Epilogue

Gozou and the others timidly entered the room, so I introduced them to the now calm Igni.

“...Err, and that’s how it went! Thanks to Wataru’s efforts! Wataru’s brave efforts! The Flame Dragon has calmed down, as you can see!”

“Grrr. I won’t do bad things anymore. I’ll leave the mountain.”

“R-Right...”

“Oh, I see... Fascinating...”

I explained to Gozou and the others exactly what had happened. I exaggerated Wataru’s involvement by about double, then claimed that Ittetsu had defeated the Dragon at the cost of being knocked out. When I went to Igni (having done nothing myself), she declared her own defeat.

“It’s all thanks to Wataru that the Dragon’s calmed down.”

“Um... yes, that’s right. He beat me.”

“See? The Flame Dragon’s saying the same thing. Understand? Wataru beat her.”

“...R-Right. Seems so,” said Gozou. Whew, he believed me. Now all the fame will go straight to Wataru.

Incidentally, Wataru and Ittetsu were still unconscious. I didn’t want to wake them up and raise the opportunity for them to ruin everything by saying the wrong thing. Letting them sleep until everything blew over was probably for the best.

“Questiooon! Why’re you doing so great?”

“Good question, Ichika. The answer is simple: I was watching the fight from a corner without doing anything! My spotless clothes are proof of that!”

“I have a question too. Master, you didn’t put on new clothes, did you?”

“Indeed, I did not. For I did nothing.” Despite emphasizing my lack of having done anything, Niku’s tail and ears were wiggling with pride for me. Don’t take me doing nothing as me beating everyone without having to lift a finger, okay? I’m being real, none of this is thanks to me. I actually came close to dying multiple times.

“Gotta say Keima, I’m impressed yer fine standing next to the Dragon like that. Just being near it at all is damn scary fer me.”

“Huh? What’s scary about her? She said she won’t do anything bad anymore.”

“Right! I won’t do anything bad! I’m a good Dragon!” See? Igni’s learned her lesson. That’s a good Dragon. Very good Dragon, I thought while patting Igni’s head. The scales felt surprisingly nice and smooth. And Igni was purring like a happy cat. What a cutie.

“...Er. Well, that’s Keima fer ya.”

“Yep, that’s Keima.”

“Right. You can never overestimate Keima.” All three members of Team Bacchus nodded together. Wait, when’d Wataru wake up?

“I just woke up a second ago, but... I see you beat the Dragon, Keima.”

“No, no, no, no, that was all you. Man, it was crazy. You may not remember since you passed out, but you kept fighting on pure instinct after you were knocked unconscious. You were so strong and cool. The very image of a true Hero. All I did was talk to the Dragon and listen to it surrender after you beat it. The credit’s all yours, my friend.” I piled on the praise without pausing for a counter argument.

“I remember everything up until the point you hit me, Keima.”

“Whoa now, that was an accident. Just an accident. I threw out a fist in my corner and your face just happened to fly into its way. Really, my fist is the victim here. Normally I’d sue you for damages, but considering you defeated the Dragon I’ll forgive you this once. No way could anyone but a true Hero have beaten that Dragon, I’m impressed.”

“Keima, you have a habit of talking a lot when you’re trying to trick people.”

“.........” Tch, just shut up and let me trick you.

“Fghahah! Ah, w-wait, what the fuckin’ hell happened...?” Oh crap, now Ittetsu’s awake. I forcibly ended my conversation with Wataru to talk to Ittetsu.

“Morning, Ittetsu. Man, that Hero punch sure looked like it hurt! He completely knocked you out.”

“...H-Hey, Keima! That wasn’t fuckin’ cool!” When I went to slap Ittetsu’s shoulder, he whispered to me in a low voice nobody else could hear.

“Keep quiet about it or I’ll tell Redra all about how you almost got charmed.”

“...Right.” Good.

“Man, Ittetsu, that Hero punch was like, so strong it’s unfair, huh?”

“Ahhh, yeah, you’re completely right. He knocked me out in one hit.”

“C’mon, Wataru. Tell Ittetsu you’re sorry for hitting him. It’s true that you did hit him when he rushed in, remember? You should apologize for hitting him when he was unconscious too.”

“Huh? Er, uh, I-I’m sorry?”

“Y-Yeah? Uhhh, y’know, I gotta apologize too...”

Wataru and Ittetsu awkwardly nodded at each other. Alright, it’s all settled. Incidentally, Wataru apologizing for hitting Ittetsu after knocking him unconscious was the same as Wataru accepting that he hit Ittetsu and knocked him unconscious. Back on Earth there were some scams about tricking people into paying back a single hundred yen of fake debt and using that to say they accepted responsibility for all of the fake debt, but that has nothing to do with this. Nothing at all! Hahaha.

