Back in town, I prepared without sleeping. Eventually, the sun rose, and my companions woke up… That’s when I called out to Sofia.

I remembered something I needed to do on the way back.

“Sofia, good morning.”

“Good morning. Is something wrong?”

“Could you lend me your sword?”

“My sword? Of course, but… why?”

“I found and bought a Weapon Enhancement Magic Stone in town. I’m going to use it.”

“Enhancement… Understood.”

Sofia hands me her sword. It’s a Refined Silver Sword, but… its power might be a bit lacking as it is. So, I decided to reinforce it.

In a book, it might be an option to give her a powerful sword, but… there are two problems with this. One is that giving her a weapon that can defeat all monsters in one hit or with ease would be conspicuously obvious.

Sofia is currently using artifacts to conceal her identity as a princess, but if she stands out too much, the demon race will surely investigate. Given that the human side is still at a disadvantage, it’s best to minimize the chances of Sofia being investigated.

And the other problem… or rather, this is the bigger factor. During my training, I registered with the Guild and sometimes worked with others, at which time I verified various things. The conclusion I reached based on that is the basis for this. This too, is something that should be called a difference between games and reality.

For example, I once thought that by using powerful armaments to defeat strong monsters, one could level up quickly, so I tried it with a person who had a decent ability to grow, though not as much as a companion character. That person was a greatsword user who hadn’t learned longsword techniques, so I gave them a longsword and verified if skill acquisition would be faster, and so on.

The result of the experiment, giving him a powerful sword that could defeat strong monsters in almost one hit, and armor that could withstand attacks… his level hardly increased at all, and he didn’t learn any techniques worth mentioning. The state of being impervious to attacks also hindered the act of strategizing, further accelerating the lack of results… Conversely, with monsters and weapons suited to his skill, he learned techniques and his abilities improved.

As a result of various other verifications… my conclusion was that even if you easily defeat strong enemies, you don’t get much experience points, or sometimes none at all. Furthermore, you can’t learn techniques… This means that the factor for gaining experience points is not ‘defeating enemies,’ but ‘how much effort you put into using swords and magic to fight or continuing your training.’

For Sofia to become stronger in the future, she will need considerable hardship and effort… If she is to somehow gain the qualifications to defeat the Demon King, this battle will be a very important experience. This will probably be the same for other characters who become companions, including Alto. That’s why I thought it would be better to avoid giving her powerful armaments, combined with the meaning of standing out.

Of course, I will deal with it in case of an emergency… By the way, Sofia is still wearing a bracelet that activates a barrier and other effects when she is in danger. Since it’s the Five Great Wars with Demons, I should probably give them to the other companions as well.

Coming to a conclusion, I returned to the room and enhanced the sword. It should be enough if it has enough power to counter Redras, so I estimated Redras’s abilities from the abilities of the monsters I’ve encountered so far, and enhanced it.

In the game, items that increase the abilities of weapons and armor appear as magic stones. Once you clear the game, those items become available for sale at item shops and so on, though at a high price, so as a game, you can even give a simple longsword the power of a top-tier weapon. Well, now that it’s the real world, there should be a limit to the magic power that can be poured into it, so I don’t think such a thing is possible.

So, I’ll enhance the sword Sofia uses. If she feels it’s not powerful enough, she can deal with it by using magic to increase attack power.

I performed the treatment and returned it to Sofia. As soon as she grasped the hilt, she felt the magic power and thanked me, saying, “Thank you.”

Furthermore, when we all had breakfast, I handed out emergency evasion bracelets to everyone for the Five Great Wars with Demons. Of course, when I handed them out, I explained that they would increase defense, just as I had explained to Sofia.

And after the meal—we went outside, and Alto declared.

“Let’s go.”

Everyone nodded silently… and we started making our way to Redras’s Castle.

It takes about two days to get from the town where we started to the stronghold. Monsters also appear along the way, but they are all at a level that Alto and Sofia can handle at this stage. However, I want them to learn intermediate or higher level techniques before heading to the stronghold—

“Ha!”

Alto cuts a monster in half with one stroke. His power is sufficient, and with their cooperation, it’s safe to say they’re unrivaled against the surrounding monsters.

Their levels should be steadily rising, but they haven’t learned any intermediate techniques yet… Still, there’s no point in rushing. Besides, learning Intermediate Techniques and Magic isn’t mandatory. If they don’t learn them, we’ll just switch to a suitable combat strategy.

If that happens, I’ll need to support them properly… Just as I decided this in my heart, we finally stepped into the forest near the stronghold.

“The miasma has gotten thicker.”

Alto says, and his gaze, fixed forward, sharpens.

It’s finally time. I’ve experienced countless Five Great Wars with Demons in games, and I’m used to seeing strongholds… but now that it’s reality, I’m a little nervous too.

Is this tension because I’m worried about how the story will unfold from now on? Or is it because, even though it’s a familiar place, I feel a certain amount of pressure from the Five Great Demons and the miasma… While I was thinking, we emerged from the forest.

The other side of the forest was a gentle slope leading down to an open space ahead—a basin. Geographically, the forest surrounded the basin, which was at a lower elevation.

In the center of that basin was our destination… Redras’s Castle, the ‘War King’s Palace’. Its exterior was a deep blue castle. No windows were visible, and it had sharply pointed spires, making it a demonic castle.

The War King is Redras’s epithet. It’s a clear epithet that indicates his ability as an attack-specialized demon among the Five Great Demons.

The order in which to defeat the Five Great Demons is generally flexible, but Redras tends to use more area-of-effect attacks the later you fight him, so if you want an easier time, you should try to defeat him by the mid-game. He also tends to trigger events easily, making him a common first target… but at our current level, he probably only has one type of area-of-effect attack at best. And its power is low, so dealing with it shouldn’t be too difficult.

However, this is just a game. Now that it’s reality, the way we fight will probably be different. As we continue to fight the Five Great Demons, I need to pay close attention to how much these things differ.

Here, I look around at my companions. Sofia and Alto look tense seeing the castle… but they don’t seem intimidated at all. Ignos maintains his silence, trying to stay calm, and Kyarun seems surprised by the castle’s appearance, her eyes wide.

“…Let’s go.”

Eventually, Alto speaks. With his words, we slowly approach the castle before us.

No monsters are visible around the castle. There were some around the forest, but it seems certain that the defenses are thin here.

We reached the main gate. I exchanged glances with Alto, communicating with my eyes. Alto nodded, stepped forward, and placed his hand on the door.