Chapter 185: Dare to Extort My Money? You're are looking for your death!
After their exclamations, the party members quickly apologized to the adventurers they had disturbed. After bowing and scraping, they all stared silently at the noble's daughter who had just revealed her identity.
The atmosphere became a little heavy.
Darkness unconsciously squirmed and said rather urgently, "Wh-what is it? Why are you all looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my clothes?"
She looked down at herself.
Wearing plain clothes, her perfect figure, which had been hidden under heavy armor, was completely revealed and was slightly alluring.
This much was clear from the adventurers who were secretly sneaking glances at her.
But this time, it was in a positive way.
Darkness, exuding charm and full of femininity, was indeed eye-catching.
As the gazes continuously swept over her skin, the perverted knight trembled, leaned close to Kobayashi, and hugged his arm, her eyes filled with a mixture of confusion and excitement.
He just smiled and didn't explain.
Instead, it was Kazuma who spoke first. "We're looking at a noble's daughter, because we've never seen one before."
"Wh...!"
She was exasperated, feeling that he was implying something.
Aqua let out a cheer and said excitedly, "A noble! She's a noble! And a great noble at that! Money! We'll have countless money! I'm going to be a useless bum! I'm going to be a shut-in!"
This woman didn't have a shred of goddess-like dignity.
Kazuma pouted. "Have you forgotten? Darkness is a pious Crusader of the Eris Order."
"Ah! I forgot! Dammit, Eris! How dare she steal my believers!"
Aqua held her head and shouted, her resentment for her junior goddess growing even deeper.
As a senior, besides being more unreasonable, she was weaker than her in all other aspects. In the eyes of a useless bum like Kazuma, this was a very useless thing.
"I can't believe you're really a noble's daughter, Darkness," Megumin said, hugging her staff. After learning the truth, she was, on the contrary, the calmest one in the party.
"Megumin..."
Darkness was a little moved.
After all, she wasn't deliberately showing off. The more plain and easygoing her companions were, the more at ease she felt.
Kazuma, however, encouraged her, "You are you, Darkness."
"...Eh?" She was slightly stunned.
"Even if you're the daughter of a great noble family, you're also our companion now, a member of our party. It has nothing to do with your status, right?"
"Kazuma..."
He was especially sensitive in this area.
Although he was a scumbag, a pervert, lewd, and shameless, he was a good boy. Having been baptized by a large amount of 2D culture, he immediately understood what she was concerned about.
"But I didn't expect a lady's name to be so cute. Right, Lady Lalatina?" he huffed.
"K-Kazuma?!"
Darkness liked shameful play, but if there was one kind of shame that was off the charts and she couldn't accept, it was being called by her real name.
"It's fine! As long as you leave the Eris Order right now and join the Axis Order, all will be forgiven."
Aqua patted her shoulder, cheerfully proselytizing.
It was just that she had forgotten the terrifying reputation of the Axis Order, which was comparable to the Demon King's army. There was no way Darkness would join.
Unexpectedly, Aqua added at the end, "If you don't join, I'll call you Lalatina."
"Wh... you despicable...!"
She couldn't hold it in anymore. This threat, which pricked her sore spot like a needle, could only be said to be very "Aqua-style."
At this moment, the agitated lady's shoulder was patted.
She turned her head and saw a certain loli standing on her tiptoes, her face tilted up with an expression of intense comfort.
"Megumin..."
"Your name... it's very pretty, Lalatina."
"Megumin?!"
Don't misunderstand. Megumin was truly comforting her.
The names of the Crimson Demons seemed very normal to them, but to outsiders, they were just plain weird. When she had first introduced herself, Kazuma had endlessly made fun of her. Therefore, the name "Lalatina," although a bit cute and didn't quite match her, was at least normal.
"Alright, alright, stop bullying her. We're companions, right?"
Kobayashi jumped out to play the good guy.
But she was in no mood to buy it this time. Although her personality was problematic, it didn't mean she was an idiot. The reason she was being teased by her companions was all because he had forced her to reveal her true identity.
She puffed out her cheeks, glaring at him angrily.
He let out a light laugh, poked her cheek to let the air out, and said, "Don't be angry. Your identity hasn't created a barrier between everyone. You're still our Crusader."
This was an explanation for her, and also for the rest of the party.
"As you can see, she is the daughter of the great noble who manages this region. On top of that, because she's a Crusader, she stayed behind at that time and was willfully at the very front, blocking the Destroyer."
He explained the reason clearly.
