Chapter 243 (2/2)

But the knights thehts would not allow them to march in the parade in front of Basdia and Zadiris, and if they were to be ordered to do so, they would rather create an excuse of being in poor health and refrain froether And thus, the opposing vassals had been left with no choice but to fall silent

“The 'Flying Sword' Simon and 'Iron Cat' Natania are there, too I had Simon in my party for a commission once, you know”

“Yeah, yeah The punchline is that it hen you were doing a day job to clear soht? I've heard this one already”

“That running that Natania did, that wasn't humanly possible Her tea”

“Hey, hasn't that hellhound becoe? And those rat monsters look a bit different as well…”

“Their Ranks probably increased It was apparently a fierce battle, after all All of the people who took part in the battle apparently changed Jobs afterwards”

“They got that many Experience Points?!”

“Yeah, rowth barrier I mean, there was a countless nuons and Giants”

“That's a There won't be any ht? They'll all be promoted”

“No, I wouldn't go that far, but… there ht be more C-class adventurers”

It could be said that the city's ability to defend itself had increased a considerable auards hadn't been very powerful before the battle; their increase in strength was a particularly significant improvement for the city's security

With that said, the knights' order and city guards had becoer that they would be able to defend another e of a similar scale on their own

Meanwhile, the people of the city didn't have roup at the front of the parade

“Hey, thatat the front of the parade? I know that Starving Wolf Security are doing pretty well, but even if you wanted to publicly acknowledge that, there's no need for him to be at the front…”

“And that Dhampir, Vandalieu, if I recall correctly Holy-Mother-sa the battle, but isn't he riding on his mother's coat-tails a little too much?”

“And that Dark Elf, Elf and the dark-skinned guy – who are they?”

Vandalieu and the others had not fought in the battle at the front gate, and only two guards at the watchtowers had witnessed their battle – and even they had only seen it froe person didn't havetheir feats

Thus, although Vandalieu had defeated Hajime Fitun, the enemy's leader, the feats of Darcia and the others were hly praised

“I'm proud that Mother, Zadiris, Basdia, hly praised,” said Vandalieu

He didn't mind this at all In fact, he was proud of it

“… Well, I didn't expect you to be concerned about the little details, but doesn't it bother you? I am, a little If I could, I'd love to slip out without anyone noticing

People in the croere pointing at hist themselves

Doug had no doubt that Vandalieu was unconcerned when it canition of his achieveiven the fact that he was keeping silent about the fact that Hajime Fitun was no more bandit, but an incarnation of the God of thunderclouds himself

And if Vandalieu wanted to s as he put his mind to He could show off a return journey to the Dark Continent that he had reached long ago, show off and clear the Orbaueon on his own… or if he wanted so closer and eon that was likely, in the forest, the one that the inated from, and clear that Vandalieu could easilyany of these incredible feats

What Doug was bothered about was the fact that he was being exposed to the gaze of others Though their gazes contained no disdain, their looks of confusion being directed at him wasn't particularly pleasant

“It's alright You'll receivewith his eyes that Doug should look at the crowd

“You don't knoho they are? There were bandits at the front gate, right? Those bandits' buddies were outside the city as well, and these guys fought them”

“My little brother's a city guard, and he toldabout how that kid blocked a spell that a bandit sent towards the city”

It was already well-known that most of the bandits had been as powerful as B-class or class adventurers It was likely that the ones at the front gate had been equivalent to class, while the others were class

This was false infor as powerful as B-class adventurers didn't change the fact that they had posed a huge threat to the city

“That kid did that?!”

“From what I heard, it was a completely defensive battle They kept their distance, threw things at each other and used Magic Iteht”

“I' Those girls can apparently do 'that' thing, like Holy-Mother-sama”

“Are you serious?! It's actually'that!' I hope they'll do it for us today!”

“My son, too And according to what I've heard, the earl's son is a fan, too I'm sure they'll do it for us in the central plaza”

“More importantly, the staff and axe needed for 'that' can apparently only beto the ru method or some Unique Skill involved”

“… This isn't all that relevant, but everyone around that 'Genius Tamer' has one, don't they?”

