"Sorry for what happened last time, hero. I thought we had prepared for every possibility, but it looks like I was too naive."
After being thrust into an unusual situation and being made to witness the fight between Naru and the Grimm King, the hero party had turned back to Laevateinn. There had been people who'd derided and insulted them for that decision, which made Haruto want to tell them to try standing in front of both Naru and the Grimm King.
There's no way. I don't think we'll be able to win even if we get several hundred or even thousands of people.
The king said that he'd been naive before, but by Haruto's reckoning that hadn't been fixed.
Yeah, the king's understanding of the situation is naive.
"If we gather all our elite troops… If we get enough numbers… If we get good enough weapons…"
The king seemed to think that those small tricks would change things, but that was a complete mistake.
There's no way he can understand… Only the people who saw that fight know this feeling of fear and despair.
Ayame, who should have been in the party, had completely succumbed to fear and declined to continue on the journey. But Haruto couldn't blame her for that decision. Even he wanted to go back to his home in Chiba right now if he could…
"Ayame's withdrawal is a huge blow. But do not fret. I have already found someone even more skilled than her." The king spread his arms in an exaggerated motion before introducing the people who were waiting beside him. "First, is the one rumored to be the strongest mercenary, nicknamed the fearful 'Ogre,' Ayame's father, Teuchi!"
Having been introduced by the king, a muscular middle-aged man wearing a viking-helmet stepped forward. He had a giant, person-sized claymore equipped on his back, as well as a short sword at his waist. His shiny new armor didn't seem to fit him, strangely. He'd most likely received the new armor from the king, and it didn't seem like it was comfortable to wear.
Seeing his face, Haruto couldn't help but think, he looks nothing like his daughter. But that was only natural. Such were the mysterious ways of genetics.
"Next is the adventurer party that conquered the Grave of the Black Emperor, the Team CRDL! We are all counting on you, Cardin!"
"We humbly accept your royal order, Your Majesty! Leave the young hero to us!"
The one who spoke looked like the dictionary definition of an adventurer and replied in a way that was both full of confidence and borderline rude. His brown hair was spiked upwards, and his sharp-looking eyes glinted with motivation. Haruto could feel the force of his vigor and spirit, as if he wasn't afraid of anything. It was making him think that the man might actually charge at an enemy regardless of how large the gap in their power was.
The three people behind him were nodding in agreement with Cardin, also full of confidence.
"And… I was mistaken. I forced the young warriors that carry the future with them as well as that young man from another world to fight while I sat safely on my throne… Yes, it should have been obvious to me. How can I claim to be trying to save the world if I don't jump into the fire myself?"
Hearing the king blame himself, everyone who was listening reflexively raised their heads.
Haruto felt a sense of dread. I can't shake the feeling that this king's gonna say something absurd.
Haruto's premonition proved correct. The king started shouting something utterly insane.
"I will be going with you, hero! Let us save the world together!"
"MY LIIEEEEGGEEE!?"
The king had stood up from his throne as he started to spout his insane idea, causing his retainers to shout while looking like the world was ending around them. However, the king didn't seem to mind and continued to speak.
"I may be old, but I fought on the front lines in my youth! I feel no regrets over offering up my life for this cause. I shall sacrifice myself and become the foundation for my people's future! How can I call myself the descendant of the Sword Princess if I refuse to brave danger myself?! Soldiers, bring me my sword! I, the descendant of Erza Belserion, King Fernandez IV will show you my skills—"
"The king's gone mad! Restrain him!"
"What are you bastards doing-?!"
At Mitokado's order, the soldiers sprung into action and restrained the king. The king resisted, swinging his arm with unthinkable strength for someone his age. The struggle unfolded with a cycle of soldiers grabbing onto the king and the king throwing them to the side. However, he couldn't win against their numbers in the end and was restrained before being dragged away.
Huh? Is that really okay? What happened to lèse-majesté? Haruto thought absentmindedly.
"…Um, was that really okay to do?"
"There won't be any problems. The king has simply taken ill."
"No, but, isn't that a crime?"
"This happens a lot, and the king doesn't mind this sort of thing. If he did, Plue would have been executed long ago."
"…But doesn't a king need, like… to preserve his dignity or appearance or something…?"
"We've already given up on that."
It seemed that Mitokado had his fair share of hardships in dealing with the king.
Oh, yeah. He's the advisor to the king, isn't he? The fact was impressed upon Haruto once more. I see. It seems dealing with the king is quite the feat.
