The next morning, Straf finishes his meditation session. He hops off the bed and stretches.

「Well, time to check on Lia. What was her key number again?…」

Straf mumbles to himself as he leaves, locking the door behind him. He humms as he walks up to a door he's convinced is Cycelia's, and knocks.

Knock knock knock.

「Lia, you in there, or did I get the wrong door?」

Straf asks the door with his fists on his hips. It opens a little, and Cycelia's face appears in the crack.

「Straf? My clothes aren't dry yet… Do you mind waiting a little longer?」

She asks timidly, a sliver of her bare shoulder visible.

「Well… In that case, I'll go look around this pit of misery. Scream if you find an assassin in your closet.」

Straf shrugs and jokes with a smirk as he shakes his head.

「There isn't any. I checked.」

「Wait, really?」

Straf squints, then shrugs again.

「Well, whatever. Come find me whenever your clothes are dry.」

He adds, then walks away with his hands in his pockets. He turns his room key in, and walks outside the inn. His head swivels slowly as he looks for something interesting to see. Small homes. An old woman feeding a horde of chickens. A merchant stocking his stall out of a wheelbarrow.

「Oh!」

A young boy swinging his sword around, his massive orange hair jiggling on his head with each slash. Straf excitedly points at him, and quickly jogs up. The boy leaps and dashes through the fenced-off area, perhaps remnants of and old pasture, shouting and vocalizing as he cuts through the air with his sword.

「Nice hair, kid.」

Straf says with a giant grin as he approaches the boy and the young woman standing beside the fence with silver wand in her hands.

「Huh!? I'm not a kid! I'm 17!」

Taking offense, the 17-year-old swordsman spins around on his heel and shouts at Straf.

「Hey, I just said your hair looks iconic. No need to deconstruct the whole sentence.」

Straf shrugs with his hands and shrugs, smirking heavily.

「What are you practicing, power-shouting?」

Straf asks, still grinning like a madman as he holds his fists on his hips.

「No! I'm trying to learn how to best extract the sword's power! I'm the legendary hero y'know- Hey!」

The young man points his the finger from his sword hand at Straf, holding the sword sideways. As he's explaining himself to Straf, Straf snatches the sword out of his hands.

「Nice sword. Real color-coded with your hair. Did you kill a rabbit for it?」

Straf chuckles as he looks over the sword. It appears to be a completely ordinary longsword made out of iron, but its orange hilt strongly resembles a carrot. The resemblance is only empowered further by the green strands of fabric hanging from where the pommel would be found.

「What!? Give that back!」

The boy leans onto the fence, hopping up and fruitlessly trying to reach the sword in Straf's hands, as he casually dodges him by simply leaning away. Straf focuses his eyes on the sword.

『Bunny Incisor』

[Magical] [Keen edge]

『Bunny Incisor』 enables the wielder to jump off the air once after breaking contact with solid ground. The wielder must regain contact with the ground to jump again. The wielder's inherent inertia is negated

Keen edge maintains an effective cutting edge eight-fold sharper than it appears to be.

「Give that back! That's my legendary hero's sword! I pulled it out!」

The boy shouts as he hops and reaches for the sword still. Straf hops up lightly as well, jumping off the air with his feet.

「Oh. Well, this would be kind of useful to have. Too bad it's just worse than anything I have.」

Straf shrugs after testing the sword's power, examining it in his hand.

「Please give the sword back…」

The woman next to the fence timidly asks, looking up at Straf with pleading, tired eyes. She sighs.

「Hm? Oh. You're pretty cute.」

Straf lets the boy grab the sword and pull it away, his attention turns to the woman beside him. He ignores her personal space and grips onto her chin between his thumb and finger, lifting her face up for a better look.

「Hey!」

The boy exclaims, his brows rise in surprise as he is unsure how to react to the scene in front of him.

「Huh!? Ah- Uh- Thankyou?」

Her gaze immediately shifts away from Straf as she blushes gently. Her pale fingers clutch onto her wand tighter. She's visibly perplexed and made uncomfortable by Straf's sudden compliment and physical contact, but makes no attempt to swat his hand or pull her face away.

「Hmmm… Hmmmmmm…」

Straf humms as he looks closer. The woman in front of him is not beautiful per se, but her sheepish expression combined with her face give her a modestly attractive yet approachable appeal. Straf's eyes drift down her shoulder-length oaken hair down to her white robes.

