The time mage’s strong new game ~ I

returned to the past to rewrite it as the

world’s strongest – Chapter 32 – Means to
victory
Labrys is out of the dungeon, and I’m facing the giant slime alone.
“Let’s begin, demon king Ultimelt.”
And then, as if responding to me, what looks like the upper half of a
person’s body is created from the top of the giant slime.
It looks like the shape of a girl… Labrys’.
“…Hey, do you love us?”
“…Hey, will you be with us?”
“…Hey, will you play with us?”
From multiple parts of the slime’s body, I hear what sounds like baby
voices patched together.
I think it attained a degree of humanity after eating humans.
“Hey, play with us.”
“Be with us.”
“Become us.”
“Let’s play.”
“Hey, come on, let’s play.”
“…Forever.”
Many human arms grow out of the demon king Ultimelt’s body.
These arms that will melt everything they touch feel almost like the arms of
babies looking for their mothers.
Slow, viscous, wet… They stretch over my way to eat me while foaming
with a pale-blue mucous.
“Sorry, but… I have a place I have to go back to.”
I grab my sword and unsheathe it while unleashing a sword flash.
The pale-blue arms that were coming after me fall and writhe on the
ground.
“And because of that, I will end you here.”
I fix the melted sword by rewinding its time, and point it at Ultimelt.
“…Oh?”
“Strange?”
“Weird?”
“Why do you deny?”
“How come?”
“But you’re so weak?”
“It’s no use?”
“Right?”
Ultimelt seems confused, as it looks at the cut arms.
The arms regenerate right away.
No, they don’t just regenerate, there are many times more arms than before.
“Hey, will you accept us?”
“Don’t be scared.”
“Don’t feel lonely.”
“Everyone will be us soon.”
“Your family too.”
“Your friends too.”
“Your hometown too.”
“This world too.”
“Everyone… Everyone will get to be us!”
The slime arms then come at me like a spear being thrust.
“Haste Ⅴ!”
I crunch down a magic stone after throwing it in my mouth, and dodge the
arms as I accelerate.
I hear a loud noise, and both the wall and the control panel behind me are
pierced by many arms. Everything that’s pierced by them melts.
“Hahahaha!”
“We know!”
“This is called tag, isn’t it?”
“Kya kya!”
“It’s fun!”
The floor and walls of the dungeon are broken by the pale-blue arms.
As the walls are melted, the dungeon is starting to collapse increasingly
faster.
It’s raining rubble, and it’s all melted in a second as I run at full speed from
Ultimelt’s arms.
(This really is the worst demon king…)
I can’t let my guard down just because it talks like a child. This life-form
will melt and eat everything, and keep expanding without stopping.
And it hasn’t even reached full maturity. This isn’t it at its strongest.
(If it manages to swallow me…)
This demon king will do as it said, and destroy the world with the cruelty
and innocence of a child
It will eat the dungeon, Labrys, El, Almana… And even a few countries.
No one can defeat it in this era. It will continue to melt the world until it’s
finally sealed a few decades from now.
That’s the original, correct future. The way it should be, but…
“I refuse to accept that future.”
I stop after taking some distance, and face the demon king.
“Ooh?”
“Over already?”
“Weak weak.”
“Boring.”
The demon king Ultimelt laughs loudly like a kid.
Yes, as I stand now, I can’t beat it. It’s just not a good match for me.
Ultimelt can’t be damaged by physical attacks. And it would be hard to
advance its time and kill it by making it decay with age, since it doesn’t age
at all.
There is also pretty much no magic energy I can take in, since Ultimelt is
eating magic energy around it.
And if I target it with time magic, it might learn it.
The idea of this demon king using time magic on top of it all is a nightmare.
Still, I have to win.
I have people and a time to protect.
So… I have to defeat it no matter what.
“Demon king Ultimelt… The worst demon king, but not necessarily the
strongest. I know that for a fact.”
I take ‘that’ from my cloak, the syringe with the demon king cells I swiped
earlier from the mage.
I inject them into my own neck without hesitating.
“I’ll show you something ‘stronger’.”
That very moment, my whole body swells like a huge bolt of lightning
exploded.
“…!?”
“No!”
“Won’t let you!”
Ultimelt sounds concerned for the first time.
A wave of slime arms rushes towards me, but it’s all scattered by the
lightning I’m releasing.
Everything around us is painted by the color of the lightning flashes in the
blink of an eye, until…
I manage to get it under control. The ‘power’ that flowed into my body and
almost ripped it apart.
I didn’t want to know where these demon king cells were just so I could
retrieve them and destroy them.
I’ve broken all sorts of taboo in order to gain power, so there’s no way I
wouldn’t get my hands on this.
But… Originally, I wasn’t compatible with these demon king cells.
If this era’s me were to take in these cells, he would’ve exploded instantly.
That’s why I spent time on it the first time around.
I took in demon king cells one drop at a time. Even just that much was like
a deadly poison for a body that wasn’t compatible, like mine.
The first ten years were hell.
I was constantly assaulted with pain, like my body was ripping itself apart. I
was always vomiting blood and shedding tears of pain.
The pain was too intense for me to sleep properly. I slept when I eventually
fainted, and had nightmares every time.
But even in this state, I insisted on studying time magic and running around
battlefields to become stronger.
And ten years later, I managed to control one drop of demon king cells.
I upped the dose to two drops over the next ten years, and ten years later, I
went further…
I slowly took in demon king cells, until I was fully able to control them.
Before I knew it, my body stopped developing. My hair turned white, my
skin had bruises that looked like black cracks, and a pattern that looked like
the face of a clock appeared in my eyes.
Eventually, I was able to touch ‘time’.
I completely understood the thing we call ‘time’.
I had the power I needed to protect everything.
But… I took too long.
At that point, everything I wanted to protect was already gone.
I didn’t save anything I wanted to save.
I had the power to protect people, but they just feared me. I had become just
an enemy of mankind, a monster.
Those were my hundred years.
I didn’t become the hero I wanted to be when I was younger, but it was fine.
Position, renown, wealth, none of that mattered.
If I can just save the people that are important to me… I’ll turn into
whatever monster I have to.
Now let’s introduce ourselves. My name is…
The third demon king, Space-Time King Chrom Chronogate.
That’s most certainly not the name of a hero.
It’s the name of the most feared ‘calamity’ in the future.

“…”
“…”
“…Eh?”
It sounds like the demon king Ultimelt can’t believe what it’s seeing.
It definitely sent countless slime arms towards the boy injecting himself
with demon king cells.
They easily grabbed a hold of him, and turned his small body into a blood
splatter.
The demon king transformation didn’t happen in time… Or at least that was
what supposedly happened.
And yet, with a sound similar to that of the hand of a clock moving, the
shower of falling rubble stopped in mid-air.
All of a sudden, the boy who should be dead was standing on top of the
rubble.
It’s like he wasn’t actually killed at all.
It’s like the flow of time became all messed up.
He didn’t just come back to life. He seems different.
His hair is white, his golden eyes have the face of a clock on them, and he
has twelve transparent swords behind him, like hands of a clock.
And his irregular magic energy is like…
A demon king.
Ultimelt realized right away a being similar to itself had just been born.
But…
“…Haha.”
“Hahahahaha.”
“Incredible incredible.””
“Now, with that power…”
“Will you play?”
It never expected him to be compatible with demon king cells, but there is
no mistaking that magic energy in his body.
Still, even if he became a demon king, Ultimelt is on a whole other level.
Although Ultimelt is still immature, it already ate hundreds of monsters and
the nucleus of this dungeon.
The demon king Ultimelt is impossible to kill, with its many unbeatable
powers.
“Thank you.”
“I’m happy.”
“You’re giving us that power, right?”
“With that power…”
“We can do more, right?”
“Everyone… Everyone will get to be us!”
Ultimelt sends many arms towards the boy.
Infinite regenerating, shape-shifting slime arms that melt and eat anything.
He has nowhere to run in mid-air.
It’s over… Or at least it should’ve been.
“…It’s no use. I’ve already seen that future.”
Says the boy while grabbing one of the twelve transparent swords.
“Chronos 《Space-Time Control》, Twelfth Hand 《Zero》.”
The boy holds the sword above his head…
And the sound of a hand of a clock echoes again, coming from somewhere.
At the same time, the arms that can melt anything… Melt.
“…”
“…”
“…Eh?”
The arms closing in on the boy fall to the ground, like they returned to
being simple cultivation fluid.
“…!?”
“…Wha!?”
“We…!?”
“N-no!”
“We…!”
It didn’t feel like anything was done to it, and it wasn’t a spell.
Ultimelt should be able to melt and eat any spell targeted at it.
“…”
“…Is this…”
“Could it be ‘sorcery’!?”
The memories of a human it recently ate explained.
The law that rules this world, ‘sorcery’.
Being able to control this is proof that he reached the level of a demon king.
“It doesn’t matter what you do… I’ve already seen the future until you
end.”
The golden eyes with the pattern of the face of a clock began to shine a
light similar to moonlight, before the new demon king declared.
“Well then, shall we end this? It’s my time now.”
Chapter 205 – Father and Son is…
My attack couldn’t reach my dad.
As it is… I will never stand in the same place as Dean Graphite.
[Help me, Kairos.]
『Fate…..This power…..』
When I fought Myne in Hausen, I was drawing out the power from the
machine angel (Luna) who was inside the Gluttony skill. I should have
noticed at that time.
Why was such a thing possible… I should’ve given it more thought back
then.
But, I know now.
Kairos, while pointing to my chest, said,
That he’ll always be there. And it will never change.
Even before I realized… he was by my side from the moment I was born.
He took in those who had been devoured by the Gluttony skills…
Greed probably knew that Kairos was inside me. Someday, this time will
come, so he may have been watching over slowly.
[Oy, when did you find out that Kairos was actually inside me?]
『The moment you took hold of me for the first time.』
[I knew it.]
『It’s Kairos’ wish. He’s the true form of the Gluttony skill. Be careful
when using his power.』
[So it was actually intentional back then?]
I was referring to the battle against Aquarius in Hausen. When I thought I
made some mistake by activating the fifth form’s secret that cost me
Greed’s existence.
『You are our only hope. But I willingly did that. We are alike in regard of
recklessness.』
I unconsciously smiled after hearing that.
Recklessness. Most of our fights had indeed concluded thanks to our
recklessness.
Kairos’ power started to flow around my body. His memory of countless
battles also surged into me.
『For once, you’re very close to the original.』
[There’s still more to come.]
Overflowing aura covered my body. The color was reminiscent of Kairos’
impressive red hair.
[Let’s do it together from now on.]
I called out to Kairos inside me. More power overflowed as if responding to
my call.
『Shall we？』
[Let’s go.]
I drew the black bow once more, increasing the magic output. My target
was Dad.
The power of freezing that could reject my attacks. Unless I can overcome
that, there’s no way I’ll get anything out of him.
The bright red aura turned into magic power that burns like flame.
Gathering up into the form of an arrow. Fire.
Dad wielded the black spear to get rid of it. Even the surrounding air froze
in an instant when the spear collided with the crimson arrow.
The flame arrow did not freeze this time. However, the cold air from the
spear didn’t decline, and the two conflicting powers continued to clash.
[Dad!]
Using the surrounding buildings, I jumped towards the black cube where
Dad stood. Running to approach him once I got there.
After shooting another flame arrow, I quickly switched back to the black
sword. Following closely behind the arrow.
Apparently maintaining the freezing air to handle two flame arrows was a
bit tough even for Dad. I could feel the coldness that stung my skin
diminished.
I wreathed the black sword with my red aura, and cut.
Adding it in tandem with the two flame arrows to break through.
That should be enough to knock Dad away from the black cube… or so I
thought.
[Is that all, Fate?]
[Kuh.]
Dad flicked away the crimson arrows and my slash. The appearance of the
black wings sprouting from his back perplexed me. At the same time, I
could feel my decaying wings flutter for instance.
[Those wings…]
[As you can see, I’m far from being serious. So what now? Do you still
want to continue?]
[You can’t treat me like a kid forever.]
[Then, come.]
I should’ve gotten stronger now. But it felt like Dad was also gaining power
proportionally.
I reestablished my posture, and wielded the black sword against Dad.
Dad blocked my attack with the black spear rather easily. The attack was by
no means stronger than my previous slash, but it’s strong nonetheless.
I felt that we’re at least on par with each other earlier. But now, Dad
returned to being more powerful.
Is Dad somehow gaining power as well?
『Fate, have a look at his wings！』
The wings… There’s indeed something different about the black wings.
The tips of the wings were dyed red!? And the color continued to expand,
like the root of a tree absorbing water.
The larger the red part became, the stronger Dad’s attack. The color
reminded me of my own aura.
[No way…my power.]
Dad swung his black spear sideways, disregarding my surprise. I couldn’t
dodge since the edge of the black cube was right behind me. I had to block
it.
The black sword and the black spear collided and scattered pale sparks.
[Your power and mine are similar, Fate. You devour power, while I absorb
power. However, there is a difference.] (TL Note: it remind me to
Sekiryuutei and Hakuryuukou from DxD)
[This is…]
I could feel my strength fading. Is it because I am consciously looking at it?
This time it is clearly visible. The aura around me was being sucked up by
my Dad’s wings.
[The difference lies in the trigger condition. Yours requires killing another
party.]
[…my strength.]
[But, mine can be activated whenever I want. You cannot win against me]
If I had to guess… Dad was absorbing my magic power.
Using【Appraisal】, I could see that my stats had not gone down, but my
magic power was steadily decreasing.
Let alone putting up a fight, I will be sucked dry if I didn’t do anything.
[Damn.]
Then how about this!
It’s one of the skills I gained when I was fighting my way here through the
monsters of Gallia continent. The power of an ancient
monster――abnormal status【Poison Attack】.
Let’s see you absorb this.
Switching from two-handing to one-handing the black sword with my right,
I used my left fist to launch the【Poison Attack】.
[Thought so.]
He jumped back to dodge. As soon as he did, the sense of fading strength
disappeared.
[You’re not good against abnormal status.]
[Everyone is. Where did you pick up such a dangerous skill?]
[On my way to see you, Dad.]
[You also pick up any skills of the enemies you killed, I should’ve
remembered.]
[I have it whether I like it or not, Dad.]
[You’ve grown strong.]
By imbuing the black sword with【Poison】, it became impossible for Dad
to absorb my magic power. I was planning to use the opening to recuperate,
but…
[Now then, should I attack as well?]
Dad pointed the tip of the black spear at me. It’s a familiar stance.
That stance…I know it from somewhere.
(You fool…evade now)
Rafal’s voice rang in my head. Still the same old Rafal.
I immediately understood what he was trying to say. Focusing my
consciousness, I predicted the movement of the black spear.
There.
Dodged it by a hair breadth before the spear tip hurt my sword arm.
Meanwhile I could see Dad still remained in his original location.
But there’s something different with the black spear. Part of its tip was
missing.
Where did it go?
It jumped through space, trying to pierce my dominant arm.
The same attack that Rafal used in the past.
[Good judgment there.]
[Why…how?]
[It’s the characteristic of this Sin weapon. It can read its wielder’s mind and
shape it into a real ability. If the previous wielder left a particularly strong
impression, the skill associated with that wielder will remain in the spear.
This space leap attack must’ve been created by its previous wielder.]
Rafal’s sharp tongue did leave a strong impression indeed.
[Then whose power is the freezing air?]
I asked my Dad while avoiding the black spear that could jump through
space.
[This is my power. It freezes everything. It seems to reflect the state of my
heart now… It’s the exact opposite of what it used to be. I’ve changed too.]
Dad made a lonely face as he raised his magical power. He began to unleash
intimidating magic power so much that I felt the illusion of being crushed.
[Don’t die, Fate. It’s almost time to get rid of this.]
Dad pointed at his face.
The stigmata on his face shone brighter. It shone vividly, redder than blood.
[It seems that the stigmata has recognized you as an obstacle… I can’t
control it anymore.]
[Dad.]
[If you want to stop me, you’ll have to kill me.]
[…that is.]
[I taught you about all of my powers. The rest is up to you. You have to
defeat me, or else you and your friends will die here.]
When the black wings were spread, they grew in number. 2 pairs become
4…then 8. A black angelic halo that seemingly sucked all the lights around
it floated atop Dad’s head.
Dad’s face was gone. It’s like he’s wearing a full-faced iron mask. There
was only a bright red holy stigmata.
The black spear also changed as if in response, its length doubled and the
spear tip became sharper.
After the temporary silence ran through, an inhuman scream rang, and the
person who was my father attacked me.
If there was an angel that governed death, it must be what I’m facing right
now.
New members battle with the <Battle
wolf> • Countermeasure meeting!

