Vacation With These Companions of Mine

There was a gentle knock on the door, one that was not loud or ear piercing, it was just enough to be noticed by someone who was awake.

As someone living a high class life like mine, a knock this early could only be from a butler.

"Rein-sama, Are you awake? I'm here to bring you breakfast."

"Yes, come in!"

As excepted, an elderly man with well groomed hair entered, pushing a breakfast cart.

I could smell the pleasant aroma steaming from the cart.

A high quality meal in bed, what a perfect way to start the day!

"Today's breakfast is griffon noodle soup, since you are still recovering we made sure that all the vegetables are properly diced so that they won't do much if they try to attack you."

Well I'm actually fully recovered, but I couldn't let this butler know that.

"Ahh thank you."

The pieces of griffon meat was very tasty, the vegetables were boiled to a point where they were soft and the warm soup felt great washing down my throat.

As someone who mostly ate prison food for the past few years, this was a taste of heaven!

I've missed having food like this.

"Dust-kun! How are you feeling?"

A cheerful Liana came bursting into the room.

"You really don't need to use that name you know."

"But your companions might be listening. Besides I think Dust is a great name."

Oh right my party was staying here too, along with Yunyun and Megumin.

I could already see Megumin being nothing but an explosion of problems.

Hopefully Yunyun can take care of it, I don't want my hard earned vacation ruined by these interlopers who followed me from Axel.

"You know, you've already called me Rein in front of them several times now, I'm sure they already suspect something."

"Ehh?! Oh right I did."

"Hey don't make that dejected look, I guess sooner or later the truth will come out. No seriously please stop making that face, what if someone sees it!"

Forget my party members, if the king or someone under his employ sees the princess in such a state my head will roll.

Since meeting her again, Liana always seems to feel down everytime I criticize something she does, so maybe I should take it easy and just enjoy my time here.

"Hey if you have the time, should we go for a stroll around the capital? It's been a long time since I was last here so there's a lot I want to see."

"No sorry, I have lessons to attend too, besides father won't let me leave the castle unless I have a really important reason."

Hmm things have really changed then. Back when I was her bodyguard, princess Liana was allowed to roam freely as long as I was with her.

Did the king somehow become even more overprotective of Liana?

In the company of Liana and the butler, I had the most wonderful breakfast in years.

Once I was finished, both Liana and the butler left me alone, I lay in my bed with a full belly.

"Ahh, a warm meal really helps you relax."

I stretched my arms and shut my eyes, I guess I'll take a nap now.

"Are you just going to lie there all day?"

I don't know how long I spent napping, but I was woken up by a booming loud voice.

What was the king Gaudveil doing here?

And why do you feel the need to have an entire group of armed knights following you in your own castle?

"I noticed Liana has been looking sad lately. What did you do to my daughter?"

"Why do you assume I did something?"

"Why not? Liana was happy living here on her own, so clearly you must have done something."

"Well I haven't, for your information I have absolutely nothing against Liana. Now if you'll excuse me I need to rest up so I can recover."

"Mind your manners Rein and what do you mean rest? Its just past noon. You should be fully awake now."

"I don't have any reason to be. After all I'm far too hurt to continue with that dragon quest."

"I thought so, that's why I sent Helm to deal with it."

What? He gave that impossible level quest to a rookie like Helm?

Oh good, so it's out of my hands then, though there was no way Helm could complete such a quest, he'll either be heavily injured or killed. If Helm survives, then maybe he'll learn from this experience and if he dies then maybe the king will think twice about underestimating dragons..

In the meantime I can relax easily knowing that in a few days, this country will need my help again.

There is no way an amateur knight like Helm could tame an ancient gold dragon, especially not one as mad as the one terrorizing this country.

"You only injured your upper body right? Then go outside for a walk, clearly your presence in the castle is making Liana depressed."

What? That doesn't even make sense, I don't emit some kind of negative aura.

"You know what maybe I will if it means getting away from you."

"Good, looks like we see eye to eye for once. Leave immediately so I don't have to bother with your presence in my castle!"

"Hey don't just order me around, I'm not one of your subjects anymore, I'll leave if I feel like it."

"If you continue to talk back to me like that I'll have your head."

"I'll leave now."

"Argh!"

As soon as I was out of the castle I shouted

I really wanted to punch someone, that king always rubs me the wrong way.

