A room on the third floor of the Xiaye Chamber of Commerce.

"My Lady, today's newspaper."

Ai Hayasaka, dressed in a modified black-and-white maid outfit, set a still-ink-scented paper gently onto the desk.

Over recent weeks, funded by profits from monopolizing dairy and seafood, the Xiaye Chamber of Commerce had begun expanding into other fields.

Periodicals were one of them.

Information moved slowly in this era. Major events could still spread through bard songs, but things that happened within a single region often died there, unknown just one village over.

For Kaguya Shinomiya, forged in the crucible of modern corporate warfare, controlling intelligence and public narrative was the next territory the chamber had to seize and hold.

Magic bridged the gap that history couldn't. The Industrial Revolution was still centuries away, yet this world's papermaking technology had already blown past the Middle Ages entirely.

Hiring professional mages for something like this was a luxury, naturally.

But if you framed it as practical training for magic apprentices, it became a perfectly respectable job. They sharpened their mana control. They earned solid pay. Everyone won.

Most mages had too much pride for that kind of "lowly" work, of course. But the Xiaye Chamber of Commerce happened to have taken in a great many orphans who had no such pride to speak of.

Add in the instruction of a certain blue-haired girl, and the chamber now had quite a few apprentices under its roof. Their future ceiling might not be particularly high, but for something like running a printing operation? More than sufficient.

The papers weren't cheap. But the wealthy merchants and nobles of the inner city were willing to pay, if only out of respect for the hero. Over time it became routine: a few silver coins a week, in exchange for a reliable summary of what was happening inside and outside the city walls.

"Lady Kaguya, there is one more thing..." Ai Hayasaka hesitated a moment before continuing in a low voice. "Bards coming down from the north are singing about a major event. Something recent."

"What event?" Kaguya Shinomiya raised her crimson eyes, looking toward Ai Hayasaka with a slight frown.

Bard songs hadn't been verified. Why bring this up before checking the facts?

"It concerns Mr. Banxia."

"..." Kaguya Shinomiya paused. Then she nodded, signaling Ai Hayasaka to go on.

"According to the bards, Mr. Banxia didn't take a detour. He went straight to the first Human Forbidden Area marked on the map, and in a single day he dealt with the monster everyone had been talking about — Xiaoyan." Ai Hayasaka's voice carried a quiet note of feeling. "The curse that had plagued that region for hundreds of years has been completely eradicated."

"Mr. Banxia really is..." Kaguya Shinomiya let out a soft sigh.

Ever since they first met, that young man had always been like this in her mind: a genuine do-gooder who asked for nothing in return, who punished evil and protected the innocent without any fuss. There had been misunderstandings along the way, but at his core, he simply was that kind of person.

Merciless toward evildoers. Toward the innocent, always carrying that easy, offhand gentleness.

"The bards also report — based on accounts from travelers along the road — that Mr. Banxia intends to continue heading north through the Human Forbidden Areas." Ai Hayasaka relayed everything gathered.

There were, of course, a few rumors circulating that reflected poorly on Mr. Banxia's reputation. Those, Ai Hayasaka had not passed on to the young lady.

Garbage intelligence. Not worth the breath.

For instance: someone in the city had recently dug up that so-called "Interspecies Review Guide Hand-Penned by Hero Banxia", the one posted in a tavern last year, and was spreading it around as though it were genuine.

Something that obviously fake didn't need a second look. Ai Hayasaka had already paid a small sum to have the inner city guards track down every copy and burn them.

Someone like Mr. Banxia writing something like that? Impossible.

Ai Hayasaka held that thought behind a perfectly composed maid's expression.

"In that case." Kaguya Shinomiya considered briefly. "Make Mr. Banxia's achievement the front-page headline for this week's paper."

He probably didn't care about recognition. But she considered it necessary.

There were times when doing good deeds without leaving a name backfired. The foolish masses wouldn't feel gratitude, they'd twist the story, call it a scheme, find sinister motives in plain generosity. She had been raised to plan for the worst in every situation, without exception.

"Understood, My Lady." Ai Hayasaka acknowledged it, then continued. "There is one more matter."

"Speak."

"Regarding Miss Roxy's compensation, she recently updated her rank badge at the Adventurers' Guild. Would you like to..."

"I understand." Kaguya Shinomiya gave a slight nod. "We'll go to Mr. Banxia's house together later and speak with her directly."

"This..." Ai Hayasaka stole a quick glance at the young lady's perfectly unruffled face.

