26: The report of our victory—apparently, it causes misunderstandings

Updated significantly on 2018/08/21.

M-... my word, the word count is insane (´Д｀)

Thanks to the Healing Potions and Stamina Potions, nobody’s injured, and the thrill of victory hasn’t worn off yet, so everyone’s in high spirits. But when the villagers of Goldendoon saw us returning in triumph, they all turned pale.

I tilted my head, puzzled. But then I thought about it more carefully. Every single one of us—our gear, our looks, our whole damn appearance—just didn’t look like victorious warriors at all.

Mithril armor melted from heat, cloaks burned to shreds, faces caked in soot.

Not a single weapon or piece of armor had survived intact.

Honestly, it’s a miracle nobody died. If someone had, there’d’ve been no way to bring them back.

“C! Craft!?”

“Craft-san!!”

“Whoa! He’s back!”

“Look at that mess…”

Guess we couldn’t beat a dragon after all…

How many of us made it back alive…?

Huh? Feels like more people than usual?

Wait—everyone’s a wreck, sure, but… not really any different from when we left?

Leifan and Kyle burst out, panicking, and Alphard scrambles after them.

Maina… oh, Alphard’s carrying her on his back.

“Craft-san!”

“Back. Just got back.”

“Thank god… really, thank god… cough, cough!”

“Idiot. You sprint like that and of course you’ll wheeze.”

“S-sorry… I couldn’t stand it when I heard you all returned… I just had to come…”

“Understandable, but don’t push yourself.”

“Pushing myself? You’re the one who came back looking like that—half-dead!”

“Huh. Maybe a proper bath would’ve helped.”

“No, that’s not the point! You’re all back… you’re all back safe!”

“Yeah. Which is why I’m reporting this…”

“It’s fine! You don’t have to say it all! You’re back… you’re all back safe! That’s enough!”

“Huh?”

“You came back alive after fighting a dragon… that’s all that matters! That’s enough! The adventurers have earned their honor!”

“Yeah, yeah. From the looks of it, not many of us are missing. Being able to call a retreat like that? That’s impressive!”

Kyle and Leifan were clenching fists, arguing with sudden passion.

Against all odds.

Raidock glanced sideways, and we shared a silent, dry smile.

“Anyway… check this out.”

I pulled the dragon’s head from my spatial storage and set it right in the middle of the square.

Out of nowhere, a monstrous dragon head—same size as the Kyle mansion—appeared. Scarred. Bloodied. Its expression twisted with rage and hatred.

“Gyaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Waaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

"Yeeeeeeeeeaaahhhhhhh!"

Adults scream and fall over.

Run. Despair. Children cry. Jitarou gets punched by Solar.

The village turns into a scene of hellish chaos in an instant.

Yeah... sorry.

◆

"Craft! Sit properly!"

"Yes..."

I obediently sat cross-legged in the living room of the Kyle mansion.

Maina somehow ended up perched right on my lap.

Um... it makes the numbness go faster... no, nothing, really.

"Ah, um, Leifan-san. That's enough..."

"What is it, Master Kyle?"

"Nothing! Sorry, Craft!"

"No... don't worry about it."

Raidock and Persia, also called along with me, just managed a wry smile.

"Alright, let's start over. Please report."

"Yeah, first off, the rough summary. As you can see, the dragon hunt was a success. No casualties. But the gear took a total beating."

"Zero dead... that's insane... against a monster like that..."

Leifan groaned, his eyes drifting to the dragon's head—practically sitting right outside the window.

Villagers were already swarming, decorating the place, preparing for the feast.

It’d be a nonstop celebration tonight.

"Also, we secured a decent amount of Ambrosia flowers—the main goal. Found a few other rare herbs too."

"So the main goal was really..."

"Ah, the main goal was clearing out the dragon. The flowers were just a bonus. Just a bonus."

"Seriously, Craft... you never change."

"Anyway, next part. I’d totally forgotten since the dragon was in the plains, but that scaly bastard had stashed away a serious amount of treasure."

"Eh?"

Dragons hoarding treasure is a pretty common rumor.