Who does he think he is, threatening to execute anyone who speaks against him.

I bet the only reason he is king is because he killed the competition.

Yeah that's it, in my mind that king is no different than the devil king.

Actually I don't really have a problem with the devil king, so this king is even below him.

Off in the distance, a loud explosion filled the sky.

"W-what's going on?!"

"Are we under attack?"

"Emergency! Emergency! All adventurers report to the guild immediately! Everyone else stay in your homes!"

Everyone around me panicked, well it's not everyday you hear explosions in the capital.

I however was as calm as ever because I knew exactly what the source of the explosion was.

For causing such a disturbance she'll be spending the day in a cell if she's caught.

I have no reason to help her out, so let's just walk the other way and pretend nothing happened.

The entire capital was in panic for a good hour, adventurers and soldiers were dispatched to the capital's walls to stand guard or to search for the mysterious source of the explosion.

They were already living in fear of their lives with that dragon rampaging about, so the explosion must have really shook them even further.

Oh well, not my problem.

The streets were empty for a while, but soon merchants and other people started coming back out.

I wandered around the shopping street, after all this was the capital so everything here was high quality.

I obviously didn't have much money on me, so I went around looking for free samples of food. In a place like this, one could easily find enough samples for a free meal.

Free things are the best things in life.

As I was going around happily savoring

bits of food and kindly declining the offer to buy more…

"This place is amazing! The women here are all dressed splendidly too!"

"You… Well they do look pretty nice, I wonder if I'll be able to buy a new outfit from here."

"It really is much livelier than Axel."

I found Keith, Lynn and Taylor, gazing around with awe like a bunch of tourists.

Well since I didn't have anything else to do, I guess I'll go join them. I'll even offer some supportive words to Lynn.

"Oh you are buying a new outfit? How about getting one that shows off your shoulders and reveals some of your chest?"

"What sort of nonsense are you spouting after appearing out of the blue?"

For a moment there, it looked like Keith was going to agree with me, but he shut up as soon as Lynn opened her mouth.

"Hey I'm just giving you some advice as a trusty companion."

"I don't need fashion advice from someone like you and since when were you ever a 'trusty' companion? Aren't you the one always getting into trouble?"

"Hey I've bailed you guys out of trouble before…. I think…"

There has to be one time right?

"Oh right! That one time when you guys recruited a bad party member. I was the one who saved your sorry asses."

"True, but if you hadn't gotten arrested in the first place we wouldn't have needed a new member. Speaking of which I'm not bailing you out if you get arrested here."

"Me neither."

Even though I gave a perfect example of my reliability, Lynn and Keith did not appear convinced in the slightest.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not planning on getting arrested here. If anyone's getting arrested it's that explosion loli."

If Megumin made use of Yunyun's teleport then she probably got away safely, if not she's going to have trouble.

"Oh right, I did notice Yunyun and Megumin heading out earlier." Lynn recalled

"Forget about them, let's go explore this new country."

I was not about to take on the responsibility of babysitting Megumin, only Kazuma could perform such a task.

My party members all stared at me.

"What?"

"I can't believe you, you do realize it's thanks to Yunyun that we were able to bring you back alive. We welcomed them into our party as temporary members so we should at least make sure they are okay."

What are we a tour group?

"Well then, have fun with that."

I'm not wasting my time looking for Megumin and Yunyun.

"This guy… Hey Keith, Taylor, if we let him out of our sight he'll definitely cause more trouble."

"If you're going to say things like that at least whisper! Hey wait, what are you guys doing? I'm hurt you know! Don't pull!"

"Didn't that Lana lady heal you yesterday? You are perfectly fine, stop pretending and come with us!"

In the end, I was forced to tag along by sheer brute force.

"Hey, do you guys even know where you are going?"

They should all be unfamiliar with this city, yet Lynn, Taylor and Keith were all heading to the same place.

"Of course, Yunyun registered her teleport point just outside the walls in this direction."

Ahh so they are assuming that Yunyun bailed Megumin out using Teleport.

No wonder the explosion came from the opposite side of the city, I guess the intelligence stats of the crimson demons isn't just for show.

"I can't believe you'd do such a thing! Is your intelligence stat just for show?! Should we really be calling you the number one idiot of the crimson demon clan!?"

