'I never expected Nellin to go to the Holy City. Well, if she heard the news, of course she would...'

While Claire was taking a nap in her inn room to recover from the tiring carriage journey, Smartass was thinking about Nellin's actions and what would come of them.

'Nellin leaving Green Elf Forest at all was unexpected to begin with.'

When he first brought the slime to his secret workshop, he had never dreamed that Nellin would leave the forest herself.

He considered what Nellin would do once she reached the Holy City. Judging by the circumstances, she must have taken Godric's Party, who had met the slime, along with her.

'She's probably training them as they travel together.'

But no matter how much she trained them, they couldn't possibly become as strong as he and his companions had been back then overnight. When it was time for Nellin to get serious, she would undoubtedly tell Godric's Party to stay put, so there was no need to worry about them getting dragged into danger.

'Knowing Nellin, she won't back down easily until she's seen things through.'

Meeting Fresia in the Holy City would only fire her up further. The slime was one thing, but Nellin certainly wouldn't leave a far more dangerous creature like a lich alone.

'Fresia and I were the ones who taught her how dangerous liches are.'

["A lich? I'll put an arrow right through that bastard's skull!"]

Smartass unconsciously rubbed the forehead of his skull.

"Hah... If Nellin gets involved too, I can't just sit here."

By now, the Holy City's investigation teams would be looking into the slime as well as searching for the lich. Of course, he would be their main focus. The slime would be an afterthought.

But what if Nellin, who had defeated the calamity, joined them? The teams might get carried away with enthusiasm and start actively searching for the slime too. The problem was that he could only hope their excessive zeal stopped at finding it.

'There are plenty of extremists among the Holy City's investigation teams.'

Even if they found the slime, it was a slime that had been with a lich. The next Saintess could be in danger! This is all for the Saintess! They might jump to their own conclusions like that and attack it.

Of course, the slime wouldn't take it lying down, but things could become even more tangled from that point on.

'In that case, coming out first myself would be the safest option for Squishy.'

He never entertained the possibility that the investigation teams would discover his secret workshop. Tracking Smartass when he could use Warp would be impossible in the first place.

Under those circumstances, if the overzealous investigators found the slime before they found him, things were unlikely to proceed peacefully.

'Then how should I make my next appearance... Hmm?'

As he was making plans, Smartass suddenly tilted his head at his own thoughts, then burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha! To think I'd be so eager to consider going outside!"

Thirty years had passed since he became a lich. At first, he had been so absorbed in the new concept called the system that he lost track of time. Thanks to that, much of his hatred for humans had subsided.

Yet even after his hatred faded, he made no attempt to leave his workshop. From the moment it subsided, exploring the system became nothing more than an excuse.

He could have gone to the Mage Tower sooner and revealed the truth. Or he could have appeared before his surviving companions and told them everything. But he hadn't. There was fear in a corner of his heart.

How would his companions accept him now that he had become a monster? Even if he retained his reason as he did now, wouldn't they turn their staff, bow, and sword on him? That hesitation and fear had held him back.

'It was a foolish thing to think.'

They might react that way at first. But once they started talking, the misunderstanding would clear up. The companions he knew were people of that character.

He had simply let his own hesitation and anxiety keep him pathetically holed up all this time. Smartass could now accept his own weakness.

He thought it was thanks to the slime that he could think this way at all. Through its stream, he had been able to see his companions as they were now.

Nellin was still as easygoing as ever. Fresia had aged, but her kindness hadn't changed. Seeing them had awakened a desire in him to meet his companions again.

Then he had gone outside to save the slime, and afterward, as he went out every day to procure meat for its meals, a thought occurred to him. Hmm. Going outside isn't such a big deal, is it?

As going outside naturally became a regular occurrence, his past self, who had been so reluctant to leave, seemed foolish instead. Now, Smartass was no longer afraid of showing himself to his companions. Rather, he wanted to find a way to show them how much stronger he had become.

'I haven't just been sitting around in my secret workshop watching streams.'

In his secret workshop, Smartass had completed not only the Warp spell, but every spell he had been researching while alive. Since he never went outside, he had more than enough time for magical research. He didn't need sleep, and without fatigue, nothing broke his concentration.

'As I am now, I could take on Nellin, Fresia, and even the current Paladin all at once, by myself!'

Perhaps because he had easily hunted monsters that had given him some trouble fighting alone while alive as he gathered food for the slime, his confidence was now exceptionally high.

There was no need to hastily put on an act as he had when he appeared at the Mage Tower. This time, he would be facing his companions.

'I could invite them to my secret workshop afterward! It's still clean thanks to Squishy, so they won't call it filthy.'

Smartass was full of thoughts of catching up with them after a little contest of strength.

+++

Nellin arrived in the Holy City with Godric's Party. The moment they arrived, she told them,

"Oh, right. Get ready for a big surprise today."

