According to Leila, the demons that appeared in the town due to the Stampede attacked the town's inhabitants and destroyed buildings without any particular law.

　When Leila and her team learned of the stampede, they were about to intercept the mercenaries when they were attacked - unfortunately, the enemy was approaching from above, and as soon as they saw the sub-humans coming out of the mediation center, they shot at them and attacked the entire building! It was.

　They were now being housed in the guild by the guards and being treated by the healers. The sub-human whose entire body was scorched was said to have barely survived because the skills he possessed gave him a resistance to fire.

I'm sure that if the battle had gone on a little longer, there would have been more deaths...I can't say I'm safe, but I survived, Aricht, thanks to you guys. As someone who was also present, I will report your achievements to the guild.
No, I'm not...
'Don't be too humble, in fact, when you see it, there's no doubt about your bravery and the success of your entire party.

　Leila has a high opinion of me when it comes to having Theresia as a companion. That appreciation is further enhanced.

''But that unseen skill you had when you saved Rival...Aricht, can you summon it?
'Summoning ... sure, it might be close to that. Think of it as a defensive skill.
'Hmmm.... It's called a party secret. I saw something similar once when I was in another ward as an explorer...

　After all, does that mean that there are other believers of the 'Secret God' - or is it really a kind of summoning magic?
　However, it's a living demon that is summoned using a summoning stone, and it's not possible to summon only a hand to prevent an attack, like the 'guard arm' mentioned earlier.

''Leila-san, was it like........calling up a part of your body, something like a giant?''
'No, he called up an earthen golem and used it as a shield. The golem can change its shape, so it should be able to change all of its compositions into the shape of a hand.
'Well........ Thank you, for telling me.

　It was different after all - the secret god is not so easily found or witnessed.
　Even if they applied for the 'blessing' in front of everyone, they wouldn't be able to easily detect Ariadne. Rival-san and the others also thought that the guard arm was a skill used by someone else.

(But is a skill that can produce that kind of defensive performance a human being can use.......no. I'd like to think that my supportive defense will eventually go into that realm, but...)

　My companions are asking for a 'courier' to arrange for the transportation of the demons we defeat. This time, we can ask Rykerton-san's demolition shop for everything. Melissa had already used the cart we brought from the shop to carry the 'Death Coming from the Sky' with Rykerton-san. It would be more gratifying if they could bring it all together in one place.

''Then I'll go check on the condition of the mercenaries. We'll have to think about repairing the destroyed mediation house... or maybe we'll have to rent a different property temporarily.
'If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know. I was hoping to be able to thank Leila for all the help she's given me one day.

　Leila doesn't answer right away, but looks at me intently. My impression of her as a strong Amazoness changed slightly when I saw her gesture of touching her ears while brushing up her red hair - how could she be embarrassed, a warrior who was wielding a chain-inflatable foil and struggling to fight.

''........Do the people fighting you feel this sense of security?　It's like being wrapped up and protected from behind all the time...
I don't...well, I don't know...

　After Leila-san entered the game, she stepped forward when she wielded a flail, so I put 'Other Assist' on Leila-san to support her - so that's how it feels, even with 'Support Attack 1'.

''Huh........Nah, it's nothing. That was just a lapse of mind, forget it. I'll go this time, okay?
Yes, yes ... thank you for your help, Miss Leila.

　Leila laughed and repaired the broken eye patch with a hand-held cord and put it back on before walking away. I wondered if she was embarrassed to show her uncharacteristic embarrassment.

　I looked around the square and noticed that Madoka was in the company of my friends. As I approached, Madoka slipped through the circle of friends and came over to me.

''Thank you for saving me, brother Arihito... if you all hadn't come, I'm sure I would have...''

　Madoka is pale and trembling. She was attacked by that many groups of demons, it's no wonder she was frightened.

　And the open air of the elementary weapon she was holding out was also destroyed by the heat rays, although it wasn't a direct hit, some of the weapons were scattered by the heat rays.

'That weapon was a disaster. I think we're going to run out of things to hand out to beginners from now on.''
''Ha, yes I can't say for sure until I see what kind of weapon it was that was broken.

　The large number of '+no' weapons that come out of the black box are good enough for a beginner to use at first. Weapons are limited to the jobs that can be equipped depending on the type of weapon, and strong weapons may not be able to be held until the level is higher - although I haven't encountered any weapons that I can't equip so far.

