When they left the pub, Cecil still wanted to say hello to Anya, but because the shop was simply too busy, she couldn't even find where the cat-girl waitress was.
Isagi, meanwhile, had packed up dinner to bring back for the Goddess.
Afterward.
Even though their destination was in the completely opposite direction, the two of them still first escorted Lefiya to Northwest Main Street, also known as Adventurer's Street, to the Pure White Infirmary. This was the headquarters of the Dian Cecht Familia, and the young boys and girls from the School District who had been injured in the Dungeon today were all receiving treatment there.
The School District was, of course, currently docked at the port city of Melen, not far outside the city. According to Lefiya, teachers would come to pick them up and take them back.
So, after the three left the pub, they returned to Central Park and then turned onto Northwest Main Street, adjacent to West Main Street.
The bustling long street was quite noisy.
At a glance, the first things one saw were the equipment shops of the Hephaestus Familia. The dazzling display windows seemed endless, filled with armor and weapons priced so high it was staggering.
There were also countless item and general stores, potion shops, and specialized wand and robe boutiques...
The reason this place was called Adventurer's Street
was that all the shops were tailored specifically for the profession of "Adventurer," so naturally, those coming and going were adventurers as well.
There were burly men and big sisters who looked incredibly hearty in personality; Elves with cold expressions who kept their distance from others at all times; Dwarves who were obviously drunk, reeking of alcohol and shouting boisterously; Pallums who either looked a bit timid or overly tough; and...
Amazons whose gazes kept drifting toward Isagi.
As for the Beast People with their wide variety of fur colors, ears, and tails, they were too numerous to count.
Lefiya was clearly still unaccustomed to such an atmosphere, appearing somewhat reserved. In her eyes, most of these people were a bit too scary.
This led to her unconsciously
hiding between Isagi and Cecil. Then, from time to time, she would be "bumped" by the two people beside her.
It couldn't be helped; the boy and girl were so familiar with each other that when they usually walked together, they had absolutely no concept of "minding the distance." This only made Lefiya feel even more embarrassed.
Thus.
They finally arrived at the Pure White Infirmary near the city gate, directly opposite the Pantheon where the Guild Headquarters was located.
This building, constructed of massive pure white stones as the headquarters of the Dian Cecht Familia, was similar to the hospitals in Isagi's memory, but in a sense, it looked more like a "temple."
Above it, colored tiles formed the Familia emblem of a sphere of light intertwined with herbs.
The first floor housed potion shops and consultation rooms for receiving patients, while the upper floors were entirely patient wards, always overflowing with people.
Orario is the City of Adventurers.
Tens of thousands of adventurers live here. Even though many belong to production or commercial Familias and never go to the Dungeon, the sheer number is not something the Dian Cecht Familia can handle alone, even if they are the city's largest medical Familia with multiple healers.
Moreover, because there are so many adventurers, there are plenty of messy incidents in the city; street brawls are considered commonplace.
Conflicts between many Familias are even more tragic. Even with the "War Game" adjudicated by the gods and the Guild, often that is only sought as a relatively fair way to resolve a dispute because one Familia is being "suppressed" by another to the point where they cannot fight back.
Most of the time.
"Wars" between Familias are resolved privately. It is not uncommon in Orario for a Familia to be wiped out and removed from the city overnight.
After saying goodbye to Lefiya.
Standing at the main entrance of this "hospital," Isagi and Cecil saw several adventurers covered in blood being carried in. The healers of Dian Cecht could only urgently use magic to stabilize them first.
Among them, there was even a guy with a short sword stuck in his head. It was practically a miracle he was still alive.
What was even more unbelievable was that a petite girl with long silver-white hair, exquisite as a doll, ran over hurriedly while surrounded by other healers. She then cast healing magic on the guy with the weapon in his head.
After a soft white light, the girl simply pulled the short sword out of the man's head. The result was that his wound healed instantly. Although the man was weak, he seemed completely fine.
[Badass].
Seeing this, Isagi thought, So aside from my own skills that allow resurrection and health recovery, there's actually such powerful healing magic, huh?
After the treatment ended, the girl sat weakly on a bench and took a potion handed to her by other Familia members—probably something to restore Mind. After drinking it in one go,
she hurriedly got up and left. It seemed she was truly very busy.
