We set out from the town of Shuvel and are heading toward the royal capital, Celestia, by carriage.We had to pass through the cave where the Grim Reaper had been, but we made it through without any trouble. I had planned to defeat him again if he had respawned, but it seems that wasn’t necessary, which was a relief.　And so, we continued our journey, swaying smoothly in the carriage.We’d probably arrive without any further issues.That’s what I thought.But—“Ugh, whoa!”“!?”Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt, accompanied by Brian’s scream.“W-what was that?”“Is something wrong?”“Ugh, the horse…”“……!?”Where Brian was pointing, a horse lay bleeding on the ground.But before I had a chance to react to that sight, a man’s loud voice rang out.“Hahahaha! Now you can’t move, can you!”“Everyone inside, come out!”“If you value your lives, you’d better do as I say!”Could this be…“H-hey. Those guys…”“They’re probably bandits from around here. Looks like it’s finally our turn to

Since then, we haven’t been attacked by bandits and managed to return safely to Celestia.I figured it would be unwise to let Dyna enter the city as is, so we decided to get off outside the city and have someone come pick us up.　And so, we arrived safely at the headquarters of the Denial Trading Company.After getting out and saying goodbye to Brian, I was escorted to the reception room.I waited there for a while, and then a maid and Leon appeared and sat across from me.“Thank you for making the long journey. Thanks to all of you, we were able to complete the transaction safely. Thank you so much.”“We just wanted to use your services because we had some concerns of our own. Plus, we wanted the materials for the Iron Spider.”“What were those concerns?”“Oh, no. That’s our business.”“I see.”It was about the Dark Rich, but there was no point in bringing that up.Perhaps sensing our situation, Leon didn’t press the matter further.“Well, now that I’ve got the materials, I’ll get st

The next morning.I left my room and headed to the living room.Lapis and Fine were already sitting there. It seemed they had woken up before me.“Good morning.”“Oh, good morning!”“……! G-good morning……”Finee’s face flushed the moment our eyes met. Then, looking awkward, she turned her face away and moved right up next to Lapis.“Huh? What’s wrong, Finee? Why are you sticking so close to her?”“…………N-nothing…… really……”“??? That’s weird.”Lapis watched Fine’s suspicious behavior with a puzzled look.It seemed she was still bothered by what happened in the bathhouse yesterday.Given how she was acting, I couldn’t bring myself to ask what was on her mind, so we ended up spending the day in an awkward silence.Since she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, I decided to treat yesterday as if it never happened.　Perhaps because I treated her as I always did, she was back to her usual self within a couple of days.A few days later. I was invited by Leon to visit the Denial Trading Compa

As I approached Fine, she handed me her Adventurer Card.“Please take a look.”“Hmm… okay. Fine, the number of skills you can learn is increasing. You’re making good progress.”“I’m glad…”The staff-based skills Fine uses are quite complex. It would be too much to expect her to handle them on her own.“Well then, first up… this one. It’s a skill called ‘Flame Javelin.’”“This one, right? What kind of skill is it?”“I figured it was about time Fiene started struggling with a lack of firepower. This skill is meant to make up for that.”“I see!”Among the skills she currently has, it’s one of the more powerful and easy-to-use ones. That’s the kind of skill it is.“Here’s the deal. It’s a skill that generates a spear made of fire and hurls it at the enemy. You could call it an upgraded version of Fire Arrow.”“I see! That sounds powerful!”“And when it hits, it causes a small explosion. That means it can take out nearby enemies too.”“So is this kind of like an AoE skill?”“Sort of. That

More than ten rough-looking men stood in Zest and the others’ way.“If you don’t want to join us, we’ll make you suffer right here.”Zest sighed at the man’s words.“Hey, wait a minute. Weren’t you supposed to be saving the orphans? What you’re doing now is different from what you just said.”“I’m just getting rid of anyone who might get in the Emperor’s way. Besides, I have no intention of saving idiots like you.”“Hmm…”Zest looked around, seemingly uninterested.“There sure are a lot of you. Are these guys your crew too?”“Yeah, they are. If you’d joined us, I would’ve welcomed you. You really are a stupid guy.”“I don’t care if it’s a flying saucer or a propeller. I’m not joining a bunch of bandits.”“It’s the Emperor! Don’t get it wrong!”“I know that. I just don’t want to remember it!”“This guy… he’s mocking us…!”The man’s expression grew increasingly angry, and he began shouting at his companions around him.“You guys! Take these guys down! Make him regret making fun of us!”