But most people assume they stash it in nests—caves and such—so we completely missed that possibility.

“Just talked to the adventurer guildmaster briefly. Naturally, he’s claiming ownership.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The guild’s not greedy. Most of the time, whatever’s risked for is rightfully the adventurer’s cut.

But this time, the bounty was paid in advance, and the dragon’s meat, hide, and scales are already assigned as a reward. That’s already a serious sum.

“Would it be alright if we hand over everything except what’s usable in alchemy?”

“Even gold, silver, and copper can be used, you know?”

“That’s stretching it a bit. Fine, we’ll hand over the precious metals.”

"Yeah... there were a few magical weapons too. What about those?"

"Anything promising besides gems and coin?"

"Valuable ores. And some magic items we can buy. Like mana lamps."

"We'll take the ores. Hand over the magic items, precious metals, and all weapons to the guild. That work for the negotiations?"

"Should be fine."

Leifan nodded.

Honestly, we're probably giving them the upper hand here.

"Settled. Leave the negotiations to Leifan. Battle details go to Raidock—got it."

"Understood."

Raidock explained the dragon fight, Kyle turning red and blue in turn.

Maina swayed her feet, grinning.

That... that's really making my nerves tingle...

Finished with all the reports, I finally got to stand up—but for over ten minutes, I just stood there, frozen, taking Maina’s poking attacks like a fool. Gotta write that down.

◆

The dragon’s fearsome head, stationed in the middle of the village square, had been beautifully decorated.

Not just torches, but lamps and candles lined up, glowing bright against the darkness.

“Now then, to celebrate the dragon’s defeat! Cheers!”

““““Cheers!!!!””””

Kyle, having wrapped up the rough formalities, called the toast again at the already-bustling victory feast, and the whole village erupted in a deafening chorus.

“Phew—finally the star of the show shows up!”

“Raidock-san! Craft-san! Over here, over here!”

“Hey, no cutting in! You two, come this way! Drinks and meat are here!”

"Hey! Raidock-sama! Come over here! You won’t have any fun hanging out in some creepy spot like that!"

"Kyaa! Craft-san! Over here, over here! Let’s drink together!"

Before I knew it, a group of young women had gathered in the village.

Probably some promising adventurer or witness he was after.

How much damn决心 did it take to leave home?

Ah, I’m drinking with my crew.

"Hey! Raidock's being a jerk!"

"Hey, Craft, come on over!"

Haha... I’ll drink over here.

"Wha—!?"

I dodged the woman trying to lure me in with her charm and sat down at a table where some old men were already gathered.

There were a few girls I liked, but if I tried anything here, I’d be tied up without a word.

Not thinking about getting married or anything yet.

Hey! Craft! Right here!

Huh? What’s this?

"Dragon steak, y’know!"

"What? Why?"

"Somehow the Adventurer's Guild handed out a bit for the feast, said they did."

"Well, that’s fine... real generous of ‘em, huh?"

The Adventurer's Guild’s more expensive to keep up than it looks. I figured they’d squeeze every coin when they could.

"Apparently they got the parts damaged by magic. Whole village chopped it up, shared it all."

"Yeah, makes sense."

Clever little rascals, aren’t they?

Hard work, so might as well win goodwill from the village.

Still, it’s premium meat—no denying that. Big spenders, that’s for sure.

"Damn, this is good!"

"Right?! Never had meat this tasty before!"

Thought it’d be bland, but damn—every bit of it’s got sweet fat and tender red meat mingling just right, juice spilling out! What the hell is this? Tastes better than good.

Hey! You lot! Give this to the adventurers properly, will ya!?

Oh right! Here, here! You too, big guy over there—eat up!

Thanks a bunch!

The villager who’d been gorging on dragon meat flinches, scrambles to hand a piece to a nearby adventurer.

Kyle’s also handing out wine and other meat—barrels and dried cuts keep getting hauled out from the manor’s storage.

Guess dragon meat alone isn’t enough.

More boar meat’s being roasted nonstop.

One hundred adventurers, all ravenous—meat and fish vanish before your eyes. Feels damn good just watching it.

