The Days of Training with the Children
After that, the Hero Party started acting together with the youth group, [Cocoon].
Even among the youth group, most of them were using Martial Arts techniques to fight monsters.
The Hero Party desperately tried to keep up so they wouldn’t fall behind a bunch of kids.
“That’s why I’m telling you not to charge in recklessly. The people covering for you have it rough too, you know?”
Today as well, the male members of the Hero Party were getting scolded by the children.
“Mama, carry me…”
On the other hand, little kids kept gathering around Almeria and Milian, making the two of them wildly popular.
Watching that, Julius glanced at a certain part of Princess Elizabeth and muttered, “Ahh… yeah, I see.”
And Princess Elizabeth who overheard him,
“How rude. I’m still growing, you know. My future potential is very high…”
Right as she said that, Judia (11) bounced past in front of Princess Elizabeth (18).
“Potential value… there’s none, yeah~”
Princess Elizabeth (18) shouted, “Kiiii!” and stomped away loudly.
And beyond her, an unbelievable scene was unfolding.
“Why are you only looking at us, Mister Hero!? That’s dangerous!”
That was what the little girls were yelling at Hero Waltz.
Meanwhile, the hero himself was sticking his butt out toward the little girls, lowering his hips into the perfect position for kicking.
The very image of a hero.
The little girls hesitated… but lightly kicked his butt anyway.
“More~ more! Come on, put your spirit into it!”
For some reason, Hero Waltz shouted that while his face turned bright red.
“Don’t blame us for what happens then. We’re going all out!”
Martial Arts techniques were truly finishing moves.
An incredible sound exploded around Hero Waltz’s butt, he was also using Martial Arts himself, and then the hero let out:
“Ahhiiieeeehhhhhh~!”
A wonderfully resonant cry rose from the depths of his stomach.
He really does love this stuff. More importantly, does Hero Waltz consider even little girls within his strike zone as long as they’re flat-chested?
That’s Gold Glove Award level right there. And whether it’s Japan or another world, that’s still a crime, okay… Don’t lay a hand on them.
As expected of a true warrior, Hero Waltz’s level-ups really were something else.
Maybe the stat growth from leveling is just abnormally high for him?
Though everything about him goes off in completely the wrong direction.
---
Once every member of the Hero Party had cleared the lower-tier jobs, they returned to their original professions.
Among them, the ones who advanced into higher-tier classes than before were:
Princess Elizabeth changed from Archer to Bow Saint.
Milian changed from Mage to Sage.
Almeria changed from Healer to Saintess.
The women settled into classes one rank above their previous ones.
Crown Prince Erason and Hero Waltz remained as Holy Knight and Hero respectively, but those were already legendary classes to begin with.
---
After experiencing and stacking all kinds of professions, the Hero Party’s combat strength rose dramatically, so as promised, we decided to give them equipment.
For Crown Prince Erason, we prepared the full-body High Mithril armor, “True Holy Knight Armor".
Along with it came the High Mithril sword, "True Holy Knight Sword".
His crimson cape was made from feathers taken from the monster Firebird.
Every piece of equipment had Body Enhancement and mana Enhancement enchantments applied to them, and each item was specialized gear with personal authentication attached.
For Princess Elizabeth, we prepared the composite bow "Magic Bow", made from Treant wood and High Mithril, with the ability to fire arrows made from mana.
Her dress armor, "Stardust Armor", was woven from High Mithril fibers mixed with Death Spider thread.
Every piece of her equipment had mana Enhancement and mana Absorption enchantments, and all of it was exclusive gear with personal authentication.
For Milian, we prepared the "Sage’s Staff", made from an upper-tier Treant monster called an Elder Treant, embedded with all elemental magic stones.
Her "Sage’s Robes" were made from the same High Mithril and Death Spider cloth as Princess Elizabeth’s gear, with mana crystals embedded into them.
All of her equipment had mana Enhancement and mana Recovery Enhancement enchantments, and all were exclusive items with personal authentication.
For Almeria, we prepared the "Saintess’s Staff", a scepter combining High Mithril and Adamantite.
Her "Purification Robes" were woven from purified White Mithril and Death Spider thread.
All of her equipment had mana Enhancement and Healing Enhancement enchantments and came with personal authentication.
And for Hero Waltz, we reforged that holy sword the skeleton had possessed with additional High Mithril, creating "Holy Sword Silverdine".
Along with it came the scale armor "Dragon Armor", made using High Mithril and dragon scales.
Every piece of his equipment had Body Enhancement and mana Enhancement enchantments, making them exclusive gear as well.
---
With their equipment complete and their professions acquired, the members of the Hero Party continued training in the Forest of Demons alongside the children until the very last possible day, honing themselves further.
In the end, the children had started relying on them.
They had fully mastered the power of the professions they’d accumulated. By now, they probably felt more like comrades than anything else.
Hero Waltz especially was often seen holding hands with little girls.
(… He’s not laying hands on them, right? He does have a prior offense involving Princess Elizabeth…)
---
That day, the sky had been gloomy since morning. Everything started with a heavy atmosphere hanging in the air… Then suddenly, an envoy from the Titania Kingdom arrived.
According to the information brought by the royal messenger, the Kingdom Knights Order had already begun moving eastward.
Apparently, the military alliance between the Kingdom of Ismari and the Kingdom of Hamato on Titania’s eastern border was moving faster than expected.
They were gathering food supplies and preparing to invade the kingdom soon… or so it seemed.
Tension ran through the Hero Party. At last, the war that would decide the fate of the kingdom was about to begin.
Because of that, I decided to teach the Hero Party Martial Arts techniques, [Cloak] and several other skills, before sending them off.
Most likely, the war would already have started before the Hero Party arrived… Even so, I wanted them to face it in perfect condition.
In the middle of that tense atmosphere… encouraged by the children, everyone somehow managed to grow enough to earn Julius’s passing mark.
And so, the entire Hero Party was finally able to depart together.
What do you think about this chapter?
