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155 – The Flame Hero, Forest Hunter, Black Sorcerer, and Vampire Queen Part 2

「Would you like anything to eat, Lily? Fenix?」

It seems that the problem involving feelings has come to an end.

Lily was utterly confused.

Fenix was smiling broadly.

By the way, Milla did the same thing when she first met Fenix, aiming to kill him softly with words, but Fenix just immediately apologized which drove away all the spite that Milla felt towards him… It was quite effective.

Speaking of Fenix, when Milla turned to head towards the kitchen, he was about to open his mouth, but I glared at him.

「Don’t. Say. A word.」

Even if what I said was from the heart, saying lines like that in front of my best friend and colleague is so embarrassing that my face feels like it’s on fire.

「Uhm…Lem?」

My arm was tugged a little. It was Lily.

She tries to bring her face close to my ear. Due to the height difference between us, Lily had to stand on her toes. Even this wasn’t enough, so I also had to bend my knees a little in response.

「Thank you very much.」

Apparently, she thinks that I did that in order to save her from Milla.

The long sigh that hit my eardrum felt a little ticklish.

At that moment, in that gap between my ear and Lily’s lips, something ripped through that tiny space.

Something passed through quickly with a whoosh.

「Oops, pardon me. I was aiming at a little insect that was flying around.」

I looked in the direction the sound went and what I saw was a blood knife sticking out of the wall.

「Why don’t you all sit down and wait patiently?」

「Y-yes, we’ll do just that.」

Lily normally has a curly string of hair on top of her head, but I saw it fall flat like all the strength was sucked out of it.

…That knife flew by really quickly. It felt more like a gunshot than a knife throw.

As expected of a Blood Manipulator. Her ability to manipulate blood towers above the rest.

Although I wish she wouldn’t use it in the living room.

Perhaps not trying to fall victim to Milla’s wrath any further, she sat opposite me.

Fenix thought about it a little and chose to sit next to Lily.

I think he was worried for a moment whether or not he should sit next to me, creating a boys and girls side separation or if he should sit next to Lily, so that it becomes a separation by affiliation.

Milla came back holding a tray and she confirmed the empty seat, the one next to me, and smiled with satisfaction.

Apparently, it seems that everyone chose the correct seat.

「Thanks, Milla.」

「It’s perfectly fine. It is my pleasure, after all.」

She prepared tea for all.

Milla then sat next to me.

「But Lem?」

「Hm?」

「Will it be alright to utilize these two for the defense? I have absolutely no doubts about their abilities, but I am worried about the coordination aspect.」

The Fenix party is currently in high demand ever since starting the training of those that are participating in the Raid Battle, TV commentary, the events planned by her Highness’s father Fellow, and the like.

Taking this opportunity, they are putting a hold on Dungeon Clearing, only during the Raid Battle period, and taking on more work, such as magazine interviews and commercial appearances, which they normally take only a select few of.

Setting aside cooperating with me, it will be hard for them to cooperate with my subordinates. They can’t even come and train with us in the Demon King Castle.

「Ah yeah, we have to talk about that too. This time, I want the two of you to move separately. Meaning I won’t summon you two at the same time. Just as you desired, Lily, I’ll summon you so that you can fight Suuri.」

「Yes. Once again, thank you very much for allowing me to join. I will surely take him down and contribute to your victory.」

Lily has a bone to pick with Suuri, who came from the same village as her, but continues to fight while hiding his face.

Wishing to fight against him, she will be summoned as a Monster this time in order to do just that.

「Fenix, you need to-」

「Yeah, I know. I have to take him on.」

Fenix nodded while smiling.

Milla’s eyebrows twitched and shook.

「I-I expected nothing less from two best friends. One look at each other’s eyes was enough for you two to understand each other as if it were telepathy, I see.」

「From my point of view, it is I who should be envious of you. For you two are connected by a strong bond despite not knowing each other as long as I have known him.」

「Oh, do go on.」

Milla’s mood instantly improved.

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…This guy. Looks like he has already learned how to handle Milla.

He really is mankind’s strongest. His adaptability is terrifying.

To the side of him, even Lily had a face that seemed to say「I see, so that’s how you do it.」.

「All things considered, the Raid Battle sure has gotten a lot of attention.」

「The Raid Battle is only possible because the people’s interest in this Dungeon still remains since that time you were defeated. Of course, the contents of the raid are another reason for the popularity.」

It is difficult to be in this world where something can’t become popular even if the contents of it were good.

From my viewpoint as someone in the same line of business, it isn’t unusual for a party that has an extremely interesting Clear to only have a two-digit number of views.

Fellow handled things skillfully as well. Without his plans, this probably wouldn’t have become such a big, headline-making event.

This may be the town where it’s being held, but now everyone is on the edge of their seat to see where this Clear is headed.

Some people may say that if you gather all the popular parties, you will get the numbers, but the excitement goes beyond just gathering them.

The more you draw in the casual crowd who are normally not interested in it, the easier it is to convey that to them.

Speaking of which, even Cashew’s older sister and younger siblings would ask her to secretly tell them the results of each battle.

Even Blitz asked me the same thing when I would show up at his stall.

Cashew would say「It’s strictly convi-con…confidential.」and keep the results a secret properly.

「By right, I shouldn’t even be saying this I suppose, but I will make sure that I annihilate them all.」

「Is the great Flame Hero going to betray all of mankind?」

「The only one who’s going to defeat you is me.」

I laugh back at him defiantly.

「I’ll win the next time as well.」

Fenix laughed at that joyfully.

「Besides, I don’t believe lending one’s strength to a friend is a betrayal in any shape or form.」

He said something so grand without batting an eye.

「…C’mon, you’re embarrassing me, man.」

「Lem, your face is red.」

「No, no, you got it all wrong.」

「Lem has always been like this.」

「Oh please, do tell me more about what Lem was like as a child.」

Milla’s eyes sparkled with hungry curiosity.

…Come to think of it since not much of my private information was ever released to the public, Fenix is a treasure trove of such information to a die-hard fan like Milla.

I glare at him, commanding him in my mind not to dare say anything. Y’know, that friendship telepathy thing Milla mentioned earlier.

「Oh right, well there was this time when he was seven-years-old…」

It’s not working at all…!

Where the heck did all your kindness and consideration from earlier go?!

「Uhm, let’s clear up the main issue first.」

I try to continue the discussion, somewhat forcefully.

Milla looked a little dissatisfied by that, but she didn’t interject.

「Assuming they get to the eigth and ninth strata, how should we mobilize? Well, at the very least, let’s talk about the best timing to summon Fenix and Lily. Lily, I’ve spoken to the person in charge of that stratum, but I still think it would be better if you met face to face at least once.」

「Y-yes… Uhm, is she fine with that?」

「Yeah.『Interesting. A forest Elf who has fallen to the dark side.』she said.

「…」

「And now on to Fenix. About summoning you… I can do it.」

Fenix wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

「I knew you’d find a way to do it.」

Even though I did say that I would find a way to gather enough Magical Energy in a short period of time to summon the Flame Hero, he said it like it was a matter of course.

Well, I suppose it doesn’t hurt to have someone who believes in you that much.

「And of course, I shall make my appearance as well.」

Said Milla.

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「Y-yeah. Good luck out there.」

「I shall present to you a complete and utter victory this time.」

「I’m looking forward to it, Milla.」

That’s right, Herv has returned to the Raid Battle via the revival rights.

As I continue the discussion, I think back on the sixth and seventh stratum battles that have already finished.