After that, we were involved in troublesome situations fairly often. However, it was not as if some assassin attacked us every time like a bunch of idiots. Our enemies also changed their tactics and tried to trick us in various ways.

For example, they would try to get rid of us without getting their hands dirty and take away our treasures――

“Damn, So many!? Tia!”

“Get Back! Release, [Stormbringer]!”

Countless hordes of demons attacked us as we were walking along the street. We had moved away from the road long enough to avoid the obviously unnatural force of the swarm, but it didn’t slow them down.

“That’s a bit too much. I’ll mow them down, hold them off for five seconds!”

“Leave it to me, Ojou-sama.”

Behind us, of course, Palm and Claude were also fighting. Unlike humans, it was impossible to negotiate with Demons, and if attacked from all directions, it would be impossible to outwit Palm, no matter how much the demons anticipated her attack.

“Eat my demons and burn my enemies! I am the true slaughterer of demons! Burn them, [Volcanic Napalm]!”

“Urgh!?”

Glancing at the enormous heat generated behind me, I saw the breath of flame released from Palm’s hand caressing the crowd of demons. Every life in its path was consumed, and in its path the unquenchable flames continued to burn in search of more sacrifices.

“Ed, she’s amazing.”

“I know, we can’t lose either!”

The Palm’s ability, which we had witnessed once again, fired up Tia and I to defeat the demons. Toby, standing in the center between us, just cheered us on and said, “You got this!”.

“You’re really carefree, Toby.”

“No, I don’t have a choice! I think I can manage if I just run away, but there’s absolutely no way I can fight something like this!”

“If you really think you can escape this herd, that’s great.”

“Tia-san! Not so much. …… heh heh heh.”

“Compliment …, or was that a compliment?”

Certainly, if you can get out of this situation alive, it’s normally awesome, and Tia would no doubt be praising you for it. Well, let’s leave it at that.

“But then, why are all these demons gathering around us? I’m not so naïve as to call this a coincidence, you know?”

“That’s right. I think there’s a reason for it…does Toby-sama and the others have any idea?”

“I don’t. What about you, Tia?”

“Me especially not… Ei!”

“Then it’s Toby. Didn’t you do something strange?  Before we left town, you were a little happy, weren’t you?”

“Nothing unusual … I was happy because I bought a good luck charm from a passing street vendor that said I’d be ‘blessed with a wonderful encounter’――”

“That’s it!”  “That’s it!”  “That’s it.” “That’s it, isn’t it?”

Toby’s words were overlapped by the voices of everyone except himself.

“Toby, show me that!”

“T-This is it… ah!?”

I take the small wooden carving that Toby had taken out and throw it as far away as I can. The crowd of demons was subtly drawn toward me, and I immediately lost control of their movement. Perhaps because I stepped on it, the wood carving broke.

“Alright, no more reinforcements now! Let’s clear out what’s left!”

“All right!”

“Ugh, that was a good luck charm that the big-breasted lady handed me. …”

“Toby-sama…if you want, I can comfort you, okay?”

“Palm-san… huh!? I-I won’t be deceived!”

“Stop playing around! Fight seriously!”

“Tch, it can’t be helped.”

Palm, who tried to reach into Toby’s pocket and was rejected, lightly clicked her tongue and joined the battle. And so, after all the enemies were defeated, Toby was made to sit on his knees by Tia and was given a sermon that he was drearily … but a little too happy to hear.

And, for example, the tormenting tests from those who don’t trust us to carry such a blatant hazard――

“Ha!”

“Huh!?”

The tiger-faced beastman catched my sword with its claws. The reason for the frown on its face was that its claws, the pride of the beastman, were clearly broken.

“I don’t get it. How could a mere piece of steel, not even a magic sword, crack my claws!”

“Heh heh, this is the work of the sword that humans have mastered. I have neither claws nor fangs, but my blade will reach you!””

“Don’t get carried away, you human!”

With his fighting spirit and fangs bared, the tiger-beastman striked at me with his free hand. I had one sword, but he had two hands. I backed away, but the Tiger-Beastman kept on chasing after me.

“The warrior backs away, I’ve seen the bottom!”

“A warrior who doesn’t know when to back off is just a fool!”

In an attempt to fully utilize his vastly superior physical capabilities, the beastman came lunging at me head-on. In response, I readied my sword from behind my back, tightly clutching the grip with my left hand. I thrust my blade forward as hard as I could as the beastman was just at the apex of his lunge… only to find that he had suddenly vanished, seemingly out of thin air.

“With this――!?”

“―― It’s over”

The tip of my sword struck the tiger-beastman in the throat, who instantly moved behind me. Predicting the enemy’s movement, I swung my sword not in a straight line, but in an arc, aiming the blade behind me.

If my sword had been a split second too late, my neck would have been bitten off from behind. If my opponent had noticed and stopped moving a moment too late, my sword would have pierced his throat. The tiger-beastman spoke to me in a voice that sounded offended by my momentary victory.

“…… Why did you stop your sword? A warrior who cannot kill his enemy is the height of weakness.”

“It is the right of the victor to decide who lives and who dies. And winning without killing is stronger than winning by killing. And since you guys are asking us to ‘show strength,’ this one scores higher, doesn’t it?”

“… Huh, hahaha! Yes, that’s right.”

I smirked and said to him, and the tiger-beastman replied happily. I put my sword away and turned around to see my opponent, whom I had been battling for the kill a few seconds earlier, standing there with a big smile on his face.

“Alright. As promised, we, the people of Gladra, recognize you as warriors worthy to be entrusted with the Heart of the Demon Lord. May the future of the strong be just and glorious.”

“Thank you.”

I shook hands with my attacker, who said he wouldn’t leave a dangerous thing in the hands of a small fish, and as I watched him walk away, my companion and his companion came up to me.

“As expected from you, Ed”

“That was amazing! The beast warriors of Gladra are famous for their strength, and you beat them!”

“It was a great fight, even from my point of view. Right, Claude?”

“I agree. It reminded me of my youth and made my blood boil.

“Hahaha, well, not that much!”

I was praised for defeating obstacles, and my cheeks relaxed as I sipped the wine of victory. With a dependable companion, an unreliable hero, and a companion who should not be relied upon, we continued our journey for about half a year. It took a long time because of all the interference, but we managed to get close to the border between the Kingdom and the Holy Suroun State, and what was waiting for us was ……

“……, this was unexpected.”

A fully armed army that showed a strong determination not to let us through. I had no choice but to look at them with a disgusted expression on my face as I faced the army flying the flag of the Kingdom of Osperanto.