Kicking the ground, I pushed my body forward .

Running through the forest littered with countless obstacles, I dodged the trees lined up on both sides .

I could feel the wind . The pseudo-wind produced by my run .

It was the wind that only I could feel in this world .

The pressure of the air indicated how abnormal the speed I was running was, causing the illusion that I would be blown back even though I was moving forward .

I acknowledged that abnormality .

Without it, there would be things I couldn’t protect . So I had to run . Keep on running . With the heat in my chest fueling me, my body ran .

And then, I finally arrived at a huge fortress

Its name: Fortress Ebenus . One of humanity’s bridgeheads made to hold back the monsters inhabiting the northern Sea of Trees——a forest tinged with thick magical power, greeted me in the same manner as it had when I had departed .

Happy, I breathed a sigh of relief……this was why I couldn’t forgive him .

While calming the anger in my heart, I finished the last of my journey to the fortress .

“H-Huh? Wait, aren’t you…Eno? You’ve returned!?”

A few minutes after being ushered into the fortress, some of my friends happened to see me walking rapidly down the pa.s.sage, and called out to me .

Each one of them was a friend of mine——members of the ‘Scouting Corps’ .

More than 4 months ago, we had been transferred to this joke world without knowing why .

In a thick forest isolated from human society, monsters beyond common sense bared their fangs at us . In order to fight against that clear crisis and search for a place where everyone could live at ease, the ‘Scouting Corps’ were formed .

For some reason, upon being transferred to this world, some of us transferees obtained powers beyond common sense .

We named this power for fighting monsters『Cheat Abilities』 . And, we took action to protect our powerless friends that were hurled into another world with us, and formed the ‘Scouting Corps’ .

I had a power that was particularly strong even among them .

The fastest in the ‘Scouting Corps’, which boasted its overwhelming physical abilities . The『Great Runner』Eno Yuna . That was the current me .

“Hey . What’s going on?”

“Where’s that idiot Watanabe? And Juumonji?”

“I couldn’t get in touch with them at Fortress Tilia, where you went to, so I’m worried about them……”

“Sorry . I have to talk to Club Lead-… . . no, Leader, about that . The details will come from him later, I think . ” (Eno)

As fun as talking to them would be, I had things to do; I headed towards my current destination .

Fortress Ebenus was letting us ‘Scouting Corps’ borrow a few rooms . The room I was heading for now was Leader’s room . Enduring my desire to start running, I briskly walked down the corridor .

“W-Wait . Eno! A guest is coming to Leader’s room now . ” (???)

“A guest?” (Eno)

I raised my eyebrows at the words of the male student right on my tail, Asahi Kawazu .

“I’m really sorry, Kawazu-kun . But, is that guest a count or something of the Empire, or the envoy of a viscount somewhere giving his greetings? Now isn’t the time to be saying that . ” (Eno)

“N-No . He’s not……” (???->Kawazu)

While exchanging words like that, we arrived at the room .

The door, so high cla.s.s that it made you think “is this really a military facility?”, was proof that our Leader was being spared no expense in this fortress .

I felt a presence on the other side of the door .

Before I reached for the k.n.o.b, the door opened .

On the other side was a tall man nearly 2 meters in height .

It wasn’t the person I was looking for . The guest that Kawazu-kun mentioned earlier was probably this man .

The man had a profound atmosphere, as if he was this very fortress itself

He was over 30 years old, I guess . His shoulders were wide, and his well-trained body was bulky . His ma.s.sive armor was different from those of the Empire’s Knights and the Empire’s army that were stationed at Fortress Evelia .

But what surprised me a little was that the man’s face vaguely resembled ours .

There was only one race in this world——I had heard somewhere before that “there are only white people in our world” .

But, the features of the man in front of me, albeit deeply engraved, resembled those of us j.a.panese . Maybe it would be easier to understand if I called it a “half-j.a.panese face” . His eyes were hazel, but the color of his short, evenly cut hair was the black I was used to seeing .

