Vol 1 Chapter 12 – Encountering the Continent’s Strongest S-Class Adventurer?【Vol 1 – When Written in Kanji, It’s Saionji Yumeba】

One week had passed since I became a magic wielder.

And I was bored.

My magic research was going too smoothly—there wasn’t much left to do. I went on dates with Yumeba on Imperial Guard rest days, but she went to training on weekdays, leaving me with nothing to do.

For that reason, today I decided to visit the Adventurers Guild after a long while.

Yeah. I’d tried going before, but that time I’d coincidentally met Yumeba, who saw through my identity, so I couldn’t kill time at all.​

So I used Metamorphose—now upgraded to Transform—to change into Alisa.

With Metamorphose, only my body transformed and I had to change clothes separately, but Transform could link with my Item Box contents, automatically handling pre-registered outfit changes.

Meaning I could transform anywhere as long as I didn’t worry about onlookers.

After finishing my transformation, I moved to the capital using teleportation magic—not magic arts—and started walking toward the Adventurers Guild.

The teleportation magic arts had previously created slight fluctuations before teleporting, but after becoming teleportation magic, transfers became remarkably smooth.

Plus, the capacity limit of just me was removed, allowing several people to accompany me.

Well, since I had teleportation gates, the practicality hadn’t changed much, but in terms of immediacy, being able to take someone—Yumeba—without bothering to create a gate might be significant.

Incidentally, the Data Map magic arts I’d inscribed in my right eye for specifying teleportation destinations became World Map magic, completing as a map of the entire planet.

Meaning I could now teleport anywhere in the world, not just the continent.

And when World Map magic was completed, it became clear that this planet did indeed have vast continents besides this one.

That said, I’d only flown at high speed using Flight Magic and registered what I saw below in World Map magic, so I didn’t know what races or creatures lived there.

If I had time, exploring new continents with Yumeba might be fun.

I’d need to develop translation magic since I didn’t know if the common language used on this continent would work there.

While thinking such things, I reached the Adventurers Guild and opened the door to enter.

“Ah, Alisa-san!”

Immediately, a familiar female staff member spotted me and came running with loud footsteps.

(Ugh. I have a bad feeling about this trouble.)

“What perfect timing! God hasn’t abandoned us!”

“…”

I’m the natural enemy of gods—I thought but didn’t say aloud.​

“So… what’s going on?”

“A-Actually, the S-class adventurer Kelzacchel is currently in the capital…”

“Kelzacchel… the Lawless King?”

“Yes. That Kelzacchel.”

An S-class adventurer famous enough that even I knew the name—in a certain sense.

Most adventurers were lawless types, but this guy was promoted to S-class purely for strength, living as he pleased behind that authority—a true king of lawlessness matching his title.

Frankly, this guy was definitely responsible for a significant percentage of the reputation that adventurers were lawless.

“There aren’t even any monster territories nearby anymore, so what’s he doing here?”

Ever since Yumeba and I liberated the Eastern Forest, the capital’s adventurer outflow hadn’t stopped, yet an S-class adventurer came to the capital?

“Kelzacchel is someone who wanders between large cities repeating lawless acts, so I think he just happened to stop by the capital.”

“…I see.”

Simply because he had no fixed residence, he drifted and stopped by, regardless of whether monsters were present.

“So, what about this Kelzacchel?”

“He’s rampaging and repeating lawless acts in the capital, so please stop him!”

“…Excuse me?”

“Right now in the capital, only Alisa-san can probably stop Kelzacchel! If possible, please stop him without killing or seriously injuring him!”

“What kind of unreasonable demand is that?”

“If an S-class adventurer dies or gets seriously injured in the capital, it’ll become a problem!”

Well, if I incapacitated one of the only five S-class adventurers on the continent, the capital’s reputation would certainly drop.

Kelzacchel was indeed lawless, but jobs that only S-class adventurers could handle still existed on the continent, so losing even one would become the capital’s—or rather the Empire’s—responsibility.

At minimum, I—an A-class adventurer—had that much authority, and the Empire would take responsibility for my actions.

While discussing such things with the staff member, the Adventurers Guild door was suddenly kicked open with a bang…

“Pardon the intrusion.”

Yumeba entered.

“Huh? Why is Alisa in a place like this?”

Upon confirming I was inside, she widened her eyes in surprise.

“I just stopped by to kill time, but… what are you carrying, Yumeba?”

Yumeba hadn’t entered the Adventurers Guild empty-handed—her right hand held large cargo: the leg of an abnormally muscular large man over two meters tall.

Judging by the situation, she’d dragged him through the capital to here.

“Apparently this guy was rampaging in the capital, so I punched him out and subdued him after receiving a report.”

“Why bring him here?”

“This guy was yelling about being an adventurer himself, so I thought if he’s an adventurer, the Adventurers Guild should judge him.”

“I see.”

Having the circumstances explained, I was convinced, but…

“K-K-K-Ke…”

“Hair?”

The staff member beside me pointed at the large man with a swollen face, rolled-back eyes, and unconscious state, trembling…

“Kelzacchel!”

