After the little episode, the discussions continued.

Ryuuji threw a glance at the unassuming girl every once in a while. His coveting looks did not go unnoticed as he thought. Ryouta, who first noticed it moved to protectively block the girl from the lecherous bastard’s view.

Hal also moved to the other side, conveniently sitting on the desk, making Shiro completely disappear from Ryuuji’s view.

Ryuuji furrowed his brows in annoyance. Whatever, there was still other chances for him to get close to the girl.

Ryuuji’s attention no longer lingered towards the girl.

“I want this to end quickly. We should storm the castle now, while the demons are still recovering.” Ryuuji pressed on with his plan.

“No! Our men can’t fight anymore; they’re too tired! Don’t make them throw away their lives meaninglessly!” The guild master’s fists slammed the table in between them, breaking it into half. He was deeply against the Hero’s idea.

“Then what do you propose we do? Hm? You don’t have any ideas, do you?”

“Calm down, you two.” The guard captain sighed. These two had been fighting the whole time, causing the rest of the people to receive headaches.

After the king was murdered and the princess was kidnapped, everybody turned to him—the royal guard’s captain—for leadership. Thus, he became the person with the highest authority, next to the Hero. He had asked the stronger people available to form a war council, but with how things were going, nothing can be solved.

“The guild master is right.” Ryouta supported. “Our warriors aren’t machines. They’ll break if they don’t rest.”

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Hal waved his hand in an indolent manner, looking rather carefree, “Yeah~ After all, not everyone is as strong as the Mr. Hero over here. Can’t expect them to have as much stamina, too~”

“Then what about the demons? What if they start attacking again?”

Ryouta frowned at his harsh tone. “We aren’t machines, and neither are the demons. It’ll take time for them to reorganise, so we should prepare ourselves too, for the time being. Even if it’s just for one day, we can let the fighters rest.”

Ryouta turned to look at everyone in the room, “Besides, I can keep an eye on the demons myself if it’s just for one day. Shiro too,” he nodded at the guild master, “although it’s a bit of a stretch, she can make a barrier that’s large enough to protect the city.”

“Is it true, Shiro?!”

The guild master whipped his head towards the young girl swinging her legs on the chair.

“Mn!” If Ryouta says so~ her body language said.

“Then that’s a relief.” The guild master’s tensed shoulders relaxed slightly.

“Ryouta…” The guard captain did not mean to underestimate Ryouta and the little girl, but the words he spoke just seemed too unbelievable. He also could not understand why the guild master dared to leave such a heavy task on the shoulders of such a young man.

Ryouta, noticing the captain’s disbelief, merely smiled wryly. “Even if I look like this, I’m still a bona fide S-ranker, you know.”

“S-ranker?!”

Not just the Royal Guard captain, but even Ryuuji and the rest of the advisers were surprised. How could such a young S-ranker exist?!

“Enough about me,” Ryouta waved off their staring. “Let’s get back to topic. I’ll buy some time for our people to get some rest. Shiro, how long can you last with casting [Barrier] over the whole city?”

“Hm~ about seven minutes~?” Shiro’s childish voice rang out after thinking for a little bit.

“…”

“Hey, hey. That’s too short, isn’t it?”

“Can’t be helped~ Scale is big~” Shiro replied, giggling. The city was huge, and keeping up the large barrier with the same sturdiness of the barriers she usually used to shield Ryouta was too difficult. The current body of hers did not have endless mana, after all.

“Then, what if it’s just the camp?”

“Easy~” Shiro tilted her head, calculating with her chubby fingers. If her mana recovery speed was taken into account, then she should last for about… “Fourteen hours!”

“! That’s plenty enough! Good, Shiro!” Ryouta patted her head.

I got praised. Yaaaaaay.