“I also heard that he used soons and Giants to confuse theht, but there's no mistake that he helped protect the city”

“To begin with, it's that boy who's taic Staff Master' He's the one who trained the 'Iron Arm' and 'Iron Cat,' too”

People here and there in the crowd could be heardabout Vandalieu and his co, Kanako, Melissa and Michael (Miles) as well

“… Infor muttered

“Of course it does Don't underestimate how much we spread the story e opened the store in the plaza the day before yesterday and in the red-light district yesterday,” said Kanako, still s at the crowd

“We even ended up transfor, too… Thanks to that, I don't remember how many times the customers asked the sa rather tired

Kanako and Melissa hadn't done any information manipulation They had si at a food cart in a place that people could easily go to, and the curious customers had simply asked their questions All Kanako and Melissa had done was answer those questions

And as the parade reached the central plaza, Earl Isaac Morksi, the city's high-ranking officials and the masters of each Guild welcomed them

“Okay everyone, here we go!” said Darcia

“… Very well It cannot be helped,” muttered Zadiris

“This is depressing,” said Melissa

“… I am a little ashamed,” said Simon

“Isn't the color of our hair a little different?” asked Natania

“That doesn't o, all at the same time!” said Darcia

“Transfor off their outer their equipment in the air

The liquid metal of their equipment separated from them like Slimes, and in the saed shape as well

A deafening cheer echoed frohts and soldiers all fanatically praised their ures

“… What an incredible sight Is it like this on Earth and in Origin as well?” asked Miles

“The kids ht be like this, but I don't think the adults would be,” said Doug

“As the creator of their equipment, I am very proud,” said Vandalieu

Though Darcia and the others had transforive a sermon (concert) Earl Morksi waited for the crowd to quiet down, then began his public speech to them

The day before the parade

The questioning conducted by Earl Isaac Morksi, the leader of the knights' order and a few high-ranking officials was not conducted in one-on-one sessions, but with everyone gathered in one place

This was a way for the earl and his retainers, the side doing the questioning, to i information out of Vandalieu and his companions

In response, Vandalieu had told the them

He did not speak of the physical incarnations of the heroic spirits and the God, nor did he speak about his own true identity

Regarding the strange events witnessed from the watchtowers… Vandalieu told theic Iteht were a function of his staff, that the whip-like object he had used in battle was a whip that he had hidden up his sleeve, and that hi to be cut down by the banditsunhar more than an optical illusion

Kanako's 'Venus' hadn't been noticed at all, so she could si lied that his 'Hecatoncheir' was an efficient way of using 'Telekinesis' that his faenerations, while Melissa stated that her 'Aegis' was siic

Isis seeed unharave the explanation that she had fortunately avoided a direct hit but lost consciousness fro visible from the watchtower, she must have been in the shadow of some other object

As for who they were, there were no deep suspicions, as they had already passed through the city's gates before Kanako, Melissa and Doug were adventurers, while Isis was just a wandering traveler All of the treated as acquaintances of Vandalieu and Darcia

… If they were to question the city guards in detail, the earl and his retainers would have learned that these people had not been through the front gate on the day of the battle But they did not doubt the story that Kanako had left the city to fetch Vandalieu during the chaos at the gate after learning that there was a horde ofthe city

As for Kimberley, Vandalieu told the earl and his retainers that he was an adventure who had happened to be passing by, assisting in the battle ind-attribute enchant the city As for Orbia, who had appeared ave the explanation that had been decided upon beforehand: “That was a highly secret spell cast on e I'm not familiar with the details”

Most of this inforth regarding the bandits He told the earl that the enemies had called themselves heroic spirits of Fitun, and that the heroic spirits had descended upon this world He also gave accurate answers about the names of the martial skills and spells they used

Vandalieu also told the earl that they had been ai to take his life

“I see… It seems that these bandits were heroes that Fitun, the God of thunderclouds, had chosen and granted his divine protection and heroic spirits The e may also have been caused by that God, but… we cannot say thatto all of this, a worn-out expression on his face “I have received word that statues of the God Fitun have cracked and his priests have lost consciousness, all across the land It is likely that he was punished by Alda for this incident, or that so happened to him after his heroes were defeated… In any case, I can scarcely believe that he was able to nurture Gordon, a C-class adventurer, and the Flaroup of D-class adventurers, to the point that they could serve as vessels for heroic spirits in such a short period of tih their bodies were ulti to think about”

The identities of Gordon, who had recently visited Morksi, and the Flame Blades, who had been active in a nearby city, were known But the identities of the other bandits had not yet been determined

Perhaps having left the their Adventurers' Guild Cards, and even Vandalieu and his coinal of the bodies used by the two heroic spirits at the front gate or Kizelbyne

But as Hajiistered at the Adventurers' Guild, their identities would eventually be discovered… The 'Sylphid' Misa Anderson would be more difficult to identify, as her body had been in vapor for, so nobody had seen her at all and she had left no corpse behind But since the earl and his retainers didn't know of her existence in the first place, it was unlikely to become a problem

Isaac let out a deep sigh

“I don't think they would be able to do the sa for soure

“What proof have you of that?” Isaac asked

“The bandit naht said that Gordon and the others becah this is but a conjecture, I believe that he possessed some kind of special Unique Skill, and perhaps it was this that allowed him to produce such improvement in Gordon and the others in such a short period of ti out the details around 'Marionette' and si it as a Unique Skill

