Receiving Anastasia’s words, I looked at Romilda. Seeing her still embraced by Sofia, I put my hand to my mouth and thought.

A key to victory, huh…

“Hmm, we might be able to do something about Nefmeiza. The problem is everything else. According to Sir Richard’s documents, there are two major obstacles to this battle. One is Nefmeiza’s Plan, starting with the Artificial Dragons. The other is the ‘Five Knights’ who are part of the ‘Jet Black Sword’.”

“I think Knights would be easy for Sir Ruon to handle.”

Richard mentioned it, but Anastasia shook her head.

“Lord Ruon must deal with the Artificial Dragons and such… Romilda should know more about that situation.”

When the topic was brought up, Romilda finally pulled away from Sofia. Having stopped crying, she looked at us with red eyes.

“Romilda, can you tell us about it?”

Anastasia said. Then she began to speak slowly, as if choosing her words carefully…

“Um, I… and Big Brother Ruon tried to go to this person named Nefmeiza, but…”

–‘Big Brother’ feels a little awkward. Oh well.

“The Five Knights appeared to obstruct us. At that time, magic power was starting to gather at one point in the Town, and I think they stood in our way to prevent us from going there.”

“What did I do then?”

“You fought, of course. But even if you defeated them, their bodies would return to normal.”

“Regenerative Ability… if it was after receiving my attack, then it seems they accumulated power in preparation for that battle. It’s almost certain that they were created with the premise of fighting me… Just to confirm, that was in the Town, right?”

“Yes. There were many people around.”

–So, in addition to their abilities, they took advantage of a situation where using my full power would harm those around me. I see, they thought that through.

“So, we need to create forces to counter those Five Knights, then.”

“If we’re just stopping them, don’t we need to limit it to five people?”

Richard’s opinion. That’s true, but–

“We only have one month left. We have to consider who to choose, and it would be difficult to train a large number of people.”

“If possible, we should add five people.”

Anastasia interjected.

“The documents also list candidates, though not exactly five.”

“Oh… ah, it’s the Book.”

Looking at the names, in addition to Emperor Candidates like Abel and Katora, Yusuka’s name was also listed.

“Looking at these members, did they not play a very active role in the previous battle?”

“Sir Abel seemed to be the leader of an organization to overthrow the Emperor due to Exon’s influence. However, seeing as it says that, apart from Sir Abel, they weren’t very involved, it seems Lord Ruon and the others didn’t have enough hands to spare.”

Well, they were predicting a two-month period, but the final battle was a month later, so they couldn’t even formulate a strategy, I suppose.

“Understood. Then what we need to do is gather forces that can counter the Knights, and Sofia and I need to become even stronger.”

“That’s quite an unreasonable request, isn’t it…?”

Sofia’s words were very calm. I can understand why she would say that.

This time there’s also a strict time limit… To overcome that– I started reading the documents.

“For now, we just have to investigate how the previous battle progressed and decide how we should move forward.”

“Lord Ruon, are there no details about Time Reversal Magic?”

“…Now that you mention it, it’s not written. No, wait.”

As I read further… there it was.

“It seems the investigation couldn’t be completed in one month.”

“Should we investigate that in parallel as well?”

That’s Sofia’s question, but… we simply don’t have time.

“We need to be efficient. We have to come to a conclusion today or tomorrow.”

“The magic Nefmeiza uses should be a priority.”

Anastasia said.

“It would be best to investigate in more detail how it is activated.”

“So, what we need to do is inform the Spirits that time is running out, right?”

“Hmm, but I cannot create any more duplicates of myself.”

Garuku appeared on his right shoulder. Anastasia’s eyes widened.

“Oh, it was written in the Documents, but are you the being called the Spirit God?”

“Indeed.”

“If possible, I would like to speak with your True Self, but I ask for your understanding.”

“It’s fine… Lord Ruon, it is also possible for me to act completely independently. Given that I cannot contact my True Self, my activities are also limited. I think it’s an option to act separately.”

“That’s true, but…”

As Garuku said, there don’t seem to be any drawbacks… No, wait.

“Let’s decide later. For now, Garuku’s method is one option.”

“Understood.”

“I will try to reach a conclusion today or tomorrow. Based on that, we will decide what to do with Garuku.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Various candidates have come to mind. However, I’m struggling because the method of action requires some ingenuity.”

—Although the situation is different from the game, it is possible to enhance abilities by utilizing game knowledge. There are methods to dramatically increase abilities, which, while having challenges, do exist. Also, for example, dungeons where high-level Monsters lurk should still exist, considering the experience with the Demon King. If we use them effectively, training might be completed in a short period.

However, methods like “forming a party with weak characters, defeating strong Monsters, and leveling up quickly” as in a game cannot be used. In other words, the Book people’s efforts will be necessary, to a greater or lesser extent. Even for training, how to handle this seems to be the key.

“I’ll spend today organizing my thoughts and thinking about it.”

“What should we do?”

Sofia’s question. I looked at Romilda and said,

“Please stay with Romilda.”

“Understood.”

“Before reading the Documents, should we confirm our strength once?”

—I sent a gaze to Anastasia, who had spoken to me.

“…That’s an option too, but it’s before the Feast. I have to read the Documents, so I’ll skip it today.”

“I see. I wanted to see Lord Ruon’s abilities a little, though.”

Perhaps that was her objective… I shrugged and reiterated.

“Today, considering the Feast, let’s rest. However, from tomorrow onwards, it will be extremely busy. Be prepared.”

Sofia and Richard—and Romilda too—nodded. She also has the will to fight. For now, that is enough.

However, the challenges are numerous. In addition to finding a way for Sofia and me to become stronger, there’s the method of strengthening Abel and the others to counter the Five Knights. Furthermore, there’s the creation of weaponry that consolidates Dragon Demon Stones, and the details of Time Reversal Magic… all of which must be done within a month.

Honestly, the question of whether it’s possible lingers… but no, it must be done.

A method to solve many of these… that might be possible by utilizing game knowledge. However, I don’t know if the means I’m thinking of are correct.

Since the time is short, I don’t want to fail. I will read the Documents and come to a conclusion about it… I concluded that in my mind.