--Thirty years ago. It was soon after I decided to become a brave man.

　I saw an army of monsters that filled my field of vision.

　The monsters seemed to be called the Demon King's Army.
　It seems that they make a clear distinction between the human form and the demons, and the rest are demons.
　Following the instructions of the demons, the demons are rushing in.

　The number of enemies is about ten thousand.
　The royal army overwhelms the demon king's army in terms of numbers, but the quality seemed to be different.

　Moreover, the Demon King's Army seems to be attacking simultaneously from various directions.
　One of the trump cards of the kingdom, a selector or a sorcerer called the "Great Magician" seems to be fighting elsewhere.

　It's still going to take some time for the other countries that have alliances with them to arrive.
　It seems that the war situation is getting worse.

　Things like fireballs were flying in from all over the place.
　People from the kingdom who came in robes were blocking the fireballs with transparent walls.
　To counterattack, they are dropping chunks of water and lightning, but the demons are getting a little closer.

''d*mn, the dragon seeds are coming!　Warding them!
''Recall the selectors back here!　We can't hold them back much longer!
''Giaaaaah!''

　It was hell.
　People, dead.
　Fresh blood was splattered and flesh was popping.
　There were screams of death and vindictive cries everywhere.

''Brave Lord!　Please make a decision!
Do you intend to leave us to die?

　The knights around me are begging me to fight.
　But that's impossible to do: ......
　It's not possible to take on a number of them,.......

I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it. There are ...... all of them out there!　How can we fight them?

　It was scary.
　There are these strange creatures that I've only seen in cartoons and movies, and they are spreading out all over the field of vision.
　There's no way I'm not scared.
　It's impossible. I can't fight it. I don't want to die. I'm scared, I don't want to die.

"Well, this is not good!　The dragon seed broke through the wards!

　While I was in tears and trembling, the battle situation changed.
　The demons attacked at the far end of the battlefield, that is to say, at the place where we are, too.
　From there, it was one-sided.

　Huge dragons spat out flames, turning people into charcoal.
　Some of them were devoured while screaming.

　A burning stronghold, people screaming.
　I tried not to get caught up in it, so I just fled haphazardly.
　But gradually the fire is spreading and there is nowhere to run.
　The demons attacked us without mercy as we lost our escape route.

　It's no use.
　That's when I thought that.

''Haaaaaaaa--!''

　With a scream of a cleaver, the blonde knight slashed at the demon.
　With overwhelming power, the demons disappeared in the blink of an eye.
　The golden-haired knight - Lucifina said.

''The wards have been completely destroyed. Unfortunately, the reinforcements will not be able to arrive in time. Everyone, please retreat now!''

　While she was saying this, the demons attacked without mercy.
　Sooner or later, the demon tribe, accompanied by the demons, also arrived.

　I would have been in the way, standing there dumbfounded, unable to escape.
　Lucifina took a stand and protected me.

　Lucifina continued to fight, bleeding profusely from all over her body.
　Her companions were being killed one by one.
　The demons are not diminishing, but rather increasing in number by the minute.
　Some of them realized they couldn't win and ran away.

　Suddenly, Lucifina turned to me and said

''Hero-sama. I'm sorry .......''
What ......?
"I really shouldn't have gotten you involved in this mess without your knowledge. The problems of this world, we should have taken care of them ourselves.

　Lucifina continued as she was wounded all over in the fight.

''So at least, I'll use my trump card now so that you can escape from here. With this, I think the Demon King's army will stop moving for a while.''

　With that, Lucifina raised her purple sword.

''So, please run away quickly.''

　Lucifina was covered in wounds.
　She was bleeding in rags from all over her body.
　It's not a minor wound. If it's done poorly, it could be fatal.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out what's going on in the world.

I'm sure you're not going to be able to get away with it, ....... Aren't you afraid?

　Lucifina chuckled at my question and replied.

'I'm scared,'
'So long!　Why don't you run too!　You're so strong, you should be able to run away!

　Spattered blood, human deaths, monsters.
　I was screaming incoherently in a situation where my brain couldn't keep up with my understanding.

　You have an immunity deal to protect me.
　Lucifina can get away with it.
　You don't have to resist here, you can just let them flow to the easy way.

　But Lucifina shook her head with a calm expression.

''I'm afraid. But I'm even more afraid of losing something important to me. If I can save someone by fighting - I want to keep fighting until my last breath.

　I didn't have an answer.
　I didn't have any words to reply.

Now, hero. We're ready to play your trump card. Please run away quickly.
Oh, ...... what are you going to do about it? ...... After you use that trump card ......
'I'll run away too, while serving as Lord ....... I don't want to die, either.

