Chapter 27: Showing Off to this Skeptic Nation!
Editing and supervision: LordVTP
Proofreading: Marv
Part 1
In order to sway the public opinion of Elroad, we resolved to subjugate the three strongest monsters in the country.
The Golden Dragon, the Cream Puff Fairy Queen and lastly, a mysterious monster residing within a mysterious cave.
I didn't know what the deal was with the mysterious monster in the mysterious cave, but the other two monsters seemed to be pretty powerful.
That said…
"EX… TERION!"
...Iris took down the Golden Dragon in one shot.
"Hah… Hah… How did I do, onii-sama?"
"Good job, Iris. Here, have some snacks."
"Yay~!"
She seemed to be in a good mood today.
While Iris was busy fighting the dragon, the rest of us were having a picnic.
Even though we were in a boss area, we were sitting around on a picnic blanket and eating snacks.
"Kazuma was strict with Princess Iris during the trip. He wouldn't let her fight the monsters, claiming that it was too dangerous for her. And yet, Kazuma is now letting his supposed 'little sister' fight a powerful dragon on her own..."
Darkness gave me a disapproving look.
"Um… I don't really mind fighting. My father even told me 'Iris-chan, make sure to take care of those four' before we left."
"His majesty said that?! But… But we're supposed to be the bodyguards here!"
"If it's like that, then it's out of my hands."
"Kazuma is way too passive!"
Being a responsible guardian was one thing, but if the child I'm supposed to be protecting is way more capable than me…
"I'll… I'll leave it in your hands, Iris."
"Un! Onii-sama can depend on me!"
"I actually let myself believe that Kazuma was taking his noble duties seriously! What a mistake!"
Darkness was seriously glaring at me.
"That's your fault, Darkness. Never give Kazuma the benefit of the doubt. That said, these Cream Puff Fairy things are really delicious! They're even better than the ones served in Belzerg's royal palace! Here, Megumin, let's have some more. Nom!"
"Ah. Thank you for the meal. Nom. It goes great with this tea, too."
"Muuuu?!"
I looked away as Aqua and Megumin were voraciously feasting on those cute, cream puff-like creatures.
Eating them alive is a bit too much, you know?
The attendants Revi ordered to escort us, cautiously approached the corpse of the dragon .
"The… The Golden Dragon was defeated so easily! With one strike?! Is the combat power of Belzerg's royalty really this high?!"
"Hey, if the princess who is still young is like this… I wonder just how powerful the famous party who defeated the Devil King is…? Gulp!"
These guys were getting the wrong idea.
"Fufun. If you thought that was impressive, just wait until I have a chance to unleash my true power! This eyepatch I'm wearing is a seal that limits my true powers. If this seal is removed, a catastrophe will befall the world. That's why I must never take this seal off… Never take it off… Actually, when was the last time I washed this?"
In the middle of her boasting, Megumin looked kind of worried as she took her eye patch off and sniffed it.
"Eeek?! She took off her seal?! Then the world will be? ...Eh, nothing is happening?"
What did they expect would happen?
Part 2
"Nom, Nom. So the next target is the Cream Puff Fairy Queen, huh? I'm excited! I wonder if a big Cream Puff will show up? Will it be even more delicious than these guys?"
"Muuu~!"
Aqua still kept munching on those creatures on our way to the next monster.
Since there was a fair bit of distance between the Golden Dragon's lair and the Cream Puff Fairy Queen's location, we were being transported on carriage.
There were two carriages. One for our transport and another one for the attendants.
Both carriages pulled along a wooden cart behind them, which were intended to hold any monster materials we could salvage.
The materials from the Golden Dragon were stored in the cart of the second carriage. The attendants had worked hard to collect the material.
The Golden Dragon was a greedy creature that had hoarded an unimaginable wealth of treasures throughout its long life.
It decided to make its home in Elroad, the country of riches, for this reason.
The greed of the Golden Dragon consumed its being to such an extent that a peculiar transformation happened.
As if its own treasures were melding into its body, the Golden Dragon's scales had become solid gold. And there were precious gemstones in between the segments of the scales, making its body glitter.
It was a sight to behold.
Well, Iris took it down before we could admire the sight for too long.
"Hey, Kazuma. Are you sure you want to give those materials to Elroad? I mean, aren't those scales very valuable?"
Aqua really had a one-track mind.
We gave the Golden Dragon materials to the country of Elroad in order to gain their favor.
"It's not like we need the money, and our mission takes priority."
"Kazuma can't fool me anymore. You pretend to take your duties seriously, but then you let Princess Iris fight your own battles…"
Darkness was still holding that grudge over my head.
"Lalatina, it's really fine! In the first place, I was the one who asked to fight! Rather than having me take the back seat… I'd like it if you relied on me more!"
Iris was in a bad mood during our trip to Elroad because I limited her freedom in all kinds of ways.
That said, she was already in a bad mood prior to the trip.
"Was it PMS, after all?"
"Is onii-sama still going on about that?!"
Ah, she's in a bad mood again.
Dealing with kids entering puberty is quite difficult.
"Satou-sama, we are here."
Before we knew it, we arrived at the lair of the Cream Puff Fairy Queen.
A tall hill with a perpetual mist hanging over it.
Since that mist persisted no matter the time of year or weather, it was said to be a magical effect of the Cream Puff Fairy Queen.
Cream Puff Fairies, or Sugar Fairy puffs, were dessert-like creatures resembling cream puff pastries that could somehow move on its own.
I had thought that the vegetables in this world were the only foods that were animated to the point that they seemed to have sentience, but these strange little cream puff creatures also existed.
Actually, I had also encountered a possessed egg yolk not long ago, so I suppose having dessert that could move wasn't too strange.
