Due to working all night, I collapsed into sleep.
When I woke up, the sun was already setting.

“Huh…?”

My head hurt as if it were splitting, likely because I slept for too long.

“I hope Nia managed to deliver it properly…”

The sooner the results come out, the more time we’ll have to prepare against Rastok.
To be honest, I just hope there were no delays because of the design aspect.

‘…Come to think of it, I think I saw the Hero.’

Was the reason I ended up lying on the bed because the Hero brought me here?
As that thought crossed my mind, I quickly shook my head.

“Why would he bother with me?”

It’s far more likely that Lafirie, seeing me sleeping on the floor, put me on the bed instead.

But then, what about the voice I heard and the Hero’s face I saw before falling asleep?
Maybe it was just something I imagined after not seeing him for a whole day...

“…”

I don’t know. I slowly got up, trying not to feel dizzy, and stepped out of the room.

The mansion was quiet, but the harsh, desolate atmosphere from before had almost disappeared.
It now felt like the peaceful calm one would expect in a serene country house.

‘If I leave the Hero’s party, living somewhere like this wouldn’t be so bad.’

Finding a decent house in the countryside and living a peaceful life… To be honest, it would be quite lonely living alone, so it would be nice to take someone with me.
For example, Nia.

“...But would Nia want to go with Rosen?”

Of course, she’ll live with the Hero, but after that, she’ll probably stay close to her childhood friend Rosen.

What about Lafirie?
Lafirie would return to the Elven Kingdom and succeed to the throne, so that wouldn’t work.

Serlyn has her own estate and mansion, so she wouldn’t move to the countryside either.
Aria would likely be given a home by the church.

‘That older sister… I’ve already lived with her for about a year, so I don’t want to do that again.’

‘The assassin heroine? Hmm…’

She would probably refuse my offer, wanting to stick close to the Hero.

‘…In the end, I have no one.’

Was my social circle always this small?
Well, I haven’t exactly tried to make friends since I came to this world.
Most of the connections I have were naturally formed while learning magic.
Still, I couldn’t help but sigh at how few connections I had.

“...?”

Why did I look down just now?
I don’t know anymore.
I should ask Nia about the prototype’s progress.

A little later, I met Nia, who smiled brightly as she gave me feedback from the others.

“They said the effects are great!”

“You’ve already completed the experiment, huh?”

“Yep! I told them that you wanted the results as soon as possible. They grabbed it and rushed off immediately!”

Hmm.
Did they do that just because of the ‘Hero Party’ title?
If that’s the case, I feel a bit sorry.
There’s no need to rush to the point of running around in such a hurry.

“They did say it would be better if the size could be adjusted depending on the size of the blacksmiths’ forges and mines.”

“That was already something I was considering. So, there’s nothing else to worry about.”

“Exactly! You’ve worked so hard. If there had been any complaints… I would’ve fixed them myself.”

Hearing the ‘Witch of Embers’ say she would “fix it” sounded a little intimidating.

“What about the others?”

“They’re all resting. Oh, as for the Hero…”

“What about the Hero? Isn’t he resting too?”

“He came to the mansion this morning but left right away. He said he’d handle all the requests from the nearby villages.”

So, the Hero came to the mansion?
‘...’

Then was the vision I saw before sleeping really him?
“...”

“Big sister?”

“No, it’s nothing. Could you give me the report? I need to start working on the adjustments.”

“Oh, yes!”

I’m planning to work just a little today and go to bed early. I don’t want to mess up my sleep schedule again by staying up all night.

The next morning, after waking up at a normal time, I headed straight to the city management office.

“I’ve made additional improvements here.”

“Overnight… As expected, you’re impressive. Can we proceed with mass production?”

“Yes. What’s the status of the Ranar ore?”

“We’ve prepared it at the entrance to the mine.”

With so many people working, things were moving fast.
I accompanied the city management workers to the mine and saw a mountain of pink ore piled high.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

Leaving the anxious city workers behind, I took out the master key and started engraving the spell.
“Let’s start with the first stage of processing.”

Then the second and third stages of processing, forming the ores into the proper shapes for each size.
Thanks to the mana I’d stored since Alpareth, I had enough to use large-scale magic like the Spear of Ultima.

That afternoon, while I was busy with the processing work, Nia came running, panting as she carried something.

“Sis…! It finally arrived…!”

“What are you doing here?”

