T/N: Short explanation about Brave and Hero. Sword is being called an eiyuu () while the one with the duty to slay the demon king is called yuusha (). In English you could call both of them hero. But eiyuu is more like a great person who did good for their country and its people, or a great military commander. You could call Gandhi or Martin Luther King eiyuu as well, for example. Yuusha on the other hand is mostly a gaming/fantasy term, pointing to someone needing to be brave () as the kanji already gives away.

Is it really true that Indra Springcoat can be labeled as a great magician and, at the same time, great sorceress? No, if she can contort a special-grade healing potion through self-study, it is undoubtable that shes a great sorceress.

Yep

I scratched my head, Theres a clear difference between the magic we use and the one she uses. We cast spells that use our own mana, right? She doesnt. Thats why shes never goin to run out of mana. She can cast magic on end.

Shadow froze. He had apparently grasped how dangerous a trait it was.

Plus, she uses spells based on theoretical principles only she understands. She doesnt chant like we do. For this reason, she probably cant use spells that she doesnt understand theoretically, even if she wants to. A good example would be how we release lightnin and ice spells from ourselves. Thatd be the usual way how things work, but she lets em fall from the sky.

Shadow became pale while the kings eyes widened.

Is Indra Springcoat possibly the incarnation of a god?

Nah, shes not. Accordin to her, there exist theories for things to happen like that. And she releases her spells based on those theories. Sir Dungeon Core might be capable of understandin what she does. After we defeated the boss on the last floor, he expressly invited us over and told her to teach him a spell she was usin. Immediately after she did so, he could reproduce it. If you had seen the magic she used, Shadow, even you wouldnt have said somethin like that, you know? As long as she doesnt run her mouth, shes just like a divine manifestation of a goddess.

As long as she doesnt run her mouth, seriously!!

Arkhide revealed a playful expression, My goodness, is that so? By the way, Sword, when are you going to marry Indra Springcoat?

Haah?

As I cried out in concert with Shadow, we looked at each other.

Whats with that reaction? So far as it goes, Earl Springcoat is known for being a womanizer, so she ought to be quite the looker herself, no? I dont know about her mother, but I didnt hear anything about her having been an extremely ugly woman either. You as well havent changed muchor wait, dont you look younger than before? Anyway, with your appearance, she probably wont really feel the age difference, and youre so protective and full of praise for her because youre willing to marry her, arent you? Im certain she must be a lovely noble lady, seeing how she made your heart sway so much.

Shadow and I waved our hands.

Shadow, did she look like a woman to you?

No. To be frank, I would not have considered her a woman if I had not heard about her being one. Though I still do not think of her as a woman, even after knowing that she is.

Im with you on that. Even though Im aware of her bein a woman, I cant think of her as one.

The king looked at us dubiously.

Oh well, whatever. But, youre quite popular, arent you? Dont do anything that would make such a talented lady cry, okay?

She wont cry. Both of us plan to remain single. She says shes plannin to spend her remainin years by playin round with the golems she built, you know? Her sayin that she wants to be surrounded by golems and not humans is what should make one cry, dont you think?

So she can build golems too? Shadow spat out, desperation colorin his voice.

Yep, so you finally realized that you wouldnt win if you fought her, huh?

The rumored spider and caterpillar golems, eh?

Yep. She loves bugs. But, those are the only ones with a weird shape. The golem she built as a replacement for a horse is really awesome! Ah, this here as well.

I showed them the wristband-shaped clock.

Its a wristband with the functions of a clock! You see, this thing here allows me to talk with Indra and my Ryokuah, Ryoku is the name of one of her golemsfrom far away! Moreover! It can also display maps! Look!

A detailed map of the royal palace emerged.

Oops, thats slightly bad, isnt it?

I quickly erased it.

nyway, it can also show your body information. And she said itd warn me if one of em reached dangerous levels, I rattled on to gloss over my blunder with the map, but Shadow narrowed his eyes, scowlin at me.

Wait a moment. Mr. Sword, was that a map of the palace just now?

Its just your imagination. So, yeah, shes creatin all kinds of toys.

Toys, eh? Arkhide looked very envious.

The one I like the most is a golem which drives on two wheels. She named it Bronko. Though, if I say it too loudly, my Ryoku might feel offended. That ones no golem nymore. Hes one of my comrades.

Somehow feelin like he was listenin in, I added a supplementary explanation. Or rather, Im damn sure hes hidin out somewhere round here.

A map of the palace bein available inadvertently means that a Ryoku has come here and mapped out the place.

You see, I wanted to consult that genius girl Indra Springcoat about a certain matter Arkhide admitted with a sigh.

What is it?

The king suddenly straightened himself, The braves were summoned.

..Hah?

The braves? Summoned?

As a matter of fact, braves are being summoned from an ancient magic circle set up in the royal castles temple. Of course its not like we wanted to summon them or anything. Or to be precise, we actually wanted to stop it. We looked for a way to stop the summoning over many years, butto no avail.

For real?

The magic circle will start shining as omen of the summoning magic being invoked. As if its being filled with mana. In reality, it might be just that, though And then, once the magic circle rises with all of its parts shining, you must summon. If you ignore it, the magic circle will run out of control, resulting in the palace being blown up.

Is that really true?

Therefore, weve summoned them. This time it was slightly earlier than usual. The summoned braves are apparently forcibly called over to this world. The conditions for how the braves are chosen remain shrouded in mystery too. For a time I thought we might as well relocate the capital and let the magic circle run out of control, but that thing is really old. It should be there for some kind of reason, and as long as we dont know that reason, we cant act carelessly, explained the king with a grave expression. The books only mention a part about summoning someone to defeat the demon king, but we dont know why we would need to defeat the demon king and we have no means to stop the magic circle either.

That part also includes a warning that well be destroyed if we divert from that procedure. Thats why we must continue summoning braves, even if its unfortunate for them. There exist no past records of the demon king having been defeated by a brave, and its never happened that the demon king attacked the capital in retaliation either. So basically it has continued since there existed no reason to stop it.

But you seeif the braves were someone like you, itd still be fine. If the braves were people who didnt flaunt their power, possessed a dutiful heart to save the weak, and had some character, you could regard braves and hero as equals. But, the real brave is

The king sighed.

Well, I get his feelings. The summoned braves so far had many troublemakers among them. The previous generations seem to have suffered the same issues as well. Back when I was still a brat, a brave was selected as well, buthe was such an utter failure that he made me think that I never ever want nythin to do with him.

I thought that the braves got all stuck up after bein chosen for their position, but I guess theyve appeared in this world after bein summoned over from somewhere.

The current brave is especially terrible. We had him train at the palace for a while, but he caused a mountain of problems, and thus we got him to depart quickly. Those accompanying him as companions basically are sacrifices. We had some of those who knew the situation follow the brave in exchange for a ridiculously high reward.

Whoa, thats quite the depressin story.

So, since you want to stop the magic circle that produces all those worthless braves, youre tellin me to lend you Indra?

If its someone who can use magic capable of causing an effect as theyd be performed by a god, they might know a method to stop that thing, dont you think?

Makes sense. That girl will most likely have a clue.