In human society, the power of images is enormous, for better or worse.



　That day.

　The windows of the first meeting room of the Adventurer's Guild were all shielded by thick black curtains with a green lining.

　Kata Kata Kata ......

　The driving sound of the projector echoed in the dark room as if it were night.

Nya nya nya ......

　A cat-eared staff member, brought in by Tiana, is operating the projector, shooting out an intense magical light from a bottle.

　The light, accompanied by Tyndall's phenomenon, created a golden pathway through the dark air, passing over the mountainous nighttime shadows of the high society men of the guild headquarters and projecting images onto the screen ahead.

　GogogoGogogo......

　On the screen was the image of a black ship at sea.

　The black ship, carrying what appears to be a group of people from the Far East, gradually moves away from the filming location, passing through dozens of birds and beasts, and eventually confronts a monster that appears to be the boss of the bay.

　The boss appears to be a Sea Serpent.

　The ship and the monster are about evenly sized.

　After a brief collision, the two sides move away from each other.

　Then they stared at each other for a while, and when they seemed to approach each other again, there was an eye-opening flash from the ship, and the battle in this film came to an end.

　Cheweeean...... chudooooon！！！！

What the hell was that power? ......

　The flash of light was a huge amount of magical energy emanating from the ship.

　It annihilated the Sea Serpent in an instant, splitting the sea and disappearing far into the sky, finally fluttering like a star with a killer☆.


　--Yes.

　This is the footage from the film that Eiga shot of the actual battle for the squad's training meeting.

　The film had been sent by Igarashi-san to the minister's hands.

The film had been sent to the Minister by Mr. Igarashi, but the Minister believed that Tohun's recognition as an S-class soldier would be beneficial to the entire Far Eastern Empire.

　The Minister thought that the impact of the film was important and entrusted it to a covert "spy" organization under his direct control.

　The covert organization entrusted the handling of the film to Kanako Saionji, the daughter of the leader of the covert organization, who had been conducting espionage activities in the Zahal Belt.

　The female ninja made the decision to leave the film in Tiana's hands.

　Thus, after the twists and turns of Eiga, Mr. Igarashi, the Minister, a covert organization, a female ninja, and Tiana, the film is now being shown in the first meeting room of the Adventurer's Guild headquarters. --



　...... Shah!　Shah!　Shah!

　The film is being shown in the first meeting room of the Adventurer's Guild headquarters, and after the screening is over, the curtains are opened and daylight returns to the meeting room.

"Well, Miss Tiana. You were right.

I'm sorry I doubted you.

　The images changed the attitude of the elites who had been skeptical about the promotion of Aega's territory to the S class.

　They gathered around Tiana, mouths agape in admiration.

But you'd never guess it from the data on hand at ......, the status of the individual lords.

This is what teamwork is all about.

"Indeed. This Aega guy, he must be quite a leader.

　Tiana rolled her eyes a little, confused by the unexpected response.

"Yeah. Yes, ......, he is!

　Tiana rolled her eyes a bit, a bit more confused than she had expected, but then she turned around and looked at her friend, the cat-eared staffer.

(Yes!　Lana ......)

　In front of the elite, Ms. Van Leer always wears her red glasses crisply and never shows a flaw, but on this occasion, her rich cheeks blazed like a young girl's, and she kept some strands of her blond hair near the edge of her hairline stuck to her sweaty forehead. The way she kept a few strands of blond hair stuck to her forehead, which was moist and sweaty, seemed to hint at the fragile and lovely nature of young women.

But look at her. Look at that dwarf's bitter face.

"Mr. Gordon was very much against it.

"...... thought he was a bit more flexible than that.

　On the other hand.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one who's a fan of your work.


　"What are you going to do now?


And what are you going to do now?

　When he returned to the Prophecy Office from the guild headquarters, Elle called Yuri and Tord into her room and asked them.

What do you mean? You idiot.

　The silver-haired reaper replied with a chuckle.

You can't, you can't. There's nothing you can do about it.

What?

Humans are susceptible to visualized impressions. People are susceptible to visualized impressions, because they feel like they are witnessing reality itself, but in fact there is a lot of room for the viewer's imagination. It's really stupid. It's really stupid, you know.

