About two months after we conquered the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs, a message from Borg arrived at the mansion.
Our dragon armor—mine, El’s, and Ashera’s—was complete.
When we heard the news at dinner, we had Serie send word ahead that we would go to Borg’s shop the next morning to collect it.
Tomorrow happened to be Dark Day, so the academy was closed. It was the perfect opportunity to test the armor’s performance.
We might even accept a request while we were at it.
The next morning, after breakfast, El, Ashera, Marl, and I walked toward the armor shop.
You might be wondering why Marl was with us. As she’d declared before the winter holiday ended, she had transferred into the commerce department.
Almost no students transferred midway through their education, so El and I had honestly worried about whether she would fit in.
However, she was the fiancée of the competition’s champion, the daughter of the Tab Company that sold Reversi, and a disciple of the Ice Witch. On top of that, Marl’s own commercial knowledge was apparently on par with the top student in the department.
No one underestimated her in the slightest.
Perhaps the lesson we’d delivered during the competition had also helped. The student who represented the commerce department had apparently taken it upon himself to tell everyone not to cause trouble for Marl.
He had an older brother who was an adventurer, so having Joe and the others introduce us and asking him to look after Marl had been worthwhile.
If they ever found themselves in trouble, I hoped to repay them, however little strength I could offer.
Marl had integrated into the commerce department without difficulty, but she still wanted to continue her magical training. She asked to join us when we went hunting on our days off.
It seemed she’d wanted to accompany us for some time. However, she’d been reluctant to say anything because she felt guilty about possibly getting in our way and was still somewhat afraid of combat.
Becoming formally engaged to El made it easier to speak up. She’d also apparently decided that she couldn’t remain weak if she was going to join Ashera in becoming a mother of the “new race.”
I couldn’t understand how her thoughts had taken that route, but if Marl and El were satisfied, I had no intention of interfering.
Perhaps that explanation had been something she added afterward, and the truth was simpler. Maybe she’d merely felt lonely because she was the only one among the childhood friends who couldn’t join the group.
And so, the four of us—El, Ashera, Marl, and I—had recently begun accepting more requests together.
Of course, we still took requests with Louis and Nero too. But ever since the winter holiday, Louis’s mother had apparently been putting him through intensive training, and lately he often took requests with her.
His mother was supposedly a formidable B-rank adventurer who wielded a two-handed sword and emphasized individual strength.
I asked Mother if she knew the woman, since they belonged to the same generation. Apparently, she’d been famous under the name “Crimson Blood” because her bright red hair would become drenched in her enemies’ blood.
Louis said he’d once called her by that name and had been trained until he was completely battered.
According to Olivia, she ordinarily pretended to be a gentle lady now that she was Count Sandra’s wife.
As for Nero, the priest had fallen ill, so he spent his days off caring for the children at the church and looking after the priest.
Fortunately, the priest had many noble acquaintances, and it didn’t appear they were suffering financially.
I’d heard that the epidemic was merely lingering, but if it continued much longer, I intended to visit him.
When I did, I would absolutely go with only El and Louis!
While the four of us talked, we soon reached the armor shop.
“Borg! We’re here!”
“Yeah. They’re over there. Your names are written on the boxes, so don’t take the wrong one.”
I immediately began changing, but Ashera stood frozen with her box in her arms.
“Borg, is there anywhere Ashera can change?”
“Ah, sorry. Come this way.”
There appeared to be a private room for women in the back, and Ashera and Marl went inside.
I put on my dragon armor and gave Vernier a light burst.
“Oh! It responds even better than my wyvern-leather armor.”
“Of course it does. Dragon hide conducts mana extremely well. It’ll even disperse an enemy’s magic to some extent.”
“I see. What about physical defense?”
“Elphas, lend me that one-handed sword. Aldo, here I come.”
Borg borrowed El’s one-handed sword and lightly slashed my arm.
“It doesn’t hurt…”
“Right? Wyvern hide couldn’t do that. I’ll strike a little harder.”
Borg slashed me several times so that we could test the armor’s performance.
Eventually, I persuaded the reluctant man to deliver a full-strength blow.
The scales on the armor’s surface received a few small scratches, but my body took no damage whatsoever.
“Incredible…”
“Don’t make the craftsman damage a brand-new suit of armor… Honestly… I can’t win with you.”
While El and I marveled, Ashera emerged from the private room in her dragon armor, with Marl beside her in the dragon robe.
Ashera produced a magic shield from her gauntlet, then gave Vernier a light burst to check how it felt.
“How is it, miss?”
“Wonderful!”
“Glad to hear it. I made it the way you asked, but didn’t you leave too much room around the chest? Won’t that make it difficult to move?”
“It’s fine. They’ll grow soon.”
Borg shrugged, looking exasperated.
Ashera ignored him, her cheeks red and her expression saying she wanted to test the armor at once.
Please wait just a little longer.
“Marl, how does it feel?”
“It fits perfectly. But are you really sure I can have it? You bought this robe with the money you saved from taking requests with Lady Rafina, didn’t you?”
“It’s fine. I want you to use it, Marl. Only the left sleeve is made of wyvern hide, though…”
“Thank you, Ashera.”
“Mm.”
When Ashera changed to dragon armor, she gave the dragon robe to Marl.
Apparently, Marl’s old robe had been bothering her whenever the four of us went on requests together lately.
“Even someone in the rear needs good armor,” Ashera had said.
“Borg, sorry, but could you send the clothes we changed out of to the Blue Ring mansion?”