Ever since Aqua and Megumin had a taste of these cream puff creatures back at Iris's palace, they developed a craving for these delicacies.
I couldn't get over how these poor creatures would squirm and go 'muuuu~!' if you put them closer to your mouth, so I couldn't make myself eat them.
As we were climbing up a hill, Aqua took out a fork and knife out of her travel bag. She even had a bib around her neck.
"I just ate the last of those little guys that we packed in our picnic basket, so I'm excited to feast on their supposed Queen! I know that they're supposed to be expensive, but that Revi brat gave us way too little."
"S-Sorry, but with the state of the country, we can't afford to spend too much on those kinds of luxuries…"
The attendants were actually apologizing to this self-centered bitch.
"This queen of those cream puff creatures is still the second strongest monster of this country. Don't let your guard down, Aqua."
"This country isn't known for having super dangerous monsters. Monster hunting here is safer compared to hunting in the Belzerg that is overrun with monsters and all sorts of dangerous existences!"
"Ah, is that so? Maybe we should just move here."
"We can't, Kazuma. We have a home in Belzerg."
Megumin, who held concepts such as 'home' and 'family' very closely to her heart, couldn't let my half hearted comment pass without saying anything.
As we climbed up the hill, we took our default battle formation.
The only alterations we made were due to the inclusion of a new frontline ace, Iris.
Darkness and Iris made up the vanguard.
Aqua and I were somewhere in the middle for support.
While Megumin, our little 'break in case of emergency' explosion psycho, was way, way, way in the back.
She was even behind the attendants.
"Um, should we really bring the attendant-san along?"
"It's alright. It's our job to escort everyone here. We will stay a safe distance away and won't get in your way."
"Just make sure to stay behind us."
"Yes, Dustiness-sama."
Darkness was worrying about her subordinates and those under her protection.
How reliable~
...Is what I would say if her character wasn't completely rotten.
Finally, after a long walk, we made it to the top.
"This fog is thick! I can't see anything!"
Up close, the fog was even denser than we could have imagined.
"Hmm… Since this was reported to be a magical effect… Oi, Aqua, it's been a while so why don't you remind us why we bother to keep you around. Use your powers to get rid of this fog."
"How… How dare you say that to this great goddess?! Aren't I always useful?! Geez! I'll show you just how useful I can be! Sacred Break Spell!"
The magical light of Sacred Break Spell pierced through the dense fog, instantly clearing it.
"Oh, Aqua chose the right spell. I'm pleasantly surprised. I thought you'd try to flood the fog away with some kind of troublesome water spell. Good job. Aqua's making improvements in her decision making. Too bad your Intelligence stat will never increase, though… What a shame."
"I already did my job properly and you're still insulting me?!"
Now that Aqua cleared the fog, we could see the top of the hill.
It was a grassy area with wild flowers in abundance.
"Muuu~! Muuuuu~!"
And frolicking in this serene place were Aqua and Megumin's beloved Cream Puff Fairies.
One of them hopped next to Megumin's feet.
"Muuuuu~!"
It rubbed its cheeks on Megumin's shins.
"Ah, how cute. Is that their way of greeting people? My heart is fluttering from the cuteness. Well, then. Thank you for the meal."
"Oiiii!"
Megumin didn't hesitate to pick it up and bite its head off.
"You little creamy twinks thought you could hide in that fog from me?! Come to mommy!"
"Muuuu~! Muuuu~!"
Aqua chased after the puffs with her fork and knife in hand.
She was savagely mowing them down and then eating them.
"Stop breaking formation! Get back here!"
Wait a minute… This pattern….
"Wait, you two! Stop it! Don't you guys have the ability to learn from the past?!"
I immediately threw away my weapon and prostrated.
Any minute now, the Queen of these little things will show up.
If it's anything like the Winter Shogun…
I don't want to be beheaded again, damnit!
Those two ignored my warning and continued their feast.
"Um, onii-sama, why are you bowing with your head on the ground?"
"Iris and Darkness should do it too!"
"...! Onii-sama! Something is appearing!"
There was a flickering light.
A silhouette formed from that light.
A humanoid figure materialized.
It was the same light refraction magic the NEET squad from Megumin's hometown was using to loiter… I mean, scout the woods around the village.
Instead of a giant cream puff like Aqua predicted, this Cream Puff Fairy Queen looked more like a human than a monster.
Her hair was fluffy, like a cloud. It was a silky white color, resembling the creamy insides of a cream puff.
Matching her hair, she wore a voluminous white dress that reminded me of a wedding gown.
Her skin was a light tan, most likely to represent the flaky pastry that made up the outside of a cream puff.
There was a bright, pink colored gem on her forehead that matched her eyes. The gem emitted a radiant light.
This elegant monster extended an arm towards us, as if in greeting.
"Welcome to my abode, intruders. You have eaten my little ones. And for that, you should die."
"Muuuuu~!"
As if stirred up by their master, the normally docile cream puffs charged towards us.
Part 3
"Wahhhh! Gahhhh! Hahhhh! Noooo! Kazuma-san, Kazuma-san! Saaavee meeeee!"
"Muuu~! Muuuu~!"
Those docile creatures that would barely struggle even as you were eating them were now aggressively pursuing Aqua.
Some had clung onto her long hair by biting onto it.
"B-Back off! What's up with these things?! How did they get so strong all of a sudden?! Ah, no! … Eeeek?!"
"Muuu~! Muuu~!"
Aqua casted buffs on herself and was able to avoid being captured, but the puffs had already caught up to Megumin and were piling on top of her.
"...Kazuma, help me. They're touching a weird place. I'm being violated."
Megumin already lost the will to fight as she was instantly captured.
"They… They need our help!"
"No, Iris, we shouldn't just rush in..."