　It's a lie, I thought.
　I have no proof, but Lucifina is about to die.

Wah ...... okay.

　While noticing it, while noticing it.
　I ran from the scene.
　With my own cuteness, I did nothing and ran off, abandoning Lucifina.

...... always does.

　Those words spilled out of my mouth as I ran.

'Amagatsuki Iori. You're always like that.

　You just drift away, and you keep running to the easy way out, just to make it better.　
　Have you ever in your life not run away, even once?
　Whether it was when I had a fight with a friend, when my parents died, or when a relative took me in.
　I've always, always run for the easy way out.
　I still do.

　-- I want to keep fighting to the very end.

　Would you abandon a woman who looked like she was about to cry and was strong enough to say so?
　He saved your life twice, and you're just going to let him die?
　Come to another world and you're just going to run away again?

What do you want to do?

　I thought those words came into my brain.
　I reply.
　Of course it is.

　You can't think about saving the world.
　I became a brave man because I was carried away.
　But now.

　I'm going to...

"I want to save that person.


　It was the day I got my first fight.

　It was the first battle of the foolish man who would later be known as "Heroic Amatsu."


The first battle of the war.

Ri... Hey, Iori.

　His voice brought me back to myself.
　I looked next to him and saw Elfie looking at me with a worried look on his face.
　Apparently, he had been thinking about it for a long time.

'...... What's up?　You've been looking dumbfounded for a while now, haven't you?
No, it's nothing. More importantly, what's going on?
...... Yeah. The Great Forest is in sight.

　Saying that, Elfi pointed ahead.

　Beyond that, there was a lush forest that stretched out in full view.
　Looking down from the sky above, one could see that the entire large forest was warded.
　It's probably to prevent attacks from above and also to prevent people from seeing inside through the gaps in the trees.

"...... Here is the Great Forest of Aldrin ......
"Ho......

　Looking down at the great forest, Elfi and Berdia look deeply moved.
　There aren't many forests that are this big, you know.

''...... How many subraces are there?''
I don't remember the exact number, but the typical races living at ...... are the fairy species (elves), the earth elf species (dwarves), the werewolf species (werewolves), the man-cat species (warcats), the man-dog species (wardocks), and the minor race (halflings).

　Quite a few species live in this great forest.

With that many species living here, aren't there many quarrels?
'I'm sure that's part of it. But the great forests are divided into 'wards' for each species to live in.

　The forest is divided into several parts: the elf species (elf) is the ward of the elf species (elf), the werewolf species (werewolf) is the ward of the werewolf species (werewolf), and so on.
　Therefore, conflicts caused by differences in culture and habits are unlikely to occur.

Even though they live in the same place, they are able to coexist firmly.
'Yeah, the living arrangements are pretty solid. It's not that they don't get involved at all, just that they seem to go across the ward to visit each other and cooperate with each other.

　In the past, it seems that there were turf wars and such, but when I came to this world, each tribe had its own division and lived together.
　Perhaps they had no choice but to cooperate in order to prevent attacks from humans and demons.
　However, even after they were divided into different sections, the Great Forest did not try to get involved with humans and demons.

　Because of its exclusivity, the Great Forest stood in a neutral position, not belonging to the humans or the Demon King's Army.
　However, the Demon King's army wouldn't allow it and waged war on the Great Forest as well.
　As a result, a lot of casualties seemed to have occurred.
　So it seems that they signed a sort of truce agreement with the humans due to their interests.
　Still, the sub-humans didn't try to get actively involved with humans as they had been doing until now.

　It was just about thirty years ago that such relationships changed.
　The Great Forest of Aldrin was under attack from the Void Labyrinth, and we, the heroic party, saved it.
　As a result, the Aldrin Great Forest formed an alliance with the Kingdom.

　Nowadays, they are gradually increasing their relationship with the United Kingdom and the Empire.
　It seems that they are still in conflict with the Church State due to their religious affiliations.

''So humans and sub-humans are living together in cooperation, thanks to Iori?

　Elfi said, somewhat happily.

'...... separately. It just happened.
Still, the saved should be grateful to you.
"...... Iori. He's pretty amazing. Great.
...... Shut up.

　Itching, I turn away from Elfie.

'Oh, you're embarrassed?　You're embarrassed, aren't you?
"...... Iori, pretty.

　Shut up .......

　Ignoring the two of them, I look down at the great forest.
　The overgrown forest is somewhat nostalgic.
　You and the sub-people worked together to defeat the demons that came down from the void labyrinth, right?

　The sub-humans who stared at us in the beginning had smiles on their faces at the end and said, 'Please come back.
　I wonder if the sub-people we met back then are still doing well.
　...... It's been 30 years since then.

