110 – New Possibilities – 4

“It is a pleasure to meet you again. Have you been well, sir?”

It was Lectus, not the Draconian, who spoke first.

He was wearing thick armor and even a helmet, but the unique pattern of the armor showed off his presence.

Gi-jun glanced at the Draconian standing quietly by his side and silently watching the party, then turned back to Lectus and greeted him.

“It hasn’t been long since we parted, but yes. Good to see you.”

“Hmm. If you are glad to see me, there is one thing I would like you to tell me. Where is that beautiful lady from back then now?”

—It seems this guy isn’t actually glad to see you, Contractor?

If Lucy hadn’t made that remark on his behalf, Gi-jun might have failed to maintain his current concept.

Gi-jun spoke, trying his best to let his expression of contempt show through his mask.

“Just talk about the person you brought, Smith.”

“I shall do so.”

Lectus slumped his shoulders slightly in disappointment, but obediently introduced the Draconian.

“This is a Golden Draconian, a royal knight of the great Tyrannus Empire of the Leta continent, who carries the blood of the imperial family, and is also an official hero of the continent. His codename is Fatum.”

Aside from Tyrannus being the name of an empire, there was absolutely nothing he could understand.

However, the Orcs who were with Gi-jun seemed to know how incredible that was, as they each let out a gasp and held their breath.

“Fatum?! Isn’t he the one with the most brilliant record among the heroes active in Leta recently!”

“I knew he carried dragon blood, but I never imagined he was a Draconian. To think he is a descendant of the imperial family lineage!”

“Truly a courageous spirit, indeed a figure befitting a hero standing at the forefront of the defense of the Light Faction…!”

Did these Orc bastards practice for an elocution contest as a group or something?

Furthermore, it was even more baffling why they didn’t know about Flame Humans when they were so well-acquainted with the affairs of the continent.

However, listening to their exclamations of admiration, Gi-jun could roughly grasp how great of a figure that Draconian was.

‘Come to think of it, they did say that dragon blood flows in the Gratia royal family as well. It seems dragon blood is a pretty prestigious lineage on this continent. This Draconian is even connected to the imperial family of a great empire… Moreover, I thought the title of Hero was limited to the tutorial, but it exists in Leta as well. Is it a sort of honorary position?’

Gi-jun examined the Draconian with fresh eyes.

Unlike Lectus, who was armed in full plate armor, he was lightly armed, wearing only a breastplate, thigh guards, and greaves, exposing a lot of his skin; however, the golden scales densely covering his forearms looked capable of serving as strong armor on their own.

His face was similar to a human’s, but just like the King of Gratia, his golden pupils were vertically slit, and scales covered up to his chin, securely protecting the vital point that was his neck.

In addition, the thick horns growing near both of his temples soared toward the sky, giving a different impression from those of the Gratia royalty.

—That lizard… is strong, Contractor. Although he’s not as strong as that demon, he’s definitely stronger than Scintilla.

‘He must be Legendary, or at least top-tier Unique. Even I would have a hard time right now.’

Gi-jun was a capable individual who was well-accustomed to defeating enemies of a higher rank than himself—but that too depended on the opponent.

If the opponent had been a large, dark-attributed boss monster, he could have benefited from his titles, but against this Draconian, who seemed far from dark or evil, his weight class was simply too low.

Although he thought he might not be in his right mind for immediately thinking of fighting the moment he saw a strong person, sizing up the opponent was essential since one never knew what would happen in Leta.

Did he feel Gi-jun’s intense gaze just then?

The Draconian, Fatum, cast his eyes on him and momentarily flinched.

“You…”

He then mumbled softly and let out a low groan.

While a meaningful look was exchanged between Gi-jun and the Draconian for a brief moment, Lectus clapped his hands to draw their attention.

“Fatum is a hero dispatched from Tyrannus at the request of our royal family to respond to this crisis. As those Orcs said, he is one of the most famous heroes on the continent recently.”

“What exactly is a hero?”

“An elite who always takes charge of the front lines in the war between the Light Faction and the Dark Faction. It is a highly honorable title.”

“A title.”

Gi-jun flinched at those words.

Coincidentally, didn’t he also possess the title of The Last Hero?

Looking back at the tutorial now, it was nothing but laughable child’s play, but even in the midst of that, the one thing that could not be taken lightly was his final battle against Biche, who had unleashed her power.

Weakening herself by eating food filled with light for several years, completely sealing one of her main skills, and so on…

If Biche hadn’t intentionally cheated the tutorial system, Gi-jun would never have been able to enjoy the effects of The Last Hero.

If this was some kind of kickback, he still had no idea what he would have to give Biche in return.

