The Awakening Hero

They analyzed the information everyone had gathered.

The boy called Jun had wandered into this city relatively recently.

He registered with the Adventurer's Guild, and since he could use magic, a beginner party had apparently reached out to him.

Together with that party, he had mainly been doing extermination work in the monster territory, and his combat prowess quickly became famous.

He kept hunting down monsters that were far beyond what beginners should face.

The party became well-known, but Jun was then recruited away by a veteran party.

It wasn't unusual for an outstanding adventurer to change parties. In fact, no one criticized him for it.

And even within the veteran party, Jun's combat ability was abnormal.

The more he fought, the stronger he grew. That was due to Awakening's level-ups, but Jun's growth was abnormal.

He was approached by a party from the top tier of veterans, and Jun was recruited away again.

Even there, Jun's power was overwhelming—he had single-handedly defeated a monster classified as a disaster-class.

Combat ability aside, what about other aspects? They asked about that too.

His reputation wasn't bad. He wasn't particularly loose with money, but he wasn't stingy either.

He hadn't caused any trouble in town; rather, there were many stories of him beating up troublemakers.

And rumors that he was actually a Hero had already spread.

If he isn't using disguise or concealment, anyone with Identify would quickly figure it out, so it naturally became known.

Now, as the Hero of the city of Aqua, his fame had even reached the governor.

"We need to do something before he gets absorbed by those in power."

Sei muttered, then began thinking about how to make contact.

But no particularly good ideas came to mind. They decided to approach him together with Mako, as usual.

In a dining hall, Jun was having lunch while chatting and laughing with men who appeared to be his companions.

"Come to think of it, we haven't had lunch yet."

"Bear with it for a bit. Alright, let's go."

They opened the dining hall door and approached. There were two women on their side. They probably wouldn't be particularly guarded against.

Then Mako stood before Jun and his three companions.

"Hey there, Seto Junji-kun, long time no see."

Jun reacted to Mako's cheerful voice. Two of his companions looked at Mako, but they weren't particularly on guard.

"Tsubaki-san? You were safe."

"Nearly died a few times though. Anyway, can we talk for a bit?"

"Ah… sure, but…"

After a word to his companions, Jun moved to their table.

Looking at him like this, he was just an ordinary boy. According to Mako's earlier information, he hadn't left much of an impression either.

However, seeing how well he had adapted to this world, perhaps his mental fortitude was stronger than expected.

"Hm? Who's this person? She looks kind of Japanese though."

"She is Japanese. Kojima Sei. She was asked by Earth's god to come pick you all up."

"Huh? We can go back?"

Jun looked mildly surprised, his face blank.

She gave them a simple explanation about Earth's god and Nears' goddess.

"So… the world's in danger because I'm here?"

"Simply put, yes."

"Seriously…? And I'd just gotten used to this world… Is that information definitely accurate?"

"Both Earth's god and Nears' goddess said so, so it's almost certainly true. So, we'd like you to go back."

"Ehhh, I don't wanna go back. Can't just one person stay?"

It seemed he wouldn't be easily persuaded.

First, she asked if he had any thoughts about the difference in civilization levels between Japan and this world.

"Hmm, it's definitely inconvenient, but I've gotten used to it. Even if I went back to Earth… I am curious about how the manga I was reading continues, but I feel like I can already see myself just living an ordinary life."

"But if you stay in this world, fighting monsters is life-threatening, you know? And in this region, you might get conscripted into war."

When Mako leaned forward, Jun tilted his head and pondered.

"I'd rather not deal with war, but I feel like I can manage everything else. Can't we work something out?"

"It's a world crisis, so I don't think anything can be worked out. Worst case, a Divine Dragon might come to kill you."

"Divine Dragon? What's that?"

He probably didn't have much knowledge yet. She explained from the beginning.

"Huh, so basically it's an incredibly strong god. But I don't think it could beat me."

The confidence to declare he could beat even a god—that must be from his Gift.

"No, the Divine Dragon's power isn't on that level. No matter what, you can't beat something that can destroy an entire continent, right?"

"Even if you say that, I won't know until I actually fight it."

This was no good. He was completely full of himself.

If he encountered the Death Gaze, he'd be instantly killed. There were plenty of monsters with instant-death-class attack methods.

"What would you do if you got conscripted into war? With Awakening's power, you'd run out of steam, right?"

Mako tried to back her up, but Jun responded nonchalantly.

"Then maybe I'll go to Lemdria. The standard of living seems higher than here."

He didn't get it. He completely didn't get it.

"That's why I'm saying the world is in danger."

"That soon? Aren't you being tricked?"

This wasn't mental fortitude. He was simply careless about life.

At this point, Sei gave up on persuasion.

"So basically, you don't want to go back because you think you can handle most things with your abilities, right?"

Sei said in a low voice, careful not to let anger creep in.

"Yeah, pretty much. Actually, there's no one stronger than me in this city."

