To Ilaria, Sora was a distant person. Or a thin one.

　She was not as close as Lars and Lunamaria, whom she treated as friends and comrades, nor was she as hostile as Miroslav, who was a man-hater.

　Neither good nor bad, just estranged.

　Of course, we were in the same party, so we had many conversations. But if asked if there were any memorable interactions, Ilaria would have shook her head from side to side.



　That tasteless and odorless relationship changed when Sora confessed the limits of her talent.

　At that moment, the balance of good and evil in Ilaria had clearly shifted in the direction of "evil".



　Miroslav accused Sola of being a "parasite" for her actions.

　In response, Sola defended that she had no intention of being a "parasite.

　Ilaria thinks that she was not lying about her words.

　Sola had no intention of being a parasite. She had confessed the situation to herself before she became a parasite - she had intended to.

　But to what extent it is considered parasitic is up to each person.

　The state that Sola judged to be "not yet a parasite" was, to Miroslav, "nothing but a parasite".



　And Ilaria's feeling was close to that of Miroslav's.

　For Ilaria, Sola's situation regarding the limits of her talent was "something else". If Sora had told them all about the situation and Ilaria and the others had accepted it, it would have become a "party issue," but Sora didn't do that.

　It had been half a year since she joined the Sword of the Falcon. There were plenty of opportunities to talk about it, yet she didn't do so.

　The imbalance in the strength of the party would lead to unexpected accidents. As a result, it could also lead to the death of a member. Knowing this, he couldn't be fond of the person who knew that, but kept quiet for personal reasons and forced his friends to risk their lives.


　What Ilaria felt from Sora in that moment was "spoiled".

　Having lost her father at an early age and being raised by a single woman, Ilaria had always been a strict believer in self-discipline.

　From that point of view, Ilaria's refusal to face up to the fact that she is at the limit of her talent is an act of naivete.

　She didn't tell her friends the truth because she didn't want them to hate her or look down on her.

　Even the act of confessing the limits of her talent showed that she had spoken up on her own, and that she hoped the fact that she had kept quiet about it would be swept under the rug - and frankly, I couldn't help but get sick of it.



　As for the later rumors of the 'parasite', Ilaria did not actively spread the rumors, but she did not deny the fact of the parasite either. It was the result of the bad feelings that followed at this time.

　And that hadn't changed in the case of the Lord of the Flies.

　What Miroslav had done on that occasion was certainly unforgivable. His own sin in taking advantage of it was also unforgivable.

　Ilaria, who was carrying an unconscious Lars on her back, had no choice, but she understands that this is no excuse for someone who was used as a decoy.

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



　I can't help but feel that that side was also deceiving "Falcon's Sword (We)".

　The person who hid the limits of his talent and forced his friends to risk their lives is now accusing us of putting him in danger.

　How could he be ready to bow to such a person?

　That was Ilaria's true feelings, which were not false.



◆◆◆



　The villagers' cheers could be heard from afar.

　The village of Melte was in full swing at this time of year, just as the annual harvest festival was about to begin.

　Normally, when the sun goes down, the villagers, adults and children alike, are asleep. Nowadays, however, they are enjoying singing and dancing in the square with brightly lit lights. Even the children are allowed to play at night, and they are running around excitedly, shouting and crying.

　The residents of the village were not the only ones participating in the party. People from neighboring villages have also gathered for the party, and they are all leaders, such as the village chief and advisors.

　I said that the annual harvest festival is just as important. I would like to correct my statement that the annual harvest festival was not so bad, but it was definitely more lively than the harvest festival.


'What the hell, really...'


　Ilaria was lying alone in her room in the church.

　She was stretched out on her bunk, arms and legs outstretched and weak in a large figure.

　She had heard that her hometown had been struck by the plague, and when she returned after the night had passed into the day, the disease had long since been wiped out. The special medicine that Miroslav had obtained for me was useless in front of the antidote fruit, which was even more effective than that. There's no choice but to decompress, something like this.

　That's not all. On the day of Ilaria's return, the orc settlement that was threatening the surrounding villages had been eradicated by a single dragon knight.

　The current feast is being held to celebrate this.


The first thing that comes to mind is the fact that the plague is over, and of course we are happy that the orcs have been defeated.


　It's frustrating that I didn't contribute anything to them.

