Aftermath Processing (3)

Her voice completely ruined the image.

No — to be precise, the voice itself had more force than an ordinary old woman's… but the way she spoke shattered everything.

I was left speechless, but Erinn and the rest of the party already knew, so they remained perfectly calm. Erinn placed one hand over the center of her chest and bowed at the waist in greeting.

"It has been a long time, Your Majesty Queen Lenia. I am relieved to see that the Prince Consort also appears to be in good health."

The other party members followed her lead with their own greetings, and I hurriedly did the same.

…That startled me.

For a second I genuinely thought she wasn't a mesgaki hero.

Her voice had completely transformed. So she could speak in a tone that serious?

Can't she just talk like that all the time?

It was a slightly low, feminine voice — the quiet unnie type, you could say. It sounded far prettier than her usual arrogant tone.

Though the difference in speech style was probably the bigger factor…

Still, at least she doesn't call her "Granny" to her face.

Yeah, that would make her an actual lunatic…

Lenia, Queen of the Estire Kingdom, and Prince Consort Ogie smiled warmly as they spoke.

"Ohohong~ Erinn. It really has been a long time."

"It has been a while, Hero Erinn."

Receiving Erinn's greeting, Queen Lenia expressed her gratitude.

"Thank you so very much for saving our kingdom like this."

"Not at all. It was simply what a hero ought to do."

"Ohohong~ The other heroes all refused our kingdom's request, you know."

So in other words, the heroes of other nations weren't heroes at all. Hearing such a razor-edged remark delivered in that tone somehow made it sound even angrier.

She praised all of us as she continued.

"I am deeply grateful for your hard work. I hope you will all rest without want for anything while you stay."

"Thank you."

The party members answered in unison. I roughly followed suit, bowing my head in thanks. Then the queen's gaze shifted to me.

"Hohong~ So you are the one who devised this operation?"

"…Porter Allen, Your Majesty."

"A porter, is it."

Queen Lenia's lips curled into a sly smile.

"Ohonghong~ Erinn, I always feel this way, but your party is truly remarkable. To think the one you recruited as a porter would be this clever."

"…You flatter us."

Who are you to decide what's flattery and what isn't… Just kidding. Showing humility at occasions like this is basic etiquette.

So I piled on a line of my own.

"I'm not clever. I get called an idiot on a daily basis."

The moment I said it, Erinn shot me a sidelong look. Had I spoken too lightly?

"Ohohohong! What an amusing thing to say."

But contrary to Erinn's worry, the queen seemed to like my joke.

She wouldn't know, though — that what I'd said was half the truth.

"Ohohong~ So Erinn failed to recognize his true worth, then?"

"I only learned of it recently myself."

"How unexpected. For someone who assembled a party of this caliber to misjudge a person."

"I am ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠human as well. I make mistakes from time to time."

Then why don't you ever cut me any slack when I mess up, and just mock me instead, you little—

"Ohohong~ So even you have a human side. I always thought you were some kind of superhuman, perfect in every way."

"I still have much to improve."

Today was the first time I'd ever learned Erinn was capable of giving such humble answers. If she can do that, why does she act the way she does normally? Why??

My bewilderment was only growing when Queen Lenia wiped away the light smile she'd been wearing.

"…Shall we leave the jokes there, then."

…She set the mood so suddenly I nearly jumped. The queen's voice dropped, becoming far more solemn.

"That would be best."

Erinn's response matched the shift. It seemed they were about to get into something serious. What they intended to discuss, though, I had no idea.

I'd thought this was just a greeting — and then Erinn spoke first.

"I would ask that you decide with the value of the breadbasket region in mind."

"…As you will have heard, your deployment this time was the result of an agreement with the Empire. Through that treaty, the kingdom has already provided a great deal."

Huh?

"But that was under the assumption that the matter would be resolved within the expected timeframe, was it not? Thanks to Allen here, we reclaimed the northeast far faster than originally projected."

Erinn pressed on.

"The purification of the breadbasket will be finished shortly, and the benefits the kingdom stands to gain from that will be considerable. Have you not suffered far less damage than you originally anticipated?"

…They're negotiating compensation?

I hadn't realized they settled this through direct negotiation. In Dungeon in Evil, the kingdom would prepare an appropriate reward out of gratitude and you'd simply accept it as offered.

"You will also be able to save on the costs of disaster relief, and the losses that needed covering through wheat sales will have been reduced enormously."

With every point Erinn methodically laid out, the expressions of the queen and the Prince Consort seated beside her grew a little worse.

"…Are you asking us to provide compensation with all of that taken into account?"

"To be honest, I do not know the contents of whatever agreement the Dern Empire and the Estire Kingdom reached. It is possible the kingdom has already made a proposal more than satisfactory to the Empire."

