While Johann was working on the ground with [Earth bringer], the three heroes Bruges, Mishi, and Keene returned to their position under the king.
The adventurer guild to which the hero party belonged, was several hundreds of kilometers from the king’s capital. In the center towered a gorgeous golden castle, [Sankuta castle], where the royalty resided. It featured a giant castle gate and widespread castle walls around it, with a great number of towers. All of it was made in pure gold, letting out an overwhelming radiance. A person looking at it would be filled with pure reverence. The shape of the building wasn’t especially strange, it was simply a King’s castle. However, the feeling of dignity and the overwhelming radiance, properly conveyed the majesty of a king.
During an audience in such a royal castle. The three heroes knelt before the king, the one who governed this country.
King of Wistard, Alexen Ronautis.
He sat posed in a massive throne, looking down on Bruges’ group from a substantial height.
“Bruges-kun, this time you have performed wonderfully.”
He struck Bruges with an august and refined voice.
“The Demon King suppression mission has been carried out superbly, thanks to you all. As a king I thank you.”
“Ha! Your majesty’s words are too good for me!”
Bruges lowered his head even deeper, emphasizing his reverence. But his mind was filled with poison.
(Truly, a troublesome event. Why would someone like me, have to lower his head for this old man, I don’t have to do this.)
Bruges wanted to click his tongue, but he desperately held his mouth shut.
(Well, to receive remuneration of course. For me, gold is the only true motive)
He had just one goal. The large money reward handed down from the King. When it came to this large sum, Bruges would do anything. He would obtain enormous wealth with his own hands, and go beyond the status of a hero. With that he could play around for the rest of his life.
The reason why Bruges became a hero, it wasn’t because of outrageous reasons such as “I want to protect everyone from demons” or “I want to be useful to others”. He simply just woke up to a strong SSS-rank skill, and used it to earn money by defeating demons. It was truly pleasant to kill and play around with the demons that ordinary people were afraid of, and that as a result people revered him as a hero felt just as good. And if that results in getting money, there wasn’t a reason to not continue playing hero.
However, once he had enough money, he wouldn’t have any lingering attachments to being a hero. He defeated the strongest Demon King, and after that he wanted to drown in his fame and money. As for Mishi and Keene, it was about the same.
In regards to them, they did not have the ambition of being a splendid hero for the people. Ordinary people were the same, no, they were far more vulgar than that.
“Incidentally, I heard there were four heroes, where is he?”
Bruges’ shoulder slightly stiffened.
“Jo-Johann’s circumstances? He got wounded in the fight with the Demon King. He is currently on medical leave.”
“Is that the case… Pity. If I am not mistaken he is the person with the architecture skill, isn’t that right? I wanted to take a look at such an unusual force.”
“I am just as disappointed as he is. He surely wanted to meet your majesty in person at least once.”
Bruges was spewing lie after lie like it was nothing, and he took a short breath. If it leaked out that Johann wasn’t a colleague anymore that might spell the end for his money. He exchanged looks with Keene and Mishi, who were kneeling on either sides of him.
(That was close… Listen up you two. Please match this story properly alright?)
(I know that. For that money we can’t mess up.)
(…I as well, am not an idiot.)
“Then, the matter of the reward money…”
“Y-yes!”
The king finally moved on to the desired topic.
“Before that however, there is one request I’d like you all to take on.”
“A request…?”
Bruges reflexively frowned, as the conversation went in an unintended direction.
“Yeah. As for the Demon King suppression, as considerable sum of money has been promised. But it will take a short while to prepare.”
When he heard mention of the word money in the conversation, Bruges raised the corners of his mouth.
“So, while the preparation of the money is being worked on, we want you and your hero party to take on this quest.”
One of the aides serving the king walked in front of Bruges, and handed him a piece of paper. It was a written form for a quest. The subjugation of a thunder dragon.
“It’s a d-dragon subjugation?”
