“So? What are we doing in a place like this?”

Right now, I am being accompanied by Eri and Izuna at the Town’s Marketplace to resupply for our upcoming journey. We currently are standing right in front of a garments shop because of Izuna.

“C’mon, this is also a necessity, you know?”

“How’s that a necessity?! We already have our change of clothes so we don’t need any fancy clothes like that.”

“Maybe for you, but Eri is different. She’s a girl too, you know?! A Woman’s clothes is necessary for them.”

“What can you say to that, Eri?”

“I don’t think that I need such clothes. Something easier to move around is all that I need.”

“Oh, come on! Just give this to me this time, please? Just this once, Ok?”

Eri looked at me, as if anticipating a reply for what Izuna said.

“*sigh* Okay. I’ll back down here. Do what you want. I’ll accompany you and Eri so don’t worry and just enjoy.”

“Alright!”

The three of us head towards the Shop.

“But still, everything’s fine compared to yesterday, am I right?”

“Please don’t remind me of that again. I want to forget it as soon as possible.”

“’We are entities that looms in the shadow…’ is that right?”

“WHAAAAAAAA!!! What the hell, Eri! I told you to forget about it already!”

“It’s Amusing for me, though.”

“Please! Just forget it already!”

The Agonizing feeling of wanting to die of embarrassment is because of what happened yesterday. By the way, two days have passed since the Demon Army Invasion. Today is our last day in this town. Coming back to the story, this is what happened yesterday:

I am currently experiencing various aches all over my body. Looks like after the tension of what happened yesterday was gone, I was left with a drained body, both physically and mentally.

“Aaargh! I can’t even move too well. I don’t even know why my body aches. Did I do something straining?”

I tried to get up from the bed to go to the Dining Area of the Inn. When I opened the door, Eri is waiting for me.

“Oh, Eri. Good Morning!”

“It’s Afternoon already.”

“Ah, is that so… Wait! Afternoon?!”

“Yes. You’ve been sleeping for a long time now and, not to mention, deeply asleep. Even when I tried banging your door, you wouldn’t even answer.”

“Really? I must’ve been deeply sleeping if that’s the case. Well, is there anything that happened when I’m out?”

“Yeah, but first, the Owner of the Inn cooked you something, head to the Dining Area now.”

“I see. Please tell her that I’ll just prepare myself for a moment. I’ll head down as soon as I finished preparing.”

“Ok.”

Eri then went down. I wore down my usual clothes and follow Eri down to the Dining Area.

“Oh, you’re awake. Now, Eat, eat.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Don’t sweat it. You two are my best customers, after all.”

“Stop it. No use flattering us.”

“Hahaha. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything. Just Eat.”

“Then, I’ll take up the offer.”

I went ahead and ate the owner’s prepared food. They are so delicious, after all.

After eating, I materialized a single tablet of Ibuprofen to lessen my Body Aches.

“What did you just put into your mouth?”

“That? Well, that’s a medicine of some sort. Since my body is aching all over, I took that to lessen the pain.”

“So that was it. Basically, A piece of Magic-Storing Rock that has healing spell stored in it and the activation sequence starts when you ingest it. Am I right?”

“Uhm… there are so many things that I didn’t get in your summarization. Yes. It can somewhat lessen the pain or ‘heal’ so I guess… It’s the same?”

“Why are you confused?”

“Nothing! Back on the topic, what happened when I’m sleeping?”

“To be brief, I’ll just summarize it. So basically, a series of events made the townsfolk gather in the place where the attack took place. Now they are gathering there in order to see the thing that you made, the fire-spitting one.”

“Ah, so that’s it… Wait, I totally forgot to get rid of those!”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought so.”

“You should’ve woke me up earlier!”

“I tried, you’re really out.”

I can’t help but put my hands in my forehead while I’m contemplating on what I’ve done.

“Come on, Eri, we’re leaving immediately. We need to get rid of those things quickly.”

“Ok.”

“And put this.”

I materialized the same gas mask that we wore when we returned from executing the Demon Army Leader.

“And also, we need to change our clothes. If we were going to go there with these clothes on, there will be a chance that someone besides Mereid and the others might identify us.”

“Ok.”

