This time, I will send it from Leona's point of view.

The day before heading to Kamherio, where the Hero Gathering Festival will be held.

I was at the Kureha Fountain in the depths of Mialak, where Falga-sama was, and I had heard from him about Usato.

The content is what he is trying to do in Calmherio.

In order to gather information about Sia Garmio, a girl who is said to have memories of the hero Hisago, she is about to go to her hometown of Kamherio, where the hero ended his life.

 

"You seem to have mastered magic sensing."

"Huh."

 

A new technology in magic manipulation developed by Usato.

He has a sense of magic itself, and by sensing it, he senses everything that comes into contact with it.

 

"With the help of Master Farga, I am finally here."

"It's good when you can use it to the point where it can be used in actual battles, and that technology is a mystery to me in the first place."

 

I was able to master magic sensing only because of the help of Falga-sama and because I myself have mastered the technique of strengthening the lineage, which requires delicate magical manipulation.

 

"Now you can sense the presence of the devil and deal with it."

「…… Yes."

 

The existence of demons has been repelled many times by Usato, but this is only possible because he is resistant to demons, and it is not surprising that ordinary humans can be manipulated and made puppets.

Above all, it is a threat when it can sneak into any place by using magic that blends in with the world.

But from now on, he's not the only one dealing with demons.

As a hero, I can help him, Usato.

 

"Usato's gauntlet doesn't have me now."

「…… I heard about it from the Norns."

 

In the previous battle, he was robbed of the gauntlet, the armor of the hero, by Sia Garmio.

I was more than a little upset at the loss of the gauntlet, the linchpin of his defense, to protect him from the outburst of magic, but on the other hand, Master Falga looked down at me without the slightest sign of agitation.

 

"But that doesn't weaken him."

"Why?"

"The armor of the brave is the one that holds the bounds of possibility."

 

I've heard that story before.

The armor of the hero is not a random power, but one that brings out the potential of the wielder.

They seem to wield immense power, but in the end, they are only drawing out their own potential.

That's why it's surprising that Usato's lack of a gauntlet, the armor of the brave.

 

"If you keep growing, you will eventually be able to wield the power of my armor without needing it."

"And me?"

"Of course."

 

…… I have to work hard.

I must continue to grow, not being swallowed up by the power of the future possibilities of the armor of the brave.

As he made up his mind to do so, Falga continued.

 

"Usato is a human being, like Hisago, who has taken the lead in his own potential and continues to grow beyond his own imagination -- after all, human beings will always be beyond my imagination."

 

The expression on Farga's face as she muttered this seemed somewhat happy.

 

●

 

Remembering his conversation with Falga-sama, he looks down at Usat and Liz, the hero of the kingdom of Nesha, whom he is fighting from the top of a house inside the city, the site of the first trial.

His battle had changed a lot more than before.

In the past, the way I knew Usato's fighting style was centered on defense with a gauntlet.

However, Usato's current fighting style was flexible and powerful enough to deal with any attack -- a very troublesome opponent to fight against.

 

"That's what I have to do."

 

While pulling out his wooden sword, he releases it as if radiating the ice magic he wears in his left hand.

Ice crystals fall over a wide area like snow, greatly expanding the range of my magic sense.

 

"Whew."

 

Adjust your breathing again.

I've already had a meeting with Mirfa and the rest depends on my efforts——— but more than that, I can't help but be elated by the current situation.

What I have now is a sword and shield made of ice that I had prepared before the start of the trial.

The sword is made of ice to cover the hilt of the wooden sword, and the shield is made into a round shield that can be easily handled, rounded to make it easier to parry attacks.

I'm cheating a bit on these things, but Mirfa says, "You'd better be a little cunning!" So it's going to be okay, maybe.

 

「…… Let's go."

 

Jump off the roof with soaring ice crystals.

When Usato and Liz notice the ice crystal they released, they land beside them.

 

"Mr./Ms. Leona!"

"Come on, I'll give you your armband!"

 

He has no intention of doing so, but surprise is useless to Usato, who has the same sensing ability.

And this beastman hero named Liz is the same because he has some kind of sensing method.

If that's the case, let's let them participate in the war fairly.

 

"Disturb, Brave of Mialak"

 

However, Usato is not the only opponent.

Liz, the hero of the kingdom of Nesha. She glared at her through the gap in her orange hair with her longitudinal pupils peculiar to beastmen, and she attacked while lightly brandishing a large sword that was well beyond her height.

 

"Huh!!"

 

He parries the blows of a large sword loaded with centrifugal force with an ice shield.

The strength of the bladder is also not the same.

And this move is ......!

 

"It's Kannagi-dono's body technique!"

"It's like you've met them in person."

"Exactly!"

 

They hit each other with their swords as if they were going to throw Liz's big swords, and when she was ready to swing at her, she slammed her shield into the ground.

 

"Huh?"

 

A frightened Liz steps back slightly, and at the same time, she immediately catches Usato's fist with her shield.

Not a small impact reverberated from the shield to the arm, but his blow did not break the shield.

