Hero Party And The Legendary Weapons

――Time rewound to about a week.

――The suite room of the inn where the Hero party was staying.

The members of the Hero party had gathered there.

Sylvan, the Hero, sat deep on the sofa and spoke first.

“By order of the Royal Palace, it has been decided that next week we will defeat the Crimson Vampire Princess in the S-Rank Dungeon 【Crimson Night Moon】 and completely clear the dungeon.”

“But Sylvan, even if you say we’ll completely clear it, we haven’t made any progress in exploration since Sid died. Garen ended up having his arm amputated too.”

The Mage Lilium answered anxiously.

Looking at Garen sitting beside her, his once sturdy right arm was gone.

In the end they couldn’t cure the Poison Goblin’s poison, and since leaving it untreated would threaten his life, they proceeded with amputation.

Furthermore, he had his one eye damaged in a duel with Sid Ranorus and now wore an eyepatch.

“Ruru’s not motivated, and Garen’s like this—can we really go just the two of us…?”

“No problem. I carry royal blood and am the chosen Hero of the Unique class. Lilium is a genius girl the Holy Church prides itself on, already counted among the Knights of the Stigmata at her age. Garen is the captain of the Royal Palace Knights, and I believe that once his arm is restored he’ll perform as he did before. Ruru may be a bit lazy at times, but I believe she’ll do it when it counts.”

“Even so, it’s still us… Garen, say something.”

“With an arm like this I can’t fight anymore… I can’t return to the Knights… my life is utterly bleak… and it’s all because of that Shikai Tribe…!”

Garen was defeated by Sid Ranorus in the A-Rank Dungeon【Blue Orchid Lake】, and after having his arm amputated he lost his fighting spirit and became completely dejected.

He was even guzzling from a brought-in liquor bottle, getting drunk in broad daylight.

“……”

Ruru, as always, wore an expression that made it impossible to tell what she was thinking, and sat dazed in the corner of the room without speaking.

“Don’t worry. I have a secret plan.”

Sylvan brought several boxes from the back of the room.

“Sylvan, what’s this?”

“These are supplies sent from the Royal Palace and the Holy Church.”

They opened the boxes one by one.

The first thing to appear was a longsword adorned with lavish decorations and embedded jewels.

“This is the ‘Sacred Sword Balmung,’ said to have been acquired by the first king when he cleared an A-Rank Dungeon—it had been kept in the royal treasury, but His Majesty bestowed it upon us with great expectations. This sword has the ability to temporarily deprive Undead of their regenerative ability. It’s something that will be effective even against the Crimson Vampire Princess. I’ll be the one to use this sword.”

From the next box came a staff with a large crystal mounted at its tip.

“This is the ‘Thunder Ash Staff, Aron,’ certified as a holy relic by the Holy Church—when the dungeons collapsed 300 years ago and monsters from A-Rank Dungeons flooded the surface, the Knights of the Stigmata at the time used it to unleash a lightning strike that is said to have shot down a black dragon. Lilium is good with lightning magic, so she should definitely be able to master it.”

“This is… for me…?”

Lilium took the staff hesitantly in her hands.

“The rigid Holy Church even permitted the removal of a holy relic. That should tell you how much they’re counting on us.”

“Understood. I’ll definitely master it!”

Sylvan patted Lilium’s head, saying ‘good girl,’ then opened the next box.

Inside was a prosthetic arm made to the size of a large man.

A large Magic Stone was embedded on the back of the hand, and numerous small, worked Magic Stones decorated the finer details.

“This is a magical prosthetic arm, completed by a magic-item craftsman applying the latest techniques. It can be operated indistinguishably from a real limb and its durability is guaranteed. With this, Garen should be able to regain his original strength.”

“What!? Really!?”

Garen, who had been drinking listlessly, threw down his bottle at Sylvan’s words and clung to the prosthetic arm.

“Of course. We’ll perform the fitting surgery today. I want you to get used to the prosthetic as quickly as possible. Also, the Magic Stone will grant stat bonuses, so you’ll likely be stronger than before.”

“Hahaha! A blessing in disguise, eh! The gods haven’t forsaken me!”

“Oh my ❤ Garen, you suddenly got energetic ❤”

“You’ve got your bratty-girl level back too, huh!”

“But it’s a holy relic~ ❤ Even people in the Holy Church might only see one in their lifetime; it’s an ultra-rare item we get to use ❤ Of course it gets me fired up ❤ I love you, Sylvan~ ❤”

Lilium nuzzled the staff while Garen made a victory pose with his remaining left arm.

While the two of them were getting excited, Sylvan opened the last box.

“…!!”

Seeing the contents, Ruru’s eyes instantly changed.

“Oh… so Ruru is curious about the contents after all, huh?”

Sylvan wore a smug look as he watched Ruru, usually expressionless, change expression.

“The ‘Lacquered Blade Wewenann’—a dagger that was the weapon of the Ragiu Tribe chieftain in the war between the kingdom and the Ragiu Tribe eighty years ago. Since you are also of the Ragiu Tribe, I thought you’d surely know of it—in that war the kingdom prevailed, and the Ragiu, as proof of surrender, offered their chieftain’s head and this ‘Enchanted Blade Wewenann’ to the Royal Palace. If we succeed in the conquest of the S-Rank Dungeon 【Crimson Night Moon】, I’ll return it to you, its rightful owner from the Ragiu. Of course, you may use it during the conquest.”

“……”

Ruru briskly walked over to Sylvan and took the dagger in her hand.

She drew the blade from its sheath, held it up to the light and stared for a few seconds, then sheathed it again and tucked it into her bosom.

“Heh heh, it seems to have pleased you.”

“Haha ❤ I’ve never seen Ruru this full of motivation~ ❤ This is hilarious~ ❤”

Before the legendary weapons sent by the Royal Palace and the Holy Church, the Hero party regained their motivation and united.

Sylvan the Hero looked at the now-energized group and, with a wry smile, declared:

“Well then—shall we go and become Heroes?”