"Directions to the Demon Lord's place? You can do it."

"What!?"

 

The night of the day when Master Lloyd ordered him to defeat the Demon King.

When I returned to my lodgings, I asked Ferm with a serious face about guiding me to the Demon Lord's Domain, but the answer I received was too simple.

Ferm, who was sitting across the table from me in the dining room, looked at me curiously in amazement.

 

"Why are you surprised?"

"No, no! You don't have very good memories of the Demon Lord's Realm, do you?!"

"You're treating me like a child......!"

 

For some reason, she is in a bad mood and doesn't understand why.

Seeing me confused, Nea, who was sitting next to me, was smiling openly.

 

"After all, you're too anxious to take it more seriously than Ferm himself, do you think he's such a sensitive person?"

"Yes."

"Don't answer right away."

 

I know Ferm is quite delicate.

To be honest, I've been vaguely aware of it since I was locked up in prison.

Taking a deep breath to regain her composure, she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms.

 

"In general, the Demon Lord's Territory wasn't a good place for me, but that's it, even the village where I was born has long since been cut off...... As far as the Demon King Army is concerned, I'm already a traitor, so I don't have to worry about it anymore."

「…… Is it good? Are you okay?"

"Damn it, I'm okay because I said it's okay. And besides—"

 

Ferm points at me.

Her eyes lifted and her shoulders shook as she snarled.

 

"I haven't forgotten! You threw me into the rescue team, and then immediately went on a letter-giving trip and left me behind!"

"Hmm? Oh, yes."

 

I think he left it behind, or he just couldn't get it out of the kingdom because of Ferm's position.

 

"Do you know how much hell I showed Rose after that!?"

「……?」

"Hey, why do you look so curious there......?"

"What are you looking at now......

 

Well, I think it's a shame that I, the cause of Ferm's entry into the rescue team, left her alone and went on a journey.

But I ...... that I wanted to travel so much.

The fact that he has it in his roots so far shows the strength of his feelings.

 

"Either way, it's reassuring to have you around me, and I'd be very grateful to have you with me."

「…… I'm not your armor."

"It's not like that, it's reassuring to be a friend."

「……」

 

Certainly, the figure that has been assimilated with Ferm is strong.

But more than that, it's reassuring to have friends close to you that you can rely on.

I don't know what I'm thinking, but I stop trying to talk to Ferm, whose shoulders are shaking as he looks down, to Nea, who is leaning against the table.

 

"Nea, well, I'm going to go, and I don't have to ask."

"No, listen to me, I'll follow you."

"Then you don't have to ask."

 

When she says that, Nea raises herself from the table with a fearless smile on her face.

 

"Don't you understand? It's lonely if you don't take care of it in moderation."

"Are you a maiden or something?"

 

Yada, how proud ......?

When he is said with such a confident face, he feels masculine.

Somewhat frightened, he returns his gaze from Nea to Ferm.

 

"Ferm, if you will accompany me on my journey to defeat the Demon Lord, I can ask you to come to the castle with me tomorrow."

"Oh, what am I supposed to talk about?"

"Maybe it's the terrain of the Demon Lord's Territory or a demon...... I think it's about something like that."

「…… Certainly, the Demon Lord's Territory is far from this. I get it."

 

Ferm puts his hand to his chin and nods.

When I saw her, I asked her what she was interested in.

 

"What kind of place is the Demon King Domain?"

"A gloomy place"

"I mean, even if it's my hometown, I'm going to say it......

 

Nea and I snort and laugh.

 

"At least that was the case in the village where I grew up, because of the hard-growing nature of the land, so there was no food to eat that day, and even if you hunted, there were only ferocious monsters, so there was always danger in the forest."

「…… Is it a ferocious monster?"

"As you may have already heard, it is almost impossible to travel on horseback, and if you ride a horse in a place like that, you will soon be targeted by monsters or by hungry people."

"Are you that in distress? The Demon Tribe."

"It was worse before the Demon King woke up."

 

Ferm, who utters the name of the Demon King without interest, shifts his eyes to the scenery outside that he can see from the window.

 

"I don't know how he did it, but the Demon King gave power to the land called the Demon Lord's Domain, and thanks to him, the crops grew and the water became cleaner."

「…… It's completely out of the norm. What is the Demon Lord?"

"Is it witchcraft...... Even so, the magic power is too much to cover the vast area of the Demon King Domain......."

 

However, from what I've heard, does this mean that the Demon King of this era worked for the Demon Clan living in the Demon Lord's territory?

Maybe they fought on the human side...... No, that's a naïve idea.

If the Demon King was the kind of person who would follow the methods described in his diary, it would be normal to think of it as a means to build an army that would serve as his own hands and feet.

