Chapter 899: The Hero Candidates’ Offers
The group of six made their way toward the next settlement closest to the one that’d been attacked by the wyrmlings and the Demonic Dragon, which lay several kilometres away from the town that was now reduced to ashes.
Along the road to that settlement, they caught up with the civilian infernal devils who’d been evacuating and ended up escorting them for the remainder of the journey to the next town.
Elaine found herself with a fair amount of time to spare, as the five Hero Candidates, who’d been welcomed by the town Mayor, were busy coordinating the refugees they’d brought in while also dealing with various logistical and political matters that she truly didn’t care about in the slightest.
She only had Knight ask about the nearest library or any place with books where she could gather information, and once she had her answer, she headed there and stayed until sunrise.
When she’d finally paused her research and started considering how she’d handle her sleeping arrangements, Mage came over to talk to her about those same plans.
It turned out that when the Hero Candidates had arranged rooms for themselves in the Mayor’s house, they’d included Elaine as well.
They also made sure to inform the Mayor that she had taken part in the battle to deal with the Class 2 Demonic Dragon that had attacked. The energy shockwaves released during that fight had been felt even from this town, and hearing all the Hero Candidates state that she’d been involved caused the Mayor, who’d previously assumed Elaine was just an ordinary child the group had picked up along the way, to look at her in a different light.
His gaze now carried a hint of fear, brought on by the clear contrast between her apparent age and her apparent level of power. After all, even the Hero Candidates themselves were all in their mid to late 20s.
By the time everyone had finished showering, eating, and handling similar matters, the sun had already risen, and it was around then that the Hero Candidates decided to finally sit down and properly speak with Elaine about her role in their battle and their plans moving forward, including how they intended to repay her for the help she’d given them.
Knight was especially persistent when it came to that matter of repayment.
Before anything else, though, there were questions they wanted to ask Elaine, particularly because she’d shown a lack of knowledge regarding what was apparently considered common knowledge across this continent.
For instance, the badges the Hero Candidates all carried, along with the very existence of the Hero Candidates themselves, were things that even homeless people on the streets were apparently aware of, while Elaine hadn’t known about any of it.
Because of that, it was only natural that they were curious about where she’d come from and wanted to ask questions about her background.
Tank, recalling that Archer had mentioned Elaine had emerged from the danger forest right beside the town where they’d first met her, was the one to ask the first question.
"Did you really come out of that forest? And what about your parents?"
When he asked, Elaine’s reply caused the room to fall silent for a moment.
"I don’t have those things you call ’parents’. And yes, I did come out of that forest. Is there a problem?"
She asked with a raised eyebrow, and in response, Tank quickly waved his hands, his expression becoming a mix of apology and sympathy.
"No, no, no, there’s no problem. I’m just curious, were you living alone all this time?"
Elaine shook her head without a word in answer, and that reaction prompted Mage to ask another question.
"Then with whom?"
"I was with my..." Elaine trailed off and paused mid-sentence, her expression turning thoughtful as she pondered what Arthur actually was to her.
’Friend? No, he’s more than that. Maybe...guardian? Yeah, guardian will do for now.’
That was what she settled on calling Arthur in front of them.
"Guardian. I was with my guardian."
Her hesitation had Mage lifting an eyebrow, though she didn’t comment on it as she leaned over the dining table and asked,
"So, this guardian of yours...where are they?"
At that question, Elaine paused again, as if thinking through how she should respond before speaking.
"He’s...stuck somewhere far away."
She clearly wasn’t about to tell them that Arthur was outside the planet.
"Stuck somewhere far away?" Archer repeated, confusion plain on his face and mirrored by Lancer, while Elaine simply nodded in silence, making it clear she wasn’t going to explain any further.
Seeing this, Knight moved on and asked the next question without delay.
"So, if he’s stuck somewhere far away, do you need help trying to get him unstuck?"
Elaine’s expression brightened immediately when she heard that.
"Yeah! Yeah! He already knows how to get himself unstuck, and he told me about it, then told me to go find the thing that’ll help him get unstuck at a certain place, and he gave me something that’ll let me know when I find that place and thing."
Right after saying that, her expression grew a little downcast as she went on, "But that’s where there’s a problem. I’ve got no idea where that place might be, and I’m pretty much searching for it blindly right now."
She leaned back in her seat, idly fiddling with her spatial ring as she continued speaking.
