'Yes!　He did it!　I love that guy!　That's what I'm talking about!　Right, Gar-Tan?　This is a bargain for front seats. You'd think so, right?　You're a Kanami-sama!
　KR(Keir) laughed loudly as he tore off his burnt robes.
　As well as the enemy. They were caught up in Leonardo's body hit, but they left only the leftovers. More than a dozen tentacle fragments that seemed to have severed themselves had turned into acid-filled aerial mines that engulfed KR and his red dragon.
　KR was in a good mood even though he had received no small amount of damage.
　Witnessing the moment the world moved is his greatest pleasure. He was Kanami's defender and follower because he recognized that Kanami had "the power" to do so.
　Something changes, a cog in the wheel somewhere moves, moving the story, the world. Events that can only be described as such sometimes happen. It was KR's purpose in life to witness, witness, or be an intermediary. Whether it was in the original earth world or this other world, it was no different. No, in fact, it was so much easier and more desirable to understand this one because it was more flashy.

　A scream that seemed to rip out thousands of strings.
　It was that of a frustrated, masterless black dragon.
　You will be able to find out more about the miasma of the miasma, and you will also be able to find out what it is. The two riders must have had some effect on the black dragon. Clearly, the black dragon had lost its composure and revealed a crazed aggression.
　Now it forgot to take aim, and lightning leaked from its mouth to the extent that it was scorching the treetops of the trees.
　KR clung to the red dragon's neck and forced the wind-shedding cloak to wrap around his body. This maneuvering battle is inevitable, no matter how good the adventurer's physical abilities are.
　The black and twisted space is filled with lightning, and it shoots out from the black dragon's mouth. It was the Black Dragon's Negative Thunder Breath. The Garnet Dragon avoided the lightning bolt with a paper-thin line. He ducked and ducked as if he had a trajectory in the air. However, not all of its power was nullified. It's a foregone conclusion to the aftermath. This was a rough choice because a dragon species has a strong defense that allows it to ignore a certain amount of attacks. However, even though he is an adventurer, KR is only a human, so the damage is too great for him to just say, "Oh, I see.
　Adventurers and monsters have a different approach to combat ability. Monsters are mostly born strong. From the start, they are endowed with a certain level of combat ability. Adventurers, on the other hand, are born to grow and change. This includes leveling up and learning new technology, but it also includes a non-negligible percentage of increased survivability through equipment acquisition.
(Kuhhhh. Cold air resistance equipment, air pressure resistance equipment, pressure resistance equipment - there's not enough of any of that!
　KR clung desperately to the Garnett Dragon's neck amidst the violence of the raging, almost rigid, wind.
　There was no pursuit from the Black Dragon.
　The Black Dragon climbed furiously into the skies above the KRs far above them in just a few moments.
　Aerial combat is also an advanced mental battle in which a number of options are available to take away the opponent's options. The Red Dragon's maneuverability far surpasses and overwhelms the Black Dragon. Even in a straight line, it would be able to win. But the difference is not absolute. They are affected by wind and air pressure, and above all, they are easily turned over by the difference in altitude.
　The speed gained by descending is much greater than the speed gained by flapping your wings and magical propulsion. In other words, having a higher altitude than your opponent means that you have more potential energy than your opponent, and having gravity on your side is a huge advantage in aerial combat.
　The Red Dragon carries a KR on its back. While it is easy for a dragon species to endure high-altitude pressure loss and low temperatures, this is not the case with the KR. In aerial maneuvering combat, the existence of the KR is a handicap for the Red Dragon. The foremost of which is the positioning at high altitude. The black dragon let its toughness take over and ascended to a lower altitude of air pressure, making up for the difference in speed by descending rapidly.