She also took the opportunity to bow and apologize sincerely. "I'm sorry! Because of my willfulness, I got everyone caught up in this trouble! I'm really sorry!"
"...Ngh."
The party members looked at each other.
Megumin, who was closest to her, spoke first. "Please raise your head, Darkness. This is not your fault."
"That's right, that's right! It's your duty! In fact, you might even be praised for what you did," Aqua's cheerful voice came.
Kazuma also chimed in, "Although the process was a bit of a roller coaster, the result was good, wasn't it? After all, we got a huge bounty from it."
"That's right!" Aqua immediately chimed in.
That's what she had meant. And they would also be praised by everyone. She loved this part the most.
"Everyone..."
Darkness was extremely moved as she looked at them, who were giving her a thumbs up and laughing.
She, who had yearned for friends, had finally found new friends besides Chris, and they were also her most reliable companions.
The barrier was dissolved, and the atmosphere also melted into the noisy guild, gradually reaching its peak.
Coincidentally, the awarding of the bounty had also reached its final stage.
"Mr. Kobayashi!"
In the path that the crowd had parted, under the encouraging and admiring gazes of everyone, the guild receptionist, Miss Luna, walked over from the center.
She was holding a wooden tray in both hands. On it, apart from a small, thin piece of paper, there was nothing else.
But no one would look down on this small piece of paper.
Because the amount written on it, if converted to gold coins, could probably fill the entire Adventurer's Guild!
Under such a grand scene, the hearts of the party members gradually accelerated.
"Ahem."
Kobayashi cleared his throat.
The few problem children in his party all had their eyes shining and were drooling, a disgraceful sight. Except for the noble's daughter, Darkness, the others were each more unsightly than the last.
The others let out a laugh, but it was full of goodwill.
"Mr. Kobayashi."
"Yes."
"On behalf of the Guild and the villagers of the beginner town of Axel, I thank you for your contribution to Axel, and I thank you for saving everyone."
"I've said it before. It was everyone's contribution."
"...If you insist."
Luna's expression was a little strange.
It was just that he didn't see it, or if he did, he subconsciously ignored it.
After she raised the tray in her hands, Aqua excitedly ran over, pushed him aside, and picked up the piece of paper.
She was very diligent in this regard.
He smiled helplessly and let her fool around.
Aqua looked at the paper and suddenly shouted, "89,000,000 Eris?!"
Hmm?
That number is a little low.
He frowned imperceptibly.
The Mobile Fortress Destroyer was a mobile natural disaster that had destroyed numerous villages and kingdoms. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a neutral general of the Demon King's army. And for such an existence, the bounty was only 89 million Eris? That was too little.
"Kobayashi-senpai..."
"Ah, I know."
It seemed Kazuma had the same thought.
Darkness also asked, puzzled, "Even if a portion was given to the others, it shouldn't be this little."
"There must be other rewards, right?" Megumin looked expectantly at Luna, but all she got was an awkward yet polite smile.
It seemed there were no other rewards.
Seeing that everyone's spirits were low, he took the initiative to console them. "It's fine, it's fine. 89 million Eris isn't a small amount. This is enough for a five-person party to live happily in the countryside for a lifetime. What's there to be dissatisfied about?"
"That's right, that's right. We should be content with what we have," Kazuma also followed up, trying to cheer everyone up.
However—
For some reason, Aqua, on the contrary, stammered, "Everyone... that's not it... it's not... what you think..."
"What?"
"I don't know how to say it. You'd better see for yourselves."
She closed her eyes and stuffed the paper back.
Kazuma glared at her, annoyed, and scolded, "What in the world is wrong? Why are you being so mysterious... Look, it's not 89 million... What?! It's a debt?!"
"Wait, Kazuma, what do you mean, 'debt'?"
Megumin was the first to react. Hearing the word "debt," she was keenly alerted.
"It says here that we owe 89,000,000 Eris."
Kazuma flipped the paper over.
On the paper, which was similar to a check, there was a number. And in front of the number was a negative sign, which meant that they had not received a bounty, but had incurred a debt.
Kazuma: "This is..."
Megumin: "What in the world is going on?"
Aqua: "Why do we owe money?"
Darkness: "And it's such a high amount."
"Hurry up and explain it to us!" x4
The party members surrounded Luna, trapping her. Their eyes were full of murderous intent, which made the innocent, weak woman tremble.
Smack—
He clapped his hands, stopping the atrocity that looked as if they were about to strip her bare. "Wait, everyone. Don't be so hasty. I'm sure Miss Luna will give us a reasonable explanation. Right?"
