I don't want to be a heroic spirit

Maybe it's because the books are overly glamorized? Just like how many TV dramas portray smoking as something cool, and then teach a bunch of kids with little judgment to be bad.

By the way...she almost became one of those bad kids.

Because she thought smoking was particularly cool, she and her brother secretly took their grandfather's cigarettes to try it out. At first, they were just going through the motions, until her brother lit the cigarette in her mouth to make it more realistic and let her take a puff, which almost choked her to death.

Because she felt uncomfortable being choked at that time, she became extremely sensitive to the smell of cigarettes afterwards and could not stand even the slightest smell of cigarettes.

In addition to the group of one-hit bears they encountered at the beginning, Nero and his friends later encountered many powerful monsters, all of which were high-level monsters that were very difficult for Axel's novice adventurers.

The corpses of these monsters can be sold for a good price at the Adventurer's Guild, so Nero doesn't need to move them. He just needs to notify the people in the guild to come over.

On the way back, Nero took out his adventurer card and looked at it.

"Alice, you just said you were upgraded, right?"

Nero knew that Alice's level was very high, and perhaps no human in this world had a higher level than her.

When Nero was auditing Alice's class before, he learned that Alice's ancestor was a brave man who had defeated the Demon King. For some reason, the brave man's blood had an extremely high concentration in Alice. In simple terms, it was a reversion to the original, so Alice could use the holy sword that was said to have been used by the previous generation of brave men.

And from what Alice said, this holy sword seemed to be called something like Calibur.

...Isn't that King Arthur's Excalibur?!

"Huh? Yes, I leveled up when I killed the last ogre just now."

Alice raised her head after hearing Nero's question, her eyes sparkling brightly.

"Leveling up by defeating monsters is more rewarding than leveling up by eating high-quality ingredients. My sister should have leveled up too, right? She just became an adventurer, so her level is probably low, right?"

After saying this, Alice seemed to realize that she had spoken out of turn and added hurriedly, "No, no, no! I'm not saying that my sister is weak because of her low level. In my mind, my sister is always the most powerful, as if she can do anything, so..."

"Alright, alright. I know you don't mean that..." Nero reached out and gently stroked Alice's head, confidently saying, "But even if someone said that, I wouldn't care. Have you ever seen the sun lose its brilliance because of some gossip?"

Feeling the caress on her head, Alice couldn't help but smile.

"Yes... Sister, you are the one who shines like the sun."

Nero picked up his adventurer card again and looked at it, then asked Alice.

"Alice, does the experience points required to level up differ for everyone?"

"Huh? That's right..."

Although she didn't know why Nero suddenly asked this question, Alice still explained it obediently.

"That's right. Although it's harder to level up as your level increases, the experience points required to level up will vary among people at the same level. The amount of experience points required is determined by each person's aptitude."

"There seems to be a common sense in this world, that is, the less talented a person is, the faster they level up."

Conversely, the higher a person's natural talent, the more difficult it is to upgrade.

"Hmm! I see... Hey, Alice, if even someone as high as you can level up, then the experience points from the monsters we just killed should be enough to level up a level 1 adventurer quite a bit, right?"

"That... I'm not sure either. After all, leaving aside other monsters, the One-Strike Bear would be a tough match for even the elite adventurers of the capital in a one-on-one situation, let alone a level one adventurer. Normally, it's a fight with no suspense, let alone victory."

Alice looked troubled. "I heard it takes the average person a year to reach level 10, and at least five years to reach level 20... But since I've eliminated so many high-level monsters, I should be able to reach level 10 or higher, right? Probably?"

Then, Alice saw Nero smile.

"Hmm! That means... I'm born with an astonishingly high talent. This doesn't surprise me at all... No, it's only natural!"

Nero showed Alice his adventurer card, and Alice's eyes suddenly widened.

"Two levels?!"

The initial level of an adventurer is level one, which means...

