Nice to meet you, Dragonslayer. My name is Katia.


　That was the first thing Ilaria's childhood friend said.

　The place was a guest room on the top floor. It was the room where Ilia and I had stayed before. It was in that room that we heard from the girl who called herself Katia.

　I didn't notice it from a distance, but Katia was clearly emaciated. Although she was wearing heavy makeup, her eyes were hollowed out, her cheeks were hollowed out and her voice was faint.

　She wore her brown hair in a bun behind her head to make it easier to move around, but the way she tied her hair was also a bit of a mockery, making her look very unbecoming of a young girl.


'As you can see, I am a servant of the God of Law. When I was a little girl, I lived in the same village of Merte as Miss Ilia.


　When Katia glanced at Ilaria, the priest warrior of The Sword of Hayabusa nodded his head in affirmation of Katia's words.

　As I had guessed from the seal (emblem) on his chest, Katia was a former member of the A-ranked party "Silver Star". I've met Iria, who was gathering information about the King of Beasts (Behemoth) in this city, and she told him about me through her mouth.

　Knowing that the Dragonslayer (I) would eventually visit Belka again, Katia regularly went to Iria's side, waiting for me to come. That led to today.

　The question is why Katia wanted to see me, well, I don't need to ask. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get away with it. It's easy to imagine what Katia must have been thinking.

　In fact, the next words that came out of Katia's mouth were exactly what I had expected.


''Dragon-slayer-sama, please help us find our friends in the 'Silver Star'!　The unexplored area is the innermost part of the Catalan Desert, where the King of Beasts (Behemoth) has been seen in the past. I believe this is in line with your purpose!


　Saying that, Katia bows her head with a desperate look on her face.

　I've been told that it was the leader of the "Silver Star" that freed Katia from the status of a slave, and this girl seems to feel a deep debt of gratitude to the leader. I'm not sure if she's not exhausted, but she might be feeling more than just gratitude.

　I heard that the leaders of the 'Silver Star' disappeared many months ago. So even though enough time has passed for them to be officially treated as dead, Katia is still scrambling for her former comrades.

　The circumstances that surrounded the girl in front of me, called the circumstances of her fall into slavery since her childhood, were worthy of sympathy. I can't be so cruel as to say, "I don't want to work for free" in front of that girl's desperate plea. As they say, we're going to the desert to look for the Behemoth anyway. It's not much of a hassle if you think of it as a way to do that.

　The fact that Ilaria and Lars were childhood friends means that they are naturally acquainted with Priestess Sela. In that sense, I had no intention of refusing to cooperate.

　When I briefly stated that -- or something like that, Katia's face brightened with a puff and said, "Thank you! He repeatedly bowed his head to me.

　To that Katia, I add, "However.


I want you to be aware of that, because as expected, it can't be forever.


　For example, if the King of Beasts (Behemoth) is found outside the unexplored area, I will defeat the King of Beasts (Behemoth) there and return to Ishka. I cannot remain in Belka to search for the Silver Star after defeating the Behemoth.

　Nor did he intend to return to Belka to continue his search after giving the King of Beasts (Behemoth)'s horn to Pope Noah. I don't care if it was only yesterday or today that he went missing, but I don't see the point in a prolonged search when it's been many months.

　I'm sorry for Katia, but the members of the 'Silver Star' are probably dead. The bodies may have been buried in the sand or eaten by demons, either way, they will be difficult to find.

　To put it bluntly, the purpose of my cooperation was not to find the Silver Star, but to appease the girl in front of me. I'm sure that if I didn't do this, Katia would continue to run on with some hope that she would eventually collapse from lack of strength.

　

　I let out a small sigh so that Katia, who has tears in her eyes, doesn't notice me. In a different way than the 'Desert Eagle' that teased her so stubbornly, the 'Silver Star' was also going to be a source of trouble.





''Um, thank you.......for Katia....


　In the room where Katia had left, Ilaria bows her head with an awkward salutation.

　Looking at such Iria, I faintly narrowed my eyes. Unlike Lunamaria and Miroslav, Ilaria is still a sixth-level adventurer belonging to the Ishka Adventurers' Guild and a member of the Sword of Hayabusa.

　During my previous stay in Belka, I left Iria in Belka and headed for Onigashima after I performed a soul-eating ceremony on her. It's true that I was more than a little curious to see how Ilaria would behave after being away from me for so long. As a matter of fact, I was also considering the possibility that Ilaria had disappeared from Belka.

　But this is how Ilaria has remained in Belka.

　--Hmm, it looks like there's no problem. Well, I suppose that, from the point of view of Iria, who was affected by Hydra's deadly poison, she can't leave me even to obtain the antidote, so she couldn't choose any other option but to obey.

　I'm not going to be able to get to the bottom of it.


I don't mind. As I told that boy, my priority is the King of Beasts, so I don't mind. But you said you were childhood friends in the village, how did you meet him again?　Did you guys bump into each other in the Temple of the Law?

'By chance I heard that someone was gathering information about the King of Beasts (Behemoth) and he came to see me from the other side. That's when we recognized each other.

'Right. Have you informed Lars yet?


　It was an innocuous question, but Ilaria bit her lip and slumped when she heard this.


'No, Katia stopped me. She told me I wasn't going back to the village of Merte anymore, so I should stop letting her know about me.


　I crossed my arms when I heard that. If I had been freed from slavery, I could have returned home at any time. Even if I couldn't leave Belka because of circumstances, it wasn't difficult to let my family know I was safe.

