Later, we were arranged by Fraxinus, the administrator, to rent a room in the interior of the Great Tree, which houses the Great Council Building.

The interior is more like a tree distorted into the shape of a dwelling than a wooden structure, but it is not a bad place to live.

　It's not a bad thing to live in, but the rooms are not large, and you are assigned three rooms for four people.

...... d*mn it, Ezell guy, you're grinning so deliberately. What's so funny?

　Garnett's mouth twisted into a crooked smile as he and I entered the room, and he poured out his complaints to Ezell.

　There were three rooms prepared for nine people, but the room assignments were not three people each, but two, three and four people.

　The breakdown was me and Garnett, Dustin, Eddie and Lionel, and four women, Sakura, Noir, Ezell and Hild.

　The reason for this is that our gender ratio was five to four.

　If we wanted to divide the room by three people each, even if we counted Garnett as a man, at least one of us would be a mixture of men and women somewhere.

　Populus, Flaxinus' angel, decided to divide the room because that was not a good idea, and then Ezell, the brave one, said, 'If we're going to talk to each other, I want to talk to the women together,' and that was confirmed.

　I've been told that Sakura and Noir were fine with me and Garnett sharing a room with them, but Ezell apparently gave them extra attention.

'It's not like we're any different from the usual us.
Yeah, I know. We've been living face to face all year.

　Did he expect something interesting to happen, or was he concerned that the two of them would have less trouble keeping the secret than he did?

　Either way, it wasn't a necessary step, but what was decided was inevitable.

　Looking around the room, which had the feel of a quality mountain cabin, he got a rough layout in mind.

　The living room and bedroom are combined into one room.

　It seems to be a room prepared just for sleeping in, and the facilities for satisfying physiological needs, including meals, seem to be prepared separately for common use.

''Hey, white wolf. We've already confirmed that there are no strange magic or tricks in the room, right?
''Magically, I had Noir and Hild confirm it, and physically, I've [analyzed] it, so it's fine.
Well, since you're here, I'll let you have a good night's rest: ......　I see the showers are built in!　It's good, let's get on with it.
...... I'll see you later, okay?

　I happily walked away from Garnett as she headed for the simple shower room and sat down on the bed as a chair.

　Just as I was about to rest like that for a while, Garnett suddenly let out a murky scream and half-jumps out of his hailing form.

'Yikes!　There's nothing but water on this thing!　I thought I was going to die!
Idiot!　Stay here!　Get dressed, get dressed!









　--The only thing you can do is to make sure that you have the right information.

　The only sounds that reach your ears are the inorganic sounds of armor being cared for, and human voices are only faintly leaking from another room.

　The roommates were Lionel, a knight belonging to the Golden Fang Knights, and Dustin, an official Adventurer's Guild certified A-rank, Demon King Hunter.

　Both of them were unstoppable martial artists, and it seemed that most enemies could be managed by these two alone.

　Edward shifted his attention to the weapons they were grooming, unable to find an opportunity to speak to them.

　Lionel's acquisition was an axe spear (halberd).

　It is a powerful armament that combines three weapons - spear, axe, and claw - that combines high power and transformational tactics, but I've heard that the level of difficulty in learning it is quite high.

　Even if the mass can be handled somehow with skill, you have to keep training purely to master it.

　The other armament of Dustin is a two-pronged spear of misfortune that deserves the name of a magic spear.

　It's not that he carries a spare, but rather that he holds one swing in each hand and uses it at the same time.

　It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to do with it.

　If I were to fight Dustin, who held a spear of the same length with both hands and wielded the spear with only his left hand, I'm sure I would be overwhelmed with both skill and prowess and would be defeated in the blink of an eye.

　Furthermore, as it was a magic spear, throwing it like a magic spear would have a special effect, and he was confident that the strongest person in the party right now would be this man.

　That's why I wanted to take this opportunity to exchange a few words, but I couldn't bring myself to say the first word.

'What do you want? If you have something to say, say it however you want.
'What ......!　Oh, that ......

　Dustin didn't even try to remove his gaze from the spear, only his hearing swung to Edward.

'...... I want to ask you something. How in the world do I become as strong as you guys?

　When he asked this with all the courage he could muster, Lionel stopped his work and turned his attention back to Edward, but Dustin didn't stop his hand from polishing the hilt of his spear with some kind of elixir.

'I'm surprised. 'A brave servant of a brave man asking for military power? That's not your domain, is it?'
No, sir. I was entrusted by Ezell the Brave's father to take care of her. I'm not strong enough now to take on the role of a squire, but I'm supposed to be a bodyguard as well.
I don't understand.

　Dustin finished the first swing and began the process of carefully wrapping it in a cloth with a magical pattern on it.

　Edward wasn't sure if he should continue the conversation because of his reaction, which was suspicious of his true interest, but Lionel soon offered to help.

'Miss Ezell is the daughter of the Allfatherly One. It's only natural that you feel you must protect her.
'I know that much too. In defeating the demon king, I naturally hear about the brave man ...... and whose daughter Ezell the brave is, including the fact that you are Ezell the brave's brother.

　The demon spear that finished wrapping the cloth is placed on the floor and another demon spear is picked up.

It is understandable if the older sister who is excellent at fighting becomes a brave man and the younger brother who is not so good at it becomes a follower to support his sister in areas other than fighting. But what do you mean by wanting to protect your sister? It doesn't make sense.

　After Dustin's sharp point, Lionel looked at Edward with a troubled face.

　Lionel knew the true relationship between the brave Ezell and Edward due to his position as a Knight of the Golden Fang Order.

''...... I'm not the child of A(⋅)'s(⋅) person. I'm not even the official brother of the brave Ezell. I'm a distantly related child with no relatives, and I'm the one who was brought up by you because you took pity on me.

　For the first time, Dustin turned his gaze wordlessly to Edward at this point.

'Of course I don't have the right to take over the reigns, but I don't want it either. I just want to return the favor. To that gentleman who raised me no differently than his own children. And to .......
"To Ezell, the brave one, who loved me like a real brother.

　Edward gasped as Dustin preempted what he was about to say.

　If he had just read what he was going to say next, he could still feel his emotions stimulated by the use of the word love, and his face grew hot, regardless of his consciousness.

　Dustin lowered his eyes languidly and then looked up as if he were looking somewhere far away, and then spoke the words in a muttered voice.

'There is no way to gain strength overnight. You have to train yourself steadily. That's how I got here, too.
...... I still think so: ......
But never be in a hurry. If you are impatient with strength and impatient with merit, you will lose your life. If that's your life, you'll still be ...... or you'll live a lifetime of regret.