...... Why are you here?

I couldn't hide my surprise at the first-class party that suddenly appeared with weapons in hand.
Of course I understand that the party in front of me, named the Great Sword of the War God, is looking at me as an enemy, having risen to prominence all at once.
But this party knew the difference in strength and did not act beyond harassment against me and Narsena.

That's why it was completely unexpected for me that the adventurers would attack at this time after defeating the Phoenix.

''You still don't understand?''

The warrior who seems to be the leader of the party smiles triumphantly at me as I reveal my surprise.

'We already know that your party is a parasite on the guild's direct adventurers. You impostor! I'm going to teach you to be a real top-notch adventurer!

...... So that's what it is.

The warrior's words almost make me let out a sigh as I understand the answer to my own question.

In fact, right now, me and Narsena have been faking our identities as Zeke's party members since we defeated the Phoenix.
But that's just a lie.
The only reason we decided to join Sieg-san's party is just a token to restrict adventurers from joining our party and guild staff who try to make us resident adventurers.

But the Great Sword of the God of War seems to think that our joining of Zeke's party this time is because we had a collusive relationship with him for a long time.
In other words, the Great Sword of the War God must have decided that the fact that we defeated the mutated Hydra was all Siege-san's fault, and that me and Narsena's abilities were nothing serious.
That's why I came here like this, to nail the newcomers and beat them.

When I understood that, I couldn't hide my dismay at the shallowness of his judgment.
If it was me before, or even if it was me who had defeated Hydra, it would never be surprising if I was invited to be a party member of the guild's direct adventurers.
And yet, the fact that I'm the first to think about collusion and act on it is a sign that my vision is narrowing.
That is essentially an annoying misunderstanding.

But as far as I'm concerned, this attack was not a nuisance to me.

I'm going to be able to use my magic and chi to strengthen my body and prepare it for battle, and I make a small movement of my mouth.
This is a good opportunity to test my strength.

''Tch! You can't afford to be complacent. It's not too late! Hey, let's go! If you don't kill him, the guild will have to do all the fighting privately! Hurt him!

The warrior, who seems to be the leader of the team, shouted to his companions behind him in frustration at me, who showed no expression other than surprise.
Reacting to the shout, the war god's greatsword human readied their weapons and took up a fighting stance, and the atmosphere of the place became tense at once.

There were five opponents.
Two warriors, a martial artist, a healer and a sorcerer, one each.
They were called a first-class party, and the killing spirit they emitted was incomparable to the wolves of calamity they had fought before.
Besides, considering that they're not aiming at me when I'm with Narsena, but when I'm alone, I can't be careless with the Great Sword of the God of War.
If it was me until yesterday, this is an opponent that would have had a great deal of time to settle, if not lose.

That's why I can clearly see how much I've grown as a result of this match.
Thinking that, I raise the corners of my mouth for a moment.

"Huh!

In the next moment, I ran to the Great Sword of the God of War.
''Ha, fast!''

My body-enhanced body had closed the distance between me and the Great Sword of the God of War in the next moment after I stepped out.
At my movement, the other warrior of the Great Sword of the God of War's great sword let out an astonished cry, but still managed to react.

''Aagah!''

But the warrior was limited to a slight lift of his sword.
I hadn't even pulled out my dagger and was hit in the jaw by me, and the warrior fell down with his eyes white.

''Nah!''

The suddenness of this event caused the humans of the God of War to stop moving for a moment.
It was too big a gap to expose in the midst of battle.

''Hee!''


Before the vanguard of the war god's great sword can react, I close the distance and catch the mage in time.
When the mage sees me face to face, he sees the fear in his eyes and tries desperately to back away.
That unchanging figure, even though it looks pathetic, is the best solution for a mage, and I'm impressed.

''Gubot!''

But that didn't stop me from doing something about it, and I punched up the mage's pigeon tail.
With that blow, the mage stopped breathing and began to writhe on the ground.

''d*mn it!''

It was only then that the martial artist, who was finally able to move, took advantage of the gap created by the moment I hit the mage and struck at me.

A scare runs down my spine against the approaching fist.
A martial artist's abilities are meaningless, no matter how much he strengthens his body or wears armor.
If you take a blow from this martial artist, even the current me could be rendered unable to fight.

But that fist, which was much slower and less sharp than Narsena's, did not hit me.
I ducked the martial artist's fist, which was aimed at the top of my chest, by sinking my body.
Then, as the fist passed over my head, I struck the martial artist in the jaw with my elbow.

''d*mn it,''

After I put my elbow in, the martial artist took a few steps back without falling immediately.
That was his limit.
The martial artist grunted one last word and fell to the ground.

Now there were only two more, the leader and the healer.

''Hi, hi, 《Heel》 《Heel》''

"d*mn it!

......... Thinking that, I turned around, but the sight of the War God's Great Sword in my eyes made me realize that the game was over.

The youngest young healer of the Great Sword of the God of War is trying to recover his fellow warriors, but he has completely lost his composure and has only cast the least effective Heal.
...... Even though he left it as a handicap until the end, it seems that it didn't mean anything to him.

Compared to that healer, the leader's swordsman was still better.
He was thinking of attacking the martial artist's fist even after I tried to avoid it, or maybe he was thinking of attacking it even after I tried to avoid his fist, he held up his great sword and pointed it at me.
However, his face is pale.
It's obvious to everyone that their will to fight is frustrated at the sight of their friends who were defeated almost instantly by me.

''Haha ......''

Huh!

Looking at the sight of the war god's great sword that had lost its will to fight, what I remembered was not the sense of accomplishment that the match was over, nor the joy of victory, but the disappointment that it was this much.
This battle, the physical enhancements I used were not that strong.
This is because I was planning to increase the strength of my body after I got used to it.
Before that, the fight was over.