Usato opened his eyes at the strength of his shield before smiling fearlessly.

 

"Mr./Ms. Leona! Wasn't it forbidden to strengthen the lineage?"

"During the trial! If you make it before then, there will be no problem!!"

"Certainly!!"

 

This sword and shield were created using the lineage enhancement before the start of the trial.

With this, I can handle your strength!

 

"Hero of Mialak, you're troublesome."

「「!」」

"I'm not good at fighting."

 

Liz, who has rebuilt, also joins the fray.

Seeing the gap in Usato's consciousness turned to Liz, she dodged the shield from his fist and slashed at the same time as it spun and was imbued with ice magic.

In response, Usato parries the slash with his magic-enriched palm and dodges the blow of Liz's great sword.

Seeing that Liz and Usato are within sight, I put my magic into the ice shield and release it radially like a blizzard. The icy wind crashed against Usato and Liz, but they didn't slow down in the slightest.

 

"I'm used to being cold."

"Guts!!"

"You're still the same!!"

 

Liz grew up in a cold place for a reason, but when it comes to Usato, she's also out of the ordinary.

But I think I know him well enough not to question it.

 

"There!"

 

The mastery of magic sensing had no small influence on my ice magic.

Instead of casting magic with his palm, he generates multiple magic bullets on his back and fires them at Liz and Usato———

Usato wraps his magic in his palm to parry the magic, and Liz tries ———to knock him down with his big sword, but as soon as he makes contact, the magic bullet explodes, freezing them so that the contained magic power hinders their movement.

 

"I can't parry!?"

"What...... This"

 

Magic sensing is a technique that reflects one's will to magical power away from oneself.

Beyond the magic control that I had vaguely controlled until now, the magic bullets that had to be activated at the same time as the bullet landed, can now be activated at any time at my will.

Usato has his right arm and Liz has his lower body and right arm with a large sword frozen, which re———stricts his movements, but since Liz's armband is covered in ice, the aim remains the same.

 

"Come on, I'll give you an armband."

"If you can take it...... !!"

 

In this trial, I am restricted from using the armor of the Hero.

But it's the same with Usato, he doesn't assimilate Ferm, and he doesn't have Nea's aid. On top of that, one of his tactics, the outburst of magical power, is also severely restricted.

But that's not what makes him so bad.

 

"Hmmm."

 

When he puts a lot of pressure on his arms, he bangs! and the ice covering his arm shatters.

In addition, he has green healing magic on both arms, and attacks from here while generating multiple magic bullets behind him.

 

"No motion, magic bullets! Whew!"

 

He wields his sword and at the same time fires the magic bullets he generates.

In response to the simultaneous attack of the magic bullet that approached me from the surroundings while drawing an arc with my sword, he dodged the magic bullet that attacked me without even looking at me while flicking the peak of my sword with his fist.

——— Ability to sense the situation by sensing magical power.

The benefits I have gained from mastering magic sensing are an extension of the magic manipulation provided by my situational awareness, but it is simpler than I am.

 

"It's easy to say that you can avoid it if you know!!"

 

Even the magic bullets approaching from out of sight are no longer meaningful to him.

No matter how much you surround them and attack them at the same time, they will be dodged and dealt with with the precision of sewing a needle hole.

But it's the same here!

 

"Whew!"

"Nhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

At the moment of attack, it attacks with magic bullets at the same time.

Then, one of them deliberately explodes ——— decoy, and the other two hit Usato directly!

 

"Huh!?"

 

Frozen arms and legs!

All that's left to do is ——— the moves!

Just as he was about to fire an additional magic bullet while stopping in his tracks, his arms and legs froze and he was glued to the spot, and he was frozen on the spot.Arms and legs・・・and move on.

 

"What!?"

 

Arms and legs were cut off!? No, it's not!!

The magic bullet didn't hit him directly from the beginning! Who won...... Is it an afterimage of magical power?

 

"Healing Afterimage Fist ——— Second Type, Partial Substitution"

 

- Did you wrap your arms and legs with magic and use them as decoys?

Such a technique, until a while ago...... Well, I'm using it for the first time now! You really do that!! That hasn't changed at all since we first met!

 

"But that's what you've been building up!"

 

Immediately quelling his astonishment and agitation, he focused his attention on him as he stepped in at once, and fired a magic bullet at him that he was about to generate to turn the tide back in his direction.

 

"That magic bullet won't work anymore!!"

 

He catches the magic bullet with his arm without dodging it——— pulls out his arm, and cuts off the magic power that formed his arm to prevent the magic bullet.

For a moment, he gives the illusion that his arms will increase to multiple, and then he spreads his arms to the sides.

 

"If you can't touch it, you can touch it to prevent it!!"

 

In the distance, I thought I heard an auditory hallucination of Nea screaming in terror.

The magic bullets that freeze instantly don't work on him anymore!

While wrapping my tongue around the ability to respond as usual, I naturally strengthened my smile.

 

"Don't remember the time of Mialak."

"Yes!!"

 

Usato responds to the words he muttered involuntarily.