"Hiyahh!"
Perhaps because she wasn't used to battles, Iris let her emotions cloud her decision making as she charged in without any proper plan of attack.
"My friends are in danger! Don't worry, Princess Iris! I've got your back!"
This Crusader here is supposed to be a veteran adventurer but she was making the same rookie mistake.
Iris was physically impressive for her size and age. She closed the gap between her and the Queen in a matter of seconds.
"...! M-My children! One of the intruders is attacking me!"
"Muuuu~!"
"E-Eh? They're… They're latching onto me! It's hard to move!"
While Iris had her attack derailed…
"Muuu~?!"
"Do you think these little things are enough to stop me?! Taste my blade, monster!"
"What's… What's up with this brute?!"
Darkness easily shook those things off.
"Take this!"
"Noooo! …Eh?"
The queen flinched as Darkness swung her greatsword.
"..." x 2.
Darkness missed her target.
Obviously.
"Oi! How useless can you get! If you're not going to do anything, just stay here with the attendants!"
"There… There was some kind of barrier or something that made me miss! Be careful, Kazuma, this Queen is incredibly strong!"
"Um, I didn't erect a barrier or anything…"
While the queen was distracted by Darkness, Iris was secretly able to pull her sword arm free.
"You're wide open! Ex… ter…!"
Iris was preparing to end this in one shot.
"...! Unlike this lady knight who can't land her attacks for some reason, this little girl seems dangerous! I'm sorry, my children, but please… Offer your life for me!"
The queen brought her hands together as if in prayer.
And then the cream puffs that were clinging onto Iris's body…
"Myuuuuu~!"
Made themselves explode in a kamikaze attack.
"Ahh?! What's… What's with this white stuff?! It's all over me?!"
The cream inside of the puffs splattered all over Iris's body.
She collapsed on the ground.
"For… For some reason I can't move! It's like my body is frozen... Onii-sama…!"
The Queen stood over Iris's body and giggled.
"Once my children sacrifice themselves to protect me, their cream will become supercharged with their life force. The cream will then have the ability to immobilize any opponent it touches, no matter how strong they are."
Our most reliable ace just got taken out.
"Why you…! To… To have your minions unleash all their white stuff all over the princess is…! I'm so jealous… I-I mean, I won't forgive you! Hiyahh!"
"Ah, this one again."
The queen stepped aside as Darkness tried to attack, only to badly miss again.
"Seems like I can just ignore this one. Fufun~!"
"Damn you…! Even if you make your minions push me to the ground and pin me down and release all their white stuff on me… I won't lose!"
"Ah, no. I'm not going to waste any of my children on you."
"...Please?"
"N… No. Why are you asking your enemy for such a thing? Stop bothering me already!"
What is this Baka-sader up to now?
Since Iris got taken down, I looked towards the other two.
Aqua was captured and buried underneath a mountain of puffs.
Meanwhile, Megumin…
"I wanted to have a taste of that queen over there but… Seems like I'll have to blow her up. Sigh…"
"You'd even eat that human-looking monster? Oi…"
As I was kind of creeped out by Megumin, she started chanting Explosion magic.
"Is that explosion magic?! I-I won't let you…! My children!"
"Myyuuuu~!"
"...Ngh! So hot! Sticky white stuff is all over my body… Oi, I can't move."
Megumin was also taken out.
"Hm, that blue one over there was the one who dispelled my fog, right? I should take her out just in case."
"Wahhh?! Ahh… No! This hot white stuff is getting in my mouth…! Mmguh! Bleh! What is this suspicious fluid?! How dare you defile this goddess's holy body! ...Ah, I can't move."
Those three were swiftly taken out.
So now it was just down to me and Darkness.
"You… I'll make you pay!"
"...Why are you still bothering to attack me?"
"Kuh! That barrier is still too powerful! My attacks won't hit!"
"...Like I said, I don't have any barrier."
So now it was just down to me.
While the Queen was distracted by Darkness, I drew the mithril rope hanging by my belt.
I threw the rope at the Queen.
"Bind!"
"Eh?! ...Ugh!"
The rope wrapped itself around the Queen, pinning her arms behind her back.
What a useful skill.
Thanks for teaching me this skill, Big boss…!
"...Kazuma… That pattern…"
"Eh?"
"Tying me up in this disgraceful manner… What kind of sick plans do you have for me, intruder!"
"Um… I wasn't trying to do that…"
For some reason, the rope had taken an intricate shibari pattern when it subdued the Queen.
Furthermore, the rope was tied in a way that really emphasized her curves.
Why do all my skills come with some kind of kinky side effect?
I-I'm not doing this on purpose.
Really.
"Kazuma, do me next! You still have another rope, right? My turn, my turn!"
Darkness jumped around excitedly while waving her arms.
This one is making the situation worse.
"To capture me like this… Not bad, but… My children!"
"Myuuuu~!"
"Eh?" x 2.
Darkness and I both titled our heads in surprise as the remaining puffs gathered to the Queen.
They latched onto the ropes.
"Myuuu~!"
Once more, they self-destructed.
The cream spilled all over the ropes.
The rope came undone.
Using the cream's nullifying property to disperse the mana in the ropes…
Isn't this monster too resourceful?!
"To make me use the last of my children… No matter. I'll just use your life force to make more!"
The good news is that she didn't have any more minions to rely on.
The bad news was that she now had her sights firmly set on me.
"You look weak, but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders… I'll have to take you seriously. Take this! Faerie Bolt!"
From the gem on her forehead, a pink energy beam shot towards me.
"K-Kazuma…!"
"Heh. You don't seem to have high defence stats. That should have been enough to kill you… It's over… Eh…? How… How did my attack miss?!"
The Queen exclaimed in shock as the guy she dismissed as already dead was still standing before her.