Following behind him, there was yet another large, bald man with darkish skin . His skin color was fairly lighter than the black people of our world, but it was rare for a human in this world . At least, I hadn’t seen anyone like them in Fortress Ebenus or Fortress Tilia .

But, there were deeply-engraved people even among the j.a.panese . Maybe it was nothing more than “individual differences”…… .

The fact that I was able to observe the two men like that was because they were looking at me .

Their hazel eyes stared at me from under their thick eyebrows .

Their gazes definitely weren’t those of a man sending a vulgar gaze at a woman . ……Rather, if it had been, I would’ve driven my fists into their rock-like faces .

But it wasn’t that……their gazes were almost as if they were trying to confirm my existence .

For some reason, it made me think of my father, a policeman .

My respected father looking at me, who was bad and still very young . Its somewhat nostalgic severeness made my body cower spontaneously .

“Excuse me, Miss . ”

As I moved out of the way with a wince, the man put his hand on his chest and politely thanked me .

He broke his line of sight from me, and I exhaled the breath I had been unconsciously holding in .

The man giving off a surprisingly dignified presence continued walking down the corridor and left . After I saw him off, I came to my senses after I was called out to from the side .

“……Why…are you here, Eno-san?” (???)

The person standing in the entrance to the room was a tall girl wearing a uniform .

“……Kuriyamsan . ” (Eno)

Moeko Kuriyama . She was in her third year, and was one year my senior . She was acting as Leader’s guard in the ‘Scouting Corps’ . Her sharp eyes looked at me from under her frameless gla.s.ses, and then to Kawazu-kun next to me .

“And, why are you here, Kawazu-san? You were given work to do, weren’t you?” (???->Kuriyama)

“, erm . I uh……” (Kawazu)

“What is it?” (Kuriyama)

“……Sorry . I’ll go back now . ” (Kawazu)

After driving away Kawazu, who followed me, with a cold gaze, Kuriyamsan turned this way . “Eep!”, I thought in my heart .

“Eno . Shouldn’t you have been at Fortress Tilia to rescue the colony survivors? Don’t you remember that you were to engage in rescuing duty until given another order?” (Kuriyama)

“Y-Yes, I do . I came back just now . I have something to talk about with Leader, can you tell him I am here?” (Eno)

I was bad at dealing with this one-year older Senpai .

Back in our old world, she was an excellent student, and I heard things like “she’s a genius aiming for medical school so she can succeed her family’s business” . In actuality, she was very smart, and supporting Leader……but, I couldn’t help but feel something dark and cold .

Why did he appoint her there and keep her close? This was the only area where I couldn’t understand Leader’s decision .

……Noticing that I was thinking such things, I admonished myself .

That wasn’t it . She was one of my allies in the ‘Scouting Corps’, someone I could trust . She was one of my brave allies that decided to go to the far east to protect all of the school .

Besides, that Leader recognized her and kept her close .  That Leader did . At that point, there was no doubt that she was one of the people you could trust the most .

Leader must have seen the good points in her that I couldn’t see .

……Well, even though he did, that didn’t mean that I found her any less hard to deal with .

“That voice…is that Eno?” (Leader)

So when the voice of a boy reached my ears from within the room, I was a little relieved .

“Please let her in, Moeko . There are many things I would like to hear from Eno . ” (Leader)

“……Okay . Please, do come in . Eno-san . ” (Kuriyama)

Kuriyama stepped aside, and I was let into the room .

Minding Kuriyamsan behind me, I went inside the room .

In the corner of the s.p.a.cious room was a sofa facing a short-legged table . Until a little while ago, I guess he was welcoming the guest there . Our Leader, Kojirō Nakajima, was there .

He was a boy with a well-featured face and figure, even in my eyes, and I was used to seeing that .

A sweet mask that made it seem like it wouldn’t be strange for him to be in an idol group . Thick eyebrows full of intent . His tense, tall figure was dressed in the clothes of this world .

In the ‘Scouting Corps’, there were some who put on the clothes of this world, and some who did not . Some of us, like me, kept wearing our uniforms because it simply felt more comfortable than the clothes of this world, but on the contrary, Leader was the first one to put on the clothes of this world, and disposed of his uniform and other things .