<Battle wolf MK I>, the boss of <Battle

wolves of the shallow forest dungeon>. (T/N
: MK I in replacement of its usual first form)
It hasn't been long when we over hunted this particular boss but we have
come here again to hunt it down.
"Growl, Groooowl...... "
"This doggie doesn't seem to be feeling well, no?"
"Yip!?
Said so Lulu, as she caressed the <Battle wolf> while the <Battle wolf> was
trying with all his might to bite off her arm. This awfully looks like a
typical main protagonist scene.
<Battle wolf> as if surprised why it can't harm that little girl at all, increases
the number of his biting but the more it does, the more I see its tail losing
its tension.
I suddenly felt like he's kind of scared of Lulu, but I dismiss it as my
imagination.
We're in the middle of a boss fight right now.
As discussed earlier, five newly joined members are carrying their first
exploration.
I thought the balance of the new members' party was kind of tipped off
since all of them were mainly attackers but they are doing pretty fine with
Lulu focusing on chipping away the opponent's mobility or offensive
power.
As expected of the <Lolita hero>, this job is absurdly strong.
Lulu, the only one with the <Princess> category job among the group,
naturally stood out.
As for me, I was watching over them from the shadows after equipping the
<(Guest) bracelet> and intruding in the boss room.
Meanwhile Ester is waiting in the safety area. It seems like she's not going
for another trip for material gathering, the last trip must have been too
solitary for her.
Ohh. The other members have defeated the <Leader wolf> and its
subordinates <wolf> and are now converging at one spot.
With all of them ready to fight one opponent, it's just one sided massacre.
"<Fire bullet>!, <Ice bullet>!"
"<Elemental Lance>!, <Elemental Javelin>!"
"Growl!? Gurr!?"
The <Battle wolf> who was thoroughly restrained by the Lulu quickly
distanced itself after receiving the attacks from Shizu and Celia.
"Prepare yourself-desu! <Giant Shuriken Arts>!"
"Grr!"
"Ah, it avoided my attack-desu!?"
"Leave it to me. <Straight punch>!"
"Yip!?"
Pamela was chasing after the <Battle Wolf> holding a shuriken as big as her
body. By the way, that shuriken is an illusion like Karua's <Throwing
Blade>. However the <Battle wolf> avoided it with its wild intuition.
But a smiling Celestine was present at the spot where it retreated to
unknowin一...... Hold on, since when is she there!?
And just like that, it stumbles after receiving her full powered punch. I
could even see a bit of its white of the eye peeking out, what in the world
was that punch?
"Lulu is coming too! <Charm point sword>!"
"Growwwl!?"
<Battle wolf> went in rage as Lulu's follow up attack hit it after Celestine's.
Boss monsters when they are under the barrage of attacks for a while have
the disposition to go in rage. It's also called light rage mode.
However it's a pity that it cannot exert much offensive power since the
<Battle wolf> is weakened by Lulu. Quite a pitiful <Battle wolf> I have to
say......
The boss monster was thoroughly beaten by the attackers members with
none of them unfazed at its violent act, including Lulu who leaped at the
frenzied <Battle wolf>. It didn't take long for it to disappear under the
barrage of attacks.
An effortless victory it was......
"Great work~"
"Yes. Thank you for your effort too, it was quite an easy opponent"
"Oh, I can relate with Celia's words"
Pitiful <Battle wolf>... Not only it was bullied one-sidedly, even it's pride as
the strongest boss of the beginner-mid grade dungeon and one of the
hardcore boss of the <Dungeon Activity> is so casually disssed.
Well, the <Battle wolf MK I> when fought solo is awfully weak to be frank.
Not only that, neither of the beginner-mid grade dungeon bosses are that
much stronger when they are alone. What makes them tough is their
subordinates.
That's why one of the basic strategies is to reduce their subordinates
quickly.
For the honour of the <Battle wolf>, I should mention that it was quite a
strong adversary in the beginning game phase. It would constantly be
followed by its subordinates, powering them and even to the point of
regrouping, disregarding the hate meter with <Merge> skill.
It's much easier now because of the solid strategy but when fought together
with its subordinates present, it's not an easy opponent to take down.
I even heard players saying it was much harder to defeat, even more than
the <Fatty ghost> which has clear weak points, in the early game period.
Though it quickly went from the apex of predator to a weak prey when the
method to prevent its <Merge> skill spreads.
Hold on, maybe I should do so?
Should I let them try fighting it once again, but without blocking it from
<Merging> this time? That might prove to be good training and it will also
chip away the slight conceitedness I could feel from Celia. This is merely a
beginner dungeon. Getting self conceited at the beginning will only make
them trip hard at their next blunder. It may be for the best to show them
once how there could happen a bigger change in the boss monster with just
one step.
Surprisingly, think this may be a nice idea.
"Round up everyone! I have something to talk about our next steps!"
As soon as I made up my mind, I immediately held an emergency meeting
with everyone including Ester.
The leader was, of course, me. I would explain it briefly since we don't have
much time to waste.
"The battle like the current one is great for leveling up but, I think it's not
that effective for training"
Starting with Celestine, everyone nodded one after another at my remarks. I
guess everyone must have the same thought subtly.
Especially the members with top abilities. Whether it's Celia or Shizu, both
of them can effortlessly fire long range attacks which Hannah has attained
after going through a lot of hardship. Something of that level shouldn't even
be worth mentioning to them.
On the contrary to them, Pamela, who still has trouble in performing long
range attacks, seems to be in daze. I feel like she should temporarily return
to her home and begin her training.
Lulu looks puzzled with all this.
I proposed our future policy from there.
"Therefore, I tried to look for a plan where you can train in combat while
also keeping up with our goal of reaching Lv30 for everyone's jobs. So
what I came up after linking both points is a fair fight"
"Instructors will accompany us-desu?"
What will instructors even do by accompanying you?
"Fair and square fight. That means you can't take any countermeasures. You
can't use the methods I have taught you. You have to struggle and seek for a
breakthrough by yourself"
"I see. So basically Zephyr-dono wants us to feel how much our current
strategy benefits us and the gap when we can't use them, right?"
"Pinpoint as always, Celia. Well, that's the basically it"
Our current strategy is the crystallisation of the wisdom players of
<Dungeon Activity> has come after multiple trials and errors. Their tactics
have optimised to the limit to shorten the grind limit. I want them to savor
the taste of what it feels like when they can't use it.
From there, I discussed the specific and summed up that they should begin
after Pamela and Shizu, who are still Lv18, unlocked their second order
tree.
T/N : I have used MK( as in mark) II in replacement for the first battle
form. Else it would be a long winded name like others. Second battle form
would be referred to as MK II btw.
Also, a great shoutout for newly joined patreon, <Shirokitsune>, <Tuan>,
<Petronio Coelho>, <Liam>, <Abrax> and <Darius winters>.
One more supporter is one more motivation and a great help. Thanks for
everyone support!

Chapter 15: The Most Powerful Onmyouji

Master Tries to Get in a Good Mood
Two days after that fiasco.
Me and Ifa were in the carriage returning to Rodnea.
“Um, Ifa ……”
“What …… What is it Seika-kun ……?”
Ifa glanced at me but refused to make eye contact.
It’s been like this since the day before yesterday.
I ask in a subtly cautious voice.
“Ah, that … what do you want?”

“What, so suddenly?”

Perhaps because the flow of conversation was too

abrupt, Ifa turned to me as if surprised.
I say with trepidation.
“I was wondering if you’re mad about that ……”

“’Huh …… I’m not mad about anything. Why?”

“No, you see, I ruined a great matchmaking

opportunity. ……”
“Seika-kun ……I told you yesterday, that I had no
intention of entering the palace. I’m glad you said
that, Seika-kun. The prince was too persistent.”
“… Didn’t you care about him?”

“I did not! Why are you so suspicious?”

“Well, because …”

You’ve been hesitant.

“Ifa, you haven’t made eye contact with me since the
day before yesterday, and you run away when I try to
talk to you. ……”
“Oh, that’s it …”

Ifa looks away and says, blushing slightly.

“Um, because … Rize-san said that …”

“ What happened with that forest elf?”

“Nothing! Anyway, I’m not angry!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! And I agree with you about His Highness!

He made up his mind all by himself and did
something incomprehensible. I don’t think he can be
the next king like that, he will have to work harder.”
“No, you don’t have to be so harsh.”

“Se, Seika-kun said It first right？ why are you

making me feel like I’m saying something worse?”
“Oh, is that so? Well, his Highness is still young
and can make some mistakes.”
That said, he’s certainly a little sloppy.
It can’t be helped even if it is said so.
However, on this dragon issue, it seemed
manageable.
After receiving my investigation report, Her Majesty
the Queen decided that the matter was indeed beyond
Prince Cecilio’s control, and decided to intervene
directly.
I’ve heard that she is quite outstanding and Is the one
who will make the report on the Reich side. It would
not be difficult to extract concessions from the
imperial court.
I hope the prince will learn what politics is all about
by watching the queen at work.
However, it looks like proto asta will be a bit busier
from now on.
A naturalist from the empire who happened to be
visiting the royal city of Asta expressed interest in
this matter and said he would like to take his students
to see the dragons in the near future.
The story will spread through the academic
community, and there will be other scholars who will
raise their hands to visit. The Governor cannot afford
to do nothing if a high-profile visitor is coming to
visit, and he will need to make all the necessary
arrangements to enter the mountain. The prince will
have to do a lot of unfamiliar work.
Well, I guess he won’t be looking for a queen for a
while.
For the time being, forget about the palace harem and
do your best in your official duties.
And that’s when I remember.
“Now that you mention it, you went to see the Inner
Palace. What was it like? Did it smell of perfume
and have amazing features?”
“It used to be a regular harem, but now that the
succession problem has been solved, it has become
an educational institution. When I went to visit, the
girls were taking a lecture on statistics.”
“Is that so. This’s the first time I’ve heard of such a
harem.”
“Everyone was very serious, but it wasn’t formal at
all. The teacher would ask interesting questions.”
“Interesting questions?”

“Yeah.”

Ifa explains.
“The teacher rolls the dice ten times and they all
come up six. What is the probability that the next
roll of the dice will come up with a six? Do you
know, Seika?”
I smile wryly.
“Does that dice roll properly from 1 to 6 with an
equal probability?”
“Well, that’s … can you answer that?”

“It’s like saying that’s the answer. Ninety-nine

percent of the time, you’ll get a six. The probability
of getting sixes ten times in a row is about one in
600,000,000.”
“Well, yeah, that’s the correct answer. Hey … How
did you calculate the probability of getting a six ten
times in a row ?”
“Hmm? That’s one sixth to the tenth power, right?
The tenth power of six, which is the denominator, can
be found by multiplying the tenth power of two by
the tenth power of three.”
“… How do you do that?”

“Usually, one hundred twenty-four multiplied by

fifty-nine thousand ……”
I noticed here.
For the convenience of constructing formulas, I have
memorized several of the powers of prime
numbers…… I can’t tell you why, I’m just a weirdo
who memorizes mysterious numbers for no good
reason.
Let’s hurry up and knead the theory.
“Let’s see, let’s see. Multiply ……2 five times and
you get thirty-two. Multiply these together and you
get approximately 1000. This gives us two squared to
the tenth power. Three is a bit of a pain, but ……
three squared gives nine. Multiply by nine to get
eighty-one. Multiply 81 by 81 and you probably get
about 6500. This is three to the 8th power, so
multiply by nine one more time and you get about
60,000. Now we have three to the tenth power.
Finally, multiply 10000 and 60,000, and you get
600,000,000. It’s just a rough estimate, but it gives
you a sense of the scale of the numbers.”
“Wow … amazing. That seems to be more accurate.”

“Is there any other way?”

“You know, I……”

I am impressed with Ifa”s method.

“That’s a little aggressive, but it’s less of a process.”

“But it was indeed forced. The fact that the numbers

were close was just my intuition. …… Seika, you’re
amazing, you can do the calculations in no time at
all.”
“Ah, haha, ……, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds
pretty high level.”
“I heard that a lot of people leave the palace harem
and become bureaucrats. I heard that Rize-san used
to be a student at the school, but her grades were at
the bottom of the class. I guess it must be tough
because people who can become royal magicians are
flunking out of school.”
‘Hmmm ……. But how long ago was that? ……”

That person seems to be close to 100 years old. It

may be eighty years ago.
I remember the great flow of power that Rize was
wearing.
“By the way … can that person also see the spirits?”

It seems Rize herself said that it was the authority

of the Forest Elves.
“So Ifa’s magic was the magic of the forest Elves.”

“Un. I never knew at all.”

“Did your parents never tell you about it? About the
fact that you have forest elf blood in your veins?”
‘No, never. Maybe my mother knew about it…….”

“I wonder if my father would know anything about

it.”
No…… probably not.
That man isn’t interested in anything but his own
research.
I was a little suspicious that he might have had some
kind of agenda against me, but there was nothing to
it.
I guess he just didn’t have anyone else to ask, or
maybe, he sent me a letter to check up on me on the
pretext of making a request.
“But I don’t feel it at all. I’m nothing like a forest elf.
My mother died of an illness, so I don’t even know if
I’ll live long.”
“’Hmm, but the forest elves are a good looking race,
aren’t they? Maybe it’s their blood that makes you
so beautiful. Your mother was beautiful too.”
“Wa wa wa what!?”

“Well, then I’m glad I let the Pokontsu (TN: Basically

clumsy) Prince have what was coming to him, I
thought he was a better partner ……”
…… No well, Is there? What better partner than a
prince.
I felt like it was a waste, even though I had already
ruined it.
“Hmm …… what kind of partner would Ifa like to
marry?’
“Well, uh …”
Ifa says with a downcast look on her face and a
muffled voice.
“I don’t care what his station is, I want someone who
is …… smarter than me, stronger, kinder, and maybe
a little bit more rustic.”
Hearing this, I chuckle.
“You’re asking a lot. You talk a big game, but
compromise is important. Otherwise, you’ll have a
hard time finding the right one.”
Ifa glanced at me.
Then she laughed and muttered.
“……That’s not true”

Volume Four, end.

Chapter 194: The Mechanism of Magic
Supply
“The battle seems to be over, so I’m going to go get
Zeal!”
“Ah…”

After saying that, Yug came into me and went away.

Hm? She entered me and went away? Isn’t that a
contradiction? What do you mean?
“Haa…”

I mean, what about these two? Don’t leave the two

demons behind…. What if they wake up now?
And a little after Yug was gone, the magic supply to
me stopped.
“Woah!”