She screamed loudly.

Ah. So this guy was the Lawless King Kelzacchel.

“What? Was this guy famous?”

“Apparently an S-class adventurer.”

“This guy? He passed out easily after I punched him a bit.”

“Well… that makes sense.”

Even though I could use magic now, I couldn’t definitively say I’d beat the current Yumeba.

I thought maybe we’d be equal if I had terrain advantage.

Yumeba’s recent growth was that remarkable—a mere S-class adventurer wasn’t even an opponent anymore.​

“Well, even among S-class adventurers, the standard is just ‘above A-class,’ so there’s a wide range. He was probably the weakest among S-class adventurers.”

“I see. No wonder there was no resistance.”

Of course, I wouldn’t say such things honestly, so Kelzacchel would receive the title of weakest S-class adventurer.

“A-Ahahaha~ As expected of the Saionji ducal house daughter, guardian of the Empire. You handled that Kelzacchel with ease.”

The staff member listening had a thoroughly twitching face.

“So, can I leave this guy with the Adventurers Guild?”

“Um, well… S-rank adventurers are protected by Adventurers Guilds across the continent, so judging him by our discretion alone would be difficult.”

“What? How unreliable.”

“…I apologize.”

Even if rotten, an S-class adventurer. His authority was tremendous, making judgment difficult.

“Hmm. Then shall I try placing a suggestion to work seriously from now on?”

This was a job for Hypnosis Magic, powered up from hypnosis magic arts.

With hypnosis magic arts, effects wore off over time, but Hypnosis Magic continued working perpetually unless I released it.

I’d just command him to work seriously.

“I’ll wake him up then.”

However, this magic only worked by looking into the subject’s eyes, so I needed to wake him from his rolled-back-eyes state.

I grabbed Kelzacchel’s collar with my left hand, raised his upper body, and slapped his face with my right hand—smack!—a good sound echoed.

“!”

Kelzacchel’s body convulsed for an instant, but his eyes remained rolled back with no signs of awakening.

I had no choice but to deliver repeated slaps with my right hand—smack smack smack!—to encourage awakening.

“Alisa-san! Alisa-san! At this rate he’ll die! That’s enough damage to break a normal person’s neck bones!”

“…Huh?”

After the staff member pointed it out, I checked Kelzacchel’s condition—besides his face greatly swollen from Yumeba’s punch, my repeated slaps had caused his face to swell enormously, and—he was dying.

“Isn’t this person too frail?”

“I can’t deal with you people anymore. Why are you treating one of the continent’s leading S-class adventurers like a child?”

Come to think of it, Aigis, which I kept constantly active, should also assist my physical abilities, but maybe the enhancement was too strong.

I’d adjust it later.

“But this is troublesome.”

“If we just need to wake him, won’t hitting the opposite side from earlier wake him?”

“What if we run an electric current through him? Won’t the shock wake him?”

“…He’ll die, you know? Absolutely don’t do that.”

In the end, we had to wait nearly an hour for Adventurers Guild staff capable of recovery magic arts to treat and wake him so I could place suggestions with Hypnosis Magic.​

◇◇◇

The next day.

For some reason, a protest letter arrived from the Adventurers Guild addressed to me and Yumeba—specifically Alisa and Yumeba.

It claimed we’d committed unjust violence against S-class adventurer Kelzacchel and placed a malicious curse on him.

The former unjust violence was apparently Yumeba, the latter malicious curse apparently me.

“I went to the trouble of placing suggestions to work seriously… what’s the problem?”

“Actually, can an S-class adventurer officially admit to submitting to violence?”

We could only be confused by the contents.

So today I’d also transformed into Alisa using Transform and visited the Adventurers Guild with Yumeba.

“So… what’s the problem?”

We summoned yesterday’s female staff member who presumably knew the circumstances.

“Um… probably part of the Adventurers Guild upper management is displeased that you two interfered with an S-class adventurer the Guild protects without permission.”

“So only they’re making noise?”

“…The fact that an S-class adventurer was defeated can’t be made public.”

“True enough.”

Being recognized for authority despite being lawless purely due to strength—yet they couldn’t announce he’d lost to an A-class adventurer and ducal daughter, let alone another S-class adventurer.

Yeah. They couldn’t announce I’d already passed the S-class promotion exam or that Yumeba was a Saionji ducal house daughter.

For the Adventurers Guild, failing to get approval to promote an A-class adventurer to S-class was nothing but embarrassment, and using the Saionji ducal house name would definitely make enemies of the Empire.

“Ah. So they could only do something roundabout like issuing protest letters targeting us individually.”

“…I believe that’s the situation.”

“The Adventurers Guild is surprisingly timid.”

“…I think they wanted to avoid making enemies of you two.”

Yeah. Not just the Saionji ducal house, but knowing I was an S-class adventurer-level powerhouse meant they couldn’t choose hostility, making a protest letter their only option.

The protest letter was a means of expressing displeasure within a range that wouldn’t anger us.

“Meaning we can just ignore this protest letter, right?”

“What’s important is proof that the Adventurers Guild properly showed us their displeasure—they’re not seriously trying to hold us responsible.”