“...Hey. Ichika. Yer master’s blackmailing Salamander and a Hero to trick them and us.”

“What’s new, dude? He’s always doing this junk. Every second you spend worrying about it is a second wasted, my man.” Whaddaya mean, I’m always doing this? That’s ridiculous. I decided to ignore Gozou and Ichika’s rude side chat.

“Oh, right. You should all keep my friendship with Ittetsu a secret. I don’t want people investigating me.”

“...I can understand that, but still, I’m surprised you’re friends with a spirit this powerful.” Wataru put a hand on his chin with a thoughtful look on his face.

“What, is Ittetsu that special?” I feel like I remember Gozou saying something similar a second ago. Wataru went ahead and explained.

“Yeah, he is. Salamander is the great spirit of fire. It’s said that all the fire of the world has to bow its head to Salamander.” Fire doesn’t have a head. “Keima, have you heard of the four great spirits? There’s Gnome of Earth, Undine of Water, Sylph of Wind, and Salamander of Fire. They’re all famous. There’s also Light and Darkness, though they’re kind of different. Shade of Darkness, Will o’ Wisp of Light. You wouldn’t happen to be friends with any other spirits, would you?”

“Definitely not.” So they’re famous, huh? I’ve heard names like that in video games before. I’m kinda surprised they were ripped straight off like that. Or maybe they’re just being translated into those names.

“Oh, wait, what about the Spacetime element? I’m pretty sure Spacetime is an element too.”

“Spacetime is the domain of the God of Chaos. I don’t think any spirits of it have ever been recorded.” So it’s all Leona, huh? Maybe that means a Succubus is the spirit of Spacetime, hahaha.

＊ ＊ ＊

Anyway, we split from Ittetsu and returned to the exit of the [Flame Caverns] at the peak of Tsia Mountain. The main differences between now and when we came were the almost setting sun, and the fact Igni (Flame Dragon form) was mixed in with our party.

...I was pretty tired from everything that had happened, and I was beyond ready to sleep. I just wanted Igni to hurry up and leave so I could do exactly that.

“Alright. Farewell, Flame Dragon. Roar loudly and shoot flames everywhere in the sky to draw attention to yourself as you fly off to some distinct mountain.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Oh, hold on a second.” I stopped Igni and looked down at Goren from the mountain peak. It was a hard journey up here, and on second thought it would be a hard journey back down. Maybe I should ride her down? I’m sure Igni could get me there in a snap... Nah, forget it. That’d cause a huge ruckus. I’m better off just walking.

“What’s wrong?” Igni lowered her head down to me.

“Er, don’t worry about it. I was gonna ask if you could take me down to town, but decided against it.”

“I don’t mind. Wanna get on?”

“Nah, the town would go into a panic if they saw me riding a Dragon back. Which is all I’ve got to say. You can leave now.”

“Okaaay. Oh, can I bring Wataru with me?”

“Pretty sure kidnapping counts as something bad.”

“Aw. Guess I won’t, then. Oh! I forgot about this. Give it to Wataru for me.” Igni tossed a ball she took out from somewhere at me. I caught it on instinct, and... This is that Dragon ball. Just give it to Wataru yourself. I know you missed the right time to do it, but still...

“Okay, byeee!” Igni spread out her wings. Her flapping kicked up dust, but it was too little and too weak for her wings to actually lift up her massive Dragon body. The fact she actually managed to fly like that was probably evidence of her using some {Flying} skill or something.

“GRAAAAAAAAAH!” Igni roared and shot fire into the air as she flew off in the sky. From below it looked like she was setting off massive fireworks. She spun around the mountain twice, then sped off to the southeast. The Holy Kingdom was in that direction, alongside a conveniently close mountain.

“...And there she goes.” Gozou let out an exhausted murmur.

“Yep. Now all the adventurers here for the Dragon will go away.”

“Y’know, I thought fer sure I was gonna die. Keima, can ye actually stand right next to the Dragon and not feel scared at all?”

“You were having a pretty casual chat at the end there too,” added Wataru.

“I mean, why would I be scared of some girl?” Incidentally, Ittetsu had explained to them that Igni was a three-hundred year old girl.

“I guess that’s just the kind of courage people who are friends with great spirits have.”

“Haha, I could say the same to you, Wataru the Dragon Buster. Can’t say I expected anything less from a mighty Hero.”

“Hahaha. Well, I don’t mind going with that if it’s what you want.” Wataru gave a broad grin. “By the way, what did she toss at you before leaving?”