"I moved out of the way. You think I'm going to stand still while being attacked?"
"Tch! That… That was just a fluke! Take this! Faerie Bolt!"
"Kazuma! I'll protect you!"
Darkness moved to stand in front of me.
"Ah. Don't bother."
I easily sidestepped the second energy beam.
The beam made a deep crack on the ground where I was standing.
If I was hit with that, my body would have been split in half.
"Hah?! How did you do that?! Those reflexes are superhuman! Wait, you used Bind earlier… And along with your slim build… Ah, you must be a Thief who learned the Auto-Dodge skill!"
She was wrong about me being a Thief, but I did learn Auto-Dodge.
A passive ability that lets those in the Thief class dodge almost any attack aimed towards them.
Since it's a passive ability, I didn't even need to activate it. As long as I was aware of the attack, my body will move on its own as if on autopilot, and avoid the attack.
"That skill is impressive, but you can't dodge every attack! I'll block off all your escape routes…! Faerie Bolt! Fairie Bolt! Fairie Bolt!"
As expected of this resourceful monster. She figured out the limitations of the skill quite easily.
"Tch! Don't think I'll let you attack Kazuma just like that! Kuh!"
"Eh?! This one took a Faerie Bolt at point-blank and survived?! Who the hell are you people?!"
The Crusader whose only good point was defense protected me from the attack.
My Auto-Dodge did its work and I escaped through the path Darkness opened for me.
It's time to counterattack.
I drew my short bow and notched an arrow.
The action was almost instantaneous.
This was due to another passive skill I learned, this time from the Archer class.
It was called Quick Draw.
"Snipe! Snipe! Snipe!"
I rapidly fired arrows with Quick Draw and Snipe.
"Guh! Wind Wall!"
My arrows were easily deflected by a powerful gust of wind.
I couldn't take her out by myself.
"Darkness! Distract her!"
"On it! Hiyah!"
"Eek?! I know that this one can't hit, but your attacks are still scary?! Eeeek?!"
Even though Darkness had zero accuracy, her sword swings were still very powerful.
While the Queen was occupied, I went over to Megumin, who was the closest to me.
"Megumin, are you OK? Think you can stand if I give you some of my energy with Drain Touch?"
"Can't… T… alk…"
The paralyzing effect of the cream seemed to have completely immobilized her.
I knew something was weird when that crybaby Aqua stopped crying and screaming her lungs out.
I tried giving Megumin some of my energy, but the cream blocked my Drain touch from affecting her body.
What a powerful effect.
Not only was the Queen a resourceful spellcaster, but she could also sacrifice her minions to completely immobilize her foes.
What a scary opponent.
"Eeeek! Wait, wait… Time out!"
"I got you now, monster!"
"Your attacks have no chance of hitting but you're seriously creeping me out!
...Actually, Darkness seems pretty scary as well.
If I couldn't rely on Megumin or Iris for firepower…
"Oi, Darkness, I practiced a few times but I'm still just a beginner at this. Please don't hold any grudges if I hit you."
"Eh? What's Kazuma talking about?"
"Don't mind. Just distract the Queen while I set up."
I learned many useful skills that affected my survivability, or would compliment my pre-existing skills.
But even after spending all those Skill Points, I still had plenty left over.
That power leveling exploit I found was really quite ridiculous.
And so, with my surplus points…
I decided to improve my firepower.
"Eh? That chant is…! I thought you were a Thief?! And you used Archer skills earlier! Don't tell me you're a surprisingly strong person?!"
The Queen looked to me in shock, momentarily averting her eyes from the Darkness who was harassing her.
"Huh? Me? Strong? Oh, no. I'm just the weakest party member with the weakest class."
"You liar! Not only Thief and Archer skills… You know Intermediate magic, too?! Wait… Wait! Maybe we can work something out…!"
The Queen begged for a compromise, but I had already finished the chant.
I raised my hand.
And then…
"...Lightning!"
Flash!
A lightning bolt crashed down from above.
It struck the Queen head on.
"Guwohhhh?!"
The flash of lightning disappeared as quickly as it manifested.
Only a faint afterimage remained in my eyes.
Using magic beyond the basic Elementary magic…
It was a strange thrill.
I could somewhat understand why Megumin loved Explosion magic so much.
If Intermediate magic felt this good to cast, then Explosion magic must be…
L-Let's save that thought for another time.
After being burnt to a crisp, the Queen collapsed to the ground.
After using Intermediate magic for the first time in a real battle, I managed to hit my enemy straight on.
Well… Maybe my aim wasn't perfect...
"Kazumaaa! This is amazing! More!"
Her hair standing up and with soot marks all over her face, Darkness writhed on the ground and begged for more.
Part 4
Despite being struck by lightning, the Queen still survived.
She seemed to have decently high magic resistance.
It looked cool, but Lightning was still just an Intermediate level magic.
And I didn't have high magic power to begin with.
Still, the spell did its job in stunning the Queen for a while.
The soot on her body cleared away after I washed her off with Create Water.
Her long, fluffy hair was singed terribly, though.
With all her minions gone, she couldn't sap away the mana from my Bind anymore.
I had used my second rope to subdue her.
"Mmmph… Hmmmph!"
She was glaring balefully at me as she struggled with her bindings and cloth gag.
While the shibari pattern was gone, the way she was tied up was still too erotic.
I-I'm really not doing this on purpose.
Darkness, of course, was up and about mere seconds after she got hit with my attack.
"Ehehe… Kazuma, you sly dog! You even learned Intermediate level Sadism skills. Along with Kazuma's Advanced level Pervert skills… Keep up the good work!"
"Stop giving me all these weird skills I don't have. And if you're free to goof around, take care of the others while I watch over the Queen."