"Sister, you've killed so many high-level monsters that even elite adventurers would find difficult, and you only leveled up one level?!"

"Hmm! There's nothing we can do about this..."

Nero covered his forehead with his hands, showing an extremely troubled expression.

"As perfect as I am, I am often troubled by my excessive talent... What a lonely trouble! I guess no one in this world can understand my distress. But there is nothing I can do. Yes, there is nothing I can do. This talent that even gods would envy, is it a blessing or a curse... Ahahahaha——!"

Chapter 261 Huihui was pushed back by a wheelbarrow

"Hmm! I wonder if Youyou is awake at this time..."

On the way back to Axel, Nero and Alice had already walked out of the forest and were on the plains near Axel, and the city walls of Axel were also very eye-catching not far away.

"I always feel a little sorry for Yunyun," Alice said with a look of resignation. "She just became our teammate yesterday. I'm sure she must be looking forward to her first adventure with us."

"Hmm! Hearing what you said... it seems that I did something wrong." Nero frowned, "It's all because of my beautiful singing voice... It seems that I have to apologize to Youyou when I get back."

"Sister Nero, you should apologize to Miss Youyou..."

Alice sincerely believed this.

"I can already see Axel's gate."

Nero smiled and said, "We've defeated so many high-level monsters today. I think we should be able to earn a lot of Eris, right? At this rate, it won't be long before we can buy a house of our own."

Eris is the currency unit of this world, and one Eris is roughly equal to one Japanese yen.

"Use the money earned from completing the commission to buy a house of our own..."

Perhaps anticipating the future, Alice smiled with anticipation.

Of course, what Alice was most looking forward to wasn't "buying a house"—after all, as a princess of this kingdom, how could she possibly be short of money? The most important thing was the fact that she could earn the money to buy a house through her own ability.

"But... actually, staying in a hotel is pretty good too." Alice suddenly said, "I feel like staying in a hotel gives it a more adventurer-like atmosphere..."

"You don't really need to be so worried, because maybe before we earn enough money to buy a house, someone from the capital will find you."

"..."

Nero's words instantly stopped Alice from worrying about it, and also shattered Alice's beautiful vision of the future.

"Yes...I am still the princess of this country..."

"Hey, hey, hey, you haven't forgotten your identity as Her Royal Highness the Princess and really think of yourself as an adventurer, have you?"

Nero looked at Alice in surprise, and then saw Alice turned her head away guiltily.

After some casual chatting, the two of them came to Axel's gate.

Nero and Alice passed through the entrance and returned to the novice town of Axel, and then planned to go back to the guild to submit the commission.

And then, at this moment...

"boom!"

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard not far away, and the dazzling flames even obscured the sun's brilliance.

This power has no other possibility except the explosion magic which is known as the most powerful offensive magic of mankind.

"That... seems to be the explosion magic I saw in the forest last time?"

Alice still has memories of that time. She remembers...

"Sister, you seemed to say that the one who cast the explosion magic in the forest was a girl from the Crimson Demon Clan, right?"

"Hmm! I said so..." Nero narrowed his eyes and looked at the slowly rising mushroom cloud from afar, "And this time, it should be that little girl from the Crimson Demon Clan."

"Sister, did you see it again?"

"No, I guessed it."

Basically no one would learn useless magic like Explosion Magic, which consumes a lot of mana and easily causes overkill.

People who can use explosion magic are either powerful people like the lich Wiz and the goddess Wolbach who have no shortage of magic power, or people like Huihui who have holes in their brains.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

Anxious shouts came from behind Nero and Alice, but before they could look back curiously, a man pushing a wheelbarrow sped past them and headed out of the city.

Not long after, the man came back pushing the wheelbarrow and cursing.

"Didn't I tell you to go to the forest if you want to cast magic? Don't do it on the plains near town every day! Do you know how much work those craters you created have increased for us? We even need to hire more people to fill them in."

After he said this, the girl who was lying in the unicycle as limp as slime said it as a matter of course.