"Then if I beat you, will you obediently return?"

This question seemed to catch Jun off guard.

"Me? Lose? To you? Nah, I don't think that would happen."

"I just want to know if you'll accept the challenge or not."

"If that'll satisfy you, fine, but where should we do it? The guild training grounds?"

"Outside the city would be better. Somewhere we can use magic at full power without worry."

"Ah, got it. Let's go then."

Jun said that in an incredibly casual tone.

"Let's establish some rules."

Sei said. If they didn't decide the terms of victory, it would actually disadvantage her.

"Right. Normal stopping just short of the blow should work, yeah?"

"One of my Gifts deflects blades. That would put me at too much of a disadvantage."

"Huh… Then how about giving up, or being unable to stand for ten seconds? Something like that work?"

"That works."

They stood with ten meters between them.

Watching were Sei's five companions and Jun's five party members.

"Alright, begin!"

At Mako's signal, Sei dashed forward.

She swung her katana. Jun's weapon was a longsword. The difference in their weapons wasn't that significant.

Against Sei's attack, Jun was instantly put on the defensive. His swordsmanship was only skill level 3. No matter how high his base level, it wasn't a problem.

"Not bad!"

With those words, Jun accelerated. This must be Awakening.

His attacks were heavy and fast. In response, Sei also used magic.

Acceleration, Physical Enhancement

It was magic that increased reaction speed and physical abilities, but it couldn't match Awakening's tenfold ability boost. Even with the difference in sword technique, her chances of winning would be low.

But Sei noticed something.

Awakening raised ability values, but reaction speed wasn't increasing.

No matter how agile he became, his senses couldn't fully utilize it.

"Damn you!"

Physical ability alone doesn't decide person-to-person combat.

Read the opponent's next move. Then place your weapon there. The opponent has no choice but to evade.

Against monsters it might be different, but mere brute force doesn't work against a person. And compared to Ria, this guy's attacks were light and slow. Even at ten times the power.

Deflect. Keep deflecting. The opponent's breathing grew ragged.

She couldn't let her concentration slip. She just needed to buy time. But the opponent surely knew that too.

Relentless attacks. She couldn't dodge or deflect them all, and took some wounds.

But those were just surface scratches. They healed naturally almost immediately.

"What the hell are you!?"

Being told that was troubling.

One minute remaining. Jun's attacks started targeting her vital points.

But those could be avoided with Lethal Detection. Other attacks were fine to take.

Even if her arm bone was broken by the follow-through of his swing, it healed immediately.

"Damn it!"

With a short chant, Jun used magic.

A standard fireball spell. It was blocked by Sei's magic barrier.

Jun's sword slashed through the flame-distorted vision, but she dodged that with Lethal Detection.

Ten minutes passed.

Having closed the distance, Sei struck Jun's stomach with her bare fist, then struck his raised chin again.

She stepped on the back of the fallen Jun and pressed her katana to his throat.

"Giving up?"

"Damn, this is…"

"The only reason you've survived until now is simply because you were lucky. If it were a truly strong monster, your level of power wouldn't work."

"Even at ten times, it's not enough…?"

"If I had truly been serious, I would have cut you down with an iai strike right at the start and it would have been over. And if you were hit by a monster's poison, you'd have no countermeasures, right?"

She hadn't even needed to use her trump card—short-range teleportation.

When Sei removed her foot, Jun slowly sat down.

"This world is way too dangerous. Gifts are completely useless."

Party members rushed over to Jun as he groaned and muttered.

They called out to Jun, but the complete defeat must have been a huge shock. For a while, he just hung his head.

"Now then, a promise is a promise."

"I get it… I just have to go back, right."

He had used his Gift to its fullest, yet there was still an existence he couldn't reach—his spirit had been completely broken.

"Go back to Japan and live happily. I'll send the others back soon too."

Jun took one last look at his companions.

"Sorry, this is goodbye."

He stood up and bowed his head to his companions.

"Thank you. By myself, I would have definitely died."

Scouting, making camp. There must have been things Jun's power alone couldn't handle. These words surely reflected that understanding.

"Alright, focus on wanting to return."

She pressed the Return Stone to Jun's forehead. It reacted immediately, and Jun's figure vanished from that spot.

"Hey, where did Jun go!?"

The man who appeared to be the leader among his companions called out. In response, Sei answered briefly.

"Home. A peaceful country with no monsters, no war."

Sei turned her back and returned to her companions.

"I was worried how it would turn out, but we managed somehow."

Sei let out a breath and surrendered herself to the wagon's swaying.

"Good job, good job."

When Mako started patting her head, Lavi did the same for some reason.

Chaos laughed at the sight of Sei being patted from both sides, but she held back from getting angry.

"Now then, next is south."

The Hero's dot in the southern part of the City Alliance. And even further south, there was another dot.

That place was called the Great Wetlands.

It was Chaos's homeland.