“Oh, right. She said it was a present for you, Wataru.”

“For me?” asked Wataru while I handed the Dragon ball to him. “It’s a beautiful ball... and I feel a lot of mana from it. Could this be a Dragon ball? One where you get a wish if you collect all seven of them?”

“If there’s seven of them, I guess there’s one for each element.”

“Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Light, Darkness, Spacetime... I see.”

“Either way, that’ll be proof that you took down the Dragon. You should keep it.”

“Okay then. I think I will.” Wataru put the Dragon ball into {Storage}. Heh, now all the credit’s gonna go to Wataru. He’s the one who’s gonna be walking back to town with proof of beating the Dragon! No matter what he says, the credit’s all his! “But just so you know, this is the one time you won’t be able to save yourself with excuses. A legend was born today and you’re part of it, Keima.”

“Huh? You did it all yourself, Hero. The credit’s all yours. We’re just villagers who tagged along.” No matter what rewards they try to give, I’m pushing them all on Wataru. Hence the Dragon ball.

“Everyone gets credit,” said Wataru.

“Huh? What?”

“In Dragon quests, everyone in the final party that defeats the Dragon gets credit and is rewarded enormously. Even if they didn’t actually do anything. I would say you’re guaranteed to get B-Rank now.”

“...Wha? Uh, that can’t be right, I’m just a D-Rank. They wouldn’t skip me ahead two whole ranks.” I glanced at Gozou. Tell this guy off, my man. Tell him what’s up.

“He’s right, Keima. I know ye don’t want any more work for yerself, but even Roppe and I are gettin’ B-Rank from this. Even if we tell the truth and say we didn’t do anythin’.”

“That’s right,” said Roppe. “And you might even be boosted to S-Rank if you tell the truth about what you did, Keima.” Wait. But why? That would be skipping A-Rank too. A-Rank is a big deal!

“Most Dragon quests are completed by multiple B-Rank parties that work together and still suffer a lot of casualties. So to say, the fact we all came back alive at all is a B-Rank accomplishment at the very least. Not to mention that we did this with two parties. If we hide Salamander’s involvement, then the report will ultimately say that you and I challenged the Dragon alone, and won. Add on top of that the fact that I ended up knocked out and you emerged without a scratch, Keima, and well... that’s the kind of thing top-level A-Ranks, no, top-level inhuman S-Ranks accomplish. You’ve stepped into the realm of Heroes, Keima.”

...I think I finally understand what a big deal this situation actually is. I’ve probably been underestimating just how significant Dragons really are in this world. The only Dragons I really know well are Redra and Igni, both of whom I can talk to casually thanks to my friendship with Ittetsu. I didn’t get how threatening they are. And honestly, I still don’t. If you asked me what I thought about the Dragon King, the strongest of all Dragons, also known as Core 5, I would probably just shrug and be like, yeah, I guess every faction’s got it rough.

“Not to mention,” said Wataru, continuing on yet further. “There’s actually a mountain of nobles that spend money to sponsor adventurers in hopes of getting some of the credit for themselves. But we challenged the Dragon on our own, without any outside help. Do you understand the significance of that? Indeed. All of the credit goes to just us now. We have no choice but to share all the credit between our small numbers, Keima!” Say... what...?

“Okay, let’s pretend I wasn’t here.”

“Not possible. A ton of eye witnesses saw you leaving town with us, and besides, do you think they’ll let us forge a report on something this significant? They’re going to use magic tools to detect lies.” Oh, crap! The lie-detecting magic tools...! Gah, crap! That’s not fair!

Wataru put a hand on my shoulder as I died on the inside. “We can hide Salamander’s involvement by referring to him as your trump card as an adventurer, but you kept the town running during this whole mess, prepared for the quest ahead of time by getting that map, and you made first contact with the Dragon. You actually covered for all of my mistakes, and are the one who ultimately got the Dragon to surrender. On top of all that, you got the Dragon ball directly from the Dragon, ordered it to leave, and sent it to a mountain on the border with the Holy Kingdom...” Sweat was running down my cheek.

“Keima... You’re going to get a lot of credit for this.” Bam! His statement inflicted enormous psychological damage on me.

“W-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Don’t push all the credit on me. Why do you think I brought all of you with me?”

“...As living witnesses?”

“We didn’t even do anything,” added Roppe. “We’re not pushing the credit on you, town chief, the credit’s just yours already.”

“But think about it another way. You all took it upon yourselves to join this dangerous mission. That deserves some credit. All the credit, really. Have it all! The glory is before you, just reach out and take it!”

“That’s not how it works, sorry. But hey, Keima, now you’re going to be a B-Rank! You get to be a noble like me!”

