Chapter 184: I'm Laying My Cards on the Table, I'm a Noble's Daughter
A few days had passed since the battle to intercept the Mobile Fortress Destroyer.
Today, the atmosphere in the Adventurer's Guild was exceptionally fervent. Everyone was looking at the guild staff with expectant eyes. Needless to say, just from this heated atmosphere, one could tell the reason.
—It was bounty day.
One must know, the Mobile Fortress Destroyer was a mobile natural disaster that had destroyed numerous towns, and many towns and ruins had been devastated by it.
The kingdom, having suffered so much from it, had naturally posted a high bounty, hoping someone could intercept or destroy it.
Originally, the bounty should have gone solely to Kobayashi, who had intercepted the Destroyer alone. But his high-EQ speech had not only earned him unanimous praise, but a small portion of the credit had also flowed from between his fingers to the other adventurers who had just been eating melons and watching the show.
In other words, all the adventurers who had participated in the battle against the Destroyer would get a bounty. It was a reward for their bravery.
By the way, this was something he had specifically requested.
After all, taking all the food for oneself would cause public anger, while scattering a little wealth would earn a good reputation. It went without saying which one to choose.
The members of the party were also looking at the guild staff who were distributing the bounties with great anticipation.
It was just that they were the main force, and in the usual trope, the rewards are given out last to make the crowd cheer and applaud, so it was useless to be anxious.
And during this time, Kazuma suddenly said anxiously, "Where did Kobayashi-senpai and Darkness go?! They're about to hand out the bounty! What's the deal with him not being here?!"
Aqua was lying lazily on the table, not caring about the bounty at all. She said in a muffled voice, "It's not like the bounty is going to run away. There's no need to be in such a hurry. By the way, can I run a tab and buy a drink first? The bounty is going to be paid out soon anyway."
This woman... she said she wasn't in a hurry, but her actions were even more excessive. To even be able to say "run a tab"... as expected of the Goddess of Debt.
Kazuma looked down on Aqua the most.
Although he had to rely on being "kept" by him for food, drink, and lodging, the money for the succubus shop was earned by him, bit by bit. He was completely different from this shut-in goddess who only knew how to eat, drink, and be a lazy bum every day!
But the annoying part was, you couldn't even say anything to her, because the supporter behind him, who had been in the limelight this time, was her.
That was the most infuriating part.
Megumin tilted her head and asked, puzzled, "What's the hurry? If he isn't back by then, can't you just go up and accept it?"
"No, no, no. No matter how you think about it, it can't be me. Because you can tell that they'll announce the achievements at the end. Besides the bounty, there will definitely be other rewards. This is a common trope in games, so it has to be him who accepts it."
Kazuma, who was well-versed in 2D culture, had a unique understanding. But hearing him say that, Aqua also nodded in approval, and even began to have a certain strange fantasy.
"Do you think... he'll be granted a noble title?"
"It's possible! Oh no! At any rate, he's a hero who intercepted the Destroyer! What if he's summoned by the king? He might even recruit me as a knight!"
"Come to think of it, if I can catch the king's eye with my party tricks..."
"I could be a shut-in without any worries!"
"Hehehehehe..."
"Hoh hoh hoh hoh..."
The two of them huddled together, their bodies exuding an evil aura. It was hard to imagine that they were the adventurers who had just saved the beginner town of Axel.
What was the difference between them and the Demon King's army? What about defeating the Demon King?
Megumin disdained to associate with the two scumbags. She was devoted to the Demon King... don't misunderstand, she was devoted in a magical sense. Because her greatest life goal was to defeat the Demon King with her ultimate Explosion magic, so as to spread her name as the strongest Explosion mage.
At this moment, Kobayashi and Darkness hurried in.
To be precise, he was pulling her hand, dragging the perverted knight, who was wearing casual clothes and hesitating, into the guild.
Kazuma's eyes were sharp. He quickly greeted them. "Kobayashi-senpai, Darkness! You're finally here."
The guild was quite crowded right now. It was a bit difficult for the party members to gather together. This also showed from the side just how great of an achievement intercepting the Destroyer was.
"Quick, come on, Darkness!"
Under the puzzled gazes of the others, he brought her in front of the group. But there were strange teardrops in the corners of her eyes, which made one wonder if she had been wronged in some way.
