"What exactly is that?"
Malbit asked the question.
"I wonder?"
Kierbit replied that she didn't know.
I, however, knew exactly what it was.
Drinking sake right in front of them was Tia's mother, Ruincia, alongside Dos, Raimeiren, Draim, the Demon King, and Progenitor-san.
It was the Parents' Association.
Otherwise known as the Association of Doting Parents.
Before noon, as soon as Ruincia arrived at the village, she had greeted me, punched Malbit to the ground, and given Kierbit a stern lecture.
"Um, why am I being scolded too?"
"You're the one who allowed Malbit to come along, aren't you?"
"I am deeply sorry."
Ruincia was Tia's mother, but she looked remarkably young.
Since Malbit was the same, I gathered that the Angel Race essentially stayed young forever.
It might be rude of me to say, but she felt like a cooler, more composed version of Tia, perhaps with a slightly smaller chest.
Then Ruincia had her face-to-face meeting with Tia.
They spent about an hour just staring at one another.
Their expressions were... neutral.
Were they glaring at each other?
"What’s going on there?"
"Those two are always like that," Kierbit explained while casting healing magic on Malbit.
"They aren't on bad terms, are they?"
I remembered hearing something to that effect before.
"No. They’re just so shy that they don't know what to say, so it ends up like that."
Shy?
Was that really them being shy?
"Yes."
It was hard to imagine given Tia's usual personality... they were certainly a unique mother and daughter.
"Indeed. Oh, and there are rumors that they communicate through minute twitches of the wings on their backs."
Looking closely, the wings on their backs were indeed moving slightly.
They really were a strange pair.
The dynamic shifted slightly when Lu brought Tiselle and Aurora over.
I expected Ruincia to dote on them like Raimeiren does, but she simply spread her wings wide twice.
Was that her way of expressing joy?
Yes, it seemed I wasn't mistaken.
Hm?
Ruincia was looking at me now.
Then, she beckoned me over.
I wondered what she wanted.
"You have done well."
She praised me.
Lunchtime arrived.
Before we ate, Tia went to nurse Aurora.
During that time, Ruincia ended up looking after Tiselle.
...
Tiselle did all the talking while Ruincia simply listened, but they seemed to be getting along just fine.
After lunch.
I was supposed to head out to work on the dedicated pond for the Universal Ship... but I couldn't.
Tia had grabbed onto me and wouldn't let go.
"What's the matter?"
"If... if possible... I’d like you to stay by my side."
She was adorable.
I cancelled today's work.
After apologizing to the Mountain Elves, I spent the rest of the day with Tia.
Let’s just say I had my hands full.
And then, night fell.
Ruincia was drinking with the Parents' Association.
She had blended in perfectly.
She looked so natural there that one might think she had been a regular for years.
Malbit and Kierbit looked on in shock, but as long as she was fitting in, there was no problem.
I made sure to bring out more sake and food.
As a side note, Tia had exhausted herself from being shy and had retired to her room.
Well, I suppose there are all sorts of parent-child relationships.
Apparently, even they can communicate and work together perfectly when it's a professional matter.
"Village Head. Have you heard the talk about the Heroes?"
Dos called out to me.
Heroes?
Ah, that had been a topic of conversation before Kierbit returned.
There are Heroes in this world.
That said, they aren't individuals summoned from Another World.
They are beings created through a contract with the churches of this world.
Therefore, a Hero's strength is merely the strength of the person under contract.
There are Heroes who specialize in the sword, and others who are masters of magic.
However, there is one specific reason why a Hero is called a Hero.
They don't die.
Well, technically they do die.
However, they resurrect at the church where they signed their contract.
While any items they were carrying are left behind at the site of their death, they are reborn with all their memories and knowledge intact.
It’s an absurd advantage.
Because of this, they can act without the slightest fear of death, and even if they fall, they return with intelligence on what killed them.
They are said to be peerless when it comes to things like clearing a dungeon.
On the other hand, from an enemy's perspective, they are the ultimate nuisance.
No matter how many times you kill them, they just keep coming back to attack again.
Rather than Heroes, they sounded more like persistent, ill-mannered terrorists.
