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“If it isn’t young Merc.”
“Hello.”
“I heard that the Chief approved of you and that you even had your Accolade. What was the title that you got?”
“The Velche Slayer. I go by Merc Velchedo now.”
“That’s right. That was the one!”

At the forest’s checking station, Merc was conversing with one of her mother’s coworkers. The eagerness of her mother’s coworker suggested that he had been bored due to no one showing up at the checking station.

To begin with, the only individuals that came by the checking station on a daily basis were merchants who had good relations with the elf village and Merc’s father Oron. As a result, the majority of the guards found themselves with a lot of spare time, which wasn’t necessarily a terrible thing per se.

“You’ve run out of luck, Merc. Teruse’s off duty today.”
“I know. We live together, after all. And it isn’t like I came here because I wanted to see my mother.”
“Then why did you come? Was it perhaps to see me? It’s not easy being as popular as me.”
“Please do not get the wrong idea.”

Merc promptly cut off the elven guard who was stroking his hair with his hand. Following that she introduced the adventurers standing behind her.

“These are the adventurers of the party Blazing Impact. I’m going to be leaving the village with them.”
“Nice to meet you,” Jonahim said with a slight bow.
“Oh, the guys who took down the Ghezo Velche?! It’s a pleasure to… Wait what?! I see… You did undergo the Accolade so that means you’re an adult now, Merc. It’s not unusual for you to leave the village.”

After greeting Jonahim with his hand, the elf guard reacted quickly to Merc’s comments. His voice sounded somewhat rough, likely due to the unexpected development.

“I see. So you’re going to be living in the human settlements from now on. It’ll get lonely here. Still, if that’s your dream then no one has the right to stop you. Go out and see the world.”
“Fufu, I’ll do just that. Well then, take care.”
“You too… Could I also ask the three of you to look after our young one here?”
“Of course. You can leave Merc to us.”

Jonahim consented to the elf guard’s request with a meaningful expression.

Jonahim… Don’t say it like that. You sound just like a groom taking his fiancée from her father…

Nonetheless, it was most likely that sincere and disciplined personality that drew so many people to him. Elea was one such person. Even Merc was beginning to loosen up to Jonahim.

Merc thought Jonahim’s carefree attitude was similar to Foldia’s, albeit lacking in intensity. That was also the reason that Merc had the impression she had met Jonahim before.

Come to think of it, isn’t Jonahim Foldia’s disciple? Does that mean that disciples take after their Masters? Wait… Doesn’t that mean that I also take after Rosemary?! In any case, I shouldn’t think about it right now.

While Merc was immersed in her thoughts, Jonahim and the others who had gone ahead of her turned around with troubled expressions to stare at her.

“Merc? Is something wrong?”
“N-No, it’s nothing. I’m coming.”

And with that, Merc nonchalantly stepped out of the forest’s checkpoint.

After a short walk, Merc and the others came to a narrow gravel road with a landscape of various weeds growing along the roadside reaching out in front of them. Needless to say, this was the first time Merc had seen this scenery.

“Merc, since this is your first time leaving the elf village, you most likely aren’t familiar with any of the inns in the City of Ende, right?”
“I-… Yea, that’s right.”

It was an inn that Merc had frequented during her time as Estert. However, Merc wasn’t so stupid as to talk about something like that.
　
And 15 years had already passed since then. She couldn’t know whether that inn was still running. Even if it was, there was no assurance that the atmosphere would have remained the same.

Which was why Merc decided that it would be fun if she tried something new.

“Since I’ll be traveling with you guys, I’ll probably stay in the same inn as you. What’s the name of the inn you’re staying at?”
“It’s called the Esteemed Sword Saint Inn.”
“E-Esteemed Sword Saint Inn…”

My god… That’s one terrible naming sense… I don’t feel like staying at that place…

Merc was immediately repulsed by the place after hearing the name from Jonahim. Elea swiftly moved her gaze to Merc after picking up on this.

“You just thought the Esteemed Sword Saint Inn was a stupid name, didn’t you?!”
“Huh? O-Of course not…”
“Hmph, a trapped elf such as yourself probably doesn’t know, but the Esteemed Sword Saint Inn was a favorite spot of the Sword Saint Estert.”
“Spit!”
“Hey! That’s nasty!”
“Cough cough! Cough cough!”

Merc instinctively spat out in amazement as soon as Elea’s words escaped her mouth. Not only that, but her saliva got into her trachea.

“Good grief. What are you doing?!”

Elea asked as she got closer to her to rub Merc’s back. Merc, on the other hand, didn’t care about that right now. She was trying to figure out what Elea had just said.

Sword Saint?! Estert?! What’s up with the ridiculous title…

“Cough cough… W-What did you call…”
“Huh? I called you a trapped elf.”
“N-No, not that. The part about the Sword Saint.”
“Oh, you mean Mr. Estert. Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know who Mr. Estert is?”

Elea inquired, carefully moving away from Merc and staring down at her as if she were strange.

“There’s no way she doesn’t. From what she said before, she’s heard of my master, Foldia. That means she should be familiar with the rest of the Gust of Wind party’s heroes.”
“I-I’m familiar with the name Estert. I was surprised, though, to learn that he was renowned as a Sword Saint.”
“Surprised?”

Elea closed the distance in one single swoop and glared at her, likely enraged by Merc’s careless remarks. Merc shrank back as a result of the pressure Elea was exerting.

“Does this imply that you do not believe Mr. Estert is deserving of the title of Sword Saint? Are you trying to belittle the person whom I most admire in the world?! The one who, for the sake of the hero, devised a way to vanquish the Falgaro and was the only one of the four heroes to sacrifice himself for the good of the world. Are you making light of Mr. Estert?”
“Huh…”

HUH? Is that how I’m treated? Wait, wait… this is just… True, I asked Foldia to sing my praises as I ran towards the Falgaro, but this is just way too much…