　You sound like a child who knows a lot.

　That may be true, but while you're lecturing like that, Aega Janies will be promoted to S class.

"So here's the thing. You're completely useless!

　Elle throws her pen down on the desk and says.

"If you're not going to do it, go home!　You're annoying!

"Wait a minute. Now, St. Leia is .......

　The one person who is still not convinced is Toldo, who is in the most danger this time.

I'm not sure what to make of that. If you want to go to hell, go ahead and do it. I don't know.

"No! I don't know." "Hey! You're a ...... f*cking elf from ......!



"Just wait.

　Yuri said with a wry smile, controlling Tordo who was about to lose his temper.

I've been thinking. I think the reason why El-san can't get along is because he's trying to forcibly separate Aega Janyes from that bespectacled woman.

"Oh?

Think of it the other way around. Think of it as, 'It's okay to give it away.

...... Don't be silly!

Oh, don't be so hot. Listen.

　The Grim Reaper continued in a cool manner.

I'm not talking about the girl with the glasses. It's a reversal. If you've come this far, it might be more convenient for you to just give Aega Janies the S class.

"Reverse thinking?

　When I asked her that, Yuri strode across the room and flicked open the blinds and curtains near the window.

　From Elle's room on the top of the thirteenth floor of the Prophecy Office, she had a panoramic view of the world's greatest magical city.

"People look like trash.

　The boy sighs, and his silky silver hair sways faintly in front of his neat face, which could even be considered a girl.

I'm not sure what to make of it, but I'm sure there are two types of people out there, winners and losers. The winners are more valuable than the losers," he said. Then how did the winners become winners?

　I wondered what he was talking about, but there was something intriguing about Yuri's tone.

　Elle looked back at her success for a moment before answering.

Maybe it's because I worked hard. Or maybe it was talent.

Huh. That's an excellent answer, but neither is the essence of it.

　Yuri's shapely cheeks twisted into a mixture of grimace and mockery as he continued with his clear eyes.

The essence of success is, after all, 'luck'.

"Luck?

"Yeah. Think about adventurers, for example. In a competition between the weak and the strong, it's all about how strong you are compared to the enemy in front of you, right?　No matter how talented you are or how hard you work, if you encounter an enemy that is much stronger than you are at the moment, that's the end. In other words, a successful adventurer is one who keeps encountering enemies that are within the range of his or her current ability and becomes stronger as a result.

But adventurers nowadays have guilds.

　But adventurers nowadays have guilds," Elle rebutted.

　Yes.

　The reason why there are classes for quests and parties is because of the guild's idea of distributing adventures according to ability and making the best use of the efforts and talents of adventurers.

The guild's idea was to distribute adventures based on ability and to take advantage of the efforts and talents of adventurers. I'm not sure if it's a good idea, but it's a good idea. As far as I can tell, Aega's territory hasn't reached the S level yet. But you never know a year from now. If he continues to fight and refine his skills at A level, he might even be able to defeat the Demon Lord.

　Indeed, that seems to be the intention of the people at the guild headquarters.

　I was told that I would be asked to take on the Kraken, the A level boss for now, and after that I was supposed to hit the A level boss on land several times before I was finally given the S level.

　It's not just Aega's domain, every S-class party goes through such a training period before coming to Zahalberto.

So why don't you just give them the S class without giving them that training period? It's like throwing a tiger cub out into the lion's territory to compete with it before it grows fangs.

"......

　Elle was silent for a while, but eventually went along with Yuri's idea.

　This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing.


　I'm sure you'll agree.


　I'm not sure if you'll be able to find a way to find out more about it.

Aega's coming!　(Aega is coming! ...... to this Zahalberto)

　The guild headquarters was an old four-story building with no magical elevators.

　When I reached the first floor with the light sound of my heels on the hard stairs, I found the [General Reception], which was a whole floor, and the sweat and shouting of adventurers clad in burly armor and mysterious robes filled the air.

　The buzzing ...... The buzzing ......

　Tiana was almost crushed by the hairy pate and arms of the men, but she twisted her slender body deftly and made her way through the crowd, leaving only the soft touch of her golden hair in her wake.