"What?"

"R-ready for a surprise?"

"Where did that come from? What do you mean?"

"Heh, don't tell me you're starting a hellish training regimen here in the Holy City?"

"No, I'm not. So stop shaking, Hawein. You're scaring yourself with your own words."

"Whew."

Nellin grinned at Godric's Party, who were behaving just as they always did.

"Just follow me. We won't need to book an inn anyway."

"We won't need an inn?"

"Aren't we staying at that friend's house?"

"Wow. Th-they must be pretty well-off."

"Tsk, tsk. They hold a fairly important position, so their house must be big too."

"Hehehe. Yeah, it's a big house, all right."

Naturally, Nellin headed for the Great Church.

"Whew, this place is still damn huge."

"Big Sis Marin. Even so, saying that right in front of the Great Church is a little..."

"It's big, so I'm calling it big. What else should I say? Godric, you're strangely timid about things like this."

"Please call it having manners."

Marin entered the Great Church and looked around.

"Her room was definitely... this way, right?"

Nellin headed without hesitation toward the Saintess's room. However, a worshipper guarding the passage blocked her path.

"Please stop. Only authorized personnel may proceed beyond this point."

"Oh, well, I'm here to see a friend."

"A friend, you say?"

"Yeah."

"May I have your friend's name?"

"Fresia."

"Pardon?"

"I said Fresia."

The worshipper blinked as Nellin repeated Fresia's name. An elf confidently declaring that the Great Church's revered Saintess was her friend. An elf with blue hair and blue eyes. That appearance alone naturally brought to mind the legendary hero Nellin, The Starlight Archer.

But as the person on guard duty, he couldn't let her through without properly verifying her identity.

"May I ask your name...?"

"Y-you!"

As the worshipper was about to ask Nellin's name, an elderly man's startled voice came from behind him.

He turned to see who it was.

"High Priest David?"

"What are you doing here...?!"

High Priest David was staring at Nellin in astonishment, his mouth hanging open.

"David? Hmm? Hmmm... Oh. Don't tell me you're that scaredy-cat? Wow, you really have gotten old."

"S-scaredy-cat?! Do not speak so disrespectfully to the High Priest!"

"Wow, you made it all the way to High Priest? You've really moved up in the world. Really moved up. Come to think of it, Fresia did say you were diligent. I heard you can get ahead in the Great Church if you work hard and put in the years. Guess it was true, huh?"

As Nellin continued speaking freely, paying no heed to the worshipper's protest, High Priest David cleared his throat.

"Ahem! Please refrain from saying such things in front of others!"

"Hehehe. Well, look at you. Now that you're an old man, you're trying to preserve your dignity? Why? Going to bravely lecture me like you did when we first met?"

"It is because I am a High Priest. More importantly, please don't dwell too much on my youthful indiscretions. Whew."

High Priest David sighed, then faced Nellin.

"It has been a long time, Lady Nellin."

"Yeah, it has."

"Nellin?"

Godric's Party, who had been quietly watching from behind her, tilted their heads at the name the High Priest had used.

"What brings you to the Great Church?"

"I heard some powerful bag of bones showed up at the Mage Tower. Knowing Fresia, would she just sit back and watch? I came to help."

"Ah, so that was indeed your reason. To think you would come in person so soon."

"My friend's having a rough time. I've got affection and loyalty, you know. Right?"

"Your manner of speaking is as unreserved as ever. Could you not speak with a little more decorum?"

Nellin scratched her head at High Priest David's words.

"Oh, come on. Just because you've got wrinkles, don't start sounding like my old lady. Anyway, I'm going to see Fresia. Can I go through?"

"Of course. Ah, Saintess Fresia's room is no longer where it used to be, so I shall guide you."

"Oh, thanks, then. Let's go, boys."

"... Who are the people behind you?"

"The lackeys I'm putting through their paces right now."

High Priest David looked at Godric and his companions with pity.

"You must be having a difficult time."

High Priest David turned and proceeded onward, and Nellin followed. As the party walked behind her through the passage, Godric spoke to Nellin on everyone's behalf.

"B-Big Sis Marin."

"Yeah?"

"Is your real name actually Nellin? Th-the legendary hero, The Starlight Archer?"

"Yeah."

Nellin glanced back at Godric and his companions, flashing her white teeth in a grin.

"Hehe. I told you. You'd be in for a big surprise."

Having overheard their conversation, High Priest David addressed Nellin without stopping.

"Lady Nellin, have you been hiding your identity all this time?"

"I was going to tell them everything later. Who knew things would turn out like this?"

"Heh. The biography was a pack of lies."

"What do you mean by that, Hawein?"

"They say The Starlight Archer has an upright and beautiful heart, Big Sis Marin."