The Rumors Were Just That—A Rumor
Elfride Bathory.
She was the greatest hero of this generation, the one everyone said had no equals. But right now, she was listening to some strange rumor and feeling something oddly unsettled.
“So Abel’s a playboy, huh…?”
Elfride had come back to her family home for her birthday. She was just passing through when she joined a society gathering with her father, and that was where she heard the rumor.
[The hero Abel is actually a playboy, they say.]
It was an absurd rumor. She couldn’t understand how it had even started. In her mind, Abel was nothing like that kind of person.
She asked the noble lady who had told her where she’d heard it, but the lady said she’d learned it from a friend in the Apollo Kingdom via a letter.
The Apollo Kingdom. It was the land that had appeared this time—Agares-class calamity, a disaster level monster. When Elfride heard that Abel had wiped it out, she’d been overjoyed. She’d practically been bragging to Cynthia about it the whole next day, and Cynthia had gotten tired of hearing it.
But then, the very next day, she heard that Abel was a playboy. Elfride had no choice but to feel uneasy.
“He didn’t look like the type to overindulge like Revius…”
“Rumors are just rumors, aren’t they?”
“Cynthia.”
The silver-haired woman in her neatly arranged priest’s robes answered the bewildered Elfride.
“Elfride, don’t let rumors sway you. Think about the Abel hero you know. You of all people know that rumors are just rumors, right?”
“…Well.”
Cynthia’s words were right. Rumors were just rumors. Truth was best sought straight from the source.
“Right. Since Abel’s going home anyway, we can ask him when we get there.”
“That’s the plan.”
Elfride nodded and turned back to her busy preparations for the birthday celebration. Watching her, Cynthia thought to herself.
…The hero Abel has finally taken all the saintesses, I suppose.
She had already guessed the truth, yet she deliberately kept it from Elfride. She hoped the shock wouldn’t upset her.
#
“Re…turn…”
“Everyone keeps saying the same thing. You won’t answer my question.”
The holy sword sank deep into the monster’s flesh with a wet thud. The blade slid out just as easily as it had gone in.
“Abel, it’s over?”
“Yeah.”
We were out looking for nests to clear, following Elfride’s birthday schedule. We’d reach the Bathory family home in Bonaparte City by August 12th.
It was our second nest in a row, and again there was no harvest. Small nests really were easy to wipe out. All we’d ever run into was Gorgon-class at best, and high-risk monsters were rare.
…Now that I thought about it, I could really feel how powerful the North Queen’s forces must have been. How the hell had I survived?
“No change in the sword at all.”
“…I should’ve let you be the one to kill the North Queen instead.”
“One extra doesn’t change anything…”
“But one extra is better than none.”
That was true, but I hadn’t known back then. What could I do?
“We should check the numbers as we go.”
“That makes sense.”
The Holy Sword of Order had no exact open conditions, so keeping a record like this would make things easier later.
…Later? Now that I thought about it, it was strange. I was someone from another world, yet I was thinking about the future of this world?
“…I guess I’ve adapted now.”
“What?”
“Oh, nothing. Just thinking aloud.”
“…Really? Well, let’s get out of here. There are no more monsters left.”
“Okay.”
When we stepped outside, Celine was already gathering the monsters’ corpses in one spot.
…What was she doing?
“Oh, you’re done?”
“Yeah… But what are you doing? Why are you collecting them?”
…It honestly looked a little gross.
“I wanted to show the hero how many monsters we’ve wiped out, but now it looks kind of gross.”
“…Heh.”
She did strange things sometimes. Had Revius made her do that? If anyone would, it was Revius—he probably wanted to see the hero’s achievements with his own eyes.
I lightly placed a hand on Celine’s head and said,
“No need, Celine.”
“Ah… okay.”
Just resting a hand on her head, and she was already blushing a little. She looked adorable. When I stroked her hair gently, she jumped and her cheeks turned red.
“…Abel, what are you doing?”
“Eh?”
Estelle had come up from behind with a pout, grabbed my hand that was still on Celine, and placed it right back on her own head. She stared at me with those caramel eyes, silent.
…Did she want me to stroke her head too?
“…Hehe.”
“Why? Why are you laughing?”
“Because the action was cute.”
I grinned and gave Estelle’s head a stroke. She smiled brightly, clearly happy.
I gave her a few strokes and let go. Estelle looked a little disappointed, like a puppy who didn’t want the petting to end.
