Chapter 73: 'Hero' (Patreon)

As Renan saw it, there wasn't much in the Type-Moon world that was truly useful to him.

The Mystic Eyes with their various special effects counted as half a prize. If he ran into the Mystic Eyes Collection Train, he could pay a price for a pair. If he didn't, it made no difference at all.

The grand magecraft Reality Marble counted as one, but that was something a magus produced naturally once their studies or their own strength passed a certain threshold.

And then there was the last one: the Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, the only one of the Five True Magics with a clearly defined means of acquisition.

Once he mastered it, he would have, in theory, unlimited magical power.

And that kind of vast energy had already done something once before in the Pokémon world. It could forcibly bypass the restrictions the DanMachi gods had placed on the Falna system and let it update its status on its own.

Renan and Astraea had grown quite close, but he still didn't want to put the key to his future growth in someone else's hands.

So...

The black-haired boy slapped his own forehead.

A thought had suddenly struck him: the Type-Moon world contained a huge number of parallel timelines.

Until he formally entered it, Renan had no guarantee that the Holy Grail War would break out in Fuyuki City on his timeline. The Greater Grail might have been seized and carried off to Romania sixty years ago. Or the world might even be overrun by Dead Apostles, a node so unusual that Heroic Spirits couldn't descend as Servants at all.

And even if things went as he hoped and the Holy Grail War did begin in Fuyuki City, his current combat strength was Lv2 on the surface and Lv4 in truth. Facing a field of Servants, each of whom was at minimum comparable to a First-Class adventurer of Orario, his odds of winning were slim.

As for winning this battle royale through wit and scheming... unless he could get past Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon, no amount of planning would do anything but turn him into a stepping stone for the other Masters.

What's more, Renan remembered very clearly that in the Fuyuki Holy Grail War, the Greater Grail had a huge landmine buried inside it called All the Evils of the World.

If he couldn't purify it completely and restore the Greater Grail to its original state, then even a lucky victory would most likely earn him nothing.

So.

I'm definitely going to the Type-Moon world, but not now.

Before that, I need to master more supernatural systems, more knowledge, and more power.

…

The next morning, in the Goddess of Justice's bedroom in the Star Hall.

"About what I expected. Since you reached Lv2, your stats have indeed been growing more slowly."

Astraea finished inscribing the Falna onto the parchment as she spoke, then handed it to the boy sitting up in bed.

Renan glanced down at it. His expression barely changed.

More than a week had passed since his last Falna update. Even with the nonstop training of his Breathing Techniques and Meditate, the highest of his five stats, Magic, had only just edged past 80. The rest, Strength, Agility, Endurance and Dexterity, were all hovering between 40 and 60.

For the vast majority of Orario's adventurers, that pace was actually quite blistering.

But set against Renan's stat potential cap of 4995, it was hardly worth mentioning.

If he trained step by step in the ordinary way, he would be stuck at Lv2 without moving for at least the next ten or twenty years.

Fortunately, there was a solution.

"You're going to that Beast Taming world again, aren't you?" Astraea asked, hugging the boy's arm. She had clearly read his plans from his expression, and her face was full of a goddess's resentment.

Renan nodded.

According to his original plan, he had intended to share the power of yet another version of himself from another world, this time in the DanMachi world.

At his current monster-farming speed, he could reach that goal in at most one more season.

Three months in exchange for at least double an ordinary person's physique and mental strength. However he looked at it, it was a good deal.

But.

The dark factions that had suddenly appeared on Floor 18 the night before last had put Renan decidedly on guard.

He had no interest in becoming an actor on Orario's giant stage, performing one drama after another to thrill, delight and make scream the gods who only wanted entertainment.

If the dark factions were going to stir up trouble, he would stay far away for a while.

Anyway, if the sky fell, the Loki Familia and the Freya Familia would hold it up, and failing them, there were still the Ganesha Familia and the Astraea Familia.

Of course, given how good his relationship with the Goddess of Justice had become, Renan didn't hide what had happened in the Dungeon that night.

"...And that's how it was. The dark factions suddenly ambushed Rivira. To protect myself, I worked with the Elephant God's Staff and killed one of their executives."

"Who exactly that person was, I don't know. But I'm sure the Guild and the Ganesha Familia will get to the bottom of it and let you know within the next couple of days."

Astraea raised an eyebrow at that.

She had seen long ago how distant the man beside her kept himself from Orario's gods, so his "none of my business" attitude didn't strike her as a problem.

In fact, if she hadn't spent all this time probing his emotional boundaries and pressing her advances without letting up, the two of them could never have become as close as they were now.

The corners of her mouth curved up, and she nuzzled Renan's cheek fondly. "There are only a handful of executives in the dark factions. No matter which one died, it's good news for Orario's ordinary people and adventurers alike."

"So, Renan, there's no need to put yourself down. In the eyes of anyone who knows the truth, you're a genuine 'hero,' you know~"

…

In the Pokémon world, the black-haired boy lying in bed quietly woke from his sleep.

I'm back again.

Renan turned his head and looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. Only two or three seconds had passed since he left.

His mind settled.

His goals for this trip to the Pokémon world were clear.

First, collect the remaining five badges he needed for the Indigo League, all of them if possible.

Second, buy a batch of venom produced by Poison-type Pokémon and take it to raise the level of his Development Ability, [Immunity].

Third, absorb the whole pile of intermediate Moon Stones in his backpack, so that the next time he updated his Falna, he could raise his five stats as much as possible.

If everything went smoothly, he could also buy several acres of farmland suited to cultivation somewhere between Cerulean City and Mt. Moon. That would let him grow his own berries and medicinal herbs, and make it easier to go into Mt. Moon to collect Moon Stones.