When it was late in the evening, I heard that the brave men had returned, and I immediately headed out to check on them.

''Wow, there's kind of a lot of people here!
Well yes.

　They all seem to want to see the brave man at a glance.
　That's why the knights are even handling the crowded people.

　So many onlookers........
　We are also one of the onlookers, so we can't say anything back.

　There are so many people that it's hard to see the front.
　Especially, there are a lot of men. ........Is it because the rumor is circulating that the brave man is a beautiful girl?

You're in my way...

　Because of the tall men lined up in front of her, she couldn't see the street at all.
　........Separately, Ristina-san also has the average height of a woman, but her opponent is a man.

　As expected, she wasn't tall enough to win against a male opponent, and Ristina-san was somewhat dissatisfied.

''I wanted to catch a glimpse of you since you're a childhood friend of Lelius-senpai.......!
Well, you'll get another chance later.

　We could go visit Lynn afterwards.
　I stand tall and look at the street.
　Eventually, advancing straight toward us were a group of knights.

　There was a female knight and a male knight but there was no sign of Lynn among them.

''Well, what do you think, senior?　Did you see that?
No, no you're not.
'What?　What do you mean?

　I don't know.
　
　I'm sure you're right.

　You don't have to go all the way through a place with so many people.

''Wow, what the hell. Where did the brave master go?!
'Oh, isn't one of them brave enough?
Yeah, I saw you this morning. I saw him this morning. What the hell kind of road did they take to get in there?

　Some adventurers nearby were talking about that.
　I wonder what it was.
　I had a very bad feeling at that moment.

　I wanted to get rid of it, so I quickly walked out.

''Senpai, what's going on?''
I'm going to see Lynn right now.
Wow, I'm coming with you!

　Ristina lined up next to us as we made our way through the waves of people.
　We continued down the back road, then moved on to the quarters we were headed to this morning to visit Lynn.


　00


Excuse me, do you have a minute?

　When I called out to him, the knight looked at me quizzically.
　It was a different person from the knight I called out to in the morning.

''I don't know if you're listening to me, but my name is Relius, a childhood friend of the brave Lynn. This is the letter that was given to me by Lynn.
Sure. Just a second. I'll check.
Please.

　The knight looked flustered and headed to the back.
　Then, after a short wait, we were ushered inside.

　When we entered the inn, the air was inexplicably heavy.
　........There were about four knights, and they were the knights who had just walked down the front path.

　........In other words, they were the knights who should have been working with Lynn.
　However, Lynn was not here.
　........This is clearly abnormal.

''Um, my name is Lelius, Lynn's childhood friend. Didn't Lynn ever come back here?

　When I ask, the knights' expressions become even more grim.
　One of them glared at me.

''Shut up!　Who the hell let a mere commoner in?!
It's me.
Killier-sama... oh, I'm sorry...

　The knight raised his voice, but the woman's glare made him squirm at once.

''........What's going on, what the hell is going on?''

　I asked, and she, Kirie, as she was called, stood up and then quickly bowed her head.

'I'm sorry I've lost sight of the brave Lin.
'What?　What do you mean by that?
What happens from this point forward, I'm going to ask you not to tell anyone. And your daughter.

　Kirie-san glanced at Ristina-san.
　We looked at each other and then nodded in the same way.

''........First, we headed to the scene of the outbreak to defeat the high-ranked demon that was occurring. ........It was right after we successfully defeated the demon. ........A black vortex appeared and swallowed Master Lin.
...The Black Vortex, is it?
'Yeah. ...We investigated, but the vortex soon disappeared. It swallowed only Master Lin, you see. We don't know where Master Lin is now, or what he's doing.
No.....

　...a brave man is gone. So, don't tell anyone else.
　That's probably why you don't want to alarm the public.

We're going to report back to the top soon. And then we'll let them decide whether to look again or not. I'm sorry, Lelius. I've heard so much about you from Master Lin and I'm sorry I didn't get to see you.
....

　.........I bit my lip tightly and then shook my head.

'....No, don't worry about it. You will find Lynn, I promise.
Yeah, I'm going to find out, even if it costs me my life.

　Saying that, Kirie-san quickly bobbed her head.
　

''I'll go back to the inn ... if you find out anything else, please let me know.
Yeah, okay.

　After I said that, I bowed my head and left the knight's quarters.

''Senpai.......what are you going to do?''

　Ristina-san, who lined up next to me, tilted her head at me.

''Well for now, I'm going to go to the place where they say Lin is gone.
Oh, really?　It's going to be a night now!
I'll be fine. But more importantly, I might be able to get some........information.

　We'll have to hurry up and get ready.
　As for the equipment, it should be fine.
　I have all the equipment I had before my reincarnation.

　I've already got all the potions and potion in hand.
　I think we'll be able to handle that.

Va!

　Val, who was in Ristina's arms, also flew towards me.

''........You're going to help me?''
Va!
Thanks for that.

　As I was stroking Val's head, Ristina-san came towards me.

'I'm coming too!　Even with this, I've been traveling, so I can fight in my own way!
...but are you okay?
That's okay. Besides, senpai........there are still some things I'm not quite sure about, so I'm worried.

　...was it?
　Either way, I'd be happy to help you out.

'Okay ... please.
Yes!