“Good work out there.”

“Thanks…”

Suddenly something was poured over my head. I

looked up to check and saw Elira looking at me with
cold eyes. Was she unhappy that I fought alone?
By the way, what she poured on me seemed to be
elixir. The wounds on my body were already back to
normal.
“Zero! I’m back!”

“Welcome back?”

Yug reappeared from me. Zeal appeared after Yug,

but he did not look at all like his usual leisurely self.
He was wearing his hair back, and his face was
slumped over.
“Zeal…are you okay?”

“Am I okay…you say…….”

Zeal slowly put his hand on my shoulder as he said
that.
“Who do you think is to blame for all this huh!?”

“Uwa! I’m sorry!”

“What the hell were you doing! After you gave Yug
the magic power, all you had to do was replenish it,
but why did you have to keep supplying her all the
time?”
“Zeal, come on, calm down.”

Zeal suddenly started screaming, and Yug was

rubbing his back as she said so. Zeal is emotionally
unstable right now.
“I’ll explain the principle of the magic power delivery
for now, okay?”
“Oh, oh.”

While rubbing Zeal’s back, Yug began to explain the

principle of this time. So, curing Zeal’s condition
now is an afterthought….
“First, I’ll explain your new skill spirit user”

“Yes.”

“The term “spirit user” means “messenger of the

spirits.”
“A messenger?”
“Yes. It means to connect people with spirits. If you
know how to do it properly and have a lot of magic
power, Zero, you can call spirits who have not made
a contract with you even without a spirit tree or
magic circle.”
In other words, if there’s someone like me who has
acquired magic skills from the moment he was born,
I can teach him spirit magic.
By the way, spirits live in a place called the spirit
world, where only spirits can enter. There is an
abundance of magic power in the air there. So even if
they don’t have a contract with humans, they can
touch things and use magic freely.
“I see.”

Conversely, here, there is not as abundant magic

power in the air as in the spirit world, so they get
magic power from contractors to use magic.
“As I mentioned earlier, spirit users can bring spirits
from the spirit world. This means that they can
connect the spirit world with this world we are in
now.”
“Hoh hoh…”

“As an application of it, you can also bring magic

power from the spirit world. However, Zero-kun is
not yet capable of such an advanced technique, so
Zeal brought the magic power instead.”
“I see.”

Certainly there is no way I can do that since I just

acquired the spirit user title.
“Assuming you want to use the spirit user skill to
bring magic from the space of the spirit world, you
can then gather the necessary amount of magic like
with a net and bring it back.”
“Yes.”

“But when Zeal tries to do it, he first goes through

Zero-kun to the spirit world. Then concentrate his
consciousness on Zero-kun and determines how
much magic power he should pass. And finally, he
has to transfer to you as much as you need.”
“Couldn’t he just give me all the magic power at
once?”
“If I was close by, I would immediately receive the
magic power amount that was too much, and that
would be fine. But if I’m far away, you can’t give it
to me right away, can you? If that’s the case, Zero’s
body might not be able to bear the amount of magic
power and you might explode. But if he gave you too
little, you’d be in trouble, right? That’s why he has to
know when you’re at the edge of your limit.”
To put it simply, first, he had to have a perfect grasp
of my magic situation without even seeing me in
battle. Then he had to push in the necessary amount
of magic power. It was just two steps. And yet, my
magic power was running out at a rapid rate. That’s
why Zeal had to constantly push in magic power.
“…Thanks for the hard work, Zeal. I’m grateful.”

“Oh…It’s good you know the hardship I’ve gone

through.”
After saying that, Zeal went back into me.
Zero? I haven’t finished explaining yet, you know?
“There’s more?.”

I thought it was over because she had finished

explaining how to transfer magic power. Come to
think of it, was it not only about the spirit user, but
also about the race?
“Where did I say the magic power Zeal gave Zero-
kun was taken from?”
“The spirit world, right?”

“Yes, yes! Who uses the magic in the Spirit Realm?”

“Spirits?”
“Mm-hm! So even if you bring magic from the spirit
world, you can only use it as spirit magic.”
“What? Then why?”

I was using the magic I received with gusto, even if it

wasn’t spirit magic.
“The reason is simple, you know? Because Zero is a
spirit.”
“Eh…?”

“Oh, to be more precise, are you a spirit king?”

My race name is Thunder Beast Spirit King. Ah…no

wonder she’s saying I’m a spirit king…
“So I guess you and me are like half-sister and half-
brother?”
“Hm…”

Oh, so is Yug the older sister. In terms of actual age,

that may be true, but in terms of appearance and
mental age, it’s not quite right.
But still, I’m a spirit king….
“Ah! But don’t worry! Zero, I don’t think you have
that much Spirit King in you! In fact, the king of
spirits hasn’t been replaced yet! Also, spirits don’t
have the concept of incest, so you and Yug… you
know… can do that, right?”
She was blushing and saying it in a cute and shy way,
but that’s not what I’m concerned about. I see…I’ve
finally really graduated from being a human being….
Flower of Misfortune
Together with Aro and treant, I head into the Ngai Forest. The objectives
are to raise my level and to test out my new skills.
Currently, my stats are less than half of what they were before evolving. I
don’t want to try fighting the spirit servants while this weak. My level will
increase quickly right now. As long as I can find an A rank to defeat, my
stats should increase by a lot.
I’m still bearing most of the damage I suffered in the fight against Miia, but
we haven’t got time to rest.
『It’s always when you want to find them that there’s no monsters to be
seen… I’d rather not go too far from the tower if we can help it.』
Focusing on [Presence Perception] as we walk, I finally sense a faint
presence. I signal Aro, who’s walking by my side. Whatever it is, I can’t see
it… Ah, no, by the base of one of the noroi trees are a bunch of dark blue
flowers, each about a metre in diameter. The presence I’m feeling seems to
be coming from them.
【[Despair]: A rank monster】
【A flower that is said to bloom with the demise of the world.】
【Sustains itself on grief and sorrow.】
【According to the teachings of the Holy Guidance, the world will one day
be covered in [Despair], where it will wait eagerly for the arrival of a
saviour.】
S-scary… As far as I can see, there are ten of them here.
This place is a graveyard for those used by God’s Voice. It’s no wonder that
[Despair] would bloom here… Fortunately, they seem like they could be
perfect targets for levelling.
I notice the flowers shaking in unison, and then they all rise. I watch them
cautiously as their roots swell up, each forming into two round eyes a small
mouth.
“Furoo.”
They cry out in a childlike voice.
“Th-they’re a little cute…?”
Aro says quietly, watching the despairs.
No, don’t be fooled by their cuteness. They might look cute, but they’re A
rank monsters. There’s no doubt that they’re powerful.
WIth my stats so low right now, I’m not much stronger than Aro or treant,
so it’s entirely possible that we could get wiped out if they turn out to be too
dangerous.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Despair
Condition: God of Madness
Lv: 94/115
HP: 1985/1985
MP: 3227/3227
Attack: 387
Defence: 667
Magic: 1244
Speed: 887
Rank: A
Characteristic Skills:
[Automatic MP Recovery: Lv7] [Onmitsu: Lv8] [Flight: Lv7] [God of
Madness: Lv-]
Resistance Skills:
[Magic Resistance: Lv8] [Poison Resistance: Lv8] [Paralysis Resistance:
Lv7] [Curse Resistance: Lv7]
Normal Skills:
[Death: Lv7] [Curse: Lv7] [Mirage: Lv7] [Pure Bite: Lv6] [Extreme
Poison: Lv6] [Life Drain: Lv7] [Dark Sphere: Lv7] [Scattering of
Hopelessness: Lv1]
Title Skills:
[Final Evolution: Lv-] [Flower of Misfortune: Lv-]
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
All good… As far as I can see, they should be easy pickings. Their magic is
a little strong for an A rank, but that’s all. For a magic specialist, their stats
are too split between HP, MP, and speed, giving them a balanced
distribution without any good strong points. This sort of monster is good at
safely fighting opponents of the same or lower ranks, but can’t do much
against stronger opponents.
In addition, their skills aren’t good. [Death], [Curse], [Mirage], and
[Extreme Poison] are more or less useless against us. Their attack stats are
too low to make use of [Pure Bite]. The only thing to watch out for is [Dark
Sphere].
If I were to classify them, I’d say they’re magic-specialised attackers that
can also use status conditions. For a monster that fights at a distance, their
speed and defence are pointlessly high. They’re mismatched in that they
want to receive their opponents attacks, while also fighting with magic and
status conditions at medium range. By contrast, close range attackers tend
to be much more dangerous to face.
『They’re tough magic casters that are a little fast! They’ll attack with
[Dark Sphere]! Watch out for [Mirage] too. Their stats are spread out
enough that there’s not much to worry about. There’s no need to be overly
cautious. If anything, their statuses are a little pitiful.』
If they’re this weak, then there’s no need for treant to take on his world
treant form. If he were to grow that big, it’d risk attracting more monsters,
which could lead to us being overwhelmed.
『…I feel a slight affinity for them.』
Treant says, sounding a little lonely.
『B-because you’re fellow plant-type monsters, right…?』
Anyway, it doesn’t really make sense that they don’t have any healing
skills, despite having so much MP. It’s true that treant’s status was a little
disappointing until recently, but he’s always had the concept of wanting to
attract the opponent’s attacks. There’s no sense of that in the despairs’
statuses. No matter how much MP they have, if they try fighting in close
quarters without any healing, they’ll die before running out of MP. They
seem to be the very picture of disappointing stats and skills… Hm? Their
last normal skill was one I haven’t seen before.
【Normal Skill [Scattering of Hopelessness]】
【All the remaining MP is concentrated inside the body and then bursts,
expelling petals at a high speed.】
So they do have a use for their MP! It’s a self-destruct skill like [Direct
Burst]. In my mind, the image of a giant smiling [Clay Guardian] appears.
『Aro, treant, watch out! They self-destruct!』
Aro and treant tense up. The next moment, the despairs fully uproot
themselves and begin to run at us.
“Furoo-!”
“FuroOO!”
If they were a little slower, it might have been worth running away to find
other monsters, but they’re fast enough that the chase would probably last
annoyingly long with my level 1 speed. There’s a risk of us running into
some other monsters and getting surrounded. Even if I try and shake them
off, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to find another monster weak enough
for me to kill with my stats so low right now.
『Let’s kill them all quickly!』
The group of despairs press the assault. I recover my HP by spending MP
with [Autoregeneration]. In addition to my current level being low, my HP
had been exhausted during the battle with Miia. If I were to receive a self-
destruct skill like [Scattering of Hopelessness], my HP could hit zero in an
instant if I’m unlucky. To be safe, it’s better if I dedicate some MP to
recovering HP.
Aro spreads her black wings and takes to the air, and treant takes off to
follow as well.
…Anyway, if I can defeat even one of them, my stats should increase by a
huge margin. I want to test my skills while quickly and carefully defeating
them.
The apocalypse’s new skills are [Curse Knight], [Limbo], [Dite], [Cocytus],
and [Doomsday Tone]. To start with… let’s try out [Curse Knight].
【Normal Skill [Curse Knight]】
【Solidifies mana into the form of a knight bearing a powerful curse.】
【When the knight is struck by an impact or successfully attacks an enemy,
it explodes, scattering a curse through the surroundings.】
【In addition to applying the Starvation and Frenzied status condition, if
the target’s magical strength is low, the curse can cause death or allow the
target’s body to be puppetted.】
I extend my forelimb and gather mana at the tip. My fingertip lights up with
a bluish-white light. The radiating light models into a humanoid outline,
with the upper half of an armour-wearing human and the lower half in the
shape of a horse. I catch a brief glimpse of what seems to be a lance in its
hands before it charges off straight into the crowd of despairs.
The despairs scatter to avoid the attack, but the [Curse Knight] diverts its
trajectory to chase after an escaping despair, and takes a large swing with its
lance. Once the lance touches it, the [Curse Knight] detonates in a dazzling
display of blue-white light.
“Furohh!”
Swallowed up by the explosion, the despair’s body is destroyed.
【9288 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv-], an additional 9288 experience
points have been acquired.】
【The level of [Apocalypse] has risen from 1 to 69.】
Nice! I got a bunch experience points right away. I’ve already broken
through the low levels.
Checking my stats, I see that I’ve got [Defence: 3731]. The difference in
growth is disgusting. Other than in magic power, I’ve already surpassed the
stats I had as a maximum level oneiros. I shouldn’t have much to worry
about receiving direct attacks from the despairs with this, so long as it isn’t
[Scattering of Hopelessness].
However, [Curse Knight]… For a skill apparently specialised in afflicting
statuses conditions, it has a considerable amount of firepower. Moreover, it
seems to have some level of autonomy. I had thought it would be all-around
inferior to the convenience of [Dimension Claw]-senpai, but I can easily
imagine situations where a self-guided bomb would come in handy. If I use
it together with [Dimension Claw], my options for attacking at medium
range should increase by a lot.
There’s nothing to fear from their self-destruct attacks as long as we can
keep them from getting close. Aro and treant are attacking the despairs with
the long range [Sphere]-type skills. I’m also weaving attack magic in
between their attacks, so the risk of the despairs suddenly suddenly
breaking through seems low.
I was worried by their self-destruct skill, but it seems that we can hunt the
despairs reliably. I’ll field test the other skills too now.
【Normal Skill [Dite]】
【A magic skill that summons the flames of hell and shoots them in a
spherical shape.】
【The flames will continue to burn until the target is reduced to ashes.】
Let’s go, [Dite]! A reddish-black mass of fire appears above me, and
compresses into the shape of a ball.
Th-the mana drain is worse than I was expecting. The flames of Dite are
bigger than I expected, too. It’s probably around five metres wide.
Treant utters anxiously from behind me.
“GuoOOOOOh!”
I fling my neck down to vigorously hurl the flames of [Dite] forwards. The
sphere smacks into the ground, and the surroundings flick ablaze
powerfully. The red-black fire spreads, covering a wide area in an instant.
“Migigigigigigi!”
With my unfamiliarity with the skill, the despairs had scattered to escape
after seeing my excessively telegraphed movement, but unfortunately for
them the skill’s radius too wide. I see two of them get charred black after
being swallowed by the flames.
【16308 experience points have been acquired.】
【Due to the title skill [Walking Egg: Lv-], an additional 16308 experience
points have been acquired.】
【The level of [Apocalypse] has risen from 69 to 86.】
I-t doesn’t seem to have any shortcomings in firepower or area of effect.
However, I don’t know how to stop the red-black flames of [Dite]. Now that
they’ve hit the ground, they’re continuing to spread with no sign of
stopping.
“D-dragon-god-sama! This is bad, isn’t it…?”
Aro shouts worriedly… Truly, it doesn’t look like it’s going to subside at
all. The entire Ngai forest might be eventually consumed by fire at this rate.
It said it would continue to burn until the target was reduced to ashes, but it
shows no sign of disappearing even though several of the despairs have
died. I have no idea how far the flames will spread at this rate.
L-let’s extinguish it for the time being. And for that, let’s try using my other
skill.
【Normal Skill [Cocytus]】
【A magic skill that summons the ice of hell, and manipulates it freely.】
【The ice can freeze anything, and will never melt.】
【It rapidly drains the heat from the surroundings, so unexpected damage
may occur.】
【Once the ice has been deployed, it is practically impossible to erase, so
caution is needed.】
The apocalypse’s ice magic skill, [Cocytus]. A blue-white magic circle
unfolds around me. I focus on the reddish-black flames, and they’re
gradually enveloped by bluish-white ice.
G-great, this should stop the fight fire from spreading further.
I now know that the flames of [Dite] can be frozen by [Cocytus]. The ice of
hell might be more powerful than the flames of hell, or it might simply be
that the [Dite] had already subsided somewhat. I get the impression that the
ice of [Cocytus] can probably be melted by the flames of [Dite], too.
“Dragon-god-sama, one of them is flying from behind!”
F-flying!? I swivel around, hearing Aro shout. I realise one of the despairs
has closed in right next to me by flying through the air.
“Furoh, furohh!”
The despair has entwined its roots into the shape of wings and is flying
through the air. It can actually fly!? No wonder it had the bloody [Flight]
skill!
I let myself be distracted by [Dite] too much. I immediately move to smash
it with my claws, but then notice the despair’s body beginning to swell up.
With the swelling of its body, its cute round eyes are squished upwards and
out of sight, and its mouth stretches wide. No, I had thought that was its
mouth, but it’s changed into a single large eye.
I-its real form has come out! That docile look it had was just camouflage.
There’s no way cute-looking monsters could exist in this Ngai forest.
I understand intuitively. This monster has already entered self-destruct
mode. I’m not sure what to do at this point, but there’s no stopping
[Scattering of Hopelessness] any longer.
Should I endure it by vanishing with [Dragon Mirror]? No, I don’t know
how wide-ranged [Scattering of Hopelessness] is. If I suddenly disappeared,
Aro and treant might get caught up in the explosion without me as cover.
So, I have no choice but to use this!
【Normal Skill [Limbo]】
【According to the Holy Guidance, the Holy God and equivalent beings
possess magic that can save those who cannot be allowed to live or to
die.】
【A single Saint in all history once was able to attain [Limbo].】
【A magic skill that sends the target to a dimension where the concepts of
time and space do not apply.】
【It is short range and slow to activate. But, if it connects, enemies will be
forever sealed in a separate dimension.】
I focus my attention on the despair in front of me. A magic circle glowing a
divine white unfolds around it. It tries to escape from the circle, but I grab it
with my foreleg and hold it in position.
『[Limbo]!』
Light bursts out and the despair vanishes. My hand is now clutching empty
air.
Success… Th-though it doesn’t seem like I’m getting any experience
points.
【A magic skill that sends the target to a dimension where the concepts of
time and space do not apply.】
I used it on the spur of the moment, but thinking back to [Limbo’s]
explanation, it somehow gives me a bad aftertaste… I managed to defend
against [Scattering of Hopelessness] thanks to [Limbo], but it’s probably
better to avoid using it as much as I can.
I have just one skill that I haven’t tried yet but…
【Normal Skill [Doomsday Tone]】
【Dissolves the user’s vitality and mana to boost attack power and speed.】
【However, the user’s reason is also dissolved, causing them to fall into a
frenzied state.】
【The frenzy will not abate until everything in sight is reduced to
nothing.】
【Even after ending, it is highly likely that some mental changes will
persist.】
【When activated, the force of the mana leaving the user’s body causes a
strange sound to be heard, appearing to be coming from far away.】
【According to the Holy Guidance religion, when the divine messengers
use instruments to signal the end of the world, the sound they produce is the
same as this skill.】
…It’s probably better to avoid testing this skill. Besides forcibly being put
into the [Berserk] condition, there might be some persisting effects on my
mental state after using it.