I used my ability to modify the looks of the clothes that we’re wearing. What came up after modifying it was a Corporate attire of some sort for the both of us. It might be strange-looking for the others but at least they wouldn’t be able to identify us any longer.

I am now wearing a black long sleeve inside a black Tailcoat with a black necktie, black slacks and a black leather shoes with black socks under. While Eri is wearing a Black Long sleeve under a black blazer, black skirt with black stockings and Black Stilettoes.

After the modifications were done, Eri began to complain.

“What the hell is this?!”

“A disguise.”

“I know that. What I mean is what kind of clothes are these. It’s hard to move and can’t even conceal my weapon. Forget about stealth, these clothes don’t even work as fighting attire.”

“Just put up with it. It won’t be long, after all.”

“I can’t even move without feeling constricted. Really, why did you choose these clothes.”

“Well… They looked cool and intimidating, right?”

“That’s your reason?”

“Yes?”

“*sigh* Even though it’s not in my liking, fine, I’ll ride along with these. I can’t change your mind now anyway, right?”

“I’m glad you understand.”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

“Okay.”

And with that, a pair of Suit-wearing, Corporate-looking people with Gas Mask in their face, head towards the west gate.

But really, imagine someone wearing corporate attire with Gas Mask on their head. That’s cool, right? They look intimidating, right? Please Agree with me on these. Moving On.

While on our way to the gates, we noticed that there are fewer people than before. Looks like they were all gathering in the west gate, like what Eri told me.

When we reached a place near the gate, a crowd of people can be seen in the gate. Looks like they are trying to go to somewhere. I also noticed Derek, Luluca and Moris, together with other adventurers, are trying to hold the crowd and keep them away from the site.

We rushed towards the scene without being seen. Upon reaching the gate, we got a much more grasp of the situation. We head to the top of the gate and tried to get the attention of the crowd.

“Silence!”

I used my ability to amplify the sound of my voice. The attention of the crowd quickly focused on the two of us as soon as they heard my voice.

“What is going on here?”

The adventurers that’s holding the crowd also looked at me, together with Luluca, Moris and Derek. When those three noticed that it is me, they immediately looked relieved, as if they were released from the job that they shouldn’t even handle on the first place.

“Ha-”

Luluca almost gave my identity away. I place my index finger to my lips as if signaling her to keep quiet.

“Ha… At last! The Heroes that saved our town has appeared.”

Luluca managed to divert what he was just about to say. When the crowd heard that we are the heroes that saved their town, most of them cheered. The others that didn’t cheer looks like they were afraid of us. I think they are those that have seen the whole fight.

“Silence! Why are you crowding here in the first place?”

The crowd tried to answer all at once, the result is an inaudible noise.

“I said Silence!”

The crowd then became silent.

“I’ll talk with the Guild Master first. Do not make a ruckus while we are not here. I may be the one that saved your town but I can also punish those that disobeyed me.”

As soon as I said that, the crowd step back but didn’t really disperse. More like they were waiting for what would happen next. I head towards Derek, Luluca and Moris.

“What are you wearing, boy?”

“A disguise. It looks cool and intimidating, right?”

“You know, Hans, instead of cool, you look like you’re hot. I don’t know how comfortable that was to you but it looks like it’s hot to wear. And the two of you looked weirdly out-of-place. Sorry.”

“Wha- What the Heck, Luluca. You’re not intimidated when you look at us?”

“Nah, it’s not working for me. Neither to these two beside me, I guess”

“”Yep.””

My sense of dressing took a deep hit. What can I do about my sense of clothing, it’s not like I know what cool clothes looked in this world, you know.

“Hahaha. Don’t be down, son. At least, you look a little neat.”

“Moris!”

“You still look weird, though.”

“Oh Why You! Little piece of shit! Come here.”

“Now, now, calm down. We still need to discuss something about the current situation.”

“By the way, why do they suddenly flocked here. It’s not like there’s still an ongoing fight, right?”

“About that, Actually, something happened while you’re not here.”

“What is that.”

“Well, before we arrived here, the people were wandering in the site where the Demons died. I don’t know what they’re doing but they are wandering on site. That might not be that bad but then, they start wandering too far and suddenly, a large explosion occurred killing one and injuring 7 more.-“

Upon hearing those, I can’t help but feel guilty for leaving the site without getting read of the mines.

