“Could you wait a moment?”

“Hm?”

When I turned around, Richard was looking at me with a stern expression.

“…It’s about you, in a vague sense.”

“Yes.”

“In the future… though it’s far off, I have a premonition of fighting a formidable enemy.”

—That’s a rather abstract statement.

“Are you referring to the Demon King?”

“The Demon King… I think so, probably.”

An ambiguous reply. As I frowned, he continued.

“No, logically speaking, I don’t think there’s anyone stronger than the Demon King…”

So, his power of prophecy was at work, and he had his own thoughts on the matter.

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

I replied and left. As I was about to exit the Fortress, Garuku’s voice came to me.

“He was an interesting fellow.”

“Yes… and I also realized that the Southern Invasion will be a troublesome battle.”

“Do you have a counter-strategy?”

“We’ll just have to try various things… Lefin, what about that?”

When I asked, Lefin appeared right beside me and began to speak.

“From what Mr. Richard said, the battle in the Southern Region seems to be quite difficult… It appears we need to formulate even more counter-strategies against the Demon Race than before.”

“Will you and your group help too, Lefin?”

“Of course.”

“We now have three things to do.”

Garuku said.

“Creating the Weapon Vessel, sealing magic, and a counter-strategy for the Southern Invasion… None of these are problems that can be solved quickly.”

“Among these, creating the Weapon Vessel can probably be put off until later.”

I responded to Garuku’s words.

“There’s a time limit for the Demon King’s Magic and the Southern Invasion. There are three of the Five Great Demons remaining, and if we defeat two of them, the Southern Invasion will occur, and if we overcome that, the Demon Lord’s Mighty Magic awaits… We can consider these two to be linked, so we need to have a solid counter-strategy in place before defeating four of the Five Great Demons.”

At worst, creating the Weapon Vessel could wait until after these two events were over… Just as I was thinking that, Lefin asked a question.

“Lord Ruon, regarding the Demon Race pouring in from the Southern Region, in the Story, humanity was naturally the main force in the battle, right?”

“That’s right.”

“In that case, it wouldn’t be strange for there to be a leader-like figure.”

Oh, that person has already been decided.

I said that, then continued, envisioning future events.

Actually, some of the events I want to interfere with involve that leader. Those events haven’t happened yet, but I’m observing them by sending out my Familiar, so I’ll know immediately if anything happens.

I see… There’s also the option of revealing Lady Sofia’s true identity to gather soldiers, but we probably still need to keep her being alive a secret… Considering when we can make the five Great Wars with Demons and Lady Sofia’s identity public, I thought there might be situations where there isn’t enough time to gather soldiers. So, forming a cooperative relationship with such a leader and responding might be one approach.

That’s certainly true. Either way, I intended to get involved with the leader. I’d like to discuss various things at the timing when the event triggers.

—While having such a conversation, I returned to Hometown.

I had mostly finished my business, so I was thinking about returning to Ganaize soon… but there was one last thing I wanted to do.

Returning to Town, I visited Richard from Book again at the inn. But he wasn’t there, and as I walked through the Town, I found him walking with Rete.

Hello.

Oh, Ruon. What’s up?

I have a couple of questions for you two.

Upon saying that, Richard tilted his head.

Questions?

There’s a possibility that the Demon Race will invade further in the future… I was wondering what you would do in that case.

According to Richard, who was at the Fortress, they moved to avoid fighting the Demon Race. I wondered if that was still the case for the fifth-cycle Richard.

…We do defeat Monsters when requested by this Town. But well, I intend to know our limits.

Those words likely meant they would move to avoid them, just as before.

I see…

Since I’m observing him using my Familiar, Richard at the Fortress is probably taking countermeasures against them. But well, since I’ve gotten involved like this, I thought I’d do something.

…I wanted to give you something as thanks for taking on this Town’s request.

No, you don’t have to do that—

Besides, we’ve made a connection now… I also have work to do sometimes, so we might meet again in the future. Please accept this as a gesture of goodwill.

—With that, I handed them an accessory that slightly enhances magic power and a Bracelet that allows for emergency evasion when in danger, which I also gave to Sofia. Richard and the others seemed puzzled by my actions, but eventually said “Thank you” and accepted them.

Sorry, somehow.

Don’t worry about it… Both of you, stay well.

You too, Ruon.

Yeah.

Nodding, I started walking. I left the Town and was about to begin my journey to Ganaize.

Just before that, I suddenly felt a presence and looked up at the sky. A bird, seemingly Richard’s Familiar, was circling in a way that I could understand.

…A thank you, perhaps.

I waved my hand lightly, and the Familiar stopped circling and returned to the Town. After watching it go… I started the incantation for Movement Magic once more.

After taking breaks along the way, I finally made it back to Ganaize. By the time I arrived, it was the morning of the day after I had left my hometown.

It was around the time when the markets on the streets opened and people gathered… I visited the Training Ground and found Sofia and Sylvie deep in conversation. Eiley was watching over them.

Eiley.

Hmm? Oh, you’re back.

How is it?

It’s finished for now. I guarantee it.

Then there’s no doubt. As I approached Sofia and the others, Sofia spoke first.

Lord Ruon, welcome home.

Ah… it seems you’re done. By the way, how is Sylvie?

She’s also doing great.

Then that’s reassuring… When should we depart?

We’ll rest today and leave tomorrow.

I replied, “Understood,” to Sylvie’s words. Sofia also agreed—and the training came to an end.

If anything happens, come here and I’ll advise you.

Eiley said. Sofia thanked her politely,

“Thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing… I wish you good fortune in battle.”

And so we left the Training Ground. There, Sylvie spoke up.

“Well, the plan from here is… to go to Undine’s Dwelling, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Sofia, is that alright with you?”

“Yes. At the same time, let’s gather information about the situation on the Continent.”

“You can leave that to me.”

When I puffed out my chest, Sofia said, “Please do.” After that, we decided to rest today in preparation for tomorrow.

As we headed to the inn, I began to think. The encounter with Richard had added further challenges. Nevertheless, it was fortunate that we were able to obtain such information.

With the second of the Five Great Demons defeated, things are progressing rapidly. It’s still unclear when we’ll fight the third, but once it’s defeated, the game scenario will be about halfway through.

Ideally, I want to be prepared before the event to defeat the fourth one begins… As a first step, I will first subjugate the Water King Azua.

The leader of the Human Side against the Southern Invasion has not yet made a move. While thinking that I should keep an eye on that in the future… I, along with Sofia and the others, decided to head to the Undine’s Dwelling.