For the Xiaye Chamber of Commerce at its current scale, even if Miss Roxy had become a Platinum-rank adventurer, paying her fee was nothing, it barely registered. There was no reason the chamber's president needed to make a personal visit.

Upholding the workplace philosophy of seeing through things without saying so, the blonde maid bowed slightly.

"Understood, Lady Kaguya. I'll have the carriage prepared."

"Mm."

...

Alterna. Banxia's residence.

Roxy was tidying the room with the elf while Banxia sat alone in the living room.

His stomach kept making noises at irregular intervals, and it was making him surprisingly restless, not something that happened to him often.

"No good. I need something else to focus on." He muttered to himself and, with a thought, pulled up his system panel.

[Heaven Rewards Diligence, perseverance bears fruit.]

[Current Skills: Return to Fundamentals (Chroma) lv.1, Sacred Spirit Affinity (Chroma) lv.1, Hundred-Forged Body (Chroma) lv.2, Blade Body (Chroma) lv.1, Realm of Clarity (Chroma) lv.2, Rejuvenation (Chroma) lv.1, Wrath of Finality lv.3, Mana Concealment lv.3, Magic to Show Fond Memories lv.3...]

[Current Remaining Time: 526 Years.]

[Held Monster Time: 7,300 Years (Fusion Available)]

Six Chroma skills. At this point, pushing ordinary skills any higher was barely worth the effort. If he was going to invest anything, it should come from these six.

"Save up to ten thousand years and enhance a Chroma skill, or boost combat power now?" Banxia turned it over in his mind.

He'd felt before that spending ten thousand years to enhance a Chroma skill was steep, maybe even wasteful. But after that enormous surge in lifespan he'd experienced, all he could say was: absolutely worth it.

For certain skills, direct enhancement beat fusion every time. Fusion produced unknown results, you might come out with something completely different from what you put in. Enhancement preserved the original effect and simply elevated it further.

That lifespan-extending folk magic was the clearest example. If he had fused it back then, who knew whether the resulting Chroma skill would still have had anything to do with extending lifespan? But through enhancement, its core nature hadn't changed at all, it had just undergone a complete transformation in power.

He was still running the numbers, weighing whether to keep saving, when his stomach let out another long, rolling growl.

Banxia's face went slightly green.

Skills could wait.

First things first, he needed to go deal with the flood.

...

➤ Next: The Hero Banxia Is Already Critically Ill?

Chapter 92 - The Hero Banxia Is Already Critically Ill?

"Miss Roxy, are you home?"

The carriage rolled to a stop. Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka stepped down and walked to the familiar courtyard gate.

As a teammate of the Hero Banxia, Roxy had been remembered by quite a few people, and more than a few events that had never actually happened had been inexplicably mythologized around her name.

Even the Continental Adventurers Guild, taking that connection into account, had made an exception and bumped up her adventurer rank.

The result was that she'd spent most of this period hiding at home and studying magic, going out for quests rarely if at all, and only occasionally stopping by the Xiaye Chamber of Commerce to teach the children basic magic classes.

Lately, even those visits had tapered off.

Roxy's voice came from somewhere inside the courtyard: "Please wait a moment. I'll be right there."

Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka waited quietly outside the gate.

A short while later, the door opened a crack.

Roxy's face appeared in the gap, cheeks faintly flushed. She kept her body planted firmly in the doorway, clearly not planning to let anyone in.

"Ah, I'm sorry, is this about me not coming to the chamber of commerce lately? I'll go more often from now on to teach the children magic." She said it quickly, almost preemptively.

What had started as a nominal post at Banxia's recommendation had quietly become her main source of income. Thinking about how she'd barely left the house these past few days, she felt genuinely guilty.

"That's not a concern." Kaguya Shinomiya's tone was politely measured. "Your willingness to teach those children magic is already more than enough. We came today mainly to discuss your compensation."

Roxy blinked. "Eh... a pay cut?"

She wasn't someone who spent recklessly, and living at Banxia's place meant no rent. But magic research was an ongoing drain, a substantial chunk of every month went to magical tools and materials. If her income dropped, she'd have to go back out and take quests, and her progress toward getting stronger would grind to a halt.

Becoming a powerful mage took more than talent. It took money, for teachers, for materials, for everything else that didn't come free.

"No. You've misread the situation." Kaguya Shinomiya offered a professional smile. "Your adventurer rank has gone up. The original contract was written to match your previous rank. Now that the rank has risen, your compensation should rise with it."

"Oh." Roxy let out a slow breath. "Miss Shinomiya is remarkably reasonable."

"Then let's step inside and sort out the details."