This made me remember my strong dissatisfaction with the Great Sword of the God of War.
It is true that the Great Sword of the War God was so upset by my movements that he was unable to coordinate as usual.
Even so, I thought it was too weak to be able to win the game so easily.

...... Normally, there is no way that an adventurer who is still just wandering around in the lower levels could deal with my enhanced attacks that hurt even super-difficult demonic beasts, but I didn't notice that.

The interest to think about the Great Sword of the War God was lost on me.

...... hurry up or you'll be pissed.

The only thing that dominated my mind after that was the thought that I had to get back to the city as soon as possible.
As I was hurried by that thought, I turned my back to the great sword of the god of war and started walking.

As if to say that I didn't need to settle the matter anymore.

''d*mn it!''

My attitude enraged the leader of the Great Sword of the God of War's great sword.

''Ri, leader! If you're willing to miss it, you can go to .......

Shut up!

Yikes!

He hit the healer who tried to stop him and stepped out to run towards me.
...... but that was as far as the warrior could go in his rage.

'Hee!'

The moment I put my hand on the dagger, the face of the leader of the Great Sword of War God paled as if his previous rage was a lie.
It seems that he managed to regain his will to fight with anger at the end, but it's not like he didn't understand the difference in strength between himself and me.
I don't think he has any more energy left to resist.

'Look after your friends yourselves.

Having decided that, I left the place with those words.
It was a quicker settlement than I had imagined, but the time was still pretty close.
If I don't go quickly, I'll be pissed off.

''Guild guys, you're cheating .........

As I began to run so, the last words muttered by the leader of the Great Sword of War God never entered my ears: ......


◇ ◇ ◇.


It was a dozen minutes later when I left the vacant lot and headed into the city and arrived at my destination.

'Oseh! Brother!

Yes! That's right!

It was a little late, and I was surrounded by kids who were waiting for me and booing me.
They seem to have been looking forward to it and seem quite upset.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Look, I'm going to get right into it, so forgive me.

"No choice, Just this once!

That's it.

But as soon as I apologized, the kids let go of me, and they sat down at my urging and turned their expectant eyes to me.
Then they sat down as I urged them to, and turned their eyes, which had been shining with anticipation, to me.
It's a little strange to see all this attention on me, but I opened my mouth as the kids urged me to.

'Well then, let's start with the previous story.

Now all I was doing at the behest of my children, mostly boys, was telling them stories about fighting the Phoenix and the mutated Hydra.
For a while now, my children have been asking me to tell them stories about my adventures.
It was a strange feeling to talk to people about things, but I still didn't really dislike it.
So when I had the time, I would tell the kids as they asked.

That's enough for now.

Without some lengthy time, I try to finish the story as I always do.
...... But for some reason, the children reacted differently today.
I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most out of your time with us.
I wondered if they had eaten something strange this time, and I almost twisted my neck.
But I was not ready to have that kind of luxury until I heard the children's next words.

"...... S...well, you know, next time you want to teach us how to use a sword?

Yeah, me too.

Huh!

In the next moment, I was speechless.
The children's words, anticipating the turn of events that I had seen as the most dangerous.
In other words, the children want to become adventurers.

It is true that adventurers have the potential to become heroes, and it is the most dreamy profession.
However, adventurers are not so kind that they can live their lives with simple heroic aspirations.
...... Having lived at the bottom for a long time, I understand that better than anyone.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make your life easier and more fun.
But the pleas by a number of children to teach them the sword made me regret that I may have failed in my delivery.

...... Not that I want to be an adventurer or anything like that.

...... Huh?

But my regrets were unfounded.

I know how hard it is to be an adventurer, and I don't want my mom to worry about it for nothing. And I don't want my mom to worry about me for nothing.

The boy, the leader of the children, who first asked me to teach him the sword, told me this with a very mature look in his eyes.
I am reminded of this after all these years.

It is not possible for the children of this city to dream of being an adventurer.
The reason they want to be strong is not because of an easy dream.

You're not going to be able to get the same kind of strength as your brother and those people who helped the town by selling materials. One day, we will be able to protect our families.

The boys' motivation for wanting to be strong was a strong determination born of longing.

I'm ashamed of my shallowness when I see the boy who told me that in an embarrassed manner.
He said that I seemed to be looking at these boys a little too small.

'You little brat! Stop!

'Heh! Who would ask that!

I can see one of the adventurers who got down on his knees to me and sold the materials to the city, and I can see him chasing the children in the distance.
When the boy said the people who saved the city by selling the materials, he was probably referring to those adventurers.
It seems that the adventurers and the town's people were getting along well with each other, despite my concerns.

I noticed that those adventurers' faces were softer than the ones I remembered, and I relaxed my expression.
Originally, the reason I asked the adventurers to sell materials to this city was solely to help the city's people.
But from the looks of it, it seems to have been the best decision for the adventurers as well.

''Wow!''

I was somewhat amused by this discovery and opened my mouth to the children, patting the surprised boy on the head.

I'll teach you the sword when I'm free. I'll teach you the sword when I'm free. And if you want to ask the other adventurers here to help you when I'm not around.

Yeah, is that okay?

Maybe he'll listen to you, so good luck with that.

After that one-sided thought, I said my goodbyes and started walking towards the inn.

I'm not very good at this, so I haven't talked much with the adventurers until now.
But it might be a good idea to have a long talk with them again sometime.

''Brother, welcome back.''

Narcena?

My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Narsena in front of the inn.

'I'm sorry to have startled you ......'

I don't know why Narsena is in front of the inn, and she apologizes to me for being so surprised.
But the next moment, Narsena opened her mouth with a serious expression on her face and said, "But I have something I have to tell you.

But there's something I really want to talk to you about.