The Good-for-Nothing Hero

On the third day after Sei and the others departed from Claia, news came in that North Remdria had begun its invasion of the Western Nations.

"That was fast…"

They had obtained this information at an inn in town, but the reason it arrived with almost no time lag was wireless communication.

Remdria had wireless technology. South Remdria in particular even had railroads running through it.

Automobiles had already been developed as well, so it wasn't like they couldn't consider them as a means of transportation, but carriages still seemed to be the mainstream in the frontier regions. The processed magic crystals used as fuel simply weren't distributed much in remote areas.

Looking ahead, they would need to consider changing their mode of transportation, but not having a carriage available in an emergency would still be problematic.

Besides, horses are cute.

Sei was also quietly troubled by the fact that living creatures couldn't be stored in infinite storage.

In the western city of Pol in South Remdria.

It was a key hub for distribution and also a consumer city with a large population.

"Found her."

Within that city was a hero.

Kanou Tamaki. Her Gift was 'Weather Domination.'

"She's my friend."

Mako said with a serious expression.

"It's powerful, but it's no threat to Sei."

"It's close to the power of a god, but… there are levels, right? Hearing the details, it's certainly nothing to fear."

That was the analysis from Carla and Ria.

According to Mako, even Neosis had treated her ambiguously.

Creating strong winds or making it rain. That was the Level 1 ability.

Indeed, making it rain or bringing out the sun was modest but beneficial for a nation.

When raised to Level 10, the range of the power would expand, allowing one to bring hail in midsummer or carry scorching warm air in winter.

If one struck with lightning repeatedly, it could damage not just armies but even gods.

However, this ability could only be used once per day.

Therefore, the person herself hadn't placed much expectation on it and had focused on swordsmanship and magic instead.

"If it's just that level of weather manipulation, I can do it with ease."

Ria casually said something incredible at the end.

"I think it's pretty convenient though. And if you could manipulate an enemy nation's weather, you could deal considerable damage."

That was what Sei thought, but it was true that it lacked direct combat power. Apparently, she herself had repeatedly said she wanted to return to Earth.

Without taking lodging, Sei's group followed their map toward their destination.

It was the adventurer's guild.

Sei's group peeked inside the guild covertly. In front of the board where request forms were posted, a girl was pondering and deliberating over the requests.

Even checking with Identify confirmed it without doubt. It was Kanou Tamaki. Her Weather Domination level was 3, so it hadn't gone up much.

Since the frequency of use was low to begin with, she probably couldn't raise it even if she wanted to.

"What should we do?"

"I'll approach directly. Follow behind me."

Mako walked in boldly. Some people gave suspicious looks at the girl's youth, but with Chaos and the others following behind glaring at them, no one particularly tried to start anything.

"Tama-chan."

The girl who was called out trembled with a start, turned this way and recognized Mako, and finally burst into tears.

"M-Mako-chan…"

"It's okay, it's okay now."

Leading the sobbing Tama whose tears wouldn't stop, the group moved to an inn.

In the room Sei and Mako had taken, the two of them—Mako and Tama—slowly talked about what had happened to each other since being transported.

When Mako mentioned that she had nearly starved to death, Tama almost started crying again, but Mako's smile saying "I'm totally fine now, you know～" stopped her.

Tama's situation had apparently been similar.

She had been transported into a forest south of this city and had wandered through it for several days.

Unable to endure her thirst, she drank unboiled water and got sick. Unable to endure her hunger, she roasted nuts and fruit to eat, and got sick again.

In a half-dead state, she somehow found this city and managed to be taken in.

Fortunately, the city was providing food distribution for the poor, so she recovered minimal stamina and registered as an adventurer.

Since she had the specs of a hero, she could handle subjugations easily, but being a lone girl meant she was turned down for escort jobs and faced various inconveniences.

She searched for requests she could somehow power through, completed them, and received her rewards. Then she saved every coin she could and stayed at cheap inns.

She had apparently been living that way the whole time.

"I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."

Compared to Tama, Mako's circumstances had been blessed.

She had nearly starved at first too, but then gained the protection of Ria and Carla, and was able to live a life completely free of hardship.

Even after setting out on her journey, she was blessed with companions, and had the luxury of viewing dungeon exploration as part of her training.

… She even had the luxury of getting lovey-dovey with Sei, but she certainly wasn't going to mention that.

"Mako-chan, you're amazing."

"I was just lucky."

She meant it. If Mako had been transported to a place similar to Tama's, she definitely would have died.

She might have survived by eating weeds and bugs thanks to Gluttony's effect, but she never would have ended up in her current situation.

"Even with some cheats, normally that's what happens."

Thinking about it, Sei re-recognized how blessed he himself had been.

He had been killed by Ria many times, but she had drilled fighting techniques into him.

When he set out on his journey, Kukuri taught him how to camp, and he was blessed with companions like Gantz and Chaos.

"I think novel protagonists are all too lucky from the start."

At Sei's muttered words, Tama's gaze turned toward him.

"Mako-chan, who is this person?"

"I'm Sei. I was asked by Earth's god to send you all back to Earth."

"We can go back!?"

Tama showed exactly the normal reaction Sei had been hoping for.

Sei gave a simple explanation of the situation.

Tama listened with an expression like she wanted to devour every word, but she had probably already reached her conclusion.

"I'll go back. Please… Huh? But what about Mako-chan?"

"I'm going to help bring back the other heroes for a bit."

Tama's eyes went wide at those words, but she thought about it intently.

