Conversation

Chirp-chirp.

Birds chirped.

Sunlight streamed down from the sky, piercing through the sturdy trees to bestow its light, and the weeds, bathed in that light, stretched diligently.

On a bright day, Nikki, who had spent a tumultuous three days, was slowly preparing to leave. Having packed all her belongings, she grumbled complainingly.

“Somehow, I feel more tired leaving than when I arrived...”

“Oh dear, you should have slept better then.”

Yor said, teasing her. At his words, Nikki glared fiercely at him for a moment. It was as if her expression was asking whose fault it was that she was so tired.

But that was only for a moment; soon, she sighed and asked cautiously.

“Um... just in case, you don’t hate me or anything, do you...?”

It was a very direct question. Yor surmised she was still dwelling on the mistake she made a few days ago.

Yor didn’t want to hurt her unnecessarily, so he naturally denied it.

After all, he had also been able to spend the three days fruitfully thanks to her.

“Don’t worry. I’m not the type to hold grudges.”

“...And yet you tormented someone like that?”

But surprisingly, she didn’t seem to care about his feelings at all.

She was merely curious about his motivations.

Soon, Nikki, looking seriously at my Lower Body, advised Yor earnestly.

“Um, just in case, I’m telling you... don’t do that to other partners. I’m tough, so I barely endured it, but someone else could really get broken, you know?”

Nikki thought of the past three days. Days that had straddled somewhere between heaven and hell... Once she adapted to the immense pain, an endless depletion of stamina awaited her.

Does that guy never get tired? At this point, it could be described as beyond common sense. This was to the point where she worried about his future spouse. At her unexpectedly serious advice, Yor also nodded in bewilderment.

“Uh, yeah, okay...”

He wondered if he had been too rough, thinking she was a tough Manifestor.

Anyway, Nikki and Yor exchanged a few more words like that.

As Nikki prepared to leave.

In the midst of it, Nikki suddenly felt a pang of regret. Although there had been some tough days... looking back, she realized there were many pleasant memories. Thus, Nikki asked Yor with an even more cautious demeanor than before.

“Um... can I come visit sometimes?”

It was, in essence, a request for a future visit.

Yor chuckled and replied.

“Sure, come visit. Preferably in winter.”

At his words, Nikki smiled brightly and said.

“Okay, then I’ll go.”

With light steps, she left the Cave. , expressing her gratitude for the good rest...

After that, time flowed quickly, and two weeks had passed. The Empire issued an official document around the time when Otherworlders with the “Hero Title” had become numerous.

An announcement for the Paimon Extermination Order.

*

“...So, the Guild atmosphere is quite chaotic. Everyone’s worried about opening the Extermination too hastily.”

Naturally, I heard that news because someone else told me.

Although I’m free to act now, I didn’t want to go through the trouble of traveling far.

“Of course, many Heroes have appeared now, but the event isn’t completely over, is it? We should still wait until the Hero Personnel are all complete...”

The one who brought me the information was Yu Chae-rin, whom I felt like I hadn’t seen in weeks. She had a strange sense of superiority and pride on her face. Suddenly curious, I asked her.

“By the way, did you get the Hero Title?”

“Me? Hehe, shall I show you?”

Saying that, she immediately began to open her System Window. Then, a window slightly more ornate than ordinary windows appeared before her.

+

[Congratulations! You are now a Hero!]

You, who have annihilated countless evils and become an example for Humanity. We highly value this and bestow the Hero Title upon you, the noble one.

I shall be a source of aid to you, who will continue to annihilate many evils.

-Effect:

1. Gaians’ favorability towards you increases.

2. When facing Evil-aligned Enemies, you deal Additional Damage.

3. You gain some resistance to demonic energy.

4──

.

.

.

+

“...Hmm.”

I looked at that window with subtle eyes. It was certainly novel, but the window's title felt somewhat crude. The text lines were one thing, but the vague golden glow shimmering beside the window was a bit much.

It was like the effect was diminished because they had to pull resources from nowhere? Well, they do need to select 20,000 Heroes. Still, seeing the other person so delighted, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything negative. I gave a suitable reply.

“...It’s pretty.”

“Right? Wow, I boasted about this so much on my stream as soon as I got it.”

[Yeah, so stop bragging, f***]

[She’s bragging to everyone she sees. How many people has she told already lol]

[Streamer... you’re a bit pathetic when you do this...]

[Is it because the weather’s hot, lol? Our guy’s clothes are a bit thinner, huh? Hehe]

[Today’s side dish... I’ll make good use of it, pant pant.]

[Ugh, please hide your lust, you monkeys. It’s all readable!!!]