He was smiling, and the atmosphere around him was very peaceful, as if he wasn't angry at all.
But the veins bulging on his forehead, and the crumpled bill in his hand, all showed that he was on the verge of exploding.
"Um... I'm very sorry!"
Luna gave a deep bow.
The large area of fair skin she revealed, and the incomparably elastic... rabbits... that bounced up and down, could not appease his anger at this moment, nor could it make up for his losses.
"Actually..."
In Luna's embarrassed and angry tone, he and the others learned the whole story.
The kingdom had indeed issued a large bounty. That was where the other adventurers had gotten their reward. Originally, as the main force, or rather, as the hero who had single-handedly stopped the Destroyer, he had also received a large bounty.
But all of that money had been withheld by the Lord.
"Withheld?! Why? Why?!"
Aqua was the first to be unable to accept it.
She grabbed Luna's collar and desperately shook her small body, while Luna's ample bosom also rippled with the waves.
The implicated receptionist explained intermittently, "I-I'm sorry... because the Lord said... said he needed to compensate for the losses. Lady Aqua... you should know... it's that destroyed... p-plain... and a part of the town's reconstruction."
"The plain and part of the town..."
He fell silent.
At that time, after being resurrected by Aqua, what he had seen was a scene of devastation. It was only natural that he should pay for it.
...My ass!
I'm the hero who saved the town! The greatest contributor who saved Axel from being destroyed! It's one thing not to give me a bounty, but to make me pay money? Where's the logic in that?!
He just felt so wronged.
He had the same feeling of being wronged as "I defeated the Dullahan, but because I summoned a large amount of water and destroyed the city walls, I have to pay compensation."
"But it shouldn't cost that much!" Aqua yelled again. "The plain doesn't matter, but didn't Wiz put up a protective shield at that time? Even if some of the houses were affected, it was only a small part, wasn't it?"
"That's right, that's right! The Destroyer is worth hundreds of millions! It's definitely enough to cover the compensation!" Kazuma had reacted and also joined in the denunciation.
But Luna looked even more ashamed.
"I'm sorry. It was originally enough. Even the compensation for the town was paid by the kingdom, and you would have had some of your bounty left over. But the Lord, he..."
She lowered her voice slightly, as if she felt it wasn't good to speak ill of the Lord in public.
But he and the others understood.
That greedy Lord had used this as an excuse to extort them.
And the most crucial thing was, the money for the compensation was already enough, but he still wanted more.
Kazuma also couldn't take it anymore. He yelled, "That's too tyrannical! The kingdom has already paid the compensation! Why is he still demanding extra money?! Hey, Darkness! Aren't you the daughter of a famous, great noble of the kingdom? Think of something!"
"Yeah, Darkness! You should be able to sanction that detestable lord, right! Please! If this goes on, I won't have any money to buy sparkling liquor!" Aqua also pleaded with her for help.
Darkness hesitated. "Even so, I can't just use my status... Besides, I'm just the daughter of a noble. At most, I have the title of a knight right now. I haven't inherited the Dustiness family yet..."
"No, there's no need to do that."
"Kobayashi-senpai?!"
His words made the others react differently.
He waved his hand. "Don't be anxious, Kazuma-kun. I'm not saying we should just swallow our anger. I'm saying we should gather evidence in secret without alerting the enemy. As for this matter... Darkness, could I trouble you to have the head of the Dustiness family report this to the kingdom?"
"Of course. I'm sure the kingdom will also take this matter seriously," she said, seeming to be thinking too simply.
Take it seriously?
If they took it seriously, they wouldn't have let him be so presumptuous.
He would never pin his hopes on others.
Reporting to the kingdom was not the goal; it was just to attract attention.
In fact, a lord's greed was to be expected. Almost every lord was like this. It was just a matter of degree. As long as they didn't rebel, the kingdom would just turn a blind eye.
But there was one thing the kingdom would absolutely not tolerate!
And that was... colluding with the Demon King's army!
If they found concrete evidence, even a duke would be sent to the gallows!
And the Lord of Axel—Aldarp—also had connections with the Demon King's army.
What? You say he doesn't?
No, he does!
Even if he doesn't now, he will make him have them. And he has plenty of ways!
At worst, he could just have Wiz go back to the Demon King's castle, bring something back, and throw it in Aldarp's basement, cementing the fact that he was colluding with the Demon King's army.
Dare to extort my money?
You're are looking for your death!
He had already begun to think about how to get rid of that greedy lord, and an incomparably wicked smile had appeared on his lips, making Kazuma and the others tremble in fear.
(End of Chapter)