“Indeed.”

The two giggled. While Cross was grumbling, he didn’t seem to have any intention of holding Claira under house arrest. He would allow her some freedom and had resolved to face the dangers that came with it.

Silica continued. “Not to mention, we have Lloyd with us.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. With him around, things’ll work out.”

The two smiled once again—this time at me. “Wait a second. What does me being around have to do with anything?”

“It just does.”

“Yup.”

For a second time, the two giggled. I couldn’t follow the conversation, but just as I was about to ask a follow-up question, Daggers cut me off. “Sorry, finding an inn was a bit tough. Wait, where are Yui and Claira?”

“They ran off that way, yapping about a tasty smell,” said Cross, pointing in the direction they disappeared.

“Jeez, that girl...”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. Can you detect them, Lloyd?”

“I’ve been using my detection magic constantly, but I haven’t picked up on anything strange. I can sense Yui’s signal clearly.” Due to Claira’s special clothes, I couldn’t pick up on her at all. But as long as Yui was doing all right, it was safe to assume Claira was too.

“You’re really something, Lloyd. You had the spell activated before we could even ask.”

“But doesn’t using magic for such a long time greatly consume your MP?” asked Silica with worried eyes.

“Actually, I’ve reviewed my detection magic over these last few days.”

“Reviewed?”

“Yeah. At its core, detection magic picks up the signals of mana-containing entities, like a radar spread over a certain area,” I explained.

“Oh, so that’s how it works.”

“Yup. That’s why it requires MP to keep detection magic running, but...I improved the spell.”

“Improved it?” Silica gave me a blank stare.

I decided to inquire about her question later and continued with my explanation. “Yup. I might have to adjust which spell I use according to the situation, but rather than a radar covering a certain area, I instead changed it to waves that pulse at regular intervals. I think that’s the easiest way to explain it.”

Originally, detection magic sensed the presence of humans, demons, and monsters—along with their subtle movements—by operating like a radar. But for our current purposes, I only needed to check whether there were any suspicious signals nearby, rather than their movements.

“Since these waves operate on fixed intervals, I can’t track their movements in detail, so the spell’s detection abilities diminish.” Put simply, this new detection magic wasn’t suited for battle, but outside of battle. Instead of the MP it costs to cast a spell, it only expends the MP needed to maintain one, thus allowing me to save mana. If I adjusted the pulses’ intervals, I could adjust how much MP I was expending as well. “Anyway, that’s the gist, but... Did you understand all that?”

“Well, the basics, I believe...” said Silica, looking somewhat glum.

I didn’t understand her expression, so I asked if there was something wrong with my explanation.

“No, it’s just... You talk about improving and reworking spells as if it’s easy, Lloyd. But I don’t think it’s typically such a simple task.”

“Huh? Really?” Master Merlin and her friends acted like improving your spells was obvious, so that thought had never occurred to me before. “It’s not all that hard. I’m sure anybody could learn how to do it if they practiced.”

“I’m not so sure it’s really so—”

“If that’s what Lloyd says, it’s gotta be true, right?” Unlike Silica, who seemed to doubt my explanation, Cross seemed to trust it completely. “I mean, we learned how to use storage magic, didn’t we? Lloyd’s still got us beat, but we got the basics down pretty fast.”

While we were camping in the forest a few days ago, I taught them all how to use storage magic in our spare time. That must have been what Cross was talking about. While their storage capabilities were still rather minimal, they could all use the spell well enough to store away their personal belongings.

Everyone but Yui, that is. She alone couldn’t figure it out, and she was still training day in and day out to try to acquire the skill. As for her belongings, I was storing them away since I still had some extra space.

“I mean, Lloyd’s always like this. You’ve gotta get used to it eventually.”

“Yes, you’re right. That is his norm, isn’t it?”

I didn’t completely follow, but it seemed like Silica understood what I was trying to explain, which was enough for me. But I wonder why I felt so antsy. “H-Hey, I’m really not...”

Daggers cut me off once again. “Anyway, enough about that. We better go after them. Even with detection magic, we can’t be letting our guards down. Just to be safe, we better stick together as much as possible.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” I was still in the middle of my chat with Cross and Silica, but our quest came first. We could finish this discussion later.

Thus, we cautiously and enjoyably walked through town in search of Claira.

***

It was now evening. There were a few inns in this town, and we had decided to stay at the largest. We had wanted to stay in a smaller inn near the forest if possible, but those were all booked.

Apparently, this town was famous for its hot springs, and Yui clearly couldn’t wait. “All righty! Now that I’ve put away my bags, it’s time for a bath!” she exclaimed as she stepped out from the inn. Silica and Claira followed shortly afterward.

“Couldn’t they be a little more anxious?”

“Give it a rest, Cross. See? Claira isn’t used to all this travel. She’s tired.”

“I-I mean, I guess, but...” Cross was clearly torn.

Daggers pushed back. “Can’t we at least let her enjoy a bath at the hot springs?”

I agreed with that sentiment. They should have at least been allowed a bath—rest was important. But even more important...

“If they’re going to go, it’s maybe best they go early.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Claira will stand out.”

Ever since we had entered this town, everyone around had been staring at Claira, which I guess made sense. She was a woman concealed with a black hood and surrounded by a retinue. Since this town was en route to the capital, they likely got plenty of travelers and merchants here. But there were probably very few who looked as suspicious as us.

And this wasn’t very good for us. While being stared at was never comfortable, it also made it hard to distinguish who we needed to be wary of from those we could ignore. Since we were taking the long route to the capital, it was unlikely we’d encounter any demons here. But since we couldn’t be sure whether the demons were our only enemies, I could never be satisfied no matter how much detection magic I cast.

We walked through town for about thirty minutes, asking for directions. Eventually, the houses around us began to grow sparser, as if we had entered the woods. That’s when Yui caught sight of a certain building and stopped. “Hey, looky there! Isn’t this a hot spring?” she asked, her finger pointed forward.

I turned to the end of it to find a large structure surrounded by trees. After focusing my eyes, I noticed there was some steam rising from it.

“Yeah, sure looks like it.”

“Then we’ll go on ahead! You boys watch the perimeter!” Yui immediately grabbed hold of Silica’s and Claira’s hands and dashed off to the building containing the open-air bath.

“Hey! We still haven’t...” Daggers tried to protest, but they ignored him and immediately disappeared inside. “I mean, rest is important, but...” Daggers let out a sigh. He seemed to be thinking Yui needed to be a bit more cautious too. “Jeez. We’re all still on guard duty...”

“Well, nothing we can do about that now. She’s always like this,” said Cross, looking as annoyed as Daggers.

“Yup...”

“Yup.”

Cross sighed. “Well, now that it’s come to this, we’ve gotta protect Claira with everything we’ve got.”

Daggers silently nodded.

After some discussion, it was decided that I would stand guard behind the open bath, where the least number of people gathered. But still, it was kind of...

The front was put together well enough, but not the back. It was littered with trash and absolutely reeked. Since it was behind the building, the sun didn’t shine, and it was awfully humid too. “Do I really have to be here until they’re done...?”

Some nature would have been nice, but we were still partly in town. We had chosen this hot spring since we always needed to be prepared for battle. Plus, Yui insisted it be an outdoor bath, not an indoor one.

To be honest, I didn’t want to be here for very long. But since I was on guard duty, I didn’t have much of a choice.

I sighed. I was jealous of Daggers, who was keeping watch of the front, and Cross, who was watching from a distance. When they asked me to guard the back, I hadn’t expected it’d be this miserable. And since it didn’t seem like Daggers or Cross knew either, they couldn’t have assigned me here on purpose.

This was just how it was going to be. I’d just have to do my best to guard the place.

I looked to the sky as I was overcome with misery. I guess the girls had to be entering the bath by now...

***

The hot spring was divided into an indoor wash area and an outdoor bath. As the building was big, so were these areas. This town was famous for its hot springs, which may have accounted for the air of luxury it exuded.

Yui chatted in the changing room as her heart pounded with excitement to get in the baths. Luckily, it seemed like they were the only visitors. Despite the size, it belonged completely to them.

“I’m so glad nobody else is here!” said Yui.

“And I’m sure Claira will have an easier time relaxing here since she’ll be able to let down her guard,” agreed Silica. The two of them weren’t worried about what was happening outside since they knew Lloyd was there to guard them. Not only did his detection magic pick up on signals from every direction, it could even distinguish between humans and demons. It was a cheat code, and with that spell watching over them, they had no need to worry about any potential invasions.

Plus, Cross and Daggers were standing on watch outside just in case not all of their enemies were demons. With such fortified protection, they had no need to worry about an external attack.

But the inside was a different story. If their foes disguised themselves as fellow bathers, they could easily invade. At the same time, Yui, Silica, and Claira wouldn’t be able to fully rent out the bath without explaining their situation, and they couldn’t let the establishment know that Claira was the second imperial princess. Thus, they had been incredibly lucky that there were no other visitors.

“Maybe it’s ’cause we’re here so early?”

“Well, I suppose it’s still the afternoon. We’d typically be working around this time as well.”

Silica and Yui chatted as they stripped down. That’s when they suddenly realized Claira hadn’t joined the conversation. Yui glanced over and noticed she seemed reluctant to disrobe. “What’s wrong?”

“Well, um...”

“We’re all ladies here. There’s nothing to worry about.” Silica and Yui offered kind, encouraging words, but that wasn’t what Claira was worried about.

“Well, um... I was locked away for a long time, so I’m quite gaunt. Without that potion, I wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.” Claira’s worries were centered on her emaciated frame. Naturally, nobody would enjoy gazing upon a body atrophied from a long time spent in imprisonment—at least, that was Claira’s fear. She didn’t want to dampen Yui’s and Silica’s moods.

But for Silica and Yui, such considerations were pointless. “Huh? That’s what you were worried about?” asked Yui.

“Yes, I didn’t want to make you two uncomfortable.”

“It’s all right. Yui and I won’t mind. I’m quite certain you’re the only one still worrying about such things, Claira.”

“I-Is it really okay?”

Silica and Yui nodded. “Plus, I believe you’ve likely recovered your figure during our journey. Yui’s been feeding you so much it’s even started to get me worried.”

“Huh?! You’re so mean, Silica!”

“But isn’t it the truth? I think it’s best you start to worry about your own figure, Yui. Your chest seems to have gotten bigger, or maybe all of you has...”

Yui brought her eyes to her chest. The change was so obvious, she almost reflexively agreed. “Sh-Shut up! I’m fine! This is better for battle, anyway! The heavier you are, the stronger your attacks!”

“So you admit it?”

That’s when Yui realized she had dug her own grave. “I’m! Fine!”

Claira couldn’t help but giggle as she watched Silica’s teasing rile Yui.

“Hey! You don’t think I’m fat too, do you, Claira...?”

“No, my worries just suddenly seemed so silly. My apologies,” said Claira with an ebullient smile. One of her worries had been washed away. Ever since she was released from her imprisonment, her body had been her biggest concern, but Silica and Yui had dismissed it as natural with a smile. Claira felt quite lucky to have them.

Yui and Silica were giggling again. “Well, anyway! Everyone tends to worry about that sorta thing more than anything else,” said Yui.

“Indeed. But Yui...”

“But what?” Yui noticed that Claira’s eyes were trained on her—particularly, her breasts. “Wh-What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Hey! If you two are gonna tease me, then you better show me yours too! And that includes you, Claira!”

Claira giggled. “I think I’ll refrain.”

“What the heck is with you too?!” Yui’s forlorn shout could be heard from outside the changing room.

Afterward, the girls entered the open-air bath. The outside walls were divided into a thin partition for setting the mood and a thick outside for preventing peepers. Between these two layers of walls were trees and rocks of various sizes, which provided a sense of nature. The setting was perfect. Not to mention, the bath itself was rather large, adding to the atmosphere. It was a wonderful hot spring, and it was obvious why this town was so famous for them.

Yui sighed. “This is the best, especially since we haven’t gotten to bathe in so long!”

The three girls thoroughly enjoyed their soak.

The three chatted about all sorts of silly things. Until Claira suddenly realized something, that is. “Um, don’t you hear a noise coming from behind that wall?” she asked, her ears twitching.

“A noise? Do you hear it, Silica?”

“No, not at all...”

“There it is again!” shouted Claira, pointing toward the partition.

“No way...” gulped Yui. “I-I’ll go check it out.”

Thus, Yui stood up and cautiously approached...

***

I continuously cast my detection magic as I waited for Yui and the other girls to return. A few dozen uneventful minutes had already come to pass.

“Eeek!” That’s when I suddenly heard Yui scream from inside the bath.

I immediately took hold of my staff. “What’s happening? Are they being attacked?” I switched back to my old detection spell, but I still didn’t sense any demons—only a few people from inside the girls’ bath. There was a single beastwoman and three humans.

“No way, is that human working with the demons?!” No, maybe they were simply being manipulated. I considered a myriad of possibilities, but I couldn’t come to any conclusions. Still, it was clear that something was happening inside the baths.

“What do I do? I can’t go inside... Or maybe I can since this is an emergency?”

No, probably not. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened during our last journey. That limited my options. “For now, I’ll cast some buffs on them.” The strongest buffs I had, that is. With that in mind, I cast strength up and defense up buffs on the girls, along with a few others.

All right. Now, they should at least be able to buy enough time to run.

“You...pervert!” shouted Yui as a man came flying through the wall.

“Ack!” I immediately jumped to the side to avoid the man and the accompanying pieces of wall. Thanks to my detection magic, I’d known somebody was about to come tumbling toward me, but that had been a close one.

The man slammed into the wall behind me before collapsing onto the ground.

“H-Huh? What happened?” The two of us had almost collided. The man was still slumped over, and it didn’t seem like he’d be getting up anytime soon.

Just what had happened inside the baths? I lifted my staff and turned my eyes toward the direction the man had come flying from. That’s when I met eyes with Yui, her face beet red and her left hand covering her chest. Behind her was Silica and Claira, their faces equally crimson.

***

“Huh? But all I did was give that peeper a light whack,” muttered Yui, who stood there frozen.

I asked her to explain what happened. “Um, Yui? A-Are you okay? What happened in there?”

“There was a peeper, so... Wait, huuuh?! What are you doing there, Lloyd?!” asked Yui, staring at me as her face turned a deeper shade of red.

I realized I needed to explain myself. “No, I was just watching out for anyone suspicious, which is when I heard a scream...”

“Okay, okay! I get it! We’re fine, so just look away already!” Yui peeked her face out from behind the wall she was using to hide and glared at me.

“I-I see. If you guys are all right, then—”

“Yup, we’re fine! So leave!”

“R-Right...” At Yui’s command, I quickly ran away. Then, I explained the situation to Daggers and waited by the entrance for the girls to come out of the bath, which they shortly did.

“S-Sorry for the wait...” Yui didn’t seem as energetic coming out as she had been going in, which I guess was only natural given what had happened.

“I heard the story from Lloyd. There was a peeper? Are you guys okay?” asked Daggers, clearly worried. He ran over to them as soon as they stepped outside.

“Yup, we took proper care of him!” said Yui with a thumbs-up. Though I felt like he ultimately crossed the line for mere chastisement...

Anyway, we next arrested the peeper, which was easy since he was unconscious. After wrapping him in multiple layers of rope, we handed him over to the town’s militia. Later on, we learned that he had apparently been traveling between towns on a peeping journey, and a warrant had already been issued for his arrest.

And according to rumor, he was quite strong—at least tough enough to best the average knight. Considering he hadn’t died from Yui’s punch, he really must have been one mighty peeper. What would have happened if it had been anyone else, though? Maybe it was best I didn’t use my buffs so rashly in the future.

“Well, I’m glad it was Yui who found him.”

“And I’m not! Lloyd saw me naked because of him!” she said, glancing at me.

“Oh, right... Sorry about that. I heard a scream, so I decided to cast some buffs,” I said, bowing my head.

About that wall—I had cast my spells right as Yui was going in for a punch, which meant she couldn’t properly adjust her strength. That’s how it ended up destroyed.

I really needed to be more considerate of the girls. Once again, I had seen them naked by mistake, and I was pretty sure women were especially sensitive about that sort of thing. But since Master Merlin used to walk around the house in her birthday suit, I didn’t even register it, which is why I had started talking to them without thinking.

“Well... You were worried about us and just happened to be there, so I don’t really mind, but...” Yui glanced at the other two girls, who were standing behind her.

“I don’t mind either. But I would like to ask... Do you happen to have any memory tampering spells, Lloyd?” Silica seemed awfully serious. She was probably trying to ask me to delete my own memories, if possible. But naturally, a white mage like me couldn’t use magic like that, and I had never heard of any such spells in the first place either.

“No, I don’t think so...” Perhaps a spell could erase memories temporarily, but I had never heard of any capable of erasing or changing memories permanently. How would you even practice such a terrifying spell anyway? If you lost control, you could accidentally cast it on yourself, and it wasn’t the kind of thing you could easily cast on someone else either. “I’m pretty sure only criminals and demons would be able to use magic like that. Most people wouldn’t be willing to risk the danger necessary to learn it.”

“Y-Yes, I suppose you’re right. Knowing your skills, I simply thought there was a chance,” said Silica, looking awfully despondent. Just what did she even think of me? Could Claira and Yui also...?

“Claira, um...”

“Oh, I’m all right too. It wasn’t on purpose, and you cast that magic to protect us, didn’t you?”

“Well, I did, but...” I still felt guilty. Even if it was just a coincidence, I still felt like what I did was bad. “I’m really sorry.”

“No, I understand. Knowing you, I’m certain you’d be capable of peeping on us in complete secrecy had you really wanted to,” said Claira, staring at me.

“I would never, and I have no intentions of doing so in the future either,” I said, firmly denying her suspicions. Whether she took my word for it or not was up to her, but I definitely wanted her to.

Afterward, we met up with Cross and walked the girls back to the inn. Then, we guys took turns entering the baths ourselves. When we were all done, we once again walked through town to find some dinner.

***

That night, we all gathered in a single room to hold a strategy meeting. We had rented three rooms at the inn, and this one was our only single room, which belonged to me. We had put away all our valuables using storage magic, so leaving the rooms empty wouldn’t be a problem. Incidentally, the girls’ room—which included Claira—was sandwiched between my room and the one that belonged to Daggers and Cross.

Our first order of business was discussing how to handle a likely upcoming demon attack. Until now, we had only encountered monsters, which seemed perfectly natural. There had been no signs of any demons.

But the closer we got to the capital, the more likely it was we’d encounter them. According to Abel, the demons were likely going to move into the royal capital, not just the empire’s territory, which included the imperial capital. Still, that was just Abel’s prediction.

However, the demons had to know that the empire’s defenses were thorough. Currently, we were approaching the royal capital via the long route. But if the capital was our destination, our journey was partially predictable. And if the demons were planning on recapturing Claira, then...

“It’s about time we may start encountering some demons.”

“Indeed. Do you think they’ll send a small squad of elites?” asked Silica.

“I think that’s the most likely scenario.”

This was the kingdom’s territory, which meant it would be hard for the demons to launch a large-scale attack. Instead, they’d almost certainly send a small number of elite forces to ambush us—if there would be an ambush, that is.

“We need to be extremely cautious from here on out...”

“But not you, Lloyd, right? I mean, what else could you possibly do?” asked Cross.

“He’s right. I’m only just hearing about this now, but even if you’re using an adjusted detection spell that helps you save MP, you’re still constantly using up mana, right? I think you’re working hard enough already.” Yui was right. Working hard didn’t matter—I was already doing everything I could, and that was exactly the problem.

Hard work alone was pointless. Effort and perseverance alone weren’t enough. Thus, I decided to make a suggestion. “Let’s stay in town for a little bit, even if only another five days.”