The Guild knows that I have two ranks to my name. The possibility of them using this opportunity to raise my D-Rank and make both ranks the same... is very high. Grrr, I don’t wanna be a B-Rank at all, much less publicly. B-Ranks are nobles. Nobles are a pain, and I know that firsthand.

“Wataru, the Dragon ball is proof of the Dragon’s surrender, and she gave it to you! So basically, isn’t the Dragon saying that you’re the one who actually beat her, Wataru?” Indeed. The whole reason that I made the Dragon ball was to make it clear who deserves the most credit. I can still get out of this!

“A fine argument. A very fine argument indeed, but... I got this ball from you, Keima. And to be honest, I didn’t even hear what the Dragon said when giving it to you.”

“What?! Why are you trying so hard to avoid getting credit...?!”

“That’s my line.”

“...Okay, look, the Dragon asked me to give you the ball. I’m just a messenger! It’s true and I can prove it!” I’ll force the credit on him even if I have to use a lie-detecting magic tool to do it. Now take the credit. As long as that Dragon ball exists, you’re gonna get more credit than anyone.

“Sure, I don’t mind making it clear I was given the Dragon ball. You’re not wrong about all that, after all.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Whew, I almost had all the credit forced on me. I’m glad I spent an entire night making the Dragon ball instead of sleeping.

“But, well, that won’t change how much credit you get, Keima, and the fact we got this Dragon ball will actually give us all more credit.” Huh?

“Hold on a second. What do you mean by that? It sounds like not only am I still getting credit, I’m actually getting more than before.”

“You are in fact getting more than before.”

“I can’t believe I heard that correctly...” To summarize what Wataru was saying: My credit could be represented as a score of fifty points. No matter how much extra credit the Dragon ball gave Wataru, those fifty points of mine would remain unchanged. And on top of that, the ball actually gave everyone involved five extra points.

“.........” Not to mention that even with Wataru getting extra points from it, I was still going to get the most credit out of anyone. How is this happening? Why is this all going so wrong?

“The fact you personally organized our parties and planned the mission is just that big of a deal.”

“Whoa, hang on, I think the Hero who actually fought the Dragon should get a little more credit than that.”

“Remember, with Salamander out of the picture the story will be that you and I fought the Dragon together. In other words, you’re going to be a man of legend who both organized the mission and fought in it yourself.” Uh. Crap, that’s not actually wrong.

“...Could you keep quiet about that? Someone, please take my credit.” I looked around at all those present, desperation in my eyes.

“Me n’ Roppe didn’t do nothin’. At best we were guards on the way here. Nothin’ we can do for ye, Keima.”

“Mhm. And we’re still going to rank up from this, so...”

W-Well, I wasn’t counting on Gozou or Roppe anyway.

“I was totally just there as, like, a scout. You used my slave collar to pass a message and that was it, my guy.” Ngh, that’s just barely not enough to split credit over. And considering the means of passing the message, that might actually just boost how much credit we all get.

“W-Well, I-I was there for the first contact... So maybe I can take some of the credit?” Niku’s eyes were full of kindness. Alright, I’ll boost Niku’s involvement as high as I can. I glanced at Wataru.

“Oh, I have to report this to Haku, so... don’t expect any forged reports from me.”

“Gah! You’re such a cruel person, Wataru! You deserve the most credit out of anyone! You’re the one who drove the Dragon into a corner!”

“No, that was actually Salamander, the help you summoned. And the work of a summon is attributed to their tamer, so it all goes to you, Keima.” I forgot about that...! Curse you, Ittetsu!

“But you landed the final hit that sealed everything, Wataru!”

“I was unconscious and don’t remember anything like that. You’re the one who made the Dragon surrender, Keima.” Oh crap! That’s also the truth!

“Gaaah! Are you all demons?! How far will you go to force the credit onto me...!”

“Most people would be happy about this, y’know...”

“Well, it’s Keima we’re talking about.”

“Yep.”

“Yupparooni.”

“Yes.”

No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t escape the despair of being given credit. What a nightmare! At this rate I’m actually going to be known as a Dragon Buster.

“More of a Dragon Tamer, really. The second one in the Empire’s history!” Wait, and the first one is Haku, the Ivory Goddess? Does that put what I did on the level of a god...?

“Well, Keima, that’s why I asked if you were sure you wanted to do this. Successful Dragon hunts are a big deal.”

“Crap... So that’s what you meant?”

“I think it’s good of you to worry about your town like that.”

“CURSE YOOOOOOU!” I could do nothing but slump over, defeated.

＊ ＊ ＊

I hung my head for a while, but ultimately, we had to leave soon before it got dark. Traveling down the mountain was rough. If you asked what was so rough about being carried back down, well...