"Kazuma wants to interrogate his prisoner…"
"Just move it already."
Darkness laughed giddily as I sent her off to take care of the others.
The attendants came over to me.
"Um, Satou-sama… Is it really alright to let this monster live?"
"...If you're asking me to kill such a human-like creature, I don't think I can stomach such a thing."
"R-Right…"
Without really knowing what to do with the Cream Puff Fairy Queen, we decided to take her to the palace with us for now.
The attendants said that Revi has a rather large monster collection.
He had the means to keep the Queen in captivity until we decided what to do with her.
It's not like the Queen was a danger to the public even before we fought her.
There were no reported incidents of the Queen harming anyone.
And her subjects were undoubtedly harmless creatures.
In fact…
The ones who intruded in her home, forced her to sacrifice her 'children' and then captured her…
No matter how you look at it, aren't we the bad guys here?!
Darkness came back after assisting the others.
She pointed her sword at the monster.
"It's time to finish it off."
"Mmmph~?!"
The queen's glare turned into a pitiful look.
"Actually, Darkness, I've decided to spare the Queen. We can decide her fate later."
"K-Kazuma, I understand that she's a beauty, but this Queen is still a monster… As… As expected of Scum-zuma who is known to have all kinds of depraved fetishes!"
"I don't even want to know what you're imagining right now."
I don't have a monster girl fetish.
Come to think of it, megumin is a 'demon' of sorts, isn't she?
"..."
Let's not think too deeply about that.
"If Darkness can really deal the final blow to this pitiful creature, then go ahead. But I don't want to dirty my hands."
"It's not like I can deal the final blow, either…"
"Is Darkness's aim really that bad?"
"I meant that I can't do it because of moral issues! Since it's at close range and she's tied up like that, there's a 50/50 chance that my attack won't miss!"
"Even when your target can't move at all, it's still only a coin flip chance?
Once that decision was made, Darkness carried the Queen over her shoulders, like she was carrying a sack of potatoes.
We brought her into the carriage, where the others were waiting.
"Eeeee?! Why'd you bring that monster here?! S-Stay back! These stains won't wash away, these stains won't wash away!"
Aqua was dousing her face with her purified water, but the cream stains still remained all over her body.
"...The only good cream puffs are the ones who never come out of their stinking holes."
"Onii-sama… I was violated. They just kept surrounding me and pinning me down and shooting their gooey cream all over me…"
Their traumatized behavior reminded me of our mishaps with the Giant Toads.
How nostalgic.
While Darkness and I were thinking about what to do, one of the attendants offered a solution.
"Um, while one of the wooden carts we brought along is already being used for the Golden Dragon materials, we still have one more cart available. We can keep the Queen there along with a guard."
"We can't have the Queen on the cart since there are a lot of openings. She might escape even if we have a guard watching her."
"That's true…"
I've seen first hand how resourceful this Queen could be.
Even now, it seemed she was disappointed that I rejected that suggestion.
Aqua raised her hand.
"We're fine with staying in the cart. Just keep that Queen in the carriage and away from us."
"That's right, onii-sama. Since we are still covered in cream, we might stain the interior of the royal carriages. It's better if we stay in the cart."
"Well, that would be ideal, but… If you say so…"
The attendants brought out some blankets.
"It's getting dark. It will be cold out, so please use these blankets."
The girls hopped on the cart. They wrapped the blankets around themselves and huddled together.
"..."
Looking at them all huddled up in the cart...
I had a feeling that this set up would cause some misunderstandings.
But everyone had already settled into their positions and was ready to head back.
During the trip, Darkness and I kept a careful eye on the Queen.
The Queen was still glaring hatefully at me.
Her white dress was singed and ripped at parts, which unfortunately gave her an immodest appearance.
"Mmmph! ...Mmm!"
The simple cloth gag completely covering her mouth restricted her speech and ability to cast spells.
"...Urmph… Hmmph!"
She refused to sit still and kept trying to loosen the rope.
With the way the rope was constricting her body, her breasts jiggled as she squirmed against her bindings.
"..."
Of course, since she was a dangerous prisoner, I had to diligently watch her every movement.
It couldn't be helped.
"K-Kazuma, c-can you…?"
"No."
I refused Darkness's request before she could even make it.
When we got back to the city…
Along the streets, the crowd was watching our carriages carefully.
"Hey, look at all those golden scales… Could it be? Is that from the Golden Dragon?!'
"I heard that those heroes from Belzerg are going on a monster hunting expedition, but I didn't think they'd be able to take down one of our strongest monsters in one day!"
There were a lot of cheers as the first carriage pulling along the Golden Dragon materials came by.
And then when the second carriage came around…
"Eh? There's another cart… But there are girls inside?"
"Look at their faces. There's so much white stuff stuck on their skin…"
"I wonder what kind of hell they went through? Poor girls..."
Those girls who looked like the victims of a horrible event attracted even more attention than the Golden Dragon materials.
Part 5
Revi invited us for dinner that night.
Among the food prepared was some of the meat from the newly slain Golden Dragon.
The attendants used some kind of preservation technique to make sure the meat wouldn't spoil on the way back.
Those guys were pretty reliable.
Since Dragon meat was rich in nutrients and packed a lot of EXP, it was a delicacy reserved only for the most affluent of nobles, or high-ranked adventurers.
That may be the case, but…
The meat was too tough and sinewy. There was a stink that no amount of herbs or spices could cover up.
And despite all the nutritional benefits, the taste was…
"Disgusting!"
Aqua summed up my thoughts by rudely spitting out a half chewed morsel of the Dragon steak served to us as the main entree.
I wasn't desperate to raise my level since my stats were already hard capped.
I had more Skill Points than I can spend thanks to my power levelling method.
