“Ah! Iroha!” As soon as I got close to the seats where our group was, Bea immediately spotted me. When did she get down here? “I- is that my father? Is he okay?” She and Flanne immediately rushed over. Flanne took over the duty of carrying the king.

  The stands were now completely empty other than my girls and our friends. With the dragon on the field, they had already gathered on the stairs to discuss what to do.

  “He’s alive. Pretty sure he’s just unconscious.”

  “Oh… I’m so glad… Even though he always goes too far, I don’t want him getting hurt. Not like we have time to discuss that now.” You can say that again… Who knows how long the restraints on the dragon are gonna last? We need to come up with something right away. “Flanne, can you carry my father out of here? Get him to the castle and rally the soldiers.”

  “I can, but… What about you? Keeping you safe should be our priority…”

  “I’m not going anywhere. My help is needed here.” Flanne hesitated. She couldn’t leave Bea behind even at her request. Completely ridiculous. “Don’t worry. Iroha will keep me safe. Right?” What are you winking at me for?

  Flanne had no say in the matter, apparently. It’d be faster for her to go to the castle and come back than to argue, so she left right away.

  “Am I? I mean, if I put my mind to it, I’m pretty sure I can grab you and some of the others while running away, so whatever. Consider yourself under my protection.” My response didn’t go over too well. Bea’s pouting at me for whatever reason.

  “Running away? Don’t you have a duty to protect this kingdom, darling?” She pulled on my arm with puppy eyes. “I don’t want you to run away.”

  “Duty? You wish!”

  Carol tore her away and pulled me into her instead. “The tournament technically didn’t end, so nothing has been decided yet. Don’t get carried away.”

  “I’m afraid Carol’s right.” Hecate joined in, squeezing me from the other side. “You already owe us a huge favor for the fact that we let you borrow Iroha for your tournament, so don’t expect us to risk anything in a unfavorable fight.”

  Carol and Hecate both stood firmly against Bea, but she didn’t even falter. “So you say, but that’s not your decision to make, is it?”

  She stepped forward once again, gently reaching for my face. “Iroha… We may not be engaged, but you would never abandon someone you love, right? Won’t you please stand with us and help protect the city against that dragon? For me…” Sh- she’s someone I love? Since when? Hmmm… Well… I do think she’s pretty, and I do like her, so… I’ll let it slide this time.

  Before I could give a response, Ririna stepped forth too.

  “Is the situation that bad?” Her voice was a little meek, like she was asking for a favor. “If it’s not completely impossible, I’d like us to help…”

  “Nyahahahaha! Well said!” Sarasa hung her arm around Ririna’s shoulder. “You can handle that dragon, right? It’s in moments like this that you can make a lot of money, you know? I’ll help you… collect…”

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  Her last word was barely a whisper. I fight, she gets paid… What a nice deal she’s offering here.

  “Mo- money?!” An adventurer of her caliber is worried about money? Abby couldn’t believe it. “Money’s nice, but we can literally become legends today! If we manage to defeat a dragon in a situation like this while saving two members of the royal family, everyone is going to hear about us! We have to do something about this!”

  “We certainly can’t abandon this city when it needs us.” Now it was Galene’s turn to chime in. I was already going to give it a try, you know? Can’t they let me get a single word in? “Don’t worry, Ririna… I’m not sure if it’s possible alone, but if we all work together… We can maybe figure out something.” How reassuring, miss heroine. Those are the words of encouragement we all needed.

  “Uhmm… You do know I only mentioned running away as a possibility, right? Let’s try to come up with a plan first and go from there.”

  Galene nodded. The others all smiled, and even Carol and Hecate were satisfied. They weren’t heartless monsters, they were just making sure Bea didn’t touch what was theirs. Meaning me.

  “Let’s talk, then. What exactly is our goal here? What can we do?” Galene tried to get the ball rolling. She was a few steps above everyone else, and she was standing weirdly stiff… Is she hiding something?

  I tried to peek around the side, but she turned her body… “Galene…”

  “Hmm?”

  Don’t pretend like you’re innocent… You’re hiding something… Dash Burst!

  I jumped up the stands before she realized. Sh- she had a whole girl hiding behind her?! The girl’s wearing… armor? No… Too skimpy to be called that. Bikini armor? She also had dark blue hair…

  “Wait! You’re that succ- mMhmm!” -bus from before!