I think he did that to declare his intentions . Due to his position, he in particular has had many opportunities to meet with important people of this world such as that envoy .

Among the ‘Scouting Corps’ members staying here at Fortress Ebenus, there were about 30 male students imitating him . Laughing with my girl friend that “men are just idiots”…that happened right before I left to rescue Fortress Tilia, didn’t it?

“You’ve returned safely, Eno . Everyone was worried . ” (Leader)

Leader got up, coming over to me .

That alone changed the atmosphere . I felt relieved by him just talking to me .

This, ultimately, was his charisma, I think .

I realized I was getting comfortable, which was why I rebuked myself, “it isn’t that” .

“I apologize for not being able to get in touch . Club Le-……sorry, Leader . ” (Eno)

“Even if you call me Club Leader, I don’t mind . ” (Leader)

Even for exchanges like that, it had been a really long time .

We belonged to the same kendo club when we were in our old world . Of course, the activities themselves were divided between girls and boys, but we had exchanges from our relations.h.i.+p of Senior and Junior .

Now that I thought about it, he might have been a little different from the other students back then .

Without him, I daresay we wouldn’t have lasted a few days in this world . Even when I just reminisce about myself, I know that all too well .

After coming to this world, I obtained an extraordinary power .

But, there was no meaning in power with only force behind it . I tried to protect everyone from the attacking monsters, but that wasn’t enough . The one who made my will “to protect” into a reality was him .

I could still remember it clearly, even now . The second day of our transfer .

Around then, even the construction of the temporary village we later dubbed “the Colony” hadn’t started yet, but we mustered up our courage and began investigating the area around us .

There were still about 100 cheat holders aware of their power . While exploring the surrounding area, we encountered monsters countless times .

The noise of battle attracted the monsters’ attention . The battle with the approaching monsters drew even more monsters to us .

By the time I noticed, it had become an unwinnable situation . After all, we just transferred from peaceful j.a.pan; we didn’t even have decent fighting experience .

We had to be a bit more careful . However, that was impossible for us right then; we didn’t move in an orderly fas.h.i.+on .

I already had the unnatural ability to run faster than anyone else then, and I was a bit accustomed to swinging a sword . But even my eyes were painted black in despair .

For example, I could probably survive alone .

But, what if monsters rushed for the hundreds of powerless students that didn’t know anything? ……There was no way that I could protect all of them .

I was crushed by my own powerlessness, thinking of the undeniable black future .

Even if I thought “what do I do?”, I knew that I couldn’t do anything .

Still, I thought “I have to fight”, and turned my near-withering legs towards the many monsters .

But then, another cheat holder gathered up, and he came .

In face of the rus.h.i.+ng monsters from the Deep Part of the Sea of Trees, carrying the s.h.i.+ning gold sword that was his ability, he hit my shoulder while I quivered in fear, thinking about the tragic future, and spoke:

——Stick out your chest . Eno Yuna . No matter who denies it, even if you won’t recognize it, I will recognize your will as something valuable .

——And not just you, Eno . Is your guys’ value just this? That “it ends here”?

——I won’t recognize that . Can you accept a game over here? In a place like this, dying like this? Never give up . Continue with me!

In addition, he swung his s.h.i.+ning sword and gathered their attention, purposefully making himself stand out . First, he lured the monsters to a place away from the powerless students we had to protect behind us .

From then on, he played a huge role . Even while slaughtering more monsters than anyone else with mighty strength and an unwavering heart, if another student died from lack of battle experience, he even covered for them .

Less than 50 people partic.i.p.ated in the battle then, but his power swelled many times over from that one action alone .

After the battle ended, our center naturally became him . The ‘Scouting Corps’ were formed by his proposal . At first there were about 50 people, but the members gradually increased . There weren’t any other movements to make an organization, but his energetic actions united us as one .

Even though we were only a disorderly mob, with that power, he brought us together: our hero . That…was the『Sword of Light』, Kojirō Nakajima .

“To be honest, you’ve saved me . ” (Leader)

Sitting on the couch facing me, Leader spoke .