As if on cue, we found Yunyun, who was carrying an exhausted Megumin on her back.

"As an adventurer I must defend the people from threats such as monsters."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who used explosion on a single kobold and made the whole city run in panic! Why did I agree to come along when you said we'd go out for a stroll like friends."

"Hey don't say that out loud! If we get arrested here you'll become a criminal like Trash and be unable to make friends."

"Hey! My name is Dust! And don't put me in the same boat as Yunyun, I have friends."

Much like Kazuma's party priest, Megumin didn't bother remembering my name and still referred to me as "Trash" every now and then.

"Ahh! Dust-san! Lynn-san! Taylor-san and Keith-san too."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be recuperating?"

"I should but well… say do you have any interest in using explosion on a tyrannical king?"

"What are you saying? Dust-san, please don't bring Megumin into your criminal acts!"

For some reason Yunyun was against the idea.

"Vanquishing a tyrannical lord with explosion definitely sounds appealing….."

"Tyrannical or not! If you blow up any king you'll end up causing huge problems! As the chief of the crimson demon clan, I can't have you starting wars with other nations."

"It's a shame I already used explosion today, I guess it will have to wait till tomorrow."

"Megumin! Look I'll accompany you on your routine everyday while we are here, so please don't do something so reckless!"

"Oh? Is that a promise? Very well then."

Looks like my idea was brought down by Yunyun.

Oh well, it was worth a shot.

"Say, didn't we agree to treat our stay here as a vacation? Why are we visiting the guild!?"

After regrouping with Megumin and Yunyun, we stumbled upon the Gaudveil capital's adventurer guild.

"Come on Dust, we spend so much time in Axel's guild, wouldn't it be interesting to check out a guild from another country?" Lynn said as she opened the door to the guild

The building itself wasn't much larger than the guild building in Axel, I don't think there would be anything to see in there.

I considered just leaving everyone behind and looking for a pub, but then I remembered I didn't have much money so I stuck with them.

Hopefully I can convince one of them to buy me a drink later.

"Hey Yunyun, I think I can walk on my own now, can you put me down?"

Oh I think I know what's going to happen.

Megumin quickly hurried to the front of the group, once we were all inside the guild she flicked her cape and shouted.

"My name is Megumin! The number one genius of the crimson demon clan who has slain many demon king generals with explosion magic!"

Yeah thought so.

We now had the attention of everyone in the guild

"Crimson demon… adventurers from Belzerg then.."

"What are Belzerg's adventurers doing here? Shouldn't they be fighting the demon king army?"

"Hey don't say that out loud, they might beat you up if they think you are looking down on them."

The adventurers all stared at us briefly but then quickly averted their gazes.

"Hey Megumin, you didn't cause trouble in this guild too, did you?"

It seems that Yunyun experienced something similar in the past

"What are you talking about? I've never even been to this country before! This time I can say for certain that it's not my fault!"

Yeah I'm sure it isn't, It's more because we are from Belzerg, a country known for its strong adventurers.

Since Belzerg is the only thing keeping the demon king army from attacking other kingdoms, it has gained a reputation for being the strongest nation in terms of military might.

That also means that everyone would assume that anyone from Belzerg is a powerful individual.

The adventurers here are probably just afraid of speaking to us after Megumin's big introduction.

Even though we entered as a group, everyone went their own way.

Megumin went to speak with a guild representative, Lynn went to go explore the building, Keith went to find the tavern and Taylor for some reason was checking out the quest board.

Yunyun on the other hand was just standing by the entrance twiddling her thumbs.

"Ahh, what should I do?"

She stood still while fidgeting, I could see her eyes darting around.

I heard Yunyun became the chief of the crimson demons already, but to think she was still like this…

Oh? She seems to have noticed me.

We made eye contact but Yunyun didn't move, she just kept fidgeting and occasionally looking back at me.

Maybe she thinks that since we made eye contact, I'd go over and speak to her. I could do that, but that would make it too easy.

Alright then, if she's watching me then I'll show her how to approach someone.

I walked away from Yunyun and towards Taylor.

"Hey I know you're normally a hardhead, but come on, don't do adventurer work while we are on vacation."

Did you see that Yunyun? That's all you need to do to talk with someone.

However Yunyun looked even sadder now.