"This is for EXP… This is for EXP… Ah, this taste is very foul! This kind of suffering is enjoyable in its own way… Ehe…"
This pseudo Crusader, who can't even hit stationary targets, can't rely on dealing the final blow on enemies to raise her level.
She was forcing herself to eat the putrid meat for the sake of receiving EXP.
"To think that Princess Iris was able to slay that dragon on her own… I'm honestly impressed. Wouldn't that make her a Dragon Slayer?! And that Satou-sama and the famously tough Crusader-sama would take down the elusive Cream Puff Fairy Queen… I'm very impressed! I'm sure that, with these feats, Belzerg's approval rating will rise among the people of Elroad!"
Revi said some encouraging words.
As for the captured Queen, as the attendants said, Revi had quite the monster collecting hobby a while ago.
He'd collect some strong monsters and treated them like pets.
The attendants even gossiped to me that Revi had his knights fight these strong monsters to 'prove their worth'.
What a problematic child.
Lately he's outgrown this sadistic hobby.
But there was still a living area for these monsters in the palace.
It was pretty cruel to lock a sentient, humanoid monster like the Queen in a cage, but these were temporary measures.
If we could somehow have the Queen promise that she won't hold a grudge over humanity for this incident, we could let her go, but…
Right now, it'd be irresponsible to let her go free.
After dinner, Revi sensed that we were all exhausted and invited us to stay the night in the palace instead of going back to our hotel.
"I'd like to talk some more to Satou-sama!"
So that was his hidden angle.
"Uwaaa~ I'm exhausted…"
Aqua blearily followed the maid-san to her allocated room.
The others were similarly exhausted.
"Onii-sama, I'm sorry for my poor performance in the second fight. It seems like I have a lot to learn. But thank you for letting me fight today."
Iris, polite as ever, said this to me.
"Iris doesn't have a lot of battle experience, so it's alright.''
She bowed to me and said goodnight.
Letting her fight really did wonders in alleviating her bad mood.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so strict on her.
Am I really losing touch with my roots?
Maybe all this noble and hero business is getting to my head a bit.
I felt a pull on my sleeve.
Megumin was trying to get my attention.
"I'm sorry, Kazuma. I hope you'll still accept me as I am. I promise that the important parts were not sullied. My body is still pure."
"Ah, no… Just forget about today."
I assured Megumin who still had dead eyes over that incident.
Part 6
Revi followed me to my room.
"Oh, boy! A sleepover with Satou-sama!"
"No… Two guys having a sleepover is a bit… And please don't look at me with those dangerous sparkling eyes."
"Eh? What's Satou-sama talking about?"
He tilted his head.
Although this kid was taller than me, he still had very youthful features.
He fits that young, girly-faced, ikemen archetype.
A dangerous existence that might make a man's heart start beating faster if he lets his guard down.
"...Just in case, I'd like to ask Revi some questions. You are interested in girls, correct?"
"What kind of question…? Eh? S-Sorry, Satou-sama. I respect you, but I don't swing that way, so even if you insist…"
"Ah, no, that's not what I meant."
That line of questioning backfired on me.
"So, there's a type of girl Revi likes?"
"Ah, well… In terms of type… In the past I've had feelings for this maid-san who was very nice to me. I also crushed on a girl who was helping out in the kitchen. Also, the girl who works at the stable. She took care of the monsters I used to collect. Recently, a beautiful daughter of one of my advisors caught my eye, too…"
Revi is the type who fell in love very easily.
One of those to say that they fell in love at first sight.
"Actually, between me and Satou-sama, despite my previous assessment of Princess Iris… I was very impressed with her feat of defeating the Golden Dragon. Ah, but I heard that she was immediately taken down while fighting the Cream Puff Fairy Queen, though…"
"Don't insult my little sister like that. She tried her best."
"Eeek?! Is that murderous intent?! I'm sorry! I actually think she's very cute! I was just too shy to say it!'
"Keep your hands off my little sister."
"E-Eh? I'm confused. Does Satou-sama want me to like her or not?!"
Ah, I got a bit riled up.
Just a bit.
While I thought about the next conversation topic, I remembered an important subject that I've been meaning to ask about.
"Say, Revi… I understand if this is a closely guarded secret for your country and if you don't want to talk about it, but I'd like to hear more about that advisor who disappeared a while ago."
As Revi mentioned previously, there was an advisor who was left in charge of the country while King Elroad went on a diplomatic trip to a faraway land.
However, shortly after the defeat of the Devil King, this advisor abandoned his duties and disappeared in a suspicious manner.
"...I don't mind telling Satou-sama, but please keep this to yourself. The advisor's name was Ragcraft. He was a capable advisor and was considered as the right hand man of my father."
According to Revi, this Ragcraft was so well regarded that he personally saw over many important projects even before King Elroad left for his trip.
As for why such a big shot suddenly disappeared…
"Well, rather than telling Satou-sama… I should just show you Ragcraft's journal, which we found in his room in a hidden compartment in his desk."
Revi got up, retrieved a slim, leather bound book from his desk, and gave it to me.
I opened the journal and read from the part Revi wanted to show me.
"...! This is…!"
I couldn't believe what I was reading.
"That's right, Satou-sama. Ragcraft turned out to be a spy for the Devil King army. It seems that he had the ability to shapeshift his looks, and has infiltrated the royal family for years. To think that such a dangerous person was controlling us behind the scenes… Ragcraft had the whole country in the palm of his hands..."
It was a big shock for Revi who had been living a sheltered life until that point.
He had always been reliant on the advisors and the grown ups around him to take care of the responsibilities he had been given as the Prince of Elroad.
While spending his days fooling around, he let Ragcraft, an enemy, infiltrate his country's affairs without even suspecting anything.