“A hero can also manifest as a class, a race, or a skill, in addition to a title.”

Realizing that Gi-jun was concerned with the word ‘hero,’ Viv added an explanation from the side.

“In the tutorial, it felt more like ‘Hero (lol),’ but a hero referred to on the Leta continent is the real deal. Since they represent the Light Faction and fight against formidable enemies, civilizations belonging to the same faction have no choice but to respect them. Both the prerequisites and the qualification exams are strict.”

“I see.”

Whatever it was, it probably had nothing to do with the title he obtained in the tutorial.

It shouldn’t, but the fact that the Gol—den Draconian was silently staring at him weighed on his mind.

Gi-jun tried his best to ignore his gaze and asked Lectus.

“Did you bring him to introduce him to me? To move together in this situation?”

“Something like that. Since he is a key ally who will join us in the operation. He wished to meet you in advance, sir.”

“But then, you could have just waited in Cor. Why did you bother bringing him all the way here?”

Yes, that was the issue.

Weren’t the poor five Orc brothers trembling in fear with expressions asking what on earth they were doing there since earlier?

“Well, that is…”

Lectus replied with a slightly troubled look.

“When he heard that your friends were on the verge of rank advancement, he offered to help.”

“Who? The hero?”

“…Yes.”

Fatum replied directly and took a step forward.

His build was so massive that Gi-jun hadn’t noticed it until now, but he was carrying a thick greatsword with a wide blade on his back.

Drawing the greatsword that radiated a powerful energy with a light grip of one hand, he pointed it at the Orcs, starting with Chabanvesh, and said in a heavy voice:

“To prove my strength and to allow them to experience overcoming their limits.”

—Meaning he set up this stage to flex in front of you, Contractor, to seize the initiative.

At Lucy’s clear explanation, Gi-jun found himself nodding in agreement.

Since it was a bit awkward to ask Gi-jun for a direct fight, he had come up with a plausible excuse.

“If you truly wish to grow, come.”

“U-Uh… Leader?”

“Gulp…”

The Orcs, who suddenly ended up fighting a hero representing the continent just to get a rank advancement, were trembling, but on the other hand, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Ultimately, Chabanvesh, having steeled his resolve, let out a characteristic Orc battle cry to cheer up his brothers, and bowed his head to Fatum.

“Then, we ask for your guidance.”

“If you attack with the determination to die, you shall see what lies beyond.”

“Hyaaah!”

“For the Leader’s rank advancemeeeent!”

With the five Orcs rushing at Fatum all at once, the battle finally began.

Then, three of them were blown away by a light swing of Fatum’s greatsword, and Chabanvesh bellowed at the top of his lungs, trying his best to command the excited Orcs.

—He’s incredibly strong.

‘Tell me about it. Those Orc friends aren’t exactly weak, but they’re scattering like bowling pins.’

At that level, his Strength stat was definitely Legendary grade, which was one step above Gi-jun’s.

Considering his species rank, class, and titles, there was even a possibility that the gap in overall ability was even wider.

His Mana stat seemed high, and his Dexterity stat was the same.

And when it came to Endurance, there was no answer.

Even if the Orcs managed to withstand that monstrous offensive and land a hit, he worried whether they could even pierce those hard scales.

“Prove yourselves!”

“As much as you want—I will become a great Orccc!”

“Leader—!”

Kipuz somehow caught Chabanvesh, who had charged with wide eyes at Fatum’s light provocation only to get struck by the flat of the greatsword and fly to the end of the wall, and the remaining Orcs desperately blocked Fatum as he rushed in during that gap…

To put it simply, it was a tragedy too painful to watch.

“Viv, if you hadn’t gone out of your way to explain everything, this wouldn’t have happened.”

To Gi-jun, who was venting his frustration on Viv out of pity for his friends, she pouted and replied.

“They grilled me on what we were doing and where, so I had no choice.”

“Fatum seemed to want to leave a strong impression on you, sir.”

Lectus spoke up on behalf of the wronged Viv.

“Even if the Orcs hadn’t been here, he probably would have created a similar scene. Perhaps he might have even tried to fight you directly.”

“Is that so…”

Even Gi-jun didn’t have the confidence to defeat that monster.

If he revealed Lucy’s existence and poured in all his strength, he might be able to put on a decent show, but there was nothing to be gained by doing so.

‘Thank you, Chabanvesh.’

He expressed his gratitude inwardly to Chabanvesh, who was getting beaten up by the hero in his stead.

Please survive in one piece.

—…Hmm?

After watching the Orcs get beaten up in a thrilling fashion for about five minutes.

Lucy suddenly let out a puzzled sound.