“The journey down should be pretty fast since we’re not carrying anything back. Let’s get this over with.”

“Whoa, hold up, Wataru. What do you think you’re doing.”

“Preparing to travel down the mountain?”

“...Isn’t this a cliff?”

“It’s the fastest route down. We couldn’t use it on the way up since it was so steep.”

“Holy crap, no! This is terrifying!”

“I’ll be careful. Also, you’ll bite your tongue if you keep talking.”

“Hey, Gozou, stop him! He wants to jump right off this cliff!”

“What’re ye so scared of? The Dragon was a lot worse than this. This is normal stuff, really. Ah, and yer gonna want to stop letting yer legs hang. They’ll get scraped to hell.”

“Seriously...?”

In the end, the journey down took only fifteen minutes instead of three hours like the journey up, but it was a lot scarier than your average roller coaster. Okay but what was up with even Niku and Ichika sliding down the cliffs like that? Am I the weird one here? Did sitting on a chair make it scarier? I’m just glad I went to the bathroom before we left.

We arrived in town to find Rokuko and Neruneh waiting for us at the entrance.

“Mm. Good to see you back!”

“Aaah, welcome baaack.” For some reason, Rokuko was standing with her feet firmly planted on the ground and her head held up high. She must have seen Igni flying away from the mountain peak. There was a lot of fire broadcasting it.

“I thought you would be back soon. Keima, could you come here and bend down a little?”

“Huh? Why?” I got off Wataru’s back, walked up to her as requested, and bent forward a bit.

“...H-Here’s your w-welcome back... k-ki... nmmm! Welcome back!” What am I, a husband getting back home from work? A married man getting home early? Of course, Rokuko was hitting me while blushing.

“C’mon, I told you not to hit me. It actually stings a little.”

“...I-I mean. Isn’t it normal for a wife to want to welcome her husband when he gets home from work?” Pretty sure we haven’t had a wedding, Rokuko. We’re just regular old partners.

Putting aside Rokuko for a second, Wataru had likewise gotten called over by Neruneh. I knew they were getting closer, but not so much that she would welcome him back. Though she didn’t see him off when we left.

“Sooo, Wataru? What’d you get me? Any Flame Dragon scaleees? Or maybe a hoooorn?”

“Er...! I-I, er, some stuff happened and I couldn’t get anything from the Dragon to bring back to you. I’m not sure how much you’ll like them, but what about some Fire Rat pelts and Red Slime juice instead...?”

“.........”

“Aaah! Sorry, it’s just, we made peace with the Dragon and there wasn’t a good time to ask for body parts!”

“Next tiiime, I hope you’ll bring me back something raaaare.”

“I will! You can count on me!”

And so, Neruneh returned to the inn, leaving Wataru behind as he pumped himself up for next time. Man... she’s got him by the balls. Is he giving her a ton of free stuff while I’m not around?

“Wataru. I dunno how to say this, but are you really okay with that?”

“It’s fine. I actually like it, really.” Oh. Welp, he’s a pervert. “Oh, but not in like a masochistic way. She’s kind of like a cat, I guess?”

“Alright. She looks like a Cat Sith to you, then.”

“Do Cat Siths exist in this world?!” Probably, I saw one in the Catalog. It was in the monster section, though.

That was when some villagers noticed we were back and came walking over. There were about five of them.

“Hey, the town chief and everyone’s back! Nobody’s missing, either!”

“Oh, no Dragon meat?”

“Glad to see you all safe! So, what happened?!”

They launched a barrage of questions at us.

“Er, well. We’re all fine now. We managed to beat it.”

“Alright. We all figured you had won when we saw the Dragon flying away from Tsia Mountain, but... Huh. I know you have a Hero with you, but you actually managed to win with that few people?”

“It’s kind of a funny story. Not sure how I should put it, really.” I gave Gozou a light glare that said “You explain, but don’t say anything unnecessary.”

“...I’ll just get to the point. Keima’s tamed the Dragon through a crazy plot, and now this town’s safe from the Flame Dragon forever.”

“Wha?!”

“He tamed the Dragon...? Hahaha, Gozou, now’s not the time for ridiculous jokes.”

“It’s the truth. Ye all saw the Dragon breathing fire when it flew away, yeah? That was ’cause Keima ordered it to. Right, Wataru?”

“Right. Put simply, the Dragon will never threaten this town again. The Flame Dragon gave us a Dragon ball as proof of its friendship.” Oh crap, neither of them understood the “don’t say anything unnecessary” part. Not even Wataru. He’s even taking out the Dragon ball and showing everybody. I mean, sure, I made the ball for him to show off. But I intended for him to show it as proof of his own accomplishments so he gets all the credit. I don’t want him to show it off like the whole team earned it.

