As I finally arrived back at my old inn in Frelia, I deeply sighed.
Of course, engaging in a battle with a <Demon Lord>, where Iām so close to death, is rough, but dealing with matters after that was also rough.
In the first place, the reason we were able to get to the āAnt Queenā in one day was that the official entrance was near the mountains where the ants nest, so we could immediately arrive there with a <Recall Plume>.
Conversely, if we used the <Recall Plume> to try and return to Frelia, we could return only to the vicinity of that mountain, making it have little use in returning to the city.
It took three days for a carriage to come from Frelia to the entrance of the antsā nest, and another three days to ride back on the carriage.
In the end, including the clean-up, it took more than a week for us to return to Frelia.
(I would say it was a blessing in disguise that we got to keep our lives, but to be honest, I would have liked it if we could gain a few more from that.)
This time, it wasnāt the Adventurers who defeated the āAnt Queenā, but a <Demon Lord>.
This makes it so that the seat of the person who contributed to this operation was vacant, and in addition, the <Demon Lord>ās revival would come to light.
Even though we had managed to defeat the <First Demon Lord>, there were still many more <Demon Lords> who had probably resurrected.
Naturally, as it was undecided who contributed to the operation the most, the award ceremony wasnāt held, and the identity of the āHeroā remained unknown.
(If I had just held the <Sword of Light>, all of these worries would have been erasedā¦ā¦)
Just to be sure, I also searched around the area where I had slapped away the <Sword of Light> after defeating Bling, but there was nothing there anymore.
Moreoverā¦ā¦
[āāāāāManifest yourself, Sword of Light.]
I held my hand out to the air and mumbled, but naturally, nothing happened.
(As expected, itās not possible huh.)
According to the event in the game, the āHeroā who drove away Bling with the <Sword of Light> would be able to call up the <Sword of Light> on his own after the event.
But apparently, that doesnāt apply to me.
(If I had obediently grasped the <Sword of Light> at that time, perhapsā¦ā¦)
I thought about it for a moment, but I shook it off my head.
If I had picked up the sword and proceeded with the event just like it was in the game, I might have been able to drive Bling away at that moment.
But if I had done so, that <Demon Lord> would have retreated and reappeared in a later event, more powerful than before.
And at that time, the number of casualties his presence brings would be incomparable to this time.
(The choice I made back then is definitely not a mistake.)
And if I recall, the situation in which the <Sword of Light> appeared was slightly different from the game.
Of course, the fact that the <Sword of Light> appeared in front of me, who wasnāt the āHeroā, is one thing, but there are other unnatural points as well.
First of all, the <Sword of Light> isnāt an item, but an ability.
Itās the embodiment of the power of the āHeroā, the <Warrior of Light>, and the description of the <Sword of Light> states that itās āa technique that gathers the power to crush evil into oneās own hand and creates a sword of lightā.
In the game, the way the event goes was that light gathered in the āHeroāsā right hand, from which a sword of light was gradually generated.
However, that <Sword of Light> didnāt generate from my right hand, but appeared in front of me from the beginning.
In that case, if I consider it that someone else had generated that <Sword of Light> to help us out of that situation, there was no one in the distance to hand that sword over, and even if the āHeroā was hiding somewhere, manifesting the <Sword of Light> and letting it float in the air is beyond the scope of the power of the āHeroā in the game.
Everything about that situation is just irregular.
No, speaking of irregularities, then the fact that we, who arenāt āHeroesā nor part of his party, being part of the āEncounter with a <Demon Lord>ā event is alsoā¦ā¦
(No. Could it beā¦ā¦ that that was the reason?)
We, who originally couldnāt use the <Sword of Light>, were involved in an event that required the <Sword of Light>.
And so, in order to āmake the event go smoothlyā, the world may have made the <Sword of Light> appear in front of me and tried to make the events consistentā¦ā¦
Thinking about it that far, I shook my head.
If I overthink in a situation where I donāt have all the information, I would just end up thinking deeper and deeper.
However, thereās one thing I can say for sureā¦ā¦
āāāāāāThereās āsomethingā in this world that is different from the games I know!
From now on, I shouldnāt just blindly trust the knowledge I have of the game.
I need to carefully discern what is the same and what is different from the game.
(Anyway, I must hurry to strengthen our side first.)
Against Bling, Iām lucky enough to have a large number of special items, which I could gain the advantage in the battle.
However, if it was the other <Demon Lords> that had appeared, we would have been helplessly killed.
(However, that situation brought out some factors that turned things for the better.)
By unequipping the <Level Stopper> during the battle with Bling, I leveled up from 50 to 51.
Moreover!
When I looked at my Status after the battle, to my surprise, my level had risen to 52.
This makes me feel like the 3 months without an increase in level was just a lie, but I guess thatās to be expected. Even though heās the weakest, heās still a <Demon Lord>.
The EXP he generates must have been on a different order of magnitude.
(Besides, with the Great Insect Raid over, the Era Gauge must have progressed quite a bit. After a little more progress, when the Era Division changes and conditions have been metā¦ā¦)
That event, the āPrince Ainās Disappearanceā Event should occur.
If that happens, I will be able to āreassign my Status with the Trial of the Soulā.
(Now is a time where I shouldnāt hurry myself and be careful with my future steps. Itās almost certain that the āHeroā was in the <Great Hollow>. While in parallel with searching for him, our priority now should be fortifying our basesā¦ā¦)
[Nii-san!]
With a bang, the door of the inn opened.
When I turned around to see what was going on, there stood a breathless Resilia.
[Resilia? It should still not be time to go to the Guild yetā¦ā¦]
When I turned around, saying these words to herā¦ā¦
[āāāāā-One of the <Twelve Dark Ruins> has apparently been conquered.]
I stiffened involuntarily at the words that were suddenly spoken.
[ā¦ā¦Huh?]
My head couldnāt comprehend what she just said.
After all, thatās just not possible.
The <Twelve Dark Ruins> is the main content of the game.
Naturally, in the game, NPCs never cleared these ruins on their own, and since the <Cave of the Keeper of Death>, which we neglected after defeating the Boss, wasnāt cleared anytime soon, I assumed that it was the same case in this world.
Thatās right.
If thereās an entity that can do such a thing, it would beā¦ā¦
[It might sound hard to believe, but the one who had cleared it was a solo adventurer who, three months ago, was completely anonymous. According to witnesses, he wasāāāā]
""
Thereupon, Resilia paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about her words, then looking at me with eyes that seemed to bring up something to me, she spoke.
[āāāāāāwas to have used a dazzlingly shining sword that could dispatch monsters with a single stroke.]
The hands of the clock, which had begun to move, wouldnāt stop.
Whether I liked it or not, I will be caught within the vortex of history that had begun to gush violently.