Speaking of dragons, that was the second-biggest fear after the Demon King. Mountains and canyons were to their liking, and the rest of the humans didn’t influence them. It is known that as a standard, they don’t like conflict. But their power is tremendous, and they pollute their environments. If you incurred their wrath, you would be sure to lose your life.
“It can’t be, a dragon is in the area…?”
“Yes. The report came in a little while ago, it seems that the thunder dragon has settled in the mountains, near the border of the neighboring country Cleades. The trade with this country is prosperous. And the mountain where the dragon settled is close to the trade route. Currently no problems have occurred, but we can’t say that will always be the case. So, before problems arise, we would like you to exterminate it.”
“King Alexen, is this according to your wishes?” the aide asked.
Keene raised her hand, requesting for permission to speak to the king.
“Mhm, permitted. What is it you wish to say?”
“…The dragons are usually a gentle species. Even if you left it alone, I would not think a problem would occur. …..Instead I believe, that challenging it might just provoke it, increasing the danger.”
“Hmm… Surely, we wouldn’t want that to happen, but…”
As the girl made that claim, the king began messing with his beard. It was a habit of him, whenever he was troubled.
“But still, if you can exterminate it, I want you to do it… With your powers, wouldn’t it be simple to bring it down?”
“…That, we will attempt it.”
“We will do it.”
Keene’s speech was interrupted by Bruges.
“King Alexen, please leave this quest to us.”
“…Bruges.”
Disregarding Keene, Bruges continued.
“Let us accomplish this task, even if we forfeit our life in the process.”
“Oh, I see! Can you do it?!”
Overjoyed, the king stood up from his throne.
“No, I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, yesterday the king of Cleades spoke with me about your subjugation of the Demon King, and he badgered me to defeat the dragon. I believe I need to save face, please, resolve it. Bruges.”
“Ha! Your majesty’s expectations will not be let down, please give me some time!”
※
The three heroes left the royal castle, immediately heading to where the thunder dragon was located.
“Hey, wait a minute! Is this really alright?! We have never seen a dragon before!”
“…I also disagree. Even at this point, please refuse properly.”
While walking on the vast trade road, Mishi and Keene were criticizing Bruges.
But he nonchalantly argued back.
“Was that the conclusion you reached? If you refused a request from the king, his impression of you would turn for the worse. Furthermore, if the heroes weren’t sent out, and something happened, won’t that be our responsibility then? “The heroes didn’t exterminate it, what will we do?” or something like that.”
“Ugh…! Indeed, that could happen.”
“…If we don’t do it, it might be even more trouble.”
With Bruges having a surprisingly decent opinion, the girls were convinced otherwise.
“And above all, don’t forget the rewards for the quests! 700 gold coins! With that much, couldn’t you hire several tens of servants?”
At the end of the day, the best motive was gold.
“But, aren’t you slightly uneasy? You could say the dragon rivaled in strength with the Demon King…”
Don’t worry. Didn’t we already bring down a Demon King after all? Even a dragon is no big deal. I’ll protect you guys well.”
Bruges grabbed both of their shoulders, and pulled them towards himself. Because of this pushy behavior, their faces reddened.
“Well if Bruges says so, it’s fine…”
“…I will also follow.”
They each put their hands on Bruges’ waist, and let themselves get spoiled.
“Heee…. As I thought, this is not the life of a hero.”
Now Johann wasn’t there, there was not a person anymore that could bother him. The fact that there was another man in the party, was a big unpleasant factor for Bruges. Although Mishi and Keene hated Johann, another man in the journey was unnecessary.
Nothing better than a party full of cute girls. That was his belief.
They continued progressing on the trade road, and eventually headed down the regular route leading to the mountain. On the way, they hunted harpies and goblins in the neighborhood. Although the Demon King was gone, that didn’t mean the monsters vanished as well. Especially in remote locations like these, a great deal of demons still resided. Such enemies were hunted by Bruges’ party without remorse. And as they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun was slowly setting.
“Heyy Bruges. Shouldn’t we rest in this area for today?”
“Ah, I agree. I’d like to have a bath soon.”
