From the next day, Sofia and I began our journey to contract with a Spirit Gnome.

The movements of the Game Protagonists are currently progressing smoothly according to the scenario… In the future, various events other than the main scenario await the Protagonists. However, although there are main scenarios for each character, the ultimate goal is the defeat of the Five Great Demons and the Demon King. I will need to constantly check whether they encounter events that challenge the Five Great Demons.

The most important thing is who will challenge the Five Great Demons first. If they defeat them in that flow, that person will be the center of the scenario… In other words, they will undoubtedly be in the position of the Protagonist in this Continent, which has become the real world. What should I do when that is decided… I must think about it thoroughly now.

Also, in the battle in the Ancient Ruins, a problem concerning my presence arose… I consulted with Lefin, but it seems that the “something” I emit cannot be resolved even with the Artifacts I obtained. I tried wearing them, but there was no effect. I presume that my stats are maxed out, so the power of the Artifacts cannot cover it.

Regarding this, Lefin said she would think about it… Even she, who uses Wind Spirits to sense presences, only guessed that I was moderately strong when she first saw me. For now, we’ve concluded that as long as I don’t go all out in a place with Demon Race, it’s unlikely that my true strength will be conveyed to the Demon King or others. Nevertheless, this area also requires a counter-strategy.

While organizing such thoughts in my head—I gave Sofia Magic instruction along the way.

“Alright, I’ll begin the explanation of ‘Bird Soar’.”

“Yes.”

She nodded. Her expression was solemn, and I could tell she was paying close attention, not wanting to miss a single word of mine.

—What I’m about to teach is Magic that, by nature, increases movement speed during combat. It’s Magic that can only target oneself, and it’s quite dangerous Magic.

This magic, while not a problem in the game, seems to create a wind-like membrane around the body, and has enough force to blow people away if touched. It’s difficult to handle, to the point where I can’t even touch objects other than what I’m wearing. Therefore, there aren’t many humans who use it the way I do.

“First, the way I’ll teach you to handle magic is strictly for transportation. Be careful, it’s different from how you’d use it when encountering monsters.”

“Understood.”

So, training began… but there was one problem. When I developed this method, my movement speed increased dramatically… but there were cases where I misoperated it and crashed into trees.

So, I explained to be careful with the control… but here was a miscalculation.

“…I-I’m sorry.”

About two minutes after activating the magic, she easily ran out of strength.

“I-I didn’t realize maintaining it was so difficult…”

This magic itself doesn’t consume much magic power, but continuously pouring magic power into it to maintain it seems to be a different story. Even offensive magic might require continuous release of magic power if you’re clashing with an opponent, but… since its fundamental structure is different from offensive magic, it might be difficult for her to handle and maintain.

In my case, when I started using this magic, I was already at a level where I could learn advanced magic, so maintaining it wasn’t that difficult… but it seems to be too much for Sofia right now.

Hmm, to run into such a problem… magic power itself increases if you keep using magic — at least that’s how it was in the game. So, I guess I have no choice but to have her continuously use magic and train.

But if she can’t use it right away, I need to think a bit… if an emergency occurs, would I have to come up with a plausible reason to act alone?

While I was pondering various things, Sofia used magic again. She seemed to be checking its behavior, moving around with wind wrapped around her body.

Apparently, her movement ability changes quite a bit depending on the output, and Sofia’s is slower compared to mine. Nevertheless, that speed is faster than a galloping horse, and even at this stage, if she masters it properly, she will fulfill her role just as well as I do.

However, she herself seems to be struggling, having trouble with the controls.

“Whoa, there…!”

Sofia operates the magic while exclaiming… maybe I should let her rest a bit.

“Hey, Sofia. Take a short break—”

Just as I said that, her body suddenly floated. It seems she was likely caught by the surrounding wind and her own magic, completely losing control.

Oh, this is bad… Sofia’s body soared and flew straight towards me. The magic disappeared right after, but she didn’t stop. Although she wasn’t screaming, she must have been utterly astonished inside.

I have to stop her… I thought and moved. My plan was to use sudden wind magic to neutralize her movement and catch her body… that was the strategy.

I activated magic and generated wind. Her movements noticeably slowed, and I caught her body directly in front of me.

And I caught her in my arms.

“Are you alright?”

As soon as I asked, Sofia’s eyes widened in surprise, and then her face flushed slightly.

“Are you hurt?”

“N-No.”

When I set her down, she took a surprisingly agile step back. It didn’t seem like she disliked it, but… was she embarrassed, just like when I carried her after the battle in the Ancient Ruins?

I wonder if that relates to how she feels about me… No, let’s not think about it. I mean, she’s a princess, even if she’s an attendant.

“I-I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“…Alright.”

I simply nodded at Sofia’s words, then said, “Let’s move on,” and started walking.

“The magic still needs a bit more adjustment.”

“Y-Yes.”

She walked beside me, nodding… Well, the event is progressing slower than expected, so she’ll have time to practice.

I thought that, but… perhaps frustrated that she couldn’t control it, she had a grim expression. I couldn’t help but give a wry smile at her appearance.

“Sofia, take your time.”

“I understand… I apologize.”

While conversing… we proceeded along the highway and eventually arrived at a post town. A town along the highway that never appeared in the game.

“First, we need to find an inn.”

It’s evening, so there’s not much time. I need to be quick.

Just as I thought that, someone passed by. They went past Sofia and were about to walk away when—

“Hold on.”

I called out to them and grabbed their right wrist.

“!

The person let out a short groan… They were wearing a dark brown hooded cloak, so I couldn’t see their face, but judging by their build and groan, it was probably a woman.

“Lord Ruon?”

Sofia asked, curious about what I was doing. Immediately after that,

something fell from deep within the person’s right wrist that I was holding.