"Urf… I'm unwanted…."

She began crying alone by the door.

Oh well I tried my best.

"If you are going to criticize me for being inflexible, then first stop getting arrested all the time. Anyways I'm not going to accept any quests here, I was just curious as to what sort of quests are posted in other countries."

Hmm, now that you mention it, a place like the capital would have some pretty high difficulty quests, but this was not Belzerg, the difficulty of quests should be considerably lower here.

Taylor was going over the quests on the board.

"Caravan protection detail, Harpy subjugation quest, hey aren't these similar to the quests in Axel?"

"It's because Gaudveil is far from the demon king's territory, so naturally the monsters here are weaker and fewer in number."

"Huh?"

"What?"

For some reason Taylor was eyeing me suspiciously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes of course, this is all common sense. That's why you shouldn't be so stuck up on Axel's knowledge, things are really different out here."

"You know, getting lectured by you feels really off, but I guess you have a point."

Taylor kept skimming through the board.

"That's strange, that noble lady told us that you took a quest to subjugate a dragon, but I can't find any dragon subjugation quests here. Who did you get that quest from anyways?"

"Oh that? Don't worry about it, I heard someone else took it already, maybe that's why it's gone."

As expected of Taylor, once he was done browsing he started asking questions to the guild staff, most of the things he asked for was information on nearby places.

I guess since he's our party leader, he'll take a similar role while we are on vacation.

I stood by Taylor for a bit, but then decided to move on.

Well I was about to when Megumin called out to me.

"Tr-Dust!"

"You almost called me Trash again didn't you?"

"Not at all! Anyways, I have a request, tomorrow I want you to lead me to that dragon from yesterday! One of my underlings earned the title of "dragon slayer" in Elroad, as the boss I must not lose to an underling!"

"Hey don't say stuff like that out loud! Everyone is looking at us now. Besides I got my own plans for tomorrow, go ask Yunyun or someone else."

"Good idea, delinquent who is definitely not a dragon knight."

"Hey what's with that way of speaking? Don't tell me you are actually Sir Vanir. Also please stop telling people that i'm a dragon knight. Hey are you even listening?"

Megumin ignored me and glanced around looking for Yunyun, she was nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps she felt left out and couldn't find the courage to speak to anyone so she left to sulk somewhere.

At least now Megumin is looking for her so she'll have some company, though it may not be the kind she was looking for.

Right now what should I do? Oh I know.

I went to the tavern.

It was a bit early for dinner so there wasn't much people here, plus I could always go back and have dinner at the castle.

So let's just have a drink for now.

"Yooo Keith, what are you doing going off on your own? Aren't we fellow party members?"

I nudged Keith, who was seated with a female adventurer.

The female adventurer in question wore only light leather armor and had a quiver slung across her back. She was also looking at Keith with admiration in her eyes.

It seems like despite his usual bad luck with the ladies, Keith managed to use the fact that he came from Belzerg to start up a conversation with a fellow archer.

As soon as I nudged him, Keith excused himself and took me away.

"Dust, look I'll buy you a drink okay, please don't ruin this for me."

So easy.

Keith ordered me a beer and returned to the side of the female archer.

As a good friend of his, I should do whatever I can to get in his way and part those too.

But first, let me drink this beer Keith paid for.

Ahhh, there is nothing as refreshing as a cold drink paid by someone else's dime!

Okay now what should I do to get in the way of things?

Hmm, Keith smiling while occasionally shyly scratching his head, maybe he's trying to make himself look humble after being flattered.

I know! I'll go over there and reveal something embarrassing about him!

"Hey what's with that look? Are you jealous of Keith or something?"

Just as I was about to put my plan into action, Lynn showed up and took a seat alongside me.

"Ahh Lynn, good timing, what is the most embarrassing thing Keith ever did?"

"Forget asking me, why are you asking about that in the first place? Wait a second, Yunyun told me that back when Taylor was getting along with a girl you were planning on getting in the way. Are you planning something similar?"

"How could I not? It's common practice for friends to get in the way of each other's love life, that way we can make sure the feelings they have are absolute."

Yeah that was the reason why I'm going to mess with Keith, not because I'm jealous that the female adventurer he was talking with had a wonderful bodyline.

"I can't believe how despicable you can be. Sure Keith may not have any more good points than you, but he has almost no luck with any girls back home, so let him have a chance."