“…As one would expect, I am tired as well.”
In the story of the king, it took three days to arrive at the summit of the mountain, where the thunder Dragon was. Either way they wouldn’t arrive immediately, so they shouldn’t overdo it. Each of the three sat down on a rock. And for a while they were silent.
“…Oi, somebody. Somebody prepare a bath and a meal. My belly is already shrinking like it is dying.”
“Eh~? Even if you say such a thing, I don’t have any food.”
“…With the exception of items, I don’t have anything else.”
“Huh?! What the hell is that! Until now someone brought it ………………………..
………………aaahhhhhhh.”
Whilst saying that, Bruges recalled. They drove out Johann.
“Which reminds me, Johann used to be the person in charge of stuff like this….”
“…That deadbeat, handled all the cooking.”
Until the current quest, Johann’s skill allowed them to live without inconveniences. Using the nearby stone or timber, he could improvise a house so they could spend the night peacefully. That ability was precious for adventurers after all. As for the beds he sometimes prepared, they were as wonderful as the ones in the king’s capital. Besides, Johann was in charge of meals each time. As a matter of fact, he also carried all the food.
In this party, Johann was the only one who was thinking about other things other than fighting the enemy.
“It can’t be helped… Should we use a transfer crystal. We’ll return to the king’s capital, and find an inn.”
“Oh, good idea! Let’s do it!”
If you used a transfer crystal, although once, you could move to any place in an instant. Once they were rested up in the king’s capital, they would use another crystal to return here. However, Keene shook her head.
“…..No. Transfer crystals are valuable. …Even if you brought out money, you could only buy so much.”
Transfer crystals are one time use items. And if you wanted to obtain them, you would need to go to a treasure shop, or get them as a rare drop in a dungeon. Furthermore the amount of stock the shop had would be scarce; there weren’t a lot left. Speaking as a hero, it would still not be easy to get.
“…Right now we have one crystal each, but we’d have to walk back if we used it.”
“In other words, we’ll have to go camping, shit!”
A stone that fell on the road was kicked. Their journey life was entirely dependent on Johann, who was now cut off from them, and the camping techniques were unknown to them. To the extent that they didn’t even have the necessary tools.
“For now, let’s search for some food? I am also immensely hungry,”
“…Agreed” The first priority was the collection of food.
“Then, let’s hurry up and look. It will get dark soon.”
Thus, the camping life for Bruges’ group began.
※
“Oi…. you’re fucking kidding me… What is this…?”
Dozens of minutes later, Bruges glared at the girls who were collecting food.
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Mushrooms (poisonous)]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Mushrooms (laughing)]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
“Aren’t these all medicinal plants?!”
“N-now you say it…”
“…There wasn’t anything else growing.”
“Stop bullshitting me! My HP is going down! I am hungry! Fetch things that fill the belly!”
“But Bruges didn’t discover anything now did he? Wouldn’t it be better for him not to judge?”
“Nnngh that’s…!”
Moreover, look. Here’s some mushrooms.”
“Oh damnit, these mushrooms are poisonous! You’ll die if you eat them!”
“…What if you ate the mushrooms, and then used the medicinal plants to recover.”
“Keene, you’re a genius!”
“She is not a genius at all! At least find antidote grass first!”
“…Then, what about these laughing mushrooms?”
“Aren’t these mushrooms also poisonous in the end?! Shit! I’m done! Isn’t there food somewhere!”
Bruges got pissed off, and lay down on the ground.
“Let’s lie down for today! Then tomorrow we will defeat the dragon, and return to the king’s capital!”
If you sleep, you won’t feel the hunger anymore. Bruges closed his eyes, and started exploring dreamland.
Nevertheless…
“……Isn’t this a bit rough to sleep on…”
Bruges was unexpectedly delicate.
“Oh my god….! Why would a hero have to go camping!”
Bruges was shaking with anger, and hit the ground.
However, this degree of hardships was only the beginning….. compared to the hell of the next day…
While Johann was working on the ground with [Earth bringer], the three heroes Bruges, Mishi, and Keene returned to their position under the king.
