Kiraware Yūsha ni Tensei Shitanode Aisare Yūsha o Mezashimasu!

[In the Forest at Night]

The ball livened up.

“Last year the synthetic monster appeared right around this time.”

This year the Lekrust and Halman families, the masterminds, were absent. But I still couldn’t help but start getting worried that something would happen soon.

Right now, Tayte was chatting with Kleine, Jarvis, and others.

I was alone. Until just a little while ago I had been talking with Raul and Andrei, but they had left the venue because it had been time for them to patrol.

The venue and the surrounding area were guarded by the knights, so there should be no need to worry.

But just in case we had decided that we should still do a quick patrol every hour or so, and Raul and Andrei had volunteered to take charge of it.

With nothing better to do, I started walking to join Tayte and the rest of the girls—but at that moment, I suddenly sensed a stare and turned around.

There stood a girl.

Never seen her before—I thought, but when our eyes met, the girl smiled at me for some reason.

Her smiling face had me feeling… odd.

How do I put it? I felt like I had seen her before but I was sure I never did… kind of like déjà vu, maybe?

As I stood still, confused, the girl slipped through the crowd and went outside.

“…………”

I was filled with doubts.

Maybe–she was the one I had been trying to find but had been unable to, 《The One Who Knows the Truth of This World》. That was the only possibility that came to my mind.

I went out after her.

Following her trail, I arrived at a small forest with the moonlight being the only light source, giving it a dark and eerie ambiance.

“Dammit… where did she go?”

With poor visibility, I frantically search around the forest.

Before I knew it, I was at a place where there were trees that had been unnaturally damaged or had been knocked down by a tremendous force.

This place was–

“Where I fought the synthetic monster?”

I was sure of it. this was where the synthetic monster had appeared last year.

Was it just a coincidence?

Or was it not?

Did the girl purposely lead me here?

But… to what end?

“You sure took your time. Barrett Albers.”

As I was confused, a voice rang out of nowhere.

I recognized it—it was the voice of 《The One Who Knows the Truth of This World》.

“W-where are you! Show yourself!”

I shouted unconsciously.

But she ignored it.

Hidden in the dark night, 《The One Who Knows the Truth of This World》 spoke without revealing herself, “It’s already been a year, hasn’t it? Time flies so fast.”

“…What are you after?”

“Hm? Whatever do you mean?”

“You led me here on purpose… what is your goal?!”

I secretly imbued the Holy Sword with mana and used a detection spell as I shouted in anger. If I could find out where she was, I might be able to force her to show herself.

But…

“Don’t bother. You won’t find me even if you use magic.”

《The One Who Knows the Truth of This World》caught me.

And true to her words, I couldn’t pinpoint where she was.

…Just who was she? And why did she make contact with me now of all times?

I would take this opportunity to solve those mysteries.