"Ah, wait, wait, wait." Roxy moved to block the entrance, a flash of panic crossing her face.

"Is something wrong?" Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka exchanged a look, puzzled.

"The thing is..." Roxy caught herself, then quickly added, "The house is a bit of a mess right now. It's not really a good time to have guests. Let's discuss the contract later."

"It's fine," Kaguya Shinomiya said, still smiling. "It's just signing a contract. It won't take long."

"No, no, this is important." Roxy dug in, uncharacteristically firm. "We can handle the contract at the chamber of commerce. I was actually about to head over there anyway."

Ai Hayasaka stood to the side, watching the young miss and this petite blue-haired girl trade polite refusals back and forth in perfectly cordial stalemate, and felt a quiet, speechless exhaustion settle in.

Then a familiar voice drifted from somewhere inside the house.

"Roxy, who is it?"

Banxia emerged from the inner room, rubbing his forehead.

"Huh? Mr. Banxia?!"

All three said it at the same time.

Roxy's concern was its own thing, she hadn't wanted anyone to know he was back. His condition wasn't good, and if the wrong people or the wrong monsters caught wind of it and decided to press the advantage, that would be a problem.

Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka, on the other hand, were simply stunned. Word had come just that morning that he was still making his way north. How had he turned up in Alterna without warning?

Banxia clocked the visitors and gave a short nod. "Oh. You two. Come in."

"..."

...

"Something like that actually happened."

After listening to his brief account, both of them were visibly shaken.

Their own journey had been safe enough, unremarkable, spent mostly lying low. Banxia's had sounded like it was lifted whole from a legend. He told it plainly, without weight, but the dangers coiled inside each sentence were easy enough to imagine.

"Mr. Banxia." Kaguya Shinomiya looked at the ashen-faced young man with quiet concern. "Your current condition, that's also from what happened in the Lova Labyrinth, isn't it."

"I'll go right now and bring the best priest in the inner city to examine you."

"Don't — please don't." Banxia raised a hand quickly.

"...I see. I wasn't thinking." Kaguya Shinomiya caught herself, pressing down the urgency rising in her chest. "News of your injury can't be allowed to spread. If the wrong people learned of it — or certain great demons — it would be disastrous."

"Hm?" Banxia's expression shifted. The refusal he'd been about to voice was suddenly displaced by something else entirely. "You're saying there are demons in the area who would actually try something like that?"

Kaguya Shinomiya wasn't sure what had changed in him just now, but she answered honestly.

"After the news spread that you had killed Geist, the most powerful Great Demon in the South, many of the demons in the region went quiet and into hiding."

"But according to our chamber of commerce's intelligence, once word got out that you had left, a great many of them became active again."

"With Geist gone, the remaining demons have been competing for dominance. They've been attacking towns regularly and spreading their names, proof of strength, in their eyes."

"Oh?"

The churning in Banxia's stomach, which had been making him thoroughly miserable, eased a fraction.

He knew perfectly well what Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka were worried about. His complexion looked genuinely alarming, but it was the normal aftermath of being wrung out by diarrhea, nothing more. In an actual fight his condition would be at a discount, sure, but staying at the level where he'd dropped Geist in one punch was still well within reach.

As for the demons who hadn't even been able to beat Geist in the first place, in his eyes, they were just walking lifespan waiting to be collected.

He hadn't gone hunting for them earlier only because they'd been irritatingly good at hiding. But now they were conveniently rallying on their own, weren't they? Leeks, practically bundling themselves together for the harvest.

"Heh heh." The image of rounding them up, running Rejuvenation on each one in turn to refresh them, then harvesting the accumulated years, he couldn't quite stop the laugh.

He raised his head and arranged his features into a convincingly wan, sickly expression. "Miss Shinomiya, I need you to spend whatever it takes to bring the best priest in the inner city here to treat me."

The sudden reversal left Roxy and the other two flatfooted.

"Mr. Banxia..."

"I have my reasons." He waved it off, then added, "And if word happened to spread that 'the Hero Banxia is gravely ill and has lost all combat ability', that would be even better."

All three caught on immediately.

And precisely because they understood, the worry in their expressions deepened.

Banxia looked at their faces and gave up.

"I have diarrhea," he said flatly. "Diarrhea bad enough that my whole body feels like garbage. That's it. Not the critical, barely-clinging-to-life scenario you're all picturing right now."

"Huh? Diarrhea?" All three of them froze, then tilted their heads at the exact same angle, wearing the exact same blank expression.

➤ Next: The Hero Is So Noble