“Then you want to make some preparations, I take it?”

“I do, but I won’t force the matter.” I wasn’t in a position to insist if the others were opposed.

“Hmm...” Yui glanced at Daggers.

“I’m for it. I want to get ready for our next battle myself.”

“Me as well. I’d like to test out some of the spells I’ve been taught and try casting them without reciting an enchantment.”

Daggers and Silica were onboard, and apparently Cross wanted to repair his bow too. As for Yui, she apparently had nothing she needed to prepare, but no reason to rush either. “Then can we leave guarding Claira to you, Yui?”

“Roger that! Leave her to me!”

I was a bit worried about leaving Claira in her hands, but Cross would apparently join her as soon as he was done with his bow. While that didn’t completely alleviate my worries, that was the best we could do. I wanted to make sure we were in the best condition possible while it was still unlikely we’d suffer an attack.

“I’m so sorry for causing trouble for you all,” said Claira with a guilty frown, staring at her feet.

“It’s fine! Don’t worry about it! Just leave everything to us!” said Yui, trying to cheer her up.

“B-But...”

“Really, it’s fine! We’ve got Heroes on our side, after all! There’s two of them in the capital, and this is enemy territory for the demon army!”

“Yup. I mean, Allen’s Allen, but... Those two have long records as heroes. We’ll be fine,” said Cross.

This time around, two Heroes had already gathered in the royal capital to protect Claira. Since Allen had never been interested in meeting any of the other Heroes, I had no idea how strong they really were, but they had to be pretty tough. To be honest, I was looking forward to meeting them, and maybe even learning a thing or two from them. I wanted to get stronger and continue to fight by this party’s side.

And for that, I still had a long way to go.

***

While Lloyd and the others held their strategy meeting, a certain alchemist was at work.

“I guess it’s about time I make my move,” muttered the man. Spread across the table before him was a myriad of potions. Each vial was filled with various colored liquids, some so viscous they hardly looked drinkable. “I suppose that’s all I need to prepare. Though I’d like to avoid stirring up trouble with one of the Four Fiends if I can.”

The alchemist Wil couldn’t deny that possibility. Worst-case scenario and they could encounter a demon on the level of the Four Fiends.

“I’ve stored some away with magic too, but I wonder how well I’ll be able to keep up in this battle? If possible, I’d like to avoid any who can’t use physical attacks—weapons, especially.” He muttered as he put away the potions on the table.

“Well, then.” As soon as the table was cleared, Wil stood. “I guess I better get going.”

Chapter 4: The S-Rank Adventurers Find Enlightenment

The following morning, Daggers prowled the streets. Partially, this was to guard the city, but his real intentions lay elsewhere—updating his armor. He wanted to purchase new equipment that was stronger than his current set. For one, long years of use had left them in tatters, which currently didn’t inspire much confidence given there was no knowing what might happen during this journey.

If he revealed this to Lloyd, he’d likely cast buffs on Daggers’s armor while in battle, which would make his equipment much sturdier and more effective, likely even more so than anything he could find in a shop. However, Daggers didn’t want to hold the white mage back any more than he already had. While Lloyd himself was completely oblivious, his buffs—and all his spells, really—were so creative and high-powered that the average white mage certainly wouldn’t be able to pull them off.

Lloyd was so strong, even an S-rank adventurer like Daggers wanted to leave everything in his hands.

“Really, the guy shocks me every time. But I can’t just depend on him forever...” Thus, Daggers had spent the last few hours walking through town in search of armor. There were multiple equipment shops, but none sold what he needed the most, a broad shield.

Or rather, it was because his shield was so essential that Daggers had yet to make a decision. While there were multiple weapons shops, none sold any shields that felt right, which was why he had yet to make a purchase.

He sighed. “I’ve checked every shop on the map, so what do I do now? I’ve got to buy a shield one way or another...”

Daggers continued to walk the streets, trying to recall which weapons shops had the best shields to offer. That’s when he caught sight of one that looked ancient. Its structure was wooden and dilapidated. “Hmm, this one’s not on the map, but...”

The place was in such shambles, he wasn’t sure whether or not it was open. However, it had still caught his attention. Maybe this was where he could find a hidden gem.

“Well, I’ll go in if they’re open, and just head back if they’re closed.” With both anticipation and anxiety in his chest, Daggers approached the shop. “H-Hello...?”

The interior looked just as ancient as the exterior did. But surprisingly enough, the shelves were lined with wares—ones that seemed to be kept in better condition than anything he had found in the other shops. They had weapons for a wide range of prices, and Daggers was shocked by the variety. He couldn’t help but feel that if it wasn’t for the ramshackle exterior, this place would be booming. Its wares were of excellent quality.

“They’ve really got a great selection...” muttered Daggers as he roamed the shelves.

That’s when an old man appeared from the back. He had to be the shopkeeper. “What d’ya want?”

“Oh! Um, I’m just here to check out your weapons.” Was that bad? wondered Daggers in a panic. “Is that...okay?”

“Oh, sure. I thought those buggers were back again, but you don’t look like ’em.”

“I’m just here to check out some weapons.”

“I see...” With that, the old man disappeared into the back again.

Did that mean it was okay to look around? Daggers wasn’t sure, but he continued to search through the weapons—specifically, the shields—regardless. “These really are excellent.” He couldn’t help but feel like something was off. With a selection as good as this, shouldn’t the outside reflect that?

“Hey, gramps! We’re back!”

A group of obvious good-for-nothings came waltzing inside. “You a customer?” There were about a dozen of them, and given their equipment, they didn’t seem to be adventurers. “Huh? No effing way. You buying weapons at a dinky shop like this?”

“I am. Is that a problem?” Daggers scratched his head. Why else would he be here?

“Ha ha! Is this guy for real? At a shop like this?! You must be some bottom-of-the-barrel adventurer, I bet!”

The whole group snickered. Naturally, this ticked Daggers off, but they were still inside someone else’s shop. Violence would only cause trouble for the owner.

Plus, he knew that laying hands on these guys now would mean his defeat. Thus, Daggers held back his anger.

But unlike Daggers, someone raised his voice. It was the old shopkeeper. “Is that you lot again?! I told you to never show your faces here again, didn’t I? I ain’t selling you my weapons, and I ain’t backin’ down either!” shouted the shopkeeper, his face crimson.

“Whoa there, gramps. I see you’ve got some energy today.”

“I’ve got no business thanks to you buggers! Even my regulars ain’t coming anymore!”

“I’m glad to hear that!” The group was still sneering. Meanwhile, the old man was furious.

“I see...” But this conversation was enough for Daggers to get a good idea of what was going on. “Are you guys land sharks?”

“Hey there, buddy. You’ve got the wrong idea. We’re kindhearted adventurers.”

“You guys are adventurers?”

“Yup, so listen up! I’m Galland, an A-rank adventurer! There’s not a single man in town who doesn’t know my name!” said the man, hubristically introducing himself. The other adventurers looked like they couldn’t be any higher than C-rank.

“Huh, so you’re pretty famous.”

“Yup! I’m leagues above a noob adventurer like you!”

Galland’s group was cackling. For a moment, Daggers contemplated revealing his rank. He eventually concluded that would be pretty lame, and opted to keep his mouth shut. “And why’s an A-rank adventurer messing with a shop like this?”

“Ha! I’m sure a lowlife like you wouldn’t understand, but things get complicated when you get to my level! Understand?”

I “wouldn’t understand,” but I’m supposed to understand? This guy is obnoxious, thought Daggers, doing everything he could to hold himself back.

Seeing this, Galland and his crew were convinced that Daggers was incapable of fighting back and continued with their taunts. “Galland, of course this guy wouldn’t get it. He’s an adventurer shopping at a place like this.”

“Yup, this guy’s gonna be a low rank forever! He doesn’t even own a weapon!”

“Hey, you’re right!”

Thus, Galland’s crew continued to rile up Daggers, but it was the old shopkeeper who fought back. “And you lot call yourselves adventurers?!”

“We do. So what?”

“I ain’t got no clue which shop gave you this quest of yours, but aren’t you embarrassed to be acting like this given your rank?!”

So, this was a quest from another shop, one almost certainly meant to financially ruin this one. Daggers wasn’t sure what that could possibly accomplish, but that revealed something. The Adventurer’s Guild would never sanction this quest, which meant this had to be a black one.

Black quests were assignments illegal everywhere, passed to adventurers not through the Adventurer’s Guild, but black guilds or personal connections. Approving black quests meant approving assassination, thievery, and business interference, like what was happening now. From a governmental standpoint, such quests didn’t just disadvantage the people, they threatened them.

In fact, the Adventurer’s Guild had been founded to stop such quests in the first place. So then why hadn’t the shopkeeper reported this? Typically, the guild would investigate such cases, and if they determined it to be a black quest, Galland and his crew would never rear their heads here again.

“Why haven’t you reported this, sir?” asked Daggers.

“Quiet! I did! But the guild didn’t think this was a black quest!”

“With all they’re doing, there has to be at least some evidence that—”

“There ain’t. Officially, this is just a quarrel between some nasty adventurers and a shopkeeper. They’ve got someone on the inside, most likely.”

“But why go through all this effort?”

“Who knows. It’s probably ’cause of a certain weapon of mine. Good grief! And I keep telling ’em that handing it over to adventurers isn’t gonna do any good,” sighed the shopkeeper.

“You have something that valuable?”

“Well, it’s rare, but...many cannot handle wielding something like that. No, maybe there isn’t a single soul out there who can. Sure, it’d make a fine decoration, but that’d be slighting the man who made it. That weapon’s more than a damn centerpiece!” The shopkeeper clearly respected the intentions of the blacksmith who crafted this weapon.

“Do you know the blacksmith?”

“Nope, he’s more like a role model of mine. I haven’t even met him before.” Unlike earlier, the old man now looked slightly joyful.

“Hey! What are you two yapping about?!” Galland threateningly closed in on the shopkeeper. “Hurry up and sell us that Lyonnes Relic! If not, you’re gonna regret it!” said Galland as he cracked his knuckles.

Violence against an old man? Daggers couldn’t stand this any longer. He stepped in between the two. “And you call yourself an adventurer?”

“Huh?” Galland turned his attention to Daggers. “Know your place, lowlife!”

Galland threw a punch, which Daggers easily caught. He twisted Galland’s wrist in a display of strength.

“H-Huuuuh?!” Galland looked utterly shocked.

One of the adventurers behind him unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Daggers. “O-Off of him!”

However, Daggers simply muttered, “Storage,” summoning his shield to block. Then, he used it to push the adventurers straight out the door.

“Bwah! What’s with this guy?!”

“H-He’s so damn strong...”

Those were the mutterings of the adventurers who had slammed into the ground after being pushed out of the door.

“H-Hey! W-Weren’t you just some low-rank?” asked Galland.

“Oh, I don’t like to brag, but I’m an S-rank, actually,” said Daggers, revealing his adventurer badge.

“H-Huh?!” Galland’s eyes shot open wide. He retreated with his butt still stuck to the ground.

Only a single rank divided A-rank and S-rank adventurers, but the difference between them was huge. It was quite rare that an A-rank adventurer managed to climb up to S-rank, and a whole party consisting of S-rank adventurers like Yui’s was even rarer.

Though now that Lloyd had joined, that wasn’t exactly true anymore...

“Y-You’re an S-rank adventurer?” asked the old shopkeeper.

“Yup, I am. Though I don’t really like to go around announcing it.”

“Huuuh?!” Daggers’s words hit hard for Galland and his crew, who took every opportunity available to brag about their rank.

“B-But you never said that!” shouted Galland.

“Nope. I didn’t!”

“D-Damn it!” Galland bit his lip in frustration. “You better remember this! Let’s scram, guys!” With that, Galland’s crew dashed off as fast as fleeing hares. In all honesty, they looked pretty lame.

At the same time, Daggers suspected that the insider with the Adventurer’s Guild had illegally inflated their ranks so he could use them as pawns.

“So that was enough, huh?” Daggers breathed a sigh of relief. Things had worked out somehow or another.

“You were that strong, boy? I can’t believe you’re an S-rank adventurer.”

“I wasn’t trying to hide it on purpose.”

“Hmm...” the old man pondered for a moment. “Yes, I’ve decided.”

“Hmm?”

“Wait here. Actually, follow me!”

“Huh? Wait a sec—”

“Just shut up and come over ’ere!”

Daggers followed the man into the back, though he was half forced to. This was where the weapons were stored, and one stood out above the rest.

“That’s...”

“This shield’s a Lyonnes Relic, a ware made by the famous blacksmith Lyonnes. It’s called the Aegis, and it’s made of mythril, the hardest ore in the whole world. It’ll withstand almost any force—actually, it wouldn’t even crack if you were fighting a Hero.”

“R-Really...?”

“Well, maybe it’s got nothing against the Holy Sword, though you might still win depending on who’s wieldin’ it!” The old shopkeeper was clearly passionate about this shield, but apparently it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. “But this shield’s so dang heavy, it makes you wonder why Lyonnes made it in the first place. You can’t use it while wielding a sword, and you can’t even wield it on its own either.”

“I see. So that’s why you said handing it over to those guys would be pointless?”

“Yup. But there aren’t many shieldmasters out there, and dragging this around on a long journey’d be... Well, you’d have enough of a hard time just trying to fight with the thing.” Every single detail really did call the whole shield’s existence into question. “One theory says it was a gift for a legendary adventurer, but that guy’s gone. With each passing year, him being dead just seems more and more likely. But...”

“But?”

“Would you take it? I don’t need any money. I wasn’t gonna sell the thing anyway.”

“Huh? Really?!”

“Sure. That lot won’t be coming back here if it’s gone.”

While the shopkeeper insisted this was a win-win situation, Daggers couldn’t help but feel guilty. “No, I can’t take it for free. I’ll pay for it, and you can use the cash to fix the place up.” Thus, Daggers used storage magic to summon more cash than the shield would cost and handed it over.

“You sure about this?”

“Of course. This is a great deal for me too.”

“The shield was just rustin’ away anyway. Use it. Only someone with odd magic like yours could carry the thing around.”

“Odd magic?”

“That summony stuff you’ve been usin’.”

“You mean storage magic?”

“Yup, that stuff. You wouldn’t be able to take it with you otherwise, right?”

“I guess not.” Now, Daggers had another reason to be thankful that Lloyd had taught him this spell. After listening to the shopkeeper’s passionate ramblings for a little while longer, he left the store.

***

While Daggers was busy with some trouble in town, Silica was alone in the forest. Nearby was a burbling river, and if you listened closely, you could even hear some chirping birds. Luckily, there were no threatening monsters in sight.

Silica stood alone in these serene woods. “Nature truly is lovely, isn’t it?”

The picturesque beauty that extended before her left her spellbound. It was the perfect spot for a nap, but Silica wasn’t here to enjoy nature. Technically, she was still in the middle of a quest, which meant there was no time to rest.

She was here for one reason alone. During their previous quest—during the battle to defend Ishtar—she had grown painfully aware of her shortcomings. Just imagining what would have happened if not for Lloyd was enough to send a shiver down her spine.

Ever since Lloyd had joined their party, he had saved Silica countless times. Crumb was nothing to scoff at, but his support magic far outstripped hers. Just why had Lloyd been kicked out of the Hero’s party in the first place? Silica just couldn’t understand what Allen had been thinking.

Jealousy was likely part of it. Lloyd’s skills and knowledge naturally aroused envy, at least in Silica’s eyes. While the real reason didn’t even amount to that much, she had no way of knowing that.

“I need to grow stronger,” said Silica, squeezing her fists to rile herself up. “Storage.”

She activated the storage spell Lloyd had taught her to summon her staff. Then, she held it at the ready toward the river. She closed her eyes, calmed her heart, and focused entirely on her magic.

“Focus. Picture it clearly...” Silica painted a sharp picture of her spell in her head. She was imagining an explosion—a strong one. “Compress the magic, then let it explode...” She muttered those words over and over as the picture in her head further took shape.

Then once that image was perfectly clear, she let out her mana to form a magic circle by her feet. Simultaneously, another giant, red-glowing magic circle two meters in diameter appeared on the ground a few meters away.

However...

“Huh?!”

Things didn’t go as Silica had hoped. She lost control of the spell, which caused the circle to explode, bringing with it a blast that knocked dirt into the air and Silica onto her butt. Since her hands were preoccupied with her staff, she fell hard.

“Ouch... This really won’t go as I hoped. Well, I did know this would be difficult, after all...”

Silica hadn’t thought she’d have success on her first try. Ever since she was young, she had possessed the skills of a “magical genius.” However, she was only human, and nobody was perfect. Hidden behind her titles as wunderkind and S-rank adventurer was struggle—Silica worked harder than anyone. She never let up on her training, and that was her true strength.

“Practice makes perfect. I was prepared for failures like this one.”

And while Silica called this an attempt a failure, she had still succeeded at activating magic and creating an explosion. From that standpoint, she was almost there already.

Explosions were high-level magic that could be considered an extension of fire magic. They were hard to put to practical use, as they couldn’t be finely controlled. Still, they were top-class in terms of firepower. Right now, the spell Silica was trying to learn was Burst, the easiest explosion spell out there. But since all explosion magic was high-level, “easy” still meant it’d be more difficult than advanced spells based on the four basic elements.

Silica continued her trial and error, racking up even more failures.

“J-Just one more time...” Silica stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes. Then, she refocused herself and lifted her staff. “My image needs to be clearer and stronger...”

How could she get closer to success from her previous failures? She worked out the patterns of her narrow misses and used them as a roadmap to once again clearly picture an explosion. Then...

“Burst!”

She chanted the spell. The magic circle looked different this time. It glowed stronger and brighter, glittering like a ruby. It also seemed like she could keep control of her magic, as the circles were incredibly stable. This was certainly a near success.

“I-I did it! This one’s a—”

She was so happy, she messed up.

That’s right, Silica was a diligent hard worker, but she was also a klutz. Typically, she paid careful attention to her surroundings to combat this. But whenever she was alone, she’d let down her guard, and her klutziness would show. Yui and the others had no idea.

Boom! A large splash of water came crashing down toward Silica.

“O-Oops...” By the time she noticed, it was already too late. For a moment, she considered using wind magic to redirect the spray, but she had accidentally dropped her staff.

Her whole body fell victim to the splash. The water seeped into her clothes, making them heavy. They stuck to her skin. “Ugh, I’m soaked...”

She had no choice but to put her training on pause. In her current state, she’d likely catch a cold, which would only cost her more time.

“I suppose I better head back for now...” After warming herself with some fire magic, she returned to town.

However, her klutziness struck again. She failed to notice that the forest landscape had changed. The damage wasn’t drastic, but the shape of the river had slightly shifted, and a big hole had been taken out of the ground. It wouldn’t have any serious effects on the ecosystem, but the forest was still littered with obvious and unnatural damage.

If someone were to see it, they’d certainly report it to town. Silica could use earth magic to fill in the holes, but there was no fixing the grass and flowers that had been dug up in the process.

Afterward, the remnants of Silica’s training were reported to the Adventurer’s Guild. They were told an unnatural pit had appeared in the forest, and since Silica continued to use the spot to further train her explosion magic, the reports quickly expanded to include rumors of a witch living in the forest and odd explosion sounds coming from the woods.

Word spread rapidly among the townspeople, but Silica was none the wiser. Thus, she became a legend of a forest haunting passed down by the town for generations.

***

It had been two days since Lloyd had made his announcement, and Cross had successfully updated his bow and arrows. However, there was still one thing weighing on his mind.

“Seriously, what do I do?”

Cross was an archer, a class that mainly used their bows for long-distance physical attacks. While he was capable of close-range combat with a dagger, his skills far paled in comparison to Yui’s proficiency with a sword.