Chapter 164: The Marquis’ Residence

Tauro, Aeris, and four of the Kingsguard, who had
been waiting outside, were invited into the house by
the maid who had come to pick them up.
There were six other Kingsguard waiting outside the
house, and they were ready to respond immediately
in case something happened.
Aeris was greeted by a lineup of maids and servants
inside the mansion.
It had been about two years since Aeris had been in
her old home in King’s Landing, but the number of
maids and servants she knew had dwindled.
Among them, Mei, the head maid, who was a good
friend and loved her very much, saw Aeris and her
eyes welled up.
Some of the servants were also moved to tears when
they saw Aeris, who had grown up and become
beautiful over the past two years.
Aeris was also moved to tears at the sight of the few
remaining people she had known, but she decided not
to cry in anticipation of her confrontation with the
madam and held her tears.
An elderly man whom Aeris did not know, who
seemed to be in charge of the stewards of the
residence, reprimanded those who were in tears, but
soon the head maid, Mei, stepped forward to protect
everyone and took charge of guiding Aeris and the
others.
The butler man tried to give this May a hard time,
too.
“Hey! Are you going to expose the ugliness of the
Marquise’s family in public without showing us
around? Shame on you!”
Aeris reprimanded the butler and asked May, the
head maid, to show them around.
“I understand, please come this way.”
The head maid bows and leads Aeris and the group to
the guest room.
Tauro saw that the head maid wore round glasses,
had long purple hair tied back in a bun, and a well-
endowed chest that could be seen even through her
maid’s uniform.
She was about twenty-six years old.
She was a beautiful woman with a hint of sex appeal,
but her eyes were kind and concerned for Aeris.
As the head maid led Aeris and the others on foot,
she probably had a lot to say, and was about to say
something, but she held back and led them silently to
the guest room.
The head maid once again bade Aeris and the others
farewell, and then left the room herself as the other
maids were present.
Aeris wanted to call out to her, but she lost the
chance to do so.
As she waited in the noble guest room, she could
faintly hear the baby crying as it approached the
noble guest room.
The moment the door was opened, the baby’s crying
was maximal.
The baby appeared in the arms of the Marquise de
Vandyne herself.
Waaa waaah!
“Oh, my darling Aeris! I heard there was an
unfortunate misunderstanding this time, and your
mother was heartbroken to hear it. This child too…”
ogyaa ogyaa！
The Marquise de Vandyne’s three-sentence play was
interrupted by the baby’s crying.
She thought she would never get to the end of the
story.
“This child is crying for you, too, with pain in his
heart.
she added.
“But this is a grown-up discussion, so let’s ask the
grieving child to leave the room.”
She handed the baby to the maid at her side.
The baby’s crying stopped so suddenly that Tauro
and the others thought it was hilarious, but they
watched as the maid took the baby in her arms and
left the room.
“Now then…”

The Marquise de Van Duyne was about to speak.

“Excuse me! I have a stomach ache, may I go to the
bathroom?”
Tauro interrupted her.
“…… then I’ll let the maid show you…”

“He can find the bathroom by himself, mother. Tauro,

you can find the toilet at …….”
Aeris explained, and Tauro nodded and quickly left
the room.
As soon as Tauro left the guest room, he cut off all
signs of his presence at once with the “presence
blocker.
He then headed straight for the office that Aeris had
told him about.
According to Aeris’s estimation, there is a high
possibility that the safe is in the office.
It was a custom-made item, large and difficult to
move, and had three keys, one of which had to be
unlocked by magic.
However, it is said that anyone who knows the
Marquise’s magic can unlock it.
So, Aeris will unlock the keys from a distance by
applying warding magic from the guest room.
The problem was the other two: the keys were
supposed to be in the possession of the lady and the
butler, so they would usually have to be dealt with,
but Tauro didn’t need them.
Yes, Tauro was going to open these two locks by
himself in a short time.
It was not as easy as in the dramas and movies of his
previous life, but now, with the dexterity
compensation from “Precision” and “God Arrow
Hands,” Tauro’s dexterity was in a realm where it
could be called cheating.
Furthermore, he was confident that the keys of this
world were not as complicated as in his previous life.
When I arrived at the office, the door was slightly
ajar.
There were signs of people in my “presence
detection” and I could see their silhouettes with my
“true eyes” as well.
So I carefully peeked into the room through the gap
in the door and saw the head maid hurriedly opening
a drawer in the office and searching for something.
Behind the drawer, there was a very large safe, and I
could see that a key was already inserted in one of
the keyholes.
It seemed that the head maid and myself were after
the same thing.
Chapter 31: Information obtained (Part
one)
Soon night fell and Ren started to prepare the
encampment.
He told Licia, who had offered to help, to rest.
She looked at him with a frustrated look on her face
as he prepared the encampment.
“You’re used to this kind of work?”

“I got used to it in the last few days. I’ve been

learning the basics from Weiss-sama.”
“Weiss? You mean during winter?”

“Yes. Thanks to my experience that night, I learned

how to handle monsters, how to make fire, and many
other things about camping.”
It was a sudden proposal by Weiss that day, but now I
was really happy about it.
I would be even if it were just me, but especially now
that I have Licia with me.
(This is the guy today.)
Ren will now deal with the monster.
The target is an F-ranked White Hawk, one rank
higher than Little Boar.
However, it’s not much of an enemy for Ren. He was
able to hunt it without any particular difficulty.
“How did you do it?”

“I tied it to a tree with ivy, and then all I had to do

was cut it down.”
“The power of that mysterious sword.”

“That’s right. By the way, its true name is a secret.”

“……stingy”

To be honest, I wonder if it makes sense to hide it.

Even when I helped Licia down, I used the wooden
magic sword, and it’s almost as if I had shown it to
her……
Hiding only the name of the skill may be due to a bit
of rebelliousness.
(Absorb the magic stone while I’m at it.)
While Licia turned away in frustration, I found the
magic stone and brought it close to the bracelet to
absorb its power.
Secretly looking at the crystal, you can see it has
grown compared to before.
——
Ren Ashton.
[Job] Eldest son of the Ashton family
[Skill] ・Summoning Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/0)
Magic Sword Summoning Technique (Level 2:
898/1000)
Level 1: Able to summon [one] magic sword.
Level 2: While summoning a magic sword, the
user gains the effect of [Physical Ability UP
(Small)].
Level 3: May summon [two] magic swords.
Level 4: ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊＊.
[Mastered Magic Swords] ・Magic Sword of Wood
(Level 2: 714/1000)
Allows attacks of about the same level as natural
magic (small).
The range of attack effect expands as the level
increases.
Iron Magic Sword (Level 1: 714/1000)
The sword’s sharpness increases as its level
increases.
Thieves’ Magic Sword (Level 1: 0/3)
Randomly steals an item from the attacked target
at a certain rate.
——
As a matter of fact, the level of the two magic swords
could have been increased in terms of the number of
magic stones.
However, because Roy’s injury had taught him the
importance of being prepared for emergencies, Ren
didn’t use all of the Little Boar magic stones for
himself, but kept about half of them for sale.
Even a small amount would be better than nothing.
So, at the moment, this is all he has.
“What’s this?”

Licia raised her voice in question while Ren was

distracted by the bracelet.
Ren turned his head toward her as she found a
necklace in their luggage and raised his eyebrows.
“It’s something I took from the demon beast master.
The chain broke in the attack and flew off, but I
thought I could sell it for some street money, so I
kept it.”
To the naked eye, the silver chain and red jewelry
were an eye-catching item.
Licia picked it up and muttered in a small voice, “A
magic tool”.
“He said he was trying to keep the outside world from
hearing our voices, so maybe it’s that kind of magic
tool.”
Ren continues.
“It’s already broken, so I don’t think he’ll be able to
follow our trail.”
“You’re right. You certainly don’t need to worry
about that…… but don’t sell it. If push comes to
shove, it might prove something, right?”
Indeed, that is true.
Ren replied shortly, “That’s right”.
*****************************************
*****
The next morning, Ren got on his horse as dawn
broke.
Licia woke up a little later. She seemed to be in a
deep sleep, perhaps because she was still out of
shape.
By noon, they passed through the forest and found a
village on the plain.
It was a small village with a dozen or so houses
scattered about.
(We should stop by just in case.)
We still had plenty of food and water to spare, but
there might be medicine, which was our original
goal.
Although Licia was recovering, it was better to have
it.
“Ojou-sama, let’s stop by for a while.”

“Alright.”

Hearing her reply, Ren rode his horse toward the

village.
When he arrived at the village a few minutes later, a
villager approached him.
“You’re a little adventurer. How unusual.”

Ren and Licia were greeted by a middle-aged

woman.
“What brings you to our village? Is there something
you want?”
“Yes, actually, I want some medicine.”

After negotiations, Ren got some food in exchange

for the materials of the monster.
It was a pity that there were no medicines or meal
plants, but food was still very important. It would
have been bad for Licia’s health if she had to eat
monster meat for every meal.
“Where are you going now?”
“Um…… I haven’t decided yet because it’s a trip
with no particular purpose.”
“Then you might want to go to Clausel, which is a
long way down the road ahead.”
The name of the destination raised his eyebrows for a
moment, though he was aware of the dangers of
revealing the destination.
It was fortunate that the woman didn’t notice.
“Is there something going on in Clausel?”

“The adventurer who came here the other day said

that Clausel is going to be crowded in the near
future.”
“Clausel will be crowded….?”

“That’s right. I don’t know the details, but Baron

Clausel is going to be punished.”
Licia gasped when she heard those words.
She had been quiet up to now, but she opened her
mouth in a hurry.
“What do you mean? Why is this happening —-?”

Licia’s voice was hoarse for a moment.

But in order to get the information, she is desperately
trying to suppress her emotions that were about to
rage.
She didn’t want to offend the woman.
“The adventurer says that Baron Clausel is under
suspicion that he allowed monsters to invade
Viscount Givens territory.”
“Oh, no…….”

“That obviously isn’t true.”

Licia was stunned as she listened to the story.

The woman was puzzled and concerned, “What’s
wrong?” Ren managed to mend his smile because he
was worried.
I think it’s time for us to leave this village.
“She hasn’t been feeling well since yesterday.”

“Is she all right? You can stay here for a night if you
like.”
“I’ll just take your good will. But, we’re in a hurry, so
we’d better get going.”
Ren also signaled to the stunned Licia and headed
back to the plains.
The direction they were heading was the direction
Licia had given them before they arrived at the
village.
“My Lady. You were magnificent.”
 A few minutes after leaving the village.
I commended Licia for not losing her composure.
But when I called out to her, she didn’t respond.
Ant Sweep Operation
After discussing it with Barnes, I went home and reported to Zeke.

"So that's how it is...this is difficult. I'm against revealing Mars being able
to use Holy magic. Maybe Lord Barnes is thinking the same thing as I am.
If the lion named Ellie is the most important person to him, he would
choose her over Almeria. It is easy to imagine how he would treat Mars for
Ellie’s sake. In the end, there is no other choice but to choose urban
warfare...”

"I see. The most important thing to keep in mind is the timing to retreat
from the labyrinth for urban warfare. If we can stay in the labyrinth even for
a little longer, the lower the possibility Almeria’s City will be damaged in
the process...”

"Yeah. I would like to make the call if possible. Especially since most of the
participants are from Irgusia. I don’t really want to entrust the lives of
Irgusia’s citizens to others…
However, the decision to withdraw will probably be made by Margrave
Carmel or Ralph in the end but I'll see what I can do to interject a little.
There’s one thing I would like to confirm with you too, Mars, what threat
level of magic beasts can you defeat?”

"Hmmm…… If it's just me, I can beat an enemy with a threat level of B-
depending on our compatibility…… I think I am better at dealing with a
large number of small foes than a single strong enemy. And I suspect Lord
Barnes is probably the opposite of me."
"B- huh……How strong do you think the enemy is?"

"I think even the weakest ant has a threat level of D. Thinking in terms of
goblins, the weakest goblin is a threat level G, and the strongest is a C+.
Using that as a reference, it will be minimally above C+. Personally, I
would say it’s above threat level B.”

"Then...... we will need Lord Barnes huh? ...okay. Let's have dinner for
now.”

We all ate dinner together, following Zeke's lead.

"Why don't we do a little labyrinth diving for tomorrow’s prep?"

Zeke said to us.

"Yes. I don't mind, but...... now?”

