Rinrin left home and flew through the sky with magic. Then she arrived at the royal capital. The royal capital Trelvarner is the center of a great nation where legends of heroes remain.
Hero Dan isn’t royalty of this country, but this nation that has produced heroes throughout history strongly promotes heroes. And naturally, they also strongly promote the companions who traveled with such a hero.
A speech by the hero party. How they saved the world, the secrets of their strength, and so on—they tell the same story over and over again. She’s sick of it, but since it’s the only opportunity to meet Dan, she always participates with immediate agreement.
(When is Dan coming? He’s always late.)
Rinrin entered the royal capital with cloth wrapped around her face. She’s one of the heroes—it’s to prevent being recognized. As she walked along, a man was walking toward her from ahead.
His appearance was ordinary—ordinary among ordinary. Black hair, black eyes, a bit tall. He was truly a man who blended into the air, but strangely caught her attention.
“Hmm, how should I train my disciples…”
He was muttering to himself. Rinrin wondered what was wrong with that person and became curious. For her, who had never been interested in anyone other than Dan, this was unusual.
Hero Dan is literally at the apex. It’s him or everyone else. That’s the level we’re talking about. Having seen such a hero up close, she was dominated by a strange feeling.
What is this man?
She doesn’t sense a strong aura. He’s ordinary, extremely ordinary, yet somehow nostalgic, and while he doesn’t seem weak, he doesn’t seem strong either.
An indescribable, mysterious man.
And this was the most puzzling thing for her.
(What is this guy? He’s ordinary, he seems like he could be anywhere, but if I were to fight him, I can’t imagine “winning” at all…)
The moment Rinrin was focusing on the plain-looking man who was groaning “hmm” in front of her, a loud voice echoed.
“It’s a robber!! The bandit Rulroy has appeared!!”
(Bandit Rulroy—he’s a pretty famous bandit. To boldly commit theft in this royal capital, he’s really underestimating us. And he should know that today is the day the hero party gives a speech. He’s really underestimating us.)
Rinrin slowly pointed her palm toward the man on the roof. Bandit Rulroy, classified as human race. Same as Hero Dan, Tamika, and Will. Sharp eyes with black cloth covering from the eye area down.
His whole body is black—pants and clothes all black. Black was his symbol. A criminal who steals everything in an instant and sells it on the black market.
Due to his agility, no one can catch him.
However, Rinrin was here.
“Hmph, you’re underestimating us. Wind Spear…”
Magic—she was about to use it. Wind Spear, the most basic of basic magic, but at her level, even basics become tremendous. The bandit looked toward her due to the unusual rise in magical power.
“Too slow.”
Her magic deployment was about to be completed…
“Wind Spear.”
Someone had deployed magic faster than her. Rather, it had already hit the bandit. A weak, weak wind spear hit the bandit directly in the stomach area, and the bandit fell. Her spear missed and flew far away.
“Eh…”
She was speechless. Because someone had attacked faster than her—she who held the title “Sage,” given only to those who master magic specialization. By the time she deployed, it was already over. He left behind even that agile bandit and even Rinrin Frontier of the hero party.
“Ohhhh!!!”
“Amazing, miss!”
“No no, that was helpful. My gold and magic sword were about to be stolen…”
(That wasn’t me. My magic missed… There’s someone who constructed magic faster than me and defeated him.)
The surrounding civilians couldn’t recognize it. It was that fast. Even Rinrin almost missed it.
And the one who cast it was… that plain-looking man from before.
Rinrin quickly looked at the man from earlier. He was walking away while scratching his head, showing no interest in having captured the bandit and not trying to gain honor for having caught him himself.
“Will also bought another weird book… I wonder where I should look for new disciples, proper disciple candidates. Maybe a giant race disciple?”
He’s muttering something to himself. She hesitated about whether to approach him. More and more people were gathering. Avoiding them, she headed toward the plain-looking man.
“Disciple candidates… beast race might work too. Fairy race is Rin’s country and such, so if I interfere it might be discovered—”
“Wait.”
“Eh?”
The man turned around—ordinary no matter how you look at him. So ordinary he’s ordinary. The most plain among the plain. However, she had a sense of déjà vu, as if she’d met him somewhere before.
“You used magic earlier, didn’t you?”
“Eh, you noticed?”
“Of course, because I’m—”
“Rin?”
“Eh?”
The man in front of her called her name before she could introduce herself. While feeling strange about this, she removed the cloth wrapped around her face.
“You figured it out well.”
“Your magical power felt like that.”
“Hmm.”
“Yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Uh, name, name huh. Hero Dan—not discovered, not discovered, good good, not discovered. I was worried about what to do if I was found out. Thank goodness.”
He’s muttering something again. Moreover, he seems relieved and is looking up at the sky. What a strange man, she thought.
“Well, it’s Ban.”
“Ban?”
“Yes, Ban. Just Ban. I’m a commoner, found anywhere.”