Well, I suppose there's no such thing as a "well-mannered" terrorist.
Since their entire tactical doctrine is based on the assumption that they will die, they aren't suited for group maneuvers.
A Hero's typical style is to operate with a support team of about three to ten people.
Their weakness is their respawn point.
Since they are sent back to their home church every time they die, that becomes their Achilles' heel.
Apparently, the resurrection point cannot be changed.
In the past, someone tried to stop a Hero by attacking and burning down their church, but the Hero simply resurrected amidst the charred ruins.
Taking it a step further, someone else once poured lava over a resurrection point.
The Hero would die from the heat the instant they revived.
One would expect an endless cycle of death and rebirth, but in such cases, the resurrection point apparently shifts slightly.
According to records, the point moved about a kilometer away from the original site to establish a new one.
It was incredibly convenient for the Hero.
However, no matter how strong they are, they are stark naked immediately after resurrection, so the location remains a weakness nonetheless.
Consequently, the contracting churches gathered military forces to protect their grounds.
Rumor has it those forces are stronger than the army of a small nation.
Now, about those Heroes...
For some reason, they've stopped resurrecting.
It seems even renewing the contract doesn't fix it.
The cause is unknown.
The churches involved in Hero contracts have been desperately trying to keep this a secret, but the Demon King managed to dig up the information.
He then confirmed it with Progenitor-san here in the village.
Progenitor-san is a high-ranking church official, but he belongs to the regulatory faction regarding Hero contracts.
He has gone on record saying that if the Korin Religion’s doctrines didn't forbid it, he would have wiped the system out himself.
Upon receiving the information from the Demon King, Progenitor-san hurriedly launched an investigation.
That was four years ago.
It seemed this was the "top secret" information Kierbit had been carrying, but in reality, most of the village residents had known about it for years.
I wonder why Kierbit never heard about it?
Maybe it was just bad timing?
Ah, that was probably back before she had officially settled down in the village.
"As for that Hero business. I've finally uncovered the details. Come have a drink with us while I explain, Village Head."
Progenitor-san invited me over with a raised glass, so I joined them.
Progenitor-san has been incredibly busy since he started looking into the Heroes.
At one point, he looked so worn out that even soaking in the hot spring seemed like a chore for him.
Ah, it looked like Malbit was joining the conversation too; she sat down next to Ruincia.
I... I think I'll sit next to Progenitor-san.
"It’s a certainty now that the Heroes stopped resurrecting about five years ago. Did anything major happen around then? An earthquake, perhaps? Or a severe drought?"
Progenitor-san asked Dos and the Demon King, but neither seemed to recall anything specific.
"There were likely minor tremors and dry spells, but I don't believe anything particularly catastrophic happened during that window," Malbit said, searching her memory.
Raimeiren, Draim, and Ruincia all seemed to agree.
"I see."
"Why do you ask about earthquakes and droughts?"
"I suspect that whatever event it was might have destroyed the temple that serves as the foundation for the Hero contracts."
A foundational temple... did such a thing even exist?
"Is that not merely a legend? No one has ever been able to find such a place, have they?"
Dos was skeptical.
"Just because no one's found it doesn't mean it isn't there. Looking at the nature of those Hero contracts, there's no way they could function without a massive source of magic power. Resurrecting a person at a distant location would be impossible without a giant magic power accumulator hidden somewhere."
"I am familiar with that theory, but the amount of magic power required for such a feat would be on the level of a god, would it not? It seems highly improbable that something that powerful could exist and remain undiscovered for so long."
"No, no, I’m telling you, it’s in a location that’s a total blind spot. I’m sure of it."
Perhaps it was the alcohol talking, but he was quite animated.
Or perhaps he was just genuinely happy that the Heroes were no longer resurrecting?
Still, five years ago, huh?
That was right around the time Urza arrived at the village.
Had anything strange happened back then?
Thinking back on my own memories... I visited the Northern Dungeon, established the Hot Spring Area, and... come to think of it, I carved the Statue of the Creator God from that Large Black Rock.
That was about all I could remember.
...
Yeah, nothing comes to mind for me either.
Time to drink.