"...After we found out about Ragcraft's true identity, I started to take my duties seriously… W-Well, I'm trying the best I can, but the country is still in this state. I'm the 'idiot prince' after all…"
He hung his head.
"Aside from Revi's incompetence, is there another reason why the citizens of Elroad call Revi the 'idiot prince'? It seems that they disprove of you for other reasons…"
When I heard the attendants whisper among themselves, they didn't seem to have a good opinion of Revi and often gossiped about him.
Even though he was the crown prince of this nation, they referred to him derisively.
"Satou-sama sure doesn't mince his words. Did Satou-sama notice how I have red hair when most nobles and royalty have blond hair?"
Darkness, Iris, Jatis and even Claire and Rain had blond/blonde hair.
I noticed that Revi stood out with his red hair, but I didn't know that it would actually mean anything.
"Not only was I not born with the blond hair characteristic of royalty and nobles, I wasn't even gifted with any of the special abilities or talents that the royalty are blessed with. Royalty have the tradition of having heroes or great people marry into their bloodline to keep it strong. After all, royalty are supposed to represent the best of humanity. In fact, these heroes are obligated to marry into the royal family."
"Ah, that's right. I was actually supposed to marry Iris, but I declined. I had to do this stupid tournament thing to determine who would marry Iris instead of me."
"There are alternate measures like that to preserve the honor and dignity of the royalty who was rejected. Otherwise, they would be seen as used goods. Belzerg makes the hero who rejected the princess or prince fight in a gladiatorial tournament, while Elroad takes more refined measures. We settle it in the casinos."
He raised his nose snootily.
Even though Iris was already engaged to Revi, once a suitable hero showed up, that contract was, at least for a moment, nulled without any diplomatic repercussions.
And even when I rejected the tradition to marry into the royal family, all that tournament stuff was still necessary to preserve Iris's value as a political marriage pawn. Royal politics sure are convoluted.
"Anyways, long story short, I didn't inherit any talents from the great scientists or poets or heroes of war that made up my ancestry. And I was even born with this red hair. So I've been treated as an outcast of sorts. And that's why people call me 'idiot prince'... Haha…"
Revi did a self-deprecating laugh.
"Is Revi sure he's not called the 'idiot prince' because he used to live extravagantly and even made his knights fight the monsters he'd collect for fun, while letting his shady advisors handle all his responsibilities?"
"Satou-sama really doesn't mince his words, does he?!"
Maybe I said too much.
He sighed,
"Well, it's alright. I owe a lot to Satou-sama, after all. Satou-sama, to me, is an inspiration. Even though Satou-sama is a talentless loser like myself, he still accomplished great deeds and became the hero who defeated the Devil King."
"...Um, thanks?"
He was looking at me with admiration despite casually calling me a 'talentless loser'...
"And if it weren't for Satou-sama defeating the Devil King… In the journal, I read that there were plans to assassinate the 'idiot prince'. After Ragcraft didn't have any use for me anymore as a puppet, he would quietly dispose of me. But when Ragcraft's boss, the Devil King, died in the hands of Satou-sama, Ragcraft panicked and abandoned his post in a hurry. Satou-sama's actions saved me…"
He glanced away shyly.
Ah, what a cute child.
"Why couldn't Revi have been born a girl? I would have liked another little sister character who admires me."
"That's kind of disgusting, Satou-sama!"
"...Hm, then maybe not a 'little sister' but… How about a 'little brother'?"
"...! R-Really, Satou-sama?!"
I had a little brother back in Japan.
While we became estranged as we both grew up, I do remember being quite close when we were younger.
While being reminded of those nostalgic days in Japan…
"Then, instead of calling me 'Satou-sama' all the time, why don't you try calling me 'nii-san'?"
"Can… Can I really? Then… Nii-san…"
He looked at me with upturned eyes while blushing.
"..."
"Eh? Nii-san? What's with that face?"
"I already have a girlfriend, so please don't do that again. That was dangerous."
"Ehhh?!"
I suddenly got myself a little brother.
…
...
Interlude: Windry-chan's diary
Entry # 1
Dear, diary.
It's my first time writing on you, so introductions are in order!
Hellooooo~!
Nice to meet you~! I'm Windry-chan~!
Tee-hee!
I'm a beautiful 16 year old girl. I'm the youngest daughter of the super influential Florentia noble family.
My daddy is this big shot advisor to the King himself. He even brings me along to work sometimes!
And this daddy of mine says that I'm the cutest girl in this country… And he's 100% correct! Tee-hee!
I mean, look at these lovely blonde curls of mine, and my big blue eyes…
My amazing bodyline and modest, perky breasts...
I'm such a hottie!
I'm so lovely that I even caught the crown prince's eye, yanno~! Fufufun~
...Well, he's just an idiot prince so who cares if he likes me or not.
It'd be cool if I became a princess or something in the future, though~
I guess that option is always open for me!
Fufun. It's so hard to be so beautiful and popular. Sigh…
Anyways, so I'm totally writing this diary to document my thoughts about this little field trip I'm planning!
Ano ne… So there's like this really creepy cave that's really becoming popular recently, right?
All my friends are talking about it.
It's this spooky little cave that's supposed to have, like, this really strong monster inside.
Well, the monster doesn't seem to be very active though~ It never even leaves the cave.
Since it seems safe enough to take a quick peek inside, I decided to give this place a tour!
That way I can show off to all my friends!
Let Windry-chan's test of courage… begin!
Entry # 2
So apparently this place is really dangerous, even for the strongest adventurers in Elroad.
Even if I wanted to hire some as bodyguards, there's no one interested in doing it.
Geez, why can't we just get those strong guys from Belzerg to come help us or something?!