I answered YES to Yumeba’s question.

“No. I think the Adventurers Guild is pleading for you two to show minimum restraint…”

“We showed plenty of restraint.”

“Ahaha… yes, indeed.”

The staff member let out a dry laugh with a face that had given up on something.​

After leaving the Adventurers Guild, Yumeba and I made momentary eye contact, but…

“…”

We parted and walked away without conversation.

I was here as A-class adventurer Alisa, not Emilio.

As such, I couldn’t interact overly familiarly, and suddenly acting friendly would be unnatural.

That’s why Yumeba and I silently parted…

“Ehehe ♪”

Midway, I returned to my original form and met up with Yumeba.

Yeah. Even if slightly unnatural, we were husband and wife, so no problem if we could excuse it as having arranged to meet.

“I don’t need to return to Imperial Guard training today, so we can date all day! ♪”

“…Haven’t you been skipping a lot lately?”

“It’s not my fault~”

Well, this incident was just getting caught up in Adventurers Guild circumstances, so it wasn’t Yumeba’s responsibility.

Additionally, skipping training to date was problematic, but—she’s cute so whatever.

I wrapped my hand around Yumeba’s waist as she walked beside me and pulled her close.

“~♪”

Yumeba blushed embarrassedly but was more delighted, entrusting herself to me.

This would be a fun date.

◇◇◇

I got scolded.

“Look, I understand wanting to date when the chance presents itself. I really understand! But enduring and doing your work is what fulfilling noble obligations means.”

“We’re sorry.”

Yeah. Again.

Again Yukina-san caught us skipping and we ended up getting lectured.

But the date was fun.

That night we entered a restaurant with a view of the capital’s nightscape, and after leaving in a romantic atmosphere, I invited Yumeba saying I’d reserved a room, stayed out, did the deed, and came home in the morning.

Then Yukina-san caught us.

“Personally, I want to say if you’re staying out, contact me so I could have an overnight date with Darling too, but let’s set that aside. It’s important but let’s set it aside for now!”

“…We’re sorry.”

If anything, it only sounded like she was protesting that communication failures prevented them from having fun.

After a lengthy lecture, Yumeba reluctantly left to participate in Imperial Guard training.

Mmm. Summer was approaching and getting hot, so I’d thought about buying swimsuits together today.

Well, I could make them with Clothing Magic—not magic arts—but I’d wanted the pretext of shopping for swimsuits to date again today.

(Can’t be helped, I’ll browse World Map magic and search for places that could become private beaches.)

I decided to return to my room and plan the swimsuit date.

(Right. After buying swimsuits, I’ll have another photo shoot with Yumeba!)

I’m getting a little excited.

But I’d been thinking that when…

“Apparently I got roped into participating in some Imperial Guard traditional intensive summer training camp.”

Yumeba came home tearfully complaining.

“What’s that stuffy-sounding event?”

“Ah, how nostalgic.”

I was confused, but Yukina-san had distant eyes.

“The training itself wasn’t particularly harsh, but having to spend over a month in a place completely isolated from the outside world… I nearly went crazy not being able to see Darling.”

“…”

Yeah. It was a harsher event than I’d imagined.

“You endured well.”

“Well, I couldn’t endure it and often snuck out for trysts with Darling… I mean, I overcame it with ducal house pride.”

“…”

Yeah. Needless to say, a Saionji ducal house woman couldn’t be fine being separated from her husband long-term.

“Wasn’t it completely isolated from the outside world?”

“No obstacle love can’t overcome exists in this world, you know?”

“…I see.”

Well, a mere Empire event couldn’t stop the Saionji ducal house.

She’d probably used every means to bring her husband along.

“I see!”

And Yumeba became motivated after hearing Yukina-san’s story.

Of course, not motivation to work hard at training camp, but motivation for how to bring me along.

Apparently my summer would start with training camp dates before swimsuit dates.

Not that I minded. As long as I could spend time with Yumeba, anywhere was fine.​

◇◇◇

And so Yumeba and I spent days busy with training camp preparations, but…

“For now, I’m thinking of having Lio enter this.”

“Um… Yumeba-san? No matter how you look at it, this box is… too small for me—for a human to enter…”

What the fully-motivated Yumeba prepared for bringing me to training camp was a box about fifty centimeters square.

Even hugging my knees, entering seemed impossible.

“But they said all luggage brought to training camp must fit in this. I protested too, but rules say nothing larger than this size is allowed.”

(Didn’t that rule get made because Yukina-san brought her husband to training camp?)

This was clearly collateral damage from what Yukina-san had done.

“Actually, couldn’t I just use magic to hide and follow?”

“If Lio suddenly appears and joins at the secret training camp location, it’ll be suspicious.”

“…I think infiltrating in this box would be more suspicious.”

No matter how you folded a human body, it couldn’t fit inside alive, and claiming I’d brought him in this way would make people question my sanity.

It’s not a story about bringing me even if it means killing me, right?

“Mmm. Can’t you fit in somehow?”

Right?

Her seriously contemplating face in front of the box was scary!