“I see, I Unique Skill,” the Earl ly satisfied by this explanation “At the very least, it seeain today or tomorrow… Well then, Vandalieu Zakkart and his corateful for your valuable testimony and infor forward,” he said, reaching out towards Vandalieu to shake his hand

As he listened to the earl's speech, Miles thought back to yesterday's questioning “I was sure he would tell us to get out of the city 'Maintain friendly relations,' huh?” he murmured

The bandits… it had been al Fitun, and that they were after Vandalieu's life In other words, the earl are that Vandalieu being in the city was the cause of the events that had taken place two days ago

With that being the case, Miles had expected the earl to banish the

“I am sure he considered it, but I suppose he realized that it would have been less to do so,” said Zadiris

“He is already aware that this city can be used as a hostage against Van With that being the case, there's no saying that the 'eneet this city even after they exile us,” said Basdia

“So that's why he wants Master to remain as his ally rather than exile all of us… noblehts are complicated,” said Natania with a frown

“I think he had the city's people in ht that it would make no difference whether we're here or not,” said Darcia

Vandalieu and his companions had been accepted by the city of Morksi before it was attacked Vandalieu's business in the red-light district, his feats in the slums, the 'Familiar Spirit Descent' that Darcia had displayed at the Communal Church

They were already fa the people who didn't know the truth, and their reputation had risen even further after they suppressed the e

The number of Vida worshi+ppers in the city had increased, and the Ghoul extermination requests had been removed from the Adventurers' Guild's commission board due to the voices of the adventurers and civilians

With Vandalieu and his co the people, even if they were exiled froht think that they had si the city And if they did leave the city, the city would end up being attacked again regardless

With that being the case, the earl exiling Vandalieu and his companions would only worsen his relationshi+p with Vandalieu and create negative eood would come of it

“Still… I wonder if we can do anything about this This is too much fame for me, I think,” Si

“Simon, there will be another parade once we return to the eet used to it while you can,” Vandalieu whispered to him

After recent events, Vandalieu had told hi The truth had far exceeded what Siined; he would never have even dreamed that he would be the apprentice of an erateful and pretend that he didn't know anything

“… There's no need forfor you on the side of the street, so don't mind me…” said Simon

“If you resist, I'll give you a court rank and dub you Sir Simon Or I could adopt you, and then you'd be Prince Simon,” said Vandalieu

“Spare hed

Just as this heartwar whispered conversation between master and disciple came to an end, the earl's speech to the crowd came to an end as well

“Now then, I shall now present these decorations fronition of your deeds,” the earl announced

In the Orbaudorant court ranks to others, not even a single-generation noble status that could not be inherited

Incidentally, there were also regulations on the decorations that could be granted; the highest decoration, the platinuold order could be granted by the twelve heads of the houses of dukes, and nobles between the court rank of rant the silver order

“To the 'Holy Mother of Victory' Darcia Zakkart, and the 'Patron Saint of Transformation Equiprant upon you the silver order,” said the earl

The crowd stirred upon hearing the earl's mysterious words 'nameless heroes'

Kanako and Doug put their hands over their hed

“Some people were too late to escape when the monster horde advanced on the city There were some individuals that sacrificed themselves to buy the ti men and women, and some were elderly,” said the earl “Their remains were never found, and nobody knows their names It is likely that they were residents of the slums who lived in poverty It is oodness of their hearts, to praise them as true heroes And I shall reat effort into co the poverty in the slueneration!”

A cheer erupted fro men and women ere saved by a mysterious old woman, their eyes ith tears

Incidentally, there were plans to erect a stone statue of these 'nameless heroes'

There werethis In addition to being moved by these heroes' brave acts, he also wished to turn sooodwill back to himself, as it was currently too focused on Darcia He was also aiain so much support that his plan to combat poverty could not be opposed, and also to declare to the 'enemy' that had directed Fitun's heroes to the city… to the Gods, that those were the true heroes

“It ion,” said Melissa

It see praised, were overwheluilt There were two reasons Isis wasn't a part of the parade – one was that her deeds had not been witnessed, and… this was the other

Meanwhile, those who had fought the heroic spirits in the Dungeon were either watching over the house or preparing for the parade that was to be held in Talosheie of the nation's name to the new one that would be revealed by Vandalieu afterwards

“I really wanted to see Bocchan in his best clothes,” Rita said wistfully

“You've already seen hih, isn't it? And Talosheirand,” said Saria

This conversation was suddenly interrupted by Juliana

“Ue I think it is about where a Goddess is,” she said