''Well it's important to hand out weapons to beginners here. Madoka, why don't you take on the role of our party's resident merchant?　If there's some kind of union, I'm not asking you to force your way out of it, but...
Are you sure you're sure?　I'm still at level 2....
'I'm still at level 2 too, Madoka. We're going to get stronger together, okay?
Misaki-san....
''What, I just want to have a friend who is at the same level as me. Suzu is one level higher than you, and she's already very active. I wish I was doing kendo or something.
''I can barely keep up with Arihito and all of you.......so why don't you try your hand at it, Madoka-chan?　I'm sure it will be fun to be with you, Alihito.

　I had already solicited her, but she folded in more layers. Madoka was relieved and began to wipe her tears away as Igarashi handed her a handkerchief, as if she had just started to cry.

''The truth is, there were times when I wanted to raise my level more and learn a lot of new skills. But... there were so many demons out there, and I couldn't even get through the first labyrinth until the end. I thought I was really hopeless... so...
'You don't have to give up, do you? By partying together and helping each other, you can move up to the top of any job. And I can't do it alone, either.
........Brother Arihito is much stronger and better than me. Even when he sees those demons, he is not afraid to stand up to them at all...
'You're certainly surprisingly unfazed. So I think you'll be right to follow them. They're all girls, but you haven't done anything wrong, Rear.

(I'm rather suspicious of the allegations that I've been misbehaving with everyone during the night... but if I just had a disgusting dream or something, I'd be self-destructing, and it's hard to verify the truth.)

　I wonder if one day they will find an item that can record images of me while I am sleeping. Using a magic stone like the 'recording stone' - it's not impossible to do that in this labyrinth country.

''Well Arihito, I was able to get this with 'Steele'.

　Elitia gives me a drop item from Death Coming from the Sky. It was something like a peach-colored magic stone.

　It was a beginner-level appraisal scroll that I received when I opened the black box at Falma's shop. When I used it - I found out that it was a 'confusion stone'.

(Demon stones often reflect the content of special attacks that demons have. (Either way, you were lucky.)

　The effect of confusion is that the target of the attack is no longer friend or foe. It's similar to the situation that occurs in Elitia's Berserk, but if more than one person is confused, you'll be blinded - mutual destruction is inevitable.

　And it seems that by attaching a confusion stone to your weapon, you can use 'Hupnos' type techniques. The magical stones can be attached or detached, and you can even attach multiple magical stones to a sling, so if I attach Confusion Stone and Poison Stone to my sling, I'll be able to add a total of two status disorders.

　I wondered if Demi-harpy might have some kind of sleeping stone - but at first glance, the magic stone or something like that wasn't attached to my forehead. Well, if they could be trained, tamed, and summoned, it would be possible to incorporate the 'Song of Sleep' into their tactics.

　Since I didn't incorporate Theresia and Elitia's new skills this time, I'd like to put that to good use when it comes to testing as well.

''Now that the injured have been transported safely, let's go back to the guild for now.
'Yes, I know. We need to reassure Miss Louisa.

　◆ ◆ ◆

　When we returned to the guild, Louisa-san, who was busy checking the damage along with the other guild staff, spotted us and ran over.

　Then she bowed deeply. Both the guild staff and the searchers - they were showing their appreciation for us leaving this building and fighting the demons.

　Eventually, Louisa-san raised her face, and instead of her usual charming smile, she tightened her expression with dignity and said.

''Atobe-sama and the others have saved this Eighth Ward from a crisis.
'I know it's going to be tough going forward, but I'm glad we got through it. I'm praying for the injured people to get back to work as soon as possible.

　Even as I responded in this way, the reputation of the people around me was sizzling up against my intention of just dealing with the crisis at hand - it's not good to be too humble, people will think I'm a persona. I'm not that fine of a person.

　Louisa-san's tension, which had been tense all along, broke and she burst into tears. We've been able to take the pressure off of her to be in charge of dealing with the Stampede, and we've been able to take the pressure off of her. My friends are relieved, and I feel the same way.

　They walk up to Louisa and encourage her. Theresia, who lined up next to me, didn't join the circle surrounding Ms. Louisa, probably because she was wearing a skull mask.

　Teresa's mouth remains expressionless as she lines up beside me, but her lizard eyes are staring at me. She's also relieved - and even a little shaken as she remembers that I jumped off the rooftop, along with Demiharpy.

'We've got to get stronger so we can fight more consistently. Me and everyone else.
..........

　Theresia nodded dully and put her hand on her chest. As if she wants you to draw on and utilize more of your strength than you have now.