'Phil is down!　What, black magic?　It means the wand holder is going to debuff you at the right time with the arrow!

　Leila approached one of the cane holders with her natural agility and slit its throat.

　As it is, she tried to jump on the two nearby cane holders and lost her stance.
　This is not like her.

　And then the cane holders jumped on it. You'll be able to find out what's going on.

　--You're not a mage!

　Their movements are equal to those of the goblins we just hardened. It's a combat job.

The body is heavy. Oh, my God!

　Knives stab him from the front and back, and Leila falls down.

"...recover.

　Marc says, but not in time.

'Protect yourself. I'll take care of the enemy.

　Producing silver white from the ground. A sword in his hand, a human arm. And swings at the staff bearer.
　The goblin chooses to evade, but to no avail.

　Because the arm - extended.
　A slash in time cuts them in half.
　The sound of something rushing in.

'Nicola.'

　If you look, you'll see that Marc was ducking under the paws of the horse-man who had jumped at him, his shield and all.

''Welcome, hero. My name is Orobus.

　A masked, horsewoman.

'You made your people leave, I'm sorry, but I'll have to avenge them.

I'll decline. I don't want my magical body (avatar) to be destroyed.

　She turned on her heel.
　I couldn't go after her.

　For a moment, my body didn't move, as if I'd been turned to stone.

　In that one moment, she had me at a distance.
　In the direction she ran off, there was a demon.

　It seems that the archer wasn't the only demon to deal with level '4'.
　But I'm surprised to see him.

　A one-horned demon.

'....Remegaton?　What the hell is going on here?

　He's looking at me.
　I have a strong sense of déjà vu in his eyes.

'Do you think it's cheating?　[Silver Ridge Brave]

　Having been called out to me, I quickly regained my 【Brave Man】 mask.

''........You came out because we're senior, right?　I can't imagine someone as good as you showing up for an intermediate level hunt.

That's right. This is the first time I've been sent to defend this dungeon.

Did you come out and say "four"?

Just as well, since we'll leave the fighting to others.

　Then it might be the equivalent of a '4' just barely.
　Since he also seems to have excellent black magic.

''Why do you look like that?''

Why do you think that is?

　On purpose, I mean.

I'll be back. Next time, I'll have a full attack.

Then we shall wait for the deepest level.

　And so I abstained as my brother instructed me to do.
　I was tempted to challenge him here, but I didn't do it.

　◇

　After the defense.

'Why did you show your face?'

　Thor continued with a worried look on his face.

'If they distribute this video, there might be a flock of adventurers coming in for Mr. Leme.

I don't think so.

'Well if you don't mind explaining that to me...'

''It seems that they came here expecting the difficulty to change. A dungeon that changes in difficulty and the Demon King's Army Counselor. Posting the defeated footage would attract attention, but it wouldn't lead to the party's popularity. On the contrary, it would be spreading valuable information.

You mean...?　Let's see, they're going to want to capture it themselves, so why don't we try to put the video out there to the world to increase our rivalry?

Yes, sir.

But wouldn't a change in difficulty be enough?

If you can be patient enough to try again, then yes.

"?　Sure, we have to make money in a hurry, but with our chief of staff on the way out and ... oh, could it be the corner?

　Mr. Thor seems to have noticed.

'Yes. No one knows how I beat Fenix, but we all expected it. I thought I was hiding a tremendous amount of magic in my horns. Well, it was, actually.

''But it's hard to imagine that there's enough magic in the corner to collide and phase with a full-blown spirit art for so many times.

'Which means that if you want to defeat me, it's now. The magic of the horns has been depleted after the Fenix War - and they think it's depleted - now is the time to go for it.

''And if you defeated the Demon King's Army Counselor who defeated the [Fire Brave], it would be quite a hot topic. I see, this is information I can't share with other adventurers. All the more so if you're a person who aims for the top.

"Yes. And without fail, they will try to rematch me before I return to the Demon King's Castle.

''Even if you fail, I'm sure many times. The regeneration of the upper party's magic body (avatar) is quite expensive........I see, I see.......

　The concept remains the same, but my presence can be used effectively against certain people.

'I have to make money in a short period of time,'

　You might do the same thing with your upper intermediate level opponent.
　What you need to be careful about is your party's ability.

　If you show up to those who think, "There's no way we can win with the Demon King's Army Counselors there," the rumors will spread quickly.
　We must choose those who will never divulge to others, and who will believe that they are the ones who will defeat the General Staff.

'They will come again. It won't be the same as this time. We have to figure out how to defeat them.

　Thor was watching me closely as I thought about what I should do.

　◇

　On the way home that day, I was outside the dungeon grounds with Kash.

''I knew it...''

　The voice muttering to me was familiar.
　At the same time, I found that the black magic of recognition inhibition that I reflexively cast on the people around me was resisted (resisted).

　
　It's not so much of a problem, though, since those who anticipate my magic themselves are rarely there.

　

　Kash, who was tilting his head, eventually blinked his eyes as if he noticed something.

''Oh, you're the one from Hi-rou?''

　Kash shouts happily.

'Gosh, it's amazing how quickly you notice. Yeah, you're a hero. I hope you enjoyed the show, sweetheart.

Okay.

Thank you. If I can make a dainty little girl like you smile, it's worth it to be on the stage.

　She smiled briskly, as if it was seeping into her skin.

''Well Nicola-san, right?''

　I manage a smile.

'Yes. Nicola or Nico, whatever you want to call it. Reme-senpai, right?

　When I called out to him, somehow the 'prince' smiled like a girl.

''Uh-huh. Oh, he said he could stop, senior. Also, you made it easy for me to talk to you, yes.

Thank you. Now, I think I'll call you Leme.

I'll call you Nicola.

I'm a fan of your work, Leme.

What?

'So I was very surprised. When I looked into Remeghton's eyes earlier, they were on fire, just like Reme's, like a flame. But what do you mean?　I've always wanted to be a brave man. But your eyes aren't dead. I haven't given up on my dream. I'm sorry, Leme, I'm sorry to ask you this when we first met. But I'm curious. What happened?