Erinn continued.

"However, our party is not the Empire's dog. Naturally, we ought to receive fair compensation of our own, should we not?"

"Of course I think so as well, but… we cannot accept demands that are too excessive…"

"How many people would have died if the northeastern breadbasket had not been reclaimed? Even if you do not know the exact number, you must have some estimate."

Erinn smiled faintly. Then she willingly bowed her head.

"I trust that a wise queen such as Your Majesty will take all of these points into consideration when granting our reward."

"……Haa. I truly have nothing to say."

Hearing Erinn out, Queen Lenia let out a long sigh.

"You resolved it so much faster than expected that I have even less room to argue."

As she spoke, the queen's gaze briefly touched on me before moving on.

I don't know why you're looking at me, but I was just doing my best, you know…?

"Autumn is still a long way off, so it is not as though the harvest will yield nothing at all, is it?"

"Ah, I understand, so please stop talking. I concede. Thanks to you, the damage was minimized, military expenditure was far lower than imagined… and a great many people who would have starved to death if the northeast had not been reclaimed were saved."

Queen Lenia firmly acknowledged our party's achievements as she spoke.

"Very well. Let us speak frankly. How much would satisfy you?"

At the queen's question, Erinn smiled brightly. Then she held up her index and middle fingers to form the number two. Queen Lenia asked in surprise.

"Two gold coins? Will that truly be enough?"

"Pardon? How could that possibly be enough?"

"…Twenty, then?"

"Yes."

Erinn smiled.

"Around twenty should be enough to satisfy even Allen, our greatest contributor."

"…?"

Why are you dumping this on me?

Erinn turned to look at me, still smiling — and suddenly winked once. She seemed to want me to play along…

…Twenty gold coins would definitely leave us comfortable on funds for a while.

But wasn't that too much? Twenty gold coins could probably buy a clean mansion right here in the capital.

I ran some quick calculations — equipment purchase funds, party operating funds, and the personal operating funds that would go to each of us.

We already had plenty set aside for equipment purchases, so that was fine. Party operating funds were needed, but we didn't require a full twenty gold for that.

And as for personal operating funds… even if we gave them a lot, I doubted these people would put it to good use.

Ser-Aria would just buy more expensive booze, Letisia might blow it on excessive shopping, and Freya claimed she wouldn't redirect it into donations, but that remained to be seen.

At least Thiefy needed some money — but even accounting for the price of concealed weapons, twenty gold was excessive.

"I think you could reduce it a little."

"…Allen?"

"Is that true?"

Besides, the Dern Empire would have made quite a few demands of the Estire Kingdom. This wasn't some minor matter — they had dispatched the one and only hero's party in their nation.

Most of the Empire's wheat came from the kingdom, true… but if the kingdom refused to sell, the Empire could simply find other trading partners. So the Empire would have made heavy demands for this deployment, and the kingdom would have had to meet them.

There would be losses greater than what was visible on the surface. The very fact that a queen who ought to be more noble than anyone couldn't casually hand over the money and was instead seeking a compromise was proof that their situation was not comfortable.

In that case, rather than crushing the queen's pride here to pocket an excessive sum we didn't immediately need…

"Around ten gold should be fine."

"My, my, is that truly so?"

Showing them consideration and earning their trust was better. Winning people's hearts was worth more than simply grabbing a large sum of money.

Since Erinn had already bid twenty gold, going lower than ten would wound the pride of Erinn and our party. And since I had readily cut it in half, it would also be awkward for the queen to haggle further downward.

Erinn looked at me for a moment, then merely sighed softly without saying much.

"Will ten gold be acceptable, Erinn?"

"…Yes. If the operation's chief contributor says so, there is nothing to be done."

"Thank you so much!"

The fact that she didn't object suggested Erinn had roughly figured out my intention. She had a surprisingly good instinct for this sort of thing. Probably because her Intelligence stat was on the high side…

Intelligence 40, in real-world terms, was about the level of someone people called fairly smart at school. Not genius territory, but clearly above average.

"Still, I feel a little guilty that the amount was reduced so much. So how about this, Lenia? We grant a small privilege to the one who planned this operation."

Prince Consort Ogie spoke up. Right — once we'd reduced the compensation, a compromise like that was the proper courtesy.

"A privilege… what would be good?"

"In that case, may I make one request?"

Before the queen and Prince Consort could float some strange proposal, I stepped forward first. Erinn and the other party members all tilted their heads at me.

"May I use the library?"

"The library is open to guests as well, is it not?"

"I'm not talking about that one."

I said,

"I'm rather interested in the inner section."

