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It seems the hero Ryou was initially picked up by these four outside the city.

He was staggering from hunger, his equipment half-destroyed from fighting monsters, and looked like he was about to collapse at any moment.

Despite their appearances, the four were surprisingly caring and temporarily added Ryou to their party.

At first, Ryou didn't play much of a role in terms of level, but eventually the four noticed something.

When they fought alongside Ryou, battles became easier.

"So when we asked him about it in detail, we found out he was a hero. He explained that he could use a Gift like enchantment magic."

Sei had a question about that.

"If you appraised him, wouldn't you immediately know he was a hero?"

"Ah, apparently he can disguise his status with his Gift."

He must have manipulated the concept of disguise. The Gift called Conceptual Armament seemed capable of far more than one could imagine.

"So, are you a hero too?"

The giant man glared at Sei intimidatingly.

He had probably made that guess based on racial characteristics common to Sei and Ryou. A near miss.

"We're from the same place, but I'm not a hero. Though I do have heroes among my companions."

"Hou…"

The giant man's gaze became somewhat dangerous as he continued.

Even after Ryou's Gift was revealed, the party of five continued for a while.

However, one event eventually transformed him from an adventurer into a regular soldier.

The appearance of an earth dragon.

An earth dragon wasn't a real dragon. But it was considered threatening enough to be mistaken for one.

When this earth dragon moved into the forest used for gathering and hunting, the city's forces decided to subjugate it.

Several adventurer parties were also hired to take on skirmishing duties.

Now then, what kind of monster is an earth dragon?

First, there's its massive size. Fully grown specimens exceed one hundred meters in total length. About the same as an adult dragon.

According to a passage from the three-thousand-year-old bestseller "Remdria Chronicles" called "Prince Hollyn's Earth Dragon Subjugation," even a full battalion of a great nation's knights would have difficulty subjugating one.

But that's past tense.

In the present day with advanced magic and science, subjugation isn't difficult with a squad of skilled warriors and mages.

In fact, in the habitats of Ogress and Remdria, earth dragons have become an endangered species.

While catastrophically dangerous to villages and towns of ordinary people, they're no longer a match for the equipment of great nations.

That's the current state of earth dragons on the Dragon Bone Continent.

But what about on this Dragon Claw Continent?

First, there's the problem of weaponry.

Old-fashioned catapults and guns made in outdated factories can be prepared. But those can't subjugate an earth dragon. The power is simply insufficient, and deploying catapults in a forest is difficult.

Thus, like in medieval times, they had to gather soldiers in numbers, collect old weapons, and rely on individual martial prowess.

"That's when Ryou's Gift played a major role."

The fox beastkin man added.

He imbued soldiers' swords with severing, spears with penetration, and hammers with destruction—simple but powerful forces.

The one who delivered the finishing blow to the battered earth dragon was Ryou with his spear.

That spear had been imbued with the concept of "Death."

Having demonstrated his power, Ryou was personally selected by the city's leadership to become a battalion commander's adjutant.

While saddened, his companions blessed Ryou's departure from the party.

And now Ryou serves as an adjutant in Marana's forces.

While he's not at the top due to limited command ability and combat experience, he's in a position where his Gift can be utilized.

He's even defeated high-ranking demons that invaded with his individual martial prowess.

He's both the greatest force and key to force multiplication. Naturally, there would be strong opposition from those around him to sending him back to Earth.

"Could I meet with the hero?"

Sei asked the giant man. Meeting important city figures was difficult enough, but considering the hero's position, he couldn't just show up and expect an audience.

However, these men who already knew him might be willing to arrange some convenience.

"What do you plan to do if you meet him?"

To the fox beastkin man, Sei spoke without falsehood.

"I'll have him return to Earth… to his original world."

At that moment, the surrounding adventurers emanated killing intent.

A companion who was both a hero and a champion—a beloved comrade.

There was no way they'd feel favorably toward someone trying to take him away.

