The king's request to me was a simple one.
　"I want you to fight to defeat the Demon King.
　That's all.

　I'm not sure I've ever seen such a thing.

　It's a much higher treatment than the first time.
　That's how much they need a brave man.
　The fact that they didn't punish me shows that.

　When I asked him if I could return to my home world, he replied, 'It's impossible at this stage.
　They have used up all their magic to summon me, and the kingdom doesn't have enough magic to bring me back.
　The king said that he would be able to bring me home in six years for sure.

　Ah, it's funny.

　Last time he said 'four years', but this time it's six years.
　That's an increase of two years.
　It's almost as if I can't trust what the king says.

　But even so, I said to myself, "I will fight as a brave man.
　I'm going to fight as a brave man.

　Of course, I had no intention to do that.
　But I suppose it would be easier to put up a front and do what needs to be done.

　The more chances you have to kill Liuzas, the better.

　Besides, I don't know what's going on here, having just been summoned.
　Given that the king has changed since we last met, it's likely that years have passed since we last met.
　It would be best to gather information before taking action.

　Thus, I became, on the surface, a brave man of the kingdom.

''Yes, I hadn't heard your name yet.
　Mister Brave, may we hear your name?

　In response to the King's words to him at parting, he said

I'm Iori Amatsuki.

　Naturally, he didn't answer Amatsu.


◆

　From the next day, we were to follow a schedule set by the kingdom.

　In the morning, they would learn about the knowledge of this world.
　In the afternoon, the knight instructed me in tactics.
　After dinner, the sorcerer instructs us in magic.

　There will be lunch and breaks in between, but this is generally how it goes.

　Honestly, it's a waste of time.
　There's a lot of waste in the knight's movements and the sorcery instruction is inefficient.
　The skill level of the knights and sorcerers is lower than it was when I was there.

　However, I have to pretend to hear it for the first time so as not to be suspicious.
　The mental picture is bad because of the one incident with Ryusas.
　And we are being watched by sorcerers at all hours of the day and night.

　It's possible to slip past the surveillance, but it's not a good idea.
　With no access to magic, we need to be very careful.

　While pretending to be an obedient brave man for a while, I decided to concentrate on gathering information until the eyes of the surveillance loosen.


◆


　Ten days have passed since the second summons.
　The surveillance has loosened since then, and he is able to walk around somewhat more freely at night.

　He goes through his daily schedule and heads to the stacks after the sun goes down.
　The smell of old paper fills the stacks, and I pick up a book on "Amatsu".

　After gathering information over the past few days, I've learned something.

　It seems that thirty years have passed since that day.
　As expected, I was surprised at how much time has passed.
　But then, it was no wonder that the king had changed.
　Thinking back on it carefully, the guy from Liuzas had aged too.

　And one more thing.
　Apparently, "Demon King" Ortegia is still alive.

"It's a masterpiece.

　When I learned of this, I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
　In short, Liuzas and the others had failed to defeat the Demon King.
　You scoffed at the idea that they could kill the Demon King even without you.
　I can no longer do anything but laugh and wonder what I was killed for.

　After that, the Demon King continues to accumulate power in the Demon King's castle to this day.
　Before that Demon King made his move, the kingdom seems to have hurriedly summoned a hero (me).

　In the kingdom's archives, there are books about the "Heroic Amatsu" and the Demon King, so it was easy to find them.

　There were quite a few statements that were not true.
　It seems that I was killed by the Demon King.
　I didn't even get to the Demon King's place.

　And there was one strange thing about the books in the archives.

　Lucifina and Dionis, the names of these two people were not mentioned anywhere.
　Only the two of them have disappeared from the party without a trace.
　It would be understandable if they had died, but this is unusual.

　Even inside the castle, the two are nowhere to be found.
　Aside from the demon Dionis, it's strange that Lucifina, who belonged to the Kingdom Knights, is not there.
　I'll have to look into it somehow.

''No results, huh?''

　I scoured through the books related to Amatsu, but still no names of the two men.
　I grabbed a few books that caught my eye and left the stacks.

　I deliberately took a detour and chose a circuitous route to my room.
　This is to get a complete picture of the structure of the castle.
　It has been reconstructed in places, and the location and number of rooms have changed in several places, but I have a general idea of what's going on in my head.

　In the course of walking, we passed the people of the castle several times.
　They all bowed their heads and greeted me, but everyone had a thin look of contempt on their faces.

...... That thing was going to the archives again.
'You should have trained yourself to use one of those magic tricks before you went through the books.

　I can hear the people passing by whispering and talking behind my back.

　Already, the fact that they can't use magic has been exposed.
　Combined with the case of Ryusas, it seems there are many complaints about the second brave man.
　At first it was 'Brave Lord', but now they call him 'Ale' or something like that behind his back.

　Even if he can't use magic power, he still has some skills.
　I've learned how to use my eyes and ears on the battlefield, so I can hear a certain amount of voices even when I'm away.
　Don't those guys think that they are being heard?

''Iori Amatsuki. Is that really a brave man?
　Isn't he a mere brat who can't even use magic properly?

　As I walk past the room, I suddenly hear my name and stop myself.
　Apparently, they are inside, discussing me.
　There's a hint of four or five people inside.

''......!''

　Amidst the murmurings, a familiar voice is heard.

It's a good thing that you're a brave man, I'm sure. But if you let them fight the demon king's army, they'll die sooner or later.

　Despite the hoarseness, it's the voice of Liuzas.
　Apparently, he's talking to a fellow sorcerer.

　I restrain myself from almost punching into the room, killing the signs and listening to the sounds inside.

''It's not as if your magic power is useless if you can't use it, you know.
''Oh. At the very least, you should be able to go toe-to-toe with the Four Heavenly Kings or else it won't be worth it.

　Liuzas spat out that he'd drawn a terrible huzzah.

'......ssh.'

　My mind goes blank with anger.
　I bite off my lip with my teeth and somehow restrain myself.
　If I mess with him here, my act of obedience will be in vain.

''You fought alongside the hero Amatsu-dono in the previous generation, didn't you, Lord Liuzas? What did you think, Lord Amatsu?

　The question was answered by Liuzas.

'He was a brave man.
　He had a very brave ideal of world peace.
　I wanted to fulfill his ideals, too, but I regret that it ended up like that .......

　And.
　Liuzas said.
　Acting cool and regretful.

　-- that you were the only one who fought with that kind of goal in mind.

　Who was it that was mocking me so?

'Oh ...... I understand very well,'

　So that's what you are, huh?

You're a useless bastard, but you can still be useful.

　With those words from Ryusas behind him, he pushed the simmering emotions away and returned to his room.

　Then, another week later.

　-- and began to act.