--The next morning.


　Rosalie-san is sitting upright and nodding discouragingly.



　The Great Sage Master didn't have a single scratch on him.
　Well, since he was immortal, the wound might have regenerated quickly.

''Why do you have to push so hard...?　If you had only talent, you'd be beyond me.
　The Great Sage-sama folded her arms with a dumbfounded face and looked down at Rosalie-san.

'........Oh God, Mom....
Grand Sage, do you and Tru-chan's mothers not get along?
'My mum sees you as a one-sided rival. Of course you can't win.
　I overheard Lucy and Sa-san talking.
　Lucy, you're so unforgiving of your own mother.
　Mr. Furiae is stroking the black cat's (Tsui) throat as if he's not interested.

'....Kuh, next time you'll remember that.
You're... you're not sorry for anything, are you?
　Rosalie-san stared at Grand Sage-sama with resentful eyes, and Grand Sage-sama sighed loudly.

　Rosalie-san was also strong, but Grand Sage-sama's sense of superiority was overflowing.
　I knew the Great Sage-sama was the best wizard on the continent.
　As I was absentmindedly watching the scene, Princess Sophia came near me.

''Brave Makoto, it's time for us to leave the land of the trees. We've stayed for a long time.''
Okay, Sofia.
　I nodded at Princess Sophia's words.
　I felt better, so I guess we'll be leaving for the Fire Nation (Great Keith).

''Let's take our carriage back to McAllen. The carriage is enchanted to repel demons.
'Yes, let's take the airship from McAllen to the Land of Fire (Great Keith).
　In the direction of the Fire Nation, there should have been no flying dragons.
　There are sand dragons along the way, but they are a non-flying dragon species.

Wait, boys!
　The Great Sage made a stop.
'What's the matter?'
Don't go back to the town of McAllen, your little wizard's stronghold. The lords of the Sun Lands are waiting for you.
What?
　I frowned at those words and Princess Sophia made a small noise of surprise.

''It's not a strange story. I'm sure they know that the Spirit Master's base is a city on the edge of the Water Country. Then it's best to wait there.
But it's troubling...
　The truth is, once we get back to McAllen, we can't use the airship.

'I don't know what to do,'
Well it will take some time, but we'll have to go overland.
　Princess Sophia and I were looking at each other and wondering what the hell was going on.

"Here's something you should know, Spirit Master.
　The Great Sage Master meaningfully turned his gaze towards Rosalie, who was sitting upright.

''Hey, Red Lotus lass. Send these guys through your ultra-long distance spatial transfer (teleportation).
Yeah, I can only carry one person at a time!
'You can go back and forth as many times as you want, you've got some extra magic to waste, make the most of it.
　Oh, you can use that kind of move.
　I said close to Lucy and gave her an earful.

'Lucy. Can I ask your mother to move?
Normally, he would never bother to do it, but now that the Great Sage is asking, he'll do it.
　Lucy also whispered back to me.
　I know, I don't feel comfortable making the heroes of the tree country do such chores.
　But it's very helpful.

'Oh no!　It's so annoying!　You're on your own!　You're a big wise man!
"I can't afford to waste my magic power like you. We must prepare for the return of the Great Demon King. You Elves have some extra magic left over. It's for the sake of the heroes.
Huh, I can't do anything about it. Boyfriend, when you're ready, I'll bring it to you in turn.
Oh, thank you.
　Apparently, they've talked about it.

　We hurriedly prepared for our departure.
　We finished greeting the village chief, Maximilian, the heroic Maximilian of the Wind Tree, Flona, the tree priestess, and the other people in Canaan's village.

''Mako-dono, let's meet again in the northern expedition plan!　Next time we'll fight the Demon King together!
Yes, Maximilian, take care of yourself.
　Shaking hands with the hero of the wind tree.
　I guess the best thing about this time is that I got to know Maximilian-san well.
　But he has big, burly hands.
　In comparison, my hands are like a child's.

Are you ready?　Okay, Lucy first.
Oh, you mean from me?
Ruchan, mom, I can be the first.
I prefer the last one.

　I look at Rosalie, and she's rambling on about the spatial transition (teleportation) in order.
　At first, I think it would be better to go with an old man from the Water Holy Order of Princess Sophia's guards or something.
　I'm sure you've been there before.
　Oh, Lucy's been taken away.

(Okay, I'll leave too.)


　◇


Well, I guess this is the last time...

　Sluggishly, Rosalie announced.
　Dark circles have appeared under her eyes.
　Probably because of the overuse of the spatial transfer (teleportation), it seems to be causing a drop in magic power.
　........Is she okay?

Thank you so much, Rosalie.
Oh, I'm so tired of being pushed around. d*mn it, Great Sage, I won't let you down next time!
　While saying that, a magic circle floats around Rosalie-san.
　There are more magic circles than when I used the spatial transfer to the tree country (teleportation) that I had used a while ago.

(Is this different from the previous jutsu?)

'Miss Rosalie, where are you going?　That magic circle isn't the same as the one we saw earlier, is it?
'What?　Mom, aren't you coming back to the village?
　Lucy reacts to my words.