While surrounded by murderous intent, Sei remained calm, and Laila maintained her expressionless face to match.

"Of course, since this would endanger the city, I have an alternative."

Sei looked directly into the giant man's eyes.

"I'll have a dragon come."

Those words brought silence to the space.

A sound like air leaking could be heard.

Eventually it spread like ripples, and with few exceptions, transformed into explosive laughter.

"A dragon! A dragon, he says!? Nobody believes such fairy tales!"

Dragons existed in records, but many doubted their existence. Especially on this Dragon Claw Continent.

Because unlike the divine dragons of other continents, the Sky Dragon that should have been this continent's divine dragon was defeated by the gods and became Sei's companion.

Even Lieselotte, the divine dragon of the nearby Dragon Wing Continent, didn't have subordinates yet.

Thus on this continent, dragons were thought to be fairy tale beings or even already extinct.

In reality, dragons basically lived in the divine domains of divine dragons, with very few exceptions becoming dungeon masters. Even those dungeon masters on the Dragon Claw Continent were gods or spirits—no dragons existed.

Even when young dragons grew into adult dragons and wild individuals left their divine domains and were occasionally seen on the Dragon Bone Continent, they rarely interacted with humans. Divine dragons forbade meaningless contact in the first place.

Thus their reaction was quite reasonable. Sei understood that.

Restraining Laila who was about to angrily speak up, Sei continued.

"Then promise me this. If I bring a dragon, you'll arrange a meeting with the hero through your connections."

Sei continued the conversation with the giant man who hadn't laughed at all.

The man kept glaring at Sei. As he did, the guild's commotion settled down.

"… Very well. Though all I can do is relay the message."

"That's sufficient."

Smiling brightly, Sei turned on his heel.

While calming the indignant Laila, Sei returned to the inn.

"So, I'd like to request the dispatch of a dragon."

"A dragon, you say…"

Ria on the other end of the communicator muttered in a hesitant tone.

"? Is there a problem?"

"No, it's nothing. I'll send one of my ancient dragon subordinates your way."

Not an adult dragon but an ancient dragon. Providing a force that could overwhelm even most high-ranking gods was quite bold of Ria.

But Sei found it a bit strange.

"Wouldn't the water dragon or wind dragon be closer?"

"… Those guys are currently busy with something else. I'll have my subordinate go."

While she seemed to be hiding something, pressing the issue would unlikely yield answers.

For now, Sei was satisfied with that.

His companions who had been gathering information separately assembled to organize it.

First, the enemy—though that's putting it roughly—was the hero Ryou's capabilities.

His individual combat power was overwhelming. Conceptual Armament that could even manipulate "Death" was likely a Gift rivaling Destruction.

However, he apparently couldn't use advanced concepts. Reproducing magic that required intricate formula construction didn't work well. Most importantly, opponents needed to make contact with the substance or magic imbued with the concept.

In the earth dragon subjugation, even damaging the scales didn't trigger the death effect—it only activated when the spear tip reached the flesh.

Also, Conceptual Armaments given to others were apparently simpler than those applied to himself. Though this was judged from actual combat results, it's possible Ryou deliberately didn't give excessive power to others.

But according to Mako, this tendency existed in the Neosis Kingdom too, so it was safe to consider only the hero as outstanding force.

And importantly, using this Gift consumed life force, magic power, and stamina.

What was consumed and how much varied by each concept, but it was fortunate that the opponent's energy wasn't infinite.

If he teamed up with the Universal Healing hero, he'd be a terrifying enemy, but they were fortunate in that regard.

Now, the dragon had been arranged, and they should be able to meet with Ryou within a few days.

He'd somewhat given up on persuading him to return. From what he'd heard about his personality, speech, and behavior, there was no doubt he was getting carried away in this world.

Though unlike the Absolute Reflection hero, he apparently wasn't feared. He was carefree for better or worse, with high public support.

He apparently got along well with the city's upper echelons and soldiers too. His vanity was higher than his ambition—he was in a good mood when pampered, yet didn't make unreasonable demands.