"Yeah, now. The three Black Tri-Stars should stay at home in preparation
for tomorrow.”

Zeke said that and we dove into the labyrinth.

"I wanted to see exactly what you guys were capable of."

Zeke looked at me, Ike and Clarice and said so.

"How should we do that?”

Ike asked and Zeke…

"I want you guys to show me your maximum firepower.”

"Okay, I understand. Well then, can we start with me? I don't have the least
in terms of firepower of all of us.”

With that said, Clarice held her magic bow at maximum power against the
rock lizard in the aisle, and the arrow pierced through the scales of the rock
lizard. The rock lizard was still alive, but if the hit had been good, it would
have been killed instantly.

“So much firepower from just a bow, huh? That's amazing."

“Only, I'm putting all my magic power into this thing so I can't fire many
shots.”

"Then I'll do the next one. Let's start with the magic first."

Ike said so and shouted "Flare" to the crowd of rock lizards and sent a mass
of red and white flames.

It takes quite a while for the magic to activate but it was quite powerful and
the rock lizards were scorched wholly in a couple of seconds.

"The flames don't spread as well with me, probably because of my low
magic power. If my magic power was as high as Mars, I might have been
able to burn the ants to death with Flare....... The spear is next."
Ike advanced a little and found another group of rock lizards. He enchanted
his Flame Lance with Fire magic and stabbed the rock lizards one after
another.

Zeke and Maria that saw the piercing thrusts that penetrate even above the
rock lizard's scales.

“The attack power is higher compared to before but more than that his
movements are sharper than before, aren't they?”

"Yeah, I've never seen a spear user like him before."

Ike returned, looking at me.

"Now let's see what Mars is really made of. I haven't seen Mars's real
strength yet after all."

He looked a little expectant. So I told them.

"My real strength… I have a magic that I haven't shown everyone yet. It's
something I can't handle yet and it's very dangerous.”

"You've learned to use the highest level of Wind magic!?”

"No...... it's not Wind. Of course, I am good at Wind magic but there is a
magic that is even more powerful than that.”

"What!? Is it Fire, Water, or Earth?"

Zeke asked with a loud shout. Maria and Ike were also looking at me with
surprised faces.

"It's not Fire, Water, Earth, or Wind. It is Lightning magic.”

Everyone except Clarice was speechless. A few moments of silence pass,

and then…

"L-lightning magic…… I've never heard of it before…… Is there really

such magic?”

"Yes. I was able to use it when I first met Lord Barnes.”

"O-oh, I see. Let's see it then.”

"Yes, I do. May I see if you have the resistance first? I still can't control
Lightning magic. If everyone has the resistance like Clarice, I could release
Lightning magic without hesitation during an emergency.”

I activated the minimum power Lighting Cloak and touched Ike's hand.

‘BASHIIIIINNNNNN’

As Ike's hand and mine were about to touch, the golden lightning that had
been clad on me struck him.

"GUAh-!”
Clarice immediately healed Ike's damage. However, the electrocution was
not cured.

"The damage is healed but I still can't feel my hands... Is this the minimum
output?”

"Yes, this is the minimum output for now. Or at least I think so because I
am only suppressing the output with just feeling…”

"Is Clarice okay with being exposed to this magic?”

When Zeke asked Clarice, I touched Clarice’s hand while being enwrapped
with Lightning Cloak. Then part of Clarice's hand that was touched glowed
gold.

"I'm not sure if it's called resistance or...what should this be termed as. It's
not so much that it is being repelled but rather more like it enters my
body...I can't say for sure but at least it doesn't seem to harm me."

"What shall we do? The magic called Lightning Cloak now is more of
defensive magic, so to speak. The other one is Lightning magic called
‘Lightning’ but it is easy to control it so in the worst case, you never know
where it will fly. So I can only use Lightning magic in front of Clarice
now..."

"I see so that's why Mars was diving into the labyrinth alone with Clarice...
I thought for sure you two were on a date....... I'm sorry, Mars."

Ike said his piece. As expected, even Ike knows...

“No, I was going to report it to brother Ike when I could control it a little
more… I'm sorry too for not telling you.”

"It’s fine. Anyway Mars. How can this lack of sensation be cured?"

Ike said as he held out his electrocuted hand.

I undid the Lightning Cloak and touched Ike's hand and the golden light
came back to my hand.

Ike opened his mouth while opening and closing his palms repeatedly it up
to check the sensation.

"…This is……amazing……So this is Lightning magic…”

Zeke who was watching..

"So the problem is that there are only so many occasions to use this.......”

"Let's all go home now. Tomorrow is the big day. We need to get some
rest.”

Maria said and we went home to prepare for tomorrow.

☆☆☆
Almeria labyrinth, the day of the ant cleanup operation. I went to Barnes as
he told me to.

Zeke, Maria, Ike, Azure Fang, Red Wings, and Black Tri-Stars are to go to
the labyrinth first.

They are to leave one of the enemies in the deepest part of the first floor
beforehand so that we could proceed and fight as soon as I joined them.

Only Clarice is waiting in front of the slaver with Margrave Carmel so as to

enter the labyrinth together with me.

Incidentally, Zeke said that he could not afford to protect Margrave Carmel,
so he requested the margrave to refrain from following them.

We also asked Ralph, the guild master, to standby outside the labyrinth with
the adventurers from this city in order to prevent them from entering the
labyrinth and in case of an urban war.

This was the move that Zeke had devised to obtain the right to decide the
retreat timing.

Without Margrave Carmel and Ralph, the decision to retreat would

inevitably be made by Zeke.

I go over to Barnes’s place, and as soon as I do, Barnes is already there.

"Hey, you assess this girl.”

He said that and brought a lion called Ellie.

I said, "Okay" and appraised her.

Name: Ellie Leo

Title: -
Status: Beastman (lion race), slave
Condition: Cursed
Age: 6 years old
Level: 1
HP: 18/18
MP: 6/6
Strength: 5
Agility: 6
Magic: 2
Dexterity: 1
Durability: 5
Luck: 10
Unique Ability: Sound Magic (Lv0/C)
Special Ability: Martial Art (Lv1/B)

W-what's this person...

Can non-reincarnated people also possess Unique Abilities? Or is this

person someone who reincarnated too?

And her condition is under a curse.......

And her eyes condition looks bad too… not to mention that’s her max HP
too…

"I've finished assessing her.”

"What about it? Ellie’s condition. What do you know?"

"I found out that she was cursed but nothing else......."

I hid the fact that Ellie had a talent for Sound Magic. I don’t know what
would happen if Barnes found out the fact that I noticed that after all.

"Oh, I get it. And about this labyrinth thing, I'm still not going.”

"I…see...”

"But I will actively defend the city. In exchange, I'm going to ask you to
keep this Ellie in a safe place and within my sight. Is that clear?"

"I don't have the authority to make a decision. Margrave Carmel is nearby,
so I will ask him."

Saying so, I called Margrave Carmel outside to talk about Barnes’s

condition, and the margrave granted Barnes’s request as a matter of course.

Since Barnes was willing to wait outside the labyrinth, the odds seemed
pretty good.
I headed for the labyrinth where Zeke and the others were waiting with
Clarice.

"Thank you for waiting."

When Clarice and I linked up with Zeke and the others, they were already
set for battle.

"How did it go?"

Zeke asked me.

"Lord Barnes won't come to the labyrinth but he's willing to participate in
the urban battle.”

"I see. I will make the decision to retreat as soon as possible. Then I’m
going to start the ant sweep operation without any delays now, is everyone
ready?”

Zeke looked at everyone and they all nodded.

By the way, everyone here refers to me, Clarice, Ike, Zeke, Maria, Azure
Fang, Red Wings, and Black Tri-Stars, a total of 20 people.

"Now, Ike and Mars, please.”

Ike and I went down the stairs and checked the second floor.

Then we noticed something a little strange on the second floor.

Someone was fighting with the ants.

"Mars! Is someone fighting ants?”

"Yes! But they are surrounded!”

"Let's go help!”

When Ike said that and I replied..

"Wait a minute. I don't think it's people that are fighting."

Right. I look closely with my clairvoyance and saw a grizzly bear fighting
with a group of ants.

"The magic beasts are fighting each other… what does that mean?”

"I don't know much about labyrinths myself, so I'll go ask father."

Ike said and headed toward Zeke. Then Zeke came right over.

"I don't think I've ever seen… magic beasts in the labyrinth fight each other
before.”

The grizzly bears are stronger but outnumbered. In no time at all, the
grizzly bears will be beaten by ants.
"No point thinking about this. Let's do it while there is still some damage to
the ants."

Ike gathered his magic power and prepared his Flare, and shouted.

"Let's go! Flare!"

A mass of red and white flames landed on the ants.

As soon as they landed, I amplified the Flare’s fire further with Firestorm.

The labyrinth seems to be sucking up the smoke, but just in case, I use
Wind to push it toward the second floor to prevent the smoke from going to
the first floor.

As soon as I see Firestorm spreading reddish-white flames around us, we

quickly return to the first floor.

Since they had to use the stairs to get to the first floor so we just continued
attacking from above like playing Crocodile Panic*1. The difference from
Crocodile Panic is that we only had to watch out for the specific place for
the ants to come out.

The ants, on the other hand, rushed toward us as soon as our attack started.

With the fire from the Flare and Firestorm still remaining, the fire-clad ants
charge at us.

However, the fire-clad ants died in the process and the fire spread as they
moved around.
All the ants near the stairs on the second floor had already been reduced to
ashes.

I damaged the endless charging ants by using Tornado.

The ants that were still pushing in from behind, shoved the ants inside the
tornado outside and flooded the staircase.

Ike and the vanguard team stabbed the ants to death.

Clarice also used her bow to kill the ants. This was going pretty well.

Zeke must have felt the same way.

"Great! This is going better than I thought!”

Isn't this what you call a flag?

Then a big prey was caught by the Tornado.

It had more than twice the mass and was clearly stronger than the killer ant.

"A big one is coming! Watch out.”

An ant bigger than the killer ants came up from the bottom of the stairs.
Thanks to the Tornado, there is some damage to it but we still had to be on
our guard.

Name: -
Title: -
Race: Mother Ant
Threat: C
Condition: Good
Age: 1 year old
Level: 12
HP: 22/54
MP: 2/2
Strength: 26
Agility: 31
Magic: 1
Dexterity: 5
Endurance: 32
Luck: 1

It's about as strong as a grizzly bear, with high HP, agility, and durability,
which is not my strong suit.

"This one is a magic beast called Mother Ant. I think we can defeat it in a
few more minutes.”

As I said that, three members of the Black Tri-Stars began to stab it to a

stop.
But although its HP was less than half, its status value was a little higher
than that of Black Tri-Stars.

Mack was bitten a little when they stabbed it to a stop, and Owl was poked
by a needle in its butt.

Mack was quickly cured by a Heal, but Owl got poisoned.

“Watch out for the poison in the needle in its rear!”

When I detoxed Owl with Cure, the battle lines were loose and quite a few
ants had trickled into the first floor’s room.

I tried to halt the ants from rushing up the stairs but I cannot defeat them.

Then Ike shot Flare toward the stairs, cutting off any more ants from
entering the first floor, and began to take down the remaining ants on the
first floor.

"Nice! Brother Ike!”

When I affirmed so, Clarice also said, "As expected of lord brother(-in-
law)”*2. It seems that Clarice and I are the only ones who have room to
spare, while the others have their hands full with the enemies in front of
them.

Well, it's not that I have a lot of room to spare either but I am confident that
I can look around calmly.
I suppose Clarice could do so because she also needs to assess the battle
situation to aim at the enemy with her bow.

When we managed to finish defeating the ants that had come up to the first
floor, Zeke said…

"When the big ones come, Ike will take care of them. The rest of the
vanguards should just aim for the smaller ones! Clarice, when the big ones
come please join Ike and attack!”

He handed down the order to everyone.

Zeke, Maria, and the other magicians don't have as much fuel for long-
duration battle so they are in charge of putting the end to the ants that are
restrained. If they use MP in the early stages, they will become a burden
due to MP deficiency.

Before I had finished dealing with the ants that had come up to the first
floor, I felt as if another same mother ant that I had seen earlier had been
caught by Tornado. Two of them, too.

"Two more are coming! I will use Firestorm so please watch out!"

Although it consumes more MP, I changed to Firestorm instead of Tornado

to avoid the same thing that happened earlier.

Ike also quickly released Flare toward the stairs, and this time we were able
to stop the wave without allowing any ants to come up to the first floor.

Meanwhile, the other members of the team killed all the ants that had made
it to the first floor.
Now we were back to where we started, and we were back to the Crocodile
Panic phase again.

With a little more room to spare, I asked Zeke.

"Is the second floor bigger than the first?”

"I heard that up to the third floor there is not much difference to the first
floor."

He answered. If the ants were tightly packed on the second floor, we still
had a long way to go.

But it was not all doom and gloom.

As we fought, I managed to control the Tornado with my left hand while

joining with the vanguard with my right hand wielding the mithril silver
sword.

After using Tornado all the time, I became able to use Tornado without
chanting and it also had increased power.

When I appraised myself, my level and status had increased.

Name: Mars Bryant

Title: Thunder God / Wind King / Goblin Butcher
Identity: Second son of Viscount Bryant
Condition: Good
Age: 6 years old
Level: 16
HP: 47/47
MP: 2984/6174
Strength: 38
Agility: 44
Magic: 55
Dexterity: 42
Durability: 39
Luck: 30
Unique Ability: Innate Talent (LvMax)
Unique Ability: Clairvoyance (Lv8)
Unique Ability: Lightning Magic (Lv2/S)
Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv7/B)
Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv2/F)
Special Ability: Water Magic(Lv1/G)
Special Ability: Earth Magic(Lv2/F)
Special Ability: Wind Magic(Lv9/A)
Special Ability: Holy magic(Lv5/B)

Equipment: Mithril Silver Sword

Equipment: Sylph Dagger
Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

I made it to level 16!

It felt that it took a much shorter time from 15 to 16 than expected. I
thought it would be even harder to go up from 15 onwards but this is a
pleasant miscalculation.

I had confirmed that Lightning magic had risen to level 2 before the battle
but finally Wind magic has risen to level 9.

Perhaps that's why the control of Tornado became easier.

Maybe I could push through if I keep at it like this, or at least I thought so at

this point of time.
After more or less getting used to handling the ants, we have much more
room to spare now.

We have been fighting for an hour and yet everyone doesn't look tired.

And everyone's level is rising.

Name: Ike Bryant

Title: -
Status: Human race, heir of Viscount Bryant.
Condition: Good
Age: 9 years old
Level: 19
HP: 56/56
MP: 682/925
Strength: 40
Agility: 37
Magic: 23
Dexterity: 24
Endurance: 34
Luck: 10
Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv4/C)
Special Ability: Spearmanship (Lv7/B)
Special Ability: Fire Magic (Lv5/C)

Equipment: Flame Lance

Equipment: Salamander Sword
Equipment: Ifrit‘s Mail
Equipment: Flame Bracelet
Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

Ike had risen to level 19, and his Fire magic is now level 5.

And the one who experienced the most growth is Clarice.

Name: Clarice Lampard

Title: -
Status: Human race, eldest daughter of Baron Lampard
Condition: Good
Age: 6 years old
Level: 20
HP: 40/40
MP: 318/318
Strength: 28
Agility: 28
Magic: 29
Dexterity: 30
Endurance: 26
Luck: 20
Unique Ability: Barrier Magic (Lv2/A)
Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv5/C)
Special Ability: Archery (Lv6/B)
Special Ability: Holy magic (Lv4/A)

Equipment: Defender
Equipment: Mithril Silver Dagger
Equipment: Magic Arrow
Equipment: Saint's Robe
Equipment: Mysterious Anklet
Equipment: Disguise Bracelet

Her dexterity has improved considerably due to the fact that she has been
using only bows for a long time.

