/
“… used”
It had been three months since Waffer officially became a hero. I honestly didn’t know if the timing was the same as during the first round because I had changed a lot of things… but finally, the time came.
Luckily, we were now in a small town inn. It didn’t mean we were in the middle of doing a job from where we won’t be able to move quickly. I jumped up and immediately ran out of my room and knocked somewhat roughly on the door of Tia’s room.
“Oi, Tia! Wake up!”
“Mou~ … what, Ed, at this hour …?”
“The warding stone I gave Mimir was used. Perhaps the village is being attacked right now.”
“What!?”
At my words, Tia’s sleepy eyes widened in surprise. However, it was only for a moment. I knocked on the door of the room of Waffer next door, leaving Tia to get ready right away.
“Wafuu … wha-what is it, Ed, it’s still nighttime ..?”
“Listen, Waffer. Probably, the village where Mimir … Doben’s sister lives is now being attacked by the Kuronuris.”
“What do you mean? Explain in detail.”
Waffer, who was also sleepily rubbing his eyes, was instantly awakened by my words.  Accepting his serious gaze directly, I continued to explain further.
“Among the strange tools I bought from a peddler was a ‘warding stone’ which could be smashed into the ground and breaken to create a kind of wall that would keep the Kuronuris out for a short time… I gave it to Mimir when we parted after the selection tournament, and it has just been used. I know you have a lot of questions, but I want you to get ready to help them right away. Will you go with me?”
“Naturally! I, being a Hero, would never abandon my own people!”
Without asking why or how, Waffer nodded vigorously and immediately began to get ready. Yeah, I knew this guy was great. In order to live up to this trust, I must do everything in my power to bring about the best possible outcome.
I returned to my room, quickly prepared myself, and the three of us left the inn together. Normally, the town gates would not be open because it was late at night, but there was no problem there with Waffer’s heroic privilege.
“Ed, do you know where it is?”
“No problem. It’s this way.”
After that, I led the way and we ran through the night. Taking full advantage of the [Auto-mapping] sometimes taking somewhat large detours on city streets, sometimes running through the woods at our peril, traveling the shortest distance in the truest sense of the word, which was faster than charging down a straight line.
“Ed… we’ll make it, right?” Tia asked.
“I don’t know. But there’s nothing more we can do about it.”
The response from the warding stone I gave to Mimir disappeared from my banishment skill [Akashic Compass] about three hours ago. Normally, it would take at least half a day for a messenger from the village to rush to the nearby town. From there, it would take at least a day to a day and a half for it to reach Waffer’s ears through the guild or whatever, no matter how fast.
But we were ignoring all that time and suddenly heading out to the field. With a day and a half advantage, I could only assume …that it would be fine .
“Hey, Ed, is Doben in that village?” Waffer asked
“Hmm? Ah, he … should be.”
I had never been to Doben’s village, so I could not confirm this by [Auto-Mapping]. But if he was there during the first round, it was unlikely he would not be there this time. At least we still had Mimir’s response … meaning, they were still alive, so we would be able to fight against a large number of Kuronuris.
“Then, there is no problem! He should be able to defend the village until we arrive!”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Waffer’s words, which did not disrupt due to ragged breathing even after all this running, made me smile a little. We continued running, and after a while we could see a large number of Kuronuris ahead of us.
“Amazing, so many… What are we going to do, Ed?” Tia asked.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“We’re going to take them all down and push through!”
Tia grinned at me when I asked her, and me and Waffer plunged straight into the large army of Kuronuris. I was not even afraid of these numbers, considering the time I ran into Demon Lord’s army of nearly 10,000 to get Tia and the others out of there.
“ORA ORA ORA ORA! Get out of the way, you little bastards!”
Using the banishment skill [Copy and Fake] I increased the number of steel swords, and disposed of each sword for every Kuronuri that I cut down. This way, no matter how many enemies there were, I didn’t have to worry about depleting my weapons, and I could just cut down everything in sight.
“Eat it! Paw Fist Impact!”
Next to me, Waffer pressed his dazzlingly shining paw against the Kuronuri, and a shockwave of light radiated out from it, annihilating or frightening the surrounding Kuronuri. It was a feat made possible by the fact that the “Holy Sword” inherited by the heroes had been incorporated into his body as the “Holy Fist”.
“Even I! The Half-moon that rises above the greenery and conveys to the winds, the voice of the spirits of the four kinds and eight spirits to gather the light and twist it! Gather around, revolve and blow! In the name of Lunaritia, manifest the [Stormbringer]!”
Tia, who finished chanting while we in the vanguard were clearing away the Kuronuris, casted her magic into the sword she hanged at her waist.
“Dwell! Sword of the Silver Spirit! Both of you, avoid it!”
As we moved to the side in response to the warning from behind, the blade of the powerful wind born from Tia’s sword whipped through the writhing Kuronuri herd in front of us with tremendous force. After the winds had calmed down, it became more visible and there was only a “former” forest left.
“Wow, that’s terrible….” Waffer said
“But all the Kuronuris were obliterated at once!” I replied
“Fufufu~! How about it? Let’s get in there while we still can!” Tia said.
“Oi Oi!? What’s with you, such incredible motivation, huh?” I shouted.
I called out to Tia, who was running head first without us, the vanguard of the group. Then, Tia caught up with me and smiled happily at me.
“Of course! At that time, I could only wield my power to escape, leaving my precious friends behind. But now I can use this power to clear a path to protect my friends! I wouldn’t be lying if I say this motivates me!”
“Haha, I see.”
“I can still strike! I’m going to blow that whole forest of Kuronuri out of the sky!”
“… No, you can’t do that.”
While calmly pouting at Tia, whose motivation was out of control, we ran smoothly into the village. Soon, we saw a wooden fence and discovered a hole in one corner of it.
“There’s a hole! Let’s jump in!”
“I shall stay here and keep the enemy from coming inside!” Waffer said.
“Okay! Tia, come with me!”
We passed Waffer, who stopped and turned around, and Tia and I entered the village through the opened hole. Proceeding through the village while relying on the updated [Auto-Mapping] we saw about five Kuronuris in front of us and a girl covered in a thin film of light in the center of the Kuronuris――!?
“Kyaaa!!”
With a crackling sound, the film of light shattered. Finally, the obstruction was gone, and the chemonian inside saw a mantis-like Kuronuri about to swing its scythe.
“I won’t let you do it! Tia!”
“Leave it to me!”
I created a sword in the air using [Copy and Fake], and Tia’s spirit magic shot it out. The Kuronuris were stabbed by the steel swords that suddenly flew towards them, and they hurriedly turned their faces toward us…
“Oi Oi. You can’t look away, okay?”
I instantly closed in and, using my sword, cut off Kuronuri’s head. After cutting off all five of them, I finally took a breath and looked back behind me.
“E-Ed-san …! Why …!””
Mimir looked at me with tears in her eyes, her head probably full of fear and questions. But what we needed in this situation was not long-winded explanations.
“We’re here to help. You’re safe now.”
With a smile, I patted Mimir’s head. Under my gentle touch, Mimir, who finally let loose, began to cry loudly.
“U-Uwa… … Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!!!”
“Oops. I’m sorry, Tia, but you’re going to have to take over here, in case her voice attracts any other Kuronuris.”
“Understood. What about you?”
“That would be, of course, helping my friend … clean up afterwards.”
There was no such thing as a one-sided defeat now. We were going to win, and have a happy ending.
(T/N: The title might change later as it was quite confusing, need to confirm with a few people)