—A point one kilometer northwest of Ket Nya.
The vision displayed by Asta's projection ability showed that idiot prince, Gilbert, meticulously burning everything to cinders.
"Kaha! Kuhahaha! Good! That's how it should be!"
Laughter burst from me like a broken dam. And why shouldn't it? He had performed far beyond my expectations.
"This is impossible..."
In contrast, Asta wore a rare look of dismay.
"See? Wasn't I right?"
Asta had severely underestimated the idiot prince, but the guy was royalty after all. If Rose was to be believed, he had received elite combat training since childhood and had a real knack for the martial arts. It was only natural that he could instantly kill a small-fry slug like that before it even revealed its true form.
"Master, did you do something to him?"
"Hm? What's that supposed to mean?"
What nonsense was he spouting? I had no idea what Asta was trying to get at.
"You truly do not know? Then could it be Girimehkala? No, there is no way he would do something so easily discovered without informing you, Master. If so, then this is..."
Rubbing his well-shaped chin with his right hand, Asta sank into a sea of thought.
"The game is over. Tell Girimehkala as much."
I declared the conclusion of the first trial.
"Are we finished with that slug, then?"
"Pretty much. I don't want the mood of this victory ruined. I'll take care of it myself."
When I had the analysis-type encyclopedia monster perform an Appraisal, it turned out that slug was technically human like me, but an extremely peculiar one. It wouldn't die from just any ordinary attack. That idiot prince had caught on to that, however faintly, which was why he had incinerated it so thoroughly. There was no doubt that the physical body present there was dead.
However, that small-fry slug's most dangerous traits were possession and alteration. It couldn't just possess anyone—it required certain conditions. That being the case, it had probably latched onto that pitiful female bandit by now. Which was why I was going out to hunt it down.
"Master, may I ask one thing?"
"Hm? What is it?"
"Did you foresee that fight of his?"
"Yeah, pretty much as expected."
Well, I hadn't anticipated him taking it down before that small-fry slug could even show its true colors. But the key to battle was forcing your strengths upon the enemy. Taking down your opponent before they could do a single thing—in a way, that was the ideal form of combat. Therefore, this first trial could rightly be called a victory for that idiot prince.
"To force your own warped common sense even upon the world itself... Master, you truly are a terrifying Great One."
Letting out a heavy sigh, Asta muttered those scandalous words with genuine feeling.