“-That might still be moderately tolerable, but then, the Fire-spitting thing began to spit fire towards the wandering people. That thing killed a dozen of people in the site and injured 30 or more. The Fire-spitting thing stopped when the people went far from the site.”

“What? I am sure that I turned the turret off before I left the area.”

“They still spit fire.”

I reached my hands to my pocket where I put the remote before completely sleeping. It’s cool that even though my clothes were modified, what’s in my pocket before modification were still in there. But it’s not the right time to be amused. I took the remote control and inspect it closer.

The inspection gave me an answer. Looks like there are 3 buttons in here. One is to remotely control the turret, the other is to stop it and the last one is for automatic guard mode.

“Why does it have automatic guard mode?!”

So, that’s it. But why did it have a guard mode? Did I perhaps subconsciously add that? Why would I subconsciously add a guard mode!? I’m an idiot.

“So that was it, I think I place the turrets under guard mode. It detected sudden changes in the environment in front of it therefore registering it as an attack. That’s why it operated on its own. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Don’t be. In fact, it’s good that you told that turret thing to guard our town. It’s the people’s fault for wandering around the area and our fault for not making it inaccessible.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Stop that. It’s fine… Well, not really, but we will handle the situation if it goes south.”

“Thank you. For now, I’ll head outside to get rid of the unused mine and the turrets. I’ll be back after that. Don’t let the crowd come here, no matter what. “

“Okay.”

I head in the area by myself why I left Eri inside the Town, I wouldn’t want her to suddenly detonate an unused mine, after all.

I used my ability and detect all the unused mine in the field. That’s when I noticed something… Looks like the range of effectiveness of my ability increased after I defeated the Demon Army. I didn’t pay close attention to that though and just focused on dematerializing of the unused mines. After I was sure that I removed all of the unused mines, I proceed to dematerialize the turrets. After all was done, I head back to where Derek and the others were.

“I’m done removing unused mines and flamethrowers. It’s now safe to go outside. We’ll head back now.”

“I think that you need to address the crowd before you go. If not, they would try everything to find you. You need to at least, tell them your name, even if it’s not your real one.”

“That’s so bothersome.”

“But if you do that, they would stop searching for you, therefore making your life easier while in the town.”

“*sigh* Okay then.”

I asked Eri to be at my side while I’m speaking in front of the crowd, in that way, we will look more intimidating, more so that Eri’s weapon were dangling in her back right now. The only thing that I need to worry is how to approach these people. I don’t want to sound rude but I don’t really want to sound like I’m approachable. I need to act intimidating.

“Listen, Citizens of Oreius, for your Saviors are going to speak. We are here because we were asked to, not because we want to. Therefore, we are in no need to act chummy to all of you. We do not need your cheers for we already received our compensation. We are going to leave soon and we don’t need any unnecessary fame. For those who are acquainted to those who died while meddling in the site of the attack, I’m sorry. I set a spell there to repel any consecutive attacks. I already removed that so you do not need to be cautious in there. But then, we apologize for not telling anyone about the spell cast in the West Gate. We’re just being cautious of any moles for the Demon Army. That’s all we want to say.”

After addressing the Citizen, we were once again cheered upon by them. I guess it can’t be help.

We prepared to depart but right before we go, we were asked by someone in the Crowd.

“We need to know the name of our Savior. We need to know whom we owed this great favor.”

“You need not to know our name. Just remember that we will always be watching. We are entities that looms in the shadow. Known to everyone as no one yet someone if needed. We who possessed the cursed eye, we who rule the world under. We are the Observers! And you ought to remember that well.”

Everyone was stunned after hearing those words. It really is effective if done like that, but I can’t help but feel embarrassed about what I said. I want to shout right now but I need to conceal it to continue this façade.

After saying those, we immediately get away from there. Since it’s already dark, it became a really effective camouflage for us who wore dark clothes.

As we arrived at the inn, I immediately dematerialized the Masks and return our clothes to normal to avoid suspicion.