Good thing the village’s treasury’s full, and selling the dragon’s materials should bring in even more coin.

The villagers all smiled, knowing that.

“So, Craft, you just go ahead and—uh—*gurgle* it down, right?!”

“Not gettin’ it at all! You’re drunk, Jitarou!”

“Hahaha!”

“Persia, you should try some too!”

“Already had enough! No way I can drink more than this!”

“You were the one who did all the work this time! Don’t be shy!”

“No, that’s not—!”

“Hey! Persia’s getting seconds!”

“Ah…ah…ah…”

These village folks are overdoing it. What’s the point of Persia playing along so seriously?

Well, whatever.

I walk around casually, nodding and greeting folks.

Everywhere I go, someone’s offering me booze or meat. I just wave them off, keep moving. If I had a hundred stomachs, I still couldn’t handle it all.

“Hey, hero.”

“Huh? What’s that about? You’re talking about me, right?”

Seemed like Raidock and the others had gathered in one corner while I wasn’t looking.

“What’re you talking about? This great feat? It was all Craft’s doing—from start to finish.”

“I just helped out with what I could.”

“…You’re aware of that, huh? You’ve been stockpiling gear and gathering adventurers just for this, haven’t you?”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s only because of your careful planning that we made it.”

“Thanks to you, man.”

I held up my left hand, the mark of the Alchemist of Dusk glowing bright.

“I know it helped win this. But still…”

“What?”

“You could’ve pulled it off even without that, right?”

“What?”

“I might not have a plan… but yeah, I could’ve just gathered more adventurers, right?”

I thought about it.

Yeah. I *could* have done something like that for Kyle. No way to rule it out.

"So that's it. You're really the one behind this whole thing. Nothing would've started without you."

"It's because you're here that it happened."

"Can't deny that."

Raidock smirked, raising his cup. I clinked mine against it.

"Ugh, two guys acting all grossly cheerful..."

"Drunk, Solar?"

"Of course I am. Real bad hangover vibes."

"Alright, keep it down."

Far off, Kyle was being held by a villager, being bowed to.

For a split second, our eyes met. I think I was smiling.

I sank into a quiet corner.

A cool breeze. Perfect for clearing the head.

Yeah. That's right.

I actually helped someone.

I gently ran my fingers over the insignia.

◆[Bonus]◆

The feast was in full swing.

In a corner of the central plaza, Solar stood alone, oddly dressed up.

Acting strangely nervous.

I thought, and watched from a distance.

Sure enough, there he was—Jitarou, all neat and tidy, holding a bouquet, walking straight toward her.

Oh wow. He’s actually doing it, Jitarou.

Jitarou approached Solar, face tense, step by step.

“Hey. Keep me waiting?”

“N-no… just got here.”

Huh?

“Um… about that thing I wanted to talk about…”

“Y-yeah.”

“Aah… you know… I mean…”

Tension crackled between them.

“Damn it! Damn it! Courage, man! Solar! I’m in love with you! Go out with me!”

Holy hell!

What a damn bold confession!

I nearly choked on my spit, staring.

“Ah… um…”

“I mean it! You… you don’t have to answer now! Later! Just… later!”

What the hell? Backing down already!?

“…Idiot. I’ll answer now.”

“O-oh.”

“Yeah… um… I’d like to… go out with you.”

“Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!”

Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

I couldn’t help but throw up a victory pose.

Then, Bep popping out, followed by Bardak and Moda.

“Congratulations! Leader!”

“Cheers!”

“Hmph. Finally. Was driving me nuts before this.”

“N-no, that’s—”

“Wait—everyone knew?!?”

“Now now. Details don’t matter, do they? Today’s a celebration!”

“Ooooh! Big bro’s getting lucky!”

“Hero of the dragon slaying, huh? Drink up, drink up!”

“Alright! Another dragon steak, please!”

“““Hahaha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!”””

And so, Raidock—(……) who’d been waiting to meet Solar—successfully confessed.

The festival burned hotter, fed by more fuel.

Watching from behind cover, Jitarou, a smoldering ember.

Nah.

Completely… burned to ash, old man…