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“Super! I’ve become a hero!”
“Huh……?”
We had returned to the Adventurer’s Guild to report our completed quest.The receptionist stared at us, particularly at Burn, as if we were fools, upon hearing his report. She then shifted her gaze to me. Naturally, I knew what I had to do.
“Well, I understand this sounds incredibly suspicious, but it’s true. I’ll explain it all as it happened.”
I started to explain what happened inside the Shitorowa ruins. But the receptionist’s expression didn’t change. Instead, the more I talked the more her frown deepened.
“…And that’s pretty much it.”
“Wait… But many adventurers have explored the Shitorowa ruins before, and we’ve never heard of anything like this.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m just reporting what happened. I don’t know why it happened.”
“True. But if that’s the case…”
As the receptionist pondered, I could feel Burn, who stood next to me, growing impatient. The first time around, Burn impulsively fired a lightning spell in the hall, claiming: “If you doubt me so much, I’ll show you the! Super! Evidence!” Which caused an uproar and eventually led us to be summoned to the castle…
“Alright, if you’re so skeptical–“
“Who cares!”
Just as he was about to reenact that exact scenario, a rough voice interrupted from behind. Turning around, we saw a bearded man grinning at us.
“Hey, kid… Your name’s Burn, right? If you’re really claiming to be a hero, are you willing to prove your skills?”
“…Who’re you?”
“Who am I?… I’d been talking to you yesterday and today! Wait, don’t tell me you don’t remember?”
“No, I remember, but I don’t remember you introducing yourself, nor did I ever introduce myself to you.”
“Hah! Yeah, you’re right. Then let me introduce myself properly.”
Rising from his seat, Gazil stood a head taller than me, with a solid build, radiating the aura of a strongman.
“I’m Gazil, the master of this guild.”
“What!? Seriously!?”
His introduction took me by surprise. I had just thought of him as some nice guy; I had no idea he was the guild master.
Being approached by him here meant… We hadn’t failed the initial Cotton Flower quest, so our reputation had improved? I didn’t understand the reason, but at least it didn’t seem like a bad turn of events.
“Gazil-san, huh. I’m Burn! Super! The greatest hero!”
“Burn, huh. So, what will you do? Will you spar with me?”
“Of course! Super! That’s exactly what I want!”
“Good answer! Oi Garnet, get everything ready.”
“Sigh… Okay. Um, sorry Ed, Lunaritia. I don’t mean to ignore you two, but Gazil-san is a bit of a rough-and-tumble type of person…”
“Haha, don’t worry about it.”
“That’s right. And we can go along too, right?”
“Of course. Now, excuse me, I have preparations to make.”
The receptionist, Garnet, bowed to us and left. Shortly afterwards, we were guided to a large training ground across the street. A crowd of curious adventurers had gathered there, and in the middle of the training ground stood Gazil, radiating confidence.
“Here, you can go all out! Come on, Burn, show me what you’ve got.”
“Heh, sure thing. Super! I’ll do it! Ed, Tia, watch me from there.”
“Alright. Good luck.”
“Do your best.”
With our cheers behind him, Burn walked towards Gazil. He slowly drew his blunted practice sword and gave Gazil a biting smile.
“Super! Here–I come!”
Burn’s steps echoed as he charged at Gazil. Even though it was a practice sword, it was still made of metal. It could cause a severe injury if it hit…
Clang!
“Good attack. But it’s not enough!”
“Tsk! Then how about–this!”
Burn’s vertical slash was easily blocked by Gazil’s greatsword, forcing him to take a step back. Burn then swung his sword vertically, horizontally, diagonally, with all his might. But Gazil effortlessly parried every attack, an easy grin on his face.
“Wow, he’s really strong.”
“Yeah, but Burn is also weak.”
“What, Burn is weak!?”
Watching their duel, Tia expressed surprise at my observation.
“But he was cutting down goblins with incredible force, wasn’t he?”
“That’s a different story. He probably can manage well against demonic beasts, but he’s at a disadvantage against a properly trained swordsman.”
“Hm, is that so?”
“Hey kid! Are you telling me, a hero like you can’t even beat a geezer like me?”
“Damn it! Why can’t I land a hit?!”
While Tia and I were having a casual conversation, Burn’s fight with Gazil continued. However, Burn’s attacks weren’t landing, all being blocked by Gazil.
“Hey Burn, did you develop that sword style yourself?”
“That’s right! It’s my Super! Strongest! Style!”
“That explains it. You’ve got the power and the spirit. But what you lack is… technique!”
“What?!”
With a swift movement of Gazil’s greatsword, Burn’s longsword was sent flying. Even considering Burn’s inexperience, it was clear that Gazil’s skills were sizable.
“And besides, you’ve been using only the sword since the beginning! What happened to your hero power?”
“Ha?! That’s right. Super! I forgot!”
“You forgot…?”
“Take this! Lightning!”
“Woah!”
From Burn’s extended finger, a ribbon of lightning struck. Gazil, who had been momentarily surprised, dodged it nimbly.
“You dodged that!? It’s lightning! Super! Fast!”
“No matter how fast it is, if your aim is so obviously plain, I can dodge it. But a lightning spell… are you really a hero?”
“I’ve been saying so! But if you’re just going to dodge… then…”
Burn, who had paused for a moment, suddenly wore a smirk on his face. He’d retrieved his sword that had been knocked away, while distracting Gazil with lightning.
“Here I come, Gazil-san! This is my Super! Ultimate! Secret technique!”
“Secret technique? Didn’t you just become a hero?”
“That’s right! That’s why I just thought of it!”
“You sure don’t take ‘secret technique’ very seriously… Well, whatever. Bring it on!”
“Uwoo!!! Super! Mega Slash!”
Burn began swinging his sword wildly as he shouted. While Gazil was looking at him with a puzzled expression, Burn began to chant.
“ [LIGHT!] [TO!] [NING!]”
“What!?”
From each of Burn’s swinging slashes, a pale blue lightning slash emerged. It was like Alexis’s Moon Scraper technique being launched repeatedly. Gazil, who had quickly readied his sword, was hit by numerous lightning blades. However…
“…Huh? That wasn’t too bad.”
“Haa, haa… huh?”
“And… there!”
“Gah!”
Burn and Gazil both wore puzzled expressions. However, as Burn was panting, Gazil walked up to him nonchalantly and knocked him out with his sword. After observing Burn’s pathetic fall for a few seconds, Gazil seemed to relax.
“That attack… was it just for show?”
“Seems like it. A last-minute secret technique is bound to be something like that.”
""
“It’s over, huh? That’s a bit anticlimactic.. but if he can do this much at his age, I’m looking forward to seeing his growth. Isn’t that right, Hero-sama…?”
In front of us, who were voicing our thoughts, Gazil looked down at Burn lying on the ground with a wiry grin. Burn couldn’t hear him, but this was the first time in a long time that the existence of a hero had been publicly acknowledged…