I Was Reborn, but I Was Told That the Popular Standard Skills Were No Good, so I Chose the Skill of Collecting [Title] - CH 262

“Zeros, if we run into any of the heroes and we bump into each other, is there anything wrong with beating them up?”

“Eh?”

I was asked such a thing by Bequa when we were having a sort of strategy meeting at the training ground on the day before the last day of the national tournament.

“Is that okay?”

“I don’t see a problem as long as you don’t let them leave the barrier. I don’t know what will happen to the heroes when they are forcibly stripped of their contracts. So it’d be better to strip them off inside the barriers where they won’t die.”

It seems that Bros and the others are so busy making sure that no harm will come to the devils when they are forcibly stripped that they don’t have time to worry about the heroes.

I have no interest whatsoever in what happens to the heroes, but if we kill them just because it’s for the spirits’ sake, it’ll be worse for us. In the worst case, it could lead to an international problem. That’s why I want the heroes to go away unscathed.

“There’s no problem, but please don’t let them leave the stage.”

“I understand!”

“Haa…”

Elira let out a sigh when she saw that Bequa was getting motivated. I feel a little sorry for Elira who has to deal with Bequa because of their pairing.

“You are welcome to fight the heroes, but if you find them, you must contact us. And when you do, please do something to let us know where they are.”

“I understand.”

Sophie, Elira, and Shana are to have the magic tools that allow them to talk to each other at a distance. If they find a hero, they’re to release magic into the sky along with the contact.

By the way, I’m supposed to have the magical tool that will tell me where they are. Sophie and I will go on a raid as soon as we find the four of them with it.

“I’m tired from all the talking, so let’s take a break. Zeros, let’s have a mock battle!”

“Mock battle isn’t a break…”

I put my bracelets on my hands instead of swords and had a mock battle with Bequa. I can’t always have a sword equipped, so I use bracelets except when I’m fighting. It was good to be able to change the shape. But even if I change the shape, the weight is always the same, so the bracelets are usually heavier.

“Unless you bump into a hero, don’t attack them unnecessarily even if you spot them from a distance.”

And after the break and mock battle, it was time for another meeting.

“Are you trying to tell me that we will lose?”

“I am saying that there is a good chance that you’ll lose.”

Even though it’s called a meeting, most of what we talk about is related to the heroes.

When Bequa was indirectly told that the heroes were stronger, he complained to Sophie.

“The strength of the heroes is unknown. Be as vigilant as you can. If you must challenge them yourself, do so only after the heroes have been singled out.”

“I understand…”

The meeting continued from there, but the roles in the survival battle were decided like this.

Me, Sophie.

Find the heroes and defeat them.

Bequa, Elira and Shana, Carina, Claudia

While searching for the heroes, they will defeat the enemies other than the heroes.

When they find a hero, they contact Sophie.

The other three

They’ll not fight forcibly, but will continue to run and hide as best they can.

“Tomorrow, we will have another mock battle as a group.”

Thus ended the strategy meeting. But it would soon be evening. We had spent too much time in the mock battle, which was meant to be a break. We all left the training ground together and were about to go home.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

“I guess you won’t call it a coincidence today, will you?”

I saw the saint at the back gate of the school. If she was still at the front gate, it would be understandable, but the fact that she took the trouble to be at the back gate, where we were supposed to go in and out inconspicuously, was a perfect ambush. How did she get the information that we were coming and going from the back gate?

“I don’t think it’s good manners to ambush someone in the middle of a tournament.”

“I’m sorry about that. I just wanted to apologize to Zeros-sama and Adolfo-sama for what happened yesterday.”

She dutifully followed the surname calling that Sophie had told her. That’s why it’s a strange sentence that I don’t understand.

“I’m sorry for the trouble my heroes caused you yesterday.”

“I accept your apology, and I will pretend that yesterday never happened.”

For a moment, I tried to take advantage of this weakness and ask her about the abilities of the heroes, but I decided not to. There’s no way she’d would honestly tell me about their my abilities because of that, and now I feel like I should get away from this saint as soon as possible.

“So, here we are…”

“Claudia, you’re looking well.”

As I was about to say goodbye to her, she spoke to Claudia.

“Thanks to you, I’m doing fine,”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Claudia’s sarcastic line was brushed off with a smile from the saint.

“I’ll see you all again in the battle for survival.”

The saint thanked everyone as she looked them in the eye and then left. Was the saint really just here to apologize? I wondered about this question, but it was never resolved and the day of the Survival Battle arrived.