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There was a certain room in Castle Norvadis, which was located in New Norvadis.　The room was deep within the castle, with the curtains closed shut so only a faint light made it in, and it was furnished with a black oak table, with only a candlestick placed on it. It was a rather somber room.

That castle belonged to the guild Nord Glacier, and that room had been coined the Demon Lord’s Chamber. This time there were two other figures on top of Sorleon there. One was Shao from the guild Lan Canglong. The other was Crim, from the guild Lua Cheia.

As for why those two were in Norvadis, it was all because of a certain perk they were granted when they became Demon Lords.

It was a certain orb that gave off a purple color, now placed on top of the table, and a set of pendants with encrusted crystals paired to it, which allowed the wearers to temporarily teleport to the location of the orb.

That was an indispensable item for the three Demon Lords to gather when needed, so they were given those by the developers.

Keeping the orb here in Norvadis was also a decision the three had made together. Thanks to it, Crim was able to visit Norvadis without having to cross the entire continent from one side to another.

“…I see, that is certainly alarming news.”
“A system to limit the species viable in a given moment, and it especially affects the three of us…that’s kinda annoying huh.”

When the two others heard Crim’s report, they looked troubled.

“…Say, are you sure we can’t defeat her? I’d really like to try.”
“And why dost thou sound so joyful of that?!”

Then again, they were a bunch of combat junkies gathered there.

“Alright alright, let’s think about it more seriously.”
“Was it a joke then? Tell me it was a joke!”

Crim stared at him intently as she said that, but he paid little attention to her comment as he continued talking.

“Okay so, jokes aside, it’s safe to assume that’s a raid boss then, yeah?”
“Probably, and if that’s the case I’d be worried if we’ll be able to fight collectively…we might end up having internal conflicts at the worst moments.”
“We’ve only formed a pretty hasty alliance after all…”

Crim and Shao looked worried for once as they brought up those points, but Sorleon somehow still was grinning despite that.

“Well, with all of that in mind, how about we start conducting some joint training with all our three guilds together?” His voice was clear and composed as he suggested that to the other two.

◇◇◇

“And that’s how we ended up agreeing to train together with Nord Glacier.”

It was the next day now, a Monday with really clear weather.

In a corner of Morinomiya High’s garden was a small gazebo, surrounded by the falling petals of cherry blossoms, the same that had begun opening during the entrance ceremony, which were being carried by a gentle breeze making them look almost like snow.

There Hijiri and Subaru were having lunch, while Kou watched through the device mounted on Hijiri’s shoulder, informing the twins about the conversation between the Three Demon Lords the day before.

“Mmm? So that’s how the discussion ended.”

Hijiri tilted her head slightly as she said that, her cheeks filled with the rolled omelet from her lunchbox.

Kou nodded in response within the virtual world, and at the same time the small device that looked like a half sphere emitted a beep as it also bobbed down and back up.

“Yeah. But that also means that we’ll get some guests from Nord Glacier visiting Nebel this weekend.”
“Guests?”
“Yes, guests. Their regular members who show up in ranked matches all the time.”
“Oh, you mean those three then? Together with the dragonewt Lueger…and that girl Ernesta…”

By the end, Subaru’s words seemed to trail off for some reason as he averted his eyes awkwardly. Kou noticed how oddly his childhood friend was acting, and as he tilted his head the device made another noise as it also tilted to the side.

“Eheheh, you know, the other day when they were fighting, Subaru ended up grabbing her boobs, and he’s been worrying about it since then. He can get so nervous about the strangest things~”
“Wha-…Hijiri?!”
“You’ve already missed your chance to apologize though~”
“Hmph… Like I care about every single little thing like that!”

While Hijiri continued giddily exposing her brother, he began to stuff his cheeks grumpily, his face beet red.

Apparently during the tournament he had used a Martial Arts Skill he had kept secret, leading to a physical hit in an unlucky place, so really it was only an accident. Still, considering he was barely starting high school, it had left a rather vivid memory.

Even if most of the time he acted like a cynical schemer, his mind was still at a rather emotionally vulnerable age. Kou could only grimace as he watched the reaction of his friend.

“Anyway, they’re also coming to figure things out about them being mercenaries to help us. Frey, Hinagiku, and I aren’t in the best shape after all.”