The adventurer guild to which the hero party belonged, was several hundreds of kilometers from the king’s capital. In the center towered a gorgeous golden castle, [Sankuta castle], where the royalty resided. It featured a giant castle gate and widespread castle walls around it, with a great number of towers. All of it was made in pure gold, letting out an overwhelming radiance. A person looking at it would be filled with pure reverence. The shape of the building wasn’t especially strange, it was simply a King’s castle. However, the feeling of dignity and the overwhelming radiance, properly conveyed the majesty of a king.
During an audience in such a royal castle. The three heroes knelt before the king, the one who governed this country.
King of Wistard, Alexen Ronautis.
He sat posed in a massive throne, looking down on Bruges’ group from a substantial height.
“Bruges-kun, this time you have performed wonderfully.”
He struck Bruges with an august and refined voice.
“The Demon King suppression mission has been carried out superbly, thanks to you all. As a king I thank you.”
“Ha! Your majesty’s words are too good for me!”
Bruges lowered his head even deeper, emphasizing his reverence. But his mind was filled with poison.
(Truly, a troublesome event. Why would someone like me, have to lower his head for this old man, I don’t have to do this.)
Bruges wanted to click his tongue, but he desperately held his mouth shut.
(Well, to receive remuneration of course. For me, gold is the only true motive)
He had just one goal. The large money reward handed down from the King. When it came to this large sum, Bruges would do anything. He would obtain enormous wealth with his own hands, and go beyond the status of a hero. With that he could play around for the rest of his life.
The reason why Bruges became a hero, it wasn’t because of outrageous reasons such as “I want to protect everyone from demons” or “I want to be useful to others”. He simply just woke up to a strong SSS-rank skill, and used it to earn money by defeating demons. It was truly pleasant to kill and play around with the demons that ordinary people were afraid of, and that as a result people revered him as a hero felt just as good. And if that results in getting money, there wasn’t a reason to not continue playing hero.
However, once he had enough money, he wouldn’t have any lingering attachments to being a hero. He defeated the strongest Demon King, and after that he wanted to drown in his fame and money. As for Mishi and Keene, it was about the same.
In regards to them, they did not have the ambition of being a splendid hero for the people. Ordinary people were the same, no, they were far more vulgar than that.
“Incidentally, I heard there were four heroes, where is he?”
Bruges’ shoulder slightly stiffened.
“Jo-Johann’s circumstances? He got wounded in the fight with the Demon King. He is currently on medical leave.”
“Is that the case… Pity. If I am not mistaken he is the person with the architecture skill, isn’t that right? I wanted to take a look at such an unusual force.”
“I am just as disappointed as he is. He surely wanted to meet your majesty in person at least once.”
Bruges was spewing lie after lie like it was nothing, and he took a short breath. If it leaked out that Johann wasn’t a colleague anymore that might spell the end for his money. He exchanged looks with Keene and Mishi, who were kneeling on either sides of him.
(That was close… Listen up you two. Please match this story properly alright?)
(I know that. For that money we can’t mess up.)
(…I as well, am not an idiot.)
“Then, the matter of the reward money…”
“Y-yes!”
The king finally moved on to the desired topic.
“Before that however, there is one request I’d like you all to take on.”
“A request…?”
Bruges reflexively frowned, as the conversation went in an unintended direction.
“Yeah. As for the Demon King suppression, as considerable sum of money has been promised. But it will take a short while to prepare.”
When he heard mention of the word money in the conversation, Bruges raised the corners of his mouth.
“So, while the preparation of the money is being worked on, we want you and your hero party to take on this quest.”
One of the aides serving the king walked in front of Bruges, and handed him a piece of paper. It was a written form for a quest. The subjugation of a thunder dragon.
“It’s a d-dragon subjugation?”
Speaking of dragons, that was the second-biggest fear after the Demon King. Mountains and canyons were to their liking, and the rest of the humans didn’t influence them. It is known that as a standard, they don’t like conflict. But their power is tremendous, and they pollute their environments. If you incurred their wrath, you would be sure to lose your life.
