"So as a counterargument to the theory that the Hero was female, the debate spiraled into questions like how the Saintess got married and how they had children, and then—"
Chatter, chatter.
Dorothia's senior's mouth didn't stop for a single moment, pouring out an endless stream of information about the First Hero.
*P-please, stop….*
"—and from there it branched into the hypothesis that the Hero underwent a gender transformation, the hypothesis that magic was used, and even a theory that the Saintess had an affair, which opened up a massive academic debate, and then the Libertas imperial family, who are the Hero's descendants—"
*Stop!*
I'm going to lose my mind!
She had clearly been dying to talk about the First Hero for a very long time—I couldn't even begin to fathom how long she'd been holding it in.
What would she have done if I hadn't asked?
Dorothia was speaking so fast she seemed to have lost all concept of pauses, and I was the one growing anxious watching her.
Was she going to suffocate herself?
And yet, even while talking nonstop, her hands never stopped moving—she kept sweeping the area around the ruins, retrieving Hero-related artifacts in a continuous, practiced loop.
Total professional. Absolute professional.
Come to think of it, that bag of hers was a little hard to ignore.
"By the way, how does that work?"
"—so among recent Hero enthusiasts, the prevailing theory is— huh? W-what?"
"That bag. No matter how I look at it, it shouldn't be big enough to fit all those things, and yet they keep going in."
"Oh— ah…! T-this…!"
Only then did Dorothia stop talking about the First Hero, reaching up to stroke the bag hanging from her shoulder.
The tenderness in that touch was unmistakable. Whatever it was, it clearly meant a great deal to her.
Right. This is better. If I let her finish that lecture, I might never get to the information I actually want.
Let's switch topics for a bit and build some goodwill.
"Yes, that bag. It's not an ordinary item, is it? Did you make it yourself?"
And I genuinely was curious—that part was true.
Dorothia was a character who appeared in *Saintess & Hero*, but she'd never carried a bag like that in the game.
Even with Heart-Sight, all I could tell was that the space inside was being warped—nothing beyond that. Would checking with Sword Saint give me more?
A bag you could carry in one hand, yet it ignored weight and size to store things without limit…
*It's basically an inventory.*
In *Saintess & Hero*, the only item with that kind of effect was the inventory. Full stop.
And mine only held five types of items—it wasn't nearly as generous as whatever she had there!
Even for a genius, casually producing an item like that seemed a bit much, didn't it?
But Dorothia's answer caught me off guard.
"T-this… I didn't make it…."
"?"
Then where did it come from?
"Th-this bag is the first relic of the Hero's that I ever found…."
Her voice carried the unmistakable weight of a distant memory.
Wait. What did she just say?
A relic of the First Hero???
*Why is another one showing up? I thought the Hero's Blood and the Holy Sword were the end of it!*
This game was a complete mess. Stop adding lore without any prior explanation!
Whether or not I had opinions about that, Dorothia kept right on explaining.
"A-a long time ago, when I had just entered Stellar Academy… B-back then I already admired the Hero so much that I was secretly digging through the records in the headmaster's office…."
"The headmaster's office?"
So Dorothia had been out of her mind since her first year….
"A-and while I was there, I found out about the coordinates of a Hero relic that the headmaster had hidden away personally…."
"…Pardon?"
"So I snuck in alone and… r-raided— I mean, relocated the relic to a safer location, and that's when I found this bag at the innermost altar!"
Hold on. What exactly did I just hear?
Not only had she broken into Rustil's room, she'd used that to find the location of a relic, and then successfully looted said relic and walked away with the treasure?
*Shouldn't she be a thief, not a mage?*
That was clearly her true calling.
Well, setting aside Dorothia's shocking past and apparent natural talents, her story was genuinely fascinating.
For one thing, it seemed all but confirmed that the bag was connected to the First Hero.
Even as I drifted into my own thoughts, Dorothia's explanation continued.
"B-but actually, when I first found it, this bag only held five types of items too."
"What? Five types?"
"Y-yes! No matter how small the items were, if they exceeded five types, it would push them back out—a s-strange structure. So I set a condition: 'only Hero-related items go in,' and…."
"W-wait. Just a moment."
"Y-yes?"
Something in her explanation had just slipped past that I absolutely could not let go.
It only held five types?
That was exactly—
*That's an inventory!*
An inventory was a privilege granted only to players.
One of the reasons I'd concluded I was possessing a player from *Saintess & Hero* was precisely because I'd confirmed I had an inventory.
Spatial magic users—even Rustil—didn't have inventories!
And yet the First Hero had one?
Or was it one of the First Hero's companions who had been a player?
Or was the First Hero herself…?
"Senior, isn't it possible that bag might not have belonged to the Hero? Maybe it belonged to one of her companions."