“Hold on a second. I didn’t tame the Dragon, we just made peace with it in general.”

“Heeey, everyone, the town chief’s a Dragon Tamer!”

“Wow, really?! That’s even more impressive than being a Dragon Slayer! I’m gonna brag to everyone that he avenged my radishes for me!”

“I’ve never heard of any Dragon balls before, but this thing’s got a crazy strong aura!”

“Hold on, seriously! I didn’t tame the Dragon! Come on!” My pleas went ignored as the villagers ran off to spread news of what they had heard.

In no time at all, the whole town knew that I had defeated the Dragon. Despite the fact that there were still a ton of adventurers here specifically to fight the Dragon. What’s wrong with people? This is just slander. Just the worst kind of misinformation spreading.

“Whew. Now you’re definitely going to be a B-Rank at the very least, Keima. Congratulations.”

“Did you plot this, Wataru?! I just want to retire!”

“Haha. They say if you’re going to eat poison, you might as well finish off the plate. Also, retiring means leaving the entire Adventurer’s Guild. I can’t recommend that.”

“...I can just quit being an adventurer and live as a normal town chief slash pope.”

“Either way, Haku’s going to summon you to the imperial capital to award you a noble title. Refusing will get you arrested for treason and executed.” Ahhh. Yeah, Haku would do that. She would definitely do that. She executes people for treason any chance she gets. I mean, this is Haku we’re talking about. This is Haku we’re talking about!

“Anyway, nothing but good will come from having influence outside of your own organizations. Just embrace it. Oh, and I’ll go to the capital with you. I’ll even charge less than my usual bodyguard fee.”

“I’ll go on my own terms. I can guess an S-Rank bodyguard is pretty expensive.”

“Hey, we’re friends! All you’ll have to do is pay for my passage and my meals.” Hm... That might not be a bad deal, really. I’ve never gone to the imperial capital via the normal route, and I might as well go with a Hero guarding me. Can’t really talk about the imperial capital if I don’t even know what the way there is like.

“Eh... Alright, if she calls me over, I’ll take you up on that offer.”

“Perfect! I’ll start getting my things. I’m gonna have to go give my report now, and I’m sure she’ll send me right back to get you. Might take until winter’s over and spring starts, though.” Wataru seemed extremely pleased. Actually, I guess he’s just always in a good mood. Haaah... What a pain.

“Oh. Where is Mai?” asked Niku.

“Hm? Now that you mention it...” With Niku’s help I realized Maiodore wasn’t there. I would have thought she would be with the others to welcome Niku back. My questions were answered by Rokuko.

“Mai already went to report everything to Bonodore. She’s going to tell him that you fought the Dragon and won. I asked if she wanted to come with us, but she just said that she ‘believed in everyone coming home safe.’”

“...Huh? Wait, does that mean the archduke’s going to know about what we did?”

“Um, obviously? She was giving him reports about how you were handling all the adventurers and stuff too.” Oh no. I buried my face in my hands.

“...What? Did you think he wouldn’t learn about everythi— Ohhh.” Rokuko plopped a hand on my shoulder. “You’re sleep deprived, aren’t you? It’s okay. You can rest now. We can celebrate your success over the Dragon tomorrow. Okay?”

“...Alright.” I decided to accept Rokuko’s kindness and just go to sleep. Sniff.

＊ ＊ ＊

The next day, a party was held to celebrate the Dragon’s defeat. Drinking went on for a whole day as everyone tore through the same beer we had used for the Yamata no Orochi strategy.

“An’ that’s when Keima and little Kuro went out alone to talk to the Dragon. The beer they got ’er drunk with was this Dragon Killer brew!” Don’t give it a name like that. It’s just normal Japanese beer. Sake, to be specific. And we didn’t kill the Dragon.

“So how’d the town chief and Wataru beat the Dragon, anyway?”

“Couldn’t tell ye, it’s the ace up his sleeve, y’know. The one thing I can say... is that Keima was the only man standin’ at the end of it!”

“Seriously?! Wataru, you got knocked out? How’d you survive?!”

“Ahaha. Embarrassingly enough, Keima actually knocked me out. The battle was over when I finally woke up. Oh, and here’s the Dragon ball. The Dragon gave it to Keima before leaving.”

“The town chief’s amazing!” Come on, you two! Be more secretive! Put in a little effort not to give me so much credit! Also, the Dragon gave you the ball, Wataru, I just delivered it!

“Heeey, take a look at this! It’s our new Flame Dragon Beets!”