In fact, Haruto went as far as to think, Actually, given how musclebrained the king is, I wouldn't be surprised if Mitokado handled the political side of things entirely by himself.
Still… Haruto looked back over the people who would accompany him on his journey.
Plue the Sword Saint. The vice captain Hana. Mitokado, the back line specialist. Teuchi the mercenary. Cardin the adventurer. The other members of the party team CRDL—Thrush, Dove, and Larks. And then there was Haruto himself.
"…"
—Why is everyone so… full of personality…?
Haruto couldn't stop himself from becoming incredibly sad.
***
Extra: Haruka's Side Job
Traveling naturally meant consuming food and other supplies, and it was definitely no cheap enterprise. After all, in this group, all the monsters starting with Fiona needed much more food than their appearances suggested.
Of course, because they were anthropomorphized and their bodies had become smaller, they wouldn't be eating several tonnes worth of food. Even then, they could all easily down several times more than a normal person could, so it needn't be said that a steady source of food was absolutely necessary.
In this case, they relied on alchemy as their cash cow. Haruka would go to the market and sell the equipment and golems that Naru had made offhandedly, all of which were basically like toys to them, but just items of that quality had managed to turn into a decently sized fortune.
Of course, if Naru actually put effort into it, things wouldn't settle with just a small fortune. They would end up with enough money to live life in the lap of luxury for several generations, and they wouldn't even have to think about money from then on. If Naru did that, however, then all the items currently flowing through the market would lose all of their value, destroying the economy. Many people would probably even lose their jobs. So, Haruka had purposefully asked Naru to keep her creations under a certain level of power.
Even then, though, Naru would sometimes create something with absurd capabilities in a fit of whimsy.
On this day, Haruka was once again in the Trade City of Ydalir, selling her wares while being fraught with worry.
"This is no good… This has way too much attack too…"
Considering current standards, having an attack boost of around +100 would make a weapon a famous masterpiece of the strongest class. However, an attack bonus of just +100 might as well not be there to Naru, only holding as much value as any random knife. So Naru would easily and carelessly make weapons that reached far into the triple digits. If Haruka allowed any of those to reach the market, it would cause a huge fuss, she had to throw herself into the task of choosing only those with the lowest capabilities.
"Oh, you're selling weapons here? Are there any you recommend?" a passing man who seemed like a knight asked.
"Yes, I am. How about this one?" said Haruka, recommending him a sword.
Its name was 'Dull Blade.' It was a sword that offered a scant boost of +70.
As a small detail, in this day and age, knights employed at a royal castle usually only had weapons that offered around +30 at most.
"Oohhh… This is wonderful. Not even the captain has a sword this good. I'll pay a lot for it. How much?"
"Five hundred el."
"Cheap! I'll take it!"
Five hundred el was actually a fairly decent amount of money. The fact that he was able to drop that amount on a dime really showed that he was a knight.
With that sword sold, other customers quickly stopped by.
"You've got some damn fine wares here. Hey, shopkeep, would you happen to stock golems as well?"
It seemed that the next customer was a noble. To people of that social class, golems were rather popular.
Haruka replied to the noble's query with a smile and a, "Yes, I do." Then, she pretended like she he was going to the back of the store and dragged a Naru-made golem that had been stored in her Exgate out to the front.
[Steel Robot: Metal Z]
[Level]: 400
[Race]: Artificial Life Form
[HP]: 3800
Big Siiiiisss?!
This is awful. I reminded her so much, but she still lets her interests take over and makes weird things like this!
The golem also had a uselessly large amount of skills, and Haruka was able to confirm that it could do things like fire rocket punches or beams from its eyes, just like Penny. It was clearly far too strong for a normal noble to own.
Haruka hurriedly stuffed Metal Z back into her Xgate.
"Hmm? What's wrong? Weren't you going to sell me that golem?"
"I-I'm terribly sorry. That golem was defective. This one here is in working order."
Haruka made an excuse and retrieved a different golem. Even the weaker golem more than satisfied the noble, and Haruka was able to avoid any follow-up questions.
"This should do it for today… Okay then…" Haruka said as she looked inside her Xgate.
Inside, there were piles of high-performance equipment and golems which could in no way be allowed on the market, lying around like industrial waste.
Haruka stared at it all silently. "What do I do with all of this?"
As long as Naru would not stop following her desires and interests, this pile would only continue to grow. Unfortunately, Naru would probably never stop.
As an aside, few days later Naru once again didn't even think about relative power levels and ended up handing a fairly powerful weapon to Haruto.