Let's keep this in mind as an idea.

But...

 

"Is it your mission as a hero to defeat the Demon King?"

 

So, what will happen to the demon tribe after defeating the Demon King?

We don't know why they fight.

Without knowing this, is it okay to challenge the Demon King?

 

"I should look at the Demon Realm with my own eyes."

 

I'm still not aware enough.

What does it mean to defeat the Demon Lord?

In order to know it, you have to know.

 

"Hey, Usato."

"yes?"

 

When I turned to myself and looked at Nea, who had called out to me, she was slumped down on the table again and spoke to me in a slightly sleepy manner.

 

"When is the journey to defeat the Demon King going to start?"

"Based on the Demon King's condition, he doesn't know when he'll recover, so he wants to leave as soon as possible, Mr./Ms. Wealthy said...... We will leave the Lingle Kingdom within three days at the earliest, and once we have made our final preparations at the base where the battle took place, we will enter the Demon Lord's Territory."

"Hmmm, you're pretty desperate."

"That's right, it seems that the difficulty is that you don't know when the Demon King will recover."

 

I want to hurry, but impatience clouds my judgment, so stay calm! I was warned by Mr./Ms. Welsey, so I have to proceed carefully without rushing.

As he thinks about it, he notices that Nea has a troubled look on his face.

 

"I know we're going to leave soon, but then Nak will be alone again."

「…… That's right."

 

If me, Nea, and Ferm are gone, there will be nothing left but Nak.

Now that Rose and the others haven't returned, we're leaving the twelve-year-old here.

 

"I'm thinking about him, and I've told you we'll talk about it later."

"Really? Then it looks like it's going to be okay."

 

I had been thinking about Nak as well, so I promised to talk to him later.

As we were talking, Nak came to the cafeteria.

I thought it was just right, so I stood up and talked to him.

 

"Here you are, Nak."

"Yes, well, I heard that you have a story to tell ......."

"Oh."

 

…… It's okay to talk here, but if you want to change your mood, do you want to talk while walking outside?

 

"Nea, can you cook me dinner?"

"Yes, I know."

"It's going to be hard for me to do it alone, so I'll go help you when I'm done talking to Nak."

"Okay, talk to Nak more than that, I'll let Ferm help me with this."

"Huh!? Why me!"

 

"Well, I'll go," said Nea to Ferm, who objected, and headed towards the kitchen.

I reluctantly let him go, turned to Nak, and urged him to get out.

 

●

 

As we walked from the lifeguards' quarters to the training grounds, I gave Nak a brief explanation of his journey to defeat the Demon Lord.

It's information that hasn't been revealed to the public yet, but I thought I should tell him about it, so I told him about it—and his reaction when he heard it was somewhat shocked.

 

"Why......?"

 

After all, I wonder if he was shocked that he might be left alone here......

No wonder, I thought, and just as I was about to continue talking to him, he spoke before I could.

 

"Why would Mr./Ms. Usato do such a life-threatening thing......

"Nak......?"

"The battle has just ended, but the Demon King is next...... If this continues, Mr./Ms. Usato's going to die......

 

…… I'm an idiot.

When he is shocked that Nak is left alone, he is ashamed of himself for thinking so.

 

"No matter how much Usato-san Mr./Ms. is impossibly sturdy."

"Yes......."

"Someone with thick nerves that bites Mr./Ms. Rose."

"Uh, yes......."

"Even though he sometimes has a personality that makes you suspect that he has a dual personality."

「…… What's up, Nak?"

 

Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?

However, the downcast knack doesn't stop.

 

"Even if you are insensitive to the favor that you can see from the sidelines."

「…… Hmm?"

"Even if your naming sense is broken."

「……」

"Even if the movements are so polished that you can't think of a person."

「……」

"It's impossible to deal with the Demon King...... Maybe."

"Oh, wait a minute, Nak."

 

That's the most ever! - The true feelings in my heart are already overflowing!

Also, I'm saying it in a depressed way, but I'm saying quite a few things, right?

That!? Maybe you're angry that you're left alone after all!

 

"I'm sorry, I said about half of it."

"It's not half, is it? All of them, right?"

"No, in the sense that I said half of what I wanted to say......

 

That's half the meaning.

The other half is too scared to ask.

 

"Honestly, I think I know why Mr./Ms. has to go to dangerous places, because when I was helping out at the castle, I heard about the activities of Mr./Ms. Usato."

"That's ......."

"So you don't have to worry about me."

"Hmm? Why?"

 

I honestly wondered about Nak's words.

In response, he said the next word with a little surprise.

 

"It's after an important mission, so you'd better focus on that rather than me, because I don't want to disturb Mr./Ms. Usato either."