"He did give me something that’ll let me know it’s the place I’m looking for once I get there, so that’s a plus, I guess."
Elaine’s answer wasn’t just something she’d come up with on the spot.
While the Hero Candidates had been busy, she’d already thought through the kinds of questions they might ask her and the answers she’d give in return, so every response she offered was calculated.
From what she’d seen while quietly watching the Hero Candidates as they worked and handled refugees and similar matters, they were far more influential than she’d first assumed.
That impression was reinforced by how deferential the town mayor, who gave off the air of an arrogant ruler, had been toward them.
She’d also overheard the mayor and several of his subordinates talking about how other towns were offering to help take in refugees from the destroyed settlement so they could curry favour with the Hero Candidates, and so that when those Hero Candidates eventually took on the titles of Heroes, those towns could claim connections to one of the continent’s most influential groups of people.
After giving it some thought, she decided that if she answered the way she just had, one of them, with Knight being the most likely, would almost certainly ask something along the lines of, "Mind telling us what this place is supposed to look like so we can try helping you find it?"
And just as she’d expected, those were the exact words that came out of Knight’s mouth next.
Elaine quietly pumped a fist behind her back in response before answering in a calm manner.
"Well, I think it’s probably one of what you guys call a Strong Magic Region."
Her answer drew surprised looks from Mage and Lancer, with the latter immediately speaking up.
"Those are pretty dangerous places, you know?"
"Yeah, I know," Elaine replied with a nod. "But it’s probably nothing compared to the training I’ve had to go through over the last year."
She muttered that last part under her breath, fully aware that everyone in the room would still hear her clearly thanks to their enhanced hearing.
"Training you’ve had to go through over the past year?" Lancer repeated, turning her words into a question, but Elaine only shook her head in silence, clearly telling him she didn’t want to talk about it.
With them assuming that her power, which was quite high by their world’s standards, given her apparent age, came from her guardian’s training, the questions and answers continued.
"This guardian of yours, wherever they’re stuck, can you give us any more details so maybe we can help you get them unstuck without you having to go through a Strong Magic Region?"
That question came from Archer, and Elaine shook her head before answering.
"I wish I could tell you more. But even I don’t fully understand how all of it works," she said.
"He does, though. That’s why he told me where to find what’s going to, well, unstick him. Still, that’s all he told me."
Her reply made Lancer raise his brows, his expression growing a little curious.
"Hold on. Does that mean you could still talk to him while he was stuck wherever he’s stuck?"
"Yeah, I could, before I got to that forest," Elaine answered, then crossed her arms into an X as she went on, "but not anymore."
Strictly speaking, that wasn’t a lie, since she really had been able to talk with Arthur before she’d reached that forest.
"This guardian of yours," Archer said, his words making Elaine turn toward him with a questioning look.
"Given how strong he trained you to be, he must be quite a formidable combatant himself."
That remark made Elaine react in a way that hadn’t been planned for the first time since the conversation had started.
"Huh? Of course, he is! He’s stronger than anything you’ve probably ever seen."
She spoke with such confidence that the Hero Candidates were briefly taken aback.
Archer, who’d tried to appraise Elaine earlier and had found that she couldn’t be appraised for some reason, slightly narrowed his eyes and asked, "Stronger than anything we’ve probably ever seen, you say?"
"Of course. I’ve seen him handle things stronger than that Demonic Dragon we fought, and he did it easily. In seconds," Elaine replied, sounding clearly offended by the idea that anyone might underestimate the power of the person she regarded as her number 1 in the universe.
Right after saying that, Elaine yawned softly, and noticing it, Mage chuckled lightly and spoke.
"Looks like someone’s getting sleepy."
"We need to get some sleep, too," Lancer added.
"But we’ve still got things to take care of before we can even think about sleeping," Tank said, eliciting exasperated sighs from both Archer and Lancer.
Knight only shook his head at their exchange, while Mage ignored the men and turned her attention back to Elaine.
"You can use the room I showed you earlier."
Elaine nodded and thanked her, though before she could say anything further, Knight spoke up.
"About your guardian..."
When Elaine turned to face him, he asked, "Would you mind travelling with us to the Regional Capital? We’ll be passing through two Strong Magic Regions along the way, so maybe one of them could be the place you’re looking for."
His offer earned a surprised reaction from Elaine. A feigned surprised reaction, of course.