So, what did that mean? The answer was that he had little room to grow. Even if he dipped his toes into other skills, it was clear he’d never match the skills of his fellow party members. He’d be mid forever.

“Must be nice for them,” muttered Cross, staring up at the sky as he let out a deep sigh.

That’s when a short boy suddenly bumped into him, which sent the kid’s things tumbling to the floor.

“Ow...”

“Oh! Um, I-I’m sorry!” said the boy, bowing over and over.

But Cross knew the boy hadn’t done this on purpose, so he had no reason to be mad. “Don’t worry about it. Neither of us were paying attention,” he said, helping the boy gather his things.

“I-I’m really sorry...” The boy seemed quite frightful as he apologized over and over and picked up his dropped belongings.

“I told you not to worry about it...” muttered Cross as he continued to help the boy. That’s when he noticed the bow on his back. “You an adventurer?”

“Huh?! Well, yeah! But I’m just a newbie, though.”

“Then you’re only just starting out?”

“Yup! I’m about a year into it.”

Cross almost let the words, “Then you’re not a newbie,” slip out, but he managed to keep them in. He personally had attained S-rank relatively quickly, but there were many adventurers who joined when he did who had failed to climb the ranks and quit. But this boy was still trying his best despite being in the same boat, so he didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“So, you’re an adventurer, huh?”

“Yup. What do you do, sir?”

“Me? I’m an adventurer too.”

“R-Really?!”

“Yup.” Currently, Cross was dressed in clothes that prioritized mobility, and his weapons and armor were stored away as a means of practicing storage magic. Yeah, maybe he didn’t look much like an adventurer right now.

But now that the boy knew what Cross was, he nervously made a proposition. “D-Do you want to form a party with me?”

“Huh?” Cross tilted his head at the boy, unable to follow.

“I-I’m sorry. That’s not something you can just answer immediately, is it? Sorry about that...”

“N-No, it’s fine.” For some reason, Cross just couldn’t ignore this pitiful boy. “I don’t mind if it’s just this one time.”

“R-Really?!” The boy broke out into a full-faced grin.

“Just this once, though, okay?”

“Th-Thank you so much!”

Thus, Cross and the young boy were off to the Adventurer’s Guild.

***

The Adventurer’s Guild was still bustling, even though the facility here was a bit smaller than the one in Ishtar.

“What’re they chatting about?” asked Cross.

“Yesterday, an A-rank adventurer and his party got beaten to a pulp by an S-rank adventurer who showed up out of nowhere!” answered the boy.

“That’s surprising.”

“Yup. The A-rank was famous around here, but he apparently got involved in some black quest.”

“A black quest, huh?”

“According to the story, the S-rank who beat him was some crazy strong shieldmaster. He’s the talk of the Adventurer’s Guild right now.”

“A sh-shieldmaster...?” Daggers immediately popped into Cross’s mind. There weren’t many S-rank shieldmasters out there, and given the timing, it almost certainly was him.

“There’s also rumors about some explosions in the woods!”

“Explosions?”

“Apparently, some woman wielding a staff is behind it, but no one knows for sure...” Cross had no idea who this was. He had no way of knowing the woman behind all this was Silica. “Well, anyway, let’s go take on a quest.”

“Th-That’s right. What’s your rank, sir?”

“Hmm... The same as yours, I guess.” While it wasn’t something he needed to hide, he couldn’t accept any dangerous quests with an E-rank kid in tow anyway. Thus, Cross had every intention of accepting a D-rank quest that would be on this boy’s level, and he didn’t want the title of S-rank adventurer to be on the kid’s mind either.

“Oh, so we’re the same!”

“Y-Yup...” Cross couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty seeing how happy the boy was to find a fellow E-rank adventurer. Still, he kept his true rank a secret. “Anyway, I’ll go choose something random. That good with you?”

“Sure! I don’t mind you picking the quest for us.”

Thus, Cross approached the counter alone. “Uh, I’d like to accept a quest...”

“Sure. Could I see your adventurer’s badge?”

Cross pulled his badge out of his pocket and handed it over to the receptionist. “So you’re Cross, the S-rank adventurer... Wait, S-rank?! But you’re so young!” This had the girl excited.

“Uh, could we keep that between us? I’m going on a quest with that kid over there.”

“Oh! So, you’re here with Lin?”

“You know him?”

“Yes, he’s famous for being a hard worker, but well... A certain group’s taken to calling him ‘Lin the Eternal E-rank.’”

“I see,” commented Cross before muttering, “Must be hard,” under his breath.

“He’s only thirteen, but he’s doing his best for his parents. He comes to take on new quests every single day.”

Typically, one could register as an adventurer starting at the age of twelve, which meant Lin had joined the guild as soon as he could. Before you turned fifteen, you’d be capped at B-rank. But given that many parents didn’t approve, there were very few who climbed to such a high rank while still that young.

“Well, I guess that’s when Yui became an adventurer too...”

After joining the guild, Yui had quickly climbed the ranks and had immediately been granted S-rank as soon as she turned fifteen, but she was an incredibly rare case. Though someone remaining E-rank for a whole year despite taking on quests every day was rare in and of itself.

“Well, I guess I started out with a friend when I was still just fifteen myself...” Cross had climbed to S-rank in just two and a half years, but that was quite rare too.

In fact, all the members of his party had received the title while they were still quite young, and they were all perfectly aware of how uncommon that was. Typically, even the youngest S-rank adventurers were in their mid-twenties. While that might still seem young for some people, becoming an S-rank adventurer wasn’t something you could achieve with hard work alone. Thus, most earned the title right at the age when talent shined the brightest, and adventurers would always think that the difference between S-ranks and A-ranks was the difference between being twenty-five and twenty-six.

“Um, if you’re adventuring with Lin, how difficult of a quest would you like?”

“Hmm... Since we’re both archers, let’s go with D-rank.”

Two archers didn’t make for a well-balanced party.

“Right. Then how’s this? It seems perfect for teaching Lin archery.” The woman handed over a quest to defeat some red slimes. Just as the name would suggest, they were a red subspecies of slime monster.

“You’re right, it would make for some good bow practice. Let’s go with this one.”

“Right. Please take good care of Lin for me, okay?”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

Cross accepted the quest and headed back over to Lin.

“That took a while. Is everything okay?” Lin asked.

“I was just chatting with the receptionist. Let’s get going.”

“R-Right!”

Cross brought Lin to the nearby forest and in the opposite direction of the exploding sounds, which the receptionist had warned them about. After a short walk, they arrived at the nest of red slimes.

“Storage,” muttered Cross, retrieving his bow.

“Huh?! How’d you do that?!”

“Oh...” Cross had messed up. “This is the only thing I’m good at. A friend taught me how to do it a while ago.”

“I see...”

Somehow, he had made it through. He sighed in relief. “Anyway, let’s get on with it.”

“Right!”

Cross and Lin aimed their bows at the red slimes and fired. Then they repeated that process. While all of Cross’s arrows pierced the red slimes’ cores, Lin’s only managed to graze their sides. While Cross was landing bull’s-eyes, Lin was missing the target entirely.

“H-Hey, you okay there?”

“Yup. This is how it always goes,” said Lin, following that up with an awkward laugh and looking like he wasn’t okay at all. The boy was even worse than Cross had expected.

Thus, he stored away his bow and brought his hand to Lin’s. “You’re straining too much, and you need to pull the string back more.” He gently and clearly corrected the boy, pointing out each and every thing that could improve his skills. With each correction, Lin’s shots continued to improve, until eventually...

“I-I did it!” Lin’s arrow admirably pierced a red slime’s core.

“Good job. You think you’ve gotten the hang of things?”

“Yeah, I think so! I’m pretty sure I’ve learned the trick!” said Lin, smiling gleefully.

Cross was convinced that, though it’d take a while, Lin climbing the ranks was only a matter of time. He may have been clumsy, but he was a quick learner. Having to teach himself was probably where he’d gone wrong.

“All right, let’s gather up those slimes and head on back,” said Cross, crouching down. That’s when he sensed something rushing through the foliage and bolting straight toward them. “Lin. Stop.”

“R-Right...” Lin was clearly confused, but he lowered his bow and crouched down anyway.

“So that’s what it was...” muttered Cross.

What appeared from behind the leaves was a lunamagra, a giant, black spider monster. They were nocturnal, omnivorous beasts that would feed on rotting flesh...and a suitable foe for A-rank adventurers and above.

“A l-l-lunamagra?!” Lin’s eyes shot open wide as his knees buckled beneath him. He was face-to-face with a monster an E-rank adventurer had no chance against, and it left him terrified.

Cross was planning to run rather than engage the monster, but given Lin’s reaction, he didn’t have much choice but to take out his bow. “Guess this is just how it’s gotta be...”

He aimed and fired, piercing the beast’s head. His movements had maximum efficiency. Given his perfect form, it made sense that he didn’t have much room for improvement.

“W-Wow...” After seeing Cross take down a lunamagra with a single shot, Lin couldn’t turn away.

“Jeez, what are these things doing here anyway? We’re still pretty close to town,” muttered Cross as he poked at the monster’s dead body.

“S-So you were strong...”

“Uh, no? This was just...”

“It’s okay. I had already kind of figured it out anyway. You’re a pretty high-ranking adventurer, aren’t you?” Lin already had an inkling that Cross wasn’t the newbie he claimed to be. The boy had studied the bow on his own, and had thus watched countless adventurers. While Cross had tried to hide it, Lin realized immediately that his skills were beyond comparison to the average adventurer’s.

“So, you noticed.”

“I did. I thought you had to be B-rank, or maybe an A-rank. I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing to apologize about. I was the one hiding things.”

After that, Cross handed his badge over, revealing himself to be an S-rank adventurer.

“Huh, you’re S-rank?! Every adventurer out there dreams of being just like you! I can’t believe I got to study the bow under someone like that! I’m kind of sorry, somehow.”

“Like I said, there’s no need to apologize. More importantly, the sun’s about to set. Stronger monsters tend to roam about at night, so we better get back soon.”

“Y-You’re right.”

The two gathered the red slimes’ corpses and Cross stored them away with magic. Then, they headed back to town as quickly as they could.

“I’m only alive thanks to you, sir! I caused you a lot of trouble, didn’t I? I’m really s—”

“Y’know, apologizing is important, but you’re taking this too far.”

“Huh? But...” Lin cut off his words. For a moment, he was silent. Then finally, he bowed. “Th-Thank you.”

Cross chuckled. “Yup, it feels much better to receive some thanks than an apology anyway.”

Afterward, the two reported that they had completed their quest and submitted the multiple red slime carcasses—and single lunamagra carcass—to the guild. Given Lin’s laundry list of fame, he naturally drew attention. The receptionist was incredibly thankful as well.

But just as Cross was about to head back to the inn, Lin stopped him. “U-Um!”

“Hmm?” asked Cross, turning back around.

“On our way back, you said you didn’t have any more room to grow, right?”

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

“This is, um, just my opinion, but I was thinking that maybe you could rapid fire off a bunch of arrows.”

Each arrow required had to be individually nocked and fired, so Cross had never considered that possibility before. “Rapid fire, huh?” That’s when a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Oh, that’s what I can do!”

Rapid fire with a bow was impossible, but that was just a narrow way of thinking. In a way, Lin’s ignorance is what allowed him to see that.

“Thanks, Lin! I know climbing the ranks will be tough, but do your best!” After offering some words of appreciation, Cross was off.

Thus, three small local legends were born.

***

In a certain pub near the kingdom’s borders, a blond man was enjoying a drink. Just a few days prior, he had been banished from Ishtar and stripped of his title of Hero by the Three Great Nations.

Lulu and Sheena were nowhere in sight, though they hadn’t abandoned Allen. He had simply come to drink alone. “Damn it! Nobody sees my true worth!” he screamed, slamming the table with an audible, bang!

Typically, people would find him a nuisance. But in this dilapidated pub out in the sticks, there were no other customers, and the shopkeeper—who was scared of Allen—had gone off to hide in a nearby storehouse.

“They’re all so effing annoying, those damn good-for-nothings! The king, the emperor, everyone in the Holy Principality—all of them!”

Allen had been stripped of his title of Hero, but that wasn’t all. He had been lambasted as the idiot who kicked out the true hero and made into an incompetent fool who had only supported the true hero. Naturally, this “hero” was Lloyd.

Now, Allen couldn’t just no longer live as a Hero, he couldn’t even make it as an adventurer. Nobody would give him any quests.

But quite honestly, he didn’t care about that right now. “I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks of me! They’re just idiots who don’t know how to recognize true talent! If I need money, I can just take on black quests anyway...”

Everybody looked down on Allen, but that was something his pride couldn’t accept. I’m strong! Stronger than anybody! I can lose to no one! I’m the Hero!

His excessive hubris couldn’t accept a society where people saw him as weak.

“I’m strong! I’m a Hero! I’m the strongest man in the whole world!”

After losing his title, Allen had lost a place to belong. He had been stripped of trust, money, and even one of his party members, Mia. Obviously, that was the result of his own failures. He couldn’t blame that on anyone else.

But in Allen’s mind, there wasn’t a shred of doubt that, maybe, this was all his fault. It was the world that was wrong! He was sure of it!

And so, the same thought kept coming back to him.

“Damn it! Don’t anyone dare think this is the end of me!”

He drained his glass, left some money on the table, and headed outside. There, he found Lulu and Sheena, who were ready for battle. They watched him anxiously.

“A-Are we really doing this?” asked Sheena.

“Obviously! I’m a Hero. A chosen one.”

“S-So you’ve already made up your mind,” muttered Lulu, her expression grim.

Allen’s answer was simply that there was no turning back now. “Then, let’s get going! Off to the Holy Principality!”

Thus, the three left town and disappeared into the dark forest.

Chapter 5: An Unexpected Battle

The day after our meeting, I was working on my magic and completely oblivious to the legends my other party members had become. There weren’t any new spells I could learn right now, so I was mostly enhancing and reworking the ones I already knew.

“Though I’d be making faster progress learning new spells...”

I had already maximally improved the efficacy of all the spells in my arsenal, so there wasn’t much I could do right now. If only there was some new magic I could master.

“Should I try some offensive spells? Well...”

Even I could use fire magic, at least. I couldn’t cast anything too impressive, but with enough practice, I could probably pull off a mid-level spell. But that’d be it. There was a huge gap between just knowing a spell and being able to put it to good use. Plus, we had an amazing offensive mage like Silica in our party already. With her around, did they really need me to be casting offensive spells too?

The answer was no. My class wasn’t one suited for fighting alone, which meant no matter how hard I worked, I’d hit a wall soon enough. Though I guess that didn’t mean studying offensive magic was completely useless.

In the end, I decided that if I was willing to put in all that effort, it’d be better to spend it improving my skills as a supporter. “Still, there’s not really much more I can do on my own...” I racked my brain for a solution. “Support magic, huh? Maybe thought sharing? No, that’d only make things more confusing. I guess I could relax some more to prepare for the long fights ahead, but...”

I considered countless possibilities, but I couldn’t think of a single good idea. Was this my limit? I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true I didn’t have much room left to grow. If only I could chat with someone who knew a lot about magic. That was my small ray of hope, but I couldn’t help but think that’d be pretty unlikely.

If only Master Merlin were here, I eventually started to think. Despite everything else, she really did know a ton about magic. “Maybe there’s a magical researcher like Master Merlin around?”

In a flash, it had already been three days. While I momentarily returned to town to sleep, eat, and replenish my gear, the time passed surprisingly quickly. “And in the end, I didn’t really make any progress.”

If possible, I wanted to spend just a little more time refining my spells to alleviate some of my anxiety, but I had to keep to the time we had agreed upon. We were in the middle of a quest, which meant we couldn’t stay in town any longer. Thus, I hurried back to the inn to get ready to leave.

“Huh? Is that you, Lloyd? Long time no see! When’d you get back?” asked Yui.

By the time I reached our designated meeting spot, everyone was there but me. It looked like they were already good to leave.

“Sorry, I just got back,” I answered curtly.

“Huh? Are you gonna be okay like that?”

“Yup. I’m used to this. It’s no problem at all.”

“R-Really? Well, if you say so...”

Long days of nothing but magic was just daily life with Master Merlin. It no longer bothered me.

“Daggers, Silica. Are you guys good to go too?” I asked.

“Yup.”

“I’m ready as well.”

Cross was apparently guarding Claira alongside Yui, so there wasn’t much point in asking them. The only thing left was...

“I’m ready to leave whenever, as long as everyone else is.” Claira was good to go too, which meant that once we finished our preparations...

“All right, let’s get going.”

***

It had been a few days since we left town, and we spent it walking through trees and more trees. If we were keeping proper pace, we’d soon be in a town called Schubertz. But there were no towns in sight, or even anything that’d make you think you were close to one.

I activated my detection magic, but I couldn’t pick up on any people, only a large number of monsters.

“Hmm... You think we’re going the wrong way?” Yui, who was leading the pack, stopped her feet and turned around to speak with Daggers.

“No, I don’t think so. Are you picking up on anyone, Lloyd?”

“Nope. Not at all,” I replied.

“Huh. We should still be on the right track, then.”

We just couldn’t understand why we hadn’t arrived in town yet. But just as we were racking our brains, a white fog suddenly descended on us. It gradually grew thicker, obscuring our vision.

“F-Fog?!”

“Huh? But Abel never mentioned any fog!”

Abel had warned there’d likely be some ferocious monsters, but he had picked a relatively safe route for Claira’s safety. Right now, she couldn’t use any magic at all, which meant her getting separated from us could be disastrous. Plus...

“It’s blocking my detection magic!”

“Huh?! You’ve gotta be kidding!”

“There’s mana in this fog. I can’t detect a thing!” They told me not to panic, but I couldn’t hide my nerves. I had never heard of mana-infused fog before, and the only thing I knew for certain was that it spread out for what seemed like forever.

“We’ll have a hard time outrunning this...”

“No way... Did we take a wrong turn after all?”

“No...”

It was starting to seem like the worst-case scenario was the most likely one. There was clearly something weird about this fog. From what I could tell, this didn’t seem like the climate for it, and I had a hard time thinking it was natural considering it was infused with mana anyway. This had to be man-made, which meant...

“Yui! Run!” I shouted.

“Wh-Why?!”

“This fog is almost certainly the demons’ doing!”

“Huh?!”

There was no knowing what they might do next, but if my predictions were right, this fog was covering the entire area around the capital. That meant there was a demon with incredibly high mana reserves, which was something I didn’t even want to think about.

“Hey! You said ‘run,’ but to where, exactly?” asked Yui.

Now that I had lost both my sense of direction and my detection magic, I didn’t have an answer to that. For a moment, I considered waiting for the fog to clear, but I doubted the demons would let us, as I had a hard time believing they’d create this fog without a plan.

However, that led to another possibility.

“Lloyd! You don’t think they’re waiting for us to move, do you?” asked Daggers.

“I’m not sure.” I couldn’t deny it. It was possible the demons were trying to lure us somewhere—very possible. “But if we don’t keep moving, monsters will find us first. A lot of them have sharp noses.”

“Then we’ve only got one choice...!”

We ran through the woods, trying to outpace the monsters as we cursed under our breaths. We made sure to keep Claira in the middle of the pack.

“Damn it! Why the hell are there so many damn monsters?!” shouted Cross.

“They’re probably confused too! It’s making them more active!” I shouted back.

“For real?!”

Cross continued to shoot down the monsters jumping at us, admirably using storage magic to summon arrows as he drew back his bowstring, which allowed him to fire them instantaneously and greatly reduce the time it took to make a single shot. I should have expected nothing less from an S-rank adventurer.

“Damn, this is no time to get impressed, is it?” I cast strength up and MP consumption down buffs to help us maneuver through the trees more easily.

