Chronologically, this is a story of the hero's side from when Sasha left Sphereart and headed towards the Gardia Empire.

○○○ Haruto Sakuragi's perspective

On the third day since entering the great forest, the evil tribe that appeared was at least C-class or higher, and we continued to be on high alert.

"Fujiyama, are we heading in the right direction towards the Great Wind Spirit's location?"

We were given a magical tool that looked like a compass to guide us to the Elven country of Sylphiel en route to the Great Forest. The forest was filled with many evil tribes, and our sense of direction was thrown off. In fact, since we were surrounded by trees in all directions, our sense of direction was completely lost. That's where this magical tool comes in handy. It looks like a compass, but by imbuing it with an attribute, it points towards the direction of the temple of each attribute. This time, we imbued it with the wind attribute, so it is pointing towards the direction of the temple of the wind in the capital of the Elven country.

"We're going in the right direction. Ah, I want to eat croquettes.”

“Well, then, let's eat while running, Yumi?”

“Stop it, both of you. The smell will attract the evil tribes."

It seems Kubo warned Shimazaki and Fujiyama. How much do they like fried food? I heard before that they became addicted to fried food after being treated to it several times at Shimizu's house. He also said that jogging every morning is part of his daily routine to avoid getting fat. I want to try Shimizu's fried food too.

Hmm, is that a spirit over there?

"Everyone, stop. A spirit has appeared.”

“Thank you for stopping. I am the Wind Spirit. You guys are the party of the hero and the saintess, right?"

This girl is the Wind Spirit. She's a cute little girl about 30cm tall.

"Wow, she's cute!"

Shimazaki and Fukiyama seem to like her at first sight too.

"I'm Haruto Sakuragi, the hero."

After everyone finished their self-introductions, the spirit began to speak.

"You see, I'm sorry to say this while you're on your way to the Wind Temple, but all the spirits are currently weakened and unable to lend their power to the hero."

"Huh, all the spirits are weakened? I've never heard of that before. Did something happen to Goddess Sphere?"

"I'm sorry, even the Spirit King is confused right now, so I can't tell you the reason. Anyway, please go to the Wind Temple and talk to the Wind Great Spirit about it."

"What? Did you just have a sad expression on your face?"

"Hey, wait a minute. If the spirits are weakening, does that mean the holy sword can't be imbued with spirit power?"

"I'm afraid not for now. But in a little while, that person should become that and then their power will go up even more, so please wait a little longer."

"'That person'? 'That'?"

"Oh! I wasn't supposed to say anything yet. Anyway, go meet the Wind Great Spirit. See you later~"

Without waiting for a response, she quickly went away.

"Hey, she didn't tell us anything about the weakening. Did Kubo hear it?"

"No, probably even the Thermia Kingdom leaders don't know about it."

"For now, let's go meet the Wind Great Spirit. It seems like the situation is more serious than we thought."

Weakening of the spirits, that person will become that... From the way the spirits speak, that person should be an ally, and she mentioned that the weakening problem may also be resolved. First, meeting the Wind Great Spirit is a top priority.

---

Looks like we're being followed.

"Ryuzaki."

"Yeah, I know. We're being followed. From their presence, it seems like they're from the Evil tribe. What should we do?"

"If possible, let's go to a slightly open area. If there are trees, unexpected attacks could be dangerous."

"Good point."

After discussing with Kubo, Shimazaki, and Fukiyama, they found a slightly open place and waited for the Evil tribe to come. After a while, three Evil tribe members appeared. They were bipedal, about 2 meters tall, and were similar to Lizardmen in type. However, it's clear that their evil power is Class A, they're strong. One of them had a sword and shield, one had a staff, and the other had no weapons, so he was probably a bare-handed fighter. Judging from their presence, the bare-handed fighter is probably the weakest. The swordsman seems to be the toughest.

"Hey, why don't you say something instead of staying quiet!"

"Ryuzaki, don't provoke them."

"I know, Sakuragi. But these guys are probably Class A. It's creepy that they don't introduce themselves."

The evil tribe with bare hands stepped forward a little.

"Oh brave hero, shall we have a match first?”

“Yeah, sure. Bring it on!"

As soon as he said that, he rushed towards me. Hey hey, does he want to tackle me? He's quite fast, but I can easily block his attack with my shield. As I was about to block his attack with my shield,

"Pah!”

“What! Guaaaaah!"

Juu~

He spat something from his mouth. It got right into my eyes!

"Sakuragi!”

“The ones who will fight against you are us! Kaa!"

Kubo and the others have started fighting too?

