Rosen stepping forward seemed to catch the middle-aged man off guard, his face betraying his confusion.

"Hero-nim, I have something to tell you…!"

"Hero-nim! There's no need to listen to that child!"

As Rosen began to speak, the middle-aged man hastily cut her off, trying to divert the hero’s attention. He pointed at Rosen as he continued.

"This girl is delusional! She has a history of lying and making things up because of her condition…!"

"I'm not sick!"

"Silence! I’ve given you food every day out of pity, and this is how you repay me!"

Of course, Rosen was perfectly sane. The man was simply saying whatever he could to escape the situation.

"Is that so? Aria-nim?"

"Yes?"

"I believe you mentioned that you know a bit of sacred magic to heal mental conditions, right? Would you be able to use it on her?"

On me?

Aria pointed at herself with her hand, which was hidden by her robe, as if to clarify she had heard correctly. I gave her a subtle signal with my finger.

It was a cue to go along with my plan.

"Y-yes! That could work. I’ll try using it to find out."

Though it was clear she wasn’t comfortable with lying, Aria broke into a slight sweat as she played along.

The middle-aged man and the citizens were visibly shaken. It seemed they hadn’t expected a saintess to lie.

"S-Saintess can do that…?"

"Are we going to be accused of blasphemy now…?"

With the public mood quickly turning against him, the middle-aged man gestured frantically, trying to defuse the situation.

"P-please forgive me! The truth is, this girl is close to that witch, and she always tries to manipulate events in the witch’s favor…!"

"When have I ever?! All I did was ask Niavella to sell me some bread!!"

Rosen, perhaps emboldened by the fact I was standing behind her, angrily shouted at the man.

"Hero-nim! I’ll tell you everything. The reason Niavella is like this… is because that man submitted a false request!"

"A false request…?"

"Niavella successfully completed many requests, but her rank never went up. When she questioned it, they told her that as a witch, she should be grateful for even being accepted at the lowest rank!"

"…!"

"And then that man told Niavella that he would raise her rank if she completed a monster extermination request. I should have stopped her…!"

Tears fell from Rosen’s eyes.

‘It’s no wonder.’

The fact that Niavella was trapped within the fire giant meant she was still alive. In the original story, there were no reports of her being injured while fighting monsters, so it was likely she had an “awakening” of sorts before the monsters could attack her.

"All of these people conspired to kill Niavella! She worked so hard for the city, and this is how they repay her!"

"…"

"That’s not true, Hero-nim…! It’s a misunderstanding!"

"What misunderstanding?! You hated Niavella because her mother exposed the embezzlement schemes involving the city officials and citizens alike!"

"H-how do you know…?!"

"Embezzlement? Now that’s an interesting story."

It wasn’t the hero who reacted to Rosen’s words. Serlin stepped forward, casually resting her hand on the hilt of her sword with a smirk.

‘That’s right, she’s a minor noble.’

Even though she was only a minor noble, Serlin was still fiercely loyal to the Empire.

"Embezzling funds at the city level… That could be quite fun to investigate."

I decided to add to her statement.

"Serlin-nim, for your information, the main source of this city's income comes from a precious gemstone called the Jewel Flower, which grows in the nearby forest. It's a flower-shaped gem, and even His Majesty the Emperor is quite fond of it."

"Hmm~."

"Rosen, was it? Do you know where Niavella's mother is now?"

The hero knelt slightly to meet Rosen’s gaze. Because Rosen was about the same height as me, I accidentally made eye contact with the hero too.

"…She’s dead. After she died, the embezzlement charges were swept under the rug."

"I see… Thank you."

The hero’s eyes, which had already grown cold, now also held a quiet fury. Serlin, Lafirier, and Aria had to calm him down.

"Aswell, don’t worry about this for now. Focus on saving the witch, Niavella."

"That’s right. Serlin and I will handle the embezzlement issue. As royalty, I have a duty to look into this."

"…I need to visit the church in this city."

Aria was clearly upset at the idea that the church, an institution she revered, might be involved in something like this.

Seeing how Niavella was merely a misunderstood witch, it seemed that Aswell was even more motivated to help her.

"Thanks, I was about to ask you all for help anyway."

It appeared the hero wasn’t planning to resort to force, but rather to rely on their support.