　The fact that he didn't do either of those things probably meant that he didn't want to see the face of the family that sold him out, and he didn't have any unresolved issues with the village. Naturally, that was no exception for Ilaria and Lars.......apparently, the reunion between Ilaria and Katia was not a very emotional one.

　Seal hadn't missed sending money to his family even after becoming a slave - this was probably because Seal had sold himself for his family of his own volition. It's not hard to imagine that Katia's situation was completely different from that.

　And if that's how Ilaria and Lars decided to become adventurers after losing their childhood friends, then Katia's existence has had a great deal of influence on me.

　Today I met Katia in Belka. It's a strange coincidence, I think.

　I changed the subject, thinking inwardly about that. It's not that I was worried about Ilaria's pained expression, but rather that there was something I needed to check up on for future reference.


'How are you feeling, by the way?　As far as I can see, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual in this way, but did the poison reappear after you left me?


　By poison, of course, I mean Hydra's poison. Ilia fought an aquatic horse (Kelpie) in the village of Merte and was affected by the deadly poison of the illusory species via this demon, leading to the collapse of half of her face. Taking an antidote using my blood greatly improved her symptoms, but the fear of a recurrence has not disappeared.

　Having defeated the demon god in Onigashima, my level has increased even more. Inevitably, the effects of the Blood Spirit have also increased than before. If the symptoms of the poison had reappeared in my absence, then it would be necessary to use that one. With that in mind, I turned to ask the question, but Ilaria's answer was that there was no problem at all.


If anything, my body is in better shape than it was before I was poisoned.

That's fine. I guess I won't have to cut you up for this one.


　I'm not sure what to say in response to the teasing, but Ilaria's lips are drawn into a tight line. I once declared to Ilaria, who feared a painless death from a deadly poison, that I would kill her with all my might if it was too late. That's what I've been doing here.

　It was in my own way a reflection of what I thought of Ilaria at the time, but it's not something I would have let the priest Serra or the little guys hear. If Lars or anyone else hears these words, there is a possibility that there will be another fight.

　However, Ilaria's face was clearly relieved at that time, and Ilaria here did not show any anger.

　He gestured for Ilaria to sit next to him. Ilaria's eyes winked slightly, but she obeyed my instructions without saying a word.

　Incidentally, Sparrow and Lunamaria have moved to another room a little further away. It's really impossible for the four of us to stay in a room for two, so we took another room.

　Right now, it's just me and Ilaria in this room. If that was the case, there was only one thing to do.


◆◆◆


　Three days after arriving in Belka, I was flying alone in the skies of the Catalan Desert on Klau Solas.

　At first, I had hidden Klaus in the nearby mountains as I didn't want it to stand out too badly, but now that I'd gotten involved with the Desert Eagle and the Silver Star as soon as I arrived, there was no point in shrinking back so as not to stand out. Rather, he should have clearly flaunted his presence. If the dragon slayer is here to stay, it will be harder for the desert hawk to get a hold of you.

　The person who agreed with me was Cardinal Sairala, the supreme lawgiver in Belka. Cardinal Sairala promised me full cooperation and even gave me permission for Klau Solas to enter and leave the city of Belka freely.

　At first, I thought their kindness was due to Pope Noah's letter of introduction, but upon closer examination, I learned that Cardinal Sairala was also troubled by the disappearance of the Silver Star. He was also concerned about Katia, and even if I didn't have the Pope's letter of introduction, he would have spared no effort to help, according to the cardinal's own words.


'Alou is a well-behaved man. To the inhabitants of Belka, adventurers are generally regarded as rogues, but Arrows and his friends are an exception.


　When we met for the first time, Cardinal Sairala said that to me with a somber look on his face. The one named here, Alou, is the leader of the 'Silver Star'. Also known as the White Knight.

　It is said that Arrows took in and cared for those who had been abused as slaves and those who had lost their families, and they had a cooperative relationship with the Temple of Law and other temples. Katya was one of them, he said.

　Although he was an adventurer without a lord, he was known as a 'knight', which shows how much people loved his humble character.

　I should add that Cardinal Sairala, who I thought was a woman from the sound of his name, was a dignified man over fifty years old.

　As we flew through the desert sky, I remembered the old cardinal's words.


When Alou and the others went missing, I searched the entire Temple of Law to find them, but the place they went to was the most secluded part of the unexplored area. There are many demons, and there are no oases nearby. Even the most seasoned adventurer can do little more than go and return, and it's impossible to hope for an all-out search.


　When I heard that, I wondered why the Silver Star was headed to such a dangerous place again. Why did the Silver Star head to such a dangerous place again?

　Of course, it is because of the risk that they are adventurers, but of course there must be a reason for the risk.

　There were many demons in the area, no oasis, and even the most seasoned adventurer would risk his life just to get there and back. What was Alou's purpose in heading to such a place with his friends in tow?

　The question I couldn't ask Katia, I turned to Cardinal Sairala.

　In response, the Cardinal closed his eyes for a moment, as if he was holding something back, and then he spoke a word.

　The Golden Empire (Imperium).

　It's an utopia in the desert that remains only in legend. The 'Silver Star' - no, White Knight Alou had set foot in the Catalan Desert in search of that legend. You will be able to find out how many times, dozens or even hundreds of times.

　And when he got some clue to the legend, he had stepped into the unexplored area at his peril - and never returned.


"The White Knight in the desert," eh? Well, what happened to him?


　Muttering that, I turned Klau Solas' head to Belka. That's enough for a test flight. I planned to return to Belka today, and tomorrow I would take the sparrows back to the magical world of sand.