The party, a review party, lasted until late into the night, partly due to the effects of alcohol and partly due to the good atmosphere.
　The underage group, who were originally going to stay the night, went to bed in the napping room before the date was over.
　Suela, being pregnant, went to sleep early, accompanied by Himikku.
　The rest of the group got drunk, one person dropped out, two people dropped out, and the last person who was tasked with cleaning up the mess was...

You've grown up a lot, haven't you?
"Really?　I guess the shape has changed, though.
I've lived longer than you, and I've never seen a mineral tree grow that long.

　It was an unusual combination of me and Kaylee.
　I would pack up the plates and organize the table to make room, and Ms. Kaylee would watch as I tried to do the work I was going to do until I felt sleepy.
　When we were alone, you would feel a little bit of the opposite s*x, but I intentionally kept my distance as an ordinary colleague, as she lost her tribal gender feelings.
　If it was just the two of us, and if it was at night, the vampire's memoria would have been a conversation between the three of us, but unfortunately, because of her weakness for alcohol, she was actually down before the underage group.
　As for the remaining members of the group who have not yet spoken, Kaido is down on the sofa due to the desperation of drinking and forcibly increasing the tension between Japanese sake and otherworldly sake, while Minami and Kitamiya have somehow started comparing drinks and are down at the same time, and as if the usual bromance is a lie, they are cuddled up and asleep! .
　So that left me with my ogre-trained liver and Ms. Keely, who was pacing moderately.
　At this stage I didn't hold her back and said the place was dismissed.
　Even if they didn't want to, I didn't think it was a good idea for two people who weren't in a relationship to stay together late at night.
　I didn't fall asleep right away, though.
　I had a bottle of the dark elf's favorite slightly sweet and sour fruit wine, which I'd been drinking since Suela recommended it, and some leftovers from the banquet dinner that Himik and Katsu had cooked for me, and I decided to have an evening drink by myself. I was going to take care of the mineral tree.
　Surprisingly, Kaylee agreed to go along with me.
　But that doesn't mean she's going to care for your weapon, she says she's just curious to see my weapon, and she watches me work, slowly savoring the sake and plucking I've prepared with her glass in hand.

It's really just a messy sword-shaped weapon at first, but now it's in the shape of a sword no matter how you look at it, so it's no wonder that it's known as a blacksmith's tearjerker.

　Although not enough time has passed for me to miss it, my partner's appearance has changed so much that I'm surprised I used it after enough time to become attached to it.
　The shadow of the original buddy has been cleaned off, and in my hands is a magnificent large sword.
　The blade, which started out with a dull glow, now has a polished mirror-like luster and has become so much more like a weapon that I wonder how many people would believe it was just an ordinary iron plate made into a sword.
　Brush its surface with a cleaning cloth, being careful not to cut your fingers.
　A growing sword, or perhaps more accurately, a sword, in this form.
　It is a partner in a game-like setting.
　In addition, it comes with such a gambling element that they say you have to wait a long time to see if it grows well.
　I got a cynical weapon in my hands, but I can now say that my choice was not a mistake.
　As I carefully polish my partner's sword with a cleaning tool, I have a conversation with Keely.

"And then?　Isn't there something you want to talk to me about?

　It's more accurate to say that it's a confirmation of a message rather than a conversation.
　Without looking at Keely, who seems to be in a mood to say something, I asked her without stopping my gaze on the mineral tree and without stopping my grooming, "What do you mean?

What do you mean?

　At first, you are interrupted by Keely's inarticulate words.

You know, it's a shame that you took the trouble to adjust the amount of alcohol you drink so that you could be alone with me. It's okay if it's not there, but my gut tells me that I should listen to it here, so I'd like to hear it if I could.

　But contrary to her words, Caylee's actions themselves said there was something about her.
　That doesn't mean she doesn't have a bad poker face.
　It doesn't mean that she doesn't enjoy the party.
　It doesn't mean she didn't stand out from the crowd.
　It's just that my instincts, trained by my instructors, sensed something strange and kept it in a corner of my mind.
　This was just a feeling I had in my head.
　I'm used to being in a hurry, so that's the level of effort I'm willing to put in.
　And it seems that your instincts were working just fine today.
　After taking a sip of her reserved drink, she smiles at you.
　Her smile is well-groomed, but if I had to describe it in terms of color, I'd say it's definitely black, not white.