“Contact from Fortress Tilia has been lost, and quite some time has pa.s.sed . Information relay in this world is too slow, as there isn’t a way to get in contact using a magic technique . But even then, since the『Great Runner』was out, there would be no point in sending someone inferior . I just about thought ‘Maybe I should go myself?’ . ” (Leader)

“That wouldn’t do, now would it, Captain?” (Kuriyama)

Kuriyamsan, standing behind Leader, slipped in some words .

“Captain, you have to fortify the stronghold of us transferees in this world . ” (Kuriyama)

“……As you can see, Moeko’s been quite the annoyance . I couldn’t move, so you coming back from there saved me . ” (Leader)

“Even without a reason like that, isn’t it just luck that she came back now?” (Kuriyama)

“Ah, that’s true . I guess there’s that, too . It’s good she made it in time . ” (Leader)

“Wait . Please wait a second . What exactly…do you mean?” (Eno)

I interrupted the two’s exchange .

“Oh . Yeah, that reminds me, when I glanced around for a bit earlier, I felt like there were unusually few members in the fortress . Did everyone maybe have some work to do and went outside? Like a large-scale extermination?” (Eno)

As he had said “It’s good she made it in time”, I made that guess .

From when I was here, Leader negotiated with the knights stationed here in Fortress Ebenus, and from that the ‘Scouting Corps’ were contracted to subjugate the monsters in the surrounding area .

By custom, after coming to this world the transferees are invited as heroes to the church in the Empire . However, we ‘Scouting Corps’ hadn’t responded to their request to gather . We had to rescue the other students that should’ve remained at the colony .

As it was equipped with a long-distance communication method, Fortress Ebenus was the best for receiving contact from Fortress Tilia, the closest to the colony in the Deep Part of the Sea of Trees . If we went to the Imperial Capital or somewhere else, that would mean abandoning our scared friends inside the Sea of Trees . Although there hadn’t been any objections among the ‘Scouting Corps’, it was by Leader’s idea that we stayed in Fortress Ebenus .

As for the subjugation of the monsters around the area, Leader had suggested that “While we’re staying here, we shouldn’t just do nothing” .

Relevant to that, if there was a large-scale operation, then I could agree with it being good that I——the『Great Runner』, made it in time .

“Are the two people from earlier related to that? I mean, they didn’t have that ‘normal person’ feeling to them . ” (Eno)

“I think they’ll be quite pleased the『Great Runner』said that . At any rate, your guess is half-correct . They are involved, but it isn’t what you’re thinking . ” (Leader)

“Then……?” (Eno)

“They are the Church Knights . You have at least heard of them, yes?” (Leader)

“The Church Knights……they’re the greatest fighters that fight alongside the heroes in this world, right……?” (Eno)

“Correct . Their patience grew thin, and they finally came to check us out in person . And naturally, that includes seeing their leader in person . ” (Leader)

“Check us out?” (Eno)

“It’s one of their jobs . To check if the newly-appeared heroes are real or not . ” (Leader)

I recalled the eyes of the man from earlier .

So that was the meaning behind it? ……It wasn’t pleasant, but for the inhabitants of this world, the transferees from another world were same as a lifeline for the world . Maybe it was necessary to make sure they were real or not .

“But, I told you it was something like a confirmation . ” (Leader)

“Then, a leader that can shrug his shoulders and put it that lightly, really is amazing, you know?” (Kuriyama)

“Is that right? That man’s face was quite scary, though . Still, it isn’t monsters or anything . Due to that, the interview ended earlier . The result is, we pa.s.sed . Us coming from another world wasn’t a lie, naturally . ” (Leader)

“Isn’t that good?” (Eno)

“You would think so . ……But, staying here any longer than this has become difficult . ” (Leader)

“You got an invitation, is it?” (Eno)

“Yeah . They seem to be troubled . It’s a story within the realm of politics, but I don’t know much around that . ……Though I don’t know, as we’re receiving favor like this, even we can’t just ignore it forever . The ‘Scouting Corps’ are leaving Ebenus . ” (Leader)

Leader spoke in an informing tone about the decision, making a troubled face while slightly frowning .