"From now on, I will start an official investigation into this city. I have the authority to do so, so feel free to contact His Majesty if you have any questions."

"…!!"

Special investigative authority.

This was another mission entrusted to Serlin by the Emperor as part of the hero’s party.

Expose the Empire’s rot and cleanse it.

"If you wish to resist, go ahead."

Who would dare oppose someone on the path to becoming a Swordmaster?

The middle-aged man, along with the rest of the citizens, paled in fear.

I turned my attention to Rosen.

"Louis, could you help me?"

"Huh?"

"I don’t think I’ll be able to free Niavella on my own. I’d appreciate your help…"

In the original story, the hero had managed to rescue Niavella by himself. I had planned to simply inscribe a protective spell similar to a fireproof suit on him before he set off on Tempest…

"Of course. I’ll help you."

But it wasn’t like I could refuse when the hero himself was asking.

I called over Nightlux, who had been intimidating the guards' horses with his gaze, and mounted him.

"Rosen, come with us. Let’s go save Niavella."

"Ah… okay…!"

Rosen, wiping away her tears, leapt onto Nightlux behind me.

‘Leapt onto him?’

She was the same height as me, wasn’t she?

"Let’s go!"

Still somewhat shocked, I grabbed the reins as Nightlux began to run, following closely behind Tempest.

The most important thing now was to stop the fire giant and to prevent the flames spreading as it passed through.

As we rode, I could see people from the nearby village we had stayed in earlier trying to extinguish the fires.

"You’ve arrived! Cough, cough! Most of the flames have been put out, but we’re exhausted. The fire keeps reigniting as the giant passes by!"

"Thank you for your hard work. We’ll take care of it from here."

With those words, the hero drew his sacred sword and dismounted from Tempest. I, too, got off Nightlux with the hero’s help and gestured for Nightlux to take Rosen away from the immediate danger.

"Take Rosen and move to a safe place. We’ll finish this soon."

Whinny

Nightlux, seeming to understand, galloped off in the direction I had pointed, with Rosen still riding on his back. Relieved, I stood beside the hero.

Boom…

With each step, the earth shook.

Even though I knew what was happening, the pressure from the fire giant was overwhelming. The only relief was that it wasn’t actively attacking everything in sight.

Of course, the intense heat radiating from the giant was still dangerous.

"Louis."

The hero didn’t seem particularly bothered by the heat.

"That giant… is it really magic?"

"To be precise, it’s a bit different, but you could consider it a form of magic."

If magic is the process of converting mana into energy, then the giant was essentially condensed lunar mana in the form of fire.

In other words, the difference lay in whether a formal process had been followed.

"So the giant itself isn’t Niavella?"

"No. Niavella herself is hidden somewhere inside. The giant is just an extension of her mana."

In the original story, it was described as being located near the giant’s heart, and I assumed it would be the same here.

"Hero-nim, what are you planning to do?"

"I’m going to try cutting it. But if I do… it won’t harm Niavella, will it?"

"It shouldn’t. The mana making up the giant is likely completely disconnected from her. Niavella is probably in a state of mana exhaustion."

Even though it wasn’t intentional, creating the giant must have drained all of her mana.

‘I just hope she isn’t unconscious.’

Otherwise, she wouldn’t witness the hero saving her.

At that moment, the hero adjusted his stance, preparing to leap toward the giant.

"Hero-nim, wait a moment."

"Hmm?"

I hurriedly reached into my storage space and pulled out a black robe with white patterns stitched into it.

"Could you bend down for a second?"

"Oh, sure."

"Ugh… There. This is a robe I made a while back, and I’ve inscribed a heat-resistant spell on it, so you won’t get burned."

Rising on my tiptoes, I draped the robe over his shoulders and began inscribing the protective spell with my pen.

Scratch, scratch.

The sound of the golden runes being drawn in the air broke the stillness.

"…"

"…"

As I finished, I looked up and found myself making eye contact with the hero.

For a moment—maybe just a second, or maybe an hour—we stood like that.

"It’s done."

"Ah, thank you."

"Now go. Please save her."

"I will. Since you gave me this robe… I’ll make sure I don’t get hurt."

"…Okay."

I watched as the hero pushed off from the ground and dashed toward the giant.

What was he thinking when our eyes met earlier?