episode_0054

─Northmund is back!

─Did you succeed? What are you holding in your hand?

─Long live Elm Northmund, the great hero of the world!!

As I stepped out of the space with my tired body, the first thing that greeted me was warm sunlight. The summer in Western Europe was truly green and refreshing.

L’été arrive, et la vie deviant facile.

There is a saying in French that goes like this: When summer comes, life becomes easier.

Personally, I don’t like summer, but I wonder if it’s okay sometimes.

Warm sunlight, a blue sky with high clouds like the autumn sky, and a cool breeze.

A smile slowly formed on my lips.

Judging by the fact that the sun had moved slightly, it seemed like about two or three hours had passed since I entered the dungeon.

What greeted me after the bright blue days of summer was the shouts of people filling the field.

─Mr. Northmund! Take a look here!

─This way! Please take a look at this too! Please! Wow!

─Don’t push! Hey, don’t push!

This was followed by cheers from civilians. How on earth did you find out?

The report came to me about two hours after the dungeon occurred. Then, I immediately got ready and used the teleportation magic circle to go to Paris, France and drive for about 3 hours.

In other words, less than half a day has passed since the dungeon occurred, so how on earth did these civilians know about it and come here?

In addition, space distortions where monsters sometimes pop out right in front of you – the name dungeon has not yet spread – what kind of courage did you have to come here when a phenomenon occurs?

The soldiers were actually creating a cordon to block civilians from approaching.

To put it in a bad way, it could be seen as not understanding the situation that humanity is facing, but in a good way, it could be seen that the situation of humanity is not that bad from the perspective of citizens.

Is this a situation where GDO’s population control policy worked properly?

‘It’s a sight.’

It was a sight that needed no other description.

Something whispered in my head. Is it time to play my specialty again after a long time?

If so, I don’t know why, but I just follow what something in my head whispers.

“Northmund, just for a moment─”

I raised my hand to block the mouth of the soldier who appeared to be in charge of the situation who was approaching me, and then I hurried my steps towards the citizens.

The soldier left behind looks embarrassed.

“Wow!”

“Kyaaaa!”

As soon as they noticed that it was coming towards them, the civilians cheered loudly. Like the actions of top-class celebrities, fan management was essential for me as well.

When the soldiers used their bodies to create a cordon, they came rushing in and surrounded me.

I shivered slightly at the heat seeping through even the dragon’s thick scales and into my skin.

I saw an old man walking with difficulty, using a cane and being supported by a middle-aged man, so I lightly pushed away the crowd of fanboys and went to stand in front of him.

“Oh… Oh oh oh.”

With trembling hands, the old man takes out a magnifying glass from his inner pocket and puts it on his face. He was so moved by my visit to him that he even had tears in his eyes.

I held his hand, which seemed to have a slight tremor, and shook it lightly.

“Please correct me, old man. Elm Northmund.”

“Ah… It’s really nice to meet the world’s greatest hero… female… It’s an honor. ”

The old man lowers his head and bursts into tears, as if he was looking at the sun, as if it was so dazzling that he couldn’t even look at it.

Instead, I was so embarrassed that I almost lost my senses and helped him up.

Fortunately, the middle-aged man who was supporting the old man held him down, so he was able to avoid an ugly fall.

─Get out of the way! Hey, first of all, it’s out of the way!

A loud voice rang out from behind the people who flocked around me like moths looking for a shining light. It was a pair of voices, a man and a woman, and mixed in were the sound of a child crying.

Because the surroundings were so noisy, it wasn’t a big commotion, but it sounded like a newborn baby crying, so I waved people away.

“Heo-eok, heo-eok! Phew. paddle… Mr. Northmund.”

A man and woman who looked to be in their 20s walked towards me through the crowd, holding a baby in their arms.

The child seemed surprised by the pressure of the huge crowd and was crying loudly, so a blonde woman who appeared to be the mother comforted the child.

“… Did you bring the baby here?”

I muttered in a low voice, dumbfounded, as I looked at the two idiots standing in front of me. It was so absurd that it was a growling reply.

Aren’t they crazy bitches? Are you saying that you would bring a newborn baby to a place where there is a risk of these monsters running rampant?

What are you going to do if you get stampeded by the crowds that flock there? These guys have no qualifications to be parents.

Even though my red eyes are shining menacingly, they seem not to have grasped the situation and continue speaking in excited voices.

“No… Northmund! I really wanted to meet you! oh… Today, hehe, hehe, the reason I came despite being rude was because I had a favor to ask you.”

“What is it?”

