“Alright, shall we go then…?”
Afterwards, we successfully found a teleportation circle leading underground. Standing before us, Burn placed his hand on the mysterious stone tablet. Then, just like before, a pale blue lightning ran through Burn’s body… When it subsided, Burn turned around and shouted with a full smile on his face.
“Look at this! It’s super! A hero’s shield!”
When Burn clenched his left hand in front of his body, a glowing shield appeared centered around his wrist, perfectly covering his upper body.
“Wow, that’s cool. So that’s how it works.”
“Oh, Ed, you didn’t know?”
“Ah, it’s my first time coming here.”
During my first round, I didn’t come to a place like this. At that time, I didn’t have the [Akashic Compass] but even if I did, I probably wouldn’t have guided Burn here.
It’s obvious. Even if my attitude was bad, the ability to accurately find a place where the hero’s power lies was too useful, it would have made me immune to ‘banishment’.
“Woah, what’s this!? It’s super! It looks awesome!”
In front of Tia and me, who were having such a conversation, Burn was clenching and opening his left hand like a child, creating and erasing the shield. The way his eyes were sparkling was just like a child.
“Congratulations, Yuusha-sama. We are one step closer to defeating the Demon King.”
""
“Ooh, thanks, Euralia! But if I may say so, I wanted a super! Sword after all.”
“Haha, don’t rush Burn. Let’s save that for the next treat.”
“Next? Hey Ed, don’t tell me…!?”
At my words, Burn spoke up in surprise and expectation. When I smiled at him, Burn swallowed hard…
“Leave it to me. I have found several more ruins candidates, just like this time.”
“Woahhhhh! Ed, you…! You’re super! The best!”
“Stop it, it’s too hot! Don’t hug me!”
“Hehe, Ed’s quite popular, isn’t he?”
“……Do you need healing?”
“I’m not popular and I don’t need it! Anyway, let’s go to the next one.”
“Okay!”
Peeling off the annoying Burn, we continued our adventure to the next ruins. We walked through the forest, crossed countries, and the next place we arrived at was a freezing mountain where blizzards were raging.
“EEEEEEED, i-i-i-i-i-is th-th-th-th-this re-re-re-re-really…?”
“No, I can’t understand what you’re saying. Anyway, our destination is a little further up.”
“S-s-s-s-s-s-s-so i-i-i-it’s th-th-th-th-th-th-th-th-there…?”
Among us who are climbing the snowy mountain, only Burn is shaking with cold. His spiky red hair was almost dripping with icicles, and such Burn turned a skeptical gaze towards us.
“W-w-w-w-w-why a-a-a-are y-y-y-you guys f-f-f-f-fine…?”
“Because Tia is protecting us with her spirit magic.”
“W-w-w-w-w-why n-n-n-n-n-not me…?”
“When I tried to use it, You said, “I’m a super! I’m the strongest hero, so I don’t mind this level of coldness!” and refused, right?”
“G-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g…”
“Haa, it’s fine. Tia, sorry but can you cast it on Burn too?”
“Roger that.”
When Tia activated her spirit magic, Burn’s trembling stopped and his blue face quickly turned red.
“Huuuu… super! I’m saved…”
“Learn from this and stop being so stubborn. By the way, why did you say you didn’t need magic?”
“That’s… I thought being patient was super! Cool…”
“I think that was quite uncool just now.”
“Yuusha-sama…………”
“Woah, don’t look! Don’t look at me like that! Super! Don’t look at me!”
Burn, who was squirming, looked incredibly uncool, a rare sight in recent years. While we couldn’t help but smirk at his antics, I quickly composed myself and turned my attention forward.
“Come on Burn! It’s a chance to redeem your honor!”
“Hmm, an enemy!?”
From beyond the blizzard emerged a large white ape-like beast. As soon as our eyes met, the ape charged at us with a loud cry.
“Kikikikikikiiiiii!!!”
“It’s coming! Burn!”
“Roger!”
Me on the left, Burn on the right. We each swung our swords at the charging ape’s arms to stop its movement.
“Kikii!”
“Tch, it’s tougher than I thought? I’ll go around the back!”
“Leave it to me!”
Leaving Burn behind, I took some distance and started running to get behind the ape. Of course, the ape didn’t stand by and let me do it, it swung its arm, half cut, to knock me down…
“Not on my watch!”
“Ugii!?”
Burn struck the ape’s knee, causing the beast to stagger under the pain and its own weight. Seizing the opportunity, I circled behind it and first cut off the annoyingly waving tail.
“Take this!”
“Kiki… Kyuoooooooo!”
Perhaps the ape realized it was difficult to take both of us on at once, it drew a large breath. The next attack to be expected from this move…
“Burn, it’s going to unleash a frost breath!”
“Manifest, Hero’s Shield!”
A glowing shield appeared in front of Burn’s body. But it didn’t stop there.
“Whooooooooa! Super! Absolute defense!!”
“Buffoooooooo!!”
The shield of light Burn held began to rapidly increase in size. It not only covered Burn but also protected Tia and Euralia behind him, successfully blocking the ape’s blizzard breath.
“Brilliant, Hero! And now… it’s over!”
At the moment when the ape had finished exhaling, my sword beheaded it. The remaining breath didn’t blow out, and the white giant body fell onto the snow slope with a loud noise.
“We won. You did well, Burn!”
“Really, you were so cool.”
“As expected of Yuusha-sama…”
“Is, is that so!? Well, I am a super! The strongest hero, so this was a piece of cake!”
""
“Then Ed-san, I’ll heal you…”
“Ah, sure…”
Even though I hadn’t suffered a single scratch this time, I knew she wouldn’t listen even if I said I was okay, so I accepted Euralia’s healing magic. Once that was done and we moved a little further, we reached the entrance to the tunnel which was our destination.
“So this time it’s not ruins, is it?”
“Given its location, there might be ruins inside the tunnel.”
While it’s most likely that only a teleportation circle exists here, we can’t know for sure until we go and check. After all, I was merely following the direction indicated by the [Akashic Compass] and I didn’t know anything about the historical background of each location or facility.
“So if it’s a tunnel, does that mean there’s something to dig up? At least when it was being dug, wasn’t there a town or something here?”
“According to the church’s documents, this tunnel was closed hundreds of years ago. So if anyone were to build a town, they’ll have to start from scratch.”
“Creating a town around an abandoned mine… that won’t be profitable at all. But if we’re to stay here, wouldn’t we need a facility of considerable size? It’s going to be tough for those who get assigned here.”
The ruins, or whatever, with a stone tablet where the power of the hero lies, and the teleportation circle leading there, seem to be protected by the country where they are found. So someone will come here… I feel sympathy for them. Well, good luck.
“So, shall we go inside now? There might not be any traps this time, but there’s a chance that monsters have made their home here given the environment, so be careful.”
“Super! I got it! Well then, let’s go in!”
“I told you to wait for a bit… huh?”
Just before entering the tunnel, Burn stopped and turned around.
“Hey, hurry up! I can’t wait!”
“…Well, you’re growing up just fine.”
It’s been about four months and a bit since I started traveling with Burn. While he hasn’t changed fundamentally, he’s certainly grown a little. Feeling a little happy about that fact, a small smile appeared on my face.
“Well, let’s not keep our impatient Yuusha-sama waiting. Shall we go?”
“Yes, he probably won’t wait for us for even a minute.”
“…Let’s go.”
“Hurry up! Super! Hurry up!”
Responding to Burn’s voice, we also started walking a little faster into the tunnel.