“So where next?”
“Ah… um, just a sec.”
Estelle spread out the map she’d received from Pope Pabiano and pointed at a spot.
“We’re here right now… so the next nearest place is a nest in the Milano Forest.”
“The X mark is a bit bigger here.”
“Yes… There might be high-risk monsters at least Agares-class. Plus, it’s better to head somewhere else first since we still need to reach Bonaparte City…”
“Let’s go there.”
“Eh?”
Estelle looked at me like I was crazy for suggesting it.
But I had my reasons. We’d been clearing tiny nests, and the information we’d gotten from the Mothers was useless. I wanted to hit one with real scale now.
“With my current strength, shouldn’t we be able to handle it?”
“…Of course, but if we receive blessings, training might not happen.”
“Hmm.”
We weren’t receiving blessings for this nest. There hadn’t even been any Gorgon-class monsters inside. It was new, so it was mostly just Upper-class monsters like trolls.
So lately, I’d been fighting without blessings to keep my instincts sharp. I’d gone a while without them, but I was still managing.
“If we leave this nest, the North Queen might grow even bigger.”
“…Yes, let’s go. Our route overlaps here anyway.”
“Hehe.”
Since I liked the idea, Estelle giggled.
“You like it that much, you dummy♡”
“…Now that I think about it, you haven’t been calling me scrub much lately?”
She still did sometimes, but the frequency had dropped a lot compared to before. She seemed to prefer calling me dummy.
“Yes?… That’s…”
Estelle looked embarrassed for some reason. When I tilted my head, she whispered,
“…Abel taught me what a scrub is♥”
“…Eh?”
…In bed?
I froze. Estelle stared at me silently, then burst out laughing.
“Fuhaha! It was a joke. Why are you so surprised? You dummy♡”
“…Ah, no… then what?”
“Now Abel isn’t a scrub anymore♥”
“Eh?”
The corners of Estelle’s eyes curved nicely. She gave me a strangely attractive smile and said,
“You’ve really gotten strong now.”
“…”
…I’d been recognized?
It was a weird feeling. I’d always secretly wanted her to acknowledge me, and now it had happened.
Estelle was strong. That was the power of being a true divine representative, showing the strength to back it up. Compared to her, the hero had looked pathetic.
The fact that this strong girl was now acknowledging me… there was a joy I couldn’t put into words.
“…Am I starting to look like a hero now?”
I asked quietly. The answer came back,
“Of course♥”
It was a smile and a positive answer.
“…Really?”
Good that I didn’t give up.
#
Milano Forest. A massive forest in the northwest of the Vesta Kingdom. Giant trees over fifty meters tall blocked out the sky, earning it the nickname “the roof of nature.”
…That’s what Estelle explained. I had no idea.
“It’ll take a while to find the nest here.”
“It won’t take that long?”
“Eh?”
I questioned Celine, but Estelle agreed with her.
“Look here, you dummy♡”
“Eh?”
Estelle was pointing at the ground. Following her finger, I saw footprints.
“…Where did these footprints come from… oh.”
“People rarely come this deep, so these must be monster footprints~♡”
“But I can’t be sure these lead to a nest.”
“That’s true. But if we follow the footprints, we’ll find it.”
“That… ah, a tube?”
“Yes~♡”
A tube. The Mother had spread these around the nest to supply nutrients while she stayed there. The thing I’d seen before that looked like a clam must have been for that. Mothers that received the nutrients would then give birth to monsters in the nest.
That was how they located nests in places where searching was difficult.
“Then who is the owner of these footprints?”
“Who knows?”
If you don’t know the monster encyclopedia, what can I do?
“It could be a knight-type high-risk monster, or maybe a dragon or lizardman. Or even a hobgoblin that’s about the same size as a human.”
“…I see.”
“But since there are no claw marks on the footprints, it’s probably not a beastman like a lizardman or dragon.”
Following footprints like this was tricky. Anyway, all we had to do was follow them?
“I’ll cast the blessing in advance.”
“Okay.”
Solaria’s Blessing
It wasn’t a halo. The power coming off my body felt stronger.
“I only cast the blessing. Even with my current strength, we should be able to handle at least Leviathan-class monsters.”
“We’ll help too.”
Celine spoke with a confident smile. The sight was reassuring, and I couldn’t help grinning.
“We only trust the saintesses.”
“Don’t worry.”