Conquering The Novel

I quickly arrived near the location where the gate was about to appear, but the most troubling part was that the gate emerged inside the restricted area within the facilities building.

As I stood outside the building with Silvia and Irethiel, I could hear the panicked screams of those inside.

"W-What's going on, Ares? What are we doing here?" Silvia inquired, perplexed.

"...Because a monster gate has emerged inside this building,...but don't ask me how I know about that!" My gaze remained fixed on the building in front of me as I responded.

"Even if we asked you, it's unlikely that you would divulge the information," Irethiel remarked.

After hearing Irethiel, I simply chose to ignore her.

!?

"...Ah, so the screams we're hearing are caused by that?" Silvia asked puzzled.

"Yeah, but we can't just break into the building, can we?" I inquired.

"...No, we shouldn't! No matter how quick you are, you will at least be captured on one of the cameras because there seem to be numerous safety precautions in place to deter trespassers," Silvia explained.

"...."

"I thought so too, ...then let's just enter the building legally," I said, pulling my adventurer card from my inventory.

'Though I wanted to avoid drawing the attention of the Hero Association while clearing this gate, but I don't think I have any other options now.'

I thought before making my way to the front of the building.

"...Hey! This isn't the right place for—" One of the guards evacuating the building hurriedly said, but abruptly paused when he recognized me.

"S-Sir Ares? Due to the appearance of a monster gate, access to this area is restricted," The guard began to speak, but I interrupted him by showing him my adventurer ID card.

" W-What? An 'A-Rank Adventurer'!" The guard exclaimed and his eyes widened in shock when he saw my rank, but he soon snapped out of it and glanced between Silvia and me before directing us inside the building.

"P-Please come this way." He gestured and said as we entered the building, and we soon entered the elevating platform.

"The gate appears to have emerged on the terrace of this building," Irethiel informed telepathically.

!?

And when we eventually made it to the building's terrace, we instantly noticed a peculiar black gate.

"The ranking meter doesn't seem to function on it, so we are unable to identify what rank gate it is," One of the guards who was guarding the gate hurriedly reported.

"...Has the Hero Association been notified about this gate?" The guard who guided us enquired to the gatekeeper as we got closer to the gate.

"Y-Yes, we have already done that," When he saw me, he was momentarily startled before speaking quickly.

Tud— Tud— Tud—Tud

"Tsk!" Hearing the sound of a helicopter coming from behind us, I clicked my tongue.

Even though I was anticipating their arrival soon, it still happened too quickly.

And the first thing I noticed when I turned to face the helicopter was a man with blonde hair hanging from the door.

Jump!—

Then, as soon as the helicopter was barely above the terrace, he immediately hopped.

"Amazing! Is that a helicopter?" Having never seen one before, Irethiel exclaimed amusedly.

Swish~ Swish ~

The wind generated by the helicopter's landing caused us to squint, and it also hindered our clothes.

"Yooo! What the fuck is wrong with this gate?" Upon noticing the unusual color of the gate, the man with blonde hair said.

"For the love of god! They are sending us in this ominous-looking gate?" As soon as the helicopter touched down on a helipad, a pink-haired woman wearing a long wizard hat grumbled and got out.

"However, I assume we will receive a sizable payment for clearing it. So I believe the risk is worthwhile," After exiting the helicopter, a muscular man with brown hair carrying a shield said.

"...Tsk, what's the point of money if we die inside the gate? I am still opposed to entering this creepy-looking gate," A blue-haired woman with specs and a sword slung across her back stated dejectedly.

The four of them quickly walked up to the gate where Silvia and I were standing.

And the man with the blonde hair wrinkled his brows when he saw us.

"EHH?" The blue-haired woman abruptly made a startling noise before hurriedly approaching me.

"Not again!" I muttered as I saw the blue-haired woman charging at me, ready to deflect her attack...but then something unexpected happened.

!?