Which would you rather hear first, the bad story or the little bad story?

　Sure enough, my senses were right and the words coming out of her mouth were not good.

"What an unreasonable choice between the two, and I came without the option of not listening.
You only talk about it because Jiro-kun wants to hear it.
"Don't act like you're doing it there, because that's what most guys do, but don't think it's going to work on me when I'm looking in front of you. If you want, you can walk away from this place as fast as you can.
I'll put you at ease and you'll listen to me to the best of your ability.
"There's no comfort factor when you know you're going to use force.

　I sensed from her that she was going to do everything in her power to physically bring the discussion to the table, instead of bringing it to the table verbally, so I decided to listen to her.
　I'm in despair that there's no good news in the answers, but I'm in despair because I've gotten to the point where I don't even need a headache medication, and I'm urging her to speak up while polishing my sword.

It's not a good idea to have a good time, but it's a good idea to have a good time.
"At this stage of bad news from the top brass, a bad feeling has turned into a bad alarm. What's that?　Am I a target for restructuring?
"Ha-ha-ha, I wouldn't let someone like you go.
"It's nice to hear you appreciate it, but it's hard to be happy when you know there's bad news coming afterwards.

　It's one of the worst things about modern society, and if there are no declarations of dismissal, what else is there?
　It's not an easy thing to imagine, even in my experience.

So which one do you want to hear first?
Well, with a bad story.

　So, in an effort to mitigate some of the mental damage by hearing the bad news first and then the slightly worse news, I decide to listen to the bad news first.

"It's going to be a bit of a chore for you, okay?
How awkward is a little awkward?
"Don't you back off?
"To the point of subtraction?
"Run away?
"Do you want to run away?
"Don't you want to escape from reality?
"...... is that far?
Yes, I felt really sorry for Jiro when I heard this story.

　The smile on her face is to hide her sympathy, or maybe it is to hide her compassion, but when she is about to say the main point, the smile disappears from her face.
　It's not just a simple matter of time before you get to the point where you're going to be able to get your hands dirty.

You know, there was an incident that led to the death of Prince Mushiko?


"Oh.

　Even if it is muddled with an incident, it is a case that I myself was almost preyed upon.
　I was a party to the incident and I remember it so clearly that I can't erase it in my memory even if I wanted to.
　If there's someone who can easily forget the memory of being eaten, I'd like to meet him.

A seventh general's seat is now vacant and fortunately I'm inundated with letters of recommendation from various noblemen to fill the position. If I had to, I would have quashed them, but a vacant seat is a problem, and the Demon King's Army doesn't like to have it empty.
"I know, it's like saying, 'I have a few main strengths,'
I've been thinking about choosing a new general, but isn't the Demon King's Army a meritocracy?　In addition, it is a pride to be powerful. It's not an easy decision to choose one of them.
Indeed.

　Speaking of generals, they are one of the biggest forces in this demon king's army.
　They are so powerful that they can influence the outcome of the war just by sending them out, and they are in charge of a dungeon.
　In addition, they have gained immense power.
　I know there are many people who want such an important position and it's not easy to decide which one to choose.

Not that strength is not enough, but does one have to be strong to become a general?
"Oh.
So they decided to make the strongest person to be the Shogun so that no one would have to shut up and admit it, so the finance department made a lot of noise about getting some money at the box office, and the planning department twisted its head around the idea of holding an arena, and Jiro entered the tournament.
"Wait! That's a bit of a jump, how did that happen?

　I have the position of chief, but it is far faster to count from the bottom, and in terms of power, it's a position where I can compare the back of an acorn with an ordinary employee.
　Why should I participate in the battle to determine the general, a position that is far quicker to be counted from the top.

"The recommendation of the demon king and the immortal king...
Okay, I have a hunch. By the way, how good are the guys in it?

