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Maria’s sermon had a point or two. However, my objective in this life was to find myself a way to train, even if it meant going against her concerns.

Still, I could understand her point. I had to keep in mind to restrain myself enough to not cause her needless worry.

“With everything said, who’d think a bunch of kids would manage to subjugate a Mountain Serpent! As expected of my daughter.”
“Uh, Dear?”
“Ah, I mean, yeah, you shouldn’t worry us so much. Yup, that’s what I wanted to say.”

He was puffing his chest one moment, but Maria’s single word made him wither away. Dude, you are a Hero. Have some backbone, will ya?

Then again, I could relate to him. Maria was frightening if angered.

For example, she would intentionally make her healing magic feel painful…

The healing magic system had a type of magic that boosted one’s natural healing power, but that also came with the sense of pain that naturally accompanies healing. Usually, that pain was reduced through spells, but it was plenty possible to make it even more painful instead. Apparently, some people even used that as a torture method.

“Enough about that. Just save me, Dad.”
“Sorry, Nicole… Daddy can’t win against that Demon Lord.”
“Who are you calling a Demon Lord!”
“But Mom, my legs are going numb already.”
“Tough it out.”
“Ehhh…”

And there came my ultimate weapon. I looked up at Maria with teary eyes. There was no parent that could withstand this!

“Ugh, f-fine then… But don’t do anything reckless from now on, you hear?”
“Loud and clear.”

Of course, I had no plans to go along with that, but if I didn’t back down here, it would turn into a needless tug-of-war.

As Maria’s anger subsided, it was finally time for our family to sit down and have tea. Incidentally, after that Cortina was dragged away by Maria. I felt it was unfair for just me to get scolded, so I hoped she’d fully enjoy her fair share of it.

Following that, I got stuck with explaining to Lyell the details of how I defeated the Mountain Serpent. I wasn’t the one who defeated it, though.

A week has passed since then. I chose a day-off and asked Maxwell to set up an appointment with Elliot. If I managed to seize his heart there, his attachment to the real me should fade.

This time, Maxwell would be accompanying me this time as support. Naturally, without showing himself, that is.

Still, that guy was already head over heels for my adult self, so this should be an easy mission.

“…There was a time I was convinced of that.”

I muttered to myself and heaved a big sigh.

Instead of Elliot, there were three Adventurer-looking guys around me. Moreover, they had me surrounded so I wouldn’t run away.

“Hey, how ‘bout you ditch whoever you’re waiting for and talk with us?”
“What he said. We are third-rank adventurers, you know? Our futures are guaranteed.”
“Exactly! If you come to us, no monster or bandit’s gonna lay a hand on you!”

They were going on and on about their strength and future prospects. But think about it. There was no man in this world with prospects like mine. After all, my parents were members of the Six Heroes. Even I was a Hero inside. Not to mention, a descendant of a Goddess.

Who could possibly outmatch me? Even if you ignore everything, our appearances just didn’t suit each other.

In my current adult mode, I looked like a breathtaking beauty. Some dusty Adventurers were clearly out of place next to me.

I stood out to that extent now. A petite, silver-haired beauty clad in an attire resembling the national elven wear. My lovely and ephemeral appearance is simply stunning, even if I say so myself.

So, well, I understand why they would want to approach me, but I was honestly getting annoyed already. Since I was on an appointment, I didn’t want to be seen acting violent… But they were getting way too over-familiar with me, which made me want to remove them with force.

In the first place, third-ranked Adventurers were commonplace. With Adventurers, there were seven ranks in total. In the past, they apparently used colors instead, but it was a bit hard to tell them apart with just that so now they used numbers.

The higher the number, the stronger they were. First rank adventurers were basically amateurs. At rank two, they finally reached the beginner level. And at rank three, they were considered ordinary Adventurers.

In other words, these bunch had nothing to boast about.

“Um, I don’t feel comfortable…”
“Oh come on, don’t be like that.”

He decided to be even more over-familiar and try to put a hand on my shoulder. But I wasn’t going to take any more of that. Grab his wrist and pin him down… Is what I was about to do, but he suddenly disappeared before my eyes.

No, to be more accurate, he got blasted away. A pillar of fire suddenly exploded under his feet, throwing him up higher than the roofs of the buildings. And the same explosion happened two more times.

“Ah, Maxwell’s doing, I take?”

Since he was following me, he could also see these buttinskies. That geezer wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of his plans.

“Good grief. It appears that being too beautiful is a sin as well.”
“Eek!?”

Hearing a low whisper close to my ears almost made me scream. I looked around but couldn’t find him anywhere. Nevertheless, it was his voice alright.

“I am using Concealment magic. It disallows me from moving about too much, however.”
“I was sure no one was around, you know…”

I retorted to him as he revealed his tricks. I hadn’t taken a single step from the place of appointment. And I was sure that no one was around. Even if they were concealing themselves, I was able to sense their presence.

“I approached while using the flame pillars as a distraction. Moreover, your surroundings were filled with your “enemies”. I imagine it would have been difficult to spot me, would it not?”

So he used those pillars to approach me, huh? I really can never be too careful with this geezer.

“Still, the other party is quite late.”
“It’s still not the time of appointment, though.”
“You would normally arrive half an hour early. It seems Elliot still has ways to go.”
“Is that how it works?”

Maxwell was just rambling to himself, but it was still better to listen to him than to just standing without anything to do. Thus I spent time while occasionally commenting on his topics.

However…

“The person you are waiting for won’t be coming, you know?”

Suddenly, the high-pitched voice of a girl reached my ears.