"Let's go, time to head back."
"Ah."
Isagi beckoned Cecil to leave, but the girl looked at the wounded, appearing to be pondering something. It wasn't until the boy tapped her on the head that she belatedly turned around to leave with him...
...
"Alisa, what do you think [Justice] is?"
"Justice is obviously Leon-sensei!"
"You fangirl!!"
Lefiya sat by the hospital bed, rolling her eyes at her best friend with a look of helplessness that said, "I knew she would say that."
"How are Badain and the others?"
"They're fine, they're okay now. But Leon-sensei conveyed the school's decision. That guy has been grounded. Before leaving Orario, neither he nor Nathan are allowed to leave the School District area. And they have to write reflections when they get back. So miserable..."
"Being alive is good enough."
"Yeah..."
Rarely, Alisa also showed the same expression. Actually, she had been injured very heavily because the girl herself was not good at fighting. In school, she had always been cultivated as a future researcher of the School District due to her excellent talent in Alchemy.
Her future aspiration was also to stay in the School District to continue production, research, and teaching.
Naturally, even though she was Level 2, she was actually considered quite a poor performer among adventurers.
Lefiya had almost thought she was going to die today. Even healing magic couldn't cure such severe injuries—at least, the timid healer who was by the Elf girl's side at the time couldn't.
Until Isagi walked over, took out a gourd from his chest, and poured the potion inside into Alisa.
Twice in total.
It finally restored her injuries and woke her up, even making her the liveliest of all the classmates right now. Thinking back on it, Lefiya just felt it was too magical. Was that some precious recovery potion, or healing magic?!
"Let's not talk about those sad things. Alisa, has Sensei come over yet?"
"Uh-huh~ It's Leon-sensei!"
"Eh?! Leon-sensei is here? Where is he? I want to ask for advice..."
Lefiya wanted to ask Leon-sensei what [Justice] truly was, and at the same time express her decision to go to the Astrea Familia for an internship!
Leon-sensei was not a god.
To use Orario's terms, he should be considered the Captain of the Baldr Familia, and also the girls' current homeroom teacher.
The God Baldr is the founder of the [School District] and its current leader. Of course, there are many other gods in the School District, and their respective Familias operate in the form of [Class XX].
For Lefiya and the others, Leon-sensei was like a guide, always acting as a senior who resolved the worries and confusion of the young boys and girls.
Furthermore.
Leon-sensei had another identity. He was one of only two Level 7 adventurers in the world today, an existence on par with the Captain of the city's strongest Freya Familia—the [Warlord] Ottar.
[Greatest of Knights] Leon Vardenburg. He was the pride and banner of all the School District's students.
"I don't know. People from the Guild came just now, acting all mysterious."
"People from the Guild?"
"Because we encountered unusual monsters, right? So after reporting it to Sensei, he probably told the Guild. As a result, a strange guy came and called Leon-sensei away."
Alisa spoke with a tone of gossip unique to young girls.
"That guy was covered entirely in black robes. You couldn't see anything. If you didn't say he was from the Guild, he looked pretty much like a big villain."
"Eh..."
"Right, right, Lefiya, the person who saved us was named Isagi, right? You treated him to a meal properly, didn't you? Should we send a thank-you gift, or should we visit in person..."
"No need!"
Seeing her friend making a fuss, for some reason, Lefiya inexplicably didn't want to let Alisa and Isagi meet.
"You rest well, I'm going to look for Leon-sensei!!"
"Eh?! Why are you leaving!!"
"Goodnight!"
...
Under the moonlight.
Behind the Pure White Infirmary, in the building where members of the Dian Cecht Familia usually lived, inside a reception room reserved for gods—though the ones using it now were the strongest adventurer from the School District and a representative of the Guild.
"It hasn't been that many years, has it? I've never heard of those kinds of monsters appearing in the Dungeon. Was there some accident?"
Leon lowered his eyes.
With fine, broken brown hair hanging to his shoulders, his figure was exceptionally tall and thin, perhaps even overly lean. He wore the dark suit-style uniform of the School District teachers, with a proper brownish-red shirt collar and a strangely styled dark bowtie.
