At the same time the verdict of the match was announced, the Royal Head Mage immediately descended from the stands to the parade grounds with his ashen cloak fluttering behind him, his physique making it hard to believe that he was already a grey-haired old man.

“… Really now, you’re still wet behind the ears, dear daughter.”

To the embarrassment and groans of the Royal Guards protecting the King, he picked up Ernesta who was stretched out on the ground, and handed her to the paramedics who came running from the sides of the parade ground.

“Please take care of my daughter.”

“Yes, Master Greio!”

As I watched the silver-haired, blue-eyed mage being carried out on a stretcher, applause from the King rained down from the spectator’s upper box.

“Wonderful! You were even holding back, but it was quite a feat beating the Tempest Witch!!”

“Garuoah, gurua.” (As expected of Leader.)

“Gurua, kuruo~n♪” (Good job, Boss♪)

“Kyuua, woau guruaoo.” (Big brother is strong after all!)

My companions were unusually happy. It seems they still have not gotten over the shock from when we were surrounded in the village…

“Greio, give him what I promised.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

The old mage reaches into his pocket and throws a small, round object at me.

“Wafuh?”

When I caught it with a whump, I felt a warm and strong life force from my clenched fist. On top of that, a dense amount of Earth attribute magic, and a faint amount of Holy attribute magic dwelled within it.  

“It’s the seed of the World Tree, which King Alexius entrusted to me to study. I was never able to make it sprout…”

When I opened my hand, there was a blue seed, the size of an almond on it.

“Woru vaaruau… garugu waou ‘voruau’.” (So this is the seed of the World Tree… it’s ‘alive’ just as the rumors say it is.)

As my gaze is drawn to the “Seed of the World Tree”, I unexpectedly hear a muttering.

“Well, I gave it to him as promised…”

As I shifted my gaze to the old mage, I found him taking off his cloak with the emblem of Riastize Kingdom embroidered in gold on a white background.

“Even though she is bad at being an apprentice, this Greio is not so old as to keep silent after seeing his foster daughter beaten in front of him… funuuuuh!!”

beaaaaaaam

“Wafi!?” (What!?)

When the elderly mage’s fighting spirit rose, his upper body swelled with muscle and tore his mage’s uniform! A moment later, an old man with a slender, but well-trained steel-like body stood there. 

“Fuuuuuh!”

A pale, white flame appears from his raised right fist.

This reminded me of the author of “Herculean Pulverization”, a unique grimoire that pursues physical enhancement to its utmost limits, which I had heard about from my fellow Earth magician, Eric, as a funny story while we were drinking in the bar during my mercenary days.

If I’m not mistaken, the author was called Greio the Steel Sage…

(So that was you… Are all the mages in this country like this!?)

As my image of a mage steadily crumbled, the hearty voice of the King of Riastize Kingdom echoed from above.

“Ooh, it’s been a while since I last saw Greio fight.”

“King Alexius, with your permission…”

As I looked disgusted at the situation where a parent was going to fight their child’s battle, help came from an unexpected source.

“Father, that dog person will be in danger…”

A woman with the same hair and eye color as the King reproached her father.

“… You’re right, we can’t ask him to do more than that. Greio, save it for another time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty…”

After slightly closing his eyes, the old mage switched his awareness and picked up the cloak by his feet. By the time he wore the cloak after brushing off the dust from it, the overflowing fighting aura had all but vanished, but… he looked somewhat sad.

“Silver Kobold, you have entertained me well. I have prepared rooms in the castle that you can freely use during your time in the Royal Capital.”

And lastly, the King added,

“I have been persistently reminded by Greio that a King cannot bow his head, so I would like to ask you to do your best to defeat Alvesta of the Black Rain for the sake of my subjects.”

As I nodded silently, King Alexius and his bodyguards exited the spectator’s seats. In turn, a small female attendant appeared by the exit of the parade grounds.

“… I have been told by His Highness to take care of the rest. She will be leading you to your rooms to rest for now.”

The old mage, who no longer had the slightest trace of the fighting aura from earlier, pointed to the maid and continued,

“The Black Rain often begins to fall after dusk… There are already close to 10,000 people affected by the disease and we have no way of saving their lives as they continue to suffer. All we can do is to eliminate the source of the infection as soon as possible, so we will be relying on your help.”

Perhaps intending to speak on behalf of the King who says he cannot bow because of his position, Greio bows deeply and then disappears to the exit on the side where the unconscious Ernesta was carried off to.

“Wau, gurukuruoau woruaooou…” (Phew, I guess I can take a breather now.)

As I watched the old mage’s back as he left, my companions climbed over the threshold of the spectator’s seats and entered the parade grounds.

“Gurua, ruao…” (Boss, your hand…)

“U? Gau…” (Hmm? Oh…)

It seems my right hand was slightly injured from the splinters of the wooden sword when it shattered during the first attack. With her white, furry hands, Lancer took my hand where the blood had begun to dry.

“…Kuruaonn.” (… Healing Light.)

A warm light envelopes my hand and the wound disappears. Likewise, my jaw, which hurt from Ernesta’s blow, was also healed.

“Gaaorua aon guuao woruoan, gurua.” (The bad aftertaste from being defeated in the settlement has gone down a bit, Leader.)

“Wuonn.” (It has, hasn’t it?)

An unexpectedly happy Blazer lightly slaps me in the back.

When the pack was surrounded by the Magic Knights in the village, his apprentices had been out guarding the perimeter, but… all of them had been defeated and captured. For someone who was in charge of guarding the area daily, that must have been a shock for him.

“Waofu, gauan.” (Here you go, Boss. I’m giving this back to you.)

“Kyuu, kuruu!” (This too, big brother!)

I received my Mithril mask from Ax and my Mechanical Bow and Scimitar from my sister. Apparently, the guards who had received my weapons before I entered the audience room previously had given them to my sister.

I put on the silver mask again to address the maidservant who had a slightly frightened expression as she looked at us. It reacted to my magic and remained stuck on my face.

(It’s such a subtle sensation every time…)

“Kuu, uoruo garuoaan?” (So what are we going to do after this?)

“Kuaruu uonaruoon.” (She is going to lead us to our rooms.)

After answering Ax, who tilted his head with his big, blue body, I walked to the attendant standing by the exit.

“Guoa, guruaou.” (Let’s go, shall we?)