　Moreover, it was Sora who carried it out. It's even more frustrating.


"...I'm not just a clown, I'm a clown.


　A faint murmur leaked out.

　Immediately, Ilaria's eyebrows furrowed in self-consciousness as she heard cheers from outside.



　The thing that Sola defeated was a herd of more than thirty orcs led by a single high orc.

　It was enough to easily overrun a remote village, and there was no one who was not relieved and delighted at the news of their destruction.

　That wasn't the only reason for the cheers.

　All the bodies of the vanquished orcs were donated by Sora to the village of Melte.



　Demons that actively attacked humans like orcs and goblins would be rewarded with a reward.

　Also, the corpses of demons were a treasure trove of material.

　Orc meat had a strong odor and a very peculiar taste, making it almost inedible. But after the lye was removed, the meat could be dried and mixed with grain to make fodder for livestock. The bones and leather are used to make tools, and the testicles and heart are used to make energizing drugs.

　The bounty and the profits from the sale of these materials would more than compensate for the losses caused by the plague.

　The men from the surrounding villages claimed to be celebrating the defeat of the orcs, but in large part because they wanted a share of the unexpected "treasure" that Melte's village had gained.

　If you monopolize the benefits, they will hate you. Perhaps the village chief would share in the bounty, but this would benefit the village of Merte differently than money, as a loan to the surrounding villages.

　The idea was to make the feast more exciting.


It's really quite perfect, isn't it? No one will listen to anything I say in this situation.


　It's not just the villagers. Her mother, Sailor, and her bloodless siblings are also very fond of her.

　No one would take it seriously if they accused her of being the kind of person who would drop her former comrades into slavery and put a collar on their necks.

　No, on the contrary, they might bring up the Lord of the Flies case and accuse Ilaria and Lars of it.

　Now, if Sora's mood was offended, the matter of the orcs would be reversed. Most of the villagers would stand on Sola's shoulders.

　In the first place, there is no comparison between Ilaria, who rushed to the village to clean up the village's problems one after another, and Lars, who didn't even rush to the scene.


''It's the perfect opportunity if you want to ruin our reputation. If you think you're going to use that as a shield to confront me with your demands, you won't do that either...''


　He thought that maybe they were planning to make a big announcement about the Lord of the Flies' case at today's banquet.

　But the man who had single-handedly destroyed the orc settlement seemed fed up with being surrounded by high and mighty officials who talked to him for hours at a time since the banquet began.

　If he was going to expose the Lord of the Flies, he would have opened his mouth a long time ago.



　He has no intention of making the matter public. But if that's the case, it begs the question: what the hell did he come to Merte's village for?

　The fruit of the antidote, a potion to restore strength (stamina) and holy water. In order to get all of these items that Sora provided, I'm sure I would have needed a fair amount of gold coins. It seems unlikely that he would invest that much money without a purpose.

　It's clear that Sora is visiting Melte's village for a purpose. But Ilaria didn't know what it was.

　It was uncanny. It was so creepy that she was tired of thinking and thinking, and eventually got tired of thinking about it, and ended up breaking out in her room like this.



''...Come to think of it, I remember thinking the same thing when that guy and Lars were dueling.


　At that time, he didn't understand how Sola, who was level one, could have challenged him to an unwinnable battle against Lars, who was level sixteen.

　Miroslav declared it to be 'overconfidence due to the acquisition of an expensive weapon', but now I can see that it was a mistake.

　I don't know what happened. But Sola has definitely raised the bar significantly. She has become strong enough to overwhelm Lars, tame the wyvern, and annihilate a settlement of orcs on her own.

　When it comes to this, all the stories of how they exterminated demons that were thought to be spiteful are suddenly becoming more believable.


"....What in the world happened.........


　As I thought about it, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

　Perhaps the sip or two he had been encouraged to take at the banquet had taken effect now.

　Ilaria let out a small yawn and gently closed her eyes.

　Slightly later, sleep began to spill out of her mouth. Even in the dream, there was a slight wrinkle between her eyebrows, as if she was worried about a mystery she couldn't solve.




　-- To Ilia, the person called Sora was a distant entity. Or it was a thin existence.

　But that was in the past.

　But that was in the past. Now it is neither far nor thin.

　It is a presence that will not be forgotten, even in dreams, and is about to be clearly engraved in the depths of one's heart, in the back of one's mind.