The people around him are slightly agitated by his increasingly cold tone of voice.

There was a pink atmosphere of great excitement due to the grand event of seeing the world’s greatest hero, but people with good senses may have noticed it.

To be precise, I would have to say that my body froze at the faint life in my eyes.

However, the two people in front of me continued speaking with flushed faces as if they had not felt anything like that.

In some ways, they were people who were truly my opposite.

“No… Northmund! Please allow my son to use the name Elm!”

“… What?”

The slight vitality that had been flowing out of my body disappeared at once, and I, too, let out a laugh full of bewilderment.

“Please! Hero! I dare to name my son a hero!”

“… .”

This time, my mother begs me with her hands folded and clasped in a prayer position.

What kind of situation is this? Why dare you give me permission to name your own child? Isn’t this really absurd?

I was about to sigh in bewilderment at the pathetic words asked by my immature parents, but now I sensed a strange atmosphere flowing around me and turned on the tension switch.

Suddenly, not only them but also people around me were watching my mouth.

A strange excitement was rising from them like a haze, as if they were expecting the words to come out of my mouth.

“… Do whatever you want. There is no need to ask me for permission to even such trivial things─”

“Hurrah!!!”

A sudden cheer rose up, startling me so much that I almost dropped the dungeon loot I was holding.

I was about to become slightly angry beyond the absurdity of the situation where it seemed like everyone was making fun of me, when I turned my attention to a woman’s voice.

A woman with curly brown hair and glasses was filming this area with a small camera like a GoPro.

“I have a question for Northmund. So, are you saying that it is okay to use the names “Elm” or “Northmund” without permission from GDO? Is it okay to look at it that way?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

With a deep sense of fatigue flooding my mind, an unconfirmed answer popped out of my head,

Since there was nothing particularly objectionable about the content, it ended with me raising my hand and lightly touching my forehead.

To be exact, it was the body of a dragon, so he touched the two proud horns that sprouted from his head instead of his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

Judging from her words, it appears that GDO has continued to disallow the use of my name, “Elm Northmund.”

By the way, what time is it now, and it’s not even the Middle Ages, but are you saying that people are using famous people’s names?

… Or was it because I was from a medieval land called Grandis that they made me a Phihwi out of consideration for me? Anyway, either way, it was a useless consideration.

“Ah! My introduction is late. My name is Rania White, and I run a channel called “Fate Chaser”, which follows Elm’s footsteps on NewTube. You may not know me, Northmund, but this is already the 56th time I’ve seen you.”

“… ?”

Did you see all the question marks on my face? She grins and continues talking.

“Battle of Berlin, Naples, Lanchester, oh, this is Lanchester in America, not England. And you followed Northmund wherever he was, including New York, Mexico City, Cusco, Santiago, and Bombay? At this level, he’s no better than a war correspondent. Ahem!”

As if she was proud of that, she raised her glasses and stuck out her chest. I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept quiet, but he kept talking to me.

Doesn’t that mean you followed me around the whole world? Is that worth acknowledging?

“The channel has grown so much that it has branches all over the world. When monsters arise, you can find out faster than anyone else? Wouldn’t it be faster than the International Defense Organization? Because GDO is famous for not working. Hehehe. As soon as I heard there was a strange phenomenon in St. Omer, I came right away. I was in Paris at that time.”

“… .”

In other words, she was the one who caused this crowd to gather. When a notification was posted to the community, it was highly likely that people nearby came flocking to the area.

“Oh, by the way, can I ask you a few questions? First of all, what you are holding in your hand. Is that some kind of loot taken from this distorted space? If possible, please show it to me─”

It was then.

Fortunately, the heavens helped me when I was suddenly embarrassed to be pointed out for the loot I was trying to hide.

Pow!

The dungeon, which had been cleared and gradually disappearing, was destroyed and the space closed, accompanied by a huge explosion and a sonic boom rushing in this direction.

─Aaaah!

─What! What the heck!

There was no danger as the wind was caused by a contraction of space and did not cause significant physical damage, but the sudden change in situation caused panic among civilians.

The soldiers also responded by falling to the ground in shock, so I wonder if I’m the only one standing here now.

It’s your chance!

I gave a quick glance at the curly-haired channel operator who had fallen and was rolling on the floor, and then activated the teleport.

As the magic was activated, I could see her shouting in surprise across the fading plains of St. Omar.

─Now… wait for a sec! Wait!

I laughed out loud at the sight of her stretching out like a jellyfish swimming on the water as the space changed.

*

Back at the principal’s office, I was confronting Helen.

