“……………………”
With a quiet, stagnant breath, Waffer took his stance. Confronting him was a human swordsman, dyed all black. The moment the sword was raised and swung downwards smoothly.
“Wafuuuu!”
Exhaling briefly, Waffer dodged it. The tip of the sword sliced off some of his brown hair, but what it got in return was a priceless opportunity to attack.
“Hahhh!”
Mikagami had taken the shape of me. Waffer hit him with a powerful palm strike to his belly. The black, shiny back burst open, and Mikagami’s mimic tentacles melted away.
“I did it! I finally defeated Ed!”
“Oooh!”
Tia, who was watching from the side, applauded Waffer who was shouting with joy. I slammed my own hand into Waffer’s hand as he crossed the line back over to us.
“Hahaha, you finally got me.”
“I finally did it!”
I chuckled, and Waffle wagged his tail around with a smug look on his face.
""
Mikagami, who had copied my appearance, was, to be frank, quite strong. It wasn’t because he had used the banishment skills, but simply because the sword skills I had honed over the past 100 years were of a very advanced level.
Of course, that didn’t mean the Mikagami could perfectly imitate my sword skills. But instead, my weakness of not being able to train my body because it rewinded every time was counterbalanced by the inexhaustible physical strength of the inhuman thing, both Tia and Waffer were always miserably defeated by my Mikagami.
“Really, I didn’t expect the hairless Ed to be so strong. But thanks to you, I have become strong again! Thank you, Ed!”
“You’re welcome. I mean, the only reason you’re stronger is because Waffer has been training seriously, right? It’s not like I did anything.”
“But Ed brought me here! Simple Kuronuri could not have made me this strong!”
“Ah, well, there’s certainly a place for that.”
The experience gained from training who stopped just before killing, and from a serious match against an opponent who was coming to kill you and who was okay to kill you was very different. And of course I thought so too, which was why I originally brought Waffer to somewhere that normally nobody would know about.
“But was it really a good idea? It’s pretty well equipped, and isn’t this Ed’s family’s secret training ground?”
“Fufu. It’s fine. What’s the point of a training ground if it’s not used by people who want to get stronger and stronger? I was hoping someone like Waffer would use it.”
“Ed…I swear to you that I will continue to do my best to live up to that sentiment!”
“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”
Waffer strongly showed off his paws, and I patted him on the shoulder with a smile. After training here and knowing that me and Tia were really strong, there was no longer a hierarchy between Waffer and us. The attitude on Waffer’s part didn’t change that much, but at least me and Tia started calling “Waffer” without honorifics.
(Hey, hey, Ed. By the way, how were we really supposed to get here?)
Tia sneaked up on me as Waffer moved away to wipe the sweat off his face. I couldn’t help but respond to her curious jade eyes with a bitter smile.
(Ah, yeah. There was a bit of a nasty incident after Waffer became a hero. That’s when we’ll be introduced to this place by the people involved. I think the time frame is about three months away.)
Waffer, who felt his own powerlessness due to a certain incident, was given permission by a family member who was deeply involved in the incident to train here. At that time, Waffer just kept on fighting himself to the death, and all I could do at that time was to patch up his wounds and prepare a little nourishing food for him as he spent his days training recklessly without taking a break. …
(What? Is that okay? If the place was under someone else’s control, you would have had to ask permission, right?.)
(Fufu. Alright, Tia. There’s a saying that goes like this … ‘Sin is only definite the moment it is exposed, and if no one knows about it, it is not a sin.’)
(Yeah. …)
Tia quickly moved her face away from me as I flashed her a wicked grin.
(It’s okay. The world doesn’t revolve around nice things. In the first place he is getting the reward in advance.)
(In advance?)
(Ah. If the incident that triggered it itself doesn’t happen, we won’t be able to come here. And, since no one would be hurt because of this incident, it wouldn’t be a bad thing to be rewarded for that early in the game, don’t you agree? It’s not like it’s going to diminish. Or does Tia think it’s better to leave it alone, knowing someone is going to get hurt, and then fix it after someone gets hurt?)
(That’s… Muu, true.)
Tia, with a troubled look on her face, nodded her head while her ears twitched.
For many people, if a stranger showed up out of the blue and said, “I took care of it before misfortune struck you. So, please reward me.” They would only think of them as some insane robber.
But I knew the future from the first round. Of course, I couldn’t be absolutely certain that the same thing would not happen as I was not a god. But so far, nothing had changed in the future in the areas where I had done nothing.
Then, I shall be shameless. I would prevent misfortune before it happened, even if they called me greedy and a cheater. And I’d take my reward with pride. I want the people I was involved with, the people I wanted to help, to have a happy ending.
(If you start worrying about this kind of thing, you’ll have a hard time in the future, you know? Because eventually you’re going to have to sneak into a castle without permission, take the treasure …, or even trick people.)
In my mind, many bitter experiences of the first round were coming up. Not only the ones I couldn’t save because I wasn’t strong enough. Also, there were many things I abandoned or gave up in order to return.
Yes, I was only a human being after all. I always looked out for myself first, and I was not the kind of person who could realize everything I wanted.
“… Ed.”
“Tia!?”
Suddenly, Tia hugged my head to her chest. The floral fragrance wafting through the air startled me and I screamed.
“It’s okay. Because Ed is not alone anymore. I am with you. I will help you. I’m going to do my best so Ed doesn’t have to look like that!”
“… haha.”
""
“Mou~~! Why are you laughing!?”
“No, Tia, I really will rely on you whenever I need you. Yes, that’s right. With you, there’s so much we can do together to the point we might get lost. Keep up the good work, will you?”
“Fufufu~! Leave it to your Onee-san!”
Tia let go of the arm that had been holding my head and proudly puffed up her chest. I couldn’t help but smile seeing such a dependable side of her.
“Fu~~, I feel so refreshed… Wafu? What’s the matter with you two?”
“No, no. It’s nothing. Leaving that aside, Waffer, isn’t it about time?”
And then Waffer came back to us and asked me, waving his hand in front of my face.
“Eh? Time for what?”
“Oioi. Didn’t we talk about this? It’s almost time for the hero selection process.”
“Aah! I, I didn’t forget about that, you know!? It just slipped my mind for a moment.”
“Did you forget it on purpose or not, which one is it….”
“Uu! Ed’s mean!” Tia said.
Tia with her flushed face, smacked me on the head with her fist. Hehehe, a blow of this magnitude is nothing against my banishment skill, [Invisible].
“Wafufu, you two really get along. Surely it’s time to move now, but what are you two going to do?”
“Of course, We’re coming with you. We want to make sure we see Waffer become a hero.”
“I’ll be there! I’ll be cheering for you a lot!” Tia said.
“Thank you both! Well, now that I’ve defeated Ed, we’ll leave in the morning!”
Once again, a clean consensus was reached and our next destination was decided. Come now, this was probably the biggest turning point in this world.
(T/N: For readers waiting for the romcom, It will resume soon.)