Well I guess that last bit is true, Keith's luck with women has been absolutely awful.

But why does he get to speak with a mature beauty! The only women around me have nothing to speak of in between their waists and necks! The only one I can think of is that brat Yunyun, but she's only a child.

"Hey seriously now, why are you acting so jealous over Keith? Don't you have a noble lady waiting for you in a castle?"

We are back to that again huh?

Lynn is pretty sharp when it comes to stuff like this, there were even a few times when I was worried that she might have figured me out.

Normally Lynn won't pester me for long, if something made her suspicious of me she'd say something like "You'll tell me someday, right?" and she'd shut up, but in these past few days she's been doing nothing but pry into me.

I really should get out of here.

"Eh, that was just someone I happened to run into a few times. I really have no idea why she's been doing the things she does."

"And what about Rein? Is that some sort of alias you gave her?"

"Bingo."

I really can't keep this up

"Well if that's the case, there's no problem with me telling her about this conversation."

"Please don't."

It's not everyday I get to spend my nights in a clean and luxurious room for no cost. Please don't say anything that will get me thrown out.

"Say, is there something I'm missing here?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"First off, since when can a noble family just arrange for adventurers to stay in the royal castle? Second of all, you said you were given a quest to subjugate an ancient gold dragon, but I asked around and apparently that dragon is so powerful it's considered a national crisis. The difficulty of such a quest is unimaginable and the reward would be just as great, so why would they hand it over to some random adventurer from Axel?"

Lynn is still peering into our recent events, I should change the subject as soon as I can.

"Gee I dunno, hmm? What's Yunyun doing over there?"

Just like her usual self, Yunyun found an empty seat in the corner of the tavern and sat there by herself.

"Isn't that normal for her? No don't try and change the subject, you also told Megumin something about being a dragon knight didn't you? Why would you do that?"

"Ehh, I was feeling annoyed by her and said it on a whim, don't look further into it."

"I've always wondered this before, but how come every now and then you start acting like a proper stand up guy?"

"Aren't I always?"

"No your more of a skirt chaser who spends his time engaging in fraudulent activities and sexual harassment. Maybe I'm just seeing things."

As usual, Lynn really likes to trade barbs with me.

But she also said something important, did I ever let my old personality show back in Axel?

I guess there were a few times, but I didn't expect Lynn to pay such close attention.

"Hey hold on, you said there are times when I looked different, since when did you start paying such close attention to me? Do you secretly admire me but are too shy to admit it?"

"There is nothing about you worth admiring. Or rather all your good points end up being buried by your usual criminal acts."

"Ahh so you are saying I have some good points."

"Yes of course, umm, let's see….."

Lynn stroked her chin and looked to the ceiling, as if she was having trouble listing out my good points.

"Hey don't give me that expression, I have many good points, aren't I one of the more reliable and capable adventurers in Axel?"

"Well I guess you are capable, but I can't say the same when it comes to being reliable, in fact I think depending on you would be the equivalent of committing suicide."

"Okay you, stay right there, I'm going to get my revenge for yesterday."

I stood up wiggling my fingers, forget going to the succubus store for a hardcore revenge dream, i'm going to get back at Lynn right here and now.

Well that short scuffle with Lynn didn't last long, because we got thrown out of the guild as soon as it started.

"Great going Lynn."

"Me? You are the one who started making strange movements with your hands and saying things like "I'll make you regret being born a woman." anyone else in my place would have fought back."

"Don't you normally have a dagger hidden on you? You didn't have to cast lightning and blast a hole in the wall. By the way, I will not lend you any money to pay for the repair bill."

"It's not like you'd have any money to lend and I'll keep in mind that you'd prefer the dagger, next time I'll castrate you well."

"On second thought, please use lightning."

I haven't even had sex yet, so I really don't want to take the risk.

Plus it's Lynn we are talking about here, I'm pretty sure she'd do it without hesitation.

I once made a move on her back in Axel, it was a really close call, I had no idea Lynn could hide a dagger inside her pyjamas.

I never dared to sneak into her bed again after that, luckily for me the succubus shop existed, otherwise I don't know what I would do.

Well since we were kicked out and it was almost dinner time I guess we should head back to the castle.

Liana should have cheered up by now, what was bothering her in the first place?