"I also… want to help if I can…"

"You shouldn't push yourself. Even I have no confidence in my daily living skills despite my combat ability—honestly, I'd just be dead weight."

At Sei's frank words, Tama nodded.

"If you had put your mind to it, you might have been hired as a city guard serving as an Onesis knight. Since you couldn't make good use of your status or Gift, your only value right now is your combat power."

And even that combat power was considerably lower compared to Sei or Mako.

"Of course, I think your power would be very useful on the journey ahead. If you could change the weather, we wouldn't have to travel through roads made muddy by rain, and we wouldn't encounter storms while sailing. It's a modest but useful Gift."

Even so, Sei thought this girl should be sent back.

Mako, whatever people might say, had strong mental fortitude. Biting a vampire to death was not a choice an ordinary person would make.

Her combat strength was sufficient too. Her magical skills had improved, and she had Gifts derived from being a vampire. Well, worrying about food was still a bottleneck though.

"For a normal Japanese girl to travel, this other world is just too inconvenient."

Take toilets for example. In the countryside, they didn't have the luxury of wiping with paper—they bundled straw or gathered specific leaves from the forest to use.

Take menstruation for example. Sei didn't have periods so it wasn't a problem for him, but he had made sure to secure menstrual products for Mako before setting out on their journey. They'd been moved to Mako's treasury now. She was a pad person, by the way.

She would want to take baths too, and probably change her underwear every day. If you had a powerful patron backing you, you could afford such luxuries, but operating as an adventurer was just too difficult.

Ria had said some harsh things, but living in a low-civilization environment was hard, even if you were flattered as a hero.

"I understand. Then, please."

Feeling a little guilty, Tama said so.

"It's okay, I'll be back soon too."

The transfer stone was pressed to her forehead, and Tama made her wish.

I want to go home. To Earth. To Japan.

Burning the image of Mako waving into her memory, Tama returned to Earth.

"Mako, if you ever want to go back, just tell me right away. I can manage on my own."

Hearing Sei say that, Mako interlocked her fingers with his in a lover's clasp.

"I'm doing my best so that Sei won't die."

"Mako…"

Their faces drew close, and their lips met.

There were no interruptions, but… they didn't have time to tumble into bed from here. What a shame.

"Shall we head back to Claia?"

"Yeah."

In the end, the group returned to Claia without even a single night's rest.

"About the cause of North Remdria's invasion this time—"

At a certain village, Kukuri had gathered some information.

"Apparently, monsters overflowed from the forest to the east."

East of North Remdria, a vast forest spread out, known as the Demon Territory.

Further north was the great forest where the elves lived, but the Demon Territory was apparently outside even the elves' jurisdiction.

The Demon Territory usually served as a hunting ground for adventurers, but on rare occasions the ecosystem would collapse, and monsters that had bred abnormally would go on a rampage in search of food.

To the east was the sea, to the north was the elves' barrier, and to the south were mountain ranges.

Therefore, the destination the monsters aimed for was the western grasslands. They would destroy centaur, halfling, and human settlements, and their advance wouldn't stop until they died.

And after the monsters passed through, ravaged fields remained. If they couldn't obtain food, taking it from somewhere else was one option.

"Apparently there's an adventurer who annihilated that monster rampage partway through."

How had they stopped tens of thousands—or perhaps even more—monsters?

The cities near the Demon Territory had high walls, but anything village-sized would be overwhelmed.

It smelled like a hero.

"How strong were those monsters?"

To Mako's question, Chaos answered as common knowledge.

"In most cases, weak monsters with high breeding rates experience population explosions. I experienced one once myself—stopping that requires a mighty army."

"In that case… I might have an idea."

Among the Gift holders Mako knew, there were those suited to reducing monsters that came in sheer numbers.

Several candidates came to mind, but Mako said it was probably 'Infinite Magic Power.'

It was a Gift without levels, and apparently you could just use unlimited magic power.

"If weak monsters are swarming in droves, you could continuously cast spells with infinite magic power to defeat them."

Then Mako raised another candidate.

"Or it could be 'Instant Death Eyes.'"

You die just by being looked at. This was beyond the level of mere cheats. You could kill someone just by looking at them with the intent to kill.

It was less effective against opponents with higher levels than yourself, and there was apparently a slight time lag before death, but against small fry it would be unstoppable.

This one became more convenient as its level rose, making it extremely troublesome. And Mako didn't know the details of how it became more convenient.

"Either way, they've probably leveled up a lot by killing massive amounts of monsters."

Sei crossed his arms. Even if they could persuade the hero in Claia, they would be dealing with that hero next.

If it was Infinite Magic Power, there probably wouldn't be a problem. But if it was Instant Death Eyes, how it had evolved would be a major concern.

Could Instant Death Eyes kill the immortal Sei?

Since it was a Gift that couldn't be tested casually, it had only been tried on humans through death row executions. Tests against monsters showed reduced effectiveness against monsters of higher levels.

"Even if the targets were death row inmates, someone who can kill humans is a bit of a problem."

"Yeah, that's the one I've been worried about too."

That would be someone who had gotten drunk on the power they'd been given.

"Well, first things first—what to do about the hero in Claia."

Let's assume Guels won't keep his promise. Ria had repeatedly told him that a capable ruler didn't necessarily equal a good one.

Sei ran simulations of what would happen if they fought directly. Fortunately, the opponent couldn't seal Gifts, so he shouldn't be able to seal Sei's immortality and kill him.

"Heroes really are cheaters…"

Without anyone retorting "look who's talking," Sei let out a sigh.