Manowa

A devil might be aiming at them... that was causing nervousness inside the party, but while that might be true, there was nothing Kazane and the other could do right now.

Even devils couldn"t suddenly appear completely out of nowhere. Their actions were mostly indistinguishable from people, and while they could use Transfer magic due to their simple bodies, whether that was enough to find Kazane and the others was another story. Kazane and the others were extremely fast due to the means of transportation called Hippomaru-kun and the Thunder Chariot. Only a few people knew Kazane and the others" destination, and their route being set using hot springs as their landmarks by Louise was only known by the party and Benzel. Because of that, Louise said they probably wouldn"t be caught immediately.

Having said that, that didn"t mean they could be negligent. Louise also said they should a.s.sume they were already being pursued.

The devil"s aim was probably Hagasu"s heart. The original request was for Kazane and the others to carry the heart of the Black Dragon Hagasu to the East Dragon Village. If they completed it, there would no longer be a reason for the devil to chase them. So all members agreed that it would be best for them to continue to the dragon village as scheduled rather than return to Minshiana, especially since the devil might be lying in wait for them.

And the carriage finally reached Olboa City.

This was the city where Lyle and Emily, and Naoki until he went to Minshiana, were based until recently. Kazane was told by Emily that the monsters in the area where a somewhat higher level, so intermediate level adventurers tended to make this city their base.

◎ Olboa City, Adventurers Guild Office

「Oh. Naoki-kun, welcome. I heard you played a major role against a devil opponent at the Grand Tournament. And it"s been a while, Lyle and Emily. It looks like there are also some people I"m seeing for the first time.」

When Kazane and the others entered the Adventurers Guild office, the receptionist Fram greeted them. Lyle was interested in Fram and felt a little snubbed that Naoki"s name came first.

「I"m the older sister Kazane. My younger brother is much obliged to you.」

And it was Kazane who cheerfully replied.

「Yeah? Obliged? Older sister?」

Fram didn"t remember doing anything that would cause a girl around 10 years old to say her younger brother was much obliged to her. She had no memory of meeting such a young boy recently.

(And why does she somehow match with Naoki-kun?)

Naoki was unable to simply watch Fram"s confusion and spoke before her.

「Umm, this person is my older sister.」

But Naoki"s words only further confused Fram.

「Eh? Eh? Eh?」

「I"m the Onee-chan.」

「I"m the younger brother.」

Fram was wondering if it was a joke and looked at Naoki, but Naoki shook his head.

「Is she really Naoki-kun"s older sister?」

Naoki nodded. She was unmistakably the older sister.

「She might look like that, but she"s called the Ogre Killing Princess. Have you heard that name?」

Fram stiffened at those words.

(Ah, that person connected with Hyvern"s army and the Outer family『Orboss』...)

She gulped and looked at Kazane again.

(She certainly has a child"s figure, white cloak, and excessively severe leg armor)

She matched the details Fram had heard about the Ogre Killing Princess.

Since she was an Adventurers Guild receptionist, Fram quickly heard spreading information.

Thus, she had also heard the story about Outer"s『Orboss』family and Hyvern"s army joining together to entrap Crimiona City"s Outer family as well as the speculation that they used the story of a Rainbow Heart as bait before most people would. Part of that was information manipulation done by the Hyvern Dukedom to make the previously spread story about Kazane"s party possessing a Rainbow Heart ambiguous, but of course that further spread the bad reputation of Kazane and the others.

(No way, Naoki-kun has become part of such an immoral environment in the long time since we last met?)

Fram had also heard rumors about the Ogre Killing Princess and the White Party abusing their influence to cover up various misdeeds. Since the contents of those rumors were true to an extent, there were many parts that couldn"t be denied, but a natural thought followed when she considered that the children of the general, Lyle and Emily, were now part of the party. Fram shuddered as she considered the possible hostage implications against the general.

Fram gave up and spoke.

「Naoki-kun, you"ve become a distant person.」

「Hey, Fram?」

Naoki looked at Fram with an uneasy expression after those words.