Back to where we are now, I let Eri and Izuna find clothes they want while I wait outside for them to finish. I still can’t get those embarrassing things I said yesterday out of my mind. I shouldn’t have said those, now I’m regretting what I said.

“Hey, son. How are you?”

I looked towards the source of the voice and saw Moris heading towards me.

“I’m fine. By the way, Moris, where are the others? You’re not with them?”

“Well, we suddenly got a free time due to the conclusion of the attack so each of us went into where we want to go, they’re really looking forward to this Day Off, you know.”

“Where are you going, then?”

“I just want to visit my wife’s atelier while I’m at it.”

“Oh, you have a wife?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, I just thought that you are a job first guy that has no time for such thing like romance.”

“I admit that working is still my priority, but you can’t just stop yourself from falling, you know. Now, My priorities were divided between her and my work. And I try to give her more attention than my work, if I don’t, I’ll be a clobbering bag, for sure.”

“You really love your wife, don’t you?”

“Well, of course. All the more so because I gave half of my life with her.”

“You really are an unexpectedly romantic person, Moris.”

“Believe me, even the stone-hard heart can be thawed by the warmness of love.”

“I can’t believe I’m being given a love advice all of a sudden by you, of all people.”

“Why did I even bother telling you all of that.”

“You really are a weird romantic person.”

“It’s better to be like that. Compared to ‘We who possessed the cursed eye, we who rule the world under. We are the Observers! And you ought to remember that well’ is that right? Mr. Observer?”

“Ahhh! Stop reminding me that! Sorry, I apologize for making fun of you, okay? I concede. So can you please forget all of that, please?”

“Sure! Even though I don’t think that it would be an easy task to do.”

“Just forget it.”

At the same time, Eri and Izuna burst out of the front door wearing what I can only describe as somewhat charming.

Izuna was wearing a modified maid outfit of some sort. It appears that the clothes got inspiration from Dress of Maids and modified it to look more like a casual dress. Eri, however, looked like some kind of Priestess in a Japanese Shrine. Pink ankle-length long, red, slightly pleated skirt tied with a bow and a Black Kimono Jacket. It totally fits the color of her weapons that are sheathed in her back.

“Hi, Ladies. How’s shopping?”

“Oh, Mr. Moris, Good Afternoon. Shopping really calms my mind.”

“That’s good to hear. I shall go now, I still have someone to visit, after all.”

“Take care! See you in the Guild.”

“Yeah!”

With that, Moris went to his destination while I’m left with Eri and Izuna.

“So, what do you think of our clothes now?”

“Not Bad.”

“That’s all?”

“Do I need to say more?”

“Of course, compliment us!”

“Just a Hassle.”

“You’re an unbelievable guy!”

I went towards Eri.

“Are you comfortable with those clothes?”

“Honestly, even though it looks like it was uncomfortable, It really is easy to move in this. I might as well use it on night infiltration missions from now on.”

“Glad you like it.”

“Hey! Stop leaving me behind. Come on, tell me something nice about my dress too.”

“Uhm… It’s wearable?”

“Ok, that’s it. Why do I even bother with being praised by you? So? What are you going to do now?”

“We’ve already restocked our supplies, we were ready to go. We are just waiting for the sun to somehow settle down so that we can travel without the rays of the blazing sun.”

“So, the both of you are really going to leave now?”

“Yes, that’s what we planned to do even before we got caught up in the Attack of Demon Army.”

Izuna began to look sad after I said those words.

“Can you at least say goodbye to us with happy expression? You can join us up until we leave the town gate, you know?”

“But still… Nah, nevermind. We gotta do what we gotta do. The same goes for the both of you, right. I’ll not pry any longer. I’ll send you off with a smile.”

“That’s what I want to hear. Thank you Izuna.”

“Let’s just get going!”

After visiting a cloth shop, we head towards the Inn that we’re staying. We then packed our items and prepared to head out towards the south gate. Upon reaching the gate, we saw Mereid, Altus, Moris, Derek and Luluca waiting for us.

“Hey guys!”

“Hey there.”

“Hey Hans”

“So, it has come to this, Boy. I really appreciate your stay in this town and for helping us defeating monster. We would love it if you can stay here a little longer, you know?”

“No need for that. Besides, I love being on the road.”

