After the handshake event finally came to an end, it took quite a while for the venue to return to its normal crowd levels. Even then, plenty of Dragon-Slaying Squad fans lingered inside, hoping to get one more look at the adventurers in action.

Meanwhile, the Dragon-Slaying Squad members who had just left the stage were resting in a lounge near the stage.

“Damn it! If only I’d known, I would’ve gone training with Justin! There’s not only a second half today—we have to show up tomorrow and the day after, too…”

“Yes, Mr. Ransel.” The young woman beside him, dressed in the guild’s work uniform and holding their schedule, pushed up her glasses as she answered.

“I’m not asking a question, miss! I’m complaining!”

Since he wasn’t adventuring, the lancer wasn’t wearing his leather armor, keeping only his signature composite short spear. Sitting on the sofa, he braced both elbows on his knees and repeatedly swung his hands up and down to express his displeasure.

“We’re adventurers! Adventurers! Our job is to go to dangerous places and fight monsters, not play actors in some make-believe activity!”

“I can understand your anger, but this work is also included in the new contracts the guild signed with all of you. If you insist on refusing, the guild reserves the right to seek compensation from you.”

Ransel covered his face in anguish and let out a long sigh.

If he’d known there was going to be this kind of nonsense, he should’ve read the contract properly before signing it. No wonder the guild had suddenly become so enthusiastic lately, offering them a team base free of charge along with all kinds of materials, supplies, weapons, and equipment. Now that he thought about it, the names of all those suppliers had appeared in the broadcast advertisements they’d just heard!

“Old man, weren’t you supposed to have great wisdom? How could you not see a trap like this coming?”

“I’m not a professional manager! My wisdom is meant for exploring the endless mysteries of the Realm of Magic, not arguing with people!”

The old man puffed out his beard, slapped the table, and glared at Ransel. Clearly, he wasn’t too happy either.

As for the usually taciturn assassin and berserker, they were completely drained. They were used to speaking less and doing more, so dealing with so many passionate fans had exhausted them more than their first dragon hunt—and even more than the battle against the mist treants at the World Tree.

“The two of you, this is the guests’ lounge. Visitors aren’t allowed. If you want to meet the members of the Dragon-Slaying Squad, please wait un—Hey, hey! You can’t go any farther in!”

The sound of someone collapsing to the floor.

“What happened?”

The Dragon-Slaying Squad’s manager had just started toward the door when Ransel stopped her with an outstretched hand. The lancer who had been slapping the table and arguing with her moments ago was now standing in front of the door with a grim expression. He pulled a short spear from the weapon case on his back and gripped it tightly, while the other three behind him were on full alert as well.

Someone had approached this close to the room without being detected by any of them. Even the old man’s mental power as a ninth-level mage hadn’t sensed a thing. However you looked at it, the visitor meant trouble.

Under the tense gazes of the Dragon-Slaying Squad, the door opened.

“Hey, hey… No way…”

“Yo, sorry to bother you.” Tiran gave them a casual greeting.

“The Silver War Maiden?”

Tiran wasn’t a stranger to the members of the Dragon-Slaying Squad. If anything, after seeing her fight twice, they already had a fairly good understanding of her combat style.

“Why is Her Highness Tiran here?”

Ransel lowered his short spear—there was clearly no need to stay on guard. With a Holy Rank expert’s strength, if Tiran held any hostility toward them, they wouldn’t even have the power to fight back. Besides, he didn’t think he’d done anything to provoke her.

“I just wanted to ask you something.”

Tiran spread her hands. “Did any of you visit the seaside resort nearby this morning?”

“Huh? This morning? We hadn’t even arrived in this town yet… Wait, why are you asking?”

“They’re not lying.”

Behind her, Aya carefully checked the lie-detection spell glowing at her fingertip. The green light showed no sign of wavering.

It was only when Aya spoke that the others noticed there was someone else standing behind Tiran. Her white hair and red eyes were impossible to overlook.

“They weren’t? What a headache…”

Tiran sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. “We waited outside for so long, too. Now we’re out of clues again.”

“Either way, we’ve ruled out one possibility.” Aya shrugged as well and waved her hand. “Come on, come on. Xiaofei and the others are still waiting for us.”

“Hey! Wait! At least explain why you suddenly barged in here to ask such a random question!”

“Oh, right. The guard outside only fell asleep. He’ll wake up after a while.”

“That’s not what I was asking!”

……

The matter of the strange gaze still hadn’t been resolved, but they had no other clues. In that situation, there was really only one choice left…

Forget about it and enjoy the festival.

“Chirp. Mom and Dad never actually planned to investigate where that gaze came from, did they? They just thought the investigation itself would be fun, right?”

“I think so too.”

The little Angel expressed agreement, then used a bamboo skewer to pick up a takoyaki from the box and pop it into their mouth. With a calm expression, they swallowed the scalding filling.

While waiting for the Dragon-Slaying Squad’s handshake event to end, the two had already toured the festival and were now sitting peacefully on a bench with the snacks and drinks they’d bought. As for the other two…

“Come to think of it, Aya.”

“Hmm?”

“The fight we had at the castle last time still didn’t have a winner, did it?”

“Now that you mention it, I suppose it didn’t.”

Understanding what Tiran meant, Aya cracked her knuckles and grinned. Their duel to decide the family hierarchy had been interrupted by Mimi after they accidentally blew up the maids’ dormitory before they could determine the victor. They might as well use this chance to settle it once and for all.

“I counted just now. There are seventeen different mini-games at the festival. To avoid another accident like last time, let’s keep things peaceful and decide the winner by the number of games won. We’ll pick three games, and the first to win two takes it. Any objections?”

“Heh-heh. I’d be delighted.”

For the vendors running the festival’s mini-game stalls that night, tonight was truly a disaster.

“Yo, a strength showdown right off the bat? Now this is interesting.”

Inside a rather lavishly decorated mini-game stall by the street, a machine that looked extremely heavy stood in the very center. Amid the passing crowds, it seemed completely out of place, surrounded as it was by a bunch of burly men.

According to the introduction, this machine was apparently the same model as the magitech device used by the Adventurers’ Association to test strength. Its entire outer shell was made of high-grade alloy, and an earth-element gravity array had been added to improve its stability and structural strength. Supposedly, even the sheer strength of a Dragon would have trouble damaging it.

“Dragons again… I’m really being treated like a unit of measurement for combat power now, huh?”

Standing before the enormous machine, which was over twice her height, Aya in human form looked rather too frail and delicate.

“Hey, little girl! Anyone can play this, sure, but as you can see, everyone who comes here has some real strength. Don’t start crying just because the machine can’t even register your score!”

Someone nearby reminded her in a half-joking tone.

“Oh, don’t worry.” Aya clicked her tongue and pointed at the leather-wrapped disk in the center of the machine before confirming with the owner again. “Boss, I just have to hit this spot, right? And if I get five stars or more, I win the money in the prize pool?”

“That’s right.”

The middle-aged owner with a full beard nodded firmly, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

Although the machine’s maximum test value was ten stars, that wasn’t within the normal range at all—it was simply extra capacity left in during the design process. An ordinary adult man usually scored one star, while even two stars after training was about the limit for a normal person. Even powerful fighters such as grand knights generally didn’t exceed four stars, and those who relied on technique might only manage around three. Just who did this little girl think she was looking down on?

“Then I’m going.”

Aya took her position in front of the striking disk and drew a deep breath.

Wait. It seemed like she’d forgotten something.

“Who are you calling a little girl?! Can’t you tell I’m a boy?!”