And this time, she used an ordinary bow instead of Magic Arrow so her MP
was not consumed at all.

In addition to Azure Fang, Red Wings, and Black Tri-Stars, Zeke and Maria
have also increased their levels.
For magicians like Zeke and Maria, this power leveling will be something
they are quite thankful for.

"How's everybody doing? Anyone getting tired?”

When Zeke asked that to everyone, the only response he got was, "I'm still
fine.”

I had less than half my MP.

"Father, my MP is down to about a third. Is it okay if I continue like this?"

"Okay, then we'll block the stairs when next Mother Ant comes up. Once
Mars's MP is restored, we'll open the stairs again. You all should prepare as
such!”

Burying the stairs means using Earth magic to seal the stairs.

It can be made quite sturdy by infusing all the remaining MP to seal it.

After more than 30 minutes since Zeke's order, there is still no Mother Ant
that is able to come up.

My MP was already below 1000 so I notified Zeke.

"Father! I'm running out of MP!”

"Alright. Then let's block the stairs now!”

I used Firestorm and Ike used Flare to wipe out all the ants near the stairs,
and we hurriedly block the stairs with Earth magic.

Although we had less MP for Earth magic than we had planned, we were
still able to block the staircase quite sturdily.

"All right! Everybody take a three-hour break! Just be ready to get out of
here at any time in case something happens. Especially the three Black Tri-
Stars, who will be tasked to carry Mars in case of unforeseen circumstances
so make sure you get some rest! Also, sorry about this but the 6 from Azure
Fang, please let Ralph outside know that we are going on a break now and
will resume in 3 hours. Also, make sure Clarice has enough arrows to
replenish her arsenal.”

☆☆☆
TL:Change of POV

"Mars is as awesome as ever!”

When I said so, the other party members…

"Oh, as expected from Lord Zeke's kid!"

"Mars is great but Ike is becoming more consistent.”

The two who responded were our Azure Fang’s party members, Yug the
swordsman and Anne the magician.
The Azure Fang party is now heading for the exit of the Almeria Labyrinth.

We are heading to the exit of the Almeria Labyrinth because Lord Zeke told
us to inform the guildmaster, Ralph, that we need to take a break.

We did not encounter any magic beasts on our way to the exit of the
Almeria Labyrinth.

To be precise, we were not attacked. Because all the magic beasts are being
tied up.

"Well, aside from those two, we've gotten a lot stronger, haven't we?"

"I was right to move our base to Irgusia three years ago. We were around
level 15 at the time but now we are all close to level 20. In a little while, we
might be able to dive in the Almeria Labyrinth as deep as Lord Zeke and
the others soon.”

Even as we talked, we reached the exit of the labyrinth at a fairly fast pace.

At the exit of the labyrinth, Ralph and the adventurers were waiting
nervously.

As soon as we stepped outside, Ralph rushed up to us and said..

"Van, what's the matter? Only the Azure Fangs made it?"

He asked a little anxiously.

"Currently, Mars is out of MP and we are taking a break by blocking the
stairs with Earth magic. Lord Zeke tasked me to send you the message that
we will take a break for 3 hours and we will start fighting again after.”

"I see! Everything is going well! Good, good!”

"Yeah. Although we might not have killed a thousand ants, we have

defeated quite a number of them. There were a few that were threat level C
but Ike and Mars took them out.”

While I and Ralph are conversing, Margrave Carmel came over.

"Thank you for coming all the way from Irgusia and doing the most
dangerous tasks possible. The Knights of Carmel have finished evacuating
the residents and are on standby in town. I would like you to stay in the
labyrinth as much as possible but we are ready for urban warfare at any
time. Barnes is also waiting with us. Tell him that when you return back."

Looking around, I see some people who looked like knights as well as
adventurers.

A hundred adventurers, a hundred knights, the beastman slaves, and Lord

Barnes. This seems like an excessive gathering when combined with the
rest of us in the labyrinth.

At least that's what I thought at this moment.

"All right, now that the message has been given and the arrows have been
replenished, we are going back to the labyrinth."

With that, Ralph and the others saw us off.

I could feel the other adventurers looking at us with respect.

We returned to Almeria Labyrinth and headed for the deepest part of the
first level.

"Somehow, the way they are looking at us is different now.”

"Yeah. It's a far cry from the time when I was feeling a little better after
graduating from the paper era, then I got hurt, and the other adventurers
looked at me with a cold shoulder.”

"There’s certainly that period huh. It’s all thanks to Lord Zeke and Lady
Maria."

"Hey, hey, give me, the leader, a little credit will you.”

We are still talking as we move but we are made sure to keep our pace
consistent.

We returned to the deepest part of the first floor less than three hours after
we left from there.

====================================
Author’s note:
For reference, this is the status of Van, the leader of Azure Fang.
Name: Van Riggles
Title: -
Status: Human race, commoner
Condition: Good
Age: 19 years old
Level: 20
HP: 46/46
MP: 22/22
Strength: 25
Agility: 20
Magic: 15
Dexterity: 18
Endurance: 15
Luck: 5
Special Ability: Swordsmanship (Lv4/D)
Special Ability: Water Magic (Lv2/E)

Equipment: Silver Sword

Equipment: Iron Armor
Chapter 148: The people of the
Aken family
When we arrived at the barrier room, everyone was already there.
I glanced at the corner of the room.
The ‘not yet’ writing that I made was there.
“Everyone has gathered now then. Just in case, let’s confirm whether the
ring and the barrier are alright.” (Shizun)
When Shizun-san proposed this, everyone nodded, but there was only one
person that hurled insults.
“Tch! What a pain! If the ring is gone, I as the oldest would be the
successor anyways, right? I am going to become the successor one way or
another anyways, so isn’t it fine for it to be taken?” (Fai)
The one who said this is a thin man with tobacco in mouth, the eldest son,
Fai.
“Onii-sama!!” (Mizu)
The oldest sister Mizu reacts to the rash remarks of Fai, but he simply
grinned.
“What? Got a problem? If you do, try undoing the barrier on your own right
this instant.” (Fai)
“That’s…” (Mizu)
He even provoked Mizu.
“If our abilities are the same, it only makes sense that I should be
succeeding the family as the eldest son, right? If you are unhappy about
that, try using 2 elements right this instant! Come on, do it! If you can, that
is!!” (Fai)
“Kuh, it is because you have such a nasty personality that I can’t just leave
you the family with peace of mind, Onii-sama! Why is it that you are so—”
(Mizu)
“Stop it already, you two!!” (Shizun)
But the quarrel of the two was stopped by the shout of Shizun.
“Even if the ring gets stolen, the barrier would still stay. The standard of
choosing the next head of the family is still the same. Also, in the case
when no one can use 2 elements, I will be deciding the next successor by
my own judgment.” (Shizun)
He said this firmly and urged his children on.
“More importantly, you should all have something to do.” (Shizun)
“…Tch! Got it.” (Fai)
“If our esteemed father says so, it can’t be helped.” (Mizu)
Fai and Mizu nodded reluctantly and move forward.
Earth and Fuu also followed behind.
In order to undo the barrier, you have to pour barrier magic of the opposite
element in the respective crystals.
Fai of the fire element went to the blue crystal, Mizu of the water element
went to the red crystal, Earth of the earth element went to the green crystal,
and Fuu of the wind element went to the yellow crystal.
And then, the 4 began to concentrate their power into the crystals in front of
them.
According to the lore of barrier magic, only the bloodline of the Aken
family can use this magic, but it is not like everyone in the Aken family can
use it easily.
Contrary to Shizun-san who managed to finish the barrier magic in just a
few seconds, the casting speed of his children was slow.
“…Kuh!”
“…Hnnnn.”
Especially the oldest son Fai and the second daughter Fuu, they warped
their faces slightly in pain.
In contrast, the oldest daughter Mizu and the second son Earth seemed to
still be fine.
“Done.” (Mizu)
“…Me too!!” (Earth)
The first ones to finish in around 1 minute were Mizu and Earth, and then,
in around 1 minute more, the other two finished theirs.
“Now then, please do it.” (Shizun)
The 4 casted the spell onto the crystal at the order of Shizun-san.
The crystals shone brightly for a second at the opposing element as if
fighting back, but they eventually lost their light as if pushed back by the
shine of the spell.
The barrier in between pillars dissipates at the same time as this happened.
“…Now then…” (Shizun)
Shizun-san approached the pedestal and grabbed the ring placed on top of
it.
And then, after raising it to show it to everyone in the room, he stared
intently at the ring.
“…There’s no doubt about it. This is certainly the Immortal Oath.”
(Shizun)
After asserting this, he gently returned it to the top of the pedestal.
“Now then, the barriers.” (Shizun)
The 4 moved locations at the order of Shizun-san.
Fai to red, Mizu to blue, Earth to yellow, Fuu to green.
This time they all moved in front of the same color crystal as theirs and
used their magic again.
The 4 crystals regained their light again, the ring was blocked by the barrier,
and was hidden once again.
And then, we properly locked the barrier room with the key, left Elm-san to
guard it, and we returned to the living room.
But in the middle of our way back to the 1st floor…
“Souma-san, what should we do about this…?” (Ina)
Ina called me to a stop with tears in her eyes.
In her hands, there’s a familiar vase…no, it is already a former vase…or
you could even call this uneven object a ‘strange lump’.
“Hmm.” (Souma)
There were no events in Nekomimi Neko where you had to repair a broken
vase with super glue.
While I was troubled in what to say, big boobs—no, the useless maid
hopped in from the side.
“No need to worry! You will drop it and break it again anyways, so you just
have to remake it nicely then!” (Rirumu)
“Wait, wa, eeh…” (Ina)
Ina made a dubious look at the useless maid that said something horrible
with a smile.
She grabbed Ina’s hand and said.
“Also, I believe in you. I am sure you will get better really quickly, Ina-
san!” (Rirumu)
“T-Thank yo—wait! You are implying that I am going to break the vase
again, right?!” (Ina)
“Yes, I won’t lose to you, Ina-san!” (Rirumu)
“Y-You are wrong! Don’t make me your comrade!!” (Ina)
“It is okay! Just gain experience like this and you will be able to bring back
snapped cups, broken plates, missing parts of the wall, or chopsticks broken
in weird places by using super glue!” (Rirumu)
“Listen to what I am saying!” (Ina)
The two were having such a lovely conversation and…
“You people, can I have some of your time?”
A cold voice rang from behind.
It is Mizu.
“Aw! I-I remembered I had something to do!” (Rirumu)
The useless maid that noticed this ran away without even a millisecond of
hesitation.
Right after the useless maid was out of sight from the corridor, I heard the
sound of something rolling down the stairs, but I ignored that and faced
Mizu again.
“Good grief. That girl…” (Mizu)
Mizu said this annoyed, and Ina quivered with the vase she broke in hand.
“U-Uhm…this…” (Ina)
Ina nervously shows her the vase.
“Give it here. I will throw it away.” (Mizu)
Mizu said this and extended her hand.
Seeing that Ina moved back as if by reflex at this, she snorted.
“Do you know how much tableware that girl broke yesterday? 1 plate and 2
glasses for a total of 3. And yet, she already broke 2 jars, 1 vase, 3 plates,
and a set of cups.
Could it be that this pace of hers is because she is jolly about you people
having come?” (Mizu)
“I-I am so—” (Ina)
Ina hurriedly tried to apologize, but…
“…Thanks for getting along with her.” (Mizu)
She gently placed a hand on Ina’s head.
“She is a girl that my father brought from the city. Despite appearances, she
actually had her fair share of difficulties. Even though she could just take it
more easily, she seems to be reserved towards us most likely because she
has been hired by father.” (Mizu)
“But the vase…” (Ina)
Unable to follow the situation, Ina said this and Mizu giggled.
“Aah, there’s no need to worry about this. It is a cheap one for 100E
anyways. There’s no way we would leave something expensive in arm’s
reach of that girl, right? What we have out here are either cheap stuff or
sturdy things that won’t break even when it falls. We have the actual
expensive things stored.” (Mizu)
“I-I see…” (Ina)
Ina said this as if impressed.
No, no matter how you think about it, that’s a really crazy story, but it does
make sense after seeing that useless maid.
“I was worried since that girl hasn’t been too cheerful lately. That girl only
broke 2 things the other day, you know?! Two! Can you believe it?!”
(Mizu)
“I-I see…” (Ina)
The unbelievable thing is that two is few for that useless maid, but it is
probably already the common sense of this house.
Mizu was making an actual worried expression.
However, that face turned bright soon after.
“But she has finally found a brethren. I don’t have to worry anymore.”
(Mizu)
“B-Brethren…?” (Ina)
Ina’s face stiffened, having a bad feeling about this, and Mizu made a smile
that you could lose yourself in.
“Oh, that’s because you are a clumsy brethren of hers, right?” (Mizu)
And then…
“I-I am not clum—aaah!!” (Ina)
The breaking sound that rang at the same time as she shouted this was proof
enough.