"Nak"

 

Stop and call his name.

I showed him the way to join the rescue team.

After that, I leave it up to Rose to guide her, but I still have a responsibility.

 

"Okay? I've never thought of you as a nuisance."

「……」

"You're my apprentice, your subordinate, and your fellow lifeguards, it doesn't matter how old you are. Of course, the mission is important, but I'm not the kind of person who would dismiss you because of it."

 

I understand how Nak feels.

But I still can't ignore him.

 

"Nak, why don't you go and help the leaders?"

「…… What? Can you help me...... Everyone's Mr./Ms. ...... now."

"Yes, we're treating the wounded at a base on the plains right now, and maybe there's a shortage of people there."

 

No matter how many Guernas you have, there is a limit.

If Rose is also seriously injured, she would need at least one help.

 

"In the near future, we will head towards the base to head to the Demon Lord's Territory, where we will leave you with the Leader. …… After that, it's up to you to decide what to do."

 

It's after the battle is over, so there's no danger, but it could still be a painful sight for Nak.

I don't know if it's right for me to take him to the base.

After explaining it again, I ask him if he wants to go.

 

"What do you think?"

「…… Go! It's so much better than smoldering here alone!"

"It's decided."

 

Nak is strong.

Because he has experienced a painful past and has been beaten many times, his spirit is strong and does not break in ordinary ways. I thought that he could be entrusted with it while I was gone.

…… I can't stay in the base.

As he clenches his fists and watches as he shows his motivation, he notices that he can see the training ground he always uses nearby.

 

「…… It's still too early to go back."

 

Nea and Ferm are cooking dinner, but if you go back now, you'll have to wait a bit.

 

"Alright, Nak, don't tell Nea, okay?"

"What? What is it?"

"I'm going to teach you a little bit of my tricks."

 

I've been warned by Nea before, but I'm willing to do a little bit to help him grow.

Nak and I headed straight to the training ground, and walked up to a tree near the training ground.

He wraps his raised fist with magic and shows it to Nak.

 

"A healing punch is simply a punch with a fist with healing magic, and it's a simple technique that doesn't do anything else, but with it, you can knock any opponent unconscious unscathed."

"It's pretty simple, I think I can do it...... It probably won't work out as well as Mr./Ms. Usato......"

"Like I said before, you just have to find your own technique, because mine is just a rough technique."

 

Next, he gathers the magic power in his hand into his palm and makes a magic bullet.

 

"And the healing magic bullet, you know this very well, don't you?"

"Yes! I was hit by a mess!"

 

I think it's kind of a catchy way ...... say it.

No, I know I don't mean any offense.

He regains his composure and throws a healing magic bullet at the tree in front of his line of sight.

With a bang, a magic bullet that hit the tree exploded.

 

"But even if you throw a magic bullet normally, it won't be that powerful, right? I tried to imitate it once, but I couldn't do it at all."

"Hmm? Hahaha, you don't have to throw this move."

"What!? Really?!?"

 

It's easy to be misunderstood, but my healing magic bullet is just a technique that throws magic bullets with a power technique.

If you can fire magic bullets normally, you don't need to throw them.

 

"I ...... that's just the way it is."

"I didn't have the talent to cast magic, so I had no choice but to throw it, so if you want to shoot magic bullets normally, anyone can do it."

"Me too?"

"Oh, you can do it your way. On the other hand, I'm more like a teacher. Even if you make a mistake, don't use it as a reference, okay?"

"Ha, ha, I understand."

 

Nodding at my words, Nak created a magic bullet in his right hand, just like I did.

Then, he held his palm in front of him and released the magic bullet forward. The magic bullet that was released slightly deflected the target tree and flew backwards.

 

"It's off, ......."

"But it worked, Nak, this is your healing magic bullet."

"My, healing magic bullet......"

 

Nak says with a slight trembling voice.

From the looks of it, the aiming method seems to be the same as the healing flying fist. Then I might be able to give you some advice.

As I approached next to him, I straightened my right arm and put my hand on his shoulder.

 

"Stretch straight from the shoulder to the palm, as if you were shooting a magic bullet through the space between the shoulder and the palm."

"Yes."

"It's okay to make mistakes, don't rush and aim well."

"Don't be in a hurry......"

 

Nak mutters and shoots a magic bullet from his palm once more.

As I watched him from behind, I felt like I understood a little bit of how Rose felt when he was training me.

What can I say, having a disciple to whom I can entrust my "next" is such a reassuring thing.

_________________________________

Nak's non-throwing healing magic bullet is a normal support healing move.

The healing magic bullet that Usato's throw has a healing effect and an impact.