'Gar-tan, up, up!'
　The pale KR warns the Red Dragon of the power of the black dragon approaching through the wind. The Black Dragon and the Garnet Dragon are the same dragon species, but their attributes and personalities are completely different. Compared to the Garnett Dragon, which specializes in aerial maneuvering and long-distance shooting using the Dragon's Breath, the Black Dragon is a heavyweight raid monster that excels at defending its base and laying waste to the enemy.
　These massive beasts, which could be described as airborne fortresses, use gravity as an ally to charge at you. Moreover, it opens its jaws wide and holds out its halberd-like claws with its paws fully open, not wanting to let you escape.
　The two dragons crossed paths with a sharp wind noise.
''--''
　The sound of muffled blows, the smell of ions scorching the area.
　KR waved off the black dragon's swooping attack and smiled wryly.
　The Black Dragon's short paw waved as it passed by. In return for repelling the attack, KR's right arm was scorched black and looked like it was dangling. It's a miracle that he is able to hold the Scorpio's staff.
What's that, Gar-tan, you're so cold!
　KR blurts out to his partner, who makes a small, unwilling sound.
　I feel like I'm being made fun of.
　It's not like that, though, KR laughs.
　The sky in Aorsoy is high and blue. The red dragon's wings, which shed light against the backdrop of the blue sky, are beautiful enough to make you sigh. Like the boxwood that bears its name, they are clear and shining. So it's not that I was defending it. I just can't let those wings fall prey to the dirty claws.
　It would be an orderly place to pay the price. In the first place, the opponent is a raid-ranked monster. In order to catch that attack, the specialized warrior position (tank) is only matched by the assistance of several healers and buffers. If the magic attacker(mage attacker)'s KR was only needed for a single arm, then it's rather cheap.

''--Let's go with the Japan-U.S. Showdown Special.
　It's called Marvel vs. Ishimori Productions.
　With that, KR lured a small beast from his bosom.
　The creature, which looks like a white house mouse, is a cryurat, a third level monster and event creature. It's a third level monster and an event creature.
　Summoners are an unusual profession.
　Adventurers gain experience by fighting and completing quests. Once they have accumulated a certain amount of experience, their level will increase and they will learn new skills. Apart from this experience, there are also things called proficiency points, which allow the adventurer to select a special skill to further strengthen it.
　However, some special skills could be acquired through quests instead of leveling up, and the Summoner was the most common type of quest.
　The Summoner's main speciality was the Summoner's Summoner.
　To be more precise, this skill is not a single skill. It is a special skill that exists separately for each target it is summoned to, such as Summoning Hakuhtak and Summoning Siren. Most of them can be learned through quests. For this reason, even for a Summoner of the same level, the servants are different depending on the quests and adventures he has completed so far.
　The quests in the Elder Tail are designed by the server operators themselves. Therefore, it is said that there are countless unique summoning creature acquisition quests on the world's thirteen servers, making it difficult to keep track of the total number of quests.
　However, the fact that an individual Summoner can acquire dozens of specialties is not as desirable as other professions in terms of balance. For this reason, there was a limit to the number of special skills that could be acquired through quests. That number was 12. If a Summoner attempted to make a new Contract that exceeded this limit, he would have to select one of the existing Contracts to terminate it.

　KR muttered a small, simple spell, and the cryurat in his hand disappeared along with a glowing green magic circle. The cute little rat had just made a contract with KR to become a squire.
　A magic system unknown to KR stores its existence and waits for it to be summoned by the Crew Rats. At the same time, one of KR's Contracts is cancelled due to exceeding the number of contracts.