"Don't underestimate me. As a Crimson Demon, I have a very high IQ. So I know that if I release Explosion Magic in a forest full of monsters, the monsters will be attracted by the huge noise, and I will become food for the monsters because my magic power is exhausted and I can't move. But it's different if I release it on the plains, because you will definitely come to me as quickly as possible... This is my trust in you, uncle!"

"Get out of here!"

The two looked very familiar with each other. The uncle seemed to be a civil engineer in this town, and the girl he brought back was lying leisurely in the wheelbarrow...

"Meihui, why are you here?"

"!!!"

Huihui suddenly raised her head, revealing an expression as if a boy happened to run into his best friend while cosplaying in women's clothes at a comic convention.

"Nero!"

Look how scared the child is, he's stuttering.

His pale face might be a sign of exhausted magic power, but at least the stuttering was definitely due to Nero.

"Nero! What are you... Ouch!"

Huihui had only said half of her words when the unicycle carrying her suddenly tilted to one side, and then Huihui fell off the unicycle with her whole body weak.

The red pointed hat that Huihui had been holding in her arms slowly fell on her head.

"Is she someone you know? That's great, take her away quickly." The unknown uncle glanced at Huihui, who was lying on the ground, with disgust and said, "I still have work to do. Keep her away... I don't want to see her again for even a second."

After saying that, the uncle pushed the wheelbarrow away. Judging from the direction, it should be the place where the mushroom cloud appeared before.

Although the uncle's attitude, which was like shooing away flies, was a bit excessive, Nero could understand it.

Imagine that you have finally completed a project and received three months of paid vacation. You have already flown to Sanya, Hainan to enjoy your vacation, but suddenly your boss calls and asks you to come back immediately to work overtime.

Then you will suddenly realize that this uncle's attitude is already good.

Nero squatted down beside Huihui, then reached out and poked Huihui's...hat on her head.

"Moshimoshi, can you hear me? Are you still alive?"

Because her magic power was exhausted, it was very difficult for Megumin to even turn her head to glance at Nero.

Huihui's blushing little face revealed her inner shyness.

Nero couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll carry you back."

Chapter 262 The Goddess Selling at the Fruit and Vegetable Store

Megumin, having exhausted her magic power, was unable to move, so Nero decided to carry her back.

After asking Huihui where she lived, Nero realized that he had asked a stupid question, because Huihui came with Youyou, so of course they lived together.

Huihui's body is very light, and I don't feel anything when she's on my back... Of course, this is also partly due to Nero's strong physical fitness as a Servant.

"However, we won't be going back directly. I still have to go to the guild to submit a commission. Do you mind?"

"Of course I have no objection. This is much better than lying on the ground until it gets completely dark and then going back by yourself with your staff."

Huihui hugged Nero's neck and looked particularly well-behaved.

"Hmm! You should feel honored to have me, the emperor, carry you on my back!"

"Well... then you can feel honored. After all, you are carrying the strongest magician of the Crimson Demon Clan, the future world's number one magician!"

Even though she was completely exhausted and had to be carried by Nero, Huihui didn't seem to be willing to give in verbally.

Alice followed Nero and looked at Huihui lying on Nero's back with a bit of envy for a while.

Alice recalled the night when she first met Nero and was held in Nero's arms like a princess.

As I snuggled in Nero's warm embrace, the fragrance lingering in my nose made my mind dizzy.

When she was held and jumped out of the castle window, she felt as if she had been freed from some kind of restraint. The freedom of embracing the sky shocked her but was also filled with excitement.

"Sister, she's... the Crimson Demon girl you mentioned before who used explosion magic in the forest, right?"

Alice couldn't help but ask, "Did you...know each other before?"

“…Hmm! Come to think of it, I haven’t introduced Megumin to you yet.”

Nero blinked, hugged Huihui's thighs and said, "She is Huihui, Yunyun's friend..."