Chapter 32: Reward

One week later

“I don’t want to. I really don’t want to go to the royal castle!”

“What are you saying now? Come on, let’s go.”

A week had passed since we defeated that special individual cat.

This incident—in which an unprecedented number of monsters attacked the country—reportedly claimed over a thousand lives.

The nation mobilized every resource to bring the situation under control, but in the end, the assault was only quelled the day before yesterday.

Everyone who could fight was sent to the front lines, and it seems they battled the monsters continuously for about five days.

Well, of course, we just lazed around at home the whole time.

And finally, today—just as the entire country began to calm down—an order to report to the royal castle was issued to our party.

Apparently, they plan to give us a reward for having defeated the enemy’s ringleader so brilliantly.

“If it’s a reward, sending cash is fine with me,” ore told the knight who had come all the way to our house to pick us up.

But the knights, tearfully insisting that we must honor those who helped end the incident so as not to dishonor the dead, left ore with no choice but to board the carriage to the royal castle.

“I don’t have any good memories of the royal castle! I’m bound to end up getting hauled off to jail again with some sort of nonsense!”

“What do you mean by ‘some nonsense’? ‘Some nonsense’!”

But the moment ore stepped into the royal castle, he suddenly became frightened.

After all, the castle is filled with the king and other high-ranking individuals.

What would happen if ore stepped into such a place?

Surely ore would end up saying something out of turn and be sentenced to execution. And when they realize there’s no way to actually kill ore, he’d inevitably be thrown into jail. That’s just how it goes.

In a world where trials and human rights don’t exist, ore has no desire to meet anyone with power higher than his!

“But it’s easy to imagine that darling might say something extra and end up angering His Majesty.”

“Ah, why don’t you just keep quiet like I do?”

“But Segawa Ao is our leader, standing at the forefront for all of us, so that might not be possible.”

See? Even Professor Zenon is saying that.

“Geez! Cut it out already. If you just nod along without a fuss, the reward process will be wrapped up in no time!”

“But think about it calmly, Liluria—what do you think would happen if we were asked where and what we were doing after defeating the enemy’s ringleader?”

“Where and what…? We were just doing naughty things at home, weren’t we—”

“Exactly! If it came out that while everyone was fighting for their lives against monsters we were at home fooling around, we’d be killed!?”

“?!?!”

Perhaps summoning us for a reward is nothing more than a blatant lie—an excuse to reprimand us for wasting our days away in debauchery.

Ore doesn’t believe that at all, but there are some deluded jerks out there who think that with great power comes great responsibility.

It’s not entirely out of the question.

“Certainly, that’s a possibility. I also thought it was odd that, just by defeating that puny special case, we got called up to the royal castle.”

“Eh, Professor Zenon too? Actually, I did as well. I mean, when we repelled a dragon, nothing happened—but now, being praised for taking down that little fry feels just wrong.”

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who found this summons suspicious.

Sylha and Professor Zenon also glared at the royal castle with bitter expressions.

“Eh? Eh? Could it really be so? Was I the only one who sensed something off?”

“Liluria, running away takes courage too. Life isn’t just about moving forward. Sometimes it’s important to step back and catch your breath, you know?”

I said that as I wrapped an arm around Liluria’s shoulder. Then, without another word, I started walking in the direction opposite the royal castle.

“W-wait, wait, wait! Hold on, all of you! What are you trying to do by declining the reward!? If you refuse the order to report to the castle, you’ll be put to death at worst!?”

Then, a refined young lady—who had apparently been watching our every move—shouted at us.

“Eh? Death penalty for refusing to report? I never heard about that!?”

“What are you gawking at!? Of course it is! Besides, the castle is preparing to honor all of you! And c’mon—just because you were fooling around doing naughty things doesn’t mean you’ll be killed, right!? Use your head a little more!”

What the—so it was just our imagination after all.

I didn’t completely trust that mysterious young lady’s words, but if you think about it, heading to the castle was less likely to get us killed than refusing to report.

With that in mind, we reluctantly entered the royal castle.

～～～～～～

“Adventurer Ao, and your companions. You have done well in defeating the enemy leader. I shall grant you a reward! But… what should it be…?”

Thus spoke the king as he began to ponder.

“Wait—so you called us here and haven’t decided on a reward!?”

Well, maybe it was all just an act and the reward was already set, but still…

A reward, huh. If it were up to me, I’d want money.

I haven’t given up on becoming a NEET yet. If I could get a huge sum of money that lets me live off doing nothing forever, I’d immediately retire from adventuring and embrace the NEET life.

While I was musing over that, the king—who had been discussing the reward with his subordinates—seemed to have made up his mind. He looked around at our faces and slowly began to speak.

“I have decided on your reward. Accept it with gratitude. The reward is…”

The reward is…?

“My daughter, Fourth Princess Ryushan. She’s a fine child. Take good care of her.”

“N-no, that’s… no thanks—”

Thud!

I didn’t need her, not in the slightest. Just as I was about to say, in a roundabout way so as not to be rude, that I didn’t want her, Liluria—standing right next to me—hit me.

“It is an honor, Your Majesty. We would be delighted to get to know her better.”

“Very well. You may step back.”

The king beamed at Liluria’s words.

Damn it—I don’t need some princess I don’t even know. Just give me the money so I can live the NEET life!

And so, our debut at the royal castle ended.

～～～～～～

“I look forward to working with you from now on!”

Cheerfully greeting us was the mysterious young lady who had earlier shouted at us when we were debating whether or not to enter the castle. Judging by the situation, it seems she is the rumored Fourth Princess. Seeing her waiting with three fingers raised to welcome us back from the castle, I’m sure my expression must have been priceless.

I’m already having a hard time living with three girls as it is. What am I supposed to do if even more join us!? I can barely handle her—physically or mentally. I was convinced of that.

And, as expected of royalty, she must have instantly read the despair on my face. Immediately, she added:

“I have come here to bear the child of the hero. Other than that, you need not concern yourselves with me. Please, take it easy about it.”

Well, being told so plainly is, in a way, rather troublesome. If you think about it, she’s also a victim—suddenly sent to a clueless NEET like me and ordered to bear his child. She may be smiling now, but I’m sure she’s crying her heart out inside. Therefore, I can’t just take her in my arms casually.

Ideally, the best solution for both me and the princess—and for everyone’s happiness—would be to cancel the deal and return her immediately. But the king, who is the one giving this reward, wields too much power for that to be possible. After all, if a commoner like me were to say, “I don’t want her,” after the king went through all the trouble of offering his daughter, I’d be killed in a heartbeat.

I just heard that from Liluria. So, the best I can do is reluctantly give up.

The next best option is to get along with her, but… how on earth am I supposed to get close with a reigning princess? I can’t possibly come up with any clever upper-class jokes. Well, first things first—I need to ease her tension, even if just a little. I thought for a moment, and then a brilliant idea struck me.

“That’s it! Let’s go on a picnic!”