Taewaka!
　The flash of light was instantaneous. The particles of light that were released instantly became a magic circle, drawn around the KR flying through the air. The huge red magic circle was similar to that of the summoning, but its nature was reversed, signifying a release.
''Finally, you've summoned your mistress. It's the elven magician. Goodness gracious!　Zenzai!　She'll be sacrificed to a mistress again.
Aren't you excited, Gar-Tan?
"You're gonna take a shower of acid while your body is mute!　It also gets me high.
That's what I've been told.
Why should I be sad that I have to be protected by you?
'What?　There?
Don't talk nonsense to me, Tataki!
No, Gar-tan was right, and I just thought...
That crimson haired frog. The dragon's breath is gone?　How dare you and I join you in taunting our mistress?
'You might be popular if you laugh and forgive me for being ignorant about that, huh?
You're kidding!　I'll never forget the time you made me the pet of a pet lizard, a small and ignorant lizard.
　KR only quipped that it was because of that kind of contract, but she kept her mouth shut when she felt the forceful change in maneuvering and the enormous amount of heat she was gathering.
　The red dragon that KR rode had now grown more than two times its body size. Twenty-five meters in length. With a graceful figure that didn't match its massive size, she rose at once with a vitality that could rival that of an active volcano.
　The speed of her ascent was filled with an overwhelming sense of power. The capacity of the magic power contained in her wings was extraordinary. A single trail leading to the heavens drawn in a single color of shining blood.
''Pulling the black dragon apart, you're so brazen!
Ignorance and obscurity is a frogman.
It's like a new kind of subhuman, isn't it?
You could bite your tongue and not know it!
　The crimson dragon, with a shining crimson crescent moon flaring from its mouth, finally showed its true value.
　A level 90, raid-ranked monster.
　KR's partner, the Garnet Dragon, flies through the sky.
　The raid-ranked Garnett Dragon has not only doubled in size, but its HP has increased thousands of times, and its attack power, defense, reaction time, and spellcasting ability have all jumped by an order of magnitude.
　Its mobility speed was no exception, and the way it flew through the sky was just like a red lightning bolt. The gap between him and the black dragon, which had only slightly surpassed him a moment ago, had clearly widened.
''If I don't show you the good parts, I won't be able to get out of the last episode.
What are you talking about?
It's a minor player's struggle.
　KR fearlessly nodded his head and raised his safe left-hand staff like a turret.
　The tip of the long staff, the horned lamp, has an intricate magical pattern floating on it, and small grains of light begin to be sucked in from the surrounding space. This is one of the equipment of the Abyssal Demon's Nest, one of the equipment of the Illusionary Class (Phantasmal), which contains the tears of the Five Prisons of Elraida. Despite the name, KR spun a spell against the backdrop of the beautiful yet sad operating sound.
　The Abyssal Viper's Den has a high basic performance, but it is characterized by the temporary sealing of the Squire. By sealing the restorative Squire at the tip of the hive, it raises the special abilities of other Squire summonses.
Go!　Gar-tan!
Oh!
　With a roar, the human dragon's single rider unleashed a crimson heat ray with enormous magical power.



◆26




It's kind of a cool epic, but then you fainted from the pain and returned to Yamato.
'Hey, Gar-tan. Didn't I tell you that?
I made no such promises.
Agagaga. Oh, wow. Holy shit! Ouch!　It's really painful!
Jesus. Gutless.
　KR threw himself down and ran away when the girl poked him lightly in the ribs and played a fa after Doremi. The deck chairs are already occupied by the girl.
　What was pointed out was unfortunately true, and although KR won the battle against the black dragon, he fainted because he pushed himself too hard. He fell to the ground and died, which caused him to return to the shelter of the Yamato server to die.
　To say it was awkward would be an understatement, but he was facing off against a raid boss even though he was a lone adventurer. It's a result that can't be helped. Even if we had a Raid Boss-level support team on our side, we were still caught up in the fight. Unharmed is too convenient a hope.
　This basho is where KR and his partner are located, in a place called Icoma.
　It is the second home of the Saimiya family, located eight kilometers east of the city of Minami. However, it is currently owned by Plant hwyaden. It is a huge guild that rules over Minami. They use this mansion as the guild's headquarters.
　After returning to the Arc Island of Yamato, KR spent three days recovering his health and then joined Plant hwyaden, the giant guild that controls Western Yamato. The center of the guild is the annexe of Icoma, which means that the greenhouse where KR and his partner reside is part of the guild.