'Oh my, your boyfriend is excellent. You know, you've been watching the magic formula. I'm going to go to the 'moon' now and retrain myself!　We didn't get to the Great Sage yet, you know!
''Oh, um... before we take on the Great Sage, we would like your help in defeating the Demon King with the Northern Expedition Plan...''
　Princess Sofia speaks to Rosalie, who rolls up her arms, in a cursory manner.
　Indeed!　This is not the time to be fighting with your people.　

'Oh, did your father say something about that?　Six months from now, right?　We're going to attack the Demon Continent. Okay, I'll join you, so leave me the Demon Lord to defeat.
　Saying that, Rosalie-san disappeared in a spatial transition.
　She's a free person.

　Be that as it may, we arrived in the Land of Fire (Great Keith).
　With us are Lucy, Sa-san, Friae-san (black cat on her shoulder), Princess Sophia and the knights of the guards.

''Hey!　Takatsuki!　So this is the Land of Fire (Great Keith)!
　Sa-san told me to look around that city - Gamelan, the royal capital of the Fire Nation (Great Keith).

　The whole place was a white city.
　Is it the sun-dried bricks that make up the buildings?
　Most of the clothes people wear are also white.
　Many of them have sallow skin.　

(It's like the world of the Arabian Nights...)
　The streets were reminiscent of the Middle East in the previous world.

　And most of all - it was.

It's hot.

　The temperature must be close to 40 degrees Celsius.
　I thought our latitude was not so different from that of the Land of Water....
　It seems to be the power of the Goddess of Fire (Saul) to make such a difference.
　The Fire Nation (Great Keith) is a tropical country.

　It's good to be hot.
As long as the "Clear Water" skill is set to 99%, it doesn't bother me too much.
　The problem is--

(...water spirits, I don't have any at all.)

　I had a hunch, though, based on the climate in the Land of Fire (Great Keith) that I learned about in the Water Temple a long time ago.
　Apparently, I'm going to be useless in this country........
　I gave a small sigh.

''Sophia-sama. I've completed the immigration procedures.''
　The old man, the guardian knight, came with a bang.
　As expected, it's not good to enter the country illegally in a spatial transfer, so I'm tight about that.

　However, Rosalie-san said, "What?　You're always going in and out without permission, though? He said.
　Has that man forgotten his common sense somewhere?

'Then let's head to the inn I usually use. Brave Makoto, you have contacted your friend, haven't you?
Yeah, I talked to Fujiyan and he said he was on his way.
　I contacted Fujiyan with the magic tool for communication.
　I heard that Fujiyan had something to do in the Fire Nation.
　He said he'll be able to join us in two or three days' time.
　Until then, I'll be allowed to stay at the same hotel as Princess Sophia.

It's hot, let's get moving.
　Mr. Furiae is wiping sweat off his hands.
　She's a little undressed and flapping her chest with her clothes to create a breeze.
　Every time she fans it with her clothes, her breasts are exquisitely visible and hidden, giving off an indescribable s*xiness.

''..........''
　All the men passing by stopped to stare at Mr. Furiae.
　You're conspicuous.

Roo-chan, are you okay?
'It's hot - ugh, Aya's skin is cold...'
　Lucy, who doesn't like the heat, is limping and being carried on her back by Sa-san.

　Well, we'd better get moving.
　We set off for the inn.


　On the way, Princess Sophia told us about the Fire Nation.

　The Fire Nation is a military state that dispatches troops at the request of other countries.
　It's not a good place for agriculture, but hunting and fishing are popular.
　They also put a lot of emphasis on trade.

　At present, many people are coming to the royal capital.
　The reason for this is apparently because of the Fire Nation's largest martial arts tournament that will be held soon.
　It is said that the winner of the tournament will be the 'Nationally Recognized Hero of the Fire Nation' and will be promised MFN treatment for one year only.

(After all, each country is very different.

　I listened to Princess Sophia's story and scurried around and looked around the city with the viewpoint switch of my 'RPG Player' skill.

　And after a while, it was time for a short break.
　Princess Sophia and the ladies were drinking cold fruit juice that was sold at the concession stand.

　I was looking for a water spirit somewhere at a little distance, looking for a water spirit.
　...Yeah, it doesn't look good at all.
　Then.


　--Kean, the 'Danger Sensing' skill whistle sounded.


(Huh?　(We're in the city.)

I activate the "Search for enemies" skill on the spur of the moment, but I can't see where the enemy is.

"Oh, look out!　Takatsuki-kun!
　Sa-san held me in his arms and I was out of there in an instant.

　The next moment, --dogagaaga!

　An explosion sounded as if something heavy had fallen on the place I had just walked, and dust rose up in the air.
　Ba, bombing!
　A bombing?

　But after the dust settled, what I saw was a human figure.
　A human being had fallen?


...Oh no, he avoided me. As expected of the hero who defeated the Demon King.


　It was a woman's voice that spoke in a slightly blunt tone.
　Sallow skin.
　Paralyzed, glossy black hair.
　Slender female warrior with narrowed eyes, reminiscent of a predator of the cat family.
　She wears light armor, but her shoulders and legs are bare of skin.
　However, the reason you don't feel defenseless is probably because of the enormous fighting spirit (aura) that she wears.

''Nice to meet you........ I'm 'The Burning Hero' Olga Saul Talisker........
　With eyes that didn't seem to know where he was looking, the attacker called out his name in a riddled tone.

''Hey ... do you want to kill each other with me?''
　The woman grinned and twisted her mouth into a large crescent moon.

　The bad guy's here!