"Aren't you Ares the Executioner? I admire you greatly! Can you sign me an autograph and take a picture with me? Oh, and I, too, am a swordswoman, though not as good as you!" The blue-haired woman began fangirling as she gripped my hand tightly with both of hers and had stars flashing in her eyes.

"...."

"Huh?" As I was not anticipating this kind of response, I uttered a perplexed sound and displayed a confused expression.

"— Ara! Ara! It really is the famous Ares! He is even more attractive in person," While giggling, the pink-haired woman stated.

"Tch, What are you doing in this place?" In an irritated tone, the blond-haired man asked.

"Of course, I'm here to help clear the gate," I said, smiling.

"Wow, really? Perhaps we can fight together," While still holding my hand, the blue-haired girl exclaimed enthusiastically.

"...."

"No need, we're fine by ourselves," Silvia said abruptly, pulling the blue-haired girl's hands from mine.

"Oh, I see, you're Silvia, his ex-fiancée, right?" The blue-haired girl inquired with interest.

!?

Silvia simply stared at her without responding when she heard her.

"...Even if you are strong among your peers, you must be at least a B-Rank adventurer to enter this gate," The muscular man abruptly stated, while the blonde-haired man nodded in agreement.

"Yes, this is not the academy grounds where you engage in student duels. You will only be a dead weight instead because this gate's rank isn't even quantifiable, and we won't know how dangerous it is until we enter," The guy with blonde hair commented.

I couldn't help but smile as I heard him; They didn't even realize that they were being used as a scapegoat to assess the difficulty of this gate and its level of danger.

Because they can't measure the difficulty of this gate with any devices, the hero association sends some guinea pigs inside by enticing them with a large sum of money.

And if they clear the gate, that's fine and good; and even if they die, they won't give a fuck about them and will simply send more adventurers inside.

...That is the dark side of the hero association, though not everyone in the association is the same, such as Jessica spades, who has hero syndrome like Tania who values people's lives and wants to run the association without corruption, but there are many people in the higher-ups who disapprove of her actions and do whatever they deem necessary, including sacrificing a few pawns.

I was thinking when I heard the blue-haired girl speak again.

"Are you guys for real? You're saying sir Ares will be a dead weight?" The blue-haired girl chuckled as she said this.

"Well, I don't mind if he enters the gate with us, as I believe he is more than capable of taking care of himself," the pink-haired woman said, smiling.

"...."

I simply ignored them and turned away, and moved toward the gate because I didn't need their permission to enter and I didn't have much time to face-slap them by proving I was stronger than all four of them combined.

Silvia cast a long glance at the four of them before trailing behind me.

!?

"...T-This cretin!" The blonde-haired guy's face twisted as he saw me ignoring them, and he was about to stop me when the guard spoke up.

"S-Sir Ares is also an A-Rank adventurer, so he can legally enter the gate," the guard stated hurriedly.

!?

"What? Are you certain about that?" The blonde-haired man inquired, bewildered.

"Y-Yes! I have personally verified it," The guard stated.

"Ahh! As one would expect from my role model. Despite his youth, he is already an A-Rank adventurer," The blue-haired girl remarked, her hands on her flushed cheeks.

"OK, guys, stop being so immature and just enter the gate already; otherwise, I'm afraid he'll clear that gate by himself," The pink-haired girl spoke as her gaze was drawn to Ares as he approached the gate.

"Yes, you are correct! Sir Ares, please wait for me!" The blue-haired girl exclaimed before following Ares, who had already entered the gate.

"...."

"...I thought she was the most composed person of the group," the muscular guy said after observing the blue-haired woman's unusual behavior.

"Ara, Ara! Don't worry about her; she's just a huge admirer of his," The pink-haired woman laughed and quickly followed behind the blue-haired girl.

When the blonde hair guy heard her, his face distorted.

"...Let's go as well," Before walking through the gate behind them, the muscular man patted him on the shoulder and said.

"Tch!" Soon after, the man with blonde hair entered the gate, while clicking his tongue in annoyance.