“That’s bad, we would’ve appreciate it if you continue to protects us, you know. But we can’t change your mind now, am I right? We would just wish you farewell instead, Hans. Visit us whenever you like.”

“Thanks, Luluca. I appreciate it that everyone’s trusting me now than when we first met. But before I leave, I promised to give you all a gift, right, I might as well give my gifts to all of you right now. For Mereid, I’d like to give you this-”

I materialized a walkie talkie that can cover a large area and is able to contact a person even if they’re literally at the end of the continent.

“You can use this to contact me if something urgent came.”

“Thank you, Hans.”

“For the four of you, I’d like to give you this.”

Derek, Moris Altus and Luluca receive some sort of Bluetooth earphone That can be used to always be connected with everyone. It can also be connected to the walkie talkie that I gave to Mereid earlier. My ability sure is convenient in times like this.

“””Thanks, Hans ”””

“And Lastly, Izuna, I want to give you this.”

I gave her the key to the mansion that I received.

“What’s this key for?”

“That’s the key to the mansion that we received as a reward for repelling the Demon Army. I want you to live there and maintain it as hard as you can. That’s our first base of operations, after all. Also, I want to give you this.”

I materialized a smartphone and gave it to Izuna.

“That is a multi-tool device that you can use for anything you want. You can compute there, you can also listen to music with it, but the main purpose of that device is for communication. I want you to call me if something happened in the Town. You will be my eyes in this town. I know that you’ll be able to use this at its full functionality over time. Just try to explore the other functionalities of that thing, it can be very useful in multiple occasions, after all. That thing is already integrated with this land’s language so you don’t need to worry about not understanding it.”

“Thank you, Hans. For this gift and for all you’ve done in this town.”

“Don’t mention it. But I trust all of you to not reveal my information to anyone, ok? And also, use the things that I gave you only when you’re sure that no one will make a fuss about it. It might be troublesome if they knew that I am the one that gave it to all of you, after all. Lastly, there are secret features in the things that I gave to all of you. You will know it in the right time, but not today. I wouldn’t want to delay our departure any longer so I won’t explain those features, but don’t worry, it will be of use to all of you when the time comes and the need arises. With that, I have given you all the gifts that I need to give. We will now be going on our way.”

We then walked away from the town towards the pier in the north gate.

Suddenly, Derek and the others started shouting.

“Good Luck out there!”

“We pray for your safe trip.”

I looked back at them for the last time.

“Yeah! You bet. We will become famous.”

The last voice I heard was from Izuna.

“Come back anytime you’re free!”

“Sure!”

And with that, we left Oreius. Effectively leaving everyone behind but leaving something to be remembered by in return.

“Now. What Kind of encounters shall we be able to see this time. I can’t wait.”

"I can't wait to get stronger too!"

""Off we go!""

Demon King’s Castle was currently being attacked by the forces of the Knight looking guy. If it can be called an attack at all.

“Sir! There’s no sign of other Demons nearby. We also found corpses that might belong to the generals… And there is a corpse that matches the facial description of the Demon King.”

The Knight-looking guy looked at the guy that reported the scene that they saw.

“Really, are you sure?”

“Yes, it is unmistakably similar to the facial features of the Demon King in the Description.”

“Did you notice any other discrepancies in the current situation?”

“Actually, Sir, yes, we have. There is actually no sign of any army of some sort that attacked this castle. In fact, all the wounds of the generals appear to be made only with a single overly sharp sword of some sort. The Demon King, however, had no physical wound that can be observed. Most likely, he was killed internally. There are signs that he spit blood, after all.”

“Are you saying that a person or a small group of people defeated the Demon King?”

“That might be a possibility.”

“It can’t be. If it was done by a small group of people, then that group might be as strong as our current army. They’re crazy powerful, if that’s the case... Go back to inspecting the castle, search every nooks and cranny of any evidence that can lead to the information about the ones that defeated the Demon Lord.”

“Yes Sir!”

The soldier then went back to inspecting the castle.

“Al!”

The Magician Girl called upon the Knight-looking guy.

“Riz, what is it?”

“Well, Robert and Iona asked me to call you because they found something.”

“Ok, where are they.”

“At the basement.”

“Let’s go.”