Straf humms even louder as his eyes reach her chest. Despite her robes hanging loosely off of her, there is a notable protrusion squeezed between her arms, as she clutches onto her wand.

「Hey, Alicia… Do you want me to deal with this guy?」

Somewhat shocked by her lukewarm reaction, the boy points at Straf and asks the woman.

「H- Huh? No- I mean…」

She blinks at the boy and stammers, embarrassed and unsure of her own feelings as Straf's handsome face stares down at her.

「Hold on a second… How old are you?」

Straf pulls his hand away and asks with his finger extended.

「Um… I'm eighteen-」

Alicia bites her lip, blinking rapidly as she looks down.

「Score.」

Straf snaps his finger without allowing her to even finish the sentence. His attention returns to the frustrated swordsman, albeit with a massive smug grin on his face.

「You said it's a legendary hero's sword, didn't you, Carrothead?」

Straf asks as he looks at the orange-haired boy's sword in his hand.

「Yeah! I pulled it out, that means I am the legendary hero! And I am not Carrothead! My name is Greaves!」

「Ahem… Greaves, calm down…」

Alicia clears her throat after sighing with her hand on her chest, as Greaves shouts at Straf.

「Pfft.」

Straf almost bursts out laughing, summoning all his strength not to.

「What's so funny!?」

Greaves shouts again, asking as he waves his free hand about, clutching it into a fist.

「Legendary hero's sword, huh? You mean this thing?」

Straf asks with a massive grin, then extends his arm to the side with excess flair. [Portable Storage] opens. Both Greave's and Alicia's eyes widen at the sight, and they glance at each other. Straf pulls out an ordinary-looking sword, much like the one Greaves has, sans carrot on the hilt.

「What is that?」 「What is that?」

Both of them ask at the same time, and the rip in space closes as soon as the tip of the sword leaves its boundary.

「This is the legendary sword of the guy you can't even remember the name of.」

Straf says, presenting the sword to Greaves, with his free hand in a fist on his hip as he grins.

「…That looks like a completely ordinary sword.」

Incredulous, Greaves's shoulders slump as he furrows his brows and grimaces.

「Yeah, that's what I said. But could a completely ordinary sword do this?」

Straf asks, and lazily throws the sword up a nearby tree. It bounces off the trunk, and lands on the ground as he keeps his palm extended towards it.

「…Yeah?」

Greaves shrugs, confused.

「Tsk. Could it do this?」

Straf clicks his tongue and picks the sword back up, then throws it at the tree again. It flies up the branches, bouncing off of them like in a pachinko machine as Straf keeps his palm extended. The hilt drops back into his hand, and Straf slyly grins at Greaves.

「Well?」

「That was just luck!」

Greaves points his palm at the tree and shrugs.

「It can appear as luck, but truth of the matter is, you just picked up my high-level trash out of a rabbit lottery.」

Straf shrugs as well, and throws the sword back into the [Portable Storage]. He walks back up to the fence and leans onto it with his elbows.

「So, your name is Greaves, huh? Could have been worse, you could have been Pants, or Shorts… Man, your parents really don't like you, huh?」

Straf asks with a grin.

「My parents are dead!」

Greaves shouts back at Straf, and he recoils back.

「Woah there! Two more words, and you'll get lawyers on our ass. So, what are you up to?」

Straf holds his palm up, stopping Greaves from saying more.

「I'm training, because my dumbass friend got sick from the rain the other day. Now we're stuck here until he gets better.」

Greaves steps away from the fence and goes back to practicing completely pointless swings.

「From the rain? How do you get sick from the rain?」

Straf shakes his head in confusion, spreading his arms.

「Don't ask me! That's my question! And Alicia can't even cure him!」

He raises his voice as he replies, glancing at Alicia.

「Huh? Why not? You're a healer aren't you? Can't you just waggle your wand and fix him up?」

Straf asks Alicia, furrowing his brows.

「No. I can only treat injuries. Curing disease is too advanced for me.」

She shakes her head, looking down at the ground with a frown.

「What, you can't even make him a potion or something?」

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Straf questions again, shrugging with his hands.

