※This is not from Satou"s perspective. Third person point of view.

"--Do you mind if we get back to talking about heroes?"

Satou, who was done telling the story of the time he met Sera after being pestered by the romance story-loving women, steered back to the topic at hand.

"Oh my, pardon me. I lost myself since your tale was so interesting. We were talking about Hero Yuuki next, were we not?"
"I think we were at the part about Yuuki being an unusual magician type hero."

Ringrande affirmed Maryest.

"By that do you mean, he"s capable of using powerful magic like Maryest-sama?"
"I"m confident that I won"t lose in my forte, lightning magic, but unfortunately, I"m completely outcla.s.sed in flame magic. However, since the hero is still inexperienced in spell control and precision, I suppose I still come out on top when it"s against foes with powerful anti magic ability or someone strong in a one-on-one fight."

Maryest answered Satou"s inquiry.

"Well, no magician is better at exterminating large swats of enemy than Yuuki though."
"That"s just the powers granted by G.o.d Parion."

Hearing the two, Satou is recalled of his own Meteor Shower, and feels oddly sympathetic to the hero, thinking, "Must be hard to use."

"So what kind of person is this Hero Yuuki-sama?"
"He has made some self-righteous remarks, however, he"s very eager to learn new things and extremely enthusiastic about training."

Maryest indirectly replied Satou"s question with implications.
Satou himself felt like he got a grasp of Hero Yuuki"s personality from her answer and nodded.

◇◇◆◇◆◆

"What is this? Why"s there so few monsters here?"

On board an airs.h.i.+p floating above the small sand sea, Hero Yuuki grumbled to his attendants.

"A search by wind magicians also only turned up a few aggregations of monsters."
"d.a.m.n that useless Seigi."

With the grumbling Yuuki on board, the airs.h.i.+p heads toward Sania Kingdom"s capital in order to replenish its supply.

"--What the heck is that?"

At the front row of the noisy bridge, Hero Yuuki is looking at a dead body of a gigantic monster stuck at the capital"s harbor.
The body is so huge, the golems that are currently dismantling it look like sesame seeds from afar.

"Meiko didn"t come by here right?"
"Yes, that should be the case."
"No way Seigi did this either, guess there"s still someone strong out there in this world."

Hero Yuuki grins.

Before long, a wingkin attendant who was tasked to gather info on the ground comes back.

"Give me your report, Michael."

Hero Yuuki haughtily gave his order without even a word of thanks to the attendant with colorful feathers.

"My name is Mieka."
"Yeah yeah, report."

Even while sighing at Hero Yuuki who kept calling him Michael no matter how often he corrected him, the wingkin attendant conveys the information he got to the hero and his cohorts.

"That is the dead body of an ancient monster called the 『Land King』 whom 『Ancient Dog-head King』 commanded during the age of myths."
"A mythical monster huh."
"The Devil G.o.d"s Troops..."

The other attendants couldn"t hide their surprises when they heard the report.

"I"ve read some myths about Land King myself. Ain"t it a monster stronger than your average demon lord?"

The attendants affirmed Yuuki"s question.

"Who killed it?"
"s.h.i.+ga Kingdom"s--"
"Hero Nanas.h.i.+?"

The hero made a guess of someone capable of such a feat while the wingkin was answering.

"No, it"s the Demon Lord Slayer, Earl Pendragon."

Hero Yuuki recalled that it was the name of the s.e.xual fiend whom Meiko met at a cafe once.

"A j.a.panese who"s pretending to be Arthur huh... Ow, my side."

Even though he"s never met him before, Hero Yuuki is holding a bizarre rivalry with the demon lord slayer.

"--Huuh? Dontcha think that thing just moved?"

A section of the Land King moved before Hero Yuuki"s eyes.
Voices can"t reach this far away, but the golems and laborers who were dismantling the body are scurrying away in all directions as the moving dead body begins smas.h.i.+ng buildings.

"Undead Land King?"

Immediately after the sound of crushed buildings reached him, Hero Yuuki muttered the result of [a.n.a.lyze] skill he got from G.o.d Parion.

"Did someone turned it into an undead or somethin"?"
"It was probably the demon"s work."

Hero Yuuki licks his lips when he hears the attendant"s reply.

"I want to test my magic on it."
"You must not, Yuuki."
"Evacuate all the guys below."