The royal library had a general section open even to ordinary guests, and opposite that, a restricted section that was not. The restricted section housed records of the kingdom's various secret incidents, operations, policies, history, and other materials that would do no one any good if they became known outside.

I requested access to those materials, and at first I was naturally refused. So why was I now standing deep inside the library…?

Because I had sworn a binding oath that I would never reveal the contents of any records I saw within — and that I would enter the library alone.

A binding oath was different from an ordinary contract: even if you tried not to keep it, you had no choice but to keep it.

Where a standard magical contract could be broken by one party if they were willing to bear the penalty, a binding oath could not be unilaterally voided at all — you simply had to endure the penalty. It was a far more powerful form of contract.

Breaking a binding oath was only possible with the consent of all contracting parties; no other method, no matter what you did, could dissolve it.

The party members asked if I really needed to go that far just to get inside, but I did.

There's something I need to find, after all.

The book that triggered the quest leading to a Hidden Piece was here, in the restricted section of the Estire royal library — the area called Castor, commonly known as Zone C, where magic-related texts were collected.

"Where is it…"

There was one particular volume that could be found here, and it was the key that would open the path to the next Hidden Piece I needed. In Dungeon in Evil, discovering that book and reading its contents was the trigger that started the Hidden Piece search.

So even in this world, which was essentially the game made real, there would be some kind of connection… I absolutely had to check the book.

As I wandered among the shelves searching, I suddenly noticed a bookcase set apart from the rest of the zone. The other shelves were clustered together, but this one stood alone against a wall.

I approached carefully, and a slight smile formed on my lips. I'd thought something was suspicious about it — and sure enough, what I was looking for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was right there.

A magic tome bound in a pale purple cover. The title was The Connection Between Ancient Relics and Magic.

From the title alone it sounded like some occult nonsense with zero credibility, but it was actually a book of considerable reliability. If it were mere occult trash, it would never have been shelved in a restricted section like this.

I pulled it from the shelf and opened it. A message floated up before my eyes.

So even in reality, this book remaining the trigger had held true. That meant my objective was complete. Now I just needed to head to the next destination and I would be able to find the item — assuming, of course, that the destination was the same as in Dungeon in Evil.

We'll end up going there eventually, I suppose.

I figured the main story line would still be followed, more or less.

"Guess I don't actually need to read the contents, though."

Judging by the fact that the item generated the moment I opened the book…

Still, since I'd opened it, I skimmed through roughly. There were plenty of unfamiliar words I couldn't parse, but I got the gist from context and moved on.

"Hm?"

But there was a passage like this. It concerned an ancient relic — a statue with a sword driven through its chest — and the magical significance thereof.

"…Change a person?"

It was an unsettling passage. Perhaps it felt that way all the more because my own situation was similar. I closed the book and returned it to its place.

"……Hmph."

Really creepy. I turned and left the zone. There were plenty of tempting magic tomes here, but studying anything I saw in this place would be completely useless. I'd sworn a binding oath not to reveal outside anything I read here, which naturally meant I couldn't even chant any of it.

Looking was pointless. Better to just keep taking lessons from Letisia one way or another.

With that thought, I stepped out of the restricted section. A librarian approached.

"I will need to check you for a moment."

"Ah, yes."

The librarian searched me thoroughly, then said,

"My apologies. It is a mandatory procedure…"

"No, it's fine."

It was only natural, so there was nothing to be offended about. I was about to head outside when I spotted familiar faces in the general section of the library.

"…What are you all doing here?"

"You came out super fast! Guess there wasn't anything that interesting, puhaha!"

"What, you're already done~? Did you even read properly before coming out~?♡"

"……I was waiting."

Erinn and the rest of the party had staked out positions all around the library. When I tilted my head at Thiefy's comment about waiting, Letisia approached.

"Come with me, Allen. There is something we absolutely need you to do."

"Hm?"

Freya added a line on top of Letisia's.

"You have to be completely objective about it, all right?"

"…About what?"

Freya smiled gently. Then she trotted ahead as if to say I'd understand if I followed, and the other party members set off as though they'd been waiting for this.

I didn't know what it was, so I might as well follow. Not following didn't seem like an option.

"…Huh?"

The place we arrived at was a large room somewhere inside Cheonrang Palace. The five of them turned to look at me and said,

"We're going to put on formal gowns now."

"…Huh? Formal gowns?"

"Just look at them and tell us who they suit best~ Judge carefully with that scrub aesthetic sense of yours~♡"

"What? Why would I…"

"When we split the personal operating funds this time, we decided to give more based on the ranking Allen sets! Puhaha, fun right?"

……?

"So you're saying I get to decide your allowances…?"

"That is essentially correct."

"……Huh."

"Then I can decide without even looking at the gowns."