　I'm sure it was just a moment in time for me.
　When I thought I was killed, I was in the world 30 years later.
　But for others, it's different.
　I can only imagine.
　The weight of these thirty years that passed in an instant.

............

　My head hurts.
　I feel so bad, I feel like I'm going to throw up.

'But don't some of us know what it was like back then, in about thirty years?　Maybe Iori knows someone who knows Iori: ----

　Elfi is saying something, but I couldn't hear it well because of my headache.
　I was in a daze, but Elfie still looks at me with a worried expression on his face.

'Are you okay from earlier?　You look very pale.
Yeah, ...... okay.
'Don't take it too far. Are you drunk?　Do you want me to rub your back?
Thank you. I was just doing some thinking. ...... Anyway, we're getting there.

　I could see an open area that looked like an entrance.
　I didn't remember much of the terrain because I was just following the kingdom's directions at the time.
　If I remember correctly, there must have been a section of some race in this area.

　A short distance away, Verdia descended to the ground.
　I'll have her return to her human form immediately.
　Elfie also changed into his human form, firmly.

'Some sub-humans have a keen ability to detect lies. I think it's safe to say, but be wary of them. I'll handle the negotiations.

　Along with the two of them, they approached the entrance.
　After a while, they began to feel the eyes of several people.
　It grew stronger and stronger, and that was when they were very close to the entrance.

''This is the entrance to the Aldrin Great Forest and Third District!　From the looks of it, you're not from the kingdom, but where are you from!''

　From somewhere, such a man's voice can be heard.
　I can't see him, but the atmosphere is quite tense.
　It seems to be quite alarming.

...... I didn't expect to be so alarmed. Maybe there's something going on here.
'Hmm ...... apparently in a bondage situation.
Don't tie me up.

　Tone it down.
　Elfi makes me lose strength.

　I regained my composure and said the sentence I'd prepared in advance.

'We are adventurers of the Confederacy!　I'm here to investigate the void labyrinth!
"The Allies ......?

　A quizzical male voice.

'We have received no such news!
We're working in secret!　This is what makes us adventurers!

　Then he held up his guild card.
　Elfie also showed it to me in the same way.

　The guild card is made by a special process and cannot be easily forged.
　It's a good enough substitute for an identity card.
　On top of that, we're A-ranked adventurers.
　If you're a high ranking adventurer, it would be convincing to say that we're working in secret.
　And it's not a lie.

''Who are you?''
'I'm not an adventurer, but I'm with us!　They're working with us to carry out the request.

　As for Verdia, who doesn't have a guild card, I'll make this excuse.
　This isn't a lie either.

'............'

　The owner of the voice was silent for a moment, as if thinking.

"Now, we are in dire straits!　I'm sorry, but I can't let you in right now!'

　After a moment, he replied.
　So, something's wrong.
　I'm getting somewhere.

So how long do I have to wait for you to let me in?
I can't answer that!　I'll have to talk to the wardens and there's no guarantee that they'll let me in!'
............

　I didn't get as much sting as I thought I would.
　But it's a hassle not knowing when to let them in.
　Either there's a problem inside, or the Great Forest has been attacked ...... or something nasty is going on.
　We're in trouble at the time we came in ...... and I don't know if we can take that as a coincidence.

　It's now possible that we'll have to block out the signs and force our way into the great forest.
　Nevertheless, it looks like we'd better retreat here for once.
　It was time to look around for Elfie and the others and try to open my mouth.

''Eh, that ....... ''Wait a minute.''

　Suddenly, I heard another voice.
　This time it was a woman's voice.

'What, eh?'
"Hey, what are you doing?　What are you doing?

　With such an upsetting voice, a sub-human emerged from the gap in the trees.
　It's a brown-haired woman with a sword in her back.
　Two ears sprouted from her head.
　Probably a human dog breed (wardog).

　The human dog woman comes up to you, sniffing and sniffing.

'Eh ...... lie. No way.

　Yes, it was right after I muttered something.
　Suddenly, the human dog breed woman dashed furiously towards us.

''Mu!
''......!''

　Elfi and Verdia brace themselves.
　But in no way do I sense any hostility or killing intent from this human breed.

'......!'

　Then I looked at the woman's face at point-blank range and froze.
　While I was doing that, the human dog breed woman tackled me.
　I strained to withstand the impact.
　She didn't mind me, and happily rubbed her face against mine.

　Then she called out, "Amatsu-san, Amatsu-san.

"Amatsu-san, Amatsu-san, Amatsu-san!

　I know this woman who is right in front of me.
　Her name is Qu Raymer.
　She's the daughter of the former warden of the breed, 30 years ago.