“Thank youuuuuuuuu! Super! You really saved meeeeeeee!!”
The young man, drenched from head to toe, shouts his gratitude while lowering his spiky, bright-red hair. This happened because the thread could be removed if wet, and as a result of Tia splashing water on it rather carelessly using her spirit magic.
“No worries, mate. We should help each other when in trouble. Besides, we’re the rookies here, usually getting help.”
“Huh? You’re rookies too? I’m Burn! Just turned seventeen this year, the world’s greatest adventurer!”
“Is that so? I’m Ed. I’m twenty, so I guess I’m a bit older than you. Nice to meet you, Burn.”
“I’m Lunaritia. I’m twenty-one.”
“Ed and Lunaritia, huh! Nice to meet you, too!”
Burn, who grabs my outstretched hand firmly, starts shaking it with enough vigor to send us flying. This young man, with his loud voice and dynamic gestures, is indeed the hero Burn of this world. Ah, how nostalgic. If I had seen this face from the start, I would have remembered that this is the 44th world.
“So, Burn. You got tangled in a thread, were you on a cotton collection request?”
“That’s right! It was my first job to commemorate, so I was super excited…”
“A failure, it seems.”
The big purple flower that must have bloomed at Burn’s feet, had spit out all of its contents and wilted. It was clear to anyone that the collection had failed…
“Is that so!? I thought if I brought this, it would be super! A mission accomplished!?”
“…No, that won’t work. The part of the cotton flower that makes money is the thread-like part inside. Even if you have a flower that has spit it all out, you’ll just get a bitter smile.”
“Oh no, what a disaster! Super! A huge failure!”
At my words, Burn hangs his head on the spot. Even his way of being depressed is very characteristic of him.
“Calm down, don’t be so disappointed. We’ve taken the same request. How about it? Wanna do it together?”
“Really!?”
“As I said before, we help each other when we’re in trouble. Is that okay, Tia?”
“Of course. Let’s do our best together.”
“Wooooooooooo! You both are super! Nice guys!!!!”
“Fufufu, you’re exaggerating.”
Burn, who stands up energetically and shouts, makes Tia smile wryly as well. And so, we formed a temporary party and while looking for a new cotton flower in the forest, we started to exchange information.
“So, Burn. Did you come from the countryside because you wanted to be a hero?”
“No! Not just a hero, but super! A hero!”
“Ah… What’s the difference?”
“Isn’t it somehow amazing if ‘super’ is attached!? That’s what it means!”
“Ahaha… Ed?”
“Hm? That’s what it means. It’s amazing to have ‘super’ attached.”
“That’s it! You’re my super! Best friend, Ed!”
“You’re quick to decide we’re best friends!? We just met, you know?”
“Hahaha! There’s no time limit for friendship, it’s super! Irrelevant!”
“Hmm, so what happens when ‘super’ is added after all…?”
Despite his enthusiastic and boisterous talk, as far as I can tell, there’s no difference in Burn’s upbringing or his journey here from the first round. As I was feeling relieved about this, suddenly something like hostility started to hang in the air around us.
“Ed.”
“I got it.”
""
Shortly after, the nearby grass rustles loudly. What appeared from the shadows of the trees were five ordinary goblins. Neither Tia nor I had any intention of letting our guard down against these enemies showing hostility, but… they were small fry, posing no real threat.
“Gigigi…”
“What will you do, Ed? I will–“
“Leave this to me, super! Charge!”
Before Tia could finish speaking, Burn charges towards the goblins with a burst of energy. Tia reacts to his movement, but I grab her shoulder to stop her.
“Is it okay?”
“Just watch.”
“Wow!”
Drawing the sword from his hip and letting out a flashy roar, Burn charges carelessly towards the goblins. To the untrained eye, it might seem like a thoughtless idiot rushing in alone, but… I know Burn’s true abilities.
“Ultimate Strong-Style Secret Technique!”
“Gigigii!”
“Super! Ultra Slash!”
“…Gi?”
With no feints, a wild, straight slash. After it flashed five times, the goblins’ heads flew off vigorously. With the goblins that had become silent corpses in the blink of an eye behind him, Burn swung his sword with a whoosh, blowing away the blood, and then grinned as he sheathed it.
“Hahaha! How about it, both of you! My super! Ultimate power!”
“Amazing, amazing! Burn, you’re strong!”
“Well, I am the super! The strongest man!”
As Tia claps her hands, Burn proudly puffs out his chest. Regardless of his words and actions, Burn is a hero. His abilities are undoubtedly real.
“But if you’re so strong, why did you accept a gathering request? Wouldn’t it have been easier to accept a regular monster subjugation request?”
“That, that’s…”
At Tia’s simple question, Burn made a troubled face for the first time.
“I also said so, but the receptionist lady said no. She said real combat isn’t so easy and told me to gain experience from safer requests… Damn it, even though I said I’m super! The strongest…”
“Ah, I see…”
At his answer, Tia let out a voice of understanding. Burn’s appearance was that of a typical newbie adventurer, clad in cheap gear. It’s natural for a good person to advise a young, inexperienced adventurer with no proper gear or achievements who claims “I’m the strongest, give me a request to defeat a super! Strong monster”.
""
“But the receptionist is just a receptionist, right? You could have refused. So why did you listen to her?”
“What are you saying Ed, isn’t that obvious? Ignoring the words of someone who is genuinely worried about you is super! Uncool, right!”
To my question that I took over from Tia, Burn replied awkwardly. It’s the answer I know of Burn… and upon hearing it, Tia’s face changed from an acquaintance to a friend.
“Burn, you are a kind person.”
“Ba-, It’s not like that! It’s just that my grandpa said, ‘People who don’t listen to others are lonely people who can’t get others to listen to them. Don’t become a lonely person who is only strong.’ So I super! Listen to people’s words! Of course, that includes Lunaritia’s too!”
“Oh really? Then can I ask you one thing?”
“Oh, sure! Ask me, the super! Confidant!”
“My name, Lunaritia, is too long, isn’t it? You can just call me Tia. Nice to meet you again, Burn.”
“Woah!? Ni-, nice to meet you too! Tia!”
Having his hand held by the smiling Tia, Burn’s face turned as red as his hair. His very clear response was quite fresh, making me grin.
“Hey Ed, Burn is a good person, isn’t he?”
Leaving Burn, who was flustered waving his hand that Tia must have just held, Tia came over to me. Her captivating smile, enhanced by her idol life, was still the same Tia to me.
“Right? He’s a good hero, different from Alexis and the like. Well, he did have his share of hardships.”
“I suppose so. But… Fufu. This adventure seems like it will be fun.”
“Yeah, I think it will be fun.”
The hero Burn, who gets involved in problems because of his personality, sticks his head into things, and often becomes a problem himself. If I can enjoy his tumultuous days with Tia, I feel quite excited.
“That being said, we have to finish the request in front of us first. Hey Burn! How long are you going to be flustered! Let’s get going!”
“Wha!? I, of all people, got super! Disturbed by the softness of a girl’s hand. Ah, I’m coming! Woah, wait for me, thread… purple…? Uh, some kind of flower!”
“It’s Cotton Thread Grass. You should at least remember the name of the thing we’re gathering, jeez… Alright, Tia.”
“Yes, let’s go!”
Running after Burn, who had run off on his own shouting, Tia and I followed him side by side.