“But, well, it seems their expectations were half-off . They were just a bit late in coming here . ” (Leader)

“Late?” (Eno)

As I tilted my head, my question was answered by Kuriyamsan .

“They are 63 ‘Scouting Corps’ members here now . That’s about half . They are preparing to leave the fortress now . The rest of the students have already left the fortress . ” (Leader)

“Left…the fortress……? Where to?” (Eno)

“Who knows . Maybe the Imperial Capital, maybe elsewhere . ” (Leader)

I was shocked at the truth he spoke in a mostly uninterested tone . And, from him going out of his way to word it as『the rest of the students』, it was obvious something had happened .

“They were alienated!?” (Eno)

“That way of calling it is wrong, Eno . They left of their own volition . ” (Leader)

Leader shook his head .

“We aren’t obligated to stay together . We were transferred to another world, and a.s.sembled of our own volition to break the deadlock before us . Isn’t that right? Your statement is making our feelings at that time seem useless . ” (Leader)

“B-But……” (Eno)

“We went through hards.h.i.+ps, and finally we came here? Wouldn’t it be natural for them to feel ‘I want to live how I like from now on’? I’ll see them off silently, and pray their journey ahead is a good one . To begin with, wanting to help those left in the colony is sort of my selfishness . Like how I am doing this of my own volition, I hope they enjoy living in this world as themselves . They don’t have to fear me getting mad . ” (Leader)

That was a very Leader-like line .

He valued everyone’s volition . It was because he was a man like that, that it was possible to say that he was able to get this far leading a hundred-plus group after a never-ending journey

I had nothing to say now .

“If you change your way of thinking——” (Kuriyama)

Then, Kuriyamsan slipped in a few words .

“——then you can say that the impurities have disappeared now, right?” (Kuriyama)

Kuriyamsan continued, ignoring the glare I was pointing at her .

“The only ones here are those that agree with Captain’s ideal, and want to stay here . And, I think that’s the same for you, too . But, how about you, Eno-san?” (Kuriyama)

“That’s true . I would like for you to come with us to the Imperial Capital, Eno . Of course, I can’t force you, but I would be happy if you came . ” (Leader)

“I……” (Eno)

With the two in front of me, I hesitated to reply .

But, my heart was already dead set on it . Before I came here, there was something I thought I had to do .

“I’m sorry, Leader . I cannot go with you . ” (Eno)

“Ah, I see . If you don’t mind, may I ask why? ……No . Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard from you if something happened in Fortress Tilia yet, have I?” (Leader)

“No, you haven’t . I will speak more in detail about it now, but I…have someone that I have to catch . ” (Eno)

I clenched my fist .

“While I went to the Deep Part of the Sea of Trees alongside the Empire’s Knights to help the survivors, Fortress Tilia was attacked by monsters . Many people died . It was the deed of people that came to this world with us . It cannot be forgiven . No matter what, I shall make sure they receive the judgement of the law . ” (Eno)

“……I…I see . So Fortress Tilia really was… . ” (Leader)

As Leader listened to me, his eyes opened wide a slight bit .

But, at the point in time contact was lost from Fortress Tilia, he must have a.s.sumed such a situation . His reaction ended at just that, and he urged me to continue with his eyes .

“I will leave the fortress soon after this . To chase the criminals . ” (Eno)

“Criminals……criminals, huh? Do you know who did it?” (Leader)

“The information appears to have been mixed up, and I wasn’t able to meet with the Alliance’s Knights, who know the heart of the matter . ……But, I was told the names of two certain suspects . It is unfortunate, but I do not know the whereabouts of Riku Kudō, one of the two . He appears to be hiding in the Sea of Trees . ” (Eno)

“The Sea of Trees is huge . Put him aside for now . Which means, the one you’ll chase the other suspect, I presume?” (Leader)

“Yes . ” (Eno)

I nodded .

While holding back the anger in my chest, I spoke his name as I grit my teeth .

“Their name is Takahiro Majima . I will chase after him from now on . ” (Eno)