“Commoners found anywhere can’t use Wind Spear like that. And your magic construction speed surpassed mine. That’s strange. Even my companion, Hero Dan, wasn’t superior to me in magic. Though he completely outclassed me in overall strength.”
“Ah, magic construction speed. Ah, so it was you, Rin—I mean, Rin-san, who was deploying magic near me earlier.”
“You just noticed now?”
“I was thinking about something. Well, I just noticed that bandit faster. In terms of construction, you’re the best. It’s just that my response speed was faster.”
“…I see.”
His expression is as if it’s natural. Nothing strange about it. It wasn’t the speed of magic construction, but the difference in response after noticing.
“…That Wind Spear earlier. Who taught you?”
“Ah, an acquaintance who’s fairy race-ish?”
“Fairy race, huh. Certainly, fairy race are good at magic, so there must have been someone good at teaching.”
“Ah, yes. They were very skilled.”
“I used to teach Hero Dan too. Dan in those days, he really struggled.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“Ah, yes, you’re right.”
Ban suddenly becomes flustered and looks awkward. He looks at me, nods as if relieved about something, and bows once.
“Well, I have plans soon, so…”
“I see. If you’ve come all the way to the royal capital Trelvarner, there’s a hero party speech, so you should listen.”
“I’m totally one of the performers though.”
“Eh?”
“It’s nothing. Excuse me.”
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He hurriedly disappeared. What a really strange guy, she thought, but the next moment:
“Rin.”
“Kyaa!”
There was a man wearing an iron mask in front of her. This low voice, oppressive atmosphere, and haughty feeling—she only knows one man like this.
“Dan, don’t appear so suddenly.”
“It’s just that your presence detection isn’t very good.”
“Whatever, you’re still unpleasant as always.”
“…I’m not discovered, right?”
“Did you say something?”
“Ah, I said that the sun—me—has arrived, so the sky is clear. The sky is really considerate of me, so I’ll praise it.”
“You definitely didn’t say that. Such a long sentence.”
When the iron-masked hero appeared, Rinrin noticed something. Despite meeting after a long time, she doesn’t particularly feel it’s been long. She felt as if they’d been together until just a moment ago.
(What is this? This strange feeling… Dan, it’s been quite a while, hasn’t it… There’s no point thinking about it. What I want to ask is more important.)
“How have you been lately?”
“About what?”
“You know, about marriage and stuff. You’re being encouraged, right? About how the hero’s blood should go to the next generation and all that.”
“Ah, that.”
“That.”
“Nothing in particular.”
“What do you mean, nothing?”
“Exactly what I said.”
“When you put ‘in particular’ at the beginning, it makes me suspicious. Look, it’s your business if you don’t get married, but I’m wondering how it looks for the world-saving hero to be single. I’m worried about you, you know. For the sake of our former hero party fellowship. Look, I’m worried about you. So I wouldn’t mind helping you with consultation. Finding a girlfriend.”
(Uwaaaah. My bad habit—I should just invite him to tea directly, but I’m being such a troublesome woman. Aaaaah!)
When Rin tries to convey her feelings to Hero Dan, she panics. It’s always been like this. That’s why they’ve been missing each other until now.
“There’s no particular problem.”
“Eh? Is there someone? Someone you’re interested in?”
(What should I do? If Dan says there is someone, I’ll definitely cry. Me, a 27-year-old sage who saved the world, will cry. 27 years old, 27… If Dan has someone he’s interested in, I definitely won’t recover. I’ll become a shut-in and definitely won’t be able to marry anyone else. Because I like Dan. How many years have we been together, and I think I’ve liked him. Uwaaaaaaah, I don’t want to hear it. God, turn back time. Ah, I hate God.)
“There isn’t anyone.”
“Ah, I see. Hmm. Well, there’s no need to rush, right?”
(Yay! Hooray! Dan’s still like that in those areas. Romance is difficult, isn’t it? It can’t be helped.)
“Well, my recommendation would be, like, fairy folk girls?”
“Why would it be fairy folk?”
“Look, you’re strong, right? If you had children with fairy folk, they’d be super good at magic and become strong. The world wants that kind of thing, doesn’t it? Like your second generation.”
“……I wouldn’t want my biological child to bear the burden of the world.”
“……That’s right, you were that kind of guy.”
(That’s just how Dan is, you know. Dan is the strongest in the world. Overwhelmingly so. But he doesn’t get arrogant, you know. His way of speaking might be strong, or sometimes I think it’s lame or cringeworthy, but his kind personality seeps through. That’s what I was drawn to……)
She looked up at the iron-masked man with deep emotion. She couldn’t see his facial features. She didn’t know what kind of expression he was making now either, but she—Rinrin Frontier—knew he was the kindest person in the world.
(It’s now or never. Right now. If I confess to him here, it would be fine. He’s so cool, it wouldn’t be strange if he got married anytime. That’s right, be brave, me!)
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