After that, they continued to fight the monsters prepared by Trasteria, and the four returned to the capital of Glays before sunset.

The day they returned from the Forest of Reincarnation, the four people and one animal started a drinking party at a bar in the capital of Glays, calling it a reflection meeting for the day.

Whis, who was happy to see his parents, drank more than usual. He was already on his fourth cocktail.

Kate, who had become a new member, flew around the bar, enjoying the atmosphere. Kate must have been tired from flying around to come back to Elliot.

"Is it okay if you don't eat anything, Kate?"

Kate leaned close to Elliot's hand, which was on the table.

"Yeah. I'm a mana lifeform, so it's enough for me to occasionally get mana from Elliot or Karna. Hey, Elliot. I'm a bit tired, so can you give me some mana?"

"Yeah, here you go."

Elliot gathered mana into Kate's hand and released it.

"Oh, it's delicious. Elliot's mana is pure and soothing."

Kate clung to Elliot's fingers and rubbed her cheek with an intoxicated expression.

Belhard and Whis, who still couldn't see Kate, were skeptical as Elliot seemed to be talking to himself.

"We'll leave the northeastern cave at noon. I heard it was fifteen kilometers from the capital of Graze, so it would be best if we could stay at a village near the cave, but there's a chance we'll have to sleep outdoors, and we're almost out of potions, so I think we'll go shopping in the morning."

"Well, I'm pretty drunk. Hey, can I have another serving of this drink?"

"Please keep it moderate."

Karna also ordered two servings of dessert.

That night, Trasteria and the shinobi also had time to relax. They tied up their shiny, wavy hair and soaked in the bath to soothe their fatigue.

"Phew, traveling is really relaxing."

Trasteria returned to the inn and had a drink for the first time in a while, enjoying a short rest.

The next day, they headed towards the northeastern cave at Raniester's request.

On the way to the northeastern cave, there were several villages scattered around, and they fought monsters while taking breaks from time to time. They continued to fight against an arachne with the lower body of a spider and the upper body of a woman, a living dead clad in armor, and an ogre with unparalleled strength.

Elliot used magic to neutralize the threads that were spewed from the abdomen of an arachne nesting in a tree, and finished it off with Whis' bow. Karna used purification magic to hold back the living dead, and Belhard knocked them back and stuck his lance into the gaps in their armor, while Elliot stabbed them with his sword. The fight against the three-meter-tall ogre was quite a struggle. Belhardt blocked the Ogre's powerful blow, and Elliot jumped in from the side and cut his arm, Whis aimed for the eyes and other vital points with an arrow, and when the Ogre fell to his knees, Elliot aimed for the heart and neck.

However, thanks to this, a combination was emerging that would allow them to deal with monsters they had never seen before.

"Amazing, amazing. You're not afraid at all, even after fighting so many monsters in a row. Just like my Elliot."

Kate, who had been hiding inside Elliot's armor during the battle, flew around Elliot in joy after he had killed the Ogre. He felt that the mana dust Kate was releasing was healing Elliot's body.

"Haha, I'm getting used to it now. Come on, we'll be almost to the next village."

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They reached Eitos, a village near the northeastern cave. The four of them split up and asked around about the northeastern cave, but they didn't find anything interesting.

"That's strange, King Raniere did say that there were monsters hiding in the cave." Belhard, thinking that Trasteria and the others were probably replenishing the monsters in the cave, answered to deceive. "There's probably no real damage to this village yet. We'll find out if it's true if we go to the cave." "That's true. Let's take a short break and then head on." While Elliot and the others were resting, Trasteria and the others left the monsters in the cave, sprayed with sedative gas, with a map of the cave in hand. The shinobi were having a hard time transporting the monsters by themselves, so she helped out. "We can't even bring a carriage into the cave, so it's pretty hard..." It took a while to place the monsters, but Trasteria radioed to tell Belhard and the others that they had finished. "We're ready here." Karna, who had been pretending to look for a hut to stay in, was informed that the preparations were complete and went to the dining room where Elliot and the others were resting. The hut for the night had already been prepared by King Raniere. "Elliot, sorry to have kept you waiting. We've secured the hut, so let's go and hunt them down."

"Sorry Karna, I left it to you."

"No, it was just the other three who were fighting, so please let me do this."

"Okay, let's go then. Let's finish this today."

The group arrived at the entrance to the cave and looked inside.

"Damn, the cave seems deeper than I thought. I hope we have enough torches."

Elliot looked into the luggage compartment and counted the number of torches.

"Elliot, you want light, don't you? Leave it to me."

Kate said, jumping out of her armor and releasing mana. She glowed, illuminating the inside of the cave.

"There really were fairies. I thought it was just Elliot's hallucination."

Whis, gazing at the light in a daze, blurted out.

"Even Karna said he could see it!"

"But there are still so many strange things in the world. I'm glad I was able to travel with Elliot."

Belhard was also impressed as he watched.

The cave extermination battle ended smoothly because it was not possible to place large monsters.

"There are no more signs of monsters."

"I see, then it's complete. Let's go back to the village and rest. Kate, are you tired?"

"I'm a little tired. Give me some mana."

Saying this, Kate hugged Elliot's face.

"I can't produce mana from my face. Touch my hand."

Whis saw the light source touch Elliot's cheek.

"Elliot, this Kate is a girl, right?"

"Yeah, she looks like that. I don't know if she has a gender though."

"Excuse me. I'm a proper lady."

Kate let go of Elliot's cheek and clung to his hand. He released mana, which Kate replenished. Perhaps because of this, the light inside the cave grew stronger.

"Come on, let's go."

Whis had mixed emotions as he watched them leave.

After defeating the monsters, Elliot and the others were once again in King Raniester's audience chamber.

"Oh brave hero, you did well to defeat the monsters that infested the cave. This is a small amount, but it's my token of gratitude."

Raniester, acting with great pomp, clapped his hands twice. Then, just like last time, a maid came out from the door pushing a cart. On top of the cart was a leather bag that was bigger than the last time. The maid picked it up heavy and handed it to Belhard.

Belhard checked the contents. It was filled to the brim with dazzling, newly minted gold coins. "Is it okay to have this much?"

"Oh, that's fine. Please accept it."

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty."

After seeing off the heroes as they left the castle, Raniester asked a nearby guard.

"With this, my name will be remembered in future generations as a generous king."

"Yes, I think so."

"What?! You think so too!"

The guards looked coldly at the king, whose excitement was rising.

"Next is Brannor, Karna's hometown."

"Yes, it is indeed my hometown, but I'm not really interested."

"Why?"

As he asked this, Elliot remembered Karna's expression when he had talked about Clare.

Is there some kind of feud going on?

Just as he was worried, an unexpected answer came back.

"There are no sweets! In my country! Why aren't there any, Elliot? Please tell me! Both Bilderna and the Glades had delicious sweets, but now we're going back to being bland countries. Let's stock up while we can!"

Elliot was shocked by Karna's unusual anger.

"I-I get it. I get it, so let's stock up."

They stocked up on long-lasting sweets in the last town of the Glades, and reached the Asura Canal that separates the Glades from Brannor.