Currently Crim and Frey had activated the Skill combining MND and MAG, called Magic Enhance, while Hinagiku had used Physical Enhance that merged her VIT and STR, but that had also reset those stats.

On top of that, Crim had also obtained Abyss Magic, which merged her Shadow Magic and Darkness Magic Skills, which made Shadow Heavy-Weapon hardly usable at the moment, as it only carried a fourth of its original power, and that was Crim’s main means to attack.

It was almost a miracle that she had retained the different abilities she had unlocked so far, though in their nerfed state they hardly helped her in combat. The solution was something she was about to relay to the rest.

“It ended up costing quite a lot of money, but Lueger, Ernesta, and Cheval will be covering for the three of us while we’re out of commission. Remember to thank them properly for that.”
“…Alright, whatever you say.”

After Kou and Hijiri turned to stare at Subaru for a bit, he eventually shrugged and gave that resigned reply

“Anyway, it’s only Nord Glacier’s members that are visiting then?”
“Yeah, sadly Lan Canglong couldn’t make it, so they’ll just wing it when the time comes…”
“Ah…well, they’ll all be spellcasters so they can just do their thing in the rear lines, it should be alright, yeah?”

All of Lan Canglong’s members, Shao aside, were rather inferior to Nord Glacier and Lua Cheia in overall strength. So to avoid conflicts in the front lines, Shao suggested to only bring with him ranged members.

As far as they could tell, the raid boss they were up against was human sized, so crowding the front lines would just make everyone encumbered. As long as they had the proper defenses, a small team would be more effective, and adding to that, more ranged support would be rather ideal.

“Then again, I don’t really mind Nord Glacier hanging around, but Lan Canglong… I can never tell what’s going on in that kid’s mind, so I wouldn’t feel safe having them around for a few days.”
“Hmm… Yeah, he really doesn’t seem like the kinda guy to keep his promises…”
“Ahahah…I think he gave trust issues to everyone who fought him that time…”

It was natural for Subaru to feel that way about people, but if even Hijiri felt the need to mention it, then it was clear that Shao had really left a bad impression on everyone.

The question remained if they would still be able to coordinate properly…but there was another problem.

“…And then there’s the fact that we haven’t been able to find a proper tank to help us when fighting Adnammelech.”

Lueger was Nord Glacier’s main tank, but he was a dragonewt, which counted as a species of demons, which meant he would also be unable to participate in the fight against Adnammelech. Freya, Hinagiku, and the knight Ernesta from Nord Glacier would have to deal with that somehow.

“Freya, you’ll probably end up being the one tanking the most, is that alright?”
“Uh, yeah…I’ll do my best.”

Saying that, Hijiri clasped her fists, though Kou was not really reassured by that. He would still need to put her through some tank training later.

“So in the end we’ll have five members from each guild for the raid party, right?”
“Also, any loot we get will be given to whoever can use it the best at that moment in time. We’ll do our best to avoid any future conflicts about it, alright?”

The raid dungeon had a party size limit of 15, so they also had to pick and choose members.

“We’re planning on going there sometime during Golden Week. We’ll wait until then to make sure all of our schedules line up properly.”

Kou said that to wrap things up, and the twins gave reassuring nods.

By the time their conversation ended, lunch break was already halfway over. They had been so engaged in the conversation that they had forgotten to keep eating, so now they hurried to get their chopsticks moving. But soon after Kou spoke again, seemingly remembering something.

“Oh yeah…talking of Golden Week, I have something big to announce too.”
“Something big?”

Kou’s voice seemed somewhat excited, which made Hijiri tilt her head while her hand stopped halfway through carrying food to her mouth.

“Yeah, it’s something my dad told me this morning… Apparently I should be able to come back to the real world when Golden Week starts!”
“Really?!”
“Are you sure?!”

As soon as Kou said that, the twins closed in to the device.

“Yeah, apparently I’ll have to go through some rehab, but as soon as that’s over I’ll be able to properly attend school with you too.”
“I see… I’m so glad to hear that…so glad…”

Tears of happiness began to stream down Hijiri’s cheek, which Kou watched from within the virtual world with a gentle smile. He was still wondering why he had to be hospitalized in the first place though…

“In that case we’ll have to make sure we get through the raid dungeon as an early celebration of your return!”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah…”

By the end, Kou and Hijiri raised their voices too, but not as loud as they wanted since they were still at school and had to be careful about their surroundings.