“This… Aria told me to bring it to you as a snack.”

When I opened the box, I saw it was full of cookies shaped like carrots.
The moment I recognized the shape, I started salivating.

So, I put one in Nia’s mouth and then tasted one myself.

“Delicious!!”

“...”

As expected from Aria, known as the Hero’s official partner. From basic soup to these high-end cookies, her cooking skills are exceptional.

Since I can hardly cook like this, Aria just seemed more and more amazing to me.

“Need help with anything?”

“No. Go back to the mansion and practice magic.”

“...Okay.”

It seems that practicing magic nonstop has started to get to her.
But soon, when Rastok appears, she’ll get plenty of chances to use magic, so I hope she can wait until then.

“What about the others?”

“Lady Aria gave you the cookies and went straight to the church… Lady Lafirie and Lady Serlyn are patrolling the city.”

“And the Hero?”

“He’s probably out again today, don’t you think?”

After telling me what the rest of the party was up to, Nia started heading back to the mansion.
I called out to her.

“Nia.”

“Yes?”

“If you see the Hero… Could you ask him to meet me this evening?”

“Of course!”

Nia didn’t ask why, and I felt grateful for that.
To be honest, I don’t have a particular reason to meet him.
It’s just that I haven’t seen him properly in a few days… and I’m worried I might forget what he looks like.

After she left, I continued working while waiting for the evening to arrive.

“That’s enough for today.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Miss Louis. Let me escort you back to the mansion.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

At my words, Knight Lux approached me with quiet footsteps, and the city worker backed away, understanding the situation.

“I should be finished by late tomorrow. After that, it’ll be up to you.”

“I’ll make sure to pass that along.”

The worker scribbling furiously in his report suddenly thanked me.

“Thank you for doing so much for our city.”

“…I’m just doing what I’m supposed to. No need to thank me.”

Feeling a bit awkward about the praise, I tried to change the subject, but the worker’s expression was serious.

“No, we are all truly grateful to you and the Hero Party. Thanks to you, our city, which had been falling apart, is starting to come back to life.”

It seemed there had been many internal issues. But with the Hero Party addressing the major problems, other aspects were gradually improving as well.

“Our city supplies important resources across the empire, but because we’re so far from the capital, we hardly receive any support. And then the incident with the Marquis…”

“I see.”

“That’s why… I wanted to express my gratitude.”

I couldn’t refuse the gratitude at that point.
I averted my eyes and nodded slightly in response, as did the worker and the others watching from behind.

Later that evening, Nia brought me news about the Hero.

“It looks like the Hero won’t be coming back tonight.”

“Oh…”

“A group of monsters appeared, and since they’re nocturnal, he’s staying in the village to handle the request.”

“I see… Alright, I’ll head inside now.”

“Good night.”

Our timing was off again.
But this was the usual way of the Hero Party.

Unless something big like the siege at the Twilight Fortress occurred, we would be scattered across various cities, each handling our own tasks.

Once the battle against Rastok begins, he’ll return. I just have to wait until then.

“…”

Still, I couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of loneliness.
With that thought, I faced the next day and returned to the mine to continue processing the ore.

Something felt off, though.

“...!”

“Hurry… Move…!”

The miners, who usually managed to stay cheerful through hard work, now wore grim expressions as they rushed about.

Wondering what was going on, I was about to approach them when someone burst out from the crowd of miners.

“Move, please!!”

“What the…”

One of the miners, looking panicked, was pushing his way through the crowd while carrying another miner on his back.
The miner on his back… something was wrong with him.

His limbs were melting like soft cheese. His face had turned blue, possibly from the shock.

‘A mining accident…?’

But what kind of accident would cause such injuries?
I asked one of the nearby miners about the situation.

“A lot of miners died while working in the distant mountains. We don’t know the cause. The guards are on their way now.”

The distant mountains?
The farthest mountain from Rakru… there are several candidates.
One of them is the mountain where Rastok is hiding until the battle begins.

But Rastok isn’t responsible for what happened to them.

‘What is this?’

In the original story, there was no mention of Rastok being discovered by miners or miners dying en masse.
These injuries aren’t from monsters or magic related to Rastok.

So, why are they injured like this?
For a moment, a certain demon came to mind.
But I quickly erased that thought. There’s no way she could be here.

“...Master key.”

I summoned the master key and glared at the distant mountain.
Something strange was happening.