They have to travel a week on carriage to make it here? Who cares!
Aren't there a lot of hottie, ikemen-type adventurers in Belzerg?
Give me those guys instead of these wimps who are too scared to go inside a little cave!
Since it's like that, my daddy really had to bring out the Eris to get these wimps to come with me.
I love my daddy! He's so sweet to me!
Chuuuuu~!
I don't even mind that he steals my underwear sometimes and comes to my room at night to watch me sleep!
...Really, I don't mind at all.
Entry # 3
Today is the day of the expedition in that spooky cave!
Yay~!
I'm so excited!
I bragged to all my friends, and they begged me to bring them along.
Mou~ Well, it's okie~!
Windry-chan has a generous heart, yanno?
And it's better to have a test of courage with a bunch of people~
Aside from me there's Leona-chan, Victoria-chan and Lisbeth-chan.
Oh, and a bunch of meathead adventurers, too.
Gee, these guys are a bunch of deadbeats.
They can't make their own money and lost all their assets in the casinos, so they have to do this kind of rough, dirty work just to pay their debt.
That's what daddy told me about adventurers.
These unruly guys better not think about doing anything funny to us while we're in the cave!
The cave is located quite a ways from the capital.
We had to travel there by carriage.
The outside of the cave didn't look all that special.
I was bummed out but I kept myself optimistic.
The henchmen my daddy hired told us to stay behind them while they went ahead and scouted the cave.
Apparently there were a bunch of traps and dangerous things inside.
A skinny guy who was lightly clothed went ahead and disabled them.
We advanced carefully with the skinny guy scouting ahead.
I kept my eyes peeled for the mysterious monster.
Leona-chan and Victoria-chan were so scared that they were clinging onto my dress and jumping at every little noise.
As for Lisbeth-chan, she was completely oblivious to the atmosphere and kept flirting with one of the adventurers the whole time.
They ditched us and went off somewhere while we were exploring.
Lisbeth-chan is such a slut.
I-I'm not jealous or anything.
The inside of the cave was spacious.
We were told to watch our footing, but the ground was even and easy to walk on.
We didn't see any stalactites or any crazy looking rock formations.
Rather than a cave, this dark and cold place reminded me of the wine cellar in our estate.
When I thought of it like that, wasn't this place kind of boring?
Just when I was getting really bored of this whole thing, Lisbeth-chan and the adventurer she went off somewhere to make out with suddenly caught up with us.
They were out of breath and seemed to be panicking about something.
Um… If I remember correctly, Lisbeth-chan was saying something like, "We found something really weird! There's a person! A person was trapped inside a glass prison!"
We thought that maybe someone came here to check out the cave like we were, and that they got trapped here somehow.
We followed Lisbeth-chan as she lead us to the secret room they found.
Apparently, they accidentally pressed a hidden button somewhere on the wall, and that the whole wall opened up, leading to this secret room.
This is the kind of exciting thing I was looking forward to!
The wall was still open when we got back.
We carefully entered.
The secret room was totally different from the rest of the cave.
The walls were painted a plain white. There were magical items on the ceiling that emitted light as soon as we came in.
There were some weird thingies that flashed light and went 'beep beep boop boop!' if you came near them.
They're kind of scary so let's not touch them~
There was a big cabinet but it seemed to be protected by a lock of some sort.
It kept asking us for a password.
We couldn't open it with brute strength so we left it alone.
We had to keep going a bit further in, but finally we saw the trapped person…
A girl… A rather beautiful girl…
She had black hair and white skin.
Her eyes were closed.
She was wearing a black, skintight bodysuit.
Like Lisbeth-chan said, this girl was trapped inside what appeared like a glass prison.
There was some kind of weird liquid inside the glass, too.
The shape reminded me of the fat part part of a wine bottle.
But how did she get here in the first place, I wondered.
Don't tell me the monster trapped her here?!
Poor girl!
We tried opening the glass thingy with brute force, but, like the cabinet, it wouldn't budge.
A guy even tried hitting it with his sword but his sword just bounced off the glass uselessly.
Ehh~ Don't tell me these guys are weak?
We looked around the room to try and see if there was anything we could use to free the girl.
We found this black book, but the words inside were written all weird… We couldn't read it!
I decided to keep it as a souvenir anyways.
While we were looking around, that skinny guy who disabled the traps earlier said that we should leave, and he was really serious and panicked about it, too.
A skill of his called Detect Enemy was activating.
The monster was near…!
"Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Hostiles not identified as facility research staff are detected! Coolness check: ….Not found. No pose detected. Edginess meter: ...0%. Bio-scanners show that hostiles do not possess Crimson Demon DNA. All clear to engage!"
I wanted to take a quick look at the monster, but I changed my mind when it made all these scary noises!
Kyaaa~! How scary~!
We didn't want to take our chances with this scary monster.
We immediately retreated.
Entry #4
Uwaa~
That was fun, but also really scary~!
The adventurers escorted us back to the capital.
Lisbeth-chan and that adventurer were making out in the carriage the entire trip back.
Lisbeth-chan is such a slut.
Once the adventurers dropped us off, they told us that they would report to the guild about the girl we found.
Since the book I took could have some important clues inside, they had me give it to them.
Bunch of meanies!
Well, it's alright. I'm pretty satisfied with their services after all!
That field trip was way too fun!
When I got back home and told daddy all about my adventure, he didn't seem to believe me.
He thought I was making it up!
After dinner I went upstairs and now I'm finishing up this entry!
Uwaa~! That was way too fun!
And writing a diary is pretty fun, too~!
Maybe I'll keep writing on you, diary-san?
Fufun!
Now, where shall I have my next field trip?
…
…
Chapter 27 END
Next Chapter: A Resurrection for this Legendary Crimson Demon!