First, Ser-Aria — this alcoholic — gets the least so she can't buy booze…

"That would be no fun at all~♡"

"Please do not think of it as setting allowances. Truly judge who the gowns suit best and decide accordingly. If your reasoning is insufficient, we will make you decide again."

…So if I just pick arbitrarily, no one will accept it.

"But why am I the one deciding?"

"Well, Allen is the only man in our party, is he not? Rather than what looks pretty to the same gender, what looks pretty in a man's eyes might provide a bit more differentiation, I thought."

There was a reasonable logic to it. So it wasn't just dumping busywork on me?

"Fine, whatever… I'll give it a shot."

I didn't have anything else to do anyway. There were still a good five hours until the banquet, so even accounting for my own preparation time, we had room to spare.

"Then come inside."

"Hm?"

"Were you planning to stand out in the hallway? You need to come in to see."

"Ah."

The moment I obediently followed them into the room, I felt a little overwhelmed. It was a vast dressing room packed with formal gowns and accessories of every color — how should I put it.

The feeling of wandering around a department store alone and accidentally walking into the women's wear section…?

Exactly that feeling. The maids managing the dressing room gave off department-store sales associate vibes… Unnecessary tension was creeping up on me when the party members spoke.

"We'll each pick something out and come back, so sit here."

"Uh, uh…"

The party members scattered and began choosing clothes. Surprisingly, even Thiefy — who you'd expect to lack confidence in this sort of thing — was diligently picking through the gowns.

And in the middle of it all, Ser-Aria, unable to restrain herself, had her mouth on a bottle.

"…I want to dock points from Aria already."

Whether she heard my muttering or not, Ser-Aria shouted back.

"That's discrimination, Allen!"

Her ears are good, I'll give her that…

Starting with Letisia, who chose her outfit first, they filed one by one into a smaller room. That must be the changing room.

Naturally, it took a while. Women tended to take a long time getting ready to begin with, and they'd be washing up and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so on as well…

I'll still have time to get ready myself, right?

Well… I wouldn't take that long.

"……."

…Why am I nervous about this? There was absolutely no reason for me to be tense.

If anything, this time I was the one doing the evaluating, and their pocket money would be decided by my judgment… my first chance to taste the sweet flavor of power.

"…All right."

I would analyze with absolute thoroughness and display a coldness without a single tear. Even if last place got nothing at all.

But all those thoughts proved completely useless. The moment the woman who emerged from the changing room appeared, my mind went blank and white.

"Allen."

The first to come out was, of course, Letisia, who had gone in first.

I'd never known, since she always wore her hair in a large braid.

"How do I look…?"

Had Letisia always had this kind of refined air about her?

She had let her hair down, with only the side sections lightly tied back — what people called a half-up. It suited her remarkably well. So well that I thought she ought to just wear her hair loose on ordinary days too.

Unlike Freya, she normally dressed in tightly wrapped layers, which had always given her the impression of a pretty but plain woman… but the mere hint of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the volume that even those layers couldn't fully hide made her presence explode.

The blue dress, in complete contrast to her red hair, suited her all the better for it. Being a formal gown, she was also wearing accessories, giving her the air of a princess from a fairy tale.

"Allen?"

"Ah…"

Right. The evaluation.

Let's be cold about this…… that thought had already been wiped from my mind long ago. What was I supposed to do? There was nothing to pick apart coldly.

I simply said the impression that came to me, honestly.

"You're pretty. Yeah, it suits you well."

"…Is that so? What a relief."

Letisia smiled lightly, as if genuinely relieved.

"I have not had many opportunities to pick out and wear something like this, so I lacked confidence."

"…It's also my first time evaluating anyone in a dress."

"That makes sense. Allen is of common birth as well."

Weren't we all in roughly the same boat to begin with? Even Freya, the only one from a noble house, wasn't from a particularly high-ranking family as far as I knew.

Ah.

That drunkard was royalty, wasn't she… Was that why she was so used to this that she could suck on a bottle even while picking out a dress?

"What place do you think I will take?"

"…First place, for now?"

"Pardon? First place?…… Wait, I am the only one who has come out so far."

"Exactly. First place."

"What is that supposed to mean, honestly."

Letisia huffed as if she'd gotten her hopes up for nothing. Perhaps because she looked so different from usual, even that reaction seemed rather cute.

There really was a reason people said appearance was a weapon…

Still, this is no joke.

If this was how it started from the very first one… I couldn't even predict how much of a feast for the eyes the rest would be. What if I ended up unable to rank them at all?

I need to keep my head on straight…

But that resolve proved hollow. The woman who emerged next left me dazed all over again.

"……Allen."

Unable to hide her embarrassed expression or her shy body language in the slightest, she slightly averted her gaze from mine as she asked,

"……Do I… look okay?"