Zun

"Guh!"

Ah, I got hit right in the stomach. My eyes hurt! Damn, don't panic! What's the situation? Are Ryuzaki and the others fighting against the swordsmen and the evil spellcasters of the evil tribe?

What the! Suddenly, the presence from the front became stronger. Wait a minute, did that guy with bare hands intentionally suppress his presence!

"Guh, gah!"

This guy is strong.

"Haaa!"

I tried to slash him relying on his presence, but it still didn't hit.

"Uh, ah, aaaaahhh!”

“Uwaaaa! Stop, ah, gaga!”

“Shimazaki, Fukiyama~~! You guys!”

“Wait! I'll help you now."

"You guys are fighting against me.”

“Damn, don't get in the way!”

“These guys are too good at coordination."

What was that just now, was it the voice of Ryuzaki and Shimazaki? This is bad, at this rate, we'll all be wiped out!

"What are you looking at? Pah!"

Juu~

"Guaaah!"

Damn, did he hurt my right wrist this time? I can't hold the Holy Sword. Damn, what should I do, what can I do!

"Kaa!"

Damn, his attack should be light, but my body is getting heavier and heavier. I see, he's aiming for my vital points.

"Guh, gah!"

These guys won't give us a chance to think.

"Kuhahaha, brave hero, how pitiful. To become this battered just by being defeated, it's a shame you won't be able to see us kill these two women."

"What did you say!”

“You, isn't that too cowardly!”

“Damn it, they planned this strategy."

Are Ryuzaki and Kubo safe, and did Shimazaki and Fukiyama become hostages?

"Fuhahaha! Cowardly? Are you all fools? For us of the Evil tribe, the Hero and the Saintess are natural enemies. We must kill them by any means necessary. Cowardice, we'll take it as a compliment. Farewell, Saintess."

"Nooooo!”

“Shimazaki~~ Fukiyama~~"

"What happened? It suddenly got quiet."

"You, rest for a while and cool your head."

Bam

"Huh, who's there? My consciousness--"

"---"

"Uuu, where am I? Right, what happened to the Evil tribe?"

"Your consciousness has returned, that's great! Sakuragi, are your eyes okay?"

Shimazaki was safe. Wait, my eyes? Ah, they can see?

"Huh? Why?"

"Riffia used 'Max Heal' to heal you."

I turned to where the voice came from and saw two strangers, a man with sharp red eyes and a woman with beautiful blue hair.

"Did you save us?”

“Yeah, that's right. I'm Burn Veil.”

“I'm Riffia Rose."

"Thank you for helping us. I'm Haruto Sakuragi. Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, we were saved by Burn-san and Riffia-san."

"Sorry, everyone. I was caught off guard, and our coordination fell apart.”

“If anything, that's the least of our problems. Well, we've been telling Shinya (Ryuzaki), Yoshiki (Kubo), Yumi (Fukiyama), and Mika (Shimazaki) all along, but if anyone is taking responsibility for this, it's you, Haruto. We've been watching from the beginning. Are you stupid? You can't seriously think that you can have a real serious match like a human when you're asked to spar. They're the Evil tribe, they'll definitely use underhanded methods. Besides, you got confused just because you lost your sight, and put your comrades in danger. You were completely caught in the enemy's trap."

I couldn't argue with that.

"I'm sorry. It's completely my fault."

"Burn, I'm reflecting on what happened. You don't need to lecture me anymore. We're safe and sound, so let's just think of this as a good learning experience."

"Well, I guess you're right. Let's not get too angry about this. However, we need to investigate what caused this situation and make sure it doesn't happen again."

Burn is right. Under normal circumstances, even if I couldn't see, I should have been able to sense the opponent's presence or the movements of their evil power. However, I was caught off guard by suddenly losing my vision and became confused, without any time to think. I was completely defeated. The cause of this was my lack of actual combat experience.

Looking at Kubo and the others, it seems like they all thought the same thing as me. I looked at everyone and we nodded at each other.

"Please, Burn-san and Riffia-san, train us! We're counting on you!"

"Ah, everyone is of the same opinion at times like this."

"Haha, don't worry. You've all become stronger, but you still lack a significant amount of actual combat experience. The king of Thermia has judged that there's a risk of you being played around with and killed by the evil tribe in the Great Forest if things continue like this. That's why we came here to make up for it."

Wow, the king of Thermia was actually considering us to that extent! Thank you! (Actually, it's a bit different.)

"Everyone, let's reflect on this failure and use it to our advantage. Let's become even stronger!"

"Yes, sir!"

We will become even stronger!