  “AAAAaaaaAAAAhhh! Shhhh!” In an instant, she closed the gap and placed her hand over my mouth.

  Her name was Lythea, right? The messy-looking succubus whom I fought after killing Armand… Didn’t she have some bat wings behind her ears and on her back? For some reason, they were gone, making her look more like a human. She’s with the demons, though… Can’t let my guard down!

  “I’m so sorry for forcing you to look at my unsightly appearance once again!” She bowed over and over while apologizing. “You’re glaring? Of course you’re glaring… Who wouldn’t glare at such a pathetic being? It’s okay! I totally understand! Just please don’t say anything! I’ll do anything in return!

  Ahhnn~ Self-esteem this miserable is kinda hot, but… *click!* I unpacked my sword. She’s still an enemy…

  “Wait wait…” Galene rushed up and placed herself between us. “You weren’t here when she showed up, but Lythea isn’t an enemy. I can vouch for her, so just let it go for now. I’ll explain everything later.” The way she looked at me told me she knew Lythea’s real identity. A succubus in human territory would be a problem, so she was asking me to keep it a secret.

  “Really…? You vouch for her? Hmm…” Now it’s my trust to suspect her… She’s been particularly hard on me before, so I gave her a really scrutinizing look.

  *click…*

  Well… If my theory is correct, she’s the one who restrained the dragon… I’ll let her go.

  “Alright… I’ll believe you for now…” I walked past the two of them without glancing at them. I did you a favor. You’d better remember it. “We’re running out of time, so let’s talk. What do we? Do we fight the dragon? Can we kill it?”

  Everyone paid attention. It was serious now.

  “I think it’s impossible… Even with our strength put together, killing it may be beyond us. We should be happy if we manage to drive it away.” Galene crossed her arms. It hurt her to admit it. In the game she kills the dragon, but it also happens when she has a few more levels. “Unless there’s something I’m missing. Do you have any tricks up your sleeve?” She glanced at me…

  “Tricks…? I don’t think so… But you’re right. Our goal is to protect the city, so we don’t have to kill anything. Just sending it away should be enough.”

  “Still gonna involve a lot of fighting, right?” Since she got that crown not long ago, Carol had been itching to show off. “Oh well… Guess I can help.”

  “Of course there’s fighting! Who wants to hear tales where problems are resolved without cool battles?!” Abby was excited to get started too.

  And she wasn’t the only one. Everyone contributed with their own suggestions. How to spread out. How to approach. How to attack. In less than a minute, this defensive battle against the dragon was turning into a well-thought-out plan of attack.

  “Uhhmmm… I…”

  Lythea interrupted with a trembling voice.

  “Eeeek! Don’t look at me all at once! I’m just an insignificant flea! I’m not worthy of anyone’s attention! I shouldn’t have had the gall to interrupt… I’ll just die! Farewell!” She took a step away, then turned back around. “I’m sorry… I can’t die actually… Just remembered I can’t… You’ll have to hear my grating voice for a little longer… I’m sorry! I don’t mean to give anyone false hopes, but there may a tiny, insignificant chance that someone as pathetic as me can take control of that dragon…”

  Why does this girl take so long to get to the point? I could sense such hostility coming from our rowdier girls. Carol, Sarasa, and… Abby?

  “What do you mean?” Galene asked her.

  “Well… People as wonderful as yourselves have probably already realized, but that dragon in an undead… B- but not a natural undead… It was turned undead by a… a demon… and it is now under his control… If you can buy me some time… I may be able to hijack that control… Not that that’s my specialty or anything… It’s technically seduct- well… Can’t even call it a specialty when I’m so much worse than the others.”

  She lost the plot and started mumbling midway through. Luckily, everyone heard enough to get a good grasp of the situation.

  “So… We buy you time, and you send the dragon away. We can do that.” Carol shrugged. “But if that’s the case, you better do your part! We’re counting on you. Now get to it!”

  Carol showed no mercy to the girl, who immediately shrieked. “Eeek! Ye- yes! I understand!”

  This kinda came together out of nowhere, but at least we know what to do now.

  Let’s send this dragon back home.