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Volume 5 Trouble File First Half Part 1

Robbed of his name, robbed of his family and deprived of his land, he had no choice but to become a fugitive, go into hiding and assume a new name for himself.

「I. . . . am「 Ishi」.」

* * *

「Northeastern boundary wall」 .

The memorial service was being held in the City of Red Cliffs where the 「Rise of the Fire Dragon」Festival was once held. The flags of the Communities that have participated in the battle against the Demon Lord that invaded the Festival were hung on the tips of the spires of the tallest building in the city in order to honor their deeds and involvement in the defeat of Black Percher,「The Demon Lord of Black Plague」and the leader of the 『Grim Grimoire Hamelin』 Community. The flags that have been placed at the highest position were as follows:

The red background flag of the 『No Name』 the Community that defeated the strongest Demon Lord in Little Garden, 『Absolute Evil』 Azi-Dahaka.

The blazing blue flame flag of the 『Will-O-Wisp』 , a Community composed mainly of ghosts and lost spirits, known for their crafted merchandise and their involvement in Diamond Ore smelting and Gift-repairing services.
And the flag of the 『Salamandra』 Community with their namesake etched onto it. They are the Community that the current 「Floor Master」of the North Side, Sandora Doltrake belongs to. Without them and their swift and decisive actions during the Black Percher’s invasion, the number of civilian casualties would have been much greater than it ultimately was, but thanks to them they have been minimalized as much as possible, allowing the menbers of the 『No Name』 to focus on fighting and defeating the threat that 「The Demon Lord of the black Plague」posed not only to the city and the 「Rise of the Fire Dragon」Festival, but to the entire North Side as well.

At the end of the memorial service, where the 「Floor Masters」 of each side and their regional rulers thanked the heroes of the battle that took place that day, the proceedings have been closed with a declaration that no efforts will be spared in rebuilding the cities and Communities who were harmed not only in that attack, but throughout the entire war against the Demon Lords of the 『Uroboros Demon Lord Alliance』 as well, which was then followed by the reading of the names of all those who lost their lives to the Black Plague that Black Percher brought down upon the city, and then that was it. Now that his official duties were over and he was finally free to go wherever he wanted, The Saurian Demon Lord, Kouryuu, made his way towards the inn where the members of the 『No Name』 were supposed to be staying. And now, sitting in the inn’s teahouse section with his club resting on one of his shoulders, Kouryuu let out a deep and heavy sigh as he massaged his other shoulder.

「Damn, it has been a while since I had to attend such a big formal event, so now my shoulders are all stiff.

「Oioi, you should stop complaining and simply tough it out. That ceremony was held so that we could mourn all the casualties and those who have been lost during those tragic events, so the least you could do is to show some empathy and not act so unscrupulous for one, do you not think?」

「That should be my line. I came to see you guys precisely because it was supposed to be a mournful event, and what do I see the moment I arrive? That you are basically having an entire banquet over here!」

Kouryuu pointed his finger to the other side of the teahouse while sounding both angry and amazed. And he was right, because the entire inn looked like it had banquets organized both for the visitors from the East and the West Sides. The tables had a wide variety of wines and light snacks and meals placed upon them, and right next to them were low desks on tatami mats which had bottles of various kinds of sake prepared for those who were not too fond of western types of alcohol. It could have been argued whether organizing such banquets right now was a good thing or a bad thing. But looking at all the guests that have gathered here today, it could e clearly seen that even though the occasion was not entirely a joyous one, the reception was quite positive overall.

After all, it is important to honor the memory of the dead, but just because they need to be paid their respects does not mean that the living should be staying depressed on their behalf forever. As the ones who have faced the disaster of the Demon Lord attack and survived through it to live and see another day, it was now their duty to make sure that they will not squander their lives and live each and every day to its absolute fullest, no matter what those days may bring. And what better place to start honoring the fact that you are alive here and now than an inn, where you can enjoy the taste of delicious meals and drinks while sharing both the joys and pains of living together with others? Sitting at one of the tables together with Sakamaki Izayoi and sipping hot tea from his teacup, that is the scenery that Kouryuu was now looking at.

「That being said, I have to admit that it is quite amazing that you guys from 『No Name』 have managed to emerge from so many life-or-death situations practically unscratched, because under any normal circumstances, battling even a single Demon Lords should have resulted in the ranks of your Community getting reduced to at least half of what it originally was, and yet here you are, all of the members of the new 『No Name』, alive and well.」

「I can definitely see what you are getting at, and normally, it should have been exactly like you said. When going out against a Demon Lord, casualties and death are about the only two things that can be expected to happen with absolute certainty, but I think that in our case luck was also a huge factor, because for every one of our major battles, there were always other people whose blood ended up getting shed instead of ours. In this particular case, it ended up being the blood of those from both 『Will-O-Wisp』 and 『Salamandra』.」

Izayoi also took a solid sip of his tea. Looks like he was not the only one who was immersed in deep thoughts while looking at the hustle and bustle of the banquet hall. Out of all the people who were gathered here today, he was the one who best understood that he would never have won the battle against the Three-Headed Dragon Demon Lord if it was not for the help that he has received from others. If the outcome of that decisive battle ended up being different and he would have been just a little older, then he would definitely be drowning his pains and sorrows in alcohol right now, but whether you attribute it to sheer coincidence or fate smiling down upon them, thankfully there was no need for him to do that.

That way, he could focus entirely on honoring the dead in the most appropriate way possible: by sitting and contemplating the sacrifices of those who have died so that he and his comrades could be here today in virtuous silence while listening to the words of wisdom that Kouryuu was now sharing with him.

But then. . . . .

「Hey, did you guys hear that?! They organized an all-you-can-eat contest at the table over there, and now a girl who has won five consecutive games in a row and a guy who looks like a big idiot are having a one-on-one no holds barred square-off!」

「Seriously?! That fourteen-years old girl with short hair could really stuff so much food inside of her?! What is she, some kind of gluttonous monster?!!」

「I do not know, but she is definitely one those few who contributed to the success of the battle against that Demon Lord, but I wonder to which Community such a crazy eater can belong to.」

「. . . . . . 」