“It can’t be, a dragon is in the area…?”
“Yes. The report came in a little while ago, it seems that the thunder dragon has settled in the mountains, near the border of the neighboring country Cleades. The trade with this country is prosperous. And the mountain where the dragon settled is close to the trade route. Currently no problems have occurred, but we can’t say that will always be the case. So, before problems arise, we would like you to exterminate it.”
“King Alexen, is this according to your wishes?” the aide asked.
Keene raised her hand, requesting for permission to speak to the king.
“Mhm, permitted. What is it you wish to say?”
“…The dragons are usually a gentle species. Even if you left it alone, I would not think a problem would occur. …..Instead I believe, that challenging it might just provoke it, increasing the danger.”
“Hmm… Surely, we wouldn’t want that to happen, but…”
As the girl made that claim, the king began messing with his beard. It was a habit of him, whenever he was troubled.
“But still, if you can exterminate it, I want you to do it… With your powers, wouldn’t it be simple to bring it down?”
“…That, we will attempt it.”
“We will do it.”
Keene’s speech was interrupted by Bruges.
“King Alexen, please leave this quest to us.”
“…Bruges.”
Disregarding Keene, Bruges continued.
“Let us accomplish this task, even if we forfeit our life in the process.”
“Oh, I see! Can you do it?!”
Overjoyed, the king stood up from his throne.
“No, I appreciate it. As a matter of fact, yesterday the king of Cleades spoke with me about your subjugation of the Demon King, and he badgered me to defeat the dragon. I believe I need to save face, please, resolve it. Bruges.”
“Ha! Your majesty’s expectations will not be let down, please give me some time!”
※
The three heroes left the royal castle, immediately heading to where the thunder dragon was located.
“Hey, wait a minute! Is this really alright?! We have never seen a dragon before!”
“…I also disagree. Even at this point, please refuse properly.”
While walking on the vast trade road, Mishi and Keene were criticizing Bruges.
But he nonchalantly argued back.
“Was that the conclusion you reached? If you refused a request from the king, his impression of you would turn for the worse. Furthermore, if the heroes weren’t sent out, and something happened, won’t that be our responsibility then? “The heroes didn’t exterminate it, what will we do?” or something like that.”
“Ugh…! Indeed, that could happen.”
“…If we don’t do it, it might be even more trouble.”
With Bruges having a surprisingly decent opinion, the girls were convinced otherwise.
“And above all, don’t forget the rewards for the quests! 700 gold coins! With that much, couldn’t you hire several tens of servants?”
At the end of the day, the best motive was gold.
“But, aren’t you slightly uneasy? You could say the dragon rivaled in strength with the Demon King…”
Don’t worry. Didn’t we already bring down a Demon King after all? Even a dragon is no big deal. I’ll protect you guys well.”
Bruges grabbed both of their shoulders, and pulled them towards himself. Because of this pushy behavior, their faces reddened.
“Well if Bruges says so, it’s fine…”
“…I will also follow.”
They each put their hands on Bruges’ waist, and let themselves get spoiled.
“Heee…. As I thought, this is not the life of a hero.”
Now Johann wasn’t there, there was not a person anymore that could bother him. The fact that there was another man in the party, was a big unpleasant factor for Bruges. Although Mishi and Keene hated Johann, another man in the journey was unnecessary.
Nothing better than a party full of cute girls. That was his belief.
They continued progressing on the trade road, and eventually headed down the regular route leading to the mountain. On the way, they hunted harpies and goblins in the neighborhood. Although the Demon King was gone, that didn’t mean the monsters vanished as well. Especially in remote locations like these, a great deal of demons still resided. Such enemies were hunted by Bruges’ party without remorse. And as they reached the foot of the mountain, the sun was slowly setting.
“Heyy Bruges. Shouldn’t we rest in this area for today?”
“Ah, I agree. I’d like to have a bath soon.”