After disposing of the vase that broke again, I returned to the living room
while pulling the hand of the dejected Ina, and Shizun-san began to explain
the plans from here on.
“We have 6 hours from here to midnight. I am thinking of having watches
on shifts excluding myself.” (Shizun)
The plan proposed by Shizun-san went like this:
6:00 p.m: Butler Elm.
7:00 p.m: Useless Maid.
8:00 p.m: Mizu.
9:00 p.m: Earth.
10:00 p.m: Fai.
11:00 p.m: Fuu.
“You will be guarding the door in this order, and we will confirm once
again at 12 whether the ring is safe. If nothing’s wrong, we repeat the shifts.
If nothing happens after that, we can consider the theft notice as a prank.”
(Shizun)
Shizun-san paused there and Maki asked without a moment’s delay.
“Who will be in charge of that room’s key?” (Maki)
“The key will be in my possession in most cases. However, when
switching, I will have them bring the key and have the two of them enter
the room to check.” (Shizun)
For example; in the case when Elm and the useless maid are going to
switch, the useless maid will go to the place of Elm with the key in hand.
They will then open the door and check the state inside.
If there’s no issues after that, Elm will take the key and bring it back to
Shizun-san.
“Is there any other spare key aside from that one?” (Maki)
“This is the only one.” (Shizun)
“Hmm, I see, I see.” (Maki)
Some heartstrings must have been pulled there, Maki was groaning
constantly.
“More importantly, what about us? Is it okay to move around freely?” (Fai)
It was Fai who asked a question this time around.
Shizun-san frowned at that tone of his, but answered his question.
“No, I will have them in the same room as much as possible. Especially Fai,
Mizu, Earth, and Fuu. In the case when you 4 have something to do
elsewhere, you have to bring someone along no matter what.” (Shizun)
Fai clicked his tongue at this, but didn’t object to it.
After confirming that the questions have been answered, Shizun-san
softened his expression.
“…Now then, let’s leave aside the complicated talk for now and eat.”
(Shizun)
After that, we all moved to the dining room.
“Elm cooked enough for everyone before heading to his watch duty. Please
accompany us on the table if that’s okay.” (Shizun)
We followed the proposal of Shizun-san and took a seat too.
“N-Now then, I, the unworthy Riruru, will take the place of Elm-san and
bring the food to the table!” (Rirumu)
The one who ran quickly to the useless maid after speaking words that
instilled dread was the green haired second daughter, Fuu.
“Y-You must not! …I mean, c-can you please let me do that?” (Fuu)
“But bringing the food is my job…” (Rirumu)
The useless maid persisted, but Fuu pleaded desperately.
“When Elm-san is here, he always brings it all in by himself, so I wanted to
try it out myself today at least. Can’t I, Rirumu-oneechan?” (Fuu)
“…It can’t be helped. If you say so, Fuu-chan.” (Rirumu)
The tension in the dining room softened in one go after the useless maid
nodded.
Everyone in the room directed gazes of praise at Fuu who saved the food.
Fuu noticed those gazes and laughed with an ‘ehehe’ shyly.
“Geez, getting happy about something like that. You really are a child, Fuu-
chan.” (Rirumu)
Seeing this, the useless maid told her that, and the shy smile turned into a
bitter one.
The dishes brought out may not have much in terms of portion, but it was
an assortment of fancy stuff fitting of a meal of nobles.
“Hooh, this is quite…” (Mitsuki)
Mitsuki, who seems to be a gourmet despite being terrible at cooking, had
her ears wave, displaying her happiness.
“Wow! So the magic of Sazan-niichan was what defeated the Demon
Lord?! The Demon Lord is super strong, right?! So amazing! You are super
amazing, Nii-chan!!” (Earth)
“Fufufu, that’s natural for the strength of this Sazan-sama.” (Sazan)
I heard the stupidly loud voices of Sazan and Earth at the neighboring
seats.
“That’s incredible. Also, the name Sazan is cool!” (Earth)
“Right?! Fumu, you have promise! Fufufufu…!” (Sazan)
The tragic development of a child getting attached to Sazan.
Well, the chuunibyou attire of Sazan must look cool in the eyes of a child.
The rare praise Sazan was getting must have completely gone to his head.
“I actually hate my own name! Earth has a weird ring to it, right? Aah, I
would have liked a cool name like the Flash Tir, or the Omnipresent Fo.”
(Earth)
I thought ‘that’s just the nicknames being cool’, but I didn’t say it out loud.
Seeing the way Sazan dealt with it…
“Hmph! There’s no point wishing for what you don’t have. What’s more
important is to make achievements so big that they change the image of
your own name.” (Sazan)
“I see. That’s amazing! You really are amazing, Sazan-niichan!” (Earth)
“Hmph, well, you could say that.” (Sazan)
Leaving aside his tone, what he is saying was unexpectedly decent which is
surprising.
There’s cases where you finally do get a nickname once you become
famous but it is a weird one, however, you could say it is a healthy
suggestion.
“How can I become strong like you, Nii-chan?” (Earth)
“Right. First, have an objective. With an objective up high, the strength will
follow.” (Sazan)
“In that case, I already have one!” (Earth)
Earth shouted with pieces of vegetables flying out of his mouth.
“I will become better than my brother and sisters…no, better than even my
father, and become the number one barriermancer!!” (Earth)
The air in the dining room froze for an instant.
But the two in question didn’t notice this and continued speaking gleefully.
“Hoh, number one, huh. Sounds nice.” (Sazan)
“Right?! I will definitely become number one! …Cause, if I do so, my
brother and my sisters won’t have to fight…” (Earth)
“Earth…” (Sazan)
Earth looked faintly discouraged there, and Sazan hurriedly stood up
intentionally and declared…
“Fu…Fufufu! Then, I shall make a special exception and show you my
secret art!” (Sazan)
“Eh, really?! Show me, show me!!” (Earth)
It is fine to try and cheer him up, but nothing decent comes out from him
getting ahead of himself.
I doubt he is going to drop a dangerous spell all of a sudden inside the
house, but let’s be careful just in case. I nodded to myself and…
“Listen and be surprised! Watch and tremble! This is the ultimate spell that
ended even the Demon Lord! Here I go! [Tidal Wa—” (Sazan)
“Alright, stop there!!” (Souma)
I grab the collar of Sazan who was about to do something idiotic at the
speed of light, and forcefully stopped him.
Why is this guy so stupid?
It makes me want to cry.
“W-What are you doing?!” (Sazan)
But more trouble came while I was sighing at the struggling Sazan.
“Tch! As if I can eat such bad tasting food! Meal is over! I am leaving!”
(Fai)
The red haired man that was eating in silence until now stood up
aggressively from his seat and left the dining room with his plate that still
had food.
“Onii-sama!” (Mizu)
Mizu stood up from her seat at the thoughtless remarks of Fai, but I stopped
her.
“I will keep an eye on Fai-san. Everyone, please continue your meal.”
(Souma)
I say that and, without leaving any opportunity for someone to object, I
followed after Fai.
Fai was swapping the remaining food to a different plate by the time I
arrived.
When he saw me, he clicked his tongue audibly and began talking as if
monologuing.
“This house doesn’t have the magic bags or pouches that you adventurers
use, so the maid is going out often to do the groceries. Tomorrow is that
time, and yet, even though we are already low on ingredients to begin with,
you guys came.
There’s no way there would be enough for everyone.” (Fai)
He swiftly lined up the food and warmed it up as he said this bitterly.
“That damn Elm geezer, if you are going to make such bad tasting food,
you gotta eat it too. That’s why I’m gonna go to the place of the geezer now
and give him my scraps. If you want to keep an eye on me, go ahead and do
it.” (Fai)
A smile leaked out from me after seeing the food lined up nicely.
“Y-You bastard, don’t go laughing! I’ll kill you!” (Fai)
I carried half of the dishes while listening to the insults of Fai from
beginning to end, and kept him company all the way to the barrier room.
And then, on our way back to the dining room…
“…Tch.” (Fai)
Fai clicked his tongue while holding his stomach, so I offered him skewer
dangos which I had found just a few moments ago when rummaging around
my bag.
“What’s this?” (Fai)
Fai opened his eyes wide at my sudden action.
“Can’t tell just by looking? They are skewer dangos. I have so many in my
bag, they are getting in the way. Can you please free me from some of
them?” (Souma)
“…Why me?” (Fai)
I pushed the dangos forward with Fai’s eyes still nailed onto them.
“Isn’t it fine? I am learning from you and asking you to get rid of my
scraps.” (Souma)
“You…” (Fai)
Fai clicked his tongue somewhat happily at my words and…
“…Thanks.” (Fai)
Said this in a low volume as he wildly ate the dangos.
“Salty. Damn it, this is so damn salty!” (Fai)
He said this as he rubbed the corner of his eyes.
But there’s no way the skewer dangos are that salty, and even if they are, it
wouldn’t bring you to tears.
“…Want one more?” (Souma)
“No, I don’t! I really don’t!” (Fai)
Maybe Fai is trying to hide his shyness here, he shook his head hurriedly.
…Good grief, the people in this house are all tsunderes.
All-rounder Healer Chapter 176:
Going to Town
The next day, as usual, I put Shion in the hood of the robe and
went out into town.

The sky is shining blue again today, and the sun is warm and
comfortable.

It feels like it’s almost midsummer, but it doesn’t feel that hot. I
don’t know if it’s because we don’t have the sweltering heat of
midsummer in Japan, or if the temperature doesn’t rise as high as in
Europe, or if the days of the year are longer than on Earth, but
whatever the reason, I am glad to be here. I don’t think I would be
able to live without an air conditioner or even a fan if mid-summer in
Japan showed up.

With Mimi-san’s note in hand, I walked from the south side where
the Clan House is located towards the center of town.

Today’s destination is a bookstore near the center of town. In the

past, when I stopped by a town or a village, I would look for a
bookstore to see if there were any grimoires on Sacred Magic, but
this time, I think it was great that I could ask Mimi-san, who knows
this town very well, for information. It would have been very difficult
to check out this large town by myself.

As I headed north on the main street, where horse-drawn

carriages come and go, I found a stall that sold weapons and other
mysterious items.

A few swords and knives in sheaths. Some clothes, a box, and a

scroll of some kind. And other things. I stopped to take a look.
“May I pull this out?”

I asked the man who owned the stall, bending down in front of the
stall and pointing to the sword. He said, “Oh, sure, feel free to look
around.”

The shopkeeper agreed, so I took the sword I had chosen at

random out of its scabbard and observed it.

It was a simple double-edged straight sword. The silvery blade is

not distorted or bent. The color indicates that the material is iron, and
there are no chips on the blade, so it looks good, but what more is
there?

After that, I looked at several other swords and knives, but all I
could think of was, “They all look good, I guess.”

“Well, they are all good swords, aren’t they?” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh… that’s right.”

“The one over there is a sword said to have been forged by the
legendary blacksmith Elde. And this is a sword that is said to have
been treasured by a certain duke family, and this one–”
(Shopkeeper)

The shopkeeper’s explanations all sounded great, but to be

honest, I didn’t really understand what he was talking about.

I don’t have the knowledge of legendary blacksmiths, where the

iron came from, or anything like that.

Next, I picked up the box and examined it.

 The material is based on wood. The corners are reinforced with
metal and look sturdy. The lid is reinforced in the same way, and
there is one hole that looks like a keyhole. It looks like a “treasure
chest”! However, I could not figure out what this box was.

“What is this?”

“It’s a box” (Shopkeeper)

“A box?”

“You can lock it!” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh, I see.”

It looks like something, but there is nothing. It seems to be just a

box.

No, but in our world, locks are always simple things like bolts, and
the kind of lock that you insert a bar-shaped iron with jagged edges
into a keyhole and turn it with a click, which is familiar to us, is seen
only in high-end hotels. Perhaps this is something that is actually
quite impressive.

With this in mind, I took one look at the shopkeeper with a smug
look on his face, put down the box, and picked up the scroll—a piece
of paper wrapped around and fastened with a string.

“That’s a [Spell Scroll of Fire Seed].” (Shopkeeper)

“Spell Scroll…?”

“Yeah, it gives anyone who uses it the ability to use the magic
contained in it! You won’t find them in the dungeons around here. It’s
rare, you know?” (Shopkeeper)

Spell scrolls? You can use it to cast spells? You can’t find them in
the dungeons around here? Have I ever heard of such a thing
existing? I don’t think it was mentioned in the beginner’s magic
instruction book I read in the South Village… No, but the items that
come out of dungeons are different from dungeon to dungeon, and
some items may be rare and only available in certain dungeons. It is
possible that information about rare items can only be obtained in
dungeons located far away and is not widely available to the public.

“So how much is it?”

“10 gold coins.” (Shopkeeper)

“…By the way, how many times can I use it?”

“Of course, once!” (Shopkeeper)

“Oh, I see.”

Hey, it was too expensive! I can’t pay 10 gold coins for a single-
use Life Magic scroll. Besides, for that price, I could have bought a
magic tool with a similar effect.

I put the [Spell Scroll of Fire Seed] back on the cloth spread on the
ground.

“Hey, hey, this is one of those precious items imported from afar!
You can’t find it anywhere around here, even in the most expensive
stores for bigwigs.” (Shopkeeper)

“I don’t think I have the money for this.”

 I replied appropriately as I stood up and turned on my heel.

I’m very interested in the [Spell Scroll] item, but the price is too
high…

I put my hand on my chin and tilt my head as I walk away and

think.

I wonder if the spell scroll is really a real find? Is it really an item

that is rarely found even in the most expensive stores? When I think
about it, even the swords lined up in the row were all with titles that
seemed to be very impressive, and they all seemed to be
unbelievable. In other words, isn’t it more likely that everything is
fake?

I stopped, looked back over my shoulder, and looked at the stalls.

“Hmm…”

“Kyu…” (Shion)

If I had some sort of appraiser-like ability to look up everything, it

would be a quick story, but life doesn’t work that way. The appraisal
ability that I have can only examine a small number of items such as
the Grimoires of Sacred Magic. The only thing I can do is to
accumulate knowledge on my own to find out what is right and what
is not. There is no other choice.

While I was thinking such things as these as I continued down the

main street, buying a skewer of sausages from a food stall and
eating it with Shion, I heard the sound of plucking strings among the
throngs of people.
 One each for both of us, we nibbled on the sausages, and we
continued on our way as the sound lured us in.

A street branching from the main street. A pile of crates behind a

store. A man sitting on a pile of crates, a slow melody playing in his
hands.

I blend in with the gallery that sparsely surrounds the man and
observe him.

The man had golden hair and a fair face, was dressed in loose-
fitting clothes made of fine cloth, and wore a wide-brimmed circular
hat. The instrument in his hand was of a shape I had never seen
before. It was made like a rectangular box with strings strung on it,
which he held and played like a guitar. His overall appearance is
similar to the rich people we have seen in the high-end stores and
other places north of Elem. I think I would believe him if he called
himself a bard or a nobleman, partly because of his well-dressed
appearance.

Perhaps the prelude was over, the man slowly opened his lips and
began to spin a tale.

“That day, he fell in love. A newly hired maid girl at the mansion. Ah,
it was a wonderful encounter.” (Bard)

It was “poetry” that was accompanied by music.

A little different from the “songs” from modern Earth—no, it was

completely different, this was a “poem” recited with music.

It may be more like a story than a song, or more like a reading.

 The story was apparently a love story. It seems to be a love story
between an aristocratic man and a maid girl.

Looking around the gallery surrounding the man, I found many

young women, who were smiling and blushing as they listened to the
love story of the hero and heroine.

I felt a freshness in this scene, and thought to myself, “It’s good to

see this kind of thing once in a while,” as I enjoyed the story with the
gallery.

“Oh Father, why not? I love her, even though–” (Bard)

It seems that the story has reached a climax, and a wall stands
between them.

The aristocratic man and the maid girl love each other, but
because of the maid girl’s low status, her parents do not approve of
her, and the maid girl is transferred to another house.

The young ladies in the gallery are also on edge.

The story is already at its end. The man plucking the strings has
his fingers full of strength, and his voice grows fiery.

“Lalala~ The girl throws herself off the cliff—” (Bard)

“What a tragic ending…”

“Kyukyu…” (Shion)

That’s not worth a “Lalala~”! I exhale deeply, suppressing the urge

to click my tongue.
 Apparently, the maid girl who could not realize her relationship
with the nobleman threw herself off the cliff and took her life in
anguish. And that’s really the end of the story.

The sound of women sobbing can be heard from the

surroundings.

I thought it would be a reversal of fortune and it would result in a

happy ending… [T/N: Oh you poor child. That might be
Shakespeare Isekai’d or something.]

“That’s it. Thank you!” (Bard)

The bard took his large hat and bowed gracefully, turning it over
and holding it up in front of him.

The women put their coins into that hat with tears in their eyes.

Eventually, after listening to the whole thing from beginning to end,

I decided to put a silver coin in mine, too.

“I feel sad, Shion.”

“Kyu…” (Shion)

But Shion seemed to somehow understand what I was talking

about, but did he even understand the story I had just told him?

Well, but it’s a world with little entertainment, and this kind of thing
is usually good. For what it’s worth, I had a good time too. If I am
going to enjoy my life in this world from now on, I should find a lot of
entertainment like this.
“What is that?”

The words that someone somewhere had uttered reached my ears

with unusual clarity.

The people around me began to murmur, and soon people began

to look up at the sky as if they had noticed something.

Following their actions, I also looked up at the sky.

“Oh, it’s a Golden Dragon!” (Voice)

Someone cried.

Someone then shouted, “It’s the Golden Dragon!” “Why did it

come out?” and the whole town was drowned in chaos.

“Golden Dragon…”

It is the origin of the clan’s name “Golden Dragon Claw”.

Wrapped in golden scales and flapping its two large wings, it flies
above the town.

Its figure is only about the size of a fist when seen from the
ground, but I could imagine that it is actually incredibly huge. The
largest monster I have ever seen was a Great Boar, but I am sure it
was much larger than that.
 If it attacked me, there would be no way even this town could
stand a chance.