　When Kaylee mentioned the names of the instructors, I knew there was no way the two of them would miss such a festive event.

The only thing they call a candidate for the championship is the ability to fight the demon king.
"You want me to die?
Complain to the demon kings. You're the messenger.

　You can definitely tell that those two are doing it for fun.
　But the fun is not in the form of a joke, it is in the form of fun that includes the exact possibility of a fight.
　The instructors do not have the pleasure of watching a fight for which they know the consequences of not winning.
　Perhaps, but at your current level of ability, however, you have a chance of winning at least barely realistic numbers.
　Looking at the conduct of the instructors from their training days who told them to fight to the death and gave them training, this idea does not seem to be out of line.
　The martial arts competition is an unbelievably noisy event.
　The reality that you are forced to participate in an event where a crowd of fierce fighters gather makes me want to cry.
　You're right, Kaylee is right... this is bad for me.
　Thanks to the red letter of recommendation from the instructor, I have almost no veto power.
　In this case, my once legendary boycott of the modern world won't work either.

Huh? At best, you'll do your best not to get hurt.
It's the only thing I can say to you. Don't make Suela a widow.
"I don't want to die without seeing my child's face.

　The best thing to do would be to declare yourself the winner, but there is no way you can make such a naive assumption.
　Fighting an unknown enemy, a being with an intelligence different from that of a monster.
　I hope you are not overwhelmed by this, but I'm afraid that it's no use thinking about it now, so I swallow my sigh and listen to another story.

And then?　What's a little bad news?　If Kaylee says she's going to have the ceremony before I do, that's great news, oops.
I'll hit you!
"Don't say it after you've hit me, it's an irony for bringing it up earlier. Just brush it off as a joke.
"What do you say to me when you take it in, it wasn't funny for a joke.

　I also thought the joke was a little too black, but I put down my right hand, which blocked a straight that would have broken one of my back teeth if I had been struck honestly.

"Don't tease your sister at all,
What's a bad story, which brings us back to the topic at hand?
"You know there are several arms stores in the underground facility, right?
"Oh.
Of course you know that I deal in magic swords, right?
That crazy performance weapon

　The effects are quite impressive, just as the name of the magic sword suggests.
　But the price is high.
　I was shown a sword that made me go mad instead of becoming a master swordsman.
　If you're of common sensibilities, you'll be dissuaded from using it just by hearing the cost.
　As well as the existence of its creator, if someone were to use it, it's hard to imagine who would use it.

That's the magic sword. It seems that one of the magic swords is missing.
"Missing?
Yes, when I was doing inventory, I found out that the owner of the weapons store hid the magic sword from us. It's not public knowledge because it's a thing, but people are looking for it quite intently. If you see one, don't touch it, just call me.

　Surely a bit of a bad story.
　More of a warning than a bad story.

"Is your magic sword in trouble?
Well, that's pretty bad.

　I think it's common to hear that there are dangerous things out there and wonder what they are.
　I asked Keely what kind of magic sword it was.

"Is it a magic sword that is extremely thin and can be used to assassinate anyone?
"Hey, what's this handy assassination primer magic sword?　We're just trying to get to the dungeon, right?
Don't tell me. The giants made it because they wanted to make sure that some of you would be able to safely complete the dungeon. Well, one drawback is that it also dilutes the user's memory information, so people won't recognize you and forget you exist. So we don't know who stole it.


How was it found out? How would you know the magic sword is gone if its existence is diluted?
"Oh, that's okay, the information on the magic sword remains strong. Only the user will be diluted.
"What an unbalanced magic sword.

　If you look at the scene of its use of the magic sword, only the magic sword seems to be floating in the air?
　It's unsettling to see an object that could be a disaster, depending on how you use it, missing, but there's no point in telling her what to do right now and right now.

By the way, why were you the first to tell me?
"Because you seem to be loved by the commotion.

　When I asked him why he rejected me, he replied that it was because I've been in too much trouble lately, a reason that was hard to deny, and I had to smile.


　Word of the Day
　Being recognized for your abilities is a basic good thing, but it can also be ...... more work.