Well as long as she isn't unhappy.

Let's just hope I don't run into the king again.

"U-umm D-D-Dust."

"What? What is it? Why are you speaking like that? If you are trying to sound cute to make up for what you did, it's not working."

Lynn was trembling and pointing at something in the distance.

"Look!"

The citizens around me were all looking the same direction, they all seemed scared or shocked.

I turned around to see the castle off in the distance.

There was a large golden creature hovering next to it, a creature so large it could carry an entire legion of soldiers on it's back..

I took off at full speed towards the castle.

Ancient gold dragon.

The strongest species of the strongest type of monster.

Strong enough to crush castle walls and deflect physical attacks, intelligent enough to dodge or withstand magic.

I really have no clue why such a beast was here, or what problem it had with the kingdom.

All I know is, that dragon is nothing like the ones I knew, it didn't seem to act according to reason.

Well I know that not all dragons are intelligent, but this type of dragon should be.

Yet from what I saw, it rampaged for no reason and didn't even care for its young.

I had never seen a dragon trample over it's own eggs before.

Oh well, now was not the time for that, I had lost my sword, but the promise I made was that I would only make do with the sword if I wasn't protecting her.

I could definitely borrow a spear from one of the soldiers at the castl- huh?

The dragon was not attacking, in fact everyone was still calm.

What was going on?

"Citizens of Gaudveil!"

There was a loud broadcast echoing through the streets, it was the king's voice, amplified by magic.

"Our time of crisis is over! Our hero: Helm Sol Jaster, has tamed the savage beast threatening our lands!"

The streets around me erupted in cheers.

So that's why that dragon was here, I guess Helm managed to tame it.

I can't believe this, how could a rookie like Helm tame something as powerful as that?

He couldn't even tell apart the species of dragons, nor did he know how to communicate without showing hostility.

I worked hard trying to tame that thing and nearly died! But a newb like Helm did it that easily?!

This makes no sense!

There was a banquet held that evening for the new hero of Gaudveil.

Even though we were staying at the castle, we were not allowed to attend it.

Me and my party, along with Megumin and Yunyun ate in a separate room.

"Arghhh! That pisses me off! I'm going to find some way to ruin that banquet."

I stood up but my companions held me back.

"Have you gone crazy Dust?"

"This is a royal banquet, you can't just mess around here."

"Forget being arrested, I'm sure all of our heads would roll if you did something like that."

Knowing the king, such an event might actually happen.

I sat back down and ate my meal.

Alongside me, Keith and Taylor were happily eating the high level meat served in the castle, Lynn was eating a salad, which was still fresh enough to try running away, as for our two crimson demons, Yunyun was doing her best to eat properly using correct table manners while Megumin was wolfing down as much food as she could.

We were nowhere near the banquet hall, but I could guess what was going on from here.

By the way, my sudden dash towards the castle earlier made Lynn even more suspicious, even now I can feel her staring holes into my face.

"Why are you so mad? If you worked hard back in Axel, I'm sure someday you could also have a royal banquet held in your favor."

It's not the banquet I'm mad about.

Besides I did work hard once, I really did, look at where it brought me.

Working hard doesn't pay off in this world of ours, you are either born talented or you find a way to cheat to the top.

I know that better than anyone.

Meanwhile a newb like Helm just goes off and single handedly does something that only I was supposed to be able to do.

All he did was tame a dragon, now he's being hailed as a hero?

If the king hadn't rushed me, I could have done that!

It pisses me off, everything about this place sucks.

"Why are you making that face? Did you eat something weird?"

Stop interrogating me Lynn! I'm not in the mood for it!

"Eww eee nuu."

"Don't try to talk with your mouth full, are you still a child Megumin? ow."

Megumin smacked Yunyun after that statement, then quickly swallowed her food.

"You see, now that the kingdom has gotten another dragon knight, Tr-Dust is now jealous. Are you ready to believe me now?"

"Dust-san is clearly just envious of the banquet, there is no way he can be the dragon knight of legend. I can see him kidnapping a princess, but not for a noble reason like the one in the story."

Megumin was still trying to convince Yunyun that I was the knight.

"Hey, why don't you give it a break."

I really should stop Megumin from saying more about that in front of Lynn.