“Damn! What do these demons want?!”

Currently, we only had our guts to guide us, but I still had no idea what the demons were after. Maybe they were trying to tire us out and wear down our MP? But they had to be doing just that to keep this fog up, and given how much land it covered, the cost couldn’t be anything to scoff at.

“Hmm?” I froze once I caught sight of something near my feet. “Wait, this is...!”

“What’s wrong, Lloyd?” Yui ran up to me.

“Take a look.”

“W-Wait a second...”

It looked like a plate covered in bloodstains. After taking another look, I realized there were more streaks of blood along the ground.

That led me to a single conclusion, and I wasn’t the only one—Yui had caught on too. That’s right, this had to be...

“It’s the remains of a town.” I didn’t even want to consider this possibility, but given its location, it was likely one we were meant to visit. I looked around as a terrible feeling consumed my chest.

“I can’t see a thing...” The fog was so thick, I could only see a few dozen centimeters ahead. I couldn’t check what I wanted to. Trying to be kind, Silica began to cast a wind spell to clear the fog. As soon as I noticed, I commanded her to stop. “Silica! Don’t cast any wind magic!”

“Huh?! But I already did!” She didn’t speak with her normal formalities, which was enough to let me know she was panicking. “I-Is that bad?”

“No, maybe I’m just overthinking this.”

Once the fog cleared, we’d be detectable. The demons would know exactly where we were. While Claira’s mana was currently blocked, there were still four S-rank adventurers gathered in one spot, and that signal would be extra obvious to anyone accustomed to using detection magic to sense mana. They might find us suspicious.

Plus, I had never detected any signals here, even before the fog had appeared. That could only mean one thing—there had been no survivors.

I gasped. “No way...”

Before us were the ruins—or really, complete decimation—of multiple buildings. There were holes in the ground that’d make anyone wonder what had happened here, and corpses were scattered across the dirt. They were already a few days old.

What lay before us was pure misery.

“H-How terrible...!”

“Did monsters do this?” asked Daggers.

“No,” I answered. It couldn’t have been monsters, as the wreckage was too excessive. Some of the bodies looked like they had been tortured, like someone had enjoyed killing them. It was a pointless massacre, and the carnage was completely one-sided. There were no signs the townspeople had fought back at all.

“It’s technically possible an intelligent monster could have done this, but—” Suddenly, I sensed something cutting through the fog and barreling toward us. It stomped the ground so loudly we could hear it, toppling trees as it approached with unbelievable speed.

“Something’s coming!” I quickly shared my intel, but that’s when an impact suddenly shook the air, clearing the fog and creating a dust cloud.

“To think I’d find you here,” came a man’s voice from behind the dust. “I wasn’t expecting that, but you saved me some effort.”

The dust fell to the ground, gradually revealing the man behind the voice. He had dark skin, shiny blond hair, and was easily over two meters tall. He had a large stature—the brawny warrior-type, from what I could tell. Plus, he had insane levels of mana. Just standing there was enough to overwhelm me. He was clearly on a whole other level than the demons I had fought before.

“Hah!” The giant demon snickered as soon as he noticed Claira, who was hiding beneath her hood. Then for some reason, he chanted, “Illusion!” and transformed into a beastman.

Claira’s eyes shot wide open in disbelief. “Y-You’re one of the Five Commanders!”

“Long time no see, Your Highness.”

The Five Commanders? I didn’t know much about them, but I was pretty sure they were supposed to be the strongest five men in the imperial army.

“Huh? The Five Commanders? You mean of the imperial army?”

“There’s no fricking way. This guy’s a demon, not a beastman like all of them are supposed to be.” Cross was right. I had heard the same when I was still with the Hero’s party. But given Claira’s reaction...

“That voice, those looks...! You really are...!”

“Yup. This is the real me. I’m Grist, one of the Four Fiends of the Demon King’s army. It’s a pleasure, Claira.”

“Th-The Four Fiends?!”

He had to be kidding. The Four Fiends were the four head commanders of the demon army. I knew our opponent today would be tough, but I obviously hadn’t expected this. I thought they’d send a small force of elites for a surprise attack, not someone as strong and important as him. If I knew this was what we’d be facing, I wouldn’t have let them take me on this quest.

“You were deceiving us this whole time?” asked Claira.

“Yup. I didn’t just change my looks, but the nature of my mana. And boy, was that tough. Thanks to that, I now owe that bastard a favor, but kidnapping you should more than make up for all that.”

“I-I can’t believe this! Father trusted you!”

“It’s your fault for being so naive.”

“Then the person behind my kidnapping must be...”

“Yup, that’s me. And just for that, I went through the trouble of transforming into a beastman and hiding inside the empire for years! Yet...” He glared at me. “My whole plan fell through due to you bastards. This was my chance to position myself above the other Four Fiends!”

In a plot spanning multiple years, a Four Fiend himself had snuck into the empire. Of course nobody would notice. It wasn’t until recently that we knew the demons were up to something anyway.

“So that’s why an imperial princess was locked away in a place like that.” One of the Five Commanders would have plenty of chances to kidnap her.

“Yup. Sure, it was a pain in the ass, but I managed to capture her without a hitch. Once I used her power to crush the Hero of Ishtar, they’d have seen my worth! That Hero had climbed to fame in a flash! He was a threat to us, and one we didn’t know much about.”

The fact Allen lacked a nickname like the other Heroes must have played a part in that. He had only been active for a year, and it had been even less time since he had started to make a name for himself. Thus, the only intel out there was that a Hero with crazy sword skills had suddenly appeared on the scene, and it wasn’t like Allen was the type to travel much either.

“In the end, it turned out he was just a weakling. Even just figuring that out was enough for us. But we’ve still got use for the girl. She’s mine.”

A force like nothing else washed over us. I don’t think I had ever heard anyone speak so maliciously before.

“Hey, Lloyd? Should we run for it?” asked Daggers, whispering in my ear.

“I’d like to, but I don’t think we can. He’s fast. He’ll catch up to us in an instant.”

“So we’ve got no choice but to fight, huh?”

“Or wait out the fog, at least.” But there was no guarantee that would happen. No matter what we did, it’d still be hopeless. “Daggers, I’ve got just one idea.”

“What is it?”

I explained my plan in a whisper. “Though it’s a bit of a gamble.”

“You can say that again. There’s not much chance it’ll work.”

Our strategy was based on two things: how long we could hold out, and how quickly reinforcements would find us. It wasn’t just riding on factors we could control, but factors we couldn’t.

“Well, I guess we’ve got no choice.”

***

“Damn it! No one said there’d be fog!” Inside the misty woods stood a scowling beastman who twitched his ears. His hair was light blue and his skin pearly white. Despite the sharp look in his eyes, his clothes were rough and tattered—not something you’d think to wear when heading into the mountains. He held no sword, staff, or anything else but a knapsack, and he had no friends in sight.

“Why the hell now?! Of all times!” His expression was permanently contorted into a ferocious frown, and he made no attempt to hide his anger. The sharpness of his eyes only made him look scarier, enough to inspire tears in any child.

The ground beneath his feet crackled and froze as if synchronized with his emotions. The air around the beastman was extra cold, not that he minded.

“Damn it! How could they leave her to S-rank adventurers?! They’re weak as hell! What’s that shitty emperor thinking?!”

Not only did he call S-rank adventurers “weak,” he even spoke ill of the crown. He had to be pretty confident in his skills.

“No way am I letting those demons get their hands on Claira!”

***

“You done saying your goodbyes?” asked Grist as he cracked his knuckles and readied himself for battle.

“You’re waiting on us? You sure seem confident.”

“Well, I did my research after the siege on Ishtar. I’ve got no clue how you managed it, but I’ll admit, you deserve some praise for somehow protecting the city and taking out all my underlings and those monsters. You’ve gotta be pretty strong for adventurers, but...that still means you’re no match for me.” Grist immediately cast a strength up buff on himself, using not a staff as his medium, but a ring.

Huh, so a ring could serve as a medium. Though there was no way he could use it to cast high-level magic.

Apparently, Grist could use support magic, though there were plenty of people who’d cast buffs on themselves. Even Yui could, but only on herself. Casting magic on others was much more difficult.

Additionally, Grist likely wasn’t a support class, which meant his buffs couldn’t be too strong. Though the real problem was his crazy MP reserves.

“This is bad...” It was hardly efficient to use MP to strengthen spells given the cost, but Grist had done so anyway, and he had used so much his buffs easily outstripped those of a weakling like me. He wouldn’t overpower us through technique, but mana. Only a demon could use such a strategy.

“You better be ready!” roared Grist as he bolted forward.

“Get back!” Daggers immediately equipped his broad shield and stepped before us. On cue, I silently cast some buffs on him.

But that single punch was enough to shatter Daggers’s shield and send him flying. His back slammed against a tree.

Despite the evident pain, Daggers managed to stand, which seemed to surprise Grist. “Wow, so that wasn’t enough to take you down, huh? Maybe you guys deserve a little more credit than I thought.” Grist began to emit even more mana.

“Hey, now. I would have been a goner if not for Lloyd’s buffs.”

I could still feel Grist’s mana even without my detection magic. It made me falter.

“Daggers! Can we do this?” asked Yui.

“Don’t think so. This guy’s beyond us.”

“I can’t believe the Legendary Party fought against monsters like him,” muttered Silica.

“Yup. I was pretty proud of my strength, but I see I’ve still got a long way to go,” added Cross.

If these S-rank adventurers couldn’t handle this guy, then just how weak and unbecoming was I? I felt so powerless, it hurt.

“Storage!” Daggers summoned a shield, but not one I recognized.

“What’s that?” asked Yui.

“A shield made of something called mythril, which is apparently pretty tough. It’s also super heavy, so it’s a bit hard to handle, but...” Daggers held up a weighty, lightly ornamented shield. “This should help a bit. Though we better keep our guards up.”

“You must have spent a fortune on that thing!”

Yui was right. Mythril was rare and hard to work with, which made it expensive. This shield had to be pretty costly.

“It was a pretty penny, but I really did get a great deal.”

“Thought so.”

“Well, it’s a cheaper price to pay than my life. And some amazing blacksmith made it, apparently.”

He was right. Even an amateur like me could tell it was leagues above the average shield. I had no idea what had happened for Daggers to get his hands on this, but it’d definitely come in handy. Right now, he looked even more dependable than usual.

“Then take this!” Grist slammed his fist against Daggers’s shield even harder than before. Given the shield’s durability, the hands of an average man would have been crushed, and this battle would be over. That’s just how tough this thing was.

Thanks to the mythril, the shield remained in perfect shape even after that blow. Just how had Daggers managed to get his hands on this thing? If there was a shop out there selling equipment like this, I’d like to see it.

But despite the shield’s sturdiness, Grist wasn’t deterred. Considering he could fight against mythril—the toughest ore in the world—on near equal footing, his fists were clearly quite tough themselves. It was abnormal, to be frank.

“Is this guy for real?!” Daggers was shocked to see that Grist was still pushing forward.

“And take this!” He continued to fling his fists against Daggers’s shield without pause. In fact, he almost seemed to be enjoying it.

“Don’t forget about me!” shouted Yui, trying to divert Grist’s attention from Daggers. She had her sword held up high in the air, and I did my best to cast buffs to cover her swing, but...

“You don’t really think you can cut me, do you?” Her blade definitely met Grist’s arm. But despite clearly having predicted this attack, he didn’t even attempt to dodge.

There wasn’t a scratch on him.

“H-How’s that even possible?!”

“You didn’t land that blow, obviously,” said Grist, barely swinging his arm to send Yui flying.

Immediately, I was assaulted by an unbelievable blast of wind. “So, that’s how it is...” That was enough for me to realize what Grist had meant.

“Did you figure something out, Lloyd?”

“Yeah. The power of your attack was neutralized before it met his skin.”

“Wh-What do you mean?” asked Yui, her expression blank. I could get why she’d have a hard time following.

“Yui, didn’t you feel something when you swung your sword?”

“That’s right! Mana! I felt mana!”

Yup, I was right. “He’s manipulating it.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“He’s emitting mana and wrapping it around his body like armor. That’s why he can slam his fists into mythril. He’s not actually touching it.”

Grist was emitting high concentrations of mana, compressing it around his fists to attack and wrapping it around his body to defend. Depending on how he adjusted this mana, it would rampage, creating blasts of wind. Yui’s attack had been blocked by a shield of concentrated mana, which meant...

“Huh. I’m impressed you saw through my mana manipulation.” His sharp eyes stared right into me. But somehow, he seemed to be enjoying this. “I was just thinking there was someone here I wasn’t expecting. You must be that abnormality who ruined my plans! I can’t believe there’s a white mage like you around. Guess that’s why these adventurers are stronger than I thought.” He seemed to have figured something out, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Just what was he mumbling to himself about? “Well, whatever. Killing you will solve everything!”

Now, I sensed even more malice from him. Clearly, playtime was over.

“First, I’ll kill the rest.” Grist took his eyes off me and ran up to Cross.

“Ack!” As soon as he noticed, Cross fired some arrows, but they didn’t work on Grist. They just bounced right off. So, they weren’t powerful enough to break through Grist’s mana armor. Arrows concentrate their force at a single point, so I thought a bow might be able to stand a chance. Apparently, I was wrong.

“Burst!” A red magic circle appeared beneath Grist’s feet. Then came a dramatic explosion. The warm blast cut through the trees, blowing away the fog.

This was good. A blast like that would definitely wound the average demon or monster.

But really, Silica was amazing. Explosions were high-level fire magic, and very few mages could actually manage them, especially ones who could use all four basic elements like Silica. Adventurers on her level were incredibly rare, from what I heard. That had to have left a mark, right...?

I fearfully turned to look toward Grist. However...

“N-No way...” Despite being in the center of the blast, he seemed perfectly fine. He stood there confidently and dauntingly, as if invincible.

To be honest, I had lost all hope.

“Not hot enough,” said Grist, immediately closing in on Silica and launching a fist toward her gut.

At the last minute, Yui managed to attack from behind, allowing for Silica to dodge.

“I’m your opponent!”

“How annoying.”

Slightly—just slightly—Yui’s blade grazed Grist’s back. It had to just be a coincidence.

Grist clearly wasn’t happy. In fact, he was furious.

“So, that’s how it is,” I muttered. I was starting to understand the nature of Grist’s mana armor, even if only a little. At a glance, it seemed impenetrable. But the more he used it—that is, the more damage he dealt and attacks he suffered—the more it faded.

That explosion hadn’t been meaningless, but it was still best to assume that Yui landing an attack had been a coincidence. The armor had suffered heavy damage from bearing the brunt of Silica’s full-force explosion. That meant Grist had been forced to expend the mana needed to repair it while his mana barrier was focused on his fists to attack Silica. Those two simultaneous conditions had allowed Yui to land a blow, but even that had only left a scratch.

“How can we possibly defeat this guy?” That very glimmer of hope was proof of just how mighty Grist was. “We can’t just stall for time against an enemy like him. If we don’t fight with intention to kill, he’ll kill us first.”

Daggers was still holding up his shield. “You’ve got to be kidding! If he’s just one of the Four Fiends, then the demon army must have three other guys who are just as strong, right?!”

“Hard to believe, huh? They’ve apparently been kingless ever since the Great War, but it makes you wonder just who these Four Fiends are serving,” commented Yui.

If the Four Fiends were this strong, then how strong could the Demon King they serve possibly be? I couldn’t even imagine.

“Anyway, it’s about time I take your lives and take back Claira. I’d have a tough time fighting a group of Heroes on their turf.” Grist once again kicked off the ground, flinging his fists at dizzying speeds. Daggers blocked with his shield, but just as Grist was about to overpower him, Silica attacked with her magic.

Meanwhile, Yui and Cross were doing their best to stay near Claira and attack when there was an opening. As for me, I focused wholeheartedly on casting my buffs.

However, this was still a defensive battle. We were clearly overpowered, and unfortunately, it didn’t seem like Grist would be running out of MP anytime soon.

This was bad. Soon enough, we’d be killed, and Claira would be kidnapped. All hope was lost. I had never even imagined that Yui and the others could be backed into a corner like this.

“Damn it! Is this the end for us?” I muttered.

That’s when I was assaulted by a sudden chill—one that didn’t seem natural considering the climate. I turned toward the source of this oddly cold wind to find a beastman with light blue hair and a ferocious look in his eyes.

Obviously, I didn’t know this guy. Abel had never mentioned a helper who matched his description.

“Jeez, are all adventurers this weak? I wasn’t expecting a damn thing from you guys, but you really look like you’ve been through it,” he said before glancing around. “Well, if Claira’s safe, I guess I can overlook that.”

***

“Wow. They’re sure going at it, I see...” muttered a green-haired demon watching Grist’s battle from within the fog. This snickering onlooker was the man behind this mana-filled mist, Mischel. Not only could he create this fog, he could manipulate it to freely detect what was within it, as others’ mana would disrupt his. Despite being out of practice, he had once been the Demon King’s right-hand man, and his skills were still sharp.

“Even Grist seems to be having trouble. Perhaps I should lend a hand,” he muttered as the wheels in his head still turned. Naturally, he was using his fog to detect disruptions. However...

“Whoa, there. What are you doing up here, watching this battle alone?”

Mischel took a panicked step forward before turning around to find an alchemist dressed in a black robe. It was Wil.

“How odd. My fog didn’t pick up on you. In fact, it still hasn’t. How did you manage that?” Mischel wasn’t afraid. Instead, he was curious. He was well-versed in magical research and had done plenty of his own, making him quite knowledgeable even for a demon. He couldn’t help but be intrigued by this man beyond all understanding.

“Hmm... I dissected your magic. Does that give you a clue?” asked Wil, grinning. “I’ve long had you figured out.”

“And what do you mean by that, exactly?”

“I mean what I said.” Wil clearly had no intention of answering.

“Well, perhaps I don’t know where you got this intel, but this will be your end. Eradicating those in my way is just part of the job.” A sharp bloodlust suddenly formed around Mischel, along with a purple miasma. The fog rotted all that it touched, and in just a few moments, the tree Mischel was standing on had withered.

“Well, that’s scary.” The fog of decay was quickly closing in on Wil.

“I suppose it’s time I showed you what I’ve really got,” said Mischel as he took up a strange pose. Immediately, the fog did something completely unnatural, as if it had a mind of its own. In a flash, Wil was surrounded and captured by the purple mist. “I do hope you entertain me!”

The toxic gas slowly consumed Wil, but he didn’t seem bothered at all. He stood there perfectly still, which was enough to ensure Mischel he had won. He was a tad disappointed. “So that was it...”

Even the strongest man alive would perish after being defenselessly subjected to that miasma. Wil had failed to even notice the nature of the fog and couldn’t run in time, thought Mischel, perhaps too lightly.

“And I thought this man might entertain me. I overestimated him, I see...” said Mischel as he dispelled the miasma to ensure Wil had decayed. However...

“Who are you to decide I’m dead?” came Wil’s voice from beyond the mist. Once the fog had cleared, there stood Wil, looking as if nothing had happened at all.

Mischel’s eyes flew open. He clearly didn’t understand what was happening. “How did you...? Explain yourself. This miasma killed a former S-rank adventurer with ease. This is quite odd.”

Had he missed? It was tempting to assume that, but the foliage had properly rotted, which proved otherwise.

Mischel had properly activated his miasma, and Wil had been completely defenseless—he had no weapons or armor. He just couldn’t understand. It confused him.

“Huh? Like I said...” Wil walked forward, not the slightest bit wary. “I’ve got you figured out. Your skills are a terrible match against mine, don’t you think?”

Mischel’s magic hadn’t worked at all. He was panicking. “Just who...are you...?”

“Me? Well, I guess,” Wil snickered. “I’m just a lowly alchemist.”

