I am Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes.

Rick couldn't even make a sound and almost collapsed in pain, but Kron seemed unwilling to let him fall so easily. He grabbed Rick's chest and yelled at him angrily.

"You! You went out for five days without a word, and even took the travelers with you! How much worry do you want from everyone to satisfy you?!"

Kron shook Rick violently and shouted, and Rick foamed at the mouth before he could even refute her.

at this time.

Kron suddenly stopped moving.

"Where did this child come from! So cute!!!"

She immediately tossed Rick aside and quickly hugged Huggie.

Then, with a grin, he shifted his gaze to Rick, who was coughing violently.

"What, Rick? If you're going to find a wife, just say so!"

"Kron, are you out of your mind? In this day and age, what idiot would travel five days to find his wife?"

The traveler on one side had dead fish eyes.

Rick, you're the idiot.

Rick gave a cold reply, but Kron nudged him with his elbow and continued, "Seriously~ Don't be shy~ In this era, the most important thing is to have children, the second is food! And then the third, fourth, and fifth are all about having children!"

Traveler's Dead Fish Eyes x2.

—And what about you?

Rick and the traveler's thoughts were in sync for once.

Rick wanted to say that, but he swallowed the words back.

"But Rick showed absolutely no signs of that, which worried me a lot! I won't get in the way, you two can have some fun in the bathhouse—"

"...Don't make random gestures with your hands."

Seeing Kron sticking his thumb out from between his index and middle fingers, Rick couldn't help but clutch his head in annoyance.

"I mean...wouldn't people usually think of her as a survivor from a destroyed village?"

At this moment, it seemed that he had finally come to his senses, and Kron stopped moving in surprise.

Then, her attitude changed, and she asked with a submissive expression, "--Is that so?"

Is this the prelude to Kron's anger? The traveler yawned.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Rick sensed something was wrong—but there was nothing he could do about it.

Since that's the case, we have no choice but to force our way through. Rick made up his mind and said, "After deciphering the goblin map, I found that a battle had taken place two and a half days' journey by horseback, and there should be a small settlement nearby—so I went to check it out."

That's not a lie.

According to that map, a settlement disappeared due to a war between the goblin and demon races.

That was two years ago.

Rick is the only one in this settlement who can understand goblin language—so he won't be exposed.

Actually... there are also travelers. Travelers have the blessing of language, so they can understand any language.

But travelers don't need to expose this lie.

"So you invited the traveler to come along?" Kron asked.

"Don't worry, the journey is very safe, there won't be any problems at all," the traveler said with a smile, helping Rick smooth things over.

"Never mind... Anyway, it's good that you're back safe and sound." Kron sighed helplessly, then looked at Shubi.

"I'm so sorry—you must have encountered something very unfortunate... What's your name?"

“...Shubi..."

Hugh responded according to Rick's instructions and settings.

She feigned fear and hid behind Rick to answer.

Seeing her expression, Kron smiled and nodded, then continued, "Don't worry, it's safe here because Rick is here. But how did you and Rick meet?"

Rick thought to himself—that question probably wasn't malicious.

She was merely somewhat interested and used this question as a starting point to make the conversation flow smoothly. Or perhaps she was simply curious because she saw Shubi's calm demeanor despite losing the settlement—

Seeing that Shubi was speechless for a moment, Rick winked at her, signaling her to "play along with my lines."

However—as a mech, she naturally couldn't understand what Rick meant.

"...Shubi...kissing...forced...reproductive acts..."

——Okay, here's the question.

From this statement, who can tell who is engaging in reproductive acts with whom?

Upon noticing the gazes of the crowd, the traveler raised his hands and said, "It wasn't me, it was Rick."

Very good, you've done a great job selling your teammates.

The traveler quickly stepped aside, indicating his innocence.

And so, with Kron's sharp, heavy steps forward—

With a voice the traveler couldn't quite make out, followed by an iron fist, Rick was knocked out.

……

The traveler returned to his room.

"Ugh!" He lifted his sleeve, revealing a burn scar on his arm.

"...The corrosion of the spirit remains is stronger than I imagined."

Because of their "holiness," travelers have several times the recovery power and appetite of others.

Fortunately, he had that Noble Phantasm, a gift from that friend.

With the Bale of Inexhaustibility, he could also distribute the food to the people in the settlement, and there was another bag containing dried meat.

At that moment, the door was pushed open, and the traveler hurriedly pulled up his sleeves.

The one poking its head in was Kron.

"Kron, is something the matter?"

"Hey? Traveler, what are you doing?"

Seeing the traveler's somewhat flustered appearance, Kron asked.

"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing. I just remembered there was something I almost forgot... Hahahaha..." the traveler laughed.

“Oh, right… I’m sorry, Rick caused you trouble,” Kron said, “asking you to indulge his whims and stuff.”

"...How could that be? I've narrowly escaped death more than a dozen times." The traveler smiled. "Is there anything else?"

"No, it's alright, traveler, you should get some rest."

"Yes." The traveler smiled and waved.

After Kron left, the traveler once again pulled up his sleeves.

The burn scars carried a pungent, magical scent that would be irresistible to any traveler.

"...Are you kidding me? It's already this polluted..."

The traveler frowned. "No... we have to cut this piece off."

A sharp short sword appeared in his hand, its blade flashing—

Blood splattered out, and a small piece of burned flesh was shaved off.

The traveler's face showed no change in expression.

The short sword in his hand was a weapon with dissolving power, which allowed him to carve a piece of flesh from the arm of the holy incarnation.

He wrapped the bandage around his arm, then picked up the rice ball made from the rice he had previously given out and put it in his mouth to chew.

"...What should I...do...?"

……

half a month later.

……

"Rick, it's rare that you would invite me to come and play?" The traveler watched as the white-haired boy pushed open the door.

“Hey, traveler…” Rick looked at the traveler, “How much do you know about this world?”

"...Everything. If I want to know, I can ask the world any question from my own perspective. But I can't answer questions about the unique knowledge of other races, like magic." The traveler snapped his fingers. "Because, even if I told you, you wouldn't know."

“Are you even human?” Rick asked, frowning.

"Haha, you're not the first to say that." The traveler took out a chessboard. "Well then, let's play a game. You can ask me any question, and if you win, I'll tell you the answer."

"Why are you like this too..."

"Looks like you and Shubi did something loving."

"Your statement is terrible."

"Isn't this just playing games? What's wrong with playing chess or something like that?"

The traveler asked in return with a smile.

“…No, it’s alright.” Rick said somewhat helplessly. “Hey, Traveler, tell me, how can this war be ended?”

"...That's the first question, so..."

The traveler quickly set up the chessboard. "Let the game begin!"

……

Time passed, and about a year went by.

The traveler calculated that it had been more than 300 days, which is almost a year.

Then one day...

"Richard! Something terrible has happened! We've spotted six dragon spirits and a large fleet of goblin creatures heading this way through our telescopes!"