Galerus' great sword was swung down.
　I catch it with my treasured sword, and our blades spark violently at each other.

''It's been a long time since we've crossed swords like this, Solon.

Yeah. Yeah.

　Galerus, my former companion in the Order, looked me straight in the eye.

　I don't have a good impression of the person known as the guardian warrior Galerus.
　Galerus also seemed to dislike me.

　Galerus was born the third son of a count family and graduated from the School of Magic with honors. After that, he went through the famous adventuring party and then became an officer of the Order of St. Sophia.

　He was of prestigious blood, gifted in magic and swordsmanship, and in addition, he was well-liked.

　It was Garrels' reputation during his time at the magic school that he was good at taking care of his juniors, kind to the weak, and had a strong sense of justice.

　And at first, I believed in that too, and I was very much in favor of Garellus joining the Order of St. Sophia.

　At that time, it was also the time when the Knights' line of expansion was on track, and also because of the remorse over Shea's death, they only added highly competent adventurers to their ranks.

　This was my policy as deputy leader, and it was about the same time that Arte joined.

　When I first joined, Garrels was calm and meekly followed the decisions of the Order. But that was probably just a matter of watching the situation.

　After about half a year, Galerus began to interfere in the management of the Order, and began to object to the way of the Order at every turn.

　Of course it's not a bad thing for him to disagree with me.

　If it was the right thing to do, I would have corrected my opinion accordingly, and it was nice to have a dissenting opinion, even if it meant improving the atmosphere of the Order.

　However, Galerus often came up with unreasonable opinions, as if he was expressing dissent for the sake of dissent.

　In addition, it was always me that Galerus would run into.
　And it was noticeable that he was talking down to me in a condescending manner.

　By this time, I had begun to notice what kind of guy he was.

　He was kind to people below him, but that was only because of his cronies.
　But he only did so to his cronies and followers, and he would go to great lengths to treat people he didn't like, no matter how ruthlessly.

　Furthermore, I think that his position as the third son of an aristocrat complicated Galerus' character.

　Even if he was born into a prestigious family, if he was the third son, he would not be able to take over the reigns of the family and would not be given much property, and his descendants would eventually fall into the same position as the common people.

　This may have in fact instilled in Gallerus a strong sense of aristocracy.

　Despite being a commoner, I, as deputy leader, became an easy target for Gallerus to attack.
　Galerus dismissed me as incompetent, while at the same time stressing the excellence of Sophia and Creon at every turn.

　Maybe he was trying to get rid of me by doing so, but neither Sophia nor Creon agreed with Garellus's assertions and said I was fine as deputy leader.

　Gradually, the conflict between me and Galerus deepened, and eventually I almost stopped agreeing with Galerus.

　Even so, Galerus was still a necessary part of the Order.
　This is because he was a guardian warrior with far greater defensive abilities than skilled shield adventurers.

　I couldn't remove the keystone of the knights' defense, so I didn't kick Galerus out of the order.

　In the meantime, Creon changed his mind and teamed up with Arte to expel me.

　Garellus' great sword flicked my treasure sword and I jumped back to regain my stance.
　Garelus sneered thinly.

''I didn't like you to begin with, Solon.

I never wanted to be liked by Garrels.

Of course you do.

　Galerus' great sword swings down and attacks me.
　I manage to dodge it and flash my treasure sword tetracord from the right.

　It should have neatly hit Galerus' armor, but it did very little damage to Galerus.

　In the next moment, Galerus's sword is coming towards me again.
　I quickly readied my treasure sword and took it, but the great sword's slash sounded quite heavy.

　I suppose I could take Garellus's attack with my treasure sword tetracord a few times.
　But on the other hand, if we don't find a decisive strike to break Garellus' defense from here, we'll be jittery.

　The ancient heavy armor obtained from the ruins, along with advanced defensive magic, is protecting Galerus.
　We have to do something about it.　

　Galerus is convinced that my attacks won't be able to get past his own defenses.
　There is an opening to take advantage of that carelessness.

　I lowered my treasure sword tetracord slightly, muttered "Burn," and released a fire magic of moderate power.
　It hits Galerus' armor, but of course, I can't defeat Galerus with this stuff.

''What?''　Have you given up fighting with the sword?　But a candlelight attack like that won't do you any good.

　Galerus approached us while raising his voice.
　Even though I was hit by the flame magic, it didn't do any damage, so Garrelus walked straight up, not caring about it.

　I continued to shoot fire fire magic at him.
　I applied the flame magic in a circular motion through the middle of Garrels' armor in a circular motion.
　Even though it's only a small amount, it leaves a mark on the armor from the heating.