Chapter 6: A Fierce Fight of Epic Proportions

“Ugh, this is frickin’ annoying. Seems like it’s time to teach you exactly what you’ve damn done!” The blue-haired beastman was completely unarmed. He waltzed over with his hands in his pockets.

Was he friend or foe? I thought he might be with the demons, so I turned my attention toward him and away from Grist. While the latter had quite the mana reserves himself, this beastman far exceeded even him. Who was he?

A single utterance from Claira immediately wiped away my worries. “Therion!” she happily squealed.

So, they knew each other.

“Are you guys friends?” I asked.

“Yes! He’s Therion, the Hero of Crystal! My childhood friend!”

“He’s a Hero?”

“Well, his actions can be quite problematic at times, and he doesn’t have the best communication skills, to be blunt. The Holy Principality even refuses to recognize him due to his poor conduct, but he still undeniably has the makings of a Hero! He is one, technically.”

The phrase “problematic actions” caught my attention, but he was apparently on our side, and a Hero to boot. Given his mana reserves, he was probably a mage of some sort, right? But unlike Allen, this guy looked nothing like a Hero. In fact, even a low-ranking adventurer wouldn’t be walking through the woods dressed like that. The more I thought about this “Therion,” the less I understood him.

“Just asking, but is he strong?”

“He is. This is just my personal opinion, but I believe Therion is the strongest, most feared, and most hated of the Heroes. Though really, he’s quite cute!” Claira talked about Therion proudly, almost like a doting mother. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if this could really be considered praise, but it seemed like he was definitely strong, at least.

“Do you think Therion can beat this guy?”

“I believe so. However...”

“Not for certain?”

“Indeed.”

She had sounded quite proud earlier, but she still wasn’t sure he’d win this battle. I decided to ask her why.

“This is simply a guess, but if the demons are behind this fog, I doubt it’s the doing of the one before us now. He may be strong, but it would be impossible to shroud himself with mana like that while simultaneously producing this mist.”

“You’re right.” I had to admit that Grist was insanely strong, but even then, I couldn’t believe he’d be capable of producing this wide-ranging fog while expending so much MP to fight. In other words, “There must be another demon hiding somewhere.”

“Yes. It’s just my best guess, but I believe that’s likely.”

Still, I couldn’t detect any mana signals from within this fog. Though at the very least, they wouldn’t be hiding outside of the area the mist was covering. Whoever this was, they had to be nearby—which meant there was a possibility the demons had reinforcements. All our attention was on Grist, but it was perfectly possible there were more demons hiding in the vicinity. And depending on their strength and numbers, even a Hero like Therion could have some trouble.

But despite these circumstances, Therion looked like he was having a blast. He had an unsettling smile on his face. “Are you the bastard who kidnapped Claira?” he asked, glowering at Grist with eyes that brimmed with bloodlust.

“Yup, that’s me. So, you’re Therion, the Hero of Crystal, huh? You really don’t look like much of a Hero, though,” replied Grist, looking perfectly calm.

Therion cackled. “Relax, I’ve heard that a million times already. I don’t give a damn about being a ‘Hero’ anyway.”

“Oh? In that case...” Grist disappeared. Then immediately, he appeared behind Therion, who looked completely unperturbed. Grist reeled back his right fist before slamming it down with all his strength. “Then die!”

I could tell his mana was gathered around his fist. In fact, he had likely concentrated the entirety of his mana armor on that one spot. Even a Hero wouldn’t be able to withstand a straight hit.

With that thought in my mind, I cast an offensive spell—which I’m not really good at—in a desperate attempt to distract Grist. And immediately...

“No, you die, bastard!”

Crackling resounded as everything surrounding Therion froze in a flash—even Grist, who was stuck mid-punch. The scene before me was fantastical, completely silent and serene as if space itself had frozen.

Wow. So this was the Hero of Crystal’s true power. Not that Allen was weak, but he definitely didn’t compare to Therion.

“Damn! Well, I wasn’t expecting this’d kill you anyway.”

Something snapped within the silence—it was Grist. He’d once again summoned his mana armor, which broke through the ice encasing him.

“I let my guard down, I see.”

Therion sighed. “And if ya just stayed frozen, we’d have made some progress. You sure are one stubborn bastard.”

“And so are you. I can’t believe you cast that ice magic without an enchantment. Instead of a staff, you even used your body as the spell’s medium! Are you really a beastman?”

There was definitely magic in this world that could be cast without using a staff or reciting an enchantment, like storage magic. That spell only required manipulating mana, so you didn’t need a medium to cast it, and it didn’t really cost that much MP either.

But offensive magic—spells that had heavy MP costs—were a completely different beast. With those, you had to convert mana into magic, then release that magic into the world. Using your body as that medium was incredibly dangerous, and even if you tried, low-level magic was the theoretical limit.

However, Therion had just cast a high-level ice spell without a medium—one that was incredibly powerful at that.

“Just what the hell are you?” asked Grist.

“Sure, most people can’t do this. But I’m special! I’ve got an ice-magic resistance. Do you know why some monsters can cast magic without a medium?”

Grist answered Therion’s question with silence.

“Ya see, monsters all have resistances. Some monsters can cast magic, but usually just one type, sometimes two. But even then, that just means they’ve got two resistances,” said Therion, laughing triumphantly.

“Then you mean you’re built like a monster?” asked Grist.

“To put it simply, yeah.”

His bodily composition was similar to that of monsters? I had once seen something similar in Master Merlin’s research materials. She had been trying to figure out if large-scale spells could be cast without a staff, and she had written out the results of her research and general thoughts, which included the bodily makeup of monsters.

There, she had written the following: First, casting such spells was impossible for humans, whose bodies were most unlike monsters. Demons were quite dissimilar as well, so they were likely also incapable of doing so. However, beastmen alone were most likely to be able to perform this feat.

Though “most likely” still meant “practically impossible,” in this case. Well, it was supposed to. But now that I was thinking about it, Claira had cast a large-scale spell without a medium too, hadn’t she?

What did that mean?

“I’ve got a unique constitution, plus the skills of a Hero. To put it straight, these two miracles let me cast ice magic without a medium and with no regard for my MP.”

“Thanks for the explanation. You looking down on me?”

“Uh, obviously. Knowing that’s not gonna change anything for you, you damn bastard!” Therion lifted his right hand toward Grist, and immediately, a sharp pillar of ice erupted from the ground.

Grist dodged it by leaping into the air.

“You...!” cursed Grist.

“I’ve still got more in me, damn it!” Ice crystals popped up one after another, which Grist dodged with jumps. “What’s wrong?! You’re not gonna take me the hell down unless you actually fight, moron!” Therion cursed so much it was hard to tell which one of them was the real villain.

“H-He doesn’t usually have such a dirty mouth. He must be pretty mad,” said Claira, grimacing.

“I-I see...” Now I knew why the Holy Principality refused to recognize his title of Hero. Allen used to act more...Hero-like, I suppose you’d say. I had met with the Holy Knights, the knight brigade serving the Holy Principality, multiple times, and from what I remember, they much preferred the heroic types.

Well, no matter his personality, I was still relieved he was here.

“Now, even Grist shouldn’t...” muttered Claira, her expression one of relief. That’s what she wanted to believe, and for a second, I had hopes that Therion would be able to take down Grist too.

But one of the Four Fiends wouldn’t fall so easily.

Suddenly, Grist froze. Then, he reeled back his fist.

A shiver went down my spine. Something was coming!

Immediately, I grabbed Claira’s hand and dashed toward Daggers. “Protect her with your shield!” I said, entrusting Claira to him before immediately casting some spells. In a single move, I undid their current buffs and replaced them with defensive ones.

“Yui, Silica, Cross! Take cover as best you can!”

I felt bad for Therion, but I’d just have to hope he’d pull through.

A few seconds later...multiple meters of earth had been dug out of the ground as a tree-toppling force shot through the forest.

***

Just a few minutes prior, an equally fierce battle was unfolding. The forest was shrouded in a noxious mist, and it rushed at Wil as if it had a mind of its own.

“Huh, I should have expected nothing less of the previous Demon King’s right-hand man. It’d be hard to counter this with anything but wind magic, wouldn’t it?” asked Wil, nonchalantly sidestepping the mist as if he hadn’t a single care in the world.

To be accurate, though, the mist had grazed Wil. He simply wasn’t injured by it.

Mischel summoned a multitude of various miasmas to attack Wil, but Wil just dodged them, looking completely disinterested. Mischel was vexed, though he didn’t panic either. The reason for that was simple. “Why do you dodge? No, I suppose it doesn’t work against you at all, does it? Well, I see my first order of business is figuring out why. But while I may not know that, I do know one thing. You specialize in defense, which makes your offenses weak, no?” asked Mischel with utter confidence.

The basis of his conclusion lay in the fact that Wil had yet to attack despite his overwhelming advantage. He had simply been avoiding the mist, not fighting against it.

Of course, Mischel had considered that might be a ploy, but he simply couldn’t see any pros in employing such a strategy. Defeating Mischel was Wil’s best course of action, clearly. Yet, he hadn’t done so. Thus, Mischel had concluded that Wil wasn’t just trying to buy time, but that it was all he could do.

“Good job, you’ve got it exactly right. Unfortunately, I have no means of attack.”

“So, I was correct. Then answer this: Is the potion you just drank the key to nullifying my poison? You have no need to dodge, yet you do so anyway, and always at a regular interval. This is just my theory, but you’re using that timing to secretly drink your potions right before the effect wears off, aren’t you?” Despite claiming this was just a theory, Mischel again brimmed with confidence.

Realizing lying would be useless, Wil gave up on the idea. “Right again. You’re quite observant, I see.”

Put simply, Wil’s battle techniques relied on using potions and magical items to fight battles of attrition—in other words, to focus solely on defense, and his greatest defensive trick of them all was his ability to nullify magic. By consuming his specialty-made potions, he could break magic back down into mana right before he came in contact with the spell. These potions’ weaknesses, however, lay in the fact they could only nullify limited types of magic, and that he had to correctly determine a spell’s affinity and drink the corresponding potion to produce this effect. Additionally, he could drink another nullification potion to switch which affinities he was immune to, but not become immune to two affinities at once.

Up until this moment, Wil had simply been drinking the right potions in advance. He had no nullification powers himself. It was also worth mentioning that it was thanks to a potion that completely concealed his mana signal that he hadn’t been detected earlier. Through the use of various potions, Wil deprived his enemies of any means to attack—that was his fighting style.

“I suppose that puts me in a pinch, huh?” However, Wil remained calm. That was because he had figured out that Mischel lacked any means to attack himself. They were equally matched, and neither had the power to take down the other.

There would be no game-winning blows to this battle, which meant one thing: Whoever completely figured out the other first would prove victorious in the end. Trump cards had to be used only at the best of timings. That was the incredibly simple gamble that played out between them.

“So, how are you going to corner me? I’m happy enough just keeping you preoccupied.” Wil determined there was no need to go out of his way to attack. Instead, he’d wait for the right timing while fundamentally focusing on defense.

Mischel, meanwhile, had the exact same thought. He had only been asked to aid Grist, which meant there was no need to put any extra work into this job. He didn’t serve the current Demon King, and he had no particular allegiances to the king either. Grist could just do all the hard work, and if he were going to lose, Mischel could just retreat. All he wanted was the reward Grist had promised.

“Well, I simply have no need to risk my life, you see.”

The two fought carefully, keeping a watchful eye on the other. That’s when a blast of wind and gigantic boom assaulted them. It had come from the forest, right where Lloyd and his party were fighting.

The strong blast forced the trees to creak and sway. It also pulled the hood off of Wil’s head, revealing his face.

“This must mean...” That blast was enough for Mischel to know Grist was cornered. This was the secret trump card he had divulged—a mana explosion. While Mischel didn’t think Grist would lose this battle, he knew that even the Fiend would have a hard time fighting a party of S-rank adventurers and Hero at once.

“I guess that means an end to my dawdling...” Meanwhile, the blast had inspired some panic in Wil, who knew perfectly well how irregularly strong Lloyd’s supporter skills were. There could only be a few supporters on the continent who exceeded his talents—perhaps not any. After all, he had been raised by Merlin, the strongest, most knowledgeable mage Wil knew. With the strongest, evilest Hero fighting by his side, Wil was quite confident they wouldn’t just win, they wouldn’t even struggle.

However, Grist apparently had been holding back something as well. Given the size of that blast, it was clear its force was far from normal. “I suppose I may have underestimated the Four Fiends,” said Wil, regretting his naivety. He could no longer afford to just buy time.

Wil had means to attack, an ace up his sleeve only he could use. But utilizing this trick would mean revealing himself as the Phantom Alchemist. Mischel had been the previous Demon King’s retainer, and while they had never directly fought before, he would have certainly known of Wil. Luckily, Mischel had yet to notice. But using this trump card—especially given the unique fighting style he employed—would make his identity glaringly obvious. It would mean employing the proper noun of “Phantom Alchemist,” after all.

Officially, he was dead, which made him a free soul who could work as he pleased. Revealing his identity had no merit for him—it’d only put him in the crosshairs. Clearly, there were many more cons.

“Hmm. Quite honestly, I didn’t intend to reveal myself here.” Plus, Mischel had seemed to think he had the upper hand, but he was now clearly panicked. Wil wasn’t sure why, but he had to have some reason for that. He was likely about to unleash his full power, which meant it was no time to keep careful hold of his own. “But I suppose I have no choice.”

Yes, this was simply what he had to do—that was the conclusion Wil had reached. “It’s time I used my own trump card,” he said, activating storage magic. With a multitude of colorful potions now at hand, he took up a fighting stance.

***

Koff, koff!

A cloud of dust filled the air. To think he’d assault us with raw mana, not magic. Quite honestly, I hadn’t even considered the possibility before. He attacked us with wind without having to cast a wind spell.

Though there probably weren’t many out there who could manage this reckless attack. The MP cost was nothing to sneeze at, after all. While surprise attacks were effective, this had to be a last-ditch effort.

In other words, Grist was feeling cornered. He could likely only manage that attack a few more times, if at all.

But a few more attacks like that wouldn’t leave us unharmed. Dragging this battle out any longer would put us in a tough spot ourselves.

I winced in pain as I ripped a twig out of my thigh. It had to have come from that blast. I cast some healing magic immediately. I’d be fine. “But what about the others...?”

Thankfully, the blast had cleared a section of the fog, allowing me to use my detection magic. I quickly activated it to check the others’ whereabouts. They were all alive. Mana would gradually seep out of corpses, so if they were dead, I would have known immediately. The fact that their mana levels remained constant proved they were still kicking.

For now, I breathed a sigh of relief. We were all still standing. As long as we were alive, we could get out of this.

Therion was the one I was most worried about. I hadn’t cast any buffs on him. Not only had I lacked the time, I had focused my spells around Daggers to protect Claira. Maybe it was a bit presumptuous of me, but I did feel kind of guilty for leaving him out.

“A-Are you okay?” I asked, turning to where I thought Therion had to be. I found him encased in ice armor and behind an ice wall, though he hadn’t been able to fully defend against the strike, as his right arm was heavily injured.

“Therion!” cried Claira from far away. I turned back to find Daggers holding her back from approaching any farther.

“Stay back!” shouted Therion.

Grist approached, cackling as he watched their exchange. “Hey, there. You doing all right? You don’t look so hot. Sure you don’t need her power?”

“Hah! You ain’t looking too hot yourself. I can take you on alone, bastard,” said Therion, his eyes glinting with menace.

Grist put on a creepy grin, speaking slowly. “Yeah? Well, I guess this marks your end, then.” He attempted the same attack, this time from a closer distance.

So that was it. He’d repeat that same attack over and over to keep this battle short.

However, I had already predicted as much.

“Hah!” I cast a speed buff on myself, ran up to Grist, and exploded my mana right into his face. I was using the same blast attack he had just demonstrated for us. While the force was weak, it was effective from up close. Right now, his mana armor was effectively neutralized. His attention had been focused on Therion, which made him a surprisingly easy target. However...

“Stay out of my damn way!” Therion was furious.

“But you clearly can’t do this on your own, can you?”

“Shut up! What the hell can you do anyway?!” shouted Therion, upping his fury.

“Well, you’re right. Maybe I won’t be much help, but...” But I couldn’t just leave him to fight alone. From Therion’s perspective, maybe my spells really did basically amount to nothing. But if I could help him even a little, I wanted to. Despite his protest, I cast some healing magic and buffs on him.

“Hey, bastard! What’d you just do?!”

“Maybe it doesn’t inspire much confidence, but I cast some buffs and healing magic.”

“Without an enchantment?” he asked.

“Yup.”

Therion silently looked down at his hand. I really messed up, didn’t I? It couldn’t be nice having buffs forced on you.

“Sorry, I guess I really am—”

“No. This is good.”

“Huh?” I couldn’t hide my shock.

“Hey. Help me out a bit here,” he demanded, emitting cold air from his right hand.

“No, that was just—”

“Just shut up and give me a hand, damn it!”

“R-Right...”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. We’ve just got the same goals. I’m not acknowledging you or anything.”

“G-Got it.”

I—Lloyd—stood shoulder to shoulder with Therion, the Hero of Crystal.

“I-I can’t believe Therion would team up with someone!” said Claira, watching on in complete disbelief.

***

“Don’t you dare hold me back.”

“Right... I’ll do my best,” I briefly answered. I could feel a cold nipping at my back, and when I glanced at Therion, I found he had already used magic to form a sword of ice.

Therion himself didn’t seem all too focused on creating this sword. He really was amazing. Such fine control was something even the most well-versed in ice magic couldn’t replicate.

So, this was Therion, the Hero of Crystal. I could understand why Claira had called him the strongest. His power was on another level. Even Allen, another one of the Heroes, wouldn’t stand a chance.

Grist’s attention was completely focused on the beautiful blade of ice Therion had summoned, as if he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.

“I suppose I can’t let myself be outshined,” I said, wanting to contribute just as much. I cast some buffs on Therion—strength up, magic up, and MP consumption down. I undid the buffs on the others to focus all my magic and cast multiple in succession on him. Now, even my measly skills should be of some help, at least.

While I was at it, I cast some buffs on myself too.

“All right, white mage! Let’s do this!”

“Right!”

Therion froze everything within a few dozen meters of him—the trees, the ground, the monsters, everything.

Grist repelled the attack with his mana. So, the same trick wouldn’t work twice. However...

“Huh?!” Grist had reflected his spell, but his body gradually froze as ice crept up from the tips of his fingers and toes. He contorted his face. The chill was much colder than he was expecting.

Therion sneered. “Hey! Ya didn’t think I was gonna try the same trick twice, did ya?! Is that all you got?!” Grist’s frozen limbs dulled his movements, so Therion took the opportunity to summon countless thin, sharp icicles to surround him, then fired them off at dazzling speeds. “Hey, what’s wrong?! So much for one of the ‘great’ Four Fiends!” said Therion, egging him on further and further.

“Damn it! Don’t underestimate me!” Mana rushed from Grist as if he had released the floodgates, forming a sturdy mana armor around him that blocked the attack. Then, he created an explosion that destroyed the icicles. The air was filled with glittering ice fragments.

“Tch. If only that had killed ’im,” said Therion, clicking his tongue.

The whole time, I was behind Therion, casting a specific spell.

“Did you really think that’d be enough to destroy a Four Fiend like me, Hero?!”

“No, not really. That’s not what I was going for anyway. Check your hand, dumbass,” said Therion, gesturing with his chin.

“Huh? Your attack failed to even leave a scr—”

“Yeah, don’t think so.”

Grist looked down to find his left arm completely purple. He had lost all feeling in it, and it was only now that he had noticed. He was clearly shocked, and it had Therion cackling.