"Why would I? You are the one who said "no one would believe me" if I told anyone that you were the dragon knight. Clearly that is a challenge, as a crimson demon, I will not back down."

"Yeah yeah I heard it, you said it before. Just quit being a bother."

"Are you looking for a fight? I already casted explosion today but I'm more than capable of beating a low life delinquent in a brawl."

"Am I a delinquent or a knight!? Make up your mind already you one trick pony!"

"I can do much more than just explosion! Watch! I can leap across this table without a running start and strangle you right now!"

"You keep doing acrobatics like that? no wonder you keep your chest is as flat as Lynn's"

I felt Lynn poking me with her staff.

"Why are you dragging my chest into this?! I still have time you grow you know."

"As a master of observing breasts I can say for certain that yours will remain flat forever."

"Right! Megumin hold his mouth open, I'll thrust my staff down his throat and blast him inside out!"

"Leave it to me!"

"Hey stop it! Your ideas are far too grotesque Lynn! In the first place, shouldn't it be a man thrusting something down a woman's throat. OW! hey!"

"Just what sort of disgusting things are you saying!"

"How could you say such a thing to a young girl at the dinner table!"

"Dust-san is the worst"

"I can't believe you can say such things so casually."

"And while we are in a royal castle too.."

Now for some reason, Yunyun, Taylor and Keith joined in as well.

Just then we heard a knock, someone else entered the dining room.

Everyone quickly took their hands off me and stared at the newcomer.

"Please excuse my sudden entrance, I hope you won't mind if I join you for a bit."

Amelda, the mage who was one of the princess' bodyguards came in and sat with us.

We quickly sat back down in our seats and pretended that everything was normal.

She was wearing a rather extravagant dress, complete with an expensive looking gold necklace, she must have been attending the banquet just moments before.

Amelda took an empty seat and began eating with us.

"Why are you here? Did they run out of food at the banquet?"

"Megumin! You are being too rude!"

It seems like Megumin is really cautious when it comes to food.

"No there is plenty of food at the banquet, but well you see, I don't want the other nobles seeing me eat this much. So I hope you will let me dine with you as a fellow mage for a while."

Amelda, who was being incredibly self conscious about her high metabolism, started eating the food at our table.

"What's wrong with eating? Eating is a necessity of life, you should always eat whenever you can because you might not be able to later."

With a Cockatrice leg in one hand, and a Giant Toad leg in the other, Megumin gave her thoughts on eating.

"No wonder Megumin would follow anyone offering her a meal back in the village. Hey that hurts! Stop Megumin!"

"I won't let you cause any misunderstandings about me! I am a powerful archwizard in my growth period and I came from a poor family, so I need to eat lots and lots to grow. Just you wait, in half a year I'll have a body that puts yours to shame!"

Amelda laughed as Megumin throttled Yunyun in front of her.

"Thanks for your words of support, but still as a noble I need to watch myself in front of others. I doubt anyone would want a big eater for a wife."

"Oh that's nonsense, just like how some men prefer young girls or older ladies, there must be some that find big eaters cute in some way."

Perhaps Keith saw an opening, because he suddenly chimed in with his own thoughts.

Keith, if you are thinking about going after Amelda, don't.

According to Liana and Zorn, the reason why Amelda doesn't have a boyfriend is because whenever she goes on a date, she ends up ordering so much food that the bill ends up being too much even for nobles. Since the men have their own pride they still end up paying for everything, but after that they stop seeing her.

Oh well, Keith has been getting more and more desperate of late, so I'll just let it play out and let him learn the hard way.

By the way not even Megumin ate as much as Amelda but it seems like Amelda was more comfortable eating with us than with the other nobles.

I was considering whether or not I should ask her about the banquet but she was too busy stuffing her face with food to speak.

So I'll leave it for a bit.

A while later there was some sort of commotion outside.

"Sir Jaster, I really hope you consider me before anyone else, after all don't you know me the longest?"

"What are you saying? Isn't it common knowledge that the one the hero has known the longest will lose? Jaster-sama should pick me."

"Lord Jaster, if I may, I would like to offer you my daughter's hand in marriage."

"Enough, I get it, you all have your proposals, but can you please leave me be for just a while? Please return to the banquet for now, there is someone I want to speak too."

Following that, Helm rushed into the room and quickly shut the door behind him.