「I could, but…」

「But? That would resolve the training arc too quick?」

「Huh? Wh- No, the forest where I could probably find what I need for the potion is too dangerous…」

She looks with furrowed brows towards a nearby treeline behind her.

「Then I'll come with you. I'm actually a super-badass adventurer and pretty much strongest in the world. In return, you'll join my harem. How about it?」

Straf shrugs as he asks.

「…Harem?- Nevermind that, it's too dangerous with just the three of us.-」

She tilts her head in confusion, pausing for a second.

「Make that two. Just you and me. I have stuff to ask you, and I'm waiting on someone. Let's have Carrothead here serve as a messenger while we go look for the herbs, and I'll be your guard on this escort quest. How about it?」

Straf nods his head at Greaves as he keeps looking at Alicia. She begins to fidget with her wand, glancing at the forest, Greaves, and Straf.

「What? I'm coming with you!」

Greaves shouts at them, clenching his fist.

「No you're not. If you see a pretty girl with green eyes, tell her I'll be right back. Let's go.」

「But-」

Alicia meekly protests as Straf nudges her towards the forest with his hand on her back.

「Don't you want to help your friend?」

Straf asks, and all the resistance to his nudging dies down. She hesitantly looks over her shoulder at Greaves, still in his old animal pen, stunned at Alicia simply going along with the stranger they just met into a forest.

「They're… They're just going to collect Will's stupid herbs… Right?」

Greaves mumbles to himself as he continues slashing through the air pointlessly…

…

Fwoom.

Athea reappears in front of her marble throne, amidst the vast nothingness. She stares in befuddlement at her throne, blinking with a perplexed expression.

「…Boring?」

She walks closer to her throne, still blinking as she thinks about Straf's words.

「I'm… Boring?」

She shakes her head out of disbelief, then slips out of Straf's gift expertly, without taking her flowing white robe off. She throws it onto the throne, and sits down.

「How… How dare he!?」

Indignant, she grips onto her armrests in frustration.

《How am I boring!? I am a goddess! And he dares to-》

「Bah! Why am I even taking that idiot's words seriously!?」

She rubs her chin as she thinks intensely with her brows furrowed, but then clicks her tongue and seethes about Straf out loud again.

「Hmpf. Boring…」

Though she commits to purging his words from her mind, they still resound in it, sticking to it.

「How are things, Athea?」

A voice familiar to her asks from behind the throne. Overgod walks in from behind unannounced.

「Ah! Lord Overgod! You've come to visit again!?」

Athea jumps out of her throne in panic, timidly lowering her head in front of the hooded figure. Its mask-like face tilts gently.

「I am not disturbing, I hope?」

A calm voice asks from beyond the face-like mask. Overgod walks in front of the throne and looks around the vast emptiness around them.

「N- No! Surely you jest, Lord Overgod! I am here to serve after all!」

Athea attempts to grin, but it comes out wrong out of anxiety. It turns the mask-face towards her. It then tilts.

「It is good to hear- Hm?」

A quiet murmur of confusion comes from Overgod. It walks closer to the throne, walking up the steps.

《I'm done for.》

Athea can only gasp with her mouth agape, watching the robed figure climb the steps and pick up Straf's gift into its pale fingers with no fingernails.

「Athea, what is this?」

Overgod looks over its shoulder, asking in a calm tone.

「It's- It's um… It's a gift I received from one of the worlds… Lord Overgod…」

Athea explains as her shoulders slump, and her form shrinks.

「I see… That is a… Peculiar gift…」

Overgod says, and sets the skimpy outfit aside on the throne's armrest.

「I just thought that it- Throwing it away-」

Athea searches for words, but mumbles without any coherent sentence leaving her mouth as Overgod approaches closer.

「Indeed, it would be rather unwell to throw away a gift. You know the rules, Athea. Return it to the world it came from.」

Overgod turns away, placing one of its pale hands into the other behind its robe.

「Y- Yes, Lord Overgod…」

She nods with a shaky head towards Overgod's back.

「If you want to keep it, perhaps leave it up on a high mountain…」

Overgod states in a completely unbothered, smooth voice as he walks behind the throne.

「…Or in space. Space is a good place to hide many things, don't you think? Hmhm.」

The mask snaps to Athea, its dark and empty eyesockets stare directly into her frightened eyes. Overgod lets out a suppressed chuckle as he continues onward.