“What the hell did you do to me?!”

“Gave your arm necrosis, obviously,” replied Therion.

“B-But when did you...?” Despite the current state of his arm, Grist had remained completely ignorant to it. And naturally, that wasn’t a coincidence. While standing side by side, I had activated thought-sharing magic with Therion, which allowed us to put together a plan. It had worked beautifully.

“Your armor sure is tough, and you’re pretty damn strong too. Even with some buffs, summoning and manipulating ice ain’t enough to take you down.” Grist was shockingly strong, even in Therion’s eyes. His ice alone just wasn’t enough.

“Then how was I injured...?”

“Who the hell said all I could manipulate was ice? I’ve just got an ice resistance, and that comes with an invisible chill.”

Grist gasped. He had caught on to Therion’s words. “Impossible! Then you...?!”

“Yup. Your mana armor only works against stuff you can actually see. You’ve gotta be cognizant of it, don’t ya?”

Grist gasped once again. Clearly, we were right on the money.

“Wh-When did you notice?!”

“I caught on from your first attack! You didn’t defend against my chill at all! And that was because you didn’t even notice! That right?”

Grist was silent—in other words, it was.

Therion ignored this and kept chatting. “Still, I can’t frickin’ believe you didn’t notice frostbite like that! And that was because...”

“I was secretly casting mental-type healing magic on you,” I said.

Mental-type healing magic—specifically, the spell Pain Kill, which did exactly what it sounded like. Typically, it was used to alleviate the aches of battle wounds. But this time, I had cast it over and over on Grist’s right arm so that it wouldn’t feel any pain. Therion’s ice sword had just been a way to distract Grist.

“We used Pain Kill and attacked you with invisible cold air! Basically, you lost an arm, dumbass. And it’s not just decaying, it’s still frozen! Healing potions ain’t gonna fix that,” said Therion, his eyes sparkling as he laughed maniacally. “So, how’s it feel being surrounded by danger you can’t even damn sense?!”

Grist retreated in a panic, summoning every ounce of his strength to do so. Was he going to run? Given the circumstances, that was the right call. We didn’t have a real need to chase after him, after all.

“Like hell I’ll let you run!” screamed Therion, bolting after him with his ice sword in hand. I switched our buffs to speed-based ones and followed. Still, Therion was super fast with all those buffs on him. Meanwhile, I had undone Pain Kill, which meant Grist was starting to feel the pain and chill. He seemed exhausted, and it slowed him down.

We were gradually closing in, and it would only be a matter of time before we had caught up completely. Plus, the mana-filled fog had dissipated at some point. Now, I could use my detection magic, which meant Grist had nowhere to run. I was assured of our victory.

That’s when a green-haired demon suddenly came flying out of the woods. He tumbled across the ground, and once Grist noticed him, he froze. “Mischel?!” he asked.

“Is that you, Grist?” said the green-haired demon, lifting his tattered, beaten body from the ground.

Who was this guy? He definitely looked worse for wear, but he was still an unknown enemy, so I readied my staff.

But the green-haired demon didn’t match my will to fight. “Let’s retreat. I’ve encountered a threat.”

“A threat?”

“Yes, one I’m sure you’ve heard of. The Phantom Alchemist.”

As soon as he heard that name, Grist looked more shocked than I had seen him before. “I-Impossible! H-He’s dead, no?!”

“Unfortunately, it is possible. As far as I knew, he was dead—or at least retired. But first, we must run before he catches up. We won’t stand a chance against him.”

Grist and the green-haired demon were mumbling something, but we had no reason to let them chat, and neither did Therion.

“So, you had a friend, huh? Guess I’ll just have to kill the both of you, then!” Therion rushed toward Grist, completely unperturbed. “You’re effin’ dead! You can take your regrets for messin’ with the wrong damn man to your graves!” said Therion, swinging down his ice blade while spouting an incredibly un-hero-like line. His blade was pointed right at Grist’s heart.

But immediately, a mana-filled mist fell over Grist and the green-haired demon, concealing them. Then, it spread out in multiple directions, tracing white lines between the gaps in the trees. They planned to use the fog to cover their escape.

Huh. I hadn’t expected this. There were countless lines of fog, and it spread out widely, and quickly. If we could determine which path they used, we could pursue them, but checking each one would be impossible.

“Don’t you dare run from me, damn it! You! White mage! There any humans or beastmen within a few kilometers of us?!”

I immediately cast my detection magic, searching through a large area around the land. “There are a few signals, but no humans or beastmen!”

“What about demons?!”

“Sorry, I can’t sense any.”

“Crap!” cursed Therion. But immediately, he sneered. “Guess I’ve got no damn choice! Activate your detection and thought-sharing magic! Hurry!”

“R-Right.” As soon as I telepathically shared the intel from my detection magic with him, a large amount of mana began to gather.

A few moments later, the woods froze in a flash. Since I was using my detection magic, I could tell Therion had turned a huge swath of land into a winter wonderland without killing a single monster. Despite the scope of that spell, he managed to control it down to the last detail.

“Oh, I get it...” I felt like I was finally starting to understand Therion, and why he didn’t have any comrades. With skills like his, he could easily damage his allies by throwing around unchecked magic like he just had. Plus, his fighting style was better suited for solo combat. There was no one in the world who could match his talents. I had already realized he was amazing, but not this amazing.

I bet my help really did amount to nothing. “He really is a Hero...”

Once again, I grew painfully aware of just how powerless I really was.

***

Within lands decayed, rotted, and withered was a single man in a black hooded coat, sitting on a log in the middle of the desolation. It was Wil, the Phantom Alchemist.

He sat there calm and collected, as if nothing had happened at all, staring into space with an empty vial in his hand. He hadn’t suffered a single attack from Mischel. But in reality, their skills had been quite evenly matched. Mischel’s talents simply hadn’t meshed well with Wil’s. By utilizing a multitude of potions, Wil could neutralize magical attacks. Meanwhile, Mischel could only attack with high-level magic by manipulating poison magic and creating mists.

Their compatibility was the best for Wil, and the worst for Mischel.

“But jeez, that’d have been a close one for anyone else. This forest’s looking pretty bare, huh?” There wasn’t a single speck of green for a few hundred meters. Just a moment ago, it had been a lush, verdant land filled with trees and flowers, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that now. “So, that’s the old Demon King’s right-hand man, the one who brought suffering to tens of thousands of humans and beastmen during our war against the Demon King...”

What would have happened had Wil never learned the trick to neutralizing magic, or hadn’t learned how to put it into action? That thought alone sent a shiver down his spine.

Mischel was no weak foe. He had a multitude of spells besides his miasmas, and they were all terribly strong. However, Wil held the means to counter them. Plus, he could use his potions to artificially cast magic as well. But despite his strength, a battle of attrition could be the end of him. It really just so happened that Mischel’s skills happened to mesh terribly against Wil’s. That was all.

Had a man like Mischel appeared in the middle of town, it could have easily led to thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of casualties.

“Letting him go free does inspire some fear, but there’s nothing else I can do. I need to stay out of the public eye, which means all I can do is watch from the sidelines.” Wil’s goal was strictly to aid in protecting Claira. He’d secretly lend a helping hand to Lloyd and get in the way of the demons’ plans. That alone was enough. “Anyway, I guess all that’s left is to report to Abel and have my first drink in a long while. We’ve got a lot to catch up on, after all.”

Wil jumped to his feet and once again disappeared into the forest.

***

“Lloyd!!!” Someone had called my name from behind, and I turned around to find Yui and the others. I still couldn’t see Daggers and Claira yet, but they were likely just lagging behind.

“Yui, are you all right?”

“What d’ya mean? That’s my line! Are you all right?”

I wasn’t injured, but I checked up and down my body just in case. “Yup. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Really? Well, that’s good.”

As we chatted, Claira caught up to us. “Um, are you all right, Lloyd?”

“Yup. I’m all right.”

“I see. I’m incredibly sorry. I’ve caused so much trouble for you all, haven’t I?”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” I said as Claira bowed at me. She had no reason to apologize, and she had even saved me back during the battle to defend Ishtar anyway.

“And what about Grist...?” she asked, glancing around.

“Sorry. He got away.”

“I-I see. Well, managing to simply fend him off is plenty enough. He’s one of the Four Fiends of the demon army, after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Luckily, none of us suffered any grave injuries—if you limited that to Claira, Therion, and our party, that is.

As we chatted, Therion approached.

That’s right. I better extend him some gratitude. “Thanks. We’d have been goners if not for you.”

“Hmph, don’t worry about it. Like I said, we just happened to have the same goals,” he said, still as unfriendly as can be.

“But I can’t believe you came to help, Therion! You’re always ignoring emergency requests. What brought you out here?” asked Claira.

“Huh? I was just passing by! That’s all! I don’t remember ever claiming I was a damn Hero anyway! You all decided that on your own!”

“I suppose you’re right. You don’t receive any governmental aid, after—” As she spoke, she ran around to Therion’s back. Something there had caught her eye.

“Wh-What the hell are you doing?!”

“My! This is the knapsack I made for you when I was seven, isn’t it?!”

“Huh?!” He immediately turned back toward Claira, which made it easier for the rest of us to see what they were talking about.

“Huh. You made this, Claira?” asked Yui.

“I did! It was a birthday present! I can’t believe he still carries it around with him!”

“Shut up! It’s just a coincidence. Buying a new one’s just too much of a damn pain!”

“Oh? Reeeally?” asked Yui. They had just met, but she was already teasing him.

Therion glared and shouted at her. “What?! You got a problem with that?!”

“N-No, not at all...”

“Well, it’s nothing to get so mad about, is it? It’s not a bad thing,” said Claira, a huge grin on her face.

“Tch! I’ll let you go this time, but just this once.”

“Eek!” A screech slipped from Yui’s throat as she hid behind Claira.

He treated Claira and Yui completely differently, and I wondered why. Did that mean...?

“Hey! White mage! What were you gonna say just now?”

“Oh, um, it’s nothing...” I immediately shut my mouth. I could tell that sharing my thoughts would get me killed. He really did treat Claira differently than the rest of us.

“Oh! Then did you focus on guarding just that half of your body during your fight because—”

“No, you’re wrong! Say anymore and I’ll damn kill you too, Claira!”

“That’s what you always say, but you always let me off the hook in the end!”

“Huh?!” He took a half step backward. Claira must have hit him where it hurt. And for some reason, it prompted him to turn his anger against me and Yui, who were just bystanders. “What the hell are you two lookin’ at?!”

“N-Nothing...” we said in unison. We needed to change the subject, and quickly. Therion seemed to have been begging us to silently shut up for a while now, after all.

“Anyway, what’s the deal with the town?” I asked. During the battle, we didn’t have the time to investigate the state of the village. Only Yui and the others knew what had been left once the fog had cleared.

“W-Well,” said Yui, struggling to get her words out.

The townspeople must have been massacred.

Just to check, I searched a wide area with my detection magic. Therion was here, and we weren’t too far from the capital, so there wasn’t much need to conserve MP. But after activating the spell, I noticed a large number of humanlike signals gathered in a single spot.

“What’s that...?”

“Huh? Something wrong?” asked Yui, tilting her head.

“There may have been some survivors,” I answered.

***

“This is the spot,” I said. I had used my detection magic to head to the signals’ source. Under normal circumstances, protecting Claira, a member of the imperial family, would have been our top priority. But she had insisted we check out the signals as well, so all of us had gone together. Even Therion, though he did voice some complaints.

Once we arrived, we found an obviously suspicious wooden structure, which looked like a large shed. The signals were coming from inside.

“They’re in there.”

Therion cursed under his breath. “Let’s get this damn over with. We’ve gotta head for the capital.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” I took the lead and knocked on the door, but I didn’t receive an answer. They must have been wary of us. “Um...”

What did people even say at times like this? The words “I’m human” would only make us look more suspicious.

While I wavered, Therion angrily walked up behind me. “Out of the damn way! At times like this...” He kicked the door in, breaking it right off. “That’s what you’ve gotta do!”

Therion’s methodology was clearly one of the worst options available to us.

I peered inside to find what seemed to be the townspeople. They all quivered in fear, shriveling back into themselves.

“P-Please, spare us!” someone tearfully begged. The children were shaking in their boots looking like they had just seen a ghost.

“Oh, now you’ve done it,” muttered Cross.

“Um, don’t be afraid! We’re adventurers! See?” said Yui, revealing her adventurer’s badge.

“A-Adventurers...? S-rank adventurers?”

“Then they really are here to save us!”

“D-Don’t listen to them! That beastman’s clearly not an adventurer! They’re devils! They’ve gotta be with the demons!” shouted a fearful man, pointing his finger at us.

“Huh? Who the hell you calling a demon? You wanna die for real, bastard?!” That claim clearly upset Therion. “You’ve gotta be begging for death if you’re lumpin’ me in with those assholes!”

“Eeek!”

Therion was glowering at the man so ferociously, he looked almost scarier than the demons.

Claira tried to cover for him. “P-Please be calm. This man is a Hero. Haven’t you heard of Therion, the Hero of Crystal?” asked Claira, kindly addressing the fearful townsfolk.

“Th-The Hero of Crystal? I’ve heard of him! He keeps fighting with the Holy Principality and causing all sorts of trouble! They say he’s the most fearsome Hero, though the kingdom and empire technically recognize him. But he’s...he’s that Hero?!”

“H-He is. And since he’s a Hero, you all have nothing to worry about.” Just as Claira had told me earlier, it seemed like Therion really was quite infamous. Though the rumors about him did seem to be true.

“Th-Then you’re here to save us?”

“That’s right! I drove all the demons away— I mean, this kind young man and this scary young man drove them all away!” said Yui, looking at me and Therion.

The townspeople gave us a look that said, Really? These two did?

“Th-Then we’re...!”

“W-We’re saved!”

“They drove out the demons!”

“They’re a scary Hero and some S-rank adventurers! We’re not gonna die!”

The townspeople cheered and cried. They had nowhere to go, but once we explained the situation, the kingdom would likely help support them. The king would want to keep the fact there were demons in his domains a secret, after all. Plus, Claira seemed to think the demons’ presence was her fault and clearly wanted to make it up to them.

Well, if Claira asked, they’d probably receive some reparations. But since we were keeping her identity as the second imperial princess a secret, these people had no way of knowing that.

So, what had happened to that town? We decided to hear the story as we walked. Thus, we were off to the royal capital, the townspeople in tow.

***

I’ve never fought alongside anyone my whole damn life—hell, I’ve never even worked toward somethin’ with anyone else before. “Cooperation” is just for weaklings who can’t do a damn thing by themselves. Flocking is for sheep, damn it!

If I could do it alone, I’d better. That’s just how I’ve lived my life. No matter how tough my opponent, I’d always fight it out alone. Why? ’Cause I didn’t need anyone holding me the hell back. And honestly, it’s just easier that way with my skill set. The strongest Holy Knight, adventurer, or even Hero out there could only get in my damn way. They were all effin’ useless.

Which is why I couldn’t frickin’ believe it when I heard adventurers were in charge of protecting Claira. What were they, stupid?

That’s why I had headed for the royal capital, and I found Claira on my way there. Somehow, she was fine. But just like I knew they’d be, those stupid adventurers were beaten to a damn pulp by that demon.

Ugh. They were so damn useless.

I was disappointed in these stupid adventurers. Was that really all S-rank adventurers were made of?

But there was something obviously weird about the white mage with them. First, he could cast spells without any enchantments. Sure, maybe if he was special like me and Claira, he could do that with some simple spells. But the ones he cast were high-level as hell, and he did it like it was nothing! It was so easy for him, I bet he could even do it in his sleep.

Yeah, I was shocked, to be honest. I kept tabs on everyone who was strong, but I’d never even heard of this guy before. And apparently, he was just a D-rank adventurer!

But after fighting with him, I realized this white mage was no joke. His MP consumption down buffs, strength up buffs—all of his damn spells—were at the top of their class. The average weakling supporter couldn’t hold a candle to him.

“Just what is this guy?”

I was walking toward the capital, making sure to keep an eye on Claira from behind the whole time. These brats kept staring at me, which was hella annoying. But if I yelled at them, Claira’d get angry, so I had to ignore them.

“Damn it! Why the hell do I gotta babysit these bastards...”

“Did you say something, Therion?” asked Claira, twitching her ears.

I thought I was being pretty quiet, but I guess she heard me. “It’s nothing,” I said, turning away.

Damn it! Why the hell did I have to protect these guys?!

Apparently, Grist had snuck into town as a guest just a few days ago. He went out for a drink, and he must’ve gotten plastered. A human picked a fight with him and tried to throw a punch, which pissed Grist the hell off. So, he just went ahead and destroyed the whole village.

Well, from what they said, Grist had a shitty attitude from the start. But if someone picked a fight with him, then they kinda deserved it.

Those who managed to escape hid in that shed, eating the scraps inside to survive. Apparently, the place was meant to be a shelter, so they had the bare minimum they needed.

Still, there was no telling there weren’t any demons hiding among them, so I was against taking them with us from the damn start. But according to that white mage, he didn’t detect any mana signals that belonged to demons with them.

And this was what Claira wanted too.

“Ugh, this is so damn annoying...” I cursed loud enough for the brats and townspeople to hear me as I kept a careful watch on Claira from behind.

***

After walking for a short while, we caught sight of a huge, stone wall far off in the distance. It had to be over a dozen meters tall.

So, this was Sylfes, the royal capital.

We could have made the journey faster by carriage, if we had been in a position to use one. But dang, had the way here been a long one.

“There it is!” exclaimed Yui.

“Yup, that’s the royal capital of Sylfes. Pretty impressive, huh?” said Daggers, looking at the stone wall.

“Ugh, that took forever! Still, I had fun, so I guess that doesn’t matter!”

“Yeah, it’d have been fun if not for that last bit,” said Cross.

I agreed. It would have been a pleasant journey, save for that surprise attack by the demons. But this was a quest, and we had been entrusted with guarding Claira. I had been prepared for that to be the case.

It seemed like Claira had enjoyed the journey too. “We’re finally here!”

“Yeah, we are.”

Apparently, two Heroes had already gathered in the royal capital, and with the addition of Therion, that meant all the Heroes would soon be in one place. The Three Great Nations had stripped Allen of his title, so he didn’t count.

“Three Heroes all in the royal capital, huh?” With that much might gathered in Sylfes, the demons were in no position to try anything. If they did, it’d mean a full-blown war, and I was pretty sure that wasn’t something they wanted either.

“Hmph! The other Heroes are nothing, y’know.”

“Therion! Don’t fight with the others. Please?”

“Right, fine. I’ll do my best.”

It’d been a long time since I last heard someone so obviously and falsely make that claim. Master Merlin used to do it all the time. I’d tell her to clean, and she’d just say, “Yeah, I’ll do my best.” It was almost nostalgic.

Those were the thoughts on my mind as we approached the capital. We were almost there, which meant...

“We’ve got business, so can we say our goodbyes here?” asked Yui.

It was time we bid farewell to the townspeople. If possible, I had wanted to see them the entire way. But they could only enter through the main gate, and there was a chance that Claira’s secret would slip if we traveled together any farther.

“O-Of course. Thank you so much for everything.”

“Don’t mention it! Oh, and we’ll talk things over, so you’ve got no need to worry! Just bide your time and wait a bit!”

“Y-You have my deepest gratitude, and apologies. You really have done so much for us...”

After saying our goodbyes, we headed for the agreed-upon meeting spot. A few knights had already gathered there. This was a top secret mission, so there weren’t many of them, but they all looked much stronger than the average knight. These guys had to be elites, even among the Royal Knights. Plus, there were two Heroes waiting at the castle as well. We clearly had nothing to worry about.

