The next morning, I felt a lot better than last evening. My dark thoughts had mostly dissipated, and I simply enjoyed the thought of finally getting on the right track. At last, I could stop worrying about schemes and politics and just enjoy the life of a hero in another world. Of course, it was the life of a hero who was wanted by the king and a public enemy, but who in this tiny village would ever figure out who I truly was?

…

Fuck me, that was the most obvious flag I had ever raised. If this was an isekai novel I would be sure to be screwed within the next three pages….

Thank god I’m a real person and this is a true fantasy world!

The others woke up soon and we got clothed before going to grab a small breakfast that was provided by the inn. For the pervs that want to know, two of the girls slept in their underwear while one (the one who usually wears no underwear) goes nude for most of the evening and morning. Of course, Ignatius our all-time favorite virgin knight always covers his eyes whenever he passes by any of them.

Now that I think of it… why the hell am I still a virgin?

With my head filled with these sorts of thoughts the morning passed quite quickly as we made a quick stop at the blacksmith, asking him to make a collar for Enri. I had promised her to get one after all and having her on a collar was better than having to worry that she will transform into her dragon form at any moment.

Finally, we made way to the guild building. It was time to take the test that would confirm our identity as silver ranked adventurers that were above level 30. For this sake the guild had apparently arrange a total of three silver ranked adventurers who would spar against us and see whether we truly have the capabilities we claim to have.

Sadly, this world doesn’t have something as convenient as some stone that can just reveal your status to others. Your level and stats are something really only visible to yourself. While this has advantages while fighting another person as he has no way to find out about your strengths beforehand, it was also quite troublesome to prove your abilities.

We entered the guild building and immediately all eyes were focused on our group. More exactly they were focused on me. After my grandiose entrance yesterday, every adventurer in town was sure to be careful around me. Madmen are never easy to deal with after all.

I payed this no heed and immediately walked over to the counters. The same young lady as yesterday greeted me with a polite but somewhat nervous smile. It seems like my rather rough methods yesterday had alienated her a little and made her somewhat afraid of me. She still did her best though.

“Are the examiners ready?”, I asked with the friendliest voice I could possibly make. If possible, I would like to make this pretty woman lose her fear of me. After all I might return here for some more quests and having them fear me could be disadvantageous in some situations.

My approach seemed to work a little as the clerk clearly relaxed a little. A beautiful smile appeared on her face as she nodded.

“Yes, please follow me to the back of the building. We have a small training area there that is also used to examine adventurers above bronze rank.”, she led us through a door behind the counter and along a long corridor with at least a dozen doors. I really wondered where these led to or what a guild in a small town like this would need these many rooms for but decided to postpone these questions till later. For now, it was my main priority to be confirmed as silver ranked adventurer and acquire access to more resources. After all I still had to pay that greedy dragon.

A short time later we arrived at a rather spacious gym. The floor was made of huge rectangular rocks while the walls were reinforced with iron plating. Only the windows that were located a few meters above the ground seemed like they could break rather easily. It was an arena perfectly suited for mock battles.

Waiting for us where a group of three adventurers of mixed ages. It was the usual mix of a swordsman, a mage and an archer. Even their appearances were stereotypical enough to invoke a reaction from me.

The swordsman was a young man, maybe two or three years older than me with short blonde hair and an almost comically righteous look on his face. He somewhat reminded me of the Ignatius before that incident, only that Ignatius was actually a knight while this dude was some obscure adventurer who pretended to be a hero.

The mage was the typical mature, big-boobed beauty wearing a stupidly alluring outfit and a ridiculously oversized hat that would most likely be REALLY bothersome in actual combat. Even her wand looked like it was stolen from a certain G*blin Sl*ayer character. I’m sure she has some sort of romantic relationship with the swords man though.

As for the archer…. What can I even say?

…

She looked a lot like Ilea.

My mood instantly worsened, and I couldn’t help but avert my eyes. How unfortunate. I could tell that the others had a similar reaction to mine. Being reminded of that elven girl now was really unpleasant.

Suddenly the door behind us was locked and I noticed that the clerk girl who had led us here had disappeared. Even worse, that door behind us looked like it was the entrance to a high security safe. The whole situation was a trap so obvious that I wanted to hit whoever thought of this lame scheme.

I wanted to hit myself even more though. After all I was the idiot who really walked into the trap!

Even worse I realized that the flag I had raised had actually become reality.

I… this isn’t possible right? C-could it be that I-i’m actually a character in an I-

“So, you are the crazy hero who is wanted by the kingdom?”, while I was absentminded the stereotypic swordsman began to speak with his haughty voice. It was obvious that he was the sort of guy who would scream ‘For justice’ or ‘The good will always prevail’ before entering a fight.

A wry smile appeared on my lips and I rolled my eyes. Four sighs simulations rang out as my entire party sighed simultaneously.

“I really hoped that we could just adventure for some time…”, Riina mumbled quietly while unsheathing her daggers. A dangerous energy arose around her.