"N-no! Hero relics carry a unique mana resonance. Th-there's no room for doubt—this is definitely something that belonged to the Hero herself!"
Dorothia clutched the bag tightly to her chest as she said it.
Given how fiercely that Hero fanatic was guarding it, it probably really was the First Hero's…
No use hesitating. Time to check.
I decided I needed to see this with my own eyes, and without hesitation, I drew the blade inside my staff just a fraction.
*Clang—!*
[Trait ⟨Sword Saint⟩ activates.]
[⟨World's Trial⟩ is nullified.]
A clear ring of steel, and my vision brightened.
Savoring the rush of liberation, I turned my gaze toward Dorothia.
Her appearance, seen for the first time, was exactly as it had been in the game.
Gray hair tied in twin tails fell in long waves down to her waist, and the loose bangs that half-covered her eyes gave her a slightly gloomy look.
A long top that just barely covered the backs of her hands, paired with shorts so short they barely qualified as such.
Honestly, if I'm being straightforward…
*That's a little provocative.*
So even a frame that compact could pull off that kind of presence.
Was it the proportions? She was short, but there was nothing childlike about her at all. Above all else—she was smaller than Cruje, but the sheer presence she projected made it abundantly clear she was an adult!
*Whatever else you could say about the* Saintess & Hero *developers, their character design was genuinely exceptional.*
Swish.
I was involuntarily impressed, my gaze drifting toward somewhere slightly less appropriate—
"J-junior? Why did you suddenly draw your sword…?"
Dorothia stared at me with the blade half-drawn, let out a small squeak, and backed away clutching her bag.
Did she think I was trying to steal it?
The expression on her face was that of a pitiful victim being shaken down by a thug…
*Hmmm—*
The mana gathering in one of her hands was anything but pitiful.
A third-year at Stellar Academy, indeed. Not someone to underestimate.
I could feel her firm resolve to attack the moment I tried anything funny.
Even so, the iron composure I'd forged through years of living alongside my young mistress didn't waver.
If it had been my young mistress, she'd have attacked the instant I drew the blade.
Fortunately, I hadn't drawn it all the way, so it seemed she was staying at a state of alert rather than outright hostility.
"Relax, Senior. I'm not trying to take it."
"Th-then…?"
"It's a habit. Sometimes when my heart feels too full, I calm myself down like this."
"I-is that… true…?"
"Of course, of course. Look at my eyes. Do these look like the eyes of someone coveting your belongings?"
Dorothia still watched me with undisguised suspicion, but I met her gaze with the most sincere eyes I could manage.
Reach her, my sincerity!
But it seemed Dorothia wasn't receiving it.
She pulled the bag even tighter against her chest and took another step back.
"…Y-your eyes look just like the person who comes to collect on my d-debts…."
That was a bit harsh.
Where would you find eyes this pure?
I swallowed a dry laugh and slid the blade fully back into the staff.
It didn't matter. The moment I'd drawn it, I'd gotten what I came for.
All I'd wanted was to confirm whether that bag was truly connected to the First Hero.
The instant I saw it, I knew.
*It's definitely hers.*
The feeling was unmistakable—the same presence I'd encountered when I faced the First Hero in the dungeon, thick and undeniable.
Presence, I suppose you'd call it. That kind of thing.
If it really was the First Hero's, it would be roughly a thousand years old—and the fact that traces this strong still lingered on it just confirmed that the First Hero was something else entirely.
The moment I sheathed the blade, Dorothia visibly relaxed and cancelled the spell she'd been preparing.
*An opening.*
"Eek!"
I seized the moment of her lowered guard and moved in fast, cupping her face in my hands before she could react.
Startled by my palm suddenly appearing in front of her, Dorothia flinched and squirmed—but a little resistance like that was no match for the hands of a superhuman maid who had transcended ordinary human limits.
"Senior~"
"Y-yes?! P-please, let me g-go…."
"I was hurt when you misread my sincerity earlier~"
How dare anyone fail to recognize the genuine heart of this super-perfect maid!
It seemed I needed to get a little closer to Dorothia.
And I'd been a bit bored without my young mistress around anyway, so this worked out nicely.
*Honestly, the moment I saw her earlier, she looked so squishy I'd been wanting to try.*
I slowly began kneading Dorothia's cheeks, stretching them gently to either side.
"J-junior…! Mmph, mmmph!"
Just as expected—remarkably, wonderfully squishy.
Was this really the skin of someone older than me?
It felt like working a perfectly made rice cake between my fingers.
I could get addicted to this.
"W-wait! Mmph, l-let go, let go of mwee…!"
Every attempt to speak came out as muffled mumbling with her cheeks compressed like that.
"To misread a junior's sincerity like that… I was so devastated I nearly went out to buy bread…."
"Wh-what does thwat have to do with bwead… mmph."
My, my. Was Dorothia the unsympathetic type?
Just agree with me!