When I first met you, I was a boy who was still new to fighting.

I can't help but feel happy that you've gone through countless ordeals and continued to grow.

 

"Hmmm!!"

 

Usato, with magic wrapped in his arms, releases his right fist.

At the same time that he knocked it down with his sword, anotherRight fist・・flies and my mind is confused for a moment.

Is it a feint using an arm that alter ego? It's ...... that you can't see it until the last minute!

His magic-clad fist remains in place like a shell, blocking our vision as a fist with a substance approaches.

 

"Shhhh

 

Instead of parrying, he receives a fist from the front and backs back, while firing a magic bullet to prevent the follow-up.

This numbness just by taking one fist properly...... After all, you're ridiculous!

 

"But just like I did then, I'm not going to be easily beaten!"

 

Behind him, he creates four thin non-offensive pillars of ice instead of ice swords, and switches to melee combat.

 

"Healing Afterimage Wave!"

 

Is this also a new technique?

Confirm it with visual inspection and magic detection, and continue to send icicles flying around you and bringing it into close combat while holding your shield.

He moves around in all directions, swinging his sword at him to avoid the icicles that are approaching him———、

 

"——— Healing Breakdown"

 

In an instant, the vibration of healing magic that had been released earlier changed.

I sensed it with my magical senses, and I released the ice magic in the form of a collision with the vibration to offset it.

 

"What!"

"You're not the only one who can use the technique!!"

 

He thrusts out his tightly drawn left shield and at the same time activates his ice magic, blowing Usato's body backwards.

He stepped back and unwound his protective arms, rolling his eyes in surprise and smiling.

 

"After all, it's too much."

"It's a skill you taught me."

 

Crushing the magic bullet that Usato had generated in my palm, I sprinkled the ice magic on my sword ——— expand the range of our magic sense.

If the range of each other's senses is equal, then the battle between me and Usato, will result in an information war using magical sensing.

 

「「!」」

 

Just as I was about to continue fighting, I sensed that Liz, who had broken the ice restraints that I and Usato had newly expanded within the range of magic sensing ———with her power technique, was about to swing her sword at me as she leaped towards me and swung it high while wearing white magic on her body.

 

"Don't ignore me and have fun."

 

As Usato and I jumped backwards at the same time, the sword slammed into the ground, slamming into the ground in the middle of the city with an extraordinary shock and destruction.

 

●

 

I really didn't want to be the hero of the kingdom of Flemia.

I was appointed as a hero and forced to participate in the Hero Collection Festival because I showed off my research results at the training ground for a test shot of magic and received unnecessary attention.

I just wanted to research.

What are the magical attributes of lineage magic?

What is the process by which the magical attributes emanating from the body are embodied?

For example, I have a fire spell.

What is a line of flames, and is the flame coming out of the body as magic? That's not true. There is an order to things, and it takes many factors for a fire to flare up as a flame.

However, the fact is that flames are generated as magic.

After studying the mystery, I hypothesized that ——— magic could be divided into stages before form.

As a result, the hypothesis was correct.

In the process of casting magic, I succeeded in dividing fire magic into "fire" and "wind" and making it appear to have two strains.

However, that research has now come to a halt due to the selfish heavyweights of the Kingdom of Fremia.

Perhaps they thought it was a hindrance to me researching a technology that didn't make sense, or maybe my technology was simply evaluated only on the superficial side of its destructive power.

 

So I decided not to do what the Kingdom of Fremia wanted.

Who will act as a hero?

I'm a researcher. I'm definitely not a fighter, and I'm not researching to hurt or break anyone.

 

"Whew!! It's amazing! What is this!!"

"Ah-chan, be quiet! I'm going to be noticed!!"

"But I know how it feels!! It's an ongoing flood of magic innovation, isn't it?!"

 

In the first test, we gave up the battle early.

I was given the squire armband, but to be honest, I don't need my armband, and more importantly, the heroes Inukami and Mr./Ms. Usato, who can be said to be the central figures of this first trial.

I want to see and observe their movements with my own eyes.

With such a desire for research, I moved around sloppily and found it——— and found it.

 

"Alter ego!? No, does that make the magic itself resilient?"

"What an elaborate magic operation"

"Well, isn't that not manipulating magic outside, but completing magic manipulation inside?"

 

While the three of them each voice their thoughts, they scribble in their notebooks and watch the battle with Mr./Ms. Usato, Leona the Brave, and Liz the Brave from the rooftops.

I was a little late and had to start halfway through, but even so, a tremendous amount of information was thrust into my brain from the visuals.

 

"Hehehehe, I don't care about the mission of the heroes of the Flemia Kingdom anymore......"

"That's right, Ah-chan."

"Research is fun, it's fun."

 

Perhaps because he prioritized his mission as a hero, his inquisitive spirit as a researcher, which had been suppressed, continues to overflow without ceasing.

…… Speaking of which, I saw from the rooftop that Rival of the Kingdom of Garga was looking for someone with bloodshot eyes with one of his attendants, but who was he looking for?