Chapter 76

Ten holy knights were currently staying in Bit Village, and it seemed that half of them had come to the square. The rest were probably elsewhere doing other work.

However, even though both Leonhart and Ritter, who held captain-level positions, were present, apparently Leonhart alone had faced the adventurers.

「Leonhart-san fought all of the adventurers by himself?」

「Yes. That makes it easier to judge each opponent’s ability and decide how best to assign them.」

It seemed another purpose had been to assess each adventurer’s strength and assign them suitable work, so in that sense, fighting all of them might have been reasonable.

By displaying it to the public and turning it into something like a festival event, perhaps they also intended to show the villagers the strength of those who would oppose the monsters and put everyone at ease.

If they were measuring everyone’s abilities, I wondered whether he would spar with Miriya too, and when I looked in her direction, Leonhart added an explanation.

「I already exchanged blows with Miriya-dono yesterday. As expected of a beastkin, she likely has the highest physical ability among this group.」

「Is that so… I’d like Miriya-san to teach me how to fight.」

「That may be a good idea. Beastkin are not suited to fighting styles that incorporate magic, but they excel in close combat and hand-to-hand fighting. A beastkin would understand best how to use a beastkin’s body.」

Had Miriya been separated from the other adventurers because of yesterday’s discrimination incident after all? Unlike the adventurers scattered around nearby, either lying down or sitting on the ground, she looked energetic and completely uninjured, so perhaps she simply had that much skill.

For the moment, I should make wound medicine and distribute it to the adventurers. They were important personnel that would protect this village, and by extension, me, from the monsters of the Demon Realm. As I began producing enough medicine for everyone, Leonhart gave a slightly wry smile.

「To think we have troubled Witch-dono… My apologies. I should have held back a little more.」

「Witch-sama is very kind, after all. …That man seemed to have learned the lesson thoroughly, so I think everyone will understand.」

(Oh, the adventurer from earlier? …Looks like he can stand up now.)

Noel glanced lightly behind us, and I turned around with him. The adventurer from earlier seemed to have managed to get back on his feet. When our eyes met, he quickly looked away, so perhaps he was still embarrassed. I should avoid staring at him too much.

(I should hand these out to the others. You have to build up favors whenever you get the chance.)

I gave Leonhart a small wave in farewell, then went around with Noel distributing medicine to the adventurers nearby. Though they had been so aggressive yesterday, today they had grown quiet, and some even offered words of apology to Noel and me.

(I thought throwing them might have been going too far… But yes, I’m glad they’ve quieted down. It looks like I won’t need to grow soundless grass again.)

After giving wound medicine to the final adventurer, the people who had remained in the square chatting suddenly erupted into cheers, and I turned around in surprise.

At the center of the square, for some reason, a holy knight and Daon were exchanging blows with wooden swords, and almost immediately, the holy knight had his sword knocked from his hands.

「…Just who is that village chief…?」

「I heard Daon-san used to be a holy knight. …Though apparently it’s been several years since he retired.」

「No wonder… I knew he wasn’t an ordinary person, but it looks like he could still manage perfectly well as an active knight.」

Apparently, people besides the adventurers were allowed to participate in this training as well. Other knights and some of the village’s young men were also sparring with Daon, Leonhart, and Ritter. I watched them while measuring their combat strength and feeling slightly frightened.

(Everyone is taking this so seriously… Seriously trying to exterminate monsters… Ugh, scary.)

Sensing their united determination to defeat monsters, I could do nothing but tremble as a monster myself. I would have to keep my true identity hidden properly, or those blades might be turned on me.

Leonhart seems especially dangerous. Daon is strong too, but Leonhart was clearly more than a full step above him. …I’m truly glad I had become his friend.

If we were close, he would not want to point his sword at me, and even if we ended up fighting, he would surely hesitate, making his blade slower. I decided that I should continue getting along with Leonhart from now on.

「Witch-sama, come to think of it, I haven’t seen Mage-sama today.」

Noel, who had been looking around the area, suddenly murmured that. It was true that with this many members of the knight order present, Nikolaus seemed like someone who should be here too, but there was no sign of him. …In fact, he wasn’t anywhere in the village.

(Nikolaus-san is… probably off somewhere, but I don’t know where.)

Late last night, after Nikolaus left his house, I had confirmed that he departed the village in the direction of my home. I knew this because of the movements of the plant serving as his door and a report from the young plants monitoring the village entrances, but I could not exactly admit that I had been watching his actions, so I pretended not to know and tilted my head.

When he left the village, I had braced myself, thinking he might come to visit my house, but I never sensed him approaching. He had probably gone toward the teleportation magic circle between the village and my home. …I had stayed awake and tense until dawn, wondering where he had gotten sidetracked, only for it all to be wasted effort.

「Roasted sugar cane! Popped sugar cane! How about some?」

「Irai-san is running a stall… It’s smelled good this whole time.」

(That man always looks like he’s having fun doing business. …Oh, could Noel want some? Let’s go buy it.)

This public training really did seem to be treated as a small festival or event, because Irai had set up a snack stall at the edge of the square. Noel appeared to have had his appetite stirred by the smell, so I pointed toward it to indicate that we should go, and just as I approached the stall with him wagging his tail, it happened.

A small purple shadow darted past our feet. Then, from behind us, I heard someone call out brightly and happily, 「Purple-chan!」