No, come to think of it... for her, being wronged in a certain way was, on the contrary, a reward?
This strange thought popped into Kazuma's mind.
He didn't greet them, but instead looked at Darkness and asked, "Are you going to say it? Or should I?"
"I... I'll say it!"
Darkness closed her eyes, like a soldier about to go to the battlefield.
The others were even more puzzled.
After a pause, she finally spoke. "Everyone, it might be a little strange for me to say this at a time like this, but I want to thank you all again. Thank you for protecting this town... I'm really, truly grateful...!"
In her plain clothes, she revealed a shy smile.
It had to be said, when she wasn't being foolish, she was just like a noble's daughter. And both her appearance and her temperament were top-tier!
Kazuma was startled and asked, puzzled, "Wh-what's wrong? Why are you being so formal all of a sudden?"
Aqua also shrank back a little. "Yeah, you're being really weird, Darkness. In that situation, if we didn't protect the town, everyone would have ascended to heaven. It couldn't be helped."
And Megumin simply asked with concern, "Are you not feeling well?"
"No, it's not that. I'm just thanking you from the bottom of my heart," she said, shaking her head.
It seemed she really was just expressing her gratitude.
Relaxing, Kazuma also responded, "Speaking of which, you also looked really cool this time, Darkness."
The essence of adventurers is to boast to each other. He should also praise the party's knight. Not to mention, she really had been very brave.
He recalled her cool appearance, not taking a single step back in the face of the Destroyer. She really had the style and grace of a knight.
"That's right, that's right! Very cool!"
"Darkness also made a contribution!"
Aqua and Megumin also hurriedly added.
She scratched her cheek in embarrassment, turned her head slightly, not daring to look at them, and said shyly in a low voice, "I-is that so..."
"But you were also the one who did the least," Kazuma's sharp tongue, though late, had arrived.
Hearing his words, Darkness, still with her head turned away, trembled.
Aqua also chimed in, "Come to think of it, all you did this time was stand in front of the town—you know, I worked really hard! The mecha he piloted was remodeled by me, and I also healed a lot of the injured adventurers."
Hearing this, she trembled again.
Megumin sighed. "I wasn't of much use. I just watched."
Just as a certain useless knight thought she had a companion, Kazuma, on the contrary, took the credit for her and reminded her, "No, no, no, have you forgotten, Megumin? When we were making the traps on the plain, we used your Explosion magic. And when the Destroyer's wreckage was falling, you were the one who destroyed it with your magic."
"Oh, that's right."
Megumin was suddenly enlightened.
There was no ill intent, but she trembled again after hearing it.
"Come to think of it, Mr. Kazuma's performance was also particularly outstanding! When the Destroyer was falling from the sky, you were able to direct all the adventurers to evacuate in time, so they didn't run around in a panic."
Wiz, who had arrived at some point, said this without any ill intent.
It seemed this was too much for Darkness to bear. She covered her face with her hands.
"Miss Wiz is even more amazing! You put up a super-large protective shield! Although it didn't cover the entire town, it also blocked the first wave of the rain of debris, which is what gave Kazuma time to react. I have to say, even I don't have that much mana."
Megumin felt a kinship with Wiz, who was also an Archwizard. Although she didn't have the thought of becoming best friends by casting Explosion together, in terms of mana alone, she, Megumin, acknowledged that Wiz was the strongest in the beginner town of Axel!
Darkness trembled again.
Aqua suddenly cut in forcefully, shouting, "Wait, wait! The most amazing one is still Kobayashi, right! Piloting the mecha I remodeled, and intercepting the Destroyer all by himself! The MVP should be Kobayashi, right?"
"That's right! You're right!"
Everyone agreed.
After hearing her finish, Darkness, who had her face covered in her hands, finally began to tremble lightly.
Kazuma looked at her out of the corner of his eye and teased, "...So, a certain Crusader who was yelling about protecting the town and being willful... what exactly did you do?"
"Th-this is... this is a new feeling!... Waaaaaaaaah—!"
Teased until her face was bright red, Darkness covered her face and squatted down on the spot.
Can you imagine it?
To say you're going to contribute, but in the end, it's all just talk. This is the so-called "giant in words, dwarf in action."
And this feeling is called "shame."
But there was no time for her to enjoy this novel experience. There was an even more unacceptable shame waiting for her.
