By the way, Mr. Magnus--
It's just Magnus. We're all part of the same party now.
Oh, well, you can call me Ray, too.
All right, Ray. And you don't have to call me "sir"?
That's Magnus - he's older than me, and he makes me feel a little uncomfortable, so I'll keep the honorific.
Okay. Okay.

　This kind of interaction seemed somewhat nostalgic to me.
　I did this with Eldora and the others when we first met. It wasn't that long ago, but it feels strangely long ago.
　There was so much hope back then........

''By the way, I'm a profound maid, so I'll call you Ray-sama. Otherwise, I would not feel comfortable.
Should I call you Lady Chocolat, too, then?
'Please don't!　It's also uncomfortable!'

　I giggle at my own trivial jokes.
　I was able to return to a state of mind where I could giggle.
　Maybe it's because Magnus and Chocolat have a natural air of comfort about them.

In the meantime, let's introduce ourselves again. My name is Magnus. I'm from the Northland. Did you say your purpose?　"We're here to kill the demon general.
Speaking of the northern continent, do you have a Raxter?
That's right. It's not exactly my home country, but is Rakstad famous on the eastern continent?
It's the sovereign of the Grand Duchy of Luxon.

　The Grand Duchy of Luxun, where I was born and where I am now, was founded about a hundred years ago.
　His adventurous brother, the king's brother at the time, came over from Rakstad on the northern continent by ship and founded the country at the end of his great adventure, which has been passed down in stories.
　It is said that the support from the original family, Luxta, was also very generous. So even though Luxon is now one of the eight great nations on par with Rakstad, and even though it has become a respectable independent nation, it is said that Luxon still stands up to Rakstad and pays his respects to his subjects.
　The fact that the most important person in the world calls himself a grand duke instead of a king is a testament to this.

"I'm a level 12 Martial Artist. But I have a special training regimen, and my status is higher than normal.
''Eh. Do you know your level and status?!
I don't have people skills, so I'm just going to give you a rough idea.
'No, it's still great...'

　I don't know my level or status. I don't know what my level or status is, but I do know that I've been improving incredibly fast since I left on my journey.
　When I return to His Highness the Grand Duke of the capital, I'm sure he'll tell me, but after having traveled so far to Monbury, I'm back to square one.

''By the way, that Earth Drake was still a juvenile, level 13 boss monster.
'So larvae!　I mean, did you even know the level of the demon!
'If you don't know yourself and your enemy, you only risk taking on someone you can't beat, right?　I think it's only fair for me to try to figure it out.
'Sure ... yes ...'

　I said, biting down.
　Then he looks at Magnus with respect.

'I wonder if there's a way for me to know what level I'm on, too?'
From the skills I've learned so far, I can roughly judge whether I'm at level 10 or level 13. If you can use the Shine Blade, you've reached level 10, and if you can use the Sword Wave, then you're at level 13.
So I'm above level 10 and under 13, then?

　I see, I'm learning a lot.

Ah, but then, I only learned the Shine Blade just the other day, so it must be level 10, right?
Hmm. Well, if that's the case, I guess so. Good call.
''Haha........No wonder you can't compete with a level 13 Earth Drake.......''

　Have we been traveling around without knowing or thinking about this? "Did I say I was going to defeat the Magical Bullet General? I am ashamed of myself when I think about it.

I was traveling around looking for you warriors of light, hunting monsters to become stronger. Whenever I heard of a boss monster appearing somewhere, I would hunt it as a priority. It's a good way to help people and gain experience, because you can kill two birds with one stone.
Oh, so did we. We did too.

　Apparently, it wasn't a mistake to do a boss monster hunt.
　In fact, we've done it all over again, and we've felt the effects.

We'll get there in a minute. How do you feel about continuing to build up your strength to defeat the Demon Bullet Master?
That's good. I have no objection to it.

　I never said this out of sheer drift.
　I thought for myself, and I agreed with Magnus that it was okay for me to do so.
　Rejecting everything someone else says is just as foolish as before, when you've always agreed with everything.......

By the way, do you know how many levels the "Magic Bullet General" is?
No. I have a friend, Narsai, a scholar who works for the Laxta royal family, and I'm having him go through the literature now.
I see...

　Magnus is a really solid guy in what he does.
　He thinks about everything well.
　I have to learn from him!

'After I killed the Earth Drake, I was going to go take out the Noble Vampires next.
We were going to go hunting for elder salamanders next.

　To be exact, it was just Rudd claiming that, and I was just nodding my head as I drifted off.

'I see. I don't mind being an Elder Salamander exterminator.
'Wait. Does Magnus know about those two boss monsters as well?
Yeah. I've already looked into them. They're both level 13 and mildly resistant to physical attacks, but the Elder Salamander's weak point is the Ice attribute, and the Noble Vampires' weak point is the Light attribute.
"!　Then let's go with the Noble Vampires!　I have the Shine Blade!
'Well. Well, that certainly helps.

　Magnus nodded vigorously and we decided on the next course of action for our party.

"So, um, Magnus. I have one more thing to decide--
What is it?
Who's the leader of the party...?

　I asked fearfully, and Magnus laughed.

'I'll think about it if you need me to?'
Well, let's call it off then!

　It was decided that policies and decisions could be discussed each time, just like now.

'Let's have a meeting to kill the Noble Vampires as soon as possible!

　I've always been ordered around by people, so I'm happy to see something new.
　I'm excited.

　That's why I didn't immediately notice Chocolat, who was holding her stomach.

''Um........that's fine too, but if you don't mind, why don't we do it while we get some food?''

　In addition, I just realized that I was a harper myself.
　The next thing I knew, my stomach bug started to rumble.

'Haha!　Then let's go get something good to eat.
"Chocolat could use a good drink today.
But I don't have any...
It's a party prep, don't worry about the boring stuff, Ray.
"Let's go big!
Or, you know, you can't just decide!

　We left our room at the inn, fussing like that.
　This had never happened before when I was with Eldora and the others.