It would seem that his newfound reputation has earned him a harem of noble ladies and a swarm and marriage proposals.

"Oh, Amelda-sama you were here too?"

"Ahh! Hel- err Jaster-sama!"

Still too embarrassed to eat in front of nobles, Amelda quickly pushed her plate in front of Lynn, who stared at her in confusion.

"There is no need for that, I would be happy if you'd just call me Helm like before."

With that, Helm turned his attention to me. What did he want?

"Well if it isn't Gaudveil's new hero! Just what do you want with commoners like us?"

"Please don't be so cold Rein-senpai. Even though I am now the hero of this country, I could not have done it without your teaching."

I didn't teach him much though, all I did was spend about a week tracking the dragon with him. I bet he's just here to act humble and raise his reputation among the nobles who were all waiting outside the door for him.

In fact I could see a few eyes peeking through the door..

Wait hold on a second, there could be another reason why Helm would come and see me.

If he's here for the reason I have in mind, I'm going to be really pissed.

"You're welcome, well if that's all you have to say, maybe you should bring your attention back to the people waiting for you outside."

"I understand you may be frustrated that you couldn't complete the quest, actually that's something I wanted to talk about."

Oh great, here it comes.

"Rein-senpai, I am now the hero of the country, I think we both know what that means."

"Yeah."

"So I want to ask for your blessing, or at least I want to know whether or not you have any hard feelings."

"Not at all, go ahead."

"Thank you Rein-senpai, truth be told this was my goal for a long time. I'm glad we can still talk like this. I hope you enjoy your stay in the castle."

With that, Helm left.

Judging by the nobles chasing him, the king must not have made his offer yet.

I stood up.

"Hey, where are you going?" Lynn asked, she had to have figured out something by now, so I'm not going to stay and be interrogated.

At this point I just want to forget about the past.

"I'm going to bed early."

In this world, there are only two ways to marry into royalty.

You had to be of high status, something like a prince or a very high ranking noble.

Or you could be someone acknowledged by the royal family, a hero.

Indeed, that was why I was mad, not because of the banquet they gave Helm, but because I knew what the king was about to offer him:

Princess Liana's hand in marriage.

Intermission: The man wearing the disguise of a delinquent

I watched as Dust stomped off to bed.

There are some times when he gets really out of character, seemingly for no reason.

Like when we went to the capital to complete a quest from Vanir, or when we encountered a dragon with Yunyun and Lolisa during a goblin quest.

I've asked Dust about it countless times, but he always just plays it off.

From what I've seen recently, I can say this for sure, Dust isn't who he's trying to be.

In fact I bet Dust isn't even his real name.

The nobles of this country call him Rein. Dust claims it's an alias, but the nobles that call him Rein act as if they've known him for quite some time.

There is that noble lady Lana, who called him "Rein-kun" when I first saw her. She's trying to call him Dust instead, but it seems to be a hard habit for her to break.

Then there is that dragon knight who just spoke to Dust a few moments ago, he called him "Rein-senpai" but the two looked to be the same age.

"Megumin-san, recently you've been saying that Dust is the dragon knight from the story."

"Yes, I know I'm supposed to keep it a secret, but he said that no one would believe me so confidently that I can't just sit quietly and let him win."

"I think I'm ready to believe you."

"Lynn-san! I can't believe it, what Megumin says must be fake, there is no way."

Yunyun was still in denial, but even she must be starting to connect the dots here.

Dust, or is it Rein, has a lot he isn't letting us in on.

The noble lady who took my salad when Helm entered the room should know something, she was part of the noble party that took Dust from Axel.

"Excuse me, I've met you before in Axel but I never got your name."

"Oh, just call me Amelda, no need for honorifics."

"Well Amelda, I want to ask you about Dust, or Rein as he's called here."

"Ehh!?"

Amelda cried out in shock.

There was a film of sweat on her forehead and she quickly ate whatever she had in front of her.

"Well I'd love to talk, but I should get back to the banquet."

Amelda hurried out of the room.

I think I can say for sure that Dust's past is somehow connected to these recent events.

If the other nobles here are like Amelda, then I doubt I'll get any information from them.

Aside from Dust who else might be willing to talk?

Maybe that noble lady calling herself Lana.

The next time I see her, I'll be sure to ask her about Dust.