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"Yes... Apparently, there's a rebel group causing trouble for the local lord. I've been tasked to lead a unit to suppress them."

"Seriously? Isn't that dangerous?"

"You graduated from the officer academy, right? Why hesitate about being sent to a battlefield?"

"I'm a pacifist."

"You just skipped classes all the time..."

"So, what kind of group is this rebellion?"

"It varies. Some are just like bandits, while others are ideologues who want to overthrow the royal family and establish a classless society. Instructor Cattleya apparently exterminated such groups whenever they arose."

"So, they're now turning to you, another wielder of the divine saintly sword, for this task. Well, I'm sure you'll be fine, but be careful, okay?"

"Thank you."

With a dismissive tone, Iris waved me out of her room, urging me to leave. Her gesture was as if she was shooing away an annoying insect. At that moment, a thought crossed my mind.

Indeed, Iris is exceptional.

She graduated at the top of her class from the officer academy, has outstanding physical abilities, and even wields one of the twelve saintly swords. Even during our student days, despite not relying on the power of her divine sword, she effortlessly excelled in everything. She even beat me in a simple foot race and thoroughly defeated me in a mock combat exercise.

However, perhaps due to her excellence, Iris was terrible at delegating tasks to others. This resulted in her losing to me once during an orienteering exercise. In orienteering, participants are given a map and must navigate through various checkpoints, clearing tasks at each point and competing for the best time. At that time, Iris tried to manage everything by herself and completed all the tasks on her own. She did so flawlessly but took longer than I did.

Being as inept as I am, incapable of reading maps or using a compass, let alone clearing tasks, I simply delegated everything to my juniors. As a result, we achieved the best time in our class. It's a funny world. Not that it's something to brag about.

"Hey, Iris. Just because you're the commander doesn't mean you have to finish all the tasks by yourself."

"...I don't want to be like someone who just dumps everything onto others."

"Haha, fair point."

I laughed off Iris's sarcastic remark and left the room. Anyway, wielders of the saintly swords of the divine blade, even if not as powerful as Shion, are extraordinarily strong. Certainly, they shouldn't lose to just any group out there.

Because of their capabilities, they would be trusted to suppress such a troublesome rebel group.

However, I felt it might be better to leave this to Instructor Cattleya, who reportedly has actual combat experience...

That night:

After enjoying a lavish dinner, I lay down on the bed in my private room.

There's nothing to do. Time drags on.

Living without working is the best, I thought, a somewhat cheeky idea coming to mind.

If only this laid-back life could continue forever, but it seems unlikely.

"Crow~. Are you asleep yet?"

As I was lost in thought, Holly phased through the wall and entered my room.

"Hey, hey. Before sleeping, how about we do 'that'? A quick round will help you sleep better~."

As she spoke, Holly, floating in the air, lay down on top of me, who was lying on the bed.

"...Alright."

"Wow! Then, let's get started."

"Checkmate."

Using the moonlight from the window as our only source of light, Holly and I played chess. Holly is exceptionally good at board games like this. She possesses an almost inhuman ability to calculate and think rapidly. Even I, who played chess against adults since childhood, find her overpowering. Frankly, her level of skill is eerily supernatural.

But then again, Holly isn't a human but a spirit.

"But Crow, you're also quite strong, aren't you?"

As we continued our game, moving the chess pieces, the scene must have looked strange to others: me seemingly talking to myself and playing against chess pieces that moved on their own.

"Am I? I've never won against you."

"No, no. Among all the humans I've played against, you're the strongest."

"Have you played chess with anyone other than me?"

"The Hero."

"Oh, right. Of course."

Only heroes can see Holly.

I wonder if all the previous heroes also communicated with Holly like this.

"If I'm the strongest among them, did the previous heroes not play chess very well?"

"No? It's just that you're extraordinarily strong. All the heroes who played against me ended up disliking chess because of our games."

"Go easy on them..."

While saying this, I ended up feeling sympathy not for the past heroes but for Holly. After all, she couldn't even get someone to play with her regularly, not even her partner to defeat the Demon King.

"How about trying against Shion?"

"That kid can't play chess. And even if he could, he wouldn't."

"I feel like telling you to get along, you know."

"Hehehe. But even though you have no notable abilities, you're peculiarly strong in this."

"It's just because I've been playing since I was a kid."

"Maybe, just maybe, while you might not have any power, you have the ability to utilize the strengths of others?"

"Huh? Why?"

"In chess, you need to understand the capabilities of each piece and use them effectively. If you recklessly attack with your queen, it'll just get captured."

Holly murmured, twirling one of her chess pieces with her fingers.

"If you can do that effectively, perhaps you have the ability to discern and utilize the strengths of others."

"...I don't think they're that related. Being good at chess doesn't necessarily make one a great strategist in actual wars."

"Instructor Cattleya mentioned to Shion that when you were leading junior students or practicing horse riding, your performance was noteworthy."

"Hmm."

Having the power to utilize the strengths of others... huh? Or maybe, in the end, that just means I'm incompetent.

"This is the first time I've played chess this many times with the same human," Holly says as she moves a piece.

Even though we've only played a few dozen times.

Probably, previous heroes just gave up against the too-strong Holly.

That means I can challenge what past heroes couldn't.

"Hey, Holly."

"Yes?"

"I'll keep playing against you until I die. Even if I lose tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of times."

Holly looked surprised.

"Is that... a confession of love?"

"No..."

"Well, you're saying you'll be with me until you die, right? I'm not entirely against that idea."

"I mean I'll eventually beat you at chess. I mean, you don't die from losing at chess, right?"

"Hehehe... It's tough to beat me with a mortal's mind..."

Suddenly, Holly's previously smiling face clouded over. She wasn't looking at the chessboard but at the window.

"...I sense the presence of a saintly sword's wielder."

"What?"

"Someone wielding a saintly sword is approaching, using their abilities."

"Is it Iris or Instructor Cattleya?"

I can't think of a reason those two would visit my room at this late hour.

"No, it's a different presence."

"Heath?"

"It's not him either. This speed..."

Suddenly, the window flung open.

"Huh?"

Something was entering from the window.

Not someone, something.

It didn't look human.

While its silhouette was human-like, its entire body was translucent.

This translucent being opened the window and entered my room.

"What... is that translucent thing?"

"You can see its form?"

"No, I can't see it, but I can tell there's something there like an invisible person."

"Hmm..."

Holly looked at me with a curious expression.

"That translucent form is the ability of the Vacuum Sword, Curtana. It makes the user unperceivable to sight and hearing."

"Vacuum Sword?"

The moment I murmured that, the intruder,

"Heh... It's useless against him..."

murmured and suddenly revealed their form. Apparently, they deactivated the ability of their saintly sword.

The intruder was a petite girl.

Dressed all in black, with a mask hiding her face, it was impossible to determine her age, facial features, or hair color, but the figure was feminine.