d*mn it...!　You Aaaaaaah!

　Pigalo drew his sword.
　It was the body of a complete lunatic.

"You mocked me, a brave man, for making a mockery of me...!　No!　They're going to rudely strike me down ah!

　The iron sword is swung down.
　The one at the end of it is Sakai-kun.
　If this continues, his head will be split in half like a gourd and it will be irreversible.

　So I stopped it.
　With my own hands.

".........?

　Literally with this hand.
　Predicting the trajectory of the slash, I anticipated the trajectory of the slash and held out this arm ahead of time.

　Pigalo's blade dug into my arm and stopped as it was.
　Without cutting both sides.

''What.........what.......?
I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. I can't bear to be killed.

　And Grandpa Smith has entrusted me with the afterlife as well.
　I don't know what kind of reprimand I'll receive for sending my beloved disciple to him so soon.

"I'm not...?　You used my sword with your bare hands...?
With an aura of protection wrapped directly around your body...　But...
Is that even possible...?

　Not only Pigalo, but the other guest heroes are also taken aback by the fact that this happened.

　I'm sure it's not surprising, I thought to myself.
　The aura used by adventurers is clothed in an instrument to reinforce its meaning.

　Slashing, thrusting, and striking, each of them reinforces its meaning and draws power beyond human knowledge.

　If you put an aura into something that has various meanings, such as the human body, it will only become vague and will not be able to exert its full effect.
　It's not completely pointless, but it's much less efficient than swords and shields that have proper meaning.

　I did that and successfully defended against Pigalo's sword, which called itself a hero.

''What you do is...''

　He says as he pushes Pigalo's sword back.

''I don't think it's quite the act of a brave man. Even as a sensible person. As the village chief, I have a duty to crack down on thugs.

　I stared at him with a somewhat sharp gaze........

''Humph!''

　Pigalo dropped back irritably and put his sword away.

''Everything is so unpleasant in this place!　It's just that the countryside is muddy after all!

　You sound like a sore loser.

I'm going to be on my way to defeat the demon king. I've got the title of valor, and I'm going to go for it. It's not even permissible to eat grass in a place like this!

　He was heading for the exit at a fast pace.

'Remember, Radey!　It's not you who will slay the demon king, but me, the true hero!　You can rot here in the countryside and grit your teeth when you hear of my fame!

　He was a brave man who spouted a few scattered discarded words and left.

　What the hell was that?
　As annoying as it is to cause a village a stir, the appearance of more than two brave men in a generation is itself an unprecedented rarity.

　I found it creepy.
　This is still me, who belonged to the Demon King's army in the previous half of my life and was an enemy of the brave.
　I'm proud to say that I have a fear of brave men and women more than anyone else, because the brave men of that time were the deadliest of all time.

　That's why I was motivated to check it out.
　What on earth is going on in the center?

　So the first thing I'll ask is the executive who belongs to the center guild in the first place.......

◆.

Ho, that's what happened in the village of Lax?

　I went out of my way to visit Mr. Bestfred, who is now in command of the Mithril mine.

'So what happened to those barging heroes?
They're long gone. The hammer and bow boys, though not as hurriedly as the sword boys, went off in a polite manner.

　After all, I am the one who is determined to defeat the Demon King.

　More than one brave man has been chosen.
　It's an expression of their strong will to defeat the Demon King at all costs.

　But in the conflict between the brave men and the demon king's army that has been going on for hundreds of years, why did they suddenly become serious now?

'Dariel-kun may have visited me because he thought I was familiar with the central situation, but...'

　Mr. Bestfred, the guild's executive, said.

''It's not going to live up to your expectations. As I'm sure Dariel-kun is well aware, I've dropped out of the so-called capital. I've dropped out of the race for a promotion.

　I smiled a self-mocking smile.

　........Indeed, I thought it was something like that.

　Even though it is an important facility that generates great wealth, it will be posted to a place far away from the center.
　Only someone who had given up on being at the top of the heap would do so.

''Don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy with my decision to come here. I'm getting along with the Knockers!

　So how did you get so comfortable with those knockers?

'So my days here are full. I'm not interested in the central situation either, but there's one thing that bothers me.
What is it?
One of the board member's chairs became vacant because I was transferred over here, and the guy who sat in that seat seemed to be very motivated.

　Motivated?

His name is Roselwy, apparently.
''If you're full of motivation, it's no wonder you're seriously thinking about defeating the Demon Lord.

　Trying to list the major patterns in the making of your own since the Center Guild opened?

　It's understandable if you think that this is why he took the energetic action of sending out several brave men.

　While it's good to be overflowing with energy, moving around too flamboyantly could cause trouble for those around me.

　First of all, right now I don't want there to be any flashy moves in the battle between the heroes and the demon king's army.
　I'm from the demon king's army and now belong to the human race, so my position is complicated.

''.........''

　I thought for a while, trying to level the scales that were tipping to one side.

　All I want now is for the peace and quiet of life in Lax Village to last forever. I don't want the world to get noisy without reason.

　That's why the battle between the brave men and the demon king's army should be evenly matched.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot of good reasons for this.

　We must preserve the peace.

　What we should do for that........

◆.

Wake up, baby.
Yikes!　What the hell was that!?

　After resigning from Mr. Best Fred's service and returning to my home in the village, I immediately kicked up the cat-like guy sleeping in the living room.

　Sometimes stray cats come and go in and out of the house on their own, and before you know it, they can become as familiar as your cat.
　This guy's existence was the same thing.

　He is one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King's Army, 'Huafu' Zebiantes.

''What the hell is this?　I just finished my work just now and I'm very tired!　You can even let me sleep in until dinner!
..........

　He's been eating here until dinner.

　He is so disloyal to his duties as the Fourth Heavenly King that I managed to make him take charge of the defense of the fortress by beating and coaxing him into it.

　Even so, he'll still come back here as a matter of course when his shift is over.

''Well, that's a good thing this time...''
Hmm?　What's the matter with you?
Zebiantes, from now on, you listen to me very carefully...

　To the heavyweight who guards this most important military stronghold on the demon side, I say.

"In a few days, a brave warrior will attack Rasperda Fortress.
'What?　Radey, are you going to finish your training now?

　No, not that one.
　I knew it would be complicated to have more than one brave person, but I didn't make any corrections and proceeded with the story.

I'll give you a couple of tricks, so just fight off the temptation. The world would be better off in a more peaceful way.