The Magician Girl, Riz lead the Knight-looking guy Al towards the basement. There, they saw the Blacksmith, Robert, and the Archer, Iona. They are in a room filled with what appears to be excrements and filths.

“What is this place?!”

“A slave room of some sort. Looks like they just throw a bunch of slaves here and forget their existence.”

“That’s awful! Who would’ve done such thing.”

“Who else… it’s the owner of this castle, of course.”

“The Demon King.”

“Thank god that he’s dead.”

“We don’t have time to celebrate yet. We still don’t know the identities of the person that defeated the Demon King. If what I think is true, then they might be a lot more powerful than us, heroes.”

“But that’s not our job, right? We’re just here to kill the Demon King. That’s why we are summoned on the first place.”

“I understand what you’re saying, Iona. But are just going to leave this world without being sure that all the threats have been subdued? They might be a hassle to us, but it will greatly help the Citizens of this world.”

“Here we go again with your sense of justice.”

“What’s wrong with that?! Everyone deserves to live peacefully, that’s why we have been given this powers from the get-go, to help other people.”

“Right, right. I won’t argue with you anymore. I know I wouldn’t win if I try to reason out to you when you’re in your justice mode.”

“Do not call me like that!”

“Hahaha, sorry.”

“I’ll head upstairs, if you find anything, just call me again.”

“Sure, Mr. Hero of Justice.”

“Stop calling me that!”

Al head upstairs and he was greeted by the dual-sword user.

“Oh Gus, did you find something?”

“Yes and No.”

“What’s with that bleak answer?”

“Well, I kind of found the treasure room.”

“That’s great, we can retrieve all of the Demon King’s treasure and use it to help with the recovery of the continent.”

“Uhm, there’s a tiny bit of a problem.”

“What is it.”

“The Treasure Room appears to have been emptied out by the ones that defeated the Demon King.”

“HAAA! All of his treasure?! How did they even transport all of those without being noticed?!”

“I don’t know. The only thing that we know is that, no treasure was left in there and there also appears to be a letter.”

“What does it says?”

“It says: ‘I hate to break it to you but you are late. I’ve already defeated the Demon King. Also, if you want his treasures, too bad. I already have all of them. You can do anything you want with the castle, I don’t really care about it. That’s all, have a nice trip back home!’ That’s all”

“Is he mocking us?! What a nasty guy!”

“The message aside, we can conclude with this letter that the one who defeated everyone in this castle was just comprised of a single person.”

“Wha- That’s impossible! A man with the power like that surely would’ve been noticed by the Empire already!”

“But it didn’t. Perhaps, he is great at hiding his true strength?”

“If that’s so, then we would have a bigger problem. If that guy decided to attack the Empire, we wouldn’t stand a chance. He easily defeated the Demon King, After all.”

“We need to find that person immediately and force him into an alliance with us.”

“Yeah, I think so too. The only thing we wouldn’t want right now is a SS class threat to the whole Civilization. We need to find that man as soon as possible!”

“I’ll be going back investigating. I’ll report if I notice something again.”

“Ok, make your investigation thorough.”

After that, Gus left to investigate.

“Al.”

“Oh, Riz. Am I being called again?”

“No, no, everything is fine. But I kind of heard your conversation with Gus. Is it true that there might be a greater enemy than the Demon King?”

“Unfortunately, yes. But I want to avoid it if possible. Therefore, we need to find the guy that killed all the Demon King and his Generals before he decided to bare his fangs on the Empire.”

“There’s no end to it, after all. I thought we would be able to come home after defeating the Demon King. Now we are facing a greater danger? We might as well find a way to return to our old world ourselves.”

“Don’t worry, Riz. We’ll make this one quick and we’ll return home immediately. I miss our old world too, you know.”

“I just wish that it will be that easy.”

“Don’t worry, trust in me.”

“I trust you wholeheartedly. Every one of us trust your judgement. That’s why you’re our leader, right?”

“Thank you for that. I promise to return all of us home as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, we’ll be waiting.”

With that, the castle exploration of the United Empire’s Alliance came to a close, without even finding a single treasure from the castle. They readied themselves to go back to the Empire. And they are heading towards the Port City of Oreius.