My eyebrow twitched. That girl was becoming more and more bloodthirsty, didn’t she?

“Yes, I am.”, I simply answered the swordsman stupid question. He already knew who I was after all.

“And you are a knight of the kingdom?”

He shook his head.

“I am truly an adventurer of the adventurer’s guild.

I do feel bad to have to backstab you in a honorless manner like this. But sadly the guild is dependent on the king of this kingdom and it would be bad if he prohibited our activities in the kingdom because of a nuance like you.”, god the way this dude spoke in was annoying as hell.

“I see.”, I shrugged my shoulders like it was nothing unexpected. Well I really could guess most of what he said after the door had closed behind us.

“Then let’s start, shall we?”, without notice my eyes suddenly seemed to be set afire as a crazy battle intent radiated of my body. Despite that I managed to bury the madness within me, remaining clearheaded and more or less sane.

I really didn’t want to repeat the events of yesterday.

Following my words Enri, Maira and Ignatius also readied themselves and began to gather their mana.

The swordsman eyes narrowed, and an approving expression appeared on his rather handsome face.

“Well then… Let’s fight!”, without waiting for another moment, he unsheathed his sword and a blinding beam of light shot towards me as a skill was triggered. My eyes widening, I wielded my mana and moved, sidestepping the beam while darting towards the knight himself.

The dagger I have been using since my sword was broken appeared in my hand and was charged with a stupendous amount of mana before flinging towards a weak spot in the swordsman plate armor. Naturally he easily deflected it using his sword.

Meanwhile Maira had finished reciting her spell and a barrage of mid-level magic descended upon the enemy archer and mage. They defended using the same translucent mana shields that the other adventurers used yesterday to defend against the heat of my attacks.

Ignatius also shot towards the mage, using his superior reserves of mana to propel himself beside the swordsman before heading straight for the alluring woman.

“You are really stupid, aren’t you?”, Enri’s mocking voice resounded as she appeared next to the elven archer.

“Fighting three vs five isn’t something a sane person would try to do after all.”, her sword descended towards the archer who was powerless to stop the huge sharpened piece of steel.

“Don’t underestimate us.”, the swordsman’s voice rang out as a wave of wind exploded out from his body and pushed me away. He used this short pause to send a wind blade towards Enri. This attack managed to stop the dragon loli for a brief moment, giving the elven woman enough time to retreat and begin firing enchanted arrows that forced Enri back.

I channeled mana and created heat, enveloping myself into a sea of fire. Then I went for the swordsman’s defenseless back. Of course, he already foresaw that attack whirling around and trying to swing his blade at me. But I ducked underneath it, enchanting my right arm before punching him right against the relatively unprotected shoulder join.

His sword wielding arm was numbed, and he almost let his sword fall out of his hand.

The self-defense training, I had taken before killing myself became handy now as I continued to cling close to the swordsman, making it almost impossible for him to swing his blade. All the while the burning heat around me continued to harm him and I dealt strikes against the weak points in his armor.

Of course, this was only possible by using the superior constitution of a level 35 hero and burning some mana, but it enabled me to fight the swordsman with my bare hands.

The only draw back was that my fists hurt like crazy and I felt a little blood trickling down my hands. But I never intended to ‘win’ against the swordsman. I just had to keep him occupied long enough until the other had finished off his two companions. A few minutes should suffice for that, after all we had a big numerical advantage.

Sure enough a cry soon resounded within the spacious gym as the enemy mage collapsed onto the ground, a dagger stuck in her side. Riina had snuck up behind her while she was busy fighting Sir Mellen. The attack was non-lethal, but the shock dealt by the sudden pain gave Ignatius enough time to destroy her wand and immobilize her.

“Helena!”, the swordsman exclaimed fearfully as he watched his companion collapse and being subdued by my friends. He truly had some feelings for her as it seems.

“As I said. You are stupid.”, Actually it was Enri who had said this, but I ignored that fact and simply smiled as I gathered a big part of my remaining mana in my right hand. Then I used three martial skills at once. My left fist was enveloped in a layer of wind and lightning coupled with blue burning flames as it crashed against the distracted swordsman’s head.

His next words blurred as he was flung away like a doll who had its strings cut. He was done in and with this it would take only a few more moments to completely overwhelm this small party of three. Despite that I heard a weird, desperate laughter coming from the archer girl who was about to be killed by Enri.

“Seems like we truly underestimated you. Who would have thought that your group would be this strong after just a few weeks? It seems like we will cannot take the sole credit for your capture after all!”, she gave me a loathing look before crying out something that I couldn’t understand.

“Now let’s see how you fight once you are outnumbered!”, her eyes glittered as if she was certain of her victory.

Like on command the heavy steel gate behind us suddenly opened and I saw rows of soldiers clad in heavy armor march in formation as they wielded their swords. A huge quantity of mana erupted as at least a dozen mages invoked incantations that came soaring towards me and the others. Meanwhile at least three knights unsheathed their swords and came charging into my direction.

We were so screwed that I needed a new word to express how screwed we were!