Chapter 123. He'll Come to His Senses After a Beating
Chapter 123. He'll Come to His Senses After a Beating
I felt my temper starting to rise.
I didn't know what the queen was talking about, but she said it might be able to open it.
Not even a certainty — just a hunch, an 'I thought so.'
'Was she really a queen...?'
With that clueless demeanor, I was beginning to doubt she was even royalty.
I sighed inwardly.
From their perspective, we had trespassed without permission.
But Laila seemed to have a different idea.
─ Hwik!
Laila, who had been sitting beside me, leaned forward slightly and calmly snatched the queen by the collar.
"L-Laila?"
Laila's eyes were fixed solely on the queen.
Her face was smiling, but her voice was ice-cold.
"Your Majesty, we have limits too."
The queen, caught by the collar, shook her head frantically.
"I-It's the truth! There's no strange ulterior motive! Please believe me...!"
At that, I sighed, propped my chin on my hand, and asked quietly.
"So this guy you mentioned — where is he right now?"
The queen, still held by the collar, turned her head and hastily spoke.
"I know that well! He's been staying in one place for a very long time...!"
I inhaled again, tilted my head back, then let it flop forward as I muttered.
"Haah... I really need to handle this quickly and go home..."
I was tired.
But...
"If we take care of it, what will you do for us?"
"Y-Yes!?"
We had to get something out of this.
Did she think we'd just do it for free...?
"Getting us home is the bare minimum, but from what I gathered, this thing bears ill will toward you, right?"
"Yes..."
"Seems like you've been tormented for quite a while... If we deal with it, shouldn't there be some kind of reward?"
"Wh-What kind of reward do you desire...?"
I folded my arms and thought it over.
Then I gave her a slow once-over.
Just what should I ask for?
"...!"
But she seemed to have misunderstood my gaze.
She subtly raised a hand to cover her chest.
'This was seriously insane...'
The hand Laila had gripping the queen's collar tightened.
─ Tk...
The sound of seams popping from her clothes could be heard.
Laila brought her face even closer to the queen.
"Your Majesty, that kind of talk isn't funny."
"I-I misunderstood...!"
The queen straightened her clothes and began speaking earnestly.
"If you handle it well... I will grant you any request, so long as it is within reason."
"You'd grant any request just for something like this?"
"As outsiders, you may not be aware, but... we have been tormented by him for a great many years..."
Well, there must have been important circumstances I didn't know about.
Not that I particularly wanted to know.
---
Laila and I left the castle.
We wanted to get this tiresome task over with quickly and go home.
─ Squeeze...
In the dreamlike scenery, with just the two of us, Laila hugged my arm.
"Hm?"
When I glanced at Laila, she wore a subtly dissatisfied expression.
"Hero, do you like that type of woman too?"
"What's that supposed to mean all of a sudden...?"
"That queen woman is pretty, isn't she."
Jealousy?
A smile crept onto my face without my realizing it, my lips practically reaching my ears.
"A different style from me... somehow haughty and beautiful, isn't she..."
Laila was truly a woman with zero self-awareness.
She seemed completely unaware of how the world saw her.
"Pfft... Laila, are you maybe jealous?"
"Yes! I get jealous too!"
"Heh heh... This is really crazy."
I gently eased my arm free and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Then I gave her a light kiss on the forehead.
"Every single thing you do is really..."
"Should I try dressing like that style too...?"
"If we weren't outside... I might've just pounced on you."
"...?"
"It means you're so lovely I want to do it right this instant."
Only then did Laila seem to relax, beaming as she leaned her head against me.
We kept up our lovey-dovey antics as we traveled for quite some time.
"Is that the place?"
"Mm... I think so."
The deep ocean floor.
Inside the gate that lay there.
And then, right before our eyes, a cliff of staggering size.
"I can feel an immense presence."
Beyond the cliff, I could sense mana swelling.
It had even more mana than the monsters I'd seen at Baekdu Mountain and Mount Fuji.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes!"
With my arm still around her, I scooped her up.
The so-called "princess carry."
─ Kwaang!
The ground scattered and we shot into the air.
We cleaved through the current, but it was a curious feeling — there was almost no resistance.
─ Kwang! Kwaang! Bang!