“…As one would expect, I am tired as well.”
In the story of the king, it took three days to arrive at the summit of the mountain, where the thunder Dragon was. Either way they wouldn’t arrive immediately, so they shouldn’t overdo it. Each of the three sat down on a rock. And for a while they were silent.
“…Oi, somebody. Somebody prepare a bath and a meal. My belly is already shrinking like it is dying.”
“Eh~? Even if you say such a thing, I don’t have any food.”
“…With the exception of items, I don’t have anything else.”
“Huh?! What the hell is that! Until now someone brought it ………………………..
………………aaahhhhhhh.”
Whilst saying that, Bruges recalled. They drove out Johann.
“Which reminds me, Johann used to be the person in charge of stuff like this….”
“…That deadbeat, handled all the cooking.”
Until the current quest, Johann’s skill allowed them to live without inconveniences. Using the nearby stone or timber, he could improvise a house so they could spend the night peacefully. That ability was precious for adventurers after all. As for the beds he sometimes prepared, they were as wonderful as the ones in the king’s capital. Besides, Johann was in charge of meals each time. As a matter of fact, he also carried all the food.
In this party, Johann was the only one who was thinking about other things other than fighting the enemy.
“It can’t be helped… Should we use a transfer crystal. We’ll return to the king’s capital, and find an inn.”
“Oh, good idea! Let’s do it!”
If you used a transfer crystal, although once, you could move to any place in an instant. Once they were rested up in the king’s capital, they would use another crystal to return here. However, Keene shook her head.
“…..No. Transfer crystals are valuable. …Even if you brought out money, you could only buy so much.”
Transfer crystals are one time use items. And if you wanted to obtain them, you would need to go to a treasure shop, or get them as a rare drop in a dungeon. Furthermore the amount of stock the shop had would be scarce; there weren’t a lot left. Speaking as a hero, it would still not be easy to get.
“…Right now we have one crystal each, but we’d have to walk back if we used it.”
“In other words, we’ll have to go camping, shit!”
A stone that fell on the road was kicked. Their journey life was entirely dependent on Johann, who was now cut off from them, and the camping techniques were unknown to them. To the extent that they didn’t even have the necessary tools.
“For now, let’s search for some food? I am also immensely hungry,”
“…Agreed” The first priority was the collection of food.
“Then, let’s hurry up and look. It will get dark soon.”
Thus, the camping life for Bruges’ group began.
※
“Oi…. you’re fucking kidding me… What is this…?”
Dozens of minutes later, Bruges glared at the girls who were collecting food.
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Mushrooms (poisonous)]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
[Mushrooms (laughing)]
[Medicinal plant]
[Medicinal plant]
“Aren’t these all medicinal plants?!”
“N-now you say it…”
“…There wasn’t anything else growing.”
“Stop bullshitting me! My HP is going down! I am hungry! Fetch things that fill the belly!”
“But Bruges didn’t discover anything now did he? Wouldn’t it be better for him not to judge?”
“Nnngh that’s…!”
Moreover, look. Here’s some mushrooms.”
“Oh damnit, these mushrooms are poisonous! You’ll die if you eat them!”
“…What if you ate the mushrooms, and then used the medicinal plants to recover.”
“Keene, you’re a genius!”
“She is not a genius at all! At least find antidote grass first!”
“…Then, what about these laughing mushrooms?”
“Aren’t these mushrooms also poisonous in the end?! Shit! I’m done! Isn’t there food somewhere!”
Bruges got pissed off, and lay down on the ground.
“Let’s lie down for today! Then tomorrow we will defeat the dragon, and return to the king’s capital!”
If you sleep, you won’t feel the hunger anymore. Bruges closed his eyes, and started exploring dreamland.
Nevertheless…
“……Isn’t this a bit rough to sleep on…”
Bruges was unexpectedly delicate.
“Oh my god….! Why would a hero have to go camping!”
Bruges was shaking with anger, and hit the ground.
However, this degree of hardships was only the beginning….. compared to the hell of the next day…