"It would be quite foolish of me to question you about anything.
　The girl asked KR as she dangled her toes.
'Why do you belong to this remote union (guild) in the first place?'
Oh. Ugh.
　KR was cowering in a strange position, stroking his side, but when asked repeatedly why, he replied sluggishly. It wasn't that he didn't want to answer or that it was difficult to answer, it was simply that the kick in his side hurt.
'Because it's too much trouble to prepare a meal or clean your room,'
I didn't even think about it.
　KR piles on the words to the startled girl.
'I can't cook or do laundry or anything to begin with.
How incompetent.
So you can do it, Gertan?
A dragon is a warrior. You're not going to put up with that kind of a fuss.
　KR nodded his head in agreement.
　If you ask me, it is reasonable. As a Garnet Dragon, it is in her nature to catch her prey and devour their flesh when she is hungry, and jump into the lake when her body is dirty. She may be a monster in girl's form, but she is a monster, and it is selfish of us to let her do as humans do.
"I think I'd like to have shrimp stew for dinner tonight.
You are totally immersed in human society, Gar-Tan.
　KR shrugs and changes the subject.
'Leonardo, well, I don't know,'
What do you mean by "I don't know"?
　KR sat down on the floor that resembled a beach as it was and sat down on his knees on the floor.
　The elation I felt was there. That's a fact. Leonardo must be one of the chosen ones, too, with a different 'leading' fate than KR. He's born to a star with the same unusual exploits as Kanami and Soujiro, one of the people KR admires and wants to help.
　Leonardo is also an interesting man. The empathy I felt in that moment could probably be called a friendship, if I had to name it. It's a word that's become harder to say as I've gotten older. It's embarrassing to think that it can be communicated through a hero's story. But KR had no intention of ignoring what he felt.
'Prospects, I mean.'
It's a stupid question.
　The girl stretches wide and says, as if it doesn't matter, "I'm a wielder of the giant's skills. I'm a master of the art of the giant, and I'm not going to die so easily. In fact, it doesn't matter.
　The skill of a giant - that's how the girl described Leonardo's training. The practice and the expression of determination that distorts the practice is the skill of a giant. At the time, the meaning of the word was not clear to me, but now KR thinks that the word refers to a technique called "over-skill" or "oral tradition". The same phenomenon or technique could be called by different names, depending on the region or community you belong to.

''Well, they're the ones who have no connection to a safe journey, aren't they?
It's no different in this city.
　That's true too, KR thought.
　The Plant hwyaden, or Minami, to which they belonged, was now experiencing a time of prosperity.
　The ruling class of the Daichijins have a long tradition of ruling the western part of Yamato with a rigid bureaucracy. Their rule served as a legitimate claim to power, but it was also old-fashioned.
　Then a catastrophe struck, and the world was visited by many of the Adventurers. From a larger perspective, the advent of these adventurers brought about a positive change in the political structure of Minami.
　The presence of the Plant hwyaden increased public safety, reduced the damage caused by the monsters, and greatly enhanced the economy. In a sense, the catastrophe was a breakthrough for the country.

　But rapid change does not come without its own set of distortions.
　The Plant hwyaden is a single large guild. Inside it is a hierarchical system, dictated by the guild's upper echelons, with the name of the Executive Committee.
　KR doesn't think that dictatorship is a bad thing. Even in the Japanese society of the old earth, dictatorships and the like existed in terms of one-man companies and the like, to the point that they were rotten. In fact, in the process of development, there are many cases where it is more efficient for the person in charge to have the power to carry it out.
　Especially for KR, the Plant hwyaden seems to be working very well, as he has seen cases where no one tried to take responsibility for their actions, and as a result, everyone was unhappy, and even the earthlings were affected.
　Most adventurers stuck inside the Japanese server may not understand this, but KR has traveled to and from other servers and has seen it all. The lack of chaos and the restoration of order on this Japanese server is a miracle.
　But still, within that chain of command and dictatorship, some will be displaced, and ordinary people all over the city will be trampled on. The plant hwyaden was established by a small group of talented adventurers who formed an alliance with the Lords of the Earth. The protection of the rights of the citizens of the Earthmen was not part of their agenda. Newcomers and lesser adventurers are also vulnerable to Plant hwyaden's autonomy.
　KR knows that Kazuhiko, unable to see the unreasonableness that has spread to the city of Minami, is scrambling to the east and west. However, from a higher perspective, this is only a drop in the bucket and is actually making the situation worse. The more Kazuhiko tries to save people, the more Plant hwyaden is able to rule unreasonably. It is only because the people reviled by Plant hwyaden's tyranny are being saved by the Mibu Wolf, led by Kazuhiko, that the crucial discontent is not exploding.
　I'm not sure I need the girl to point out that we are far from safe.
　Many of the Lords and Ladies of the Earth of the Holy Empire of West Runde and other noblemen celebrate the springtime of their lives, seeing their growing ties with the Adventurers as a catalyst for the greatest prosperity and breakthrough in the history of the world, but from the KR's point of view, it's all very thin ice. I'd rather wonder why they are so flippant.
　Of course, their carelessness is certainly due to Intix's manipulation of information and Wet Feather's prowess, but KR thinks it's too irresponsible and unthinking to do so. Or perhaps this is what the Yamato aristocracy has degraded over the generations.

