Chapter 88

88 – The Guardian of the Forest and the Fake Insect-Human

The first day goes up to the second round.

The third round…semifinals and finals will be held tomorrow.

We returned to the waiting room and tried to return our mind to our main body.

At that time, there was a knock on the door of the room.

「Lem? Are you there?」

「Yeah?」

I unintentionally raised my voice and said that.

That voice sounds familiar.

Naturally, this room is off-limits to anyone other than the people involved, but since their whole party seemed to have been given spectator seats by the organizer of this tournament, so I guess it isn’t impossible for her to do this.

At any rate, I have no idea why she’s here.

「A woman’s voice.」

There’s no intonation in Berith’s voice.

It feels like her eyes that are covered by the mask are narrowing…

「You’ve also seen this person. Please come in, Lily.」

After hearing my response, the door opens.

Beautiful golden long hair, emerald eyes, and white porcelain skin. A beautiful appearance that can fascinate people. And also, pointed ears.

She’s an Elf. The Hunter Lily.

「It’s been a long time…no, that’s not right.」

「Um, yeah.」

「I may have thought that because we meet face-to-face less often than before.」

「Ahh, I understand.」

「…No, it was a slip of the tongue. Even though we’re the ones that forced you out of the Party.」

「Anyway, it’s also true that I was the problem.」

「No, we shouldn’t have misunderstood your abilities, even if you were hiding them. In that match, your side was completely aware of the other members’ movements. But we…no, I’ll stop here for today.」

I guess that means that she’s not here to talk about my withdrawal.

Her gaze turns to Berith, who became stiff in front of the 4th rank Hunter.

「You’re not an Insect-Human, are you?」

Ah-.

「…」

Although I’ve expected this, I’ve judged that it wouldn’t become a problem.

For example, if you turn into a Vampire, but you end up doing actions that are not similar to a Vampire, other Vampires and those who are well-informed about Vampires would feel a sense of discomfort.

Something like「That person is not acting like a Vampire」.

Elves are originally the people of the forest. Even now, most of them are still living in the forest. Most of them don’t even know about the existence of TV, let alone Dungeon Clears.

It’s a story I heard from her before.

And the Insect-Humans are also people of the forest.

Lily knows about the real ones.

「In this tournament, Avatars are allowed to imitate another race.」

「I’m aware of that. However, I’m curious. Since it’s you, you’ve probably thought this out beforehand, but in the past…this was hardly a success.」

As a result of giving priority to climbing the ranks as fast as possible, I was forced to leave due to the「Black Sorcerer is unnecessary」argument. When the Party is in the 4th rank.

I’m also a human being. Of course, my plan is not perfect.

「You came here because you were worried about me?」

「Don’t get me wrong. This is not due to goodwill or atonement. But…since you once said that it’s okay for my Avatar to stay as it is, I was just worried that you might have been deceived by your partner.」

Elves are also Demi-Humans. There was a discussion as to whether to keep or remove her pointed ears when she first joined the Party.

Well, Alba was the only one who voted to remove it.

「You wanted to compete with your real appearance, right? That’s why I thought there is no need for your pointed ears to be removed. Berith needs this appearance to become the her that she wishes to become. This mask is for the sake of looking forward, not to conceal.」

Lily’s gaze turns to Berith.

「Is that so?」

Berith nods.

「I see. If you can properly earn the support of your friends, then at that time, you’ll freely demonstrate your abilities. I don’t know your circumstances, but I hope the day when you can take the mask off will come soon.」

「Th-thank you.」

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「Somehow, I can understand the story, Lem.」

「Yeah.」

「I think she currently doesn’t want her identity to be known, right?」

「Yes, that’s right.」

「Then, let me teach you how to behave like an Insect-Human.」

「Eh?」

「I already got permission. We can use this waiting room.」

「Why would you go that far for us?」

「…It’s nothing. You wouldn’t tell me to repay the favor, so I just decided to repay it how I see fit. Or do you have any other requests?」

Favor? According to the flow, it’s probably about her Avatar’s ears. Is she grateful because Fenix and I voted to keep it as it is?

Even if I told her that she doesn’t have to worry about it, she’ll probably still be concerned about that.

Should I just be thankful and accept her offer?

I glanced at Berith and she confirmed by nodding slightly.

From her point of view, she met me, Fenix, and Lily in a short period of time, so it seems she’s getting used to…nope, that’s wrong. I can see that she’s still nervous.

「Then I look forward to teaching you, Berith.」

Just like how Lily is strict with herself, she is also strict with other people.

Abandoning her attachment with speed, she began to use Godspeed as only one of her skills and her accuracy is improving day after day.

And that’s what I heard from Fenix. It seems that everyone has been doing some trials and errors since the Demon King Castle.

『It looks like I’ll face some troubles the next time we fight』I thought, while thinking like the Demon King Army Chief of Staff, I also looked at Berith, who will be mercilessly trained while going through Lily’s spartan training.

「Lem, this is a good opportunity. Since I’ll teach her the Earth Magic that Insect-Humans use in battle, so why don’t you think about what movements you’ll use when Berith uses that magic? I’m not saying that it has to be used tomorrow, but it’ll be good to prepare early.」

「Th-thank you.」

「Think nothing of it.」

Her face was calm as she gave a small smile.

◇

After Lily’s special training, we then had a meal with the people from the Beginner’s Dungeon and everyone from the Demon King Castle who came to support, Cashew excitedly talked about her impressions, Milla and Nicola were excited by something, Sitri’s distance is getting closer, and Thor who was feeling sorry and the Demon King who generously nodded. Agares wiped the food on his mouth with a handkerchief. While it’s not supposed to be her job, before I knew it, Kei started helping out in the store and she did it perfectly.

There will be another match tomorrow and Cashew looked sleepy, so we finished up early.

When we parted, Milla smiled softly and gave me words of support.

There seems to be no anxiety, unlike the previous time.

Just like that time when I was invited by Aerial and she thought that I would quit the Demon King Castle.

This time she thought that with the appearance of people in the tournament who evaluated me differently from what I usually get, I might want to return to become an Adventurer again.

Of course, if I had chosen to do that, she would have supported my decision.

However, I will not resign from my current job.

She knows that now.

Then, the next day.

「It went just like Sir Fellow said.」

There is no longer a mocking expression on Philip’s face when he appeared.

His partner is Mark, a Holy Paladin.

He seems to be the quiet type that properly does his job.

Nicola was a little surprised when she learned about that during the qualifying round. She thought that her brother would bring the Fairy that can display more magic, the Wizard Ruri.

Did he think he needed better physique and swordsmanship more than magic?

There is only one team that he knows who the members are. Even if there is a way to know who everyone is, there is no way he can predict who will advance to the main tournament when he formed his team.

This is probably a configuration he made in order to defeat Nicola…Berith, and me.

「Sure, it’s different than before, but merely getting an easy victory all the time is not enough for a Dungeon Clear.」

Philip said with a voice that only I can hear.

He seems to have noticed the same thing as what I’m concerned about. I guess that’s only natural since he has known his sister all the time.

「Yes. It should be a match where both sides would exert themselves and both sides have a possibility of winning.」

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「Sir Lem, if you get so fixated about the way you win the match, it’ll be difficult to make it in this world. You know about that, right?」

「We’re fixated about it, that’s why we’re here.」

「…You’re right and you’ll end up learning about the reality here.」

Berith stays silent.

Then, the semifinals begin.