Pinned on it was the emblem of the Baldr Familia: a pure white ship drifting among boundless waves.
"God Ouranos says not to worry. Changes in the Dungeon are a good thing."
The response came from a hoarse, strange voice beneath the black robes.
"You know."
He continued.
"The time for that is approaching."
"Less than five years left, huh..."
Leon lamented, seeming to want to say that time passed truly quickly.
"Is it enough?"
"If we go to extremes, one year is enough."
"God Ouranos said that?"
"Yes."
The person in the black robes nodded slightly, then continued.
"Besides, aren't there many children aiming for that right now?"
The hoarse voice paused, then spoke that word with great solemnity.
"[Hero]."
The world desires a Hero; the gods also desire a Hero.
The adventurers' long-cherished wish, the completion of the Three Great Quests, inevitably requires a [Hero] to step forward. Now that the [King of the Land] and the [Lord of the Sea] have been subjugated, the only one remaining is the [One-Eyed Dragon].
Nearly ten years ago, the Zeus and Hera Familias went together to the Dragon Valley where it resides, wanting to complete this final "Three Great Quests," but they were completely wiped out.
The two strongest Familias, possessing Level 9 and Level 8 adventurers, as well as multiple Level 7s, were thus removed from the city. This triggered a riot by the Dark Familias that had been lurking in the shadows, ultimately leading to the [Great Feud] event three years ago, which nearly caused Orario to be destroyed.
"Are the gods just going to sit and wait for those young children to go and complete the mission of saving the world?"
Facing Leon's clearly sarcastic words,
the messenger of God Ouranos—who was also the close attendant of the [Great God] who was the first to descend from heaven to the mortal world, established Orario and the Guild, and thoroughly drove the monsters ravaging the land back into the "pit"—
simply replied:
"It was not the gods who saved the Lower World, but people who saved themselves."
"The ancient heroes of a thousand years ago, even without the Falna of gods, and some even without the blessings of Spirits, still fought against the monsters constantly pouring out from the Great Hole and established the prototype of Orario."
"Even without gods, people faced with monsters would choose to pick up weapons and fight, wave after wave, endlessly."
A thousand years ago, before the gods had come to the Lower World, the Great Hero Albert wounded the [Black Dragon] that had just crawled out of the Dungeon to the surface, forcing it to flee in a sorry state. It eventually became the [One-Eyed Dragon] and was seized upon by the Spirits to be sealed in the Dragon Valley.
That was a feat no one has been able to achieve ever since.
"[We believe in the children of the Lower World, just as this world has always believed in them.]"
"These are God Ouranos's original words. [Heroes] will always appear. Not only in the past, not only in the future, but right here and now, there are still people moving forward toward becoming [Heroes], even if they themselves are unaware of it."
The Guild's messenger stood up and bowed slightly to Leon, preparing to take his leave.
"Also, Leon."
At this point, he spoke to the other like an old friend.
"Aren't you also preparing, [Hero Candidate]?"
"..."
As if in response to these words, several magnificent and imposing figures emerged from the depths of Leon's memories. That swordsman whose single strike was enough to sever mountains and cleave cities, that unbridgeable chasm of the past—
[A Hero should be a Hegemon].
The city's strongest of the past held such thoughts, charging forward recklessly and fearlessly, crushing and devouring even destruction itself.
But they failed.
Pitch-black finality covered everything, leaving only the residual embers, carrying their final haughty posture and dignity, to become firewood, entrusting the hope of the future to the younger generation of the city.
[Therefore, a Hero is not a Hegemon].
The answer given by the failures should be denied. Continuing along the path of those guys would yield no results.
They were merely a sliver of remnant light illuminating the world.
New heroes will still be born, deriving their own answers—
[What is a Hero?]
As of now, temporarily no one can give a new answer.
And himself...
"I am not a [Hero Candidate], nor will I become a [Hero]."
One of the world's strongest adventurers, bearing the title [Greatest of Knights], stood up and spoke solemnly to the Guild's... no, rather, the Great God Ouranos's sole messenger.
"I am nothing but a bastard still scattering the remnant light."
To this.
The listener in the black robes offered no comment, simply leaving the reception room in silence.
___
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