“What, it’s just a red Dragon Beet?”

“Nah, I got some red chili paste from the town chief and mixed it in with the batter.”

“Oh yeah? Lemme take a bite... Spicy! It’s so friggin’ spicy! Oh, but it tastes pretty good.”

“Oh man, it really is spicy. And tasty. Goes good with this beer.”

“It actually helps me chug the beer. Hey, gimme another!”

“Looks like we’ve got more famous food to our name now!”

“Man, the town chief sure is amazing! Cheers to Keima!”

“Cheers!” roared the table as everyone chugged beer.

“Ngh...! That should have been us! All our glory, gone...!”

“To think he’d go with an S-Rank Hero... He’s got some scary connections. Also, this beer is really good.”

“...I hear you can find it in this town’s dungeon.”

“Guess we’re staying here for now.”

Even adventurers from elsewhere were joining in on the drinking.

“...Hey, isn’t that Wataru the Hero drinking over there?”

“Yeah, it is. I hear he was one of the fighters that took down the Dragon... W-Wait, did that villager just elbow him?! Are they insane?!”

“No, it looks like they’re friends! What a lucky guy...”

Oh hey, there’s a convenient conversation. Looks like these guys are from out of town. I slid my way between them. Naturally, I had already {Ultra Transformed} into a passing adventurer to disguise myself.

“Hey, did you guys hear? Wataru the Hero took down the Dragon all by himself.”

“Whoa, really?”

“Yep. He’s even the one that thought of using this beer to put the Dragon to sleep. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Wataru.”

“Yeah, same.”

“But not everyone’s as heroic as him. I hear the town chief’s trying to take all the credit for himself. That’s pretty messed up. Someone should do something about that,” I said, only for the adventurer to let out a laugh.

“Heh, that’s probably not true. No way would Wataru the Hero keep quiet about that.”

“The truth is, Wataru owes the town chief a lot of money. He’s being blackmailed.”

“Hahaha, alright, I get it. I thought something was funny about all this, so lemme take a guess. You’re jealous of the town chief, aren’t ya? Well, listen up. If someone out there’s strong enough to blackmail Wataru the Hero, they’re a monster and you’re better off leaving them alone.” Is this actually happening? My best effort to spread a rumor about the town chief being incompetent ended in complete failure.

Indeed, Wataru was so trusted by people that nobody trusted a random adventurer over him. Such was the power of a Hero. But I kept on fighting to spread the rumor, at which point...

“Dude, you’re the one talkin’ trash about my Master, the town chief, yeah? Follow me, bud.”

“Wh-What, got something to say? I ain’t going with you.”

“Whatever dude, you totally are!” Ichika dragged me out of the bar. She took me all the way to a deserted alley. Whereupon she —

“Master, give it up. You’re not gonna change anything like this.”

— saw right through my disguise.

“...How’d you know it was me?”

“Niku went ahead and told me she smelled you on your clothes.”

“That was all it took?! Ngh, I’ll need to buy new clothes this time!”

“Uh, what? You’re gonna try to pull this junk again?”

“Of course! I’m not giving up yet!”

“’Kay, I’ll tell you the first reason why talking trash about the town chief’s a waste of time.” Hold on, the first reason? There’s more?

“Reason one! You’re the one who gave out all this beer. Everybody loves a guy giving out free beer.” Ngh! I didn’t think about it like that... “Reason two! Wataru’s already telling everybody the truth.” Curse you, Wataru! “Reason three! Gozou’s the town’s representative adventurer, and he’s telling everybody the truth too.” And you, Gozou! “Reason four! The archduke’s getting involved and telling everybody he expected you could do it, Master.” Why is the archduke here?! “Reason five! The fact you’re humbly keeping your achievements to yourself is making everybody trust you more.” What. Humbly? When have I ever sounded humble? “Reason six!”

“Alright, enough already. I get it, I’ll stop.”

“You better. You’re just gonna trash the rep of whoever you’re transformed into.”

Grrr. I undid my {Ultra Transformation}.

“By the way, if you keep trying to say Wataru did it all, people are just gonna think you’re even more humble. Don’t blame him, blame yourself for sleeping in and showing up late!” This is all my fault?! To think that oversleeping would give Wataru enough time to ensure everyone knew the truth! “So yeah, that’s how it be, my dude. If you’re feeling that garbo about it, well, I don’t mind cheering you up a little, know what I mean?”

“Nah, I’m just gonna go home and sleep...” I slumped my shoulders. The world had been stepping all over me ever since yesterday.

“...Hmm. Oh, by the by. Rokuko was wandering around looking like she was all about drinking some Dragon Killer. Someone might be pouring her some right now, just sayin’.”

