Chapter 7

“…I wanted to see if you would know it was me.” “That so? Well…sorry I didn’t.” “No, no… It doesn’t matter.” She took off her earring for that pointless reason? I want to ask her what she thinks a rule is, but anyway, since I failed her test, I can’t really complain. Her response was indifferent, like it didn’t bother her at all. She pushes her hair just out of the way and affixes the earring to her left ear in a practiced motion. The glimpse of the delicate nape of her neck and the faint sensuality of the deft, nonchalant way she moves her hair catches me off guard, and I involuntarily take a deep breath. This will work. This one will work. We have no reason to sacrifice one of the novice sisters. This girl, already familiar with our situation, will be the perfect replacement priest for Toudou’s party—and the perfect spy. The higher-ups have done pretty well. Sending someone like this after saying they had no plans to send another priest… They must have meant they have no public plans, and in reality, they sent her. I really thought they might have intended to leave the hero without a priest, but it was just a bluff… Damn, that guy is cruel! You could say that someone like her—purely in battle for support with no combat ability—provides comparatively less stability to the party, but on the other hand, with her taking my place, I’m able to move about freely. I can become a special support force, eliminating obstacles to the party. I drum my hands on the table in celebration of my good fortune, and Amelia looks at me strangely. Finally, luck has turned in my favor. Even without tracking every one of Toudou’s movements, I should still be able to function as backup. We’re talking about a guy who thoughtlessly accepted a mission to defeat a dragon. That’s a path that leads straight to death. With her here, I’ll be able to provide the proper support. I attempt to contain my joy, biting my tongue and trying to keep a straight face, but I slip into a smile. I clear my throat exaggeratedly and face Amelia. “Amelia, I’ve considered our situation and thought of a system.” “A system?” she says, opening her eyes wide and inclining her head slightly. I’d like her to go to Toudou’s inn at once, because I have no idea what his next move will be. “Yes. The Church has said that they’ll send more people as they become available, but at present, we can’t count on that. There’s no knowing when Toudou might be killed. We need to be practical.” She hasn’t understood my meaning yet, so I explain my instructions bluntly. “Amelia, I want you to join Toudou’s party as their priest and aid the party while also surveying their movements.” “What? No, I’d rather not.” And then, I died. I doubt Naotsugu Toudou will ever forget the feeling of complete power he received in that moment. His body was filled to the brim with energy, and his ability of perception was sharpened. This was the divine protection of the Three Deities and Eight Spirit Kings. In this world, we call this divine blessing, and it is so tremendous that even Toudou, coming from a world where it doesn’t exist, was able to experience its power. The whirling wind, the rushing water, the shining sunlight—all the world bestowed its strength on Toudou. His body had become lighter than ever before, and when he picked up his sword to test it, it was light as a feather. He felt the immense gratification that comes with this kind of power. Gods, spirits, swords, magic, a demon lord, and finally…a hero. This group of words that exists only in fiction in modern-day Japan became terrifically real and completely changed Naotsugu Toudou’s world. However, the thing that impacted him most was just one word, spoken to him by a summoner in the Ruxe Kingdom royal castle; it was the first word he heard upon arriving in this world. The summoner wore a white robe with a pattern in gold thread and held a pale crystal in her right hand. She was a saint in the Church of Ahz Gried and an incredibly beautiful girl. Welcome, great hero, she said. We have called you here to save our world. Hero. An ordinary person might have been overwhelmed by it, but the moment Toudou heard that word, he accepted this world completely. Heroism. Honor. Justice. These are things that Toudou wanted desperately but could not acquire in Japan. He wanted them so badly that he was willing to travel to another world and battle a monster called the Demon Lord. What’s going on here? Why won’t they cooperate with me? Toudou is in his room at the inn, feeling irritated, and puts his feet up on a chair. Only fools show anger on their face. He knows this from experience, and though he’s able to remain calm on the surface, he is not yet capable of concealing the anger that seeps out through his eyes. He has known from the beginning that the journey to defeat the Demon Lord won’t be an easy one. This is an enemy so powerful that the kingdom had given up trying to defeat him and summoned a hero from another world to help. But at the same time, Toudou is confident he can accomplish this task. However, the journey that had been going favorably has now ground to a halt because of a trivial problem. “I’m the hero. Why don’t they cooperate with me?” Toudou bites his lip and glares at the ceiling, struggling to understand it. If the root of this problem were an inadequacy in his own abilities, he would accept the failure. But the problem is that the people here will not cooperate with him, and that is what has him so frustrated. The hero was summoned to this world to defeat Kranos, the Demon Lord who despises humanity and has destroyed many kingdoms. The hero is humanity’s last ray of hope. These people should do everything in their power to assist him. Toudou visited the village church to search for a priest, and he couldn’t understand the father’s refusal. I’m the hero. Toudou had exerted so much effort to stop himself from blurting out those three words that instantly began bubbling up inside him. Because Limis and Aria were with him and he’d left his sword at the inn, he somehow managed to swallow the disgrace. But if he’d been alone and his sword had been handy, he might have drawn it. The father’s pointed stare, almost looking down on him, is burned into his mind. He can’t let it go. Seeing Toudou’s serious expression, Aria