'I'm sure it is,'
　The girl agreed with KR's idea.
'That strange duo we met on the continent. They were strangely intimidating, unlike any enemies I've ever encountered. I don't think we can defeat them, but I can't say for sure that we can either.
　That strange monster that Leonardo screamed and jumped down the road to the earth.
　Even after that incident, KR had a strong premonition in his heart and continued to pursue the information. That's the main reason why he decided to join the huge guild, Plant hwyaden. I climbed into the position of power of 10 seats and used it to gather information. As a result of this, he has gained several pieces of evidence.
　Genius. A new type of monster, so called because of the catastrophe, walks unseen in this world after the disaster. KR had confirmed this information in one case in Nakas and two cases in Akiva.
　If KR can sense it, someone of the same rank as KR, or someone with the means to gather information, should be aware of this matter by now. In other words, it's time for the [Earthling] nobles to be aware of this. If they are unable to do so, KR believes that they are lazy and lacking in peace. Of course, modern Japanese cannot blame the peace-loving people for their laziness.

　KR does not know how the battle at Aorsoy ended.
　After Leonardo jumped down, he landed on the ground and fought, as I recall seeing him fight from the back of the Garnett Dragon. But it was only for a moment, and the KRs had their work cut out for them. Leonardo's battle was part of Leonardo's own destiny, and KR was not in charge of seeing it through this time. It was the same with Kanami's battle.
　However, KR had a certain faith that he would not have lost.
　It was hard to imagine Kanami losing in a dry run like this. The more the big game was expected, the more Kanami would produce results. Even if he loses the match of the moment, he will always solve the case itself and help as many people as he can.
　That's the star that Kanami and Leonardo have, and it's what sets them apart from the "supporting characters" like KR and Kazuhiko. That's why I feel a greater sense of anticipation, along with a slight ache in my chest. Sooner or later, Kanami and the others will show up on this Yamato server. Since Kanami had promised to visit this place, it was as good a fact as a default.
　And there will be a battle. We don't know what that fight will look like.
　Will it be between the grotesquely bloated Plant hwyaden, which is now creaking, or uppity noblemen against the Adventurers, or the Round Table of Eastern Akiba, which Shiroe supports. Or will the Calamity scare KR and his friends again?
　I don't know, but some sort of battle will occur. It was more than a vague hunch. There are sparks all over the world and here and there. It was being covered up now, but KR could sense that the spark was growing every minute.
　In preparation for that time, KR must build up its strength at KR.
　Even though he himself could only be a second-rate 〈Summoner〉, KR had no choice but to give up the final stage. If Kanami was to return, and if Intix was to receive it, KR was going to stand there, no matter what the cost. For that reason, KR must obtain the ability to intervene. --even if it meant drinking the blood of the black dragon.
　In order to see the storm that would eventually come, and to see the sky as blue and piercing as that Aorsoy that would come after the storm, KR would also continue to fight a lonely battle inside this Icoma's villa.