“Sure.”
We left the luggage with Borg and headed next to the Adventurers’ Guild.
These days, the guild no longer fell silent when we entered. On rare occasions, someone would even approach us.
Most were invitations to join a party…
Officially, Mother and Naga had received credit for defeating the Earth Dragon, but a small group suspected that El, Ashera, and I had actually killed it.
Since we intended to reveal the truth someday so our strength could serve as a deterrent, we only offered vague denials.
We joined the line at Naga’s counter.
Her achievements in the Earth Dragon subjugation had earned her a promotion to A-rank.
However, she apparently had no intention of forming a party with anyone other than us, so she ordinarily continued working at the guild’s counter.
Being both a receptionist and an adventurer left Naga unable to refuse the guild’s requests.
Recently, they’d been sending her to clean up requests that other parties had repeatedly failed. As always, she was someone destined to suffer.
“Good morning, Naga.”
All four of us greeted her together.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Before we could ask whether any requests were available, Naga spoke first.
“If you don’t mind, could you help me with a request that’s been sitting unresolved?”
We exchanged looks, then answered.
“Marl is with us today. Is it something she can safely join?”
“Yes. With you, Elphas, and Ashera there, neither Marl nor I would even be necessary.”
“What does the request involve?”
“Well, actually…”
This was what Naga told us.
A group of ogres had made a den in a forest beside the road, about an hour’s walk from the capital.
A party of three B-rank adventurers had gone to eliminate them first, but the group was larger than expected, and they retreated.
That attempt established that there were twenty ogres.
Next, a party consisting of one A-rank and four B-rank adventurers tried luring the ogres out one at a time.
They reduced the group by half, killing ten, but the remaining ogres discovered them and drove them away.
The guild couldn’t afford to fail a third time, so the task had fallen to Naga.
Ogres were classified among the oni races. They stood between two and two-and-a-half medes tall and possessed tremendous strength.
They were ferocious and cruel.
They were often seen tormenting and killing the weak for amusement even when there was no need.
They particularly enjoyed human reactions. More than a few adventurers who failed to defeat them chose to kill themselves rather than be tortured to death.
“Ogres are about as strong as the Mad Bears from the Labyrinth of Claws and Fangs. Each of you could probably kill one alone, but this is merely a precaution. Marl will likely remain in the rear with me. What do you think?”
The four of us discussed it, but the decision was unanimous. We would accept the request.
To my surprise, Marl said she didn’t need to join the fighting but wanted to see us fight.
I didn’t know what change had occurred in her heart, but the serious expression on her face made it clear that this wasn’t idle curiosity.
We decided that El would carry her to a safe position in a tree before the battle began.
“I’m sorry. I’m not useful, yet I’m making selfish demands…”
“That’s not true. Don’t worry about it, Marl.”
“Thank you, Elphas.”
As the two of them gave off a sweet atmosphere, a vein bulged on Naga’s forehead.
“N-Naga, let’s leave immediately. If we don’t finish today… we have academy tomorrow.”
“Yes… I’ll go change.”
If this were a comic, the sound effect *rumble, rumble, rumble* would probably have been floating behind Naga’s back.
Naga returned about thirty minutes later, properly dressed in her robe and carrying a backpack.
“I’m ready.”
“Yes!”
All four of us answered.
“Then let’s go.”
She’d said it was an hour’s walk along the road, but the guild actually provided us with a wagon.
The driver was someone I’d often seen around the guild, so perhaps he was one of Naga’s subordinates.
After about forty minutes of rattling in the wagon, we reached our destination.
A forest stretched along the right side of the road. A peaceful village lay on the left.
Several men approached, perhaps having heard the wagon.
“Are you adventurers?”
The oldest man spoke.
As Naga stepped forward to answer for us, a younger man behind him pushed toward her, shouting.
“How many times are you going to fail?! This time they send a woman and children?! Enough of this mockery!”
“Zakni! Someone take him away!”
“Because you failed! Gufua! My son…!”
The other men dragged away the man called Zakni.
“My apologies… After the second failure, the agitated ogres attacked the village… and… his child lost his life. He watched them eat the boy before his eyes…”
“You have my sympathy, but we also risk our lives. We receive no reward when a request fails. I ask for your understanding.”
“Yes… But if we suffer any more losses, the village will no longer be able to survive… Please. Please…”
“…Understood. We’ll do our best.”
“Please… I’m begging you.”
After Naga asked the older man for the exact location of the ogres’ den, she declined his offer of a guide. We would go alone.
The five of us were now advancing through the forest beyond the village.
El formed the left side of the vanguard, and I took the right.
Marl held the left side of the middle line, with Naga on the right.
Ashera guarded the rear.
Placing Marl directly behind El had become our usual formation.
El would never allow an enemy to reach Marl. Perhaps because she trusted that absolutely, Marl could use magic calmly without panicking.
Marl was, after all, a disciple of the Ice Witch. She was considerably stronger than the average mage.
As an additional precaution, El and I alternated using focused sonar ahead of us every thousand medes to prevent an ambush.
Naga gave a dry laugh and muttered, “What even is adventuring anymore…?” but I wished she would properly watch the right flank assigned to her.
The villager’s story had been painful even for me to hear.
I was an Apostle, but I wasn’t powerful enough to save every living person, nor did I intend to attempt such a thing.
Still, I wanted to do the work I’d accepted as an adventurer properly.
We would annihilate the ogres. I could swear to that.
And while it might only be incidental to the request, we would avenge that child without fail.
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