They and one of them walk in silence along the path, where the red leaves on the ground are like a red carpet.
Most of all, though, one of them is not walking, but on my shoulder.


'...So? How far are you going to follow me?


Crowe said without looking at Amelia, who was walking next to him without permission.


'Until you nodded at me,'


Amelia replied without looking at Crowe's face either.
Crowe snickered.


'Give it up then. I'm not going to take an apprentice, nor am I going to teach the technique to anyone else. And in the first place, it's not a naive skill that you can learn if the princess wants you to.


But Amelia, who is stubborn despite her appearance, will not back down on that.
The night wagged its tail tautly.


'That's about as much as I'm prepared to do. It's only natural to make a reasonable effort to catch up with Akira.


Crowe shook his head and quickened his pace.
Of course, Amelia followed suit.


''...How can this guy give up, demon?''


After walking for a while and being too persistent, Crow finally saw the night.
Night snickered and replied like Crow earlier.


''Give up. Mistress Amelia has the world's best giving up and the biggest stomach in the world.''


After those words, Crow finally stopped.


'Back in the day, I took an apprentice and tried to teach him my skills like the rest of them did. Every single one of them broke my spirit and walked away from me, though.


Is that what happened to Amelia? He tilts his head as if to say.


''I'm strong. I'm a gold-ranked adventurer, though I may be weaker than you, who was chosen to represent your race.'


Amelia said nonchalantly as she mumbled.
Crowe stared at the profile.


'Of course. It doesn't matter what race you were born into. The strongest one wins.''


The wind blew and Amelia's white hair and red leaves danced around.
The night just watched the fantastic scene from the sidelines.
The orders from the Lord, Akira, were to stay with Amelia.
From the very beginning, I had no intention of interrupting him.


''Even the weakest have a chance to come back to life. You have to fight to make sure you seize that chance. I'm sure you'll be able to find it in your own hands. Now it's my turn.''


I clench my hands in a tight grip.


'I want you to teach me your skills... no, the skills of the first hero.







''... Well, I guess it's like this.''


Mile spoke vaguely about the general common sense of manners in the guild, and then looked at me.
The contents are really commonplace, and include things that are obvious, such as apologizing properly when you think you're in the wrong, and prohibiting eating and drinking without money.


'So you have a dueling system?'


I say the thing that bothered me the most.
Mile laughed, looking a little troubled.


'Yes. There's more and more of them every year, and now it's a pastime for the bloodthirsty people. And there seems to be some betting going on.'


I've heard that the beastman tribe has far more bloodlust than other tribes, so it's no wonder that they have a dueling system.
Of course, there is no dueling system in the adventurer's guilds of the human and elven tribes.
It is said that the beastman tribe's adventurer guild takes the lead in order to prevent unfair bets from being placed on them.


''Just the other day, a party of unregistered adventurer's guild members and a yellow-ranked party fought on the main street and were beaten to a pulp and were stripped of their ranks and thrown out of the city with the young man's magic still on them.


Gee, I've heard that story before.
Surely it's the one that some assassin used as a dupe to show off his abilities?


As a matter of fact, your master's guest was dressed as an assassin like you...


He looks at me and the miles freeze.


'Are you okay? You look pale.


It was so funny to see him pointing at me and cracking his mouth open.


'Hey, adventurer, what's up with the pointing?'


As it is, another adventurer emerges from the depths of the miles of motionlessness.
The person looks at me and tilts his head in the air.


'I believe you are...'


I remembered his face, too.
Before I could wonder where it was, the other side would give me an answer.


''The assassin who was metaphorically turning the yellow-ranked party into a meta-meta on Main Street, Mr. Assassin.


I clapped my hands at that.


'Ah, the guild staffer who was forced by Linga to clean up after me.


And each other? And look at their faces.
Mile looked at them and shivered with laughter and pouted.


'Well, for now, I'm Yamato. Nice to meet you.


Yamato cleared his throat and held out his right hand.
I squeezed his hand firmly.
This guy reminds me of Kyousuke somehow.


I'm Oda Akira. It's nice to meet you too.