interjects. “…I have heard that the majority of the priests who are demon exterminators are men. We may not be able to avoid it.” “…Yeah, I understand the reasoning. I understand it, but…I just can’t accept it…” He takes a deep breath and tries to suppress the smoldering impatience in his mind. Toudou is a virtuous man. Or at the very least, he aims to be. Although he has obtained power, Toudou has no intention of deviating from his mission or wasting his time on other things. His goal is to defeat the Demon Lord as quickly as possible, and consequently, he opted to follow Ares’s reasonable suggestions. As Ares was born and raised in this world, he has more insight and experience. Ares Crown, the silver-haired, green-eyed priest. His gaze was sharp as a knife, and he was coolheaded and ruthless in both word and deed. Though he didn’t look at all like the kind of person who would pray to a god, he did fulfill his role as a priest. They had conflicting personalities, but Ares was a capable man, and Toudou took his advice to heart. Before dismissing Ares from the party, Toudou discussed it with Aria and Limis. While he was sorry to expel a party member who’d committed no errors, to Toudou, who had requested all female party members from the start, Ares was always the one he’d eventually have to let go. He had no regrets about it. This news is met with silence until Limis suddenly speaks. “…Of course, it might have been better to wait until we’d found a replacement to dismiss Ares—” “Limis!!” interrupts Aria. Flustered by this rebuke, Limis turns to Toudou to apologize. “Oh… I-I’m sorry, Nao… I hadn’t m-meant to criticize your decision—” “…No, that’s all right,” he responds, shaking his head at her apology. “I was…acting out of my own convenience.” Limis’s observation was reasonable. However, if they’d decided to wait for a replacement, there was no telling how long it would take. They’d have felt worse about ridding themselves of Ares after receiving his help in battle for a long time. So Toudou had decided to learn the basic techniques and knowledge of the holy arts from Ares before ejecting him from the party. “This timing minimizes the damage to both Ares and me,” Toudou states firmly. “I know it’s somewhat inconvenient for everyone, but there’s nothing to be done about that.” “…Yes,” agrees Limis with a small nod. “The only thing I can do is what I promised Ares—defeat the Demon Lord as soon as possible.” Toudou didn’t like Ares, but he didn’t dislike him so much that he wanted him dead, which is why he contacted the kingdom regarding Ares’s dismissal and informed them that it wasn’t due to any wrongdoing on his part. “That’s—that’s right… Let’s get to the Demon Lord as soon as possible and take him by surprise!” “Yes… That’s what we’ll do.” He smiles weakly at Limis’s enthusiasm. Seeing that Toudou has settled down somewhat, Aria shares her thoughts. “However, to continue the journey without a priest would be too dangerous. At a certain point, it will be impossible.” “Yes… I understand that.” While Toudou has learned basic holy techniques, he doesn’t intend to ignore this warning. In the end, without Ares, the number of party members simply decreases. Healing after battle would be no problem, but Toudou understands how difficult it is to cast healing spells in the heat of combat. “…I sent a letter to my father just in case, but priests aren’t under our jurisdiction…,” says Limis. “…I will send one as well, but a priest may be…hard to come by,” admits Aria. The Church of Ahz Gried is an organization independent of the kingdoms, and as such, Ruxe Kingdom has no authority there. Even if the Church were to send a replacement priest, that would take time. “There’s no time…,” Toudou mumbles, a distressed look on his face. It would have been ideal if the village church could have provided a replacement, but they refused. The one-month limit until the hero’s presence is perceived by the demons draws nearer every day. “It is somewhat reckless, but it may be better to set the priest aside for the moment and prioritize leveling up,” suggests Aria. “…Right, that’s true.” Ares’s words swim through his thoughts: If you can get to level 30, you should be able to escape a demon. Toudou’s level has increased a fair amount, but Aria—and especially Limis—are still too low. Toudou closes his eyes and thinks. Lacking a party member. Levels are too low. Time is wasting. A heavy atmosphere, like that of a funeral, hangs in the air. Finally, Toudou slowly opens his eyes. “Our next moves are clear. If I pass the exam tomorrow, I’ll be able to do the work of a priest in battle. Then, rather than adding a priest to the party, we can add someone to the front line, and I can switch to the role of healer as needed.” It will be more work for Toudou, and he’ll level up more slowly, but that is the only available course of action at present. “Finding an attacker shouldn’t be hard, right? And besides, parties aren’t limited to just four members, so if we find a priest later, then we’ll just continue with five.” “…For a front-line warrior, we could certainly bring in someone from my house, or we could request the services of a mercenary at the tavern,” suggests Aria. There’s no time to just sit around indoors. Toudou shakes his head as if to wake himself up and gets to his feet. It seems that being confined to the inn is affecting his mood. “Just in case, let’s bring as much restorative medicine with us as possible. My holy techniques might not compare to those of a priest.” “A priest… Ares was level three, right? It seems impossible that at level twenty-seven, you wouldn’t be a match for him…” “…Apparently, the effectiveness of holy techniques is dependent on faith, and mine is still low. In any case, it’s best to be prepared.” Of course, this doesn’t mean that Toudou lacks confidence in his holy techniques. If he did, he probably wouldn’t have dismissed Ares. Actually, he practiced the skills he’d picked up in front of Ares, who’d given them passing marks. But at the same time, one has to take into consideration that priests deal with life and death. He has confidence, he has talent, and he has determination. However, Toudou is painfully aware that those things alone aren’t always enough. That’s precisely why he came to this world as the hero.