「I will visit again, soon.」

He states, and disappears into a narrow beam of light upward. Athea lets out a heavy sigh of relief.

「Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I should kill that idiot for this disgrace!」

Athea winces and cringes, then walks towards her throne in a slumping step…

…

Straf and Alicia are walking through the woods. Alicia is visibly worried, glancing side to side while Straf is nonchalantly walking with his hands in his pockets.

「So… Where did you guys find that sword?」

Straf asks, looking at Alicia.

「Huh? Um… It was in a small village not far from here, it's known for-」

「Having the heroic legendary whatever whatever sword, yeah, I know. By the way… Did you find a potion as well?」

Straf shrugs with his hands and asks with his index finger extended.

「Huh? Yes, we did- How did you know?」

Alicia's eyes open wide, and Straf starts to chuckle.

「So, what was it? Carrot juice?」

「…Yes, how-」

「Wait, seriously!? Heheheh…」

Straf chuckles to himself, and Alicia becomes unnerved again. By both is apparent clairvoyance, and his reactions.

「So, what exactly are we looking for?」

「Sawgrass. I need about 4 big blades.」

Alicia turns her nervous eyes to Straf as she clutches onto her wand closely.

「What does it look like?」

Straf stops, looking around the dim forest with his fingers in his pockets.

「It's… It's almost like a regular blade of grass, but much bigger. It's hard to tell from random weeds, but if you look closely, you'll see teeth on the edges of the blade. It looks a lot like a saw for woodcutting-」

She lowers her gaze as she thinks. Remembering the herb's appearance, she explains to Straf.

「Is that it?」

Straf points behind Alicia's back, leaning slightly to get a better look.

「Where?」

Alicia looks around the ground, without seeing anything.

「Right there. It has teeth.」

Straf walks up to Alicia, leaning down to her head level and pointing at a herb growing nearby. She glances at his handsome face and immediately looks away as a red tint appears on her face. She walks up to the herb Straf pointed out and squats down to look closer.

「Huh? It really is! How did you see that? The problem with sawgrass is that you need to look closely to check if it really is it, how did you see it from all the way there?」

She looks over her shoulder at Straf, amazed by his eyesight.

「I can just see stuff. Not sure how you didn't see it.」

Straf shrugs, tilting his head a little.

「We just need 3 more in that case.」

She says as she tucks the herb away in her small satchel.

「And then you can make the potion?」

「Um, no. I still need a thorn vine. And few blood rose petals, but Will should have that from the other day…」

She looks aside as she thinks with furrowed brows, then nods her head.

「Who's Will again?」

Straf asks, rising his eyebrows.

「It's my- our friend. He's the one we'll make the potion for.」

「Well, let's look for more then. By the way… You're not dating either of them, are you?」

「Huh!? Where did that come from!? No!…」

Alicia recoils, blushing heavily as she shakes her head in vehement denial.

「Score-」

Straf snaps his fingers.

「…We're just childhood friends! That's all!」

「Double score. They never had a chance.」

Straf snaps his fingers again, and they continue onward into the dark forest.

「Um… What was your name again?」

Alicia asks timidly, looking up at Straf's face.

「I am Straf. Katastrof. Vindict.」

Straf enunciates his name. A branch snaps in the distance, and both of them turn their head to the direction of the sound.

「Um, Mr. Vindict, could we leave please!? I've had a bad feeling about this place ever since we stepped foot here!」

Alicia pleads, biting her lip nervously.

「Huh? What do you mean?」

Straf furrows his brows and tilts his head, feeling completely confident.

「It's- It's like something is watching me! I can't explain it! I feel like something is really angry at me! I know it sounds weird but-」

Alicia tries to explain to best of her ability, but fails to succinctly state what she means. Straf holds his palm up, stopping her.

「Relax, I know what you mean. Let's go then, nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here. Right?」

Straf speaks in the direction of the trees, emphasizing his claim with a louder voice. He nods his head for Alicia to follow, and they continue deeper in…

…

「Krkkrkkkkk! Another woman! Another human! Why can't they just leave Straf alone!?」

Lily grinds her teeth as she peeks her eye out from beyond a distant tree, clawing at its bark in fury…