"Haaaaaaaaah! Neyer's spirited voice rang out.

　A blow that accelerated to nearly three times the speed of the previous one swung down at my brain.
　There was no hesitation whatsoever, it was a blow that was far from training, it was a blow filled with killing intent.

You're getting pretty good at this, aren't you?

　I caught the blow with my sword, which I had put some effort into, and my foot slammed into the hardened earth.
　The weight is incomparable to what it used to be, a sword technique that Neya has mastered in a short time.
　However, her defense after the blow was not up to par.

I'm not sure what to say.

　I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what's going on.

You can swing as hard as you can, but the rest of your movements are not keeping up. You're too focused on what's in front of you.

　I'm sorry," Neyer said, dropping to one knee on the ground to catch his breath.
　As there was not much time left, I gave her a rather reckless workout, but it might be too much for Neya. So I took a break.

　The alchemy doll was behaving like a person.
　In order to take in magical elements through food and convert them completely into magical power, they would need to sleep.
　If that applied to the Hell Artio, it would mean that the time limit to defeat the raging dragon Era would be a few dozen days, which was the interval between Hell Artio's sleep, in order for him to take the magic power that he had stolen from the Houritia and use it for himself.

I'll leave it at that for today.

　In response to my words, Neya shook her head and said breathlessly, "No, I can still do it.
　Neya shakes her head and says breathlessly, "No, I can still do it," as she peeks out from the tree behind her, still unable to stand up.

"Well, well, looks like you've been working hard on your primitive training.

"What do you want, Vio? What do you want, Vio?

　Vio smiles at my question.

It's going so well that they've already covered most of the second grade magic they were supposed to.

I think we'll focus on defensive magic, as I asked.

"Of course, of course. I've taught them a few special ones, but they won't have to use them, so I don't think that will be a problem.

　While Vio was training them, I didn't dare to ask them about their training so as not to disturb them. I regretted it a little, thinking it might have been a mistake.
　I'm sure you'll be fine with the special ...... attack magic that Vieo taught you, but considering Vieo's personality, I have a feeling it's going to be bad magic.

So, you didn't come here to watch me and Neya train, did you?

Yes, I've received some new information. It seems that adventurers are gathering in the Kingdom of Theorning to defeat Era. Isn't that interesting?

I'm sure you're not unaware of the habits of the ...... eela.

　I'm not sure if you've heard of it or not.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one.
　Once you get your hands on it, its aggression won't go away for a few days, and every time you've tried to defeat it and failed, the surrounding countries have suffered tremendous damage in the past.
　In recent years, it has been the only one of the four major dragons that has not been defeated from the very beginning for such reasons.

In recent years, it was the only one of the four dragons that was not killed from the beginning because of this.

"It's a little early, but I think we should cut our training short.

　As soon as I said that, Neyer, who had been resting, stood up.

"Please wait. I haven't trained enough yet.

Neya, I'm sorry, but there's no time. I'm sorry, but I don't have time. Considering the rest, we have no choice but to stop here and go.

"......, is that so?

　I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea.
　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

"To be honest, I didn't expect you to grow so much in such a short time. That's great.

Thank you, sir. But I'm afraid it's only going to drag you down.

No, it's not. You'll see.

　I don't know how much stronger you intend to get, but I'm pretty sure you've already reached a level far above what you were capable of when you were called the Sword Princess.
　I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure it's a good idea.

Yes, yes, you're going to fight Era even if you don't want to, so you'll know the result soon enough.

　Vio said something that only added to the pressure, but since Neya was passing it off as nothing, I decided not to mention it.
　What I wanted to say was that Neya's skills will improve when she meets other adventurers.
　Neya only sees me, and she's a little numb to the ever-shrinking gap.
　I'm sure she'll feel the difference when she meets other adventurers, especially higher-ranking adventurers of the same rank.

It will take some time to get to Bellpossoi Volcano, where Era lives. We'll be ready to leave soon. Vio, get the ship ready.

I was hoping you'd say that. I've already started to prepare the ship, so it should be ready in the evening. I'm already working on the ship, it should be finished by the end of the evening. All that's left to do is get Walth and the others ready," Vio said with a childlike smile.

You're working fast. Tell everyone we'll be leaving tomorrow.


　Early the next morning, there were 20 elves and Vio on the beach, not including the four of us.
　The ship anchored off the coast was more magnificent than the pirate ship we had come on.
　It had no sails, and the special shape of the ship was unique to the elves, and it relied on their magic to power it.


I think we can catch up with the adventurers in the Kingdom of Theorning.

I'm sure we'll be able to catch up with all the adventurers in the Kingdom of Ceoling.

　Seretia has gained confidence in her magic and is as motivated as she was when she went to the guild headquarters.
　It's good that you're motivated by your own abilities, but there's a fact that I need to tell you.

It's fine to be motivated, but we don't have to take them down.

What do you mean? You're going to take down Era, aren't you?

No, if there's a gathering of adventurers, we can't stand out. It means we don't have to finish the job.



"So why?

　Fiehl, Neya, and the elves are beginning to board the boat, leaving a disgruntled Celestia behind.
　They seem to already know how to handle Celestia.

"It's simple. The Eurasian kingdom would be too conspicuous with the news of Eira's defeat and Cassandra's. The false Ars will assume that we're involved with the alchemy doll from these two factors. So if the adventurers want to take down Era, that's fine. We're just rounding up early in case the adventurers mess up.

Does that mean that even if we do defeat Era, it won't be public knowledge?

Yes, that's what I mean.

No. ...... I trained so hard. ...... I trained so hard, I endured Vio's demonic training.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.
　Vio was watching happily from the beach.

So, Mr. Walth, take care of the rest.

"Yeah, I'll make sure she's buried.

　With Vio as the only one to see us off, the ship departed for the northern continent.