A morning when warm sunlight rose.
Having risen early because of the mission Guy had mentioned yesterday, I took a moment to organize my thoughts.
If Veldora is appearing in the Jura Great Forest, then it is most likely that incident.
A major event from three hundred years ago in the story.
The rampage of the Storm Dragon Veldora, who suddenly appeared in an ordinary village, and the incident in which that Storm Dragon was sealed away were most likely to take place three hundred years ago—in other words, in this era.
That reckless bastard who had rampaged all across the continent... no, Veldora, would be sealed away due to an inevitable fateful encounter. Then, three hundred years later, he would meet some monstrous slime. It was an incident absolutely necessary for the novel's plot.
The odds were nine out of ten. The event taking place this time had to be that incident.
And if my prediction was correct, this era was three hundred years in the past.
Well, I'll know once I get there.
**
The Frozen Throne.
The most splendidly adorned place in this castle, it was a king's seat permitted to only one Demon Lord.
"You're here."
The one seated upon the throne was, naturally, Guy Crimson—the king of this place.
"But why did you bring that one beside you?"
Guy, drinking wine from an ice goblet from early in the morning, looked at Milim beside me, who was still half-asleep and bleary-eyed.
"...She came to my room last night, saying she didn't want to sleep alone. I thought it would be best for her to stay with Ramiris while I'm gone, so I brought her here."
I had originally intended to send her out in the morning, but she had been sleeping so soundly that I carefully carried her here instead.
"Hm. She's the type to get lonely easily, so I suppose that makes sense... Very well. I'll let Ramiris know."
"Nngh... I'm sleepy..."
I left Milim, who had yet to fully escape her dreams, in Misery's care.
"All right, then. I'll transfer you to the Great Forest now."
As Guy spoke and stretched out his hand, a square magic circle glowing blue appeared beneath my feet.
That magic circle, formed just large enough for one person to stand on, had been created with the Extra Skill [Spatial Movement].
I had the Extra Skill [Spatial Movement] too, but since I did not know the coordinates of the Jura Great Forest, there was no choice but to have someone else transfer me there.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes. I'm completely ready."
"Good. Observe as much as you can of the True Dragon. Whether you make that thing's strength your goal or something else, it will all serve as a guidepost on the path you walk as a Hero."
I fell silent, having caught the hidden meaning in Guy's expectant tone.
"..."
Right now, Guy Crimson desired balance in this world. A balance in which monsters and humanity stood as equals.
But for the balance Guy wanted to be achieved, humanity needed forces equal to the True Dragons, who stood racially above all monsters.
It was not as if such humans did not exist.
There were only two.
Since the creation of the world until now, there had been only two Heroes of superhuman strength and chaotic gods who possessed power equal to—or even greater than—that of the True Dragons.
However, there were three True Dragons, as well as Demon Lords like Guy who rivaled True Dragons, and other Demon Lords who, while not quite on that level, were powerful enough to be regarded as Calamities.
That was why Guy first wanted a fighting force he could manage, one equal to a True Dragon and willing to take humanity's side.
And he wants me to become one of humanity's fighting forces.
To someday become a Hero equal to a True Dragon.
...But I don't think it's possible for me to become that strong...
I was not some insane slime.
Far from displaying monstrous growth within a few years of reincarnating, I was a demon who had remained an [Arch Demon] for a hundred years and had only recently managed to evolve.
In other words, I was not an innately powerful being from the start, like a novel's protagonist.
...
"...Hm. You have the look of someone who does not believe in his own talent."
...What kind of look is that supposed to be...?
Guy effortlessly saw through my inner thoughts and curled his lips into a fierce grin.
"There's no need to trouble yourself with pointless thoughts already. In a few hundred years, it will naturally reveal itself. In any case, go and take a good look."
"..."
Setting aside whether I looked like I did not believe in my own talent, it was clear enough that Guy believed in it.
...Well, what choice did I have? As his subordinate, all I could do was try my best.
"...Understood."
With that half-resigned answer, the transfer magic circle activated.
To the Jura Great Forest, the main setting of the novel.
**
Deep within the great forest, filled with countless enormous trees and mountains.
The place I arrived at after being transferred was, surprisingly, the enormous cave that would one day be called the Sealed Cave.
It looks different from the novel and manga. Well, of course it does—it's several hundred years ago.
Since Veldora had not yet been sealed here, it was still just an ordinary cave.
An ordinary cave without magicules, various monsters, rare minerals, or Hipokte herbs.
[Report. An enormous magical presence is approaching from the southwestern sky.]
"Veldora?"
Along with the report from [Answerer], I sensed a cluster of small magical presences that seemed to belong to a village in that same southwestern direction.
The battle will probably unfold from there all the way to here.
For now, I should wait outside the cave.
..........
I settled on a hill where I could see the lights spread throughout the village as evening approached.
Getting too close might get me caught up in the battle, so this distance—where I could only make things out roughly even with a demon's eyesight—was appropriate.
"This should be safe enough..."
...At least from the dragon.
"Who are you?"
[Moon Sword]
This was a place where one could not avoid a human... no, a Hero.
"........."
A woman appeared cloaked in a silver radiance and held a sword to my throat.
Her black hair fluttered in the wind as she stared at me with black eyes faintly tinged with gray. She was a beautiful woman who looked to be in her early twenties at most.
She gave an overall gentle impression, but I could feel the chilling fighting spirit of someone prepared to sever my throat at any moment.
After Guy, now her too...
One of the two strongest humans in the story, a being of superhuman strength and chaotic gods who rivaled Guy Crimson and the True Dragons.
Chronoa, a Hero from a bygone era and undeniably one of humanity's strongest.
The guardian of humanity who sealed the Storm Dragon Veldora, a Half-God capable of wielding the authority of Time, which stood above the five major attributes, was pointing her blade at me.
"Are you not going to answer?"
"..............."
At that moment, I thought:
Why the hell do I always end up meeting nothing but monsters...?
Whoever had created my fate had to be completely out of their mind.
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