"You are very kind. I came to the capital from a very small town. I wanted to help my parents, but I couldn't get a good job, so I was forced to work as a guard, and it was pure agony. Before I knew it, I was fighting the horrible evil dragon of all things! And then..."
"I'd love to continue hearing your story later on, but first there's something I want to know about him."
The spirit's eyes rested on me.
Jessica covered her mouth with her hands and made an embarrassed face as if she realized she was being talkative.
"Thank you for defeating the dragon. Because of you, I was finally able to get out."
"Able to get out? Where had you been hiding all this time?"
"In the world tree."
The spirit queen points to the tree as she speaks.
"This tree has the function of balancing the earth and correcting any disturbances in the magical vein. But when that monster appeared, the tree's energy began to dwindle. Seeing this, I was forced into hiding so I could replenish the stolen magic and restore any resulting damage."
I don't understand anything she's talking about.
But given the expression on her face, I could sense that she knew that explaining these things to me wouldn't help much.
So I decided to ask my question.
"I need to know where the celestial beasts are."
"Are you looking for the familiars that serve me?"
"Yes."
"I don't think I can lead you to them, but I understand that there is a group of celestial beasts called the White Wolves to the west of here. If you go there, they will provide you with the information you desire."
So west of here. And there's more of them...
But the book I saw depicted a fox. Well, we'll find out when we get there.
Now that we've received the information we needed, let's resume our journey.
"Please wait."
"Hm?"
"There's still something I have to tell you. That evil dragon is under the control of Demon Lord Rudra. He sent it here for the purpose of containing me."
"The demon king... I'm sorry, I'm not interested."
"Wait! Listen to me!"
Elohim grabs my arm.
Oh, the spirit queen can touch people?
Although she was surprised too.
But no matter what she has to say, this smells like trouble.
When I came here, it was with the goal of not standing out. Now, judging by the look on her face and how far this situation can escalate, she will ask for my help to defeat him, and personally, I don't want to have to face a Demon King ever again.
I don't care if he's a Hero or a Demon King. Sain and Lisa were already enough for me.
"Rudra is a relatively young Demon King. But his plans... Hey! It's no use plugging your ears! I'm talking to you while magically enchanting my voice!
"Ugh, I see it's no use at all."
"Rudra is a powerful demon king who has been rapidly expanding his power for the past few hundred years. Eventually, the heroes of each country and the ancient demon kings will begin to move, but by then, the blood of many innocent people will have been spilled."
"Hmmm..."
"You, who carries the blood of the great race, have the duty to defeat Rudra."
Damn it, I've heard everything.
Why me?
Is it because I easily defeated that dragon?
I should have made it look harder.
"Master..."
"Don't say anything."
The Elohim spirit queen had a look of satisfaction on her face.
After returning to the capital of Petardaus, we headed to see Yabai.
"...Did you defeat the dragon?"
"Yes."
Yabai jumps for joy all over the place.
On the other hand, L-Two had an expressionless look on her face.
"After all, master two is the son of master one. This was a natural outcome."
"At least feign a little surprise, scrap metal."
"Unlike the incompetent Master Yabai, this machine is capable of advanced arithmetic processing. Master Two's victory was a logical outcome I had predicted after meeting him."
"Even if that were the case, it would at least be nice if you showed a little joy. You're a maid, don't you know those basic manners?"
"What a surprise, the useless old man just admonished this top-notch machine."
L-Two walked up to me, grabbed my hand and smiled as she said; "Congratulations, Master."
I scratched my cheek after that, feeling embarrassed.
"See you later, old man. Bye L-Two."
"Come see me when you can. I'm too old to live another 50 years."
"Take care of yourself, Master Two. I look forward to hearing about your exploits on the pseudo-lathes."
What the heck is a pseudo-lathe?
We also said goodbye to Jessica.
"Truly, Toru and his friends gave me courage. They taught me that even a small person can defeat such a huge monster. I may be a lowly soldier now, but one day I will be as strong as Toru and his friends."
"Good luck with that. We'll be rooting for you."
"Oh, and these are vegetables from my hometown. My father came and left them for me."
I received a basket full of vegetables.
All the vegetables looked big and fresh.
This potato looks very delicious.
"They are called Manyu Vegetables. Apparently they've grown in abundance thanks to a miracle."
"Manyu Vegetables?"
Wow, it's probably a coincidence, but these vegetables have the same name as our party.
Um... I feel like I'm forgetting something.
I looked at Kaede and Frau as we were about to leave town when we heard Jessica's voice behind us.
"What is this, I'm level 600 now!?"
Oh no.
The experience notices flowed to Jessica.
I have a feeling this is going to bring us trouble.
"Toru! What does this mean?!"
"Sorry, I can't hear you!"
We jumped on top of the Behemoths and left in a hurry.