Koutarou and the others had been on edge since Karama and Korama's warning, but once the five in question appeared, that tension easily dissolved. While they weren't close, they were people that they had met before.
“What, it's just them...”
“Satomi-kun?”
“What? Do you know them?”
The only ones who hadn't were Maki and Clan. They hadn't seen them before so they looked at the group of five with confused expressions.
“We met them when we were helping out at a hero show a while back”
“Ah, I've heard Kii mention that before”
“Then they're actors?”
“Probably”
As Koutarou was explaining the circumstances to the two, the group if five noticed Koutarou and the others.
“Ah, Kenichi-niichan, aren't those people...”
“They are!! What an unusual place to meet again...”
“No way?! Isn't that Baron-sama and the others?! Damn, if I knew about this, I'd put some more makeup on!!”
“There it is, Megumi's sickness is acting up again”
“Megu-chan, you're beautiful the way you are”
Noticing Koutarou and the others, the group of five ran up to them. Their expressions were friendly as if they were meeting with old friends. Koutarou and the others were the same and approached them with short steps.
“Long time no see, everyone!”
The healthy looking young man in the front was Kenichi, the leader of the five.
“Thank you very much for your guidance last year!”
Following him was the shortest of the five, a young boy by the name of Kotarou. He was younger than Kenichi, but the smartest of the group. His hobby was games.
“Ba~ron-samaaa~! You are as manly as always!”
Behind them was the only girl of the group, Megumi, smiling. She easily fell in love with others.
“Megu-chan, you're drooling! Baron-san will hate you if you're like that!”
The giant chasing after Megumi with a handkerchief was Daisaku. He was a man who ate a lot, but he was surprisingly quite sensitive and often covered for the others when they might go out of control. In other words, the leader in name was Kenichi, while the actual leader was Daisaku.
“Don't get too excited, you guys. They'll take you for country bumpkins”
The man sending cold glances at the other four was Hayato. He liked to act cool, but things often didn’t go as planned thanks to his showy personality. By the way, he was from a village in the mountains, and was the biggest country bumpkin of the five.
These five were always together as they formed a five-man team. The team's name was the Sun Squad, Sun Rangers. They were heroes who had their start two years ago.
“They're still the same... hmm?”
Koutarou was feeling nostalgic as he saw the Sun Rangers acting the same as last year, but he felt like something was off as he looked at them running.
What's with this sensation?
Koutarou gave the five another look. As he did, he soon found out what was so off. Their appearance as they ran was a lot steadier than it had been last year.
“Impressive”
“It looks like they've trained quite a bit since then. It's like they're completely different people”
Shizuka had noticed the same thing and was also impressed. That was just how big the Sun Rangers' change had been. There was a stability in their running form and an appropriate position for their center of gravity which were supported by well-trained muscles. They were clearly different from last year. It was proof of their hard training.
And it's not just their movements, they’re not showing any openings. They're also paying attention to their allies. Their teamwork has improved considerably. Did they do a lot of training for actual combat?
Koutarou's intuition told him that they had put up with a lot of unprecedented training for action actors. They seemingly improved their capabilities as soldiers, even though that wasn't something an actor needed. As a result, just the sight of them running was enough to persuade others that they were heroes. Koutarou was surprised by their ambition.