“…Huh?”

Sofia uttered a sound. It was unmistakably astonishment.

—It was a simple-looking leather Sophia’s Wallet, one I’d seen many times on my travels.

“It’s a pickpocket.”

I stated concisely, then pulled the person closer with force.

“O-ow!”

The person screamed. Nevertheless, I mercilessly kept my grip on their wrist and checked their face.

As expected, it was a woman. She had dull brown hair and a tanned face. I think she’d look quite pretty if she cleaned herself up.

And just after confirming her face, I was inwardly astonished… Could she be a character who joins the party?

“L-let go of me!”

The woman raised her voice. But I said to her, without changing the strength of my grip,

“For now, if you return the dropped wallet to her properly, I’ll let go.”

“O-okay!”

I released her hand. I was confident I could catch her if she tried to escape, so I did, but she didn’t show any sign of running away. She must have felt my strength and realized it was futile.

Immediately after, her hood fell back, revealing her face… and I was certain.

She was Kyarun Baffi, one of the characters who could join the party.

As you can tell from her pickpocketing, she is a Thief-type Character with the Steal skill. There are three such characters in total, but she is the first one you can recruit.

Furthermore, if you complete the event to recruit her, another party member character appears. Since it’s a side event, you can skip it if you don’t think you need to recruit her, but the event itself earns a decent amount, so even if you don’t need to recruit her, you sometimes trigger it intentionally.

Now, about her crucial abilities… frankly, she’s weak. In addition to being able to equip light weapons like Daggers, she doesn’t excel in any skills other than Steal.

Her crucial stats show high agility, so her evasion rate is decent, but… in the game, the balance was such that brute forcing through enemies resulted in less damage than trying to evade their attacks, so, frankly, the use for that advantage was almost nonexistent.

It’s partly due to the system’s unfairness… the Steal skill is an advantage, but shortly after she joins, a Steal skill user with superior abilities appears, so she’s rarely used until the end… Oh, I’m starting to feel sorry for her.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Kyarun nervously returned the wallet to Sofia. Sofia, looking confused, simply said, “Thanks,” and took the wallet.

“W-will you let me go…?”

Then she timidly asked me. I feel a bit sorry for her, but… hmm, well, she’s a character who joins the party…

As I was thinking that, a man approached us. A man with a buzz cut wearing undyed Leather Armor. He was undoubtedly Kyarun’s comrade—

“Hey, Kyarun.”

At the voice, she flinched once, then shifted her gaze.

“Oh, Nogu…”

“You did it, didn’t you?”

Kyarun froze. Um, if I recall correctly, in the game—

“S-Sorry. Um…”

“My bad habit came out again, I suppose… Traveler, my apologies.”

The man apologized. Then Sofia stepped in front of me and said,

“It’s good that my wallet itself wasn’t stolen, though…”

“I’m truly sorry.”

Nogu apologized again.

“Originally, we were in the bandit business… but now we’ve reformed and are cooperating with the local soldiers to defeat monsters.”

“Like mercenaries?”

“Yes… but since we are humans of that background,”

After saying that much, he rubbed Kyarun’s head with his hand.

“There are some with sticky fingers like this. He was trying to reconfirm his pickpocketing skills and intended to return it immediately, which is why he did this… but the fact that he stole it doesn’t change. We can’t complain even if he’s taken to the guardhouse.”

“…Hmm, I see.”

Sofia had a serious expression. Hmm, this might turn into a troublesome situation. That’s because this conversation was almost exactly the same as Kyarun’s first event in the game.

The place where the event was supposed to occur was completely different, but it seems we activated an event flag in an unfamiliar post town.

What should I do about this?

“No, it’s fine.”

“I see… Kyarun, let’s go.”

“Okay.”

Nogu led her away, her shoulders slumped. For now, the conversation ended without incident, but… in the game, an event occurs in a different location after this.

If we encounter it, I need to think about what to do. I could clear the event and say, “Please cooperate with the humans fighting the demon race and the Demon King,” but if I ignore it, I might not be able to help such people.

I looked for an inn, concerned about that. I found an inn with two rooms available and entered an eatery to have dinner for now.

After ordering, we fell silent for a while without conversation. Perhaps it was still early, as there were very few people… Eventually, our food arrived.

“Here you go, enjoy.”

The old woman brought the food. I was about to start eating, but for some reason, the old woman spoke to me.

“You two are traveling, right? Haven’t you been attacked by bandits?”

Ugh, already? This comment is definitely going to trigger an event.

“Bandits?”

Sofia asked back. Then the old woman nodded deeply and said,

“That’s right. There’s also that unsettling rumor about the Demon King appearing, but around here, bandits are causing all sorts of trouble. They even have a fortress and occasionally attack merchants… It’s a nuisance.”

“Is that… perhaps, about the people who are mercenaries?”

“Oh, did you two perhaps meet them? No, you see. They deny it, but there’s a former mercenary in a bandit group.”

Humans who had a falling out with the mercenary leader were supposed to have become bandits. They were ravaging the nearby area, partly for revenge, and blaming it on the mercenaries… That’s what the story was, I believe.

“I understand. Thank you.”

Sofia thanked her, and the old woman left… Then, Sofia said one word.

“If you don’t mind, would you like to investigate?”

Well, of course, that’s what it would come to. They’re a bandit group, so it’s understandable that she’d be curious.

I certainly can’t say, “It’s too much trouble, let’s not.” Besides, if I break the Companion Flag here, there’s a possibility that Kyarun and the others won’t participate in the war against the Demon King.

They might even become humans who fight the Demon King… Since I’ve gotten involved, I concluded that I have no choice but to do it, and I said,

“…Alright. Let’s investigate tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

And so, we decided to investigate.