On our way back to Reuisu from Dunamis’s “palace” .

    I’m carrying the envelope that holds her “imperial edict”, walking while looking at it .

    「What are you going to do with that?」

    Agnes asked with a lighter tone than usual .

    「I’ll give it to Iris」

    「Princess Iris……one of Teresia’s Twin Flowers, the one in charge of Mercouri’s internal affairs」

    「Yeah」

    「Are you serious?」

    Agnes looked at me .

    She is literallyーーno, she had eyes that even looked as if she’s asking me if I’m out of my mind .

    「I plan to, why?」

    「That woman, isn’t she just someone who’s full of herself even calling herself an Emperor, going too far in pretending . Why in the world would you give her something like that」

    「I’ll let Iris judge whether she’s just really pretending or not」

    『Kukuku』

    Eleanor laughed amusedly, so I flicked her blade with a finger .

    As usual, a beautiful clear sound echoed .

    『What’s the matter, Okaa-san』

    『No, I just wondered who’s this man going to judge . Is it that Emperor, or is it that Princess?』

    I flicked Eleanor with my finger again .

    You’re seeing through me too much .

    If the contents of Dunamis’s imperial edict is just as she said, she’s not all but words .

    Although she could show off her authority calling herself the Emperor, the idea of improving the road from the viewpoint of logistics would not come out of nowhere .

    In fact, I saw some parts of the roads around Reiusu that are obsolete just like she said .

    It’s true that it is better to fix them .

    In fact, as a person who has a mansion situated in Reiusu, I found it as a reasonable “command” .

    『And you would judge what Princess Iris would do after seeing thatーーhow distasteful』

    I gave her another flick of my finger .

    I’m not being distasteful, it’s trustーーI thought, but I didn’t say it out loud .

    More importantly, I found something that made me more curious .

    Agnes, a skilled adventurer who has a huge sword as a weapon, walking beside me .

    For some reason, she’s making a disgruntled face .

    「What’s the matter?」

    「Eh?」

    「You somewhat seem to be in a bad mood」

    「YouーーI-It’s nothing!」

    Agnes quickly looked away .

    She faced the other direction, but I could see her ear red to its base .

    「Is someone like that……your type or something?」

    I heard her muttering something again .

    I wondered what she meant, does she mean it like “that”ーーbut when I was thinking like that .

    Ahead of us, I saw a wriggling green color .

    It’s not the grass on the ground swayed by the wind . It’s a large group of Rotten Slimes .

    I took a quick glance and counted roughly 300 of them .

    「There’s still this manyーーno, I should say that they increased this much . Well, of course the guild would take action」

    「Eh?」

    「Look」

    I pointed with my finger . Agnes also noticed the group of Rotten Slimes .

    「It’s true……what in the world is happening」

    「Who knows . Well then, there’s the thing with Dunamis’s imperial edict to, so let’s clean them up since we’ve already met them」

    I held Eleanor and Hikari tightly .

    「Let’s do this, Eleanor, Hikari」

    『Kukuku, you are going to use me for a woman huh』

    『Hikari will do her best?! O-chan and the others can go out any time?』

    The mother and daughter Demon Swords showed eagerness . I was about to charge, but .

    Agnes attacked the Rotten Slimes using her huge sword even quicker than I did .

    She seemed to be not affected by her huge sword that looks quite heavy . She charged towards them with considerable speed, swinging her sword as soon as she reached her attacking distance, then swung it around horizontally .

    She swept away several Rotten Slimes by making use of the centrifugal force made by swinging her huge sword around, but she created an opening at the same time . A different slime attacked her taking advantage of that opening .

    「Tch!」

    It can’t be helped .

    I stomped the ground, rushing towards her and cleaving through the several slimes that attacked her .

    「T-That was unneeded!」

    「The way you move is especially not suitable for fighting by yourself」

    Just like before we went to Dunamis’s place, I created clones and reproduced Io’s party’s movements .

    I copied Agnes who charged in, cleaved around, and fall into a tight spot again .

    The clones that acted as Julia and Io supported that clone .

    「Do you understand now? There’s no problem since it would be like that when you’re in a party . However, you should change your movements when you’re fighting alone」

    Agnes hesitated, she stopped moving .

    She had an expression of not knowing what to do .

    I stopped creating clones and put Hikari back to her sheatheーーI’m now only using Eleanor .

    I slashed, dodged, waited for a moment, then slashed again .

    「Taking turns……you should think of it as having different exchanges . Just like how you created an opening when you attacked, most of your enemies are the same . You should deal with the enemy’s attack, blocking or parrying, then counterattack」

    「……!」

    Although Agnes made a frustrated frown for an instant, she fixed her grip on her sword, and charged towards the Rotten Slimes again .

    This time, she didn’t charge without thinking . She closed the distance, waited for the enemy’s attack to fumble, then counterattacked .

    Her movements got a lot better .

    Unlike her first charge attack that looked dangerous from the beginning, she’s now fighting reliably enough .

    「……」

    Agnes glanced at me .

    I felt that I was being asked if what she’s doing is fine .

    No, it’s not in that level . She’s not just asking me that .

    I know that look in her eyes . I know a few women who had that look .

    『Kukuku, she’s as if a doggy who wants to be praised』

    Eleanor said amusingly .

    I felt the same .

    “I did it as you told me you know? Praise me, praise me?”

    An impossible tone was played using Agnes’s voice inside my head .

    She looked at me just like that .

    「You’re doing fine . However, you should get better . Even enemies who attack as a group has breaks within attacking and defending just like when fighting an individual . You should train yourself to be able to do that」

    「H-Hmph! I know that!」

    Agnes scoffed and looked away . She continued to slash at the Rotten Slimes .

    Although she was red to the base of her ears .

    “It was really like that,” I thought .

    The group of Rotten Slimes naturally got into two smaller groups . Half of them attacked Agnes, but they were played around by her new movements, gradually reducing their numbers .

    Seeing her fight reliably .

    I looked at the remaining half of the Rotten Slimes, and moved faster than any one of them .

    Chopping all of them with my Demon Sword .