He patted her on the back.
"Kobayashi..."
Darkness looked at him with teary eyes. The noble's daughter had thought she would be comforted, but instead, she saw that the man before her, although he was being kind, had what was in her eyes a purely demonic smile.
"Darkness, it seems you've forgotten something."
"...Eh?"
"Your name, and your identity."
To think she could get away with it... one could only say she was too naive.
He said with a smile, "If you find it difficult to say it in your current mood, I can also do it for you. After all, I'm not a demon."
"K-Kobayashi..."
That kind gaze held an incomparable malice, which transformed into several tentacles that bound her tightly, continuously invading and toying with her body.
Lying on the ground, Darkness said, unconvinced, "Gu... kill me."
Guk... kill me?
It was hard not to suspect that she was doing this on purpose.
Seeing her resistance, Kazuma asked curiously, "Kobayashi-senpai, I've felt something was strange since just now. Darkness is really not right. What happened to her?"
"Yeah, Darkness, are you okay?"
Aqua even cast a healing spell on her, which made Wiz, who couldn't dodge in time, feel so good she almost ascended to heaven. Mmm, physically.
Seeing her resistance, he scolded, "Look, they're all worried. Hurry up and say it."
"I... I understand!"
Darkness, as if resigning herself to her fate, closed her eyes, then took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind, and said, word by word, "I... am actually... a noble's daughter."
After saying this, she carefully stared at the expressions of her party members.
She had always hidden her identity because she was afraid of creating a barrier, a barrier of status. She didn't want to destroy the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere of the party.
But it seemed it could only go this far.
However—
Kazuma first clicked his tongue in disgust, then let out a helpless sigh. He bowed his head and said respectfully to her, "Yes, I understand, Lady Darkness. I wonder what your orders are? Is it dinner? Or a bath? Or perhaps, you'd like to be served with the small leather whip?"
He had misunderstood that she was playing a noble role-play game. As a kind person, to satisfy his companion's "lady" addiction, he had immediately pretended to be her servant. It was just that the last sentence... he couldn't hold it in. It didn't sound so friendly.
Megumin was even more worried. "Darkness, are you sick too? Have you caught the same disease as Aqua, who's always thinking she's the Goddess of Water?"
"Wait, Megumin! What do you mean by that? I am the Goddess of Water, okay!"
Aqua immediately started shouting.
But she was met with an even more sympathetic gaze from Megumin. Perhaps in her eyes, Aqua was just like her, someone who liked to role-play, but had just gotten too immersed in it and couldn't pull herself out.
And now, Darkness was the same.
Darkness knew they wouldn't believe her, so she said again with a serious, deep voice, "Everyone, I really am a noble's daughter."
"Ah, right, right."
Kazuma nodded perfunctorily.
Darkness got anxious. "I am the daughter of the great noble Dustiness family, known as the 'Kingdom's Sword in the Sheath'! My real name is Dustiness Ford Lalatina!"
"You even made up a name? Also, you'd better not casually borrow a noble's family name. It's better to make up another one."
The veteran chuunibyou Megumin felt that her condition had worsened and even gave her a better suggestion.
Killing the person and the heart!
This is purely killing the person and the heart!
Darkness turned around, grabbed his shoulders, and, agitated and full of confusion, said, "What's going on? What in the world is going on?! Although I find my real name embarrassing, what's with them not believing me? This feeling... it's completely different from what I've experienced before!"
"It's probably because you don't look like a noble's daughter. You see, Aqua is the same."
He used Aqua as an example.
This Archpriest beside him was clearly a real goddess, but because she was too much of an idiot, she was not acknowledged by everyone.
It was too tragic.
This example was naturally met with a loud protest from Aqua, who yelled for him to apologize to her.
But he didn't have time to deal with her now.
He cleared his throat. "Everyone. What she said just now is true. She really is a noble's daughter."
"Hahaha, how is that possible? Someone like Darkness... how could she be a noble's daughter..."
Kazuma waved his hand, not believing it at all. But when he saw his serious expression, which didn't look like a joke, his whole being felt unwell.
"Really?"
"Really."
...
...
"EHHHHH—!!!" x3
After a brief silence, an astonishing cry of surprise erupted from the corner of the guild, and for a moment, it even drowned out the noisy guild.
(End of Chapter)