A magnificent trumpet fanfare sounded, and magical sparks filled the sky. A knight on a majestic horse led the march to the city’s main street from the castle, and Ren and Ruri were right in the middle of the procession.
Yep, it was a parade for the departure of the heroes.
Ren and Ruri were each riding a horse. Their waving and smiling was very much like a royal family. In contrast, Ren was waving awkwardly. His face was red, and I immediately knew that there was considerable tension and embarrassment in there.
As I was staring at the parade, Lusha pulled up my sleeve.
「Hey, are those two the ones from the same hometown as you?」 「That’s right.」 「You need apricot grass to treat that Hero, right? But, he doesn’t look at all like he’s cursed. I wonder if maybe it’s not the painful type…」
I agreed with Lusha’s worries. Ren was supposed to be suffering from a curse, but he hadn’t shown any signs of it. Was it his nature of not wanting to make people worry about him?
He was polite at first, but as soon as I said I’d raised my evasion stat, he got angry. Along with the King, he’s also responsible for putting put me in jail. His face turned red when he saw me.
「Ah, is it possible you’re the one who called me this morning?」 「W-what are you talking about! I don’t know anything! What are you doing here at Watanabe-sama’s parade!?」 「It’s not like I’m doing anything, though. If a friend of mine from the same hometown said he would have a parade like this, wouldn’t it be normal to come have a look?」
The thin man’s face turned red in anger as he glared at me.
As we talked, I realized that many people had gathered near us, apparently wanting to know why the Hero stopped in the middle of the parade.
Moreover, because so many had gathered near the Hero, the parade itself had stopped moving. If any of the country’s higher-ups came and saw this, they wouldn’t be happy. The man huffed.
「Watanabe-sama, the whole parade will stop if you keep this up. Please keep moving.」 「Ah, I’m sorry. I’ll move on.」
Ren acknowledges the man’s words with a wry smile.
「Well then, Sakurai, it’s time for me to leave. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?」 「Come on, that’s my line.」
I waved after Ren as he continued with the parade.
From the back, his figure was dignified, with good posture, but he still seemed tired somehow.
「Hiroki, are you okay?」 「Ah, sorry. We got carried away.」 「It’s okay, though. The Hero, Watanabe-san, is a good person, isn’t he?」 「Yes, he is.」
I can’t help but imagine the hard times he must have lived through until now. Ren is always kind to everyone, and he can’t leave those in need to fend for themselves.
In some sense, he might be the kind of person that some would find it hard to live with.
I wonder, if I was still in the Hero’s group, would things be different now?
「No, stop thinking about that.」 「Hiroki?」 「…it’s nothing. Anyway, should we get something to eat while discussing how we’ll get to the Demon Continent?」 「That’s right. We need to find the apricot grass quickly, after all.」
◆ ◆ ◆
In the inn’s cafeteria, we spread a map on the seat, considering the ways to the devil continent.
When I looked at Lusha, she was similarly troubled.
「I’ve heard that dungeon’s monsters are pretty strong… but if we’re going to the Demon Continent, we need to raise our level anyway. Considering that, I think it’s better to proceed while raising our level in the dungeon.」 「Leveling up is certainly a challenge.」
There was a considerable level difference between me, Ren and Ruri. That’s why I wanted to raise it as much as possible on the way to the Demon Continent.
It was decided.
「So, we’ll go through the Undersea Dungeon?」 「Yeah, I think that’s fine!」
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We chose to break through our limits and level up on an exciting route.
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Author Note:
The map is hand drawn by me. I’m sorry if it’s difficult to read, but I hope you can get the gist of it.