After leaving the adventurer's guild in Bradley, I teleported back to Egarton once more and left a message at Lilith-san's party house. I also left a message at the adventurer's guild there.

I returned to my original world briefly to inform Mom and Mamoru-san that I would be away for the next four days. Good thing it's still summer break this week... No, in this case, even if it weren’t summer break, I would have skipped school to go to the other world anyway.

Gildart-san has been gathering training partners for me starting tomorrow, but there are things I need to do before then. I have to reassess the abilities I can use.

Up until now, I’ve mostly fought monsters, but this time, it's a battle against people. I should select equipment and magic tools from the Great Mage’s house that are specialized for combat against humans. I also need to think about the magic and strategies I can use in battle.

I don’t care if this country becomes part of Bardon, or if the first and second princes get executed. But I absolutely cannot allow Sara-san to be executed!

The next morning, I first headed to Egarton and made my way to Lilith-san’s party house.

"Yo, Masayoshi! It's been a while!"

"Big brother!"

"Masayoshi-sama, it's been a long time."

"Masayoshi-nii, I saw your message."

"Lilith-san, Nenea-san, Lulune-san, Nonoha-san! I'm glad you saw the message. Sorry for the sudden request."

"We just got back to town yesterday after finishing a request. Lucky timing. And since it's a request from Masayoshi, of course, it's top priority!"

"Thank you so much, this really helps... Wait, huh!?"

"Yo, Masayoshi-san! Long time no see!"

"Masayoshi-san, been a while!"

"Ian-san! And the Steel Fist guys too! It's been a while."

Even though I was in front of Lilith-san’s party house, for some reason, Ian-san and his group were here as well. Ian-san is the leader of the C-rank adventurer party Steel Fist, and the other three members of his party were here too.

I met them by chance when they were being attacked by a swarm of wyverns. They taught me how to dismantle them and also helped train some newbie adventurers who were getting hassled at the guild.

"They suddenly showed up at the party house this morning. When I asked, they said they knew you, Masayoshi."

"We went to the adventurer's guild and saw a message for Lilith-san’s group. Something about looking for a sparring partner for combat training. We don’t have any jobs right now, so we thought we’d help out. We’re not as strong as Lilith’s group, but we can pitch in a little!"

Oh right, Ian-san’s group is based in Egarton. They must have read the message at the guild and came here for me.

"Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!"

"We've been through a lot since then, but now our party has ranked up to B-rank. It’s thanks to you saving us from that wyvern swarm."

"Oh, congratulations!"

"Yeah, but things haven’t been easy. About 30% of our requests ended up with irregular monster encounters or running into monster hordes. No doubt it’s because our leader has terrible luck."

"Hey! I keep telling you, that’s not my fault. We just happened to be unlucky!"

"Well, thanks to surviving all that and gaining experience, we ranked up to B-rank. So in a way, we owe it to our leader."

"I said it's not my fault!"

They were as lively as ever. It’s been a few months since I first met Ian-san’s group, and it seems they’ve been steadily improving.

"Anyway, we don’t have much time, right? Just tell us what we need to do."

"Yes, as I mentioned in the message, I’d like all of you to train with me in combat for the next three days."

Lilith-san’s group is an A-rank adventurer party, and I’ve seen their skills firsthand multiple times. They were the first ones I thought of when considering combat training. And now, having the B-rank Steel Fist join us is a huge bonus.

"First, let’s head to the adventurer’s guild in Bradley. We’ll meet up with Gildart-san there."

"Alright!"

"But Masayoshi-san, Bradley is quite a distance from here, right?"

Oh, right. Ian-san’s group still doesn’t know that I can use teleportation magic. Given the urgency of the situation, I don’t have time to keep that a secret anymore.

"That won’t be a problem. Alright, let’s go."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean?"

Using teleportation magic, I instantly transported all eight of us near Bradley. Moving that many people over such a long distance wasn’t as exhausting as using an extreme-level spell, but I still felt some fatigue.

As I led the group toward the adventurer’s guild in Bradley, I explained the situation to the bewildered members of Steel Fist and Lilith’s party.

We also gathered information about the person inheriting the Great Mage’s title, but no one had anything new beyond what I already knew.