I kept leaping, digging my feet into the cliff face.
After climbing for a while, the top of the cliff came into view.
When I glanced down for a moment, the bottom was no longer visible.
"It's high..."
"Hero, the mana has grown thicker."
As if aware of the intruders, the mana began gushing out even more blatantly.
I ignored it and walked farther inside.
─ Kwaaaa...!
A colossal tsunami surged toward us, as if to deny us any further entry.
"Tch... What a petty move."
While holding Laila, I planted my legs firmly on the ground.
The massive tsunami raged for a while, then soon subsided.
I stayed on guard for anything else to come, but no further attack arrived.
I headed toward the deeply carved canyon.
Laila swept her wet hair back with one hand and let out a sigh of practiced familiarity.
"Ugh... This feels gross."
Maybe because I was drenched from the tsunami, I felt pretty gross too.
"Should I just smash everything?"
At that, Laila grinned.
"Do as you please, Hero~"
"Well, before I smash it all... I'm sure the owner will show themselves."
I fiddled with my earring, about to draw my Holy Sword.
But at that moment, I sensed a presence.
"A person...?"
Slowly, very slowly... a figure walked out from the canyon.
A wrinkled face and a grayish-white beard.
On the surface, a perfectly ordinary old man.
Yet his mana surpassed that of any monster I'd seen so far.
'No wonder they tell you to beware of old men in martial arts novels.'
And the moment I saw him, I knew.
'So this was the being the queen mentioned.'
The old man clasped his hands behind his back and slowly regarded us.
"Faces I have never seen before... Did you come from the kingdom?"
"Well, I'm not from there, but I did set out from that place."
The old man stroked his chin with interest.
"Hmm... I was certain my destined partner had come."
"Destined partner?"
I thought I'd misheard.
Because I hadn't seen any old woman at the royal palace...
"Indeed. The queen of that kingdom. The one who shall become my partner."
For a moment, it felt like my brain had stopped.
I blinked, opened my mouth, then slowly looked the old man over again.
Wrinkles like cracked natural rock, drooping eyes, and a beard.
"Does 'partner' have some other meaning...?"
But the queen?
To be honest, her personality was a little scatterbrained and meek, but her looks were undeniable.
Elegant, refined speech, smooth skin, clear features.
She was someone who wouldn't be out of place as the symbol of a nation.
And with an old man like that...?
'At his age, he's bound to be senile...'
"Hey, old man... I think you're a bit mistaken..."
He didn't answer me, but turned his head slightly to look at Laila.
"Ohoh... You, too, are plenty qualified to become my partner."
My facial muscles twitched.
Whether the old man was truly senile or not, he just kept spouting whatever came to mind.
"Has he really gone senile?"
Laila watched the old man who was licking his lips while staring at her.
And as if merely imagining it gave her goosebumps, she frantically rubbed her forearms.
"Ugh... It feels like seeing that old noble who proposed to me..."
The old man gazed at Laila with eyes full of desire and reached out his hand.
"I shall grant you the opportunity to become my partner as well."
"?"
"?"
It was so absurd I let out a chuckle.
Laila's expression scrunched up even more than before.
"Hey, old man. Don't you think you're taking this too far?"
"You dare refuse?"
Then the old man slowly spread his arms and stood as if floating on the current.
The water around him began to ripple.
"If that is not the reason... why would outsiders crawl all the way into the 'Dragon God's Nest'?"
"God?"
"Yes... Do you finally feel some awe?"
I smirked and fiddled with my earring.
A large club appeared in my hand, and I faced off against him.
"A mere human dares to stand against a god..."
The old man's pupils split vertically, turning into something like a lizard's eyes.
And the water rippling around him grew larger and faster.
"The word 'god' isn't something just anyone can throw around."
"..."
"Back in a country called Japan, I once met a lunatic who claimed to be a god or something, you know?"
"..."
The old man simply glared at me without a word.
"That guy, after getting smacked a few times, came to his senses."
"You insolent wretch..."
Among all those who had called themselves "gods," I'd acknowledged very few as real.
Compared to them, this old man was definitely senile.
I rested the club on one hand and walked slowly.
"It's fine. You'll snap out of it after you get hit a few times."