For reference, she was currently Live Streaming. Since it wasn’t sensitive content like combat, she was doing a Live Stream. It felt like it had been a long time since I’d seen the chat window. I glanced at the chat window and continued the conversation.

“Still, you got it faster than I thought. I figured a Hero Title would take a while.”

“Ahem, of course. I’m a high-level player, you know. I handled it quickly with my overwhelming Skill.”

Even a snot-nosed kid could clear it, not just high-level players The Streamer took a long time because she couldn’t find the quest path, even though a kid could clear it Lol, some people have to kill 10,000 Ogres What’s so special about her that she only had to kill 100 Slimes?

Indeed, it seemed she had received a rather easy quest.

Slimes... they’re surprisingly hard to encounter, but they’re known as the quintessential Weakling Monsters.

Because their bodies are transparent, it’s easy to see where their core is, and they’re soft, so they’re easy to defeat. This quest was even easier than the one Shin Hanbyeol had last time.

What on earth were the criteria...? It was a bit puzzling, but I quickly formed a hypothesis.

Could it be the number of times they participated in Demon Extermination? Come to think of it, Chae-rin had encountered a great many Demons. Excluding Se-e-re, she had participated in almost all Demon Exterminations. That itself became a “qualification” that lowered the quest’s difficulty. It was a hypothesis I’d just formed, but a rather reasonable one. Suddenly, a question arose, and I asked Chae-rin.

“By the way, what about your Older Sister? Did she get the title too?” “Yes, my Older Sister also had a super easy one, similar to mine. She’s probably sleeping at home right now. Since the place we went to was a wetland, she’s probably quite tired...”

Just as I thought. Hearing her words, I added another spoonful of certainty to my hypothesis. Im Haneul also rarely missed participating in Demon Exterminations. Moreover, she had even met me and Se-e-re, so her number of encounters with Demons might even be higher than Chae-rin’s. Of course, even if this hypothesis was correct, it didn’t particularly benefit me. It was just a matter of satisfying a curiosity...

*But come to think of it, I’ve killed the most Demons, haven’t I?* When I saw that I got nothing, a slight feeling of injustice welled up. Well, our Goddess did say there might be something later... but even that was just a guess. For now, I decided to bury this matter in the back of my mind.

“So, how are the title effects? Have you used them?”

“No? I haven’t even caught an Imp yet...”

After that, I had an ordinary conversation with her.

*

*The next day, after meeting Yu Chae-rin for the first time in a while, I prepared to head to The Depths.*

I had to bring them food periodically, including snacks that were easy to eat and food for the two Humans, since there were two people who replenished their calories through meals. Of course, I also had another errand this time.

The Paimon Extermination Order has been issued, after all. It was about time to deliver the news. Enough time had passed that Livia and the other Companions would have adapted to each other. Since I also had questions, I planned to ask various things while I was there. Thus, I traveled for a long time and arrived at The Depths.

“─! ──!”

And what I saw as soon as I entered was Livia, yelling furiously at Barbatos, who was just a head. Startled, I rushed over and asked for the Full Story.

“What?! What’s going on?”

And at Livia’s huffing reply, I couldn’t help but slap my forehead.

“That one ate my snacks!!”

Because it was absurd. Even amidst that, their squabble continued. Barbatos spoke with an arrogant and brazen expression.

“Hmph, what’s the fuss over mere snacks?” “Those were the ones I was saving!” “Nonsense. Everything in This Place has belonged to This Woman since I’ve been at this Altar. Where do you claim your belongings are here?” “You, this is really...!”

This is like children, not adults. It seemed the past few weeks had been quite a long time for them. Long enough for them to treat each other so casually. Indeed, come to think of it, both could be considered children. Barbatos was just being herself; that’s her personality. Livia, too, had been kidnapped by Adventurers when she was young and had virtually no experience with social life.

Such innocent behavior was possible. Yet, Neria, the youngest here, was showing the most mature demeanor.

“Older Sister... please don’t do that, have this. I have some snacks left.”

“H-huh, Neriaaa...”

I sighed, “Hmph,” and set down the bags I was holding in both hands.

“Stop fighting. I brought plenty of food this time too, anyway.”

“Oh.”

“Yor! Thank you, there’s really no one like you!”

Those were Barbatos’s and Livia’s reactions, respectively.

I left the bags for them to unpack themselves and approached Barbatos for a moment.

Perhaps glad to see me after several weeks, she twitched the corners of her lips upwards, welcoming me.

“What is it?” “Actually, a few weeks ago, a Demon resurrected. A rather special-looking Demon.”

I didn’t delay and immediately got to the point.

“Do you know Paimon? I think you would.”

*At that moment, the corners of her lips, which had been turned up, froze.*