　When she walked out of the lobby to the main entrance, a sense of liberation filled her chest,.......

"Rain ......?

　She realized and stepped back from the outside.

　When she looked up, the sky was clear, but if she looked closely, she could see that it was indeed raining.

　In a world where the sun is vaguely tinted gold through the clouds, sparse but large drops of rain, like a shower turned upside down, are falling in a playful manner, drenching the metallic form of the statue of the Ancient Hero in front of the guild headquarters in a sensual way.

"Tiana.

　Just then.

　You'll be able to find a lot more than just a few of them.

"Cross?　You're back.

　Yes, I am. Cross was supposed to have been invited to a party at Goetheburg Castle again this month.

"Ah... It's almost time for another Demon Lord battle. I just said hello and excused myself.

But I feel sorry for the princess if she's too casual.

"......

　Cross didn't answer, but held out a gray umbrella in his hand.

Let's go.

　He gently patted the woman's slightly sweaty back and gestured for her to join him in the umbrella.



Yeah.

　Tiana nodded, her big eyes fluttering behind her glasses.

　And then she materialized a magical umbrella with her green glowing magic and walked out of the guild headquarters with her own umbrella.

　The hero looked at her a little delicately.

　In the end, the two of them line up their separate umbrellas and head for the inn where the party is based, the Bilton Hotel.

　zaaaa ......

"You know...

　They were walking in silence for a while, but suddenly Cross opened his mouth.

I've been told that the king has proposed an engagement to Princess Natasha at the upcoming party.

"Really?

　I'm not sure if you've seen this before, but I'm sure you've.

Congratulations!　The princess is a wonderful person. The castle town of Goetheburg is also ....... They'll make a wonderful couple.

　These were sincere words of congratulations.

　A hero of the world and a princess of a historic castle town.

　What better coupling could there be to celebrate?

　However, Cross's expression was not happy.

"You're not going to stop ......, are you?

"What? ......

It is true that Princess Natasha is a wonderful woman. She is not only beautiful and pure in appearance, but also beautiful and pure in heart. In addition,......, at the risk of sounding conceited, I can tell that the princess likes me. Of course I don't feel bad. You will find a lot of people who are willing to help you, and you will be happy to know that after you complete your mission as a hero, you will be able to live peacefully in the castle with that beautiful princess. But ......

　The brave man stares at you with his beautiful, somewhat mythical eyes and says, "I'm sorry.

But I love you, Tiana, and I still love you.

　Tiana was shocked and felt her heart stop.

　He had thought that he had lost all romantic interest in her after receiving the favor of a beautiful woman of a much higher class than himself.

　But that was just a convenient view.

Cross. You know what ......".

　I can't let my feelings for him go unanswered, after all.

　In those years of "adventurous youth", she was attracted to Eiga.

　If she doesn't make that clear, Cross won't be able to move on.

You know, I'm ......

Sorry.

What?

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt.

No. ...... No!　No, no, no. Listen, I'm ......

I'm not supposed to be talking about this next week when we're about to fight the Dark Lord.

I'm .......

　But when Tiana was made aware of this, she shut her mouth as if she had come to her senses.

　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

Let's focus on the quest for now.

Yeah. ......

　I noticed that the rain had slowed down considerably.

　We walked in silence for a while, and when we came within sight of the hotel, the rain had stopped completely.

　Pasha, Pasha......

　In between the horse-drawn carriages and carts bouncing in and out of the roundabout in front of the hotel, there was a crowd of people.

　A closer look revealed the usual scene of Mollie, who was on her way back from an idol tour, and Emma, who was on her way back from a solo expedition, splashing each other with puddles of water and arguing with each other, while a mute Delhi did her best to stop them.

Haha, those guys really get along.

...... Yeah.

I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that we're all here now, so let's have a strategy meeting.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one.

Hey!　Cross!

　But Tiana forcefully stopped him.

What's ...... that?

"Well, Aega's at .......

Aega?

Aega's coming. She's coming to Zahalberto!

　With these words, the woman released the tension in her heart.

　And then the brave man paused for a moment at the seemingly unconnected story, but then he said with a carefree, truly carefree, boyish smile.

I see!　That's what he's like after all!