Hero Yuuki brushed off the attendant"s warning and went to the deck.

"Please at least wait until the airs.h.i.+p gets to the flank."
"Hurry up."

Hero Yuuki draws out the holy sword Laevateinn he took from his [Inventory].

"Buff me with support magic. Not the defensive ones. Just stuff that power up magic. Then put all your remaining mana into mine."

The attendants cast buff magic on the hero while the airs.h.i.+p goes around to the Undead Land King"s flank.

"Let"s do this, full power--hey you guys, put some spirits into it!"

Hero Yuuki shouted at the attendants standing by behind him.
They"re numerous. Unlike with other heroes, many are of level 30.

"Household Tuning (Everyone to me)."

Hero Yuuki"s body is wrapped in blue light which then connects to the attendants behind him.
The attendants let out voices of agony.

That light also extends toward the main engine of the airs.h.i.+p, absorbing an enormous amount of mana.

"Unlimited Range (Anywhere no matter how far)."

Once again, blue light wraps Hero Yuuki and holy sword Laevateinn that he holds up high.
Hero Yuuki can"t be stopped even by the now slowly gliding airs.h.i.+p.

"Romantic Explosion (Glory along with my name)."

Third blue light wraps around Hero Yuuki.
It"s an intense flame-like light.

The attendants behind Hero Yuuki have fallen down on the deck.

"> Laevateinn!"

A red flame blowing up toward the sky rises from the holy sword Laevateinn once he read aloud its holy verse.
Red and blue flames combine together into an abominable purple flame that scorches heavens.

"--EAAAAAAAAT THIIIIIIIIIIS!"

With the swing of the sword, the purple explosive flame violently rushes forward.
That flame swallow the Land King"s body that was far outside the normal range in the distance, sinking it into the depth of h.e.l.lfire.

"Kukukuku, I"m strong. My magic blow away even mythical monsters."

While illuminated by the burning light of red and blue flame, Hero Yuuki is laughing out loudly on his knee as he clings to his holy sword on the deck.
Light of ecstasy dwells in his languid sunk eyes.

Perhaps, the spellcaster that had turned Land King into an undead was inexperienced as the Undead Land King"s defensive power and health were far below its living state"s, yet it was still a monster that couldn"t be defeated by ordinary magic.
The firepower of the flame the Hero unleashed just now probably surpa.s.ses even the forbidden spell of flame magic, [>].

◆◆◇◆◇◇

"His desires for acknowledgment might be a bit stronger than others, but well, he"s generally a good kid. His tendency to get hasty is not unlike Meiko, but I"m sure it can be fixed so long others care for it."

Ringrande didn"t say out loud whom did she compare him to, but everyone here seemingly correctly guessed who it was.

"Initially he went around randomly spewing flames everywhere like a pyromaniac, but once we put him with some reliable attendants, he"s gotten a better."

Satou thought that Hero Seigi also had some dependable attendants with him.

"I"m not that well acquainted with the last hero, Fuu."
"I remember him being a shy kid who couldn"t hold conversations well."

Hero Fuu has trouble communicating, Satou made a mental note.

"His ability was of scouting type, yet for some reason, he tried really hard to learn magic didn"t he?"
"Yes, his apt.i.tudes for elemental magic were apparently not good, but he is skilled in Sou--Summoning magic."

Satou noticed that Maryest was going to say [Soul Magic] and corrected herself, but he wasn"t going to pursue it further.

◇◇◆◇◆◆

"Kehya, kehya kehya kehya."

Laughing like convulsing in a dim temple-like place, was the [Hero of Parion] Fuu who should not be in such a place.

"Our regal familiars, Vampire Knights, have no equal!"

Before Hero Fuu"s line of sight are Vampire Knights who are fighting without baring anything as if to brag their beautiful bodies.
They"re fighting monsters summoned by Hero Fuu.

Even though he"s alone here, he seems to have the habit to refer himself with "we" and "our".
The way he could suddenly scream out loud in between his usual blurred voice is probably another habit of Hero Fuu.

"Our level went up once again. And now, recycle of dead monsters--"

Hero Fuu stares at the corpses suspiciously, then the corpses get revived into undeads.
It must be the work of Soul Magic [Animate Undead] cast without a chant.

"--Second Round. Go vanquish them again."

As ordered, the Vampire Knights jump on the monsters that were revived as undeads.

