The day after I resolved to do what I could.

I asked Katya to teach me about the kingdom's noble relations.

Up until now, I had mostly been passive, acting only when someone requested something of me.

I could count on one hand the times I had ever taken the initiative to do something.

But this time, for some reason, I felt like that wouldn't be enough.

It's true that, in terms of sheer strength, I might be the strongest in Akoup.

After all, I am a Griffon Rider, and I even have Icicle, a high-ranking officer of the Demon King's army, under my command. From the outside, I might look like someone possessing power befitting a hero.

But that power is something I can only wield because Ivy lends me her strength.

As a person, I haven't changed much since I first left my village.

If someone asks me for help, I can't refuse. If I see someone sad, I want to do something to help them. I'm just an ordinary person.

I lack the strong convictions that others probably gained on their path to strength.

I'm just like those boys in stories who suddenly obtain unbeatable power.

I've never really had a strong sense of purpose in my life.

The only time I can think of was when I worked hard to create a place for Ivy.

But that alone isn't enough.

That's why I chose to take a step forward on my own.

Katya had been invited to a party at the Strobe ducal house.

It was a party to celebrate the recovery of the duke's third daughter, and I decided to attend.

"Lord Bruno, thank you for coming all this way. I am Albert von Strobe, the host of today's event."

"It is an honor to meet you, Lord Albert. I am Bruno, leader of the first-rank adventurer party, the Saviors."

When I arrived at the mansion, for some reason, the duke himself was attending the party.

He hadn't originally planned to come, but I had a feeling he made the trip just to meet us.

As proof, Ivy was permitted to attend this party as well.

Since I had already experienced something similar when the Pope unexpectedly showed up during our visit to Serie, I managed to keep my composure this time.

"Would you care for a drink?"

"Oh, just a little then..."

Of course, just attending this party wouldn't change anything overnight.

I don't have the charisma to naturally draw people to me, the forcefulness to subjugate them, or the cunning to sway them with benefits.

All I can do is make connections with influential figures and make them aware of our usefulness.

Having more allies in times of crisis can only be beneficial.

Under the pretense of being Katya's escort, I continued to meet with high-ranking nobles who had connections with the frontier margrave.

Since we had already saved the kingdom from disaster and were providing materials for its restoration free of charge, the nobles' responses were more favorable than I had expected.

We even had a few chances to demonstrate our strength, and by the end, not a single person remained openly hostile toward us.

Now, at least, I don't think the entire kingdom will turn against us if something happens.

We had only exchanged greetings, so I might need to visit the capital regularly from now on.

Having connections outside of Akoup wouldn't be a bad thing for the future.

While keeping busy with all of this, Katya's business finally wrapped up.

Naturally, that meant we, her escorts, would be returning to the frontier margrave’s domain as well.

Whew, doing things I'm not used to is exhausting.

Once we get back to Akoup, I’d like to relax… but I probably won’t have the time.

When we return, I need to talk to Icicle about a lot of things.

Despite her usual behavior, she's still one of the Demon King's Ten Fingers.

What concerns me most are the five powerful monsters known as the Right Hand Fingers and the Demon King who commands them.

I'm not too worried about the powerful reef and sea-dwelling monsters Jennifer mentioned.

—With gravity magic, reaching the Demon King's Island from the sky shouldn’t be too difficult.

And it's not just Ivy and me who can fly.

Sanshita and Icicle can both fly as well, and Shannon can fight in the air just like when Ivy used barriers to pummel Sanshita.

So reaching the island by air should be possible.

What I’m worried about is what happens after that—facing the Right Hand Fingers in the Demon King's castle and the Demon King himself.

To prevent further monster attacks and maintain world peace, we need to defeat them.

But if I don’t know their exact strength, I won’t know who to bring with me.

I hope Icicle at least has a rough idea of their power...

We took a more relaxed pace returning to Akoup compared to our hurried departure.

Seeing the city walls in the distance filled me with a sense of relief.

"Mii…"

It seemed Ivy felt the same way as she gazed at Akoup.

For us, this city felt like a second home.

A feeling of responsibility to protect it welled up in my chest.

"Bruno-kun, welcome back!"

"Sanshita, want some dried meat?"

"I'll take it!"

All the guards at the gate were familiar faces.

They had been intimidated by us at first, but now they casually petted Sanshita while feeding him.

Laughing at how much he had been accepted, we passed through the checkpoint and entered the city.

Then, as we made our way through the noble district, a crowd quickly formed around us.

"Welcome home, Bruno!"

"Ivy, you're in your hand-sized form today! Here, sit in my hand!"

"Sanshita, this sea bream is starting to rot, but you're a first-rank monster, so you should still be able to eat it!"

Thanks to the margrave's enthusiastic promotion, we had gained quite a fan following.

Ivy was adored as a mascot, and Sanshita was seen as a friendly griffon.

Even I had started appearing on merchandise, though seeing wooden carvings of myself raising a fist was still embarrassing.

"Bruno-kun, haah haah… ah!?"

One woman in the crowd suddenly recoiled as if she had hit something.

Looking at her forehead, which had turned slightly red, I had a suspicion.

Turning to Ivy—

"Mii… mimi!"

She averted her gaze, clearly trying to feign innocence.

"Ivy, you can't just use magic to prank people!"

As I approached the woman, her eyes sparkled with admiration.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry about that."

"B-Bruno-kun…"

"Kun…?"

Before I could process this unfamiliar honorific, she suddenly spurted a nosebleed.

"Bwah! I can die happy now!"

"No, no, don't die! Heal!"

I healed her nosebleed immediately, but she was still in a daze, muttering incoherently.

Her friends quickly dragged her away, grumbling about how "unfair" it was.

"…What just happened?"

"Mimii!"

Ivy patted my shoulder as if to say, "Some things are better left unknown."

Meanwhile, Sanshita groaned, having been overfed by enthusiastic townspeople.

With our stuffed griffon in tow, we headed home.