What separates us is a luxurious mahogany office desk. Above it, I could see the round sphere I had brought.

The sphere, which looked like something wandering tarot fortune tellers occasionally seen at festivals would have, was glowing red, and a black cloud-like energy was circulating inside.

And he left the red sphere on the desk and looked at it with Helen.

“This is the loot I brought from that dungeon.”

“Yes.”

I answered her words lightly.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find anything in the dungeon that could be called loot, which civilians generally think of.

Well, it was natural. The dungeon in the 『Kiss Siege Sense』 universe is not like the underground dungeon in medieval fantasy.

There are no gold coins pouring out when you open the door to the treasure room, or goblins throwing away the gold and running away when you hit them.

It is figuratively called a treasure trove of gold because it is possible to obtain precious things that are usually found only in the abyss dimension world.

In fact, it is a rare treat only in 2039, when the magical civilization is developed, and it is probably not worth much at present.

This could be said to be the same as oil being treated as just dirty black water before the Industrial Revolution.

‘And it turns out that even fossil fuels like oil don’t have much life left.’

At the time of the original work, most engineering had gone back to magic devices based on magic stones.

It may develop even faster in the current situation where the Middle East has been devastated by monsters and oil supply has become difficult.

“What is it used for? If it was brought by the Dean, a NewTube star who caused a worldwide sensation, then it must be of some use, right?”

“… Professor Burns.”

My face rots and she covers her lips with her index finger and chuckles.

It is true that things happened bigger than I thought.

It took a full day to use teleportation from the Omer Plains to a place where they could not be seen, take a vehicle provided by GDO, return to Paris, sleep, and then use the teleportation magic circle to return to Ellada.

-And I brought a huge storm in just one day.

“Did you plan on changing the names of all people around the world to Elm? Hehe. ah! There have been quite a few protest emails from the organization. Are you interested in reading them?”

“… .”

Did I underestimate the weight of being called the world’s hero?

Immediately after those words, the majority of newborns were named Elm, and applications for name change to Elm were flooding in from all over the world.

Because it is a slightly androgynous name, it is very popular regardless of gender.

It could almost be considered a cultural invasion by Grandis. Although Grandis was destroyed, is its culture very popular on Earth?

She smiled while drinking expensive tea and spoke again.

“Of course, the name is just a minor thing. The real reason the organization sent the protest email is because of this. I’m asking if what was posted on NewTube 6 hours ago is true.”

She takes out her smartphone, taps it with her finger, and shows a video posted on a NewTube channel.

The video thumbnail was a photo of Rania White asking a question to a troubled me, and underneath it there was something written in bright, fluorescent letters.

[The loot brought back by the great hero who entered and came out of the space distortion phenomenon?! Rania! Explore the phenomenon of space distortion! feat. From now on, it’s okay to use the name Elm!】

She taps the screen with her thumb to play the video and puts the smartphone on the desk.

I was momentarily distracted by the black nail polish on her fingernails. She seemed to know that I was looking at her hands and grinned at me.

She must have sensed that I was feeling a little sorry for her, and she sighed a little because she had become more sly and sarcastic these days.

“Why didn’t the organization delete the video?”

“It’s not that I didn’t do it, it’s that I couldn’t do it. He is a huge newtuber with over 20 million subscribers. As soon as I posted it, it had over 3 million views in less than 10 minutes? And listen carefully, important information will come out soon.”

Helen, speaking to me, lies down on the chair’s high-quality leather backrest and crosses her legs.

I sighed when I saw her savoring the fragrant tea, holding a tea saucer in one hand and a tea cup in the other.

‘I guess it’ll be okay. If it was a real threat, the organization would have done whatever it took to silence it. The fact that the video still exists proves that the content is not particularly dangerous.”

However, with my animal sense and looking at Helen’s attitude, I sensed that it might be a bit of a bother to me.

And that intuition erodes reality again. Unfortunately, my intuition is always right.

─Seeing that the Great Hero is holding something in his hand, I think it is a very valuable trophy. In other words, the space distortion phenomenon means that, unlike the gate, there may be some loot inside. Yes, it’s like the “dungeon” from the game! Something where you can get a reward if you clear it!

Curly hair in Helen’s cell phone video To her words ” Of course, I added that it was just my guess and it may not be ” ─ but I had no choice but to wrap my head around it again.

Even though they said they were my fan club, I was jealous because I thought it might have been a ploy to screw me over.

‘shit. I wanted to hide this from the organization.’

I clicked my tongue slightly as I looked at the marble on the desk.

The scent flowing from Helen’s teacup was tickling my nose.