"One platoon of level 50 Vampire Knights should be done by today"s end after another 100 sets."

While muttering to himself, Hero Fuu summoned more monsters and offered their neck on the Vampire Knights.

"We will raise our level once a platoon of level 50 Vampire Knight is complete."

A bracelet made from Blue Crystal is equipped on the kehya kehying Hero Fuu.

"We have plenty of mana so long this bracelet is on us."

It"s a terminal device bracelet for City Core that originally shouldn"t have fallen onto a hero"s hand.

"Half of the vast amount of Saga Empire"s mana is for us to freely use at will."

Hero Fuu made a complacent smile and then muttered to himself, "We will create an invincible army."

"Fuu-han, you there?"

Hero Fuu"s heart almost jumped out of his mouth when he heard someone"s voice from an empty s.p.a.ce.

"...Yea."

Hero Fuu was relieved when he turned around and saw a familiar face.

"Oh it"s you."

Hero Fuu muttered very quietly.
He timidly looks up at the other party.

"Another day, "nother zombie paradise here, I see."
"D-D-Do not get it wrong! They"re un-undeads, not zombie."

He gets so enraged, it"s like he"s a different person.
Hero Fuu"s boiling point seems to be unexpectedly low.

"Oh scary, scary. Calm down, "k."

To Hero Fuu, this someone with fake Kansai dialect looks like he"s provoking him instead.

"as long you understand."
"I"m here to fetch another pots or dozen of Vampire Mosquitos."

This someone went for the big earthenware pots lined up at the corner of the room after amusingly watching Hero Fuu who was putting up a bravado.

"D-do as you like."
"What"s this? There"s only, like, three pots here."
"I-is it not enough? B-but three should be plentiful isn"t it? Dunno if you"re using it as an ingredient for magic potion or something--"

Hero Fuu said so like he was complaining to the guy for obstructing his quest to level up.

"Whaddya say?"
"Hiiiii"

Hero Fuu retreated back with a pale face from the deep voice.

"Achaa, I was just checkin" cos" I didn"t hear ya the first time, see. Don"t get cold feet on me now."
"I-I did not."

Hero Fuu tried to bluff as best as he could while trembling, but it didn"t work on the opponent as he waved his fluttering hands.

"Riight. Please prepare a dozen pots by next week, "k. An epidemic is spreading at the western part of the continent, ya see. Can neva" get enough of medicines."
"I-I got it. I"ll make them."
"Pleasee. You can use as much mana as you want, but be careful "bout the cracks on Yuikchan"s barrier when yer" circulating mana, yea. You gotta make sure to hold back cause it"s an old barrier."
"N-no need to remind me, that again."

Hero Fuu begrudgingly nodded while whispering "Who the heck even is Yuika" inside his mouth.

"Well then, keep at it, yea."

The guy disappeared in thin air like when he first came.

"...d.a.m.n fake Kansai dialect."

Hero Fuu mouthed the guy off the moment he was sure the guy had been gone for good.

Hero Fuu"s back is drenched in sweat.
Even for Hero Fuu who excels in scouting--or to be more exact, a.s.sa.s.sination, it was someone whom he could not take lightly of.

◆◆◇◆◇◇

"--I think that should cover it?"
"Yep."

Ringrande gave her confirmation to Maryest.

"Well, they can be quite immature, but they"re all good kids."

Ringrande closed the topic with that.

"By the way, just the other day, Arisa who was together with Mito-sama and Sistindono came here and bragged about the new dresses they get you to commission for them--"

Satou thought, "That"s unusual even for Arisa."

"My apologies, she"s still a kid after all."
"Ufufu, I don"t mind about such things. Their dresses were so wonderful, it made me long for one myself."

Maryest looks up at Satou with a smile full of implications.

"Then, I shall ask Arisa to place an order for Maryest-sama"s dress too."
"SSatou-san!"

Sera tried to cut in Satou who easily made the promise without thinking, but she kept her silent when Satou asked her back, "Is there anything wrong?"
It appears that Sera doesn"t intend to poke the bush herself.

"Oh my, sorry to make it look like I"m imposing on you."
"Satou. Just Mary?"
"Ane-sama!"

Sera stood up from her seat to hear her elder sister"s joke.

"What"s the matter Sera? Are you going to leave me out, just me?"

