Will had defeated Zaliban Dophette, the strongest of the Four Heavenly Kings serving True Curse King Balkan. The aftershock of his sword gouged the ground, creating something like a long crater.
 
Despite having defeated a powerful enemy, Will’s face wasn’t clear. That was because of the danger signals ringing in his head as if a speaker was being hammered directly into his brain at full volume—his intuitive alarm.
 
Responding to that, a black mantle fluttered, and a certain demon flew down from the sky.… Read more

(Ah, I’m dead… I can’t use magic… I only learned a little body technique… I thought about having Dan teach me swordsmanship but… I couldn’t be honest about it so it was impossible…)
 
(Well, it’s my fault so it can’t be helped…)
 
(But I can’t die. I don’t want to die. Because I haven’t even confessed yet, we haven’t even gone on dates… we’ve only held hands briefly. We haven’t even kissed…)
 
In her head, in her heart, Hero Dan was always there.… Read more

“Well, they’re future threats, so to speak. Right now they’re nothing more than worthless pebbles.”
 
Tamika and Will might truly be future hope. But that’s not now. Now they’re just young upstarts, so they can’t win.
 
Dark clouds gathered in the sky… and they would never clear.
 
“Whether we’re pebbles or not, try us!”
 
“Let’s go!”
 
Tamika and Will charged forward. Tamika swung her flame sword down from above. Will supported from behind, swinging upward from below, and the two small lights headed toward the Four Heavenly King, but… they were caught between his fingertips like grasping flying insects.… Read more

“Really, bringing yourself from the past is cheating.”
 
“Immortal King Ifrit…”
 
“It’s really cheating, bringing yourself from the past!?”
 
“That’s true.”
 
“Just defeating this is amazing! Bringing yourself from the past is really cheating.”
 
“Yeah, bringing yourself from the past is cheating. Immortal King Ifrit. And Curse King too… he defeated him.”
 
Bringing yourself from the past is cheating! Men-men wanted to retort about how many times he’d say that, but knowing he loved hero stories that much, she decided to say nothing.… Read more

Chapter 8: The Man Who Deviated from the World

 
Will’s village, the village of Ishi. There, Will was doing his early morning training as usual today, even though Hero Dan wasn’t there.
 
After working up a sweat, he returned home to prepare for his trip to the Elf country.
 
“Will, good morning.”
 
“Men-men, good morning!”
 
“You’re going to Fairy Country Frontier today, right?”
 
“Yeah! After all, there’s a festival for the fifteenth anniversary of Hero Dan defeating Curse King Daedalus!… Read more

“Hey, mind if I sit with you?”
 
“Ah, please go ahead… wait…?”
 
While I was munching away alone, my former party member and Great Sage Rin-Rin was standing right in front of me.
 
Ah, this is dangerous! Rin is talking to me! Isn’t the probability of encountering her with this face strangely high?! What’s going on?!
 
No, I was really startled. I think I managed to interact normally, but I was really startled.… Read more

“Hey, mind if I sit here?”
 
“Ah, please go ahead… Ah, it’s been a while.”
 

The young man froze when he saw my face. But he immediately gave me a cheerful smile.
 
I also froze for just a moment when I saw his face. It was Ban, a young man I’d been meeting recently, who had come to the knight training school entrance exam as if just for fun.
 
“You’re here too, huh?”… Read more

Chapter 7: The Sage and the Hero Meet at a Mixer

 
I, Rinrin, was rolling around on the bed in my room at the royal castle in the fairy kingdom of Frontier. I don’t have anything particular I want to do. So I just stay in my room all the time, reading books or just rolling around lazily.
 
The only time I leave my room is when I meet with Dan. I’m supposedly the second princess of the fairy elves, and my mother and siblings tell me I should be more responsible, but that’s impossible.… Read more

The practical exam was over, and next was the interview exam. However, the exam wasn’t that formal. Those who had passed the written and practical exams were already recognized as having a certain level of ability, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say they had passed at this point.
 
That’s why they could finally breathe easy. While Will was still somewhat nervous, the hectic atmosphere from before had disappeared.
 
Then the interviews began, and first Will was called to an individual room.… Read more

At the same time, some kind of combat sounds echoed repeatedly in the Suya Mountain Range underground. It was a confined space with the slight characteristic of sound carrying, but naturally not everyone could hear these sounds. Only those nearby could hear them.
 
(Something… there’s a sound? This is… metallic sounds?)
 
Will happened to be walking near that area searching for Black Cats. He noticed the metallic sounds and ran toward that location.
 
(I have a bad feeling…)
 
He ran and reached the place where Tamika and Ruta were fighting.… Read more