When Gi-jun looked where her gaze was directed, he saw Chabanvesh, who had somehow succeeded in exploiting an opening in Fatum’s defense, unleashing an attack with all his might.

It seemed that due to handling such an excessively massive sword, a brief opening had appeared while parrying the joint attacks of the five; seeing the skill with which he exquisitely aimed and dug into that gap, Chabanvesh was indeed no ordinary fellow.

The problem was that Fatum’s rank was far too high to allow an attack at this level.

“—Ha!”

“Keuhak!”

Just before the attack landed, Fatum’s arm shot up bizarrely as if equipped with a boost engine, and the greatsword, clad in a dense aura, slammed into Chabanvesh’s torso.

Chabanvesh instantly flew up, crashed into the ceiling, and collapsed onto the floor.

Gi-jun was startled and tried to rush forward, but Lucy stopped him.

—He’s not dead, so don’t worry. More importantly…

The moment Fatum reacted violently to Chabanvesh was, in other words, no different from revealing a huge opening.

Instead of checking on their leader’s safety, the Orcs capitalized on the opportunity he had created and attacked Fatum all at once; Fatum deflected most of them, but in the end, his forearm was lightly grazed by the glaive thrust by Kipuz.

“Khh—”

“Oh.”

As if excited by the wound, Fatum instantly exploded a dense golden mana.

With just that, Kipuz was unable to collect his senses, staggered, and was blown backward.

Fatum, who looked ready to crush Kipuz just like that, regained his composure immediately afterward and instantly extinguished his momentum.

“Excellent. You understand the identity of an Orc well.”

With that, he praised the Orcs and turned around cleanly.

Kipuz, who had been prepared even for death, hesitantly lowered his glaive.

Right on cue, Chabanvesh, who suddenly sprang up from the ground, threw his arms wide and began to roar.

“Keuooooo—”

“What is it?”

Krillin… Kipuz didn’t even die, so had his anger surpassed the critical point?

Gi-jun’s thought was only half correct.

What had surpassed the critical point was not Chabanvesh’s anger, but his species rank.

Was it thanks to fighting hard against an irresistible enemy and leading his group to land a valid strike?

Chabanvesh was achieving his rank advancement from Orc to High Orc in real-time!

He could be seen growing taller and bulkier, becoming more muscular, and his mana grew denser…!

“Oooooo!”

“The Leader is evolving!”

“To think he really grew after just getting beat up so soundly…! The hero is our benefactor!”

“We, too, will be reborn as heroes who protect the Light Faction!”

The Orc brothers cheered.

Gi-jun also watched it in a daze and muttered:

“He really grew. Did Kipuz raising the synchronization rate by being bald do the trick?”

—Contractor, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?

Watching Chabanvesh grow after undergoing a sparring session as fierce as real combat with a higher-ranking hero, Gi-jun couldn’t help but recall his training with Biche.

If the gap that existed between Biche and himself back then was also present between Fatum and Chabanvesh, it was no wonder he was called a hero representing the Light Faction.

‘He’s seriously strong.’

—That is true. Especially that Draconian’s mana.

Lucy nodded in agreement with Gi-jun’s words and added:

—It is highly unusual. I do not know if that mana is characteristic of Draconians or characteristic of heroes… but keep a close eye on it when we move together, Contractor.

‘No, I’m not going to be a hero or anything.’

—Pfft.

Lucy, landing on top of Gi-jun’s head, whispered quietly to him as she watched the Draconian hero approaching them.

—You are already a hero, Contractor. It seems he knows it too, doesn’t it?

Whether Lucy’s words were correct, or it was a simple coincidence.

The gaze of the Draconian, returning after showing off his majesty against the Orcs, was fixed on Gi-jun without a single trace of hesitation.

* * *

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): What we talked about last time? Oh, no! I was just worried that you might be running around doing something weird, okay?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): …Huh? You’re not talking about the unicorn?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Hold on, let me just go die once.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Rift): No, I’m not? It’s not because I’m embarrassed, I just felt like dying because it’s boring, alright?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Rift): A hero?]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Rift): A hero has already approached you? Well, I guess it’s not even that early. It’s just that the stage you played on was small, but the things you actually did were indeed hero-like.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Rift): What do you mean you’re not a hero? You have the title of The Last Hero. But hold on, since I’m out, let me finish up some work first.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Since you seem to already know what a hero means on the Leta continent, I’ll explain it simply.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): The hero title you possess is the prerequisite to becoming a hero of the Light Faction. Moreover, since you’ve accumulated a considerable record…]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): Simply put, you’ve already passed all the other tests, and now you’re in a situation where you just need to do the final interview.]

[Biche♥ (Dimensional Waiting Room): …Could it be that this hero is your interviewer?]