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‘People on par with, or even surpassing, Heldre are gathered here.’

When I faced Heldre, I was able to oppose him because I had drawn him into my strategic domain.

I had gained the upper hand by striking from behind with information he didn\'t possess, exploiting his blind spots.

Besides, Renzo had dealt the final blow, so it wasn\'t entirely accurate to say that I had defeated Heldre.

‘I believe I\'ve grown a lot since then.’

Through the training I\'ve undergone, my close combat skills have improved considerably, and above all, I\'ve gained a lot from the Yeranhes barrier.

The amount of Obsidian has increased incomparably, the chronic Mana shortage has been resolved thanks to Helheim\'s Mana, and I\'ve even acquired \'Sixth Sense.\'

However, I couldn\'t objectively assess my current abilities. Even when I confronted Eden, it wasn\'t a proper fight.

‘How do I compare to the Zodiac now?’

I\'ll find out soon enough.

Thud.

As if reading my thoughts, the sound of footsteps began to echo from afar.

What initially felt like a single set of footsteps gradually multiplied.

“See, I told you this was the right place, you idiot!”

“You also thought it was the conference room at first, didn\'t you?”

“That\'s because you spoke with such conviction! Because of you, the entire Zodiac was standing around cluelessly in the conference room!”

“Not the entire Zodiac. Ludwig wasn\'t there.”

“Don\'t even—.”

A pair of men and women bickered lightheartedly as they walked at the front of the group.

“Is His Majesty alright? It\'s difficult to suppress my impatience.”

“How many times are you going to ask? A Constel student managed to stop it, didn\'t he?”

“I won\'t believe it until I see it with my own eyes!”

“Yes, yes.”

Behind them, a man brimming with enthusiasm and another dismissing his words.

“The male student who stopped the surprise attack, I heard he\'s quite handsome?”

“Give it a rest, Lily. He\'s Enfer\'s son.”

“Ew. No way. Wasn\'t his name Azier or something?”

“This is the second son. What was it again? Frondier or something.”

“Frondier, Frondier.”

A somewhat seductive voice and a slightly rough voice trying to restrain it. And another voice adding a comment.

Each engaged in their own conversations as they approached.

‘Heavy.’

I had felt it before at the mansion during the noble gathering, but prestigious nobles and Zodiacs exuded an overwhelming presence. Back then, my body felt heavy under that formidable pressure, and this time, it was the entire Zodiac.

Eleven of them, excluding Ludwig, stood before me.

Although they seemed to be trying to manage their presence, the inherent aura of the strong didn\'t seem to be concealed at all, nor did they seem to have any intention of hiding it, as it reverberated throughout the room.

“So, this is the guy?”

The woman who had been at the front of the pair spoke, looking at me. Naturally, all the Zodiacs\' gazes converged on me.

With each breath I took, their auras seemed to mix and pierce my lungs.

Enduring that immense pressure, I smiled.

“——Greetings.”

Their expressions changed slightly, perhaps in response to my demeanor and voice. However, I didn\'t mind.

I had fought Renzo, defeated Heldre, and achieved complete victory against Eden.

Unlike when I first arrived in this world, I was now far too accustomed to the atmosphere of the strong.

“I am Frondier de Roach.”

* * *

The place where Bartello, the Zodiacs, and Frondier had gathered was the Emperor\'s bedroom.

Normally, when the Zodiacs were summoned, they would assemble in the Imperial Palace conference room, but since this incident directly targeted the Emperor\'s life, the location had been changed.

The Emperor\'s bedroom was the safest place in the entire palace.

Bartello lay on his bed, undergoing a meticulous examination by a physician. Even though Frondier had successfully defended him, there was a possibility that they might have missed some hidden attack.

The Zodiacs and Frondier sat around a long table, having cleared away all the ornaments and brought in chairs.

After all the Zodiacs had arrived, the Imperial Knights had withdrawn, leaving only the Zodiacs, Frondier, and a single attendant to explain the situation to them.

Philly had wanted to participate as well, but since the enemies targeting the Emperor were unlikely to spare the Empress, she had also been moved to a safe location.

“So.”

After hearing the full explanation, one of the male Zodiacs spoke up.

“Only this, Frondier, can detect the monster?”

It was Ludovic de Fabre, the man who had been bickering at the front earlier.

Some Zodiacs, like Heldre and Ludwig, were quite old, but there were also quite a few younger members.

The Zodiacs were twelve combat weapons designated to protect the Empire.

This number \'twelve\' was strictly maintained, so if one of the Zodiacs died, someone else would fill their position within a certain period. Just like Ludwig had filled Heldre\'s position after his death.

Therefore, as long as one possessed both skill and a reputation that the citizens of the Empire acknowledged, they could become a Zodiac even if they were young, like Ludovic.

‘Ludovic, the number one pro before Eden, but he became a Zodiac and head of a household.’

Ludovic was currently the head of a household guarding the barrier on the coast of Babia, a region in the southern part of the Empire. In other words, he did a similar job to Ludwig and Enfer.

Babia wasn\'t a region like Yeranhes where monsters appeared frequently and in large numbers, but the creatures that crawled out of the depths of the sea were occasionally absurdly terrifying.

Therefore, Babia was optimized for responding to a single, massive, and threatening monster rather than exterminating large numbers of them.

Ludovic himself also specialized in taking down single monsters rather than multiple ones.

“How exactly do you detect this monster?”

Ludovic asked, looking at me as if I were some strange creature.

I thought for a moment before answering.

“……By intuition.”