“What?! I told her to quit drinking, she gets drunk so fast and she’s a horrible drunk! Gaah, Rokuko, don’t drink anything! You better, better, BETTER not be drinking!” I hurriedly raced into the bar. And what I found after throwing the doors open was...

“Hick! Teehee!” I was too laaate! There stood Rokuko with an empty mug in her hand.

“Hey! Who gave Rokuko beer?!”

“It was him.”

“No, him.”

“Him.”

“I gave her some too, but it was him.”

“Oh, should I not have?”

“Of course not! She’s too young to drink!”

“Oh yeah, this happened before.” Then don’t let her drink!

“What’s the problem, Keimaaaa? Eheh, you look kinda weird today. Bwuuuh?”

“Rokuko, that’s not me, it’s a beer barrel.” Rokuko patted her hands all over the barrel. She’s already completely drunk. Again. Oh well, guess I’ll just drag her to bed like last time.

“C’mon, Rokuko.”

“Hm, bed? Eheheh, going to bed with Keimaaa!”

I lifted Rokuko up. Rokuko’s sweet scent filled my nose alongside her alcohol breath.

“Heeey, open up a path for the husband and wife!”

“We’re not married! We’re still just partners!” I fled the bar with Rokuko in my arms as people joked and whistled. Good thing I had Golem assistance helping me to carry her. I didn’t really want other people to see Rokuko like this.

“Waaaait, we’re not married...?” Rokuko wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled closer to me as I princess carried her.

“Definitely not yet. At the very least, it won’t happen until Haku gives her approval.”

“But we had our wedding kiss! Or... wait. Did I just dream that?”

“Hm, sounds like you probably dreamed that.”

“Then we’re a couple in our dreams. Ahaha, nmmmm...” Rokuko pressed her soft lips against my cheek in a kiss. I looked down at her, and she gently poked my cheek with a finger.

“Hm? Keima, your face is red.”

“...Probably not as red as yours.” I’m not disappointed or anything! Not at all!

Incidentally, I managed to avoid Rokuko’s clutches after getting her into bed, instead going back to my own room to sleep.

＊ ＊ ＊

The day after that, Igni safely returned to the [Flame Caverns]. Ittetsu called me over, and upon arriving I found Igni in her human form.

“I wanted to party too! I wanted to join the festival!”

“Shut iiiit! Why the hell would you show up to a festival about you getting beaten?!”

“I wanted to eat Flame Dragon Beeeets! And I also wanted to eat Golem Beeeets!”

“...Keima.” Ittetsu gave me an awkward look. I hear you loud and clear.

“Alright, I’ll get some made for you and bring them over,” I said, earning a beaming smile from Igni.

“Really?! Thanks, uncle!”

“Now quit your fuckin’ complaining. Sorry ’bout this, Keima.”

“Bye, uncle! Promise to come again?” said Igni before leaving the room. Using dungeon functions, of course.

“Fuckin’... really sorry ’bout this.”

“Hey, what are friends for? Don’t worry about it.” There might come a day when I needed his help, and there was nothing bad about being on good terms with your neighbor. Especially a very old and very well-informed neighbor.

“Hey, Ittetsu. You sure got hit by a lot of Igni’s attacks back there. You sure you’re alright?”

“Aaah... ’bout that. The fire was one thing, but all the scratches and body blows were actually fuckin’ rough. I had to suck it up to show a father’s pride.” He had been beaten down so hard I actually got worried that he would be destroyed as a Dungeon Core.

“Huh. I thought those wounds were enough to kill you, but I guess not. I’m impressed.”

“Hah! What kinda dad would let his daughter’s tantrum kill ’im? Listen, more than half the scars on my body are from Igni, alright? And the rest... are from Redra...” Being a dad sure sounds rough.

“Funny, it seems like Igni’s always just rolling around in her room and you’re always flirting with Redra.”

“Ngh... Don’t say it...” ...Being a dad sure sounds rough. “Y’know, how’re you and Rokuko doing? Aren’t ya gonna make some kids soon?” he asked, reminding me of what Rokuko did yesterday. Not gonna lie, I blushed a little. “Seems like things are going pretty good, huh?”

“Shut it. Got a problem with that?”

“Nah, it’s the same road I went down.” Maybe, but I’ve got a taller wall I need to climb over first.

“...I’ve gotta prepare for Haku before I can do anything like that.”

“...I get ya. My sympathies, Keima. That’s gonna be rough.”

“Feel free to help when the time comes.”

“Heh, I’ll see what I can do.” Yeah. I’ve sure got a neighbor I can trust. I think I will ask him for help if it comes down to it.