Certainly, Naoki and the others were no longer the ordinary adventurers they formerly were when they were a three person party. They were now members of the infamous White Party.

But even if that was so, a close acquaintance distancing herself because of that made Naoki feel lonely.

As they were inside that difficult atmosphere, Benzel behind cleared his throat. Then Fram looked at the man behind Naoki and the others and stared in wonder.

「Gui, guildmaster?」

Fram naturally knew Benzel. She had visited the capital city Deer South for the Adventurers Guild Personnel Certification Exam, and her certificate was given to her directly by Benzel. But she couldn"t hide her further surprise at the guildmaster suddenly being with Naoki and the others.

「Why is the guildmaster in a place like this?」

For Fram, he was like her company"s president. Him coming to such a remote place was unbelievable.

「I"m needed for their quest. And the reason I came here was to use the Communication Bulletin Board.」

「Ah, yes. It"s working as usual.」

The Communication Bulletin Board was a kind of lost magic that had been used in the Adventurers Guild since the Great War a thousand years ago. Using the naturally flowing magical power of the Naga Line, characters written on a bulletin board would be displayed on the other bulletin boards made using the same spell formula, but since the fundamentals of the spell formula had been lost long ago, it seemed it was only possible to produce a much worse version in the present era. But with the means of information transmission in this world, being able to contact distant places was still convenient.

(Bulletin board, huh? In the game it could be used to peruse information from various cities.)

Kazane knew what it was. The Bulletin Board was used to recruit players in neighboring cities for coop play in Zexia Hearts. Nowadays it was used exclusively for communication within the guild.

Though this Communication Bulletin Board seemed to be much less convenient than in the game. Depending on the Naga Line"s condition, it seemed characters sometimes weren"t transmitted or took a very long time to arrive. Since the delivery distance was also limited, it was barely enough to allow searching for distant information by communicating like a Telephone game.

「I"ll stay up all night and look for information about Minshiana. Since I can do that alone, Kazane-san and the others should rest and be prepared to act if necessary.」

So saying, Benzel went deeper into the guild. Fram called another staff member and rushed to follow him.

「Ah, fl.u.s.tered Fram-san is cute.」

Lyle muttered while watching Fram"s retreating figure.

「While she might be your ideal, in the end you should take realistic measures. If you show her your good side and invite her she might be quite swayable?」

Louise spoke while clapping Lyle"s shoulder. Lyle was making an「Are you serious?!」facial expression, and Louise said「Well, give up on that for now. We don"t have the free time,」 then turned to Kazane and spoke.

「Well then, Leader. I will also go investigate for a bit.」

「Yeah. Please.」

Louise said「Roger」after Kazane"s reply and left the guild office alone. Even in a city like this, it seemed her Cancer family demon hunting influence would be effective, so she might be able to collect devil related information. The possibility of finding useful information was low, but she would search just in case.

And the information provided by Benzel the next day puzzled Kazane and the others. They were told that Minshiana was attacked by a swarm of ogres.

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner, Rea King

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 31

Health: 114

Magic Power: 205+420

Strength: 55+10

Agility: 48+4

Endurance: 31

Wisdom : 62

Dexterity : 39

Spell : 『Fly』『Torch』『Fire』『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Warrior"s Memory』『Night Vision』『Crushing Blow』『Dog"s Sense of Smell』『Golem Maker: Lv3』『Rush』『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』『Air Jump: Lv2』『Killing Leg: Lv3』『Fear Voice』『Invisible』『Tiger Eye』『Wall Walking』『Intuition』『Cheat Death』『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield: Lv2』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot』『St.u.r.dier Teeth: Lv2「Dragon」』『Crystallization: Lv2「Dragon」』『Fabricated Coercion』『Stone Minotaur』『Mega Beam: Lv2』『s.p.a.ce Expansion』『Pseudo-silver Creation』『Poison Claw』

Yumika:「That guy is as popular as ever.」

Kazane:「Eh, who are you talking about?」