Once we drew close, the one dressed in the most brilliant armor—he had to be the captain—caught sight of us and approached. Then, he bowed before us. “Welcome to the royal capital of Sylfes. I am Elizario, captain of the Royal Knights. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances.”

***

Just as Lloyd and the others arrived in the capital, a certain demon ran through the distant woods. It was Grist, exhausted, in tatters, and desperately trying to escape the kingdom’s territories. At times, he’d take his anger out on the monsters he’d encounter, ripping them to shreds before resuming his lightning-fast escape.

He ran as quickly as he could, like a fleeing hare. However, the green-haired demon Mischel was nowhere to be seen. But why?

Plainly, Grist no longer needed him. He no longer cared whether Mischel lived or died. He had failed his quest, which meant he’d receive no reward.

“Damn it! That useless idiot! Following me around so shamelessly despite failing my quest! What a damn...!” Grist’s anger was written all over his face. He was greatly disappointed in Mischel. “Damn it all to hell! That ‘savior’ is still fit as can be! The former Demon King’s right-hand man?! Like hell he is! Sure, he’s a little strong and knows some stuff, but he’s just your average demon! There’s millions just like him!”

Grist had employed Mischel in preparation for that big shot, whom he was expecting to be with Claira. But apparently, the right-hand man had grown rusty. He completely failed to meet Grist’s expectations.

“Tch! The new Demon King was right! Sure, maybe he’s famous, but he’s just a damn relic of the past!” Words shared by the Demon King flitted through his head. “No wonder His Majesty took him out of the running in the new order,” muttered Grist.

Yes, the Demon King was preparing a new order, which was exactly why Grist was so desperate to prove himself, even if it meant long, drawn-out plots. He hoped to claim the single title that paled only to the Demon Kings.

“Well, I didn’t stand a damn chance in the first place, with that monster and abnormality with them...” While Grist couldn’t accept this outcome, he also began to think this plan was doomed from the start. For one, Therion—who he did have intel on—was a self-centered egoist, which made him unpredictable. But as he rarely acted heroic, Grist wasn’t expecting him to jump into action. He just didn’t know how desperate Therion could be when it came to Claira, even after sneaking his way into the empire’s Five Commanders. Or rather, infiltrating was his job, so he had only judged the others based on the level of threat they had posed. That’s why he had failed to notice Therion’s affections.

But if Therion had fought alone, things wouldn’t have turned out like this, even if Grist still wouldn’t have proven victorious. It was the additional appearance of Lloyd—the abnormality the demons had no intel on—that marked his fate. His origins and true strength remained mysteries. Naturally, Grist had no way of predicting this outcome.

“I better report this...”

The Phantom Alchemist lived. While his skills had rusted, he remained a threat.

Messing with Claira meant messing with Therion, the Hero of Crystal.

And that mysterious white mage.

Grist had to report all of it. So, he ran.

Chapter 7: The Mystery of Ancient Magic

The royal capital of Sylfes was a gigantic, bustling city. It had to be around a dozen times the size of Ishtar, and I could see why it was known as the greatest city in the whole nation. Its nickname was the “Heart of the Kingdom,” and naturally, many called it home, including the headquarters of the Adventurer’s Guild. Plus, there were plenty of weapon and armor shops, which I definitely wanted to check out. Not that I could, since I was still in the middle of a quest.

Well, once we were done, I’d have more time than I’d know what to do with. Yui and the others wanted to do some sightseeing too, so we’d likely walk around together. There was no need to rush.

“I better stay focused on our quest for now...”

Still, all that was left was to follow the Royal Knights’ orders and head for the castle on less-traveled roads. There really wasn’t much for me to do.

On our way, we were asked about our journey, so we told them about the Four Fiends of the demon army, as well as the mysterious green-haired demon. Though really, that debacle had taken place only just a few hours ago.

Once the captain of the Royal Knights had asked all his questions, he muttered, “Ah, I see,” as if he had made a connection.

“See what?” I asked. I could have ignored that statement, but since it caught my interest, I decided to ask anyway.

“Well, you stated that just a few hours prior, a mysterious, clearly unnatural fog suddenly appeared. We had reinforced patrols in the nearby villages and strengthened our defenses around the capital, but the cause remained a mystery. Though not any longer.”

So, I was right. The mana-infused fog had stretched to the capital’s vicinity. While we never managed to determine the source, the captain’s words confirmed it hadn’t been a natural phenomenon. It was almost certainly the demons’ doing.

“A mana-infused fog and the appearance of one of the demon army’s Four Fiends... We debated employing the Heroes, but to think the situation was so grave. You have my deepest apologies for failing to offer our support.” Elizario bowed.

“No, it’s fine. We made it through in the end, and luckily, Claira and all our party members are still safe. Though I wasn’t able to help much.”

“No, I have heard much about you, Lloyd. They say you’re the savior of Ishtar.”

Apparently, news of Ishtar had spread all the way to Sylfes. Quite honestly, I didn’t feel that embarrassed. If anything, the guilt was much better. I felt like a liar, since I really hadn’t done much at all.

“You all think too highly of me. If not for Therion, things would have been bad.”

“Would they? Well, perhaps his presence truly was your key to victory, but...” Captain Elizario glanced at Therion. “The Hero of Crystal—no, perhaps I can’t formally address you with such a title. In any case, I’m surprised you’ve come.”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I ain’t here ’cause I’m a Hero.”

“Yes, I’m sure you aren’t,” said Elizario with an awkward laugh.

“You weren’t thinkin’ I’ve gotten all hero-like, were you?”

“I did consider the possibility. They may just be rumors, but I’ve heard you’re the strongest of the Heroes. I thought we might be able to place our hopes in you.”

“Hah?! Of course you can’t! I’ve got no interest in being a damn Hero,” said Therion, thoroughly denying he was here out of Heroic duty.

Claira shot him an inquisitive look. “Yet you’re here, aren’t you? You say you’re not a Hero, but then why protect me?”

“I-I just felt like it! It was a damn whim! I already said you couldn’t rely on these losers, didn’t I?! I’ve got no clue about these other Heroes, but ya can’t trust these guys, that’s for sure.” He desperately gave excuses, but it was clear he was just trying to hide his embarrassment.

Yui watched this exchange, snickering the whole time.

“What are you smiling about?” I asked.

“Oh, I mean, Therion seems to think he’s really hiding it, and it’s so obvious, but Claira doesn’t notice a thing! I just can’t get enough! Oh, to be young and innocent! I could watch this forever,” she said, desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Therion must have noticed our chat, as he started to glare at us. Yui and I let out a simultaneous gasp.

“Hey! What the hell are you two laughing about, huh?!” Cracks and snaps resounded as a thin layer of ice spread out over the ground beneath his feet. I felt something chilling—both physically and mentally.

“O-Oh, it’s nothing...”

“Y-Yeah, it’s nothing! I was just thinking you were scary,” said Yui, repeating my excuse.

“Hmph! Fine! I’ll let you get away with it this time, but just you dare act suspicious again! I’ll turn you into an effin’ popsicle! You’ll be this town’s newest monument! And no more damn excuses! If I even feel like you’re makin’ excuses, I’ll turn you into an ice sculpture whether you’re telling the damn truth or not! Got it?!” That was quite the vulgar threat, and he probably wasn’t joking. The look on his face was serious.

Once those words came out of his mouth, he frowned again and began to walk off. If I wasn’t careful, I really would be this town’s newest monument. He was definitely being serious, and even the others who weren’t part of our conversation could tell. Even Captain Elizario was grimacing.

There was just one exception...

“You can’t say things like that, Therion! Not even as a joke! How many times do I have to tell you that someone might take you seriously! Be careful, okay?” Claira was so dense, I almost couldn’t believe it. Somehow, she thought Therion was joking.

“Y-Yeah, I guess. I hope it stays just a joke.” Claira must have been the only to ever extend him kindness. He treated her so much better than the rest of us, that was the only conclusion I could come to.

Afterward, we carefully headed for the castle, all the while making sure we didn’t rub Therion the wrong way.

***

The castle stood in the middle of the city, towering over the other buildings. Its walls were mostly white, while its roof was made of some light-green material. It was so huge, you could see it no matter where you were in the city.

And while it wasn’t quite as tall as the protective walls around the capital, it too was surrounded by a sturdy rampart. Inside were the knights’ barracks, training grounds, storage houses, and all sorts of other structures completely removed from the lives of the average citizen.

In addition to the rampart was the Royal Knights and their flawless security. With their thorough defenses, the castle would surely be kept safe from any siege.

“Hey!” said Therion, rudely calling out to Elizario as he looked up at the castle.

“Yes, what is it?”

“You lot are gonna be keeping Claira in here, right? But who the hell’s to say it’s safe?”

Therion was right. If someone had infiltrated the palace, she could be in danger. In fact, her kidnapping had been carried out by someone who had infiltrated the empire’s inner circle. No matter how staunch their defenses, they’d be useless if a demon or one of their conspirators had already made their way inside.

Despite this, Elizario responded calmly. “You have nothing to worry about. That fear is exactly why we summoned Lloyd from Ishtar.”

“Huh?! And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Why, you haven’t heard? Lloyd can distinguish between demons, humans, and beastmen via his detection magic.”

“Huh?!” Therion glared at me, as if to say, Explain yourself!

“Well, that’s true, but...” This was strange. Why did they need me? Any mage in the kingdom could do the same, and if they couldn’t trust just one person to do it, they could employ multiple, then compare the results. They had no reason to need me specifically. “Why do I have to do it?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, someone else could do it, couldn’t they? You could hire a skilled mage. There are plenty of them.”

“Well, um...” Elizario was at a loss for words, which only made me confused.

That’s when Yui let out an exasperated sigh and placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Y’know, Lloyd, no one else can tell species apart using detection magic. You’re the exception.”

Now I was even more confused. When using detection magic, it was pretty easy to determine what species each signal was coming from. Master Merlin acted like it was nothing, and even Lily, who was pretty bad with detection magic and could only use it over small areas, said she could at least determine the species of the few signals she could detect.

“No, anyone who can use detection magic should be able to—”

“Sure, others can use detection magic, but there aren’t even very many of them—especially those who can cast it over a few kilometers! In fact, I’m pretty sure you’re the only one, Lloyd. I was just too shocked you found demons to be surprised that last time.”

“No, wait a second. Even my old master could...” My head was spinning. No one had ever mentioned this when I was still with the Hero’s party, and growing up, I had always been told it was completely normal. In Master Merlin’s circle, it was.

So, wait... It wasn’t normal?

“Hey!” shouted Therion.

“Y-Yes?”

“That true?” he asked, his eyes locked on me in disbelief.

“Y-Yeah. I can determine the species of the signals I’m sensing, at least. But determining specific identities requires a different process, so that’s a bit difficult.”

“Got it.” Apparently, that was enough to satisfy Therion. He didn’t ask any more questions.

“Yes, that’s the situation. Considering the circumstances of Princess Claira’s kidnapping, we’ve fully contemplated the possibility of an inside assault. However, we had no means of determining the species of those working here. That’s when we received word from Abel that he had discovered a white mage capable of doing so.”

“Huh, so that’s how it is...” I muttered.

“Exactly. While we can’t fully ignore the possibility the demons have human conspirators, we’ll simply have to cover for that by placing her in the hands of those we can trust.”

“Yes, you’re right...” Suddenly, a question popped into my mind. I never reported anything about my detection magic to Abel, and since I thought it was normal, I had never even considered stressing that capability. Could Yui and the others have reported to him without me knowing?

Despite these doubts, there wasn’t a need to bring it up now, so I decided to save it for later.

“In any case, as soon as we enter the castle, I’d like you to immediately check the species of a few of our men. Would that be all right?”

“S-Sure. Will do.” Immediately, I cast my detection magic on the knights here with us and confirmed they were all human. Then, we stepped inside the castle.

***

The palace was filled with lavish decoration and ostentation, even more so than Abel’s manor had been. The number of servants was beyond comparison too. In fact, I saw so many, just knowing I’d have to thoroughly cast detection magic on every single one later was enough to leave me feeling completely overwhelmed. I was likely in for an all-nighter—maybe more.

Anyway, with that depressing thought on my mind, we arrived at an especially opulent reception room. The throne and the red carpet were highly decorative, but most impressive were the walls. Elizario had explained this to us in advance, but they were apparently made using an exceptionally sturdy ore. Here, the king’s excellence was astonishingly palpable.

“W-Wow...” Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. The walls and luxurious decoration had Daggers and the others feeling nervous as well. I guess that was only natural.

Claira and Therion alone seemed unperturbed.

“Nostalgic, isn’t it?” muttered Claira, as if she were looking for agreement. But naturally, none of us could offer her that. In fact, we couldn’t even speak.

Therion, on the other hand, didn’t look surprised at all. If anything, he seemed completely disinterested.

After a short while, Elizario and a number of knights returned to the reception room. “I understand it may be sudden, but His Majesty would like to meet with you all immediately. Have you mentally prepared yourselves?”

“I-I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, me too.”

We had yet to calm our nerves, but we couldn’t keep the king waiting forever.

As if awaiting this answer, a dignified, clearly king-like, middle-aged man promptly entered. Despite his age, his body was toned. He also seemed like the uncle-type, but in a good way.

In his left hand was a staff even taller than he was, which he clanked against the floor as he approached the throne.

So, this was the king of the Fuhlen Kingdom.

“Greetings. I am Greador Basileus, and while being the king of this land does not make me capable of using unique magic like the imperial princess, I’d like to extend my gratitude for accepting this sudden, dangerous quest and delivering her to us unharmed. You have my deepest thanks. Accordingly, I have increased your reward, so please do accept it later,” said King Greador, bowing his head. “Thus concludes your quest to guard Claira. However... This is simply a personal request—no, think of it as a private hope of mine—but would you be willing to stay here in the capital for the time being?”

The king stressed that this wasn’t an order, but a plea. In other words, he wished for us to stay here in Sylfes so that we could rush to Claira’s aid if anything were to happen while they harbored her. If we agreed, he’d likely prepare lodgings at an inn for us, or perhaps a small house for our party alone. Considering we were already thinking we’d work in the capital for a while, this was perfect.

“Is it really okay to accept all this kindness from you?” asked Yui. She was naturally feeling a bit guilty, even if she was pleased with the offer.

“Why, of course it is. It seems we’ll be in Sir Lloyd’s debt for a while, after all.”

Ah, so that’s how it was. This wasn’t free, but it was still a bargain. No way could we turn it down. Thus, we were bestowed an exorbitant sum of gold, numerous rare weapons, and a place to stay as the reward for our quest.

“Good luck, then, Lloyd!”

“Yup, we’re rooting for you!”

“I know you’ll do your best out there!”

Yui, Cross, and Silica gave me some encouraging, parting words. Then, I was off to my detection magic job from hell.

“Well, those guys are just excited and tired from our long journey. Cut them some slack, okay?” Daggers, alone, apologized.

“No, it’s fine. I’m used to this sort of thing.”

“You mean that ‘master’ of yours again?”

I nodded.

“I see. Still, even if you are, don’t push yourself, okay?”

“Right.” Thus, I was off to search through what was easily over a hundred servants, and even more knights.

***

A day had passed, and it was now nighttime. After finishing up my detection magic job, I took a dip in the castle baths on His Majesty’s advice to ease my exhaustion and now walked the dark hallways alone. Apparently, the king had prepared a room for me here now that my job was done.

“In the end, that took over twenty-four hours...”

Luckily, I was used to all-nighters. Skipping out on sleep for just one night was nothing for me. I guess that was also thanks to Master Merlin.

Plus, Elizario had brought me some light meals every so often, so I wasn’t hungry either. Right now, I was simply taking a walk while languidly taking in the castle atmosphere.

“It really is pretty, huh?” As I walked the long halls, I took the time to appreciate the palace’s design, as well as the knickknacks and paintings adorning the walls. That’s when I began to hear a faint voice—one that was getting closer.

Sniff, sniff! “Hah! I know’st thy scent!” A short young woman suddenly appeared from around the corner, muttering those mysterious words to herself. She had orange hair and was dressed in oriental-style clothes. She had animal ears too, which marked her as a beastwoman. While they weren’t common here in the castle, there were still a few. But there was a bigger problem.

“A-Are you a...child?”

“How rude! I’faith, I am fully grown!” she said, throwing a tantrum like a little kid.

S-So, she was an adult. In that case, I guess her roaming the halls alone wasn’t a problem.

“S-Sorry.”

“Hmph! Thou wouldst do best to keep that in mind,” proudly proclaimed the girl with animal ears.

But what was happening here, exactly? Well, there was no need to keep chatting, so I started off once again. However...

“H-Huh?! W-Wait!”

“Huh? Are you talking to me?”

“Art there anyone else here but thee?!”

I had just met this girl, but for some reason, she’d stopped me. What could she possibly need?

“I did espy thy detection magic. Thou art quite impressive.”

“Th-Thank you. I guess?”

“Indeed. Though I have a question for thee.”

“A question? What is it?”

Just what did she want? I had no idea.

That’s when I realized I hadn’t cast any detection magic on her. Was I under attack?!

“Thou needst not panic. Thou hast heard, no? There doth be one thou need not detect. That is I.”

Oh, that’s right. His Majesty had said there was one person I didn’t need to check. Therion had gone ballistic, but apparently she mostly kept to herself, so I could leave her for later. That was this beastwoman.

All right...

For assurance’s sake, I activated my detection magic. She really was a beastwoman.

“So? What do you need?” I asked point-blank.

“Hmm... I have many questions for thee, and many words to share. But first, hmm...” She seemed to be pondering something, and I got the feeling it was going to take a while.

“If you need some time to get your thoughts together, why don’t we discuss this tomor—”

“Halt! They hath come to me!” she said, panicked. I heard her whisper, “This shall draw thy attention,” before she slowly asked, “Dost thou know of Ancient Magic?”

Ancient Magic? I’d never heard of that before. My mind froze. I searched through my memories, but I couldn’t find a single mention of it at all.

This was magic completely unknown to me. And really, I’d thought I had a pretty good grasp of magic. I guess not.

Ancient Magic, huh? If it was as the name suggested—if this was ancient magic from long ago—then I had some personal interest in the matter. Maybe this would be the key I needed to level up my spells.

I’d better hear her out. “Ancient Magic? What’s that?”

She giggled. “Just as I thought!” she exclaimed, snickering like her prey had fallen right into her trap. “Interested, art thou not?”

“Yeah.”

She giggled again. “My plan hath worked!”

Apparently, I really had fallen right into her trap. The phrase “Ancient Magic” was more than enough to grab my attention. How could I not have asked?

“To my laboratory!”

To her laboratory? I wasn’t tired yet, but at the same time, this wasn’t exactly a pressing matter.

Well, I guess I could follow...

“Sure. But can I ask your name first? I’m Lloyd.” If we didn’t know each other’s names, things were only going to get more difficult.

“And my name, ’tis Ryouen, though I pray thou not ask my age, dear Lloyd.”

***

Ryouen’s so-called laboratory was located within the palace’s dungeons.

“Oho! This doth be it!” she said, opening her arms wide and pompously introducing the cluttered space. Somehow, it reminded me of Master Merlin’s laboratory. First, there was the mess. Reports and documents were placed into rough, random piles, and apparatuses for her experiments had just been left dirty and where they were. The room had to be pretty large, but over half of it was filled with clutter, which made it seem awfully cramped.

Based on this alone, she just seemed like a researcher who had an impossible time keeping things neat. But she was certainly something. To make it here, I had to go through all sorts of processes and procedures. First, this room wasn’t even on the castle maps, and according to her, there were fewer than ten people—which included the king and Captain Elizario—who knew about it.

And yeah, that tracked, given the hoops I had to crawl through to get here. For one, the hallways had been cloaked with advanced illusion and concealment magic, and she had even erected an invisible barrier that blocked all living things without permission to enter.