It looked so divine and shining that I thought so.

Fortunately, the golden dragon seemed to pay no attention to us,

flapping its golden wings and disappearing into the western sky.
Even after the golden dragon disappeared from sight, the buzz
around the area did not subside. Some people were running away
and some stalls were closing up store. Anyway, I don’t feel like I can
take my time to shop now.

“What should I do with this? …Should I go back to the Clan House

for the time being?”

The clan might have some information.

Yeah, we’ll go to the bookstore next time. I’m not in the mood for it
anymore.

As I turned back down the street, I noticed that the main street
was filled with a strange atmosphere.

If a monster attacked the town, of course, it is obvious what should

be done, but since the monster disappeared through the town, the
residents of the town may be at a loss for what to do…

The town’s inhabitants and adventurers are discussing the

situation with serious faces all over the street, but I guess they
haven’t come up with a good answer yet.

“Ah Rook-san, you’re back.” (Mimi)

 I returned to the Clan House, and as I was walking toward the
dining room to look for someone, I spotted Mimi-san with papers in
her arms.

“Yes, I was kind of in no mood to do any shopping. More importantly,

I saw a Golden Dragon, do you have any information about it?”

“I will discuss this with the Knights and decide how to handle it, so
for now, please stand by.” (Mimi)

“I see… Does the Golden Dragon often wander around here?”

The reaction of the people in the town suggests that this is

probably not the case, but I asked anyway.

“No, the Golden Dragon basically does not come out of the mountain
range in the northeast, which is called the “Dragon’s Nest”. However,
there are still documents that show that it has appeared several
times in the past, so this is not the first time… “

Mimi-san glanced down at the documents in her hand as she said

this.

“We don’t know exactly, but it is believed that the Golden Dragon is
an S rank or higher monster. When such a powerful monster moves,
it seems to affect the monsters in the vicinity, and as we have seen
in the past, the hierarchy of the monsters can be rearranged…
Anyway, unpredictable situations can occur. Maybe there will be a
stampede.” (Mimi)

“…I see.”
“…Kyu.” (Shion)

I was so excited that I was able to see him looking over my

shoulder, and he was as excited as I was.

The most important thing to remember is that the Great Boar’s

movement was said to be the cause when the Stampede occurred in
Rankfurt. Will such a situation happen again this time?

I feel like I’ve encountered major problems everywhere I’ve gone

since I came to this world. I was told that stampede is not something
that happens that often… and in fact, if it happened that often, the
life of ordinary people would not be possible. I’ve heard that a certain
detective who gets involved in murder everywhere he goes is treated
as a god of death, and I wonder if I am one of those plague-like
beings.

I don’t really want a tumultuous life…

I thanked Mimi-san for the information about the Golden Dragon

and was about to go back to my room when I looked out the window
and saw that the sky was still blue without the Golden Dragon and
that there was still time before sunset.

“I have time, so I should find out more about the Golden Dragon.”

I went up the stairs and headed for the library.

 I entered the archives and started looking through the books on
the Golden Dragon, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for.

I checked the wooden board with information about the monsters

in the area, but there was no information about the Golden Dragon.

Is there any information on the Golden Dragon? Even if there

were, it would be a painstaking task to search for information written
in a book.

In a world where there is no such thing as the Internet, it’s a

human-powered round-the-clock battle to find any piece of
information.

“Oh! Maybe Mimi-san took the Golden Dragon-related materials with

her earlier.”

As I recall, I think Mimi-san was holding a book or a large bundle

of paper.

She was talking about preparing for a meeting, and it is highly

possible that she brought out such materials from the library.

“Hmm, I’m at a loss…”

“…what happened.” (Voice)

“Woah!”

I was a little surprised when he suddenly spoke to me from

behind.
 If the [Magi Location] is in effect, it won’t happen, but that magic
has an effective time of about an hour, so when you are outside or
when people are watching you, it is hard to activate and sometimes I
let it expire, so this happens sometimes.

[Magi Location] is a convenient magic that allows you to

completely grasp the presence of your surroundings, or rather, the
presence of something more than just a vague presence, so perhaps
I’m relying on it too much these days. In the past, I would have
always unconsciously searched for signs of my surroundings, but
recently I feel like I’ve been neglecting them. Maybe I need to think
about this issue properly.

“Ah… I want to find out information about the Golden Dragon, but I
can’t find any…”

“…I see.” (Voice)

With that one phrase, she—Lucille disappeared into the back of

the room. [T/N: First time the author mentioned her name and
they just mention it like that.]

Hmm? Well… what kind of reply is “…I see.”? What should I do

next?

While I was wondering, Lucille came back and offered me a book.

“… Yes, take this.” (Lucille)

“Eh? Oh, thank you!”

On the cover of the book were the words “History of Modern

Arnorn”.
 Hmmm, with this title, I might not have been able to find it myself.
She gave it to me because… or rather this one, contains information
about the Golden Dragon, right? I can’t quite grasp her character,
and it seems like a totally unrelated book.

I sit down on the window seat and open the book while thinking
about this.

A pleasant breeze blew in through the window and I felt

comfortable, but at the same time I also felt the annoyance of trying
to turn the pages without my will, and I held it lightly with my hand
and mind as I continued reading the book.

I read the book lightly, and it seemed to be a summary of the

events that took place in this town of Arnorn over the past 100 years,
and I felt that, overall, there was a noticeable admiration for the
Schumer family that ruled this town.

Well, in this world, people who try to write books are probably rich
people or researchers, and in such a book, it is most likely written by
the Schumer family itself or someone who has some kind of
relationship with the Schumer family. In general, history books like
this are always written to suit the regulators of the time, and that may
not be a problem.

As I skimmed through the book, looking for the section I wanted to

read, I found a description that seemed to be in the middle of the
book.

“Let’s see, in the 18th year of the Republic of Canadaira, a Golden

Dragon suddenly left its Dragon’s Nest and flew off to the north. The
pursuit was abandoned because it had crossed the border. That
same year, Borok Works, who was investigating the Dragon’s Nest,
brings back the Golden Dragon’s claws… “
 Borok-san, here you are! You weren’t just an old man saying “Yo!
Hey! Yo! Hey!” …No, I knew he wasn’t just an old man from the way
he acted.

Hmmm… Well, this clan must have been named “Golden Dragon
Claw” because Borok-san brought back Golden Dragon claws.

“Hmm… After the Golden Dragon disappeared, the fight between

monsters intensified in the surrounding areas. The number of
monsters appearing on the path decreased drastically. A major
negative impact on the adventuring industry. After that, the Golden
Dragon returned to the Dragon’s Nest, and the situation stabilized.”

Oh, I see. I was wondering if the disappearance of the Golden

Dragon had caused a bad situation like the stampede, but on the
contrary, the number of monsters decreased, and that had a
negative impact on the industry. Well, the lifestyle of the towns in this
world is to use the materials that can be obtained from the monsters,
so I wonder if the disappearance of the monsters would be a
problem.
Chapter 39.
The sun had already set and the street lights were dappled in the darkness of
the night.
Tenji changed from slippers to outdoor shoes at the entrance of the guild
office. He turned back to Kaido and Chigo and bowed lightly.
"I'm sorry I bothered you for so long.
"It's fine, please come again."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's play another game sometime!"
Kaido looked tired and Chigo waved at him with a big smile as reply.
After all that had happened since then, Tenzi was to stay in the guild office
until around eight o'clock at night.
At first, he was just going to talk to Kaido, but then we had sushi delivered.
After that, for some reason, Chigo, Kaido and he were playing a big brawl
game over and over again.
And so, he became late.
By the way, all the games ended in victory for Chigo. She is the woman
who always plays games.
"Yes, thank you for your time."
After thanking them, Tenji turned his back to the office and started walking
towards the station.
Midsummer will be here soon.
The night in Tokyo was humid and sticky. Tenji began to make his way
home from his school uniform. He was sure that a five minutes' walk would
bring him to the nearest Yutenji station.
On the way to the station, Tenji decided to record the information he got
from Kaido in his phone's notepad.
[I guess the first thing is the existence of 'White Eyes'. I think it might have
something to do with the 'special grade'. I knew that Kaido-san, who is said
to be the confidant of zero-grade explorers, seems to have a lot of
knowledge that ordinary people don't know about. I'm really glad I came
here today.]
Tenji was waiting for the train at the station thinking about Kaido's wealth
of knowledge. He heard the announcement that the train will be arriving
soon, and he takes his eyes off to his phone and stares at the tracks from the
distance.
After a few seconds, the train arrived at Yutenji station. Tenji boarded the
train and headed home.
He found a seat on the train and decided to note it again in the notepad as he
sat down.
[It seems that the calling of summoning creatures is still an undiscovered
possibility, or at least a category that Kaido-san has never heard of. And I
also found out that the grade of Red Demon Sword would be impossible to
determine with the MP Atomic Measuring Pearl. Moreover, it was clearly
revealed that the Red Demon Sword was so highly powerful that it could
easily destroy a fourth-grade weapon.]
Looking at it objectively. Tenji laughed, saying that it is not often that a
calling is so uncanny.
A hell weapon labeled as a fifth-grade easily snaps off a fourth-grade
weapon of this world.
This kind of thing was not normal. But Tenji's red demon sword had done
it.
Kaido and the others don't know that the red demon sword is a fifth-grade
weapon, but it would be too eerie a sight to witness its power. It is a power
that a young man who has just awakened to his calling should not have.
Just because someone has awakened to their calling doesn't mean that they
will be strong right away.
It takes many dungeon experiences, months and years of study to become a
strong explorer who is then called a veteran.
Tenji quickly summarized what he had talked about with Kaido and Chigo
so that he wouldn't forget.
[The more monsters you defeat, the more you can use your calling.
The duration differs depending on the monster grade. The higher the
grade, the greater the potential for growth, but it is said to be harder to
grow.]
Zero-grade explorer Leon still seems to be growing. It is said that the
higher the grade, the more difficult it is to grow.
He was advised to keep it a secret from others because of the rarity of
summoning.
Kaido had heard from an acquaintance of his, a zero-grade explorer,
that he had stopped growing after acquiring his eleventh skill.
He was told to keep his vocation a secret until he was strong enough to
be a first-grade explorer. Kaido did not think much of the association.
Chigo Shiroushi is an E cup.
"...Oh, that's not right."
Tenji hurriedly erased the last string of words he had written, 'E-cup', which
was inappropriate to make sense even to himself.
Chigo had casually mumbled her cup number during the game. Tenji was
sitting next to her and was lucky enough to hear it. The words were so stuck
in his mind that his hand moved of its own accord and he found himself
trying to take a note of it.
Quickly shaking off his bad thoughts, Tenji went to his notepad again.
Leon's calling is a zero-grade calling called [Spiral Mage].
The reason why he was able to appraise Tenji's calling was also due to
the effect of the skill 'Spiral Eye Rasendo'. This is not like the status of
the Book of Enma, but it seems to be the ability to forcibly determine
only the official name and grade of another person's calling that you
have eye contact with.
The ability to visualize like a level has not been discovered. The explorer
has no choice but to take the time to determine his or her abilities.
"Well, I guess that's about it. I got more than I thought I would."
This time, Tenji's victory was the gain of information from Kaido without
giving out as much information about himself as possible.
He knew in his bones that Kaido was a pretty trustworthy person, but he
still couldn't bring himself to tell Kaido everything after meeting him once.
Today Tenji disclosed to Kaido about the ranks of his special calling, the
existence of the red demon sword, that it might be a summoning system,
and that he can see his own abilities in writing - he spoke withholding that
he can see almost everything, and lied that he can only sort of see his skills
and his calling.
Of course, Tenji had noticed that since Kaido had been cooperative in the
first place and had not gone into it too deeply, he would have been able to
get away with this much information.
But there were still some things that didn't add up.
Why were they interested in Tenji? Why did they show interest in Tenji, and
why did they try to watch over him without getting too involved?
That was the only thing Tenji still couldn't figure out.
Still, in his heart, he was thankful for what had happened today.
"I think I've got my course of action somewhat settled. I'm going to keep
my calling under the radar for now. For the time being, I'm going to work
part time and look for opportunities to enter the dungeon. Then, I will
repeatedly analyze my calling and try to find a way around this during the
summer vacation."
The thing Tenji wanted to verify at the moment was the Gobin's combat
ability.
However, in order for students to engage in combat with monsters, they
need to join a raid or party as an assistant explorer. It is best to join as an
assistant explorer, if possible, since he can't expect much combat if he was
carrying luggage.
"I don't know what to do... Oh!"
Then Tenji suddenly realized a possibility.
If he can't do it yourself, why not ask someone else?
As luck would have it, he had a friend close to him who was rich, whose
father was a famous explorer. He felt guilty about Tenji, and Tenji thought
that he must be willing to help.
[Well, it's a bit of a tricky idea. It's not very pleasing to treat people in a way
that makes them uneasy, but I don't have a choice. I don't have the
connections or the talent.]
After changing stations several times, he got off at the final station.
So Tenji slowly took out his phone and tried to contact him.
He, of course, was the young man named Inagaki Rui.
He is a young man whose father is a first-class explorer, and he is filthy rich
that Tenji envies him sometimes. Rui also has a very close relationship with
[Chariot], which is called the top 10 guild in Japan.
Frankly, it would be rare to find a child more blessed than he was.
As he was thinking about this and putting in a call to Inagaki, he finally got
an answer to his incoming call.
"Yes, I'm Inagaki."
"Ah, it's... Amagi."
"Oh, Tenji? What's going on? What are you doing here?"
"...I know this is out of the blue, but I was wondering if there are any plans
to dive into a fifth-grade sub-dungeon? I was wondering if there might be a
chance for that."
"What, you're one of those people who want to get a head start during
summer vacation? Just in time. I just got a call from Asagiri, too, and we
had just got permission to a fifth-grade sub-dungeon together. It's scheduled
for the day after tomorrow."
"Oh, really? Can I ask you for one too?"
"I have no reason to refuse Tenji's wish. Of course, the day after tomorrow
morning at ten o'clock, we will meet at Yokohama station."
"Thanks, I'll see you the day after tomorrow. Thank you so much, Rui."
"Oh, I'll be waiting. And I'm sorry about for not keeping my promise
because my dad suddenly went on a business trip to Spain."
"I'm totally fine. He said we'd meet someday, so there's no need to rush. I'll
see you the day after tomorrow."
"Thank you too. I'm not sure how many people we have left, and to be
honest, it's been a big help. I'll see you in Yokohama the day after
tomorrow."
"Yeah, the day after tomorrow in Yokohama."
That's where the call went dead.
As soon as Tenji hung up the phone, he inwardly got excited in public.
In the first place, all the students of Japan Explorer High School were
thinking the same thing.
Curriculum changes in calling acquisition have resulted in early calling
acquisition.
Once that was decided, many students thought that they would make a good
start during the summer holidays and stand out from everyone else. Tenji is
just one of them.
Many new second-generation children with thoroughbreds, or explorers as
parents, are enrolled in the Japan Explorers High School.
They had plans to acquire a calling that their parents had kept secret, they
were on the verge of receiving a calling from a famous guild like Rui did,
and there were surprisingly many students like Asagiri who had already
been promised a scout from a major guild.
Therefore, he wanted to be recognized by the guild as soon as possible to
officially acquire his calling.
It is inevitable that everyone would want a higher rare calling than the
mediocre one that can be obtained from the association.
Tenji, who had realized this fact through Rui's words, was naturally
motivated.
"I have to work harder. Harder than ever."
Tenji was very determined.