He was like a manga or light novel protagonist come to life.

"I think he's probably satisfied just being a hero in this world."

Mako, who'd called him a cheerful otaku, explained. In a fantasy world, fighting evil gods with his own power probably fulfilled his desires.

However, that meant the possibility of him obediently returning to Earth was low.

Until the story's conclusion—the defeat of the evil gods—the fairy tale in his mind wouldn't end.

They'd probably have to force their demands through again, but this time that would be difficult.

Unlike the Absolute Reflection hero, he had companions. Or rather subordinates. One could even say the entire city was on his side.

They would absolutely oppose his return and would almost certainly take up arms in opposition.

How should they get him to return?

"First we'll have to break his pride and convince the people around him."

Sei said that and began analyzing the forces around Ryou.

A massive creature covering the sky.

An overwhelming presence that even a hundred-meter earth dragon couldn't match.

Huge wings, a long neck, and jet-black scales covering its entire body.

A legendary ancient dragon said to even destroy gods.

Its form was circling above Marana.

The people knelt.

And prayed. To what? Not to gods, but to the hero.

The real threat of evil gods. And good gods who didn't oppose them. Marana had a more certain faith than such things.

The hero.

When the ancient dragon descended near the city, the city's leadership was already holding a meeting about the dragon.

Among them was Ryou, the hero of Conceptual Armament.

According to reports, the ancient dragon was lying in a grassy area slightly away from the city, showing no sign of observing them.

There was a tradition that nations summoning heroes would be destroyed by dragons, but no tradition of nations being destroyed because they had heroes.

Then why had a dragon—even an ancient dragon judging by its size—that was thought to be legendary visited? Was it mere whim, or was there intent?

Could they even communicate with a dragon in the first place?

No answer could be found, and the long meeting continued.

Then a messenger soldier arrived.

Former companions were calling for the hero.

That alone would be set aside for this emergency, but they also claimed to know why the ancient dragon had come.

New discussion material had been thrown in, but Ryou preempted it and said:

"Understood. I'll meet them."

A single giant man sat uncomfortably in a reception room within the castle.

"Begil-san."

Ryou, who visited the room alone, approached with an affectionate smile.

"Haha, you look well."

That massive hand clapped the shoulder of Ryou, who had grown more robust. An ordinary person would have broken bones.

The two briefly exchanged recent news before getting to the main topic.

And Ryou was not a little surprised by the information Begil brought.

"Return to Earth…"

Honestly, Ryou wasn't as attached to this world as Mako thought.

Certainly, he'd spent fulfilling days in this story-like world. But fiction and reality were different.

The days of fighting the gods' servants had a rawness unfelt from books or screens.

Specifically, the deaths of companions he'd lived with and grown close to.

Even as a hero with cheats, not everything went well. He'd tried whether he could revive the dead with the concept of resurrection, but it was impossible.

In this world, human power apparently couldn't overturn death.

Of course, after coming to this world and transferring from Neosis, he'd resolved that he could never return to Earth.

But now, he could return.

His only regret was the city's defense, but an ancient dragon had come as military force.

Ryou's own heart strongly leaned toward returning.

But what about the city's people? Anxieties would be endless about whether an ancient dragon was truly as powerful as its massive size suggested, and whether it would really protect them.

And Begil told Ryou about the girl whose role was to send them back to Earth.

Her companions included an elf not seen in these parts, and even another hero.

Ryou thought. Could he trust them? Even if he could trust them, could he rely on them?

"This isn't something I can decide on my own…"

He had Begil wait a bit longer while Ryou brought the matter to the city's leadership.

Their conclusion was ambiguous but decided.

They didn't want Ryou to leave. Naturally. Even with a legendary ancient dragon, the hero was proven real force.

But they couldn't ignore the ancient dragon before them either. If possible, couldn't they secure it as their force along with the hero?

Thoughts circulated, the meeting danced.

Still, one conclusion emerged.

To meet with Sei and the others.