But that wasn’t all. Even if you made it through the seemingly dead-end corridor, it only led to storage space containing what appeared to be important documents. If a defect in the system accidentally let anyone inside, the vast majority would be satisfied with what they saw and return home. Some might even realize this space wasn’t meant for them and leave on their own accord.

However, in that storage space was a hidden door, which could only be opened by using magic to input a secret code on a certain section of the wall. It led to Ryouen’s laboratory, and apparently, she had thought up this measure herself.

“Amazing, ’tis not?” That’s what she exclaimed over and over as she showed me countless magical tools of her own invention, explaining the mechanisms employed and their uses in excruciating detail. Well, I was used to studying, so “excruciating” wasn’t exactly the right word.

She had the king’s trust, had created all these amazing inventions, and even had vast magical knowledge. Clearly, this Ryouen was no average researcher. But then, what was she, exactly? The more I thought about it, the less I understood her.

“Ryouen? What are you, exactly?”

“Hmm? What I doth be? Even I myself know’st not. I am merely a traveler from the empire who yearns to be like another.”

“Another?”

“Indeed. I beseeched her countless times to make me her pupil, yet I was refused! She claimed she was no researcher. Thus, I followed in her example, and this doth be the result, somehow or another!”

Somehow or another? Traveling so far just to become someone’s apprentice was impressive enough, but she had even earned this amazing position and the king’s favor. I could hardly believe it.

“I see...”

“Indeed. Where she is now I know not, nor know’st I whether she doth still live. However...” Ryouen leaned in, bringing her face close to mine. Well, she was quite a bit shorter than me, so it wasn’t exactly “close,” but... Anyway, what did she want?

“Is something wrong?”

Sniff, sniff! “Zounds!” She was smelling me for some reason. “I know thy scent!”

“I-I smell? But I just took a bath.”

“Nay, I am no lecher! I speak not of thy body odor, but thy magic!”

“You can smell magic?” I had never heard of mana having a scent before. Was she being metaphorical? “Does magic smell?”

“My nostrils doth smell characteristics of mana, yet the talent is mine alone. Thy magic doth smell like Master Merlin’s!”

“M-Merlin?” That name really brought me back. Her face immediately flashed through my mind. “Wait, do you know Master Merlin?”

“So thou dost know Merlin! Where doth she be?!” ecstatically asked Ryouen. I had never expected to find a friend of my master’s here of all places. I was kind of impressed. Master Merlin must be more famous than I thought.

Oh, that must be it. She must have actually worked before holing herself up in the woods. Now that I was on the subject, I realized I really didn’t know much about Master Merlin’s past. She never spoke of it while we were living together, and I never had much interest in asking.

Though, whether or not she deserved respect was a different matter. As far as I knew, she couldn’t have too many fans. She just didn’t have the personality.

“Well, I’m not quite sure my Merlin and yours are the same person...”

“Nay, verily they art alike!”

How was she so confident? I decided to just ask. “Why do you think so?”

“Why, ’tis simple. The nature of thy mana and Merlin’s doth be different, but thy control and usage art one and the same. Though I do see thou art not aware.”

“You can tell all that?”

“Nay, not typically. While there art differences, I have no interest in the magic of others and shan’t purposefully sniff it out.” Ryouen claimed she was completely disinterested, but that only made me question her confidence more. Given the flow of this conversation, I had a guess where it came from. In other words...

“You remember Master Merlin’s mana alone?”

“Indeed. I am a fan of hers, through and through. None there art in the whole world who know Merlin as well as I!” She sounded pretty pleased with herself, but I wasn’t really sure whether that was something to be proud of. Master Merlin couldn’t have that many fans, right? Ryouen must be pretty unique.

“I-Is that right...?”

“Yea, verily!” She happily nodded. “Ah, so she art indeed alive. Then surely she hast a reason to hide, one she cannot divulge to others.”

“Wait, you think she’s hiding for a reason?”

“Yes, a woman such as Merlin hast certain things she must consider...”

“Hmm?” I felt like my view of Master Merlin and Ryouen’s weren’t quite aligned. She’d never told me anything like that before, or even hinted at it. No, maybe she was just hiding it from me? “Did Master Merlin do something bad?”

“Hmm? Thou knowest not?”

“Kn-Know what?”

“Hmm...” Ryouen pondered for a moment. We were clearly on two different pages, but had I really said something that required so much thinking? I searched through our conversation, but I couldn’t really remember anything except for the fact something just didn’t feel quite right.

“Is something wrong, Ryouen?”

“N-Nay, ’tis nothing.” She shook her head, pulling me out of my thoughts as well. Then for some reason, she retreated a few steps. After all she had said, I wanted to hear more, but something seemed to be on her mind given how she was muttering to herself. “She hath kept it a secret? Then she doth have her reasons, yet... Ah! Forsooth! Doth he be an illegitimate child?! Y-Yet thy faces and personalities do seem to be at odds, and so doth thy mana...”

She was too far away for me to hear what she was saying, but I could see the obvious shifts in her mood. She went from worried, to shocked, to happy, then to sad all on her own.

“H-Hey, what’re you doing over there?” I was ready to hear about this Ancient Magic, so I decided to rush her a bit. That’s what I was here for, after all.

“N-Nay, ’tis nothing. Nothing at all! Thou art here to discuss Ancient Magic, art thou not?”

Now that we had moved on to our main topic of discussion, I could finally relax a bit. So, what was Ancient Magic, exactly?

“Ahem! Then I shall divulge. Put simply, ’tis magic passed down from days of yore.”

“Then is it something I could learn?” Before I heard the rest, I decided to ask what was weighing heaviest on my mind. If I could learn this magic, then maybe I could finally be of some help to Yui and the others. At least, that’s what I thought, but...

“Nay, ’tis not possible.”

“I-I see.” Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like it. So, this Ancient Magic really was out of my reach. “Then I really am not good enough to...”

“Nay, not even a hero of legend mayst learn it.”

“Huh? What does that mean, exactly?”

“Acquisition of Ancient Magic is rife with mystery; it requireth neither class nor toil.”

If class didn’t matter, then what did? Was Ancient Magic fictional, or maybe just theoretical?

“Ancient Magic doth be magic passed down from times of old. For a hundred years—nay, centuries—mages toiled to learn it, and one among them did even imperil his very life. All attempts hath ended in failure. But once every few centuries, a being appears who bears this unusual magic, which existeth just as it did in legends.”

“Right.” I was finally starting to get a grasp of what she was talking about. “You mean Claira, don’t you?”

“Indeed. She doth possess the Ancient Magic of legend. She is an inheritor, and she doth be the only one. In recent times, ’twas the Demon King, though he is no longer.”

The Demon King? I had heard of him before. He was the ferocious king of the demons who once tried to conquer the entire continent, but I didn’t know much else given the strict regulations on intel about him. A knight had once told me that this was probably meant to prevent anyone from acquiring and abusing that same magic, but huh. I guess they weren’t trying to conceal intel regarding the Demon King, but the existence of his magic—Ancient Magic.

“Do the Three Great Nations control all information about Ancient Magic?”

“Indeed. Most knoweth not even its name. Its existence alone is far too mighty—whether borne by friend or foe, it shall inspire fear in the people. And while only an inheritor canst use Ancient Magic, others may wield it by proxy, just as the demons hath.”

“Huh...” So, that’s why all intel on Ancient Magic was concealed. I got why.

“So I have heard. Only one woman hath analyzed and repurposed Ancient Magic to cast spells without chants and develop spells that requireth no staves, like storage magic. ’Tis none other than Merlin,” whispered Ryouen, too quietly for me to hear.

“Did you say something?”

“Hmm? Nay, ’tis nothing. At least, naught for thee to worry about.”

“R-Really?”

“Indeed. In any case, Ancient Magic doth be magic of old known only to few.”

And thanks to Ryouen, I was among them. I had also learned that Claira’s existence was even rarer than I thought it was. “This doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with me, though.”

“Hmm... Besides inheritors, there art... Zounds!”

“Huh?”

Ryouen brought a hand to her chin, looking like an idea had suddenly occurred to her.

“What?”

“’Twas once a lone noninheritor who didst cast Ancient Magic.”

“There was?”

“I-Indeed. However, it marked their life’s end. I know’st not the details, but there must be a cost. Casting such spells repeatedly appears truly impossible for a noninheritor.”

So, even if there were exceptions, actually using Ancient Magic would still be impossible. But once Ryouen was done speaking, a question suddenly occurred to me. “But why tell me this? Just to be clear, I’m done protecting Claira.”

“Indeed thou art. I simply thought it to be information thou might find useful, given thy knowledge. Let us now move on to the crux of our discussion.”

The crux? So, Ancient Magic was just a lure to get me interested, but this was top secret level information. Was I really allowed to hear all that just to get me hooked? “Which is...?”

“Wouldst thou like to research magic together? Of course, that doth include Ancient Magic.”

“You want me to help you with your research?”

“Indeed! Wouldst thou be mine assistant? I have been in search of one well-versed in magic, and thou seemst to possess intel beyond even my ken! So? Art thou interested?”

Researching magic, huh? I was interested, and I was quite thankful for the invitation, but... “Sorry. You probably know this already, but I’m with Yui’s party, and when we’re not adventuring, I need to focus on raising my rank. I don’t think I can be your assistant.”

“Hmm. Then shall I help thee increase thy rank?”

“Huh?”

“I was once an adventurer myself. While I am no S-rank, I do hold the rank of A.” Apparently, Ryouen had joined the guild to earn funds while traveling from the empire to the kingdom. There were plenty of adventurers who had no permanent home and instead hopped from place to place, making it the perfect job for a long journey.

“A-rank, huh?” Not to mention, her rank was pretty high too.

“Indeed. That shan’t be a problem, yes?”

“It won’t, but... There’s nothing in this for you, is there?” I was grateful she wanted to help, but it didn’t seem like she’d get anything out of it herself, nor could she have enough free time on her hands to spend it on what basically amounted to volunteer efforts. After all, she was the type who locked herself away in the castle’s dungeons to focus on her studies.

“Nay, there is much for me.”

“Is there?”

“Forsooth!” She was grinning so hard, it was almost weird. I couldn’t tell what she was plotting, but if she was offering her help, I had no reason to refuse. I could increase my rank and maybe even learn some magic from her in the process.

“Got it. Then will you help me when you have the time?”

“Of course! Oho ho! Merlin’s decades of research art now...” She was trembling in excitement, but my eyes weren’t too focused on her. Just what was she after, exactly?

***

After concluding my discussion with Ryouen, I followed the map I had received from Elizario to a house in the royal capital, which had been lent to our party for personal use. We had talked for so long, it was already morning. While I could have slept in the room the king had prepared for me in the castle, night was already over, so I decided to just return to the others.

Thus, I left the castle, and after a short walk, a certain building came into sight. It seemed like the right place considering how much it resembled the structure built for the Hero’s party that I had lived in until just a few months prior. Elizario had even said it was constructed for Heroes in anticipation they’d be staying in the capital for extended periods, and this one specifically had been built for Allen, which meant it was brand-new.

“This takes me back,” I muttered. Suddenly, I began to wonder about Allen. What was he up to? Ever since he had abandoned that emergency request, his whereabouts had been unknown. “He’s fine...right?”

I knew fretting about him wouldn’t help anything, but we had spent over a year together. Of course I was a bit worried.

“Lloyd! What’re you doing out there?” Yui’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. She was waving at me from a window on the second floor.

“It’s nothing!”

“Yeah? But you must be pooped! We’ve got breakfast for you!”

Now that I was thinking about it, I hadn’t eaten anything since the lunch Elizario had brought me yesterday. “I’ll be right there! Thanks!”

“Tell that to Daggers, not me! He’s the one who made it!”

“Yeah, I will!” I said as I stepped through the door.

Side Story: The Princess’s Knight Is the Ruffian Hero

A few years prior, Claira sipped on her tea alone. She was inside the imperial capital and the palace that towered over the rest of the city, where there was a heavily guarded area known as the central palace. That’s where her room could be found, and given the nature of her magic, she was rarely allowed to step outside it. She spent her days off lazing around her room, just as she was doing today.

“How boring,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve already finished all the books I ordered.”

Still, visiting the castle gardens would be quite laborious as well. She was only allowed to do so with multiple guards, and one had to be on the level of the Five Commanders. Summoning them would be exhausting, and she didn’t want her own personal whims to get in the way of their work. But more than anything, Claira’s nature didn’t allow her to forget her guards. She’d be too busy trying not to bother them to actually rest.

“What a waste of this beautiful weather,” she muttered, watching the scenery outside her window from between the metal bars. Marred with melancholy, she simply stared at the tea in her cup. That’s when suddenly, she heard a commotion from outside.

“Is something the matter?” she wondered, tilting her head and looking toward the door.

Bam! It flew open.

“I’m comin’ in.” There he was, with his white skin, sky-blue hair, and awfully thin clothes—Therion.

Nearby, Claira’s guards were in a state of panic. “S-Sir Therion? You may be a Hero, but even you can’t just...”

“Hah?!” he screamed, glaring back at them.

The guards quaked in their boots. Therion didn’t know much about them, but if they had been entrusted with guarding the second imperial princess, they had to be elites who ranked quite highly in the imperial army. However, even though they were so terrified of Therion, they looked ready to run, they did their best to push through their fear and carry out their duties.

Not that Therion cared. He kicked the nuisances aside, overpowering those who resisted with force. When it came to Claira, Therion paid no mind to appearances. “Hey, bastard! Talk back to me like that again and I’ll damn rip you a...”

“E-Eeek! M-My deepest apologies!” Unable to withstand Therion’s intimidations—which were on the cusp of madness—one of the soldiers abandoned his mission and dashed off. The other guards kept their mouths shut.

Therion entered the room, muttering, “Glad those dumbasses are gone,” under his breath. Then, he glanced around before locking eyes on Claira. “Jeez, it’s like a damn prison cell in here...”

“That’s not something to say about a lady’s room, Therion,” pouted Claira. After all, she was the one who had arranged the furniture in here. Naturally, the comment angered her.

“I’m not talking about the damn décor. Like hell a normal room would have metal bars on the window, much less a ‘lady’s room.’”

“W-Well, I suppose you’re right.”

Therion wasn’t wrong. This room had been constructed of tough materials, ones stronger than those used in the weapons and armor of top-class knights and adventurers, which was hardly befitting a room that belonged to a lady. Once Therion had pointed that out, she was in no position to argue back.

“Well, you’ve got your magic, so I guess this is just how things have gotta be, but...”

“This room is all that I can remember, so I don’t find it all that stressful. Though I suppose I can’t deny it is quite prisonlike,” she said with a grimace.

Her sad eyes elicited a sigh from Therion. “So? You’ve got nothin’ to do today, don’t you?”

“W-Well, I guess so.”

“Knew it.” Therion had come here knowing Claira was likely bored. Due to his rough attitude, the people were split as to whether he could truly be considered a Hero. Had Claira not been manipulating things in the empire from behind the scenes, he’d have long been stripped of that title.

However, everyone knew of his skills, and that none of the Five Commanders could rival them. Claira could have no more reliable guard than him.

“I bet you wanna go outside, yeah?”

“You really do know me so well,” said Claira, grinning from ear to ear.

Therion averted his eyes. “I just kinda had a feeling.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s nothin’! Let’s go!” shouted Therion, his embarrassment roughing up his words.

Claira giggled. “You’re so kind, Therion.”

Thus, they were off. Therion followed from behind, her cuteness on his mind.

***

Therion and Claira walked through the castle, ignoring the numerous stares as they strolled their way to the courtyard. Of course, Claira was the second princess of this land, and all knew of her existence. However, the fact she typically couldn’t leave her room was equally common knowledge. To others, it seemed as if Therion were forcibly dragging her away.

Though given how holed up she typically was, none considered that a bad thing.

After arriving in the courtyard, the two sat on a bench and enjoyed the scenery. The nature here was manufactured, but it being a castle, it was naturally a near-perfect job. The gardens were quite huge, and thus didn’t feel cramped in the slightest.

“Honestly? This place is a world of difference from where I was born,” said Therion.

“Yes, I suppose you might be right. Your hometown is considered quite problematic even within imperial lands, after all.”

“It’s where all the damn dregs of the empire gather, after all. An effin’ garbage heap.”

“Y-You don’t have to say it like that,” said Claira, unable to keep herself from correcting him. Still, Therion’s home had quite a poor reputation within the empire, which was exactly why life here seemed so different to him.

“With all the money you’re spending, ya better go see it yourself. The forest goes on for damn near forever.” For Claira, this was her first outing in a long while, but Therion spent it complaining. Still, she was quite enjoying herself anyway.

His grumblings continued for a short while, until a question suddenly occurred to Claira. “That reminds me, you’re always dressed for the summer, Therion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in warm clothes before.”

“Hah? I just ain’t good with the heat, given how my body is.”

“Then is that also why your skin’s so white?” In all honesty, Claira had pondered Therion’s secret to pearly white skin multiple times. It was beautiful, so much so she was jealous.

“Well, I keep indoors. I’m a night owl, y’know? The heat damn gets to me, and so does the damn sun.”

“Wow, I had no idea you had such a weakness!”

“Well, I ain’t gonna kick the bucket unless it’s some crazy-strong fire magic, so you don’t gotta worry. I’m more just ain’t a fan,” said Therion, firmly denying her words.

Still, Claira was happy to learn of his weaknesses. For a while, she enjoyed the scenery and basked in the sunlight. Therion didn’t look very comfortable, but he kept quiet regardless.

“Thank you so much for coming here today.”

“It’s nothin’! I just felt a little sorry for you,” said Therion, averting his gaze by looking up at the sky.

“You really are kind, huh?”

“Sure, whatever you say...”

Afterword

Thank you so, so much for reading this book. I’m Sora Suigetsu, the author. And while I’m just a newbie, it’s thanks to so many others that I was able to publish a second volume and even get a manga adaptation! I’m so, so thankful, much more than words can even express.

That’s why I’d like to use this space to extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who helped make this book possible. First, I’d like to thank Futabasha Publishers for choosing to publish my series over countless others. And you’ve even given me a manga adaptation! Thank you so, so much.

Next, I’d like to thank my editor. You’d travel such a long way for our meetings and always considered my plans, and I’m incredibly thankful for that. Your advice helped this book immensely.

Then, there’s DeeCHA, my illustrator. Thank you so much for drawing all my characters. They match the story perfectly! They were exactly what I wanted—actually, even better than what I wanted—and I was so shocked. Thank you.

And finally, I’d like to thank my readers. If not for you—and that includes my readers on Shosetsuka ni Naro—I wouldn’t have even been able to write this afterword.

Thank you all for supporting a gloomy character like myself and putting so much effort into a story written by an average high schooler.

Anyway, I’m sure nobody’s interested, but I thought I’d introduce myself. I’m Sora Suigetsu, a self-proclaimed angsty high schooler. I love daydreaming and challenging myself, and my biggest hobby is people watching (not that this means I’m not part of conversations myself).

Lately, I’ve been putting my all into studying for my entrance exams while eagerly awaiting updates to Scooped Up’s manga adaptation. It’s being published on the Gaugau Monster app and website. Have you all been reading it? Manga artists sure are amazing, huh? I’m always so thankful for Wasabi Mukuno-sensei, not that we’ve ever gotten to talk in person.

I really just can’t believe my stories have been published and my characters realized in manga...

Right now, I can truly say I’m having the best time of my (seventeen-year-long) life, and it was all thanks to everyone’s efforts and support. I know I’ve said it before, but I wanted to end with one more thank you to everyone who’s worked to get this series published, as well as to all my readers. Thank you so much for reading this book, and I hope to meet you again in the next one!