　My attack continued, and the trail of flame spread further and further, drawing a star shape in the circle.
　Then I shouted.

"Filia-sama!

Yes, sir!

　Filia responded to me with a voice that came through beautifully.
　At that moment, I feel something intensely hot flowing through my body.

　Filia's enormous magical power, the descendant of the Demon King.
　I used it and poured it into the magic circle I drew on Galerus' armor.

''Nah........''

　Galerus tried to respond in a hurry, but it was too late.
　The magic circle was activated and began to glow bright and green. The defensive magic of Galerus's armor disappeared.

　In the next moment, I passed Filia's magic power through the treasure sword tetracord as well, and quickly flashed it at Garellus's armor.

　The armor of Galerus collapsed easily and he fell to his knees in a crumpled heap.

　I've won.
　I can hear Filia say in a bouncy voice, "I did it.

　But I'm still not reassured.
　I have to take away the magic absorbing device behind Galerus.

　If I can manage this, Flora and the others should be saved.

　However, a girl suddenly stood in front of me and brandished a military sword.
　I had no choice but to catch it with my treasured sword and stop.

''I won't let you,''

　The girl chuckled.
　She wore a military uniform and her gray hair was cut short.

　She looked like a member of the Gallerus squad. Indeed, Galerus's squad included people from the military, I think.

''Galerus said he's going to fight alone, but I wonder if you're going to fight me.

'I'm not interested in the battle between you and Lord Galerus, but I don't want that device to be taken away from you. The resurrection of the Demon King is the longest wish of the army.

　While I was stranded by the girl, Galerus stood up and seemed to have recovered his will to fight again.
　And then Galerus stared at me with eyes that burned with hatred.

'You set me up for a trivial trick.

'Little tricks or not, Garrels has lost. Now, let's see if you can't keep your word.

Promise?　Oh, you're talking about letting Flora and Arte go. That's a ridiculous story, and I can't possibly be serious about it, can I?

　That's true.
　There's no way I could stop the big goal of reviving the Demon King just because he lost a bet with me.

　That's why I wanted to take away the magic power absorber by force right after I defeated Galerus, but that became impossible as well.

　Galerus raised his voice.

''This man, Solon, is an infidel who helps the renegade sage Arte and the astrologer Flora!　He is a perverse person who plays tricks on the Princess!　Get him!

　It seems that Galerus not only doesn't keep his promise, but also plans to capture me by force of numbers.
　The adventurers looked puzzled.

　The reason they don't seem to be too keen on the idea is because they can't swallow the situation in front of them.
　Besides, Filia, the imperial princess, is clearly on my side as well.

　But even so, the adventurers of the Galerus Squad were the first to point their swords at me and try to get their wands ready.
　It seemed impossible for me to get through this situation against dozens of top-notch adventurers.
　On my own, of course, even with the help of Filia and Lisa, I could see that I was going to lose in all likelihood.

　Lascaros, Nasha and the others seemed unsure of what to do, but at least they didn't seem to be actively taking my side.

　I decided to make up my mind.
　Maybe if I could get Garrels to re-injure himself, I might be able to make it.

　It's unrealistic in a siege situation, but I still have to resort to possible means.
　Besides, even if I were captured, Filia would not be in immediate harm's way, even if I were captured.

　However, a thin light shone from one of the paths leading to the hall.
　The adventurers all looked back to see what was going on.

　Eventually the light grew stronger and the adventurers appeared, holding wands that glowed with a dazzling light.
　Leading the way was Leticia, the former leader of the Basileus Adventurers.

　She was the leader of the squad of attackers, along with Creon and Galerus, and although they should have been attacking the ruins from a different path, it looked like they had finally reached this point.

　Leticia was a tall, sleek, beautiful woman, and she brushed her proud brown hair back and looked around.
　In a lazy voice she said

''Have we made it in time to fight the last enemy of the ruins?　Oh no, I'm sorry I'm late. I've brought a very reliable ally with me who is somewhat of an alternative, so please forgive me.

　At the same time as Leticia's words, two sorcerers appeared from the darkness of the road.

　One was a beautiful young woman with vermillion hair and crimson eyes.
　I was surprised.

　How could my mentor, 'Lucy the Crimson', be with Leticia?
　Lucy looked into my eyes and chuckled.

　And the other one was a girl with golden hair and jade-colored eyes.

''Solon-kun. ........I'm glad you're safe.

　Sophia, in her pure white monastic dress, put her hand on her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.