When Ringrande whispered, "Left all alone, I might just blurt out something out of loneliness", Sera went completely silent.

"Can I? Satou."
"Of course, Ringrande-sama will get hers too."

Satou willingly consented to Ringrande who took the opportunity to demand for one. 

"Oh my? Are you sure?"
"Yes. Please think of it as an apology for the trouble Arisa and the others have caused, I haven"t showed you my appreciations for the info this time either."
"Was such little info good enough?"

Satou affirmed, "But of course", to reply the giggling Maryest.

"I shall look forward to it with antic.i.p.ation."
"Me too, I can"t wait."

Looking at the two"s smiles, Satou thought an off-the-mark impression to himself, "Were the dresses look that good?"
It was not until later that he realized the meaning of their words--.

◇

"I"m back~, I"ve gone and asked Sete about it."
"Thank you Mito. You"re a great help."

Hikaru who had even gone to the king (Sete) and the prime minister in her investigation got back before Satou and Sera who were relaxing at the Solitary Island Palace.

"Apparently they"re treating Hero Seigi like a patrol plane."
"Is he like a wide-range detector for demons?"
"Yup, something like that. And once he found a demon, Hero Yuuki would be deployed and then demolish it from afar."

The info from s.h.i.+ga Kingdom"s intelligence division is similar to the one Satou heard from Maryest, but there are some differences due to the difference in their positions.

"But since Hero Yuuki"s range is pretty expansive, cities and the populaces often suffer collateral damage whenever he does it near a city, so he"s not really liked."

Maryest said that Yuuki has improved, but according to the intelligence division"s info, even Saga Empire is at their wit"s end dealing with him.

"Hero Meiko is said to be visiting countries that suffered damages by monsters, but in reality it seems like she"s been making troubles at the places she"s visiting."

She challenged strong knights and warriors whenever she went, and beat them all to a pulp.

"And this time she"s going to Dragg Kingdom probably cause she wants to challenge the Guardian Dragon of the kingdom, don"t you think?"

Satou smiled wryly while saying, "That"s so like that battle junkie Meiko."

"Hero Fuu is apparently shutting himself in the Imperial Capital, so not much info about him. Unlike with the other heroes, apparently he went to Hero Dungeon once, got frightened, and refused to go back." 
"Oh that"s plenty already."

It"s okay as long as he"s harmless, said Satou to Mito.

"For the time being, could you continue gathering info involving heroes?"
"Un, I think that"s a good idea. Also, I"m going to tell Sete to ask Saga Empire to hold the rein tighter on Hero Yuuki."
"Yeah, I"m counting on you."

Mito seemed happy to have Satou depending on her, she left after replying, "Leave it to me!"
Zena who pa.s.sed by her as she entered the room went to Satou while finding the frolic Mito unusual.

"Satou-san, the airs.h.i.+p has arrived at Pier Rock."
"Ah thanks. Zensan."

Satou stands up once he hears that.

"Satou-san, who will be going with you this time?"
"This one seems like it will get dangerous, so I"ll take only Liza with me. She should be able to deal with any situation after all."

Jealousy welled up from within Zena and Sera at Liza who got Satou"s stamp of approval, but recalling that Liza doesn"t harbor feelings toward the opposite s.e.x on Satou, they extinguished their jealousy.

"Zensan, sorry but could you call Liza here? I think she"s testing the flight exoskeleton while sparring with Heiron in the desert sub-s.p.a.ce."
"I understand."

Tasked by Satou, Zena heads toward the desert sub-s.p.a.ce gate.

"Now then, I"m heading off. I"ll try to finish the trial by today."

Satou turns around as he prepares to leave after saying that to Sera who"s left alone in the living room.

"Satou-san, please don"t let your guard down. G.o.d Zaikuon is often considered a foolish G.o.d who didn"t know his own limit and went on to challenge the dragon G.o.d, however, I don"t think an existence like G.o.d would take actions without thinking the consequences."

Satou stops in his track and turns around at the unexpected words from Sera.

"In other words, the act of picking a reckless fight itself may have meaning?"
"Yes, I know not what that is, but perhaps there was some kind of merit for G.o.d Zaikuon to embrace death once."
"Got it. I"ll keep Sera"s warning on my mind as I face G.o.d Zaikuon."

Satou went through the gate connected to the airs.h.i.+p after saying that to the anxious Sera.