The crimson dances. Running across the land transformed into scorched earth, it plays havoc with five orcs. Dodging the crude clubs swung by the orcs by a hair’s breadth, it strikes mercilessly without missing an opportunity. The form, like a warrior, topples the enemies with a strength unexpected from the petite physique.
Watching from a short distance away, Lilith, who is making a grand grimace with her refined face, opened her mouth as if she has realized something peculiar.
"It's quite incredible…"
"Well, yes…"
Nodding at Lilith’s comment, Izayoi once again turns his eyes to Yuka, who is fighting against the orcs.
"Take this!"
Sometimes clashing head-on with the sword, sometimes deflecting with the technique learned from Lilith, and at times, striking away with sheer fighting spirit.
The sight of the orcs, who could be described as lumps of fat, being blown away by Yuka’s slender arms, is too surreal, making it seem like a comedy.
"Haha, it’s not often you see orcs getting knocked away…"
"It’s not something you'd want to see often…"
For Lilith, who is more sensible compared to Izayoi and Yuka, the sight of an orc being blown away by human strength is nothing short of a nightmare, especially since it is being done by the younger Yuka.
Incidentally, Izayoi could also do it if he wanted to, but he doesn’t explicitly mention that.
"But, is it really okay to always leave it to Yuka?"
Izayoi returned a nod, saying it was entirely fine, to Lilith who was asking with a somewhat worried face.
They have been staying in Telmus for about a month. In this one month, Yuka has been greedily seeking strength. Learning magic from Izayoi, swordsmanship from Lilith, and tirelessly engaging in real combat with monsters.
As a result, Yuka, still inexperienced in both swordsmanship and magic, has certainly enhanced her basic abilities in this one month. However, due to the issue of the amount of magical power, she can’t handle very powerful magic. But still, in this short period of one month, Yuka has achieved remarkable growth.
Of course, there’s a reason for this rapid growth.
Yuka had completely forgotten, but in this world, there is a concept of status. While levels and health points are invisible, they do exist. Only the hero can confirm it, but it certainly exists.
This means, just like in a game, leveling up is also a thing. When Izayoi told this to Yuka, she started taking almost all the combat tasks from the next day. Although invisible, she is gaining experience points and leveling up. It’s a straightforward and quick method.
Due to such berserker-like activities, the nickname given to her by the adventurers was "Demon Princess", which was very alarming. The person herself was pleased with being treated like a princess, though not so much with being treated like a demon.
By the way, Lilith seems to be called "Dancing Knight" by those around her. It seems extremely embarrassing for her, but considering her usual behavior, it’s a fitting nickname.
As for Izayoi, he has been consciously trying not to stand out, so he hasn’t been given any particular nickname. The attention he gets is almost negligible compared to Yuka and Lilith, and if there is any, it’s just jealousy or envy.
Recently, things have been relatively peaceful. Initially, they were bothered by Lilith’s fans, but now they just glare from a distance. They have successfully ranked up from F to E and have integrated quite well, deepening interactions (mainly Yuka) with other adventurers.
They also made connections with the branch of a major continental trading company by utilizing Yuka's modern knowledge, steadily establishing their footing in this world.
On the other hand, the information gathering about the hero and the holy sword was not going well. To put it bluntly, there was no progress. They boldly asked drunken patrons at the bar, probed conversations between adventurers, and had Lilith casually inquire, but there was no useful information.
When asked why they kept summoning heroes, everyone would give them a puzzled look and answer, "Because they are heroes." They say it as if it’s only natural. At this point, Izayoi realized that gathering information about heroes through word of mouth was impossible and began searching for alternative means.
If word of mouth is impossible, then books and historical records might provide some information. However, in this world, books are considered luxury items and are mostly found in noble libraries or the royal library.
To tell the truth, Izayoi had already sneaked into the mansion of the frontier lord who governs Telmus and searched through the books. He infiltrated under the cover of night, using illusion magic to conceal his presence, but he didn’t find any information he was looking for. It seemed that the nobles here were not the type to collect books.
Further information gathering in Telmus is probably impossible. Izayoi, having made this judgement, was starting to think about moving from Telmus to the royal capital.
"...Something is definitely strange."
Suddenly, the tone of Lilith’s voice became serious, and Izayoi reflexively pulled his consciousness back from the whirlpool of thoughts.
"We've been investigating the forest for five days, but the number of monsters is too low."
Izayoi had to agree with Lilith’s stern-faced statement.
For the past five days, they had been investigating the boundary forest as a request. The requester was the Adventurer Guild. The Guild found it strange that the boundary forest was unusually quiet recently and sent out a request to the adventurers. Many adventurers, especially the high-ranking ones, had sensed the recent abnormalities in Indeed, Izayoi, having actually come from the Demon realm to the human continent, distinctly felt the abnormality.
"This place, too. It's clear that it’s been scorched by something. The only monster I can think of that can do this much damage would be a high-ranking dragon."
"Th-that’s true…"
Yuka and the orcs were battling in an area where the vegetation unnaturally made way for scorched earth, which sent shivers down Lilith's spine. Izayoi averted his eyes, looking elsewhere. It was a peculiar, barren area within the forest where everything – plants and all – were absent. It wasn’t infertile due to vegetation or soil conditions, but rather, it was clear that it had been intentionally scorched by someone or something. The one who had caused this was not a dragon, but Izayoi. This wasteland was the result of magic that Izayoi had released upon a group of orcs some time ago. However, he couldn’t possibly admit to this, and though he felt guilty seeing Lilith taking the situation seriously, Izayoi had no choice but to remain silent.
"Is something wrong?"
Yuka, having taken down five orcs, asked Lilith, who was wearing a grave expression. Incidentally, the formal speech had naturally worn off over the past month.
"Yeah, this place. If there is a monster capable of turning a forest into scorched earth in an instant, we have to report it."
"Th-that's right…"
"……"
Yuka twisted her cheek and averted her gaze, but Izayoi ignored it. He just met her eyes, signaling her not to say anything unnecessary. Fortunately, Lilith was engrossed in her thoughts and didn’t notice their exchange.
"For now, we should probably return to Terumusu to report."
"Yeah, yeah, totally agree! I want to get back to the inn soon."
Yuka, who seemed to have found camping in the forest particularly painful, eagerly agreed with Izayoi’s suggestion. Seeing her like this, Lilith, who had been frowning, let out a wry smile.
"That's true. It would be better to report back to the guild. For Yuka-kun's sake as well."
"Ahaha, sorry…"
Yuka scratched her head sheepishly while Lilith smiled warmly. Into this harmonious atmosphere,
"It will take two days to get back to Terumusu, though."
Izayoi interjected an undeniable truth. At that, Yuka turned her head stiffly, shooting a resentful glance at Izayoi.
"I’m so tired…"
Due to camping in the forest and not being able to sleep well, Yuka seemed to have accumulated quite a bit of fatigue. Furthermore, since Lilith was accompanying them, they couldn’t leave the watch to only Izayoi, which exacerbated the situation. Lilith gently patted the deeply sighing Yuka on the shoulder.
"Don’t be so down, it’s just a little more endurance."
"Ugh, understood."
Being advised by Lilith, Yuka reluctantly nodded. The scene looked like an older sister consoling a whiny younger sister, and Izayoi couldn’t help but look on warmly. Noticing his gaze, Yuka coughed to cover it up.
"Well, let’s go. …Wait for me, my bed."
Izayoi and Lilith could only give dry smiles at Yuka’s excessive longing for her bed.