"As expected from a group of A-ranked! You guys able to defeat the redondo dragon!", Johnson-san came over to us while exclaiming loudly.
The other adventurer also started to gather around us.
"No, it was thanks to Ren-kun. Because Ren-kun had successfully casted 'sleep' on the dragon, the evacuation could proceed smoothly and we were able to focus on defeating the dragon."
"That's right~ Ren-chan is amazing~ To think the three of us could stand on proper ground with an S-rank monster~"
"We were able to defeat it thanks to Ren's support magic. Without it, we would've been dead by now."
The three of them praised me with such proud looking face like that..
They were making me feeling really embarrassed!
"You guys… It's thanks to everyone's effort, right! U-uwah-"
I tried to stand up but suddenly I felt lightheaded and dropped to the floor.
Just when I was about to hit the ground, Sig-san held my body tenderly and propped me up.
"There you go." Sig-san said as he continued to support me by holding my body close to him.
"Aren't you the F-ranked? I saw you running around foolishly. Geez, if it weren't for those three, you would've been a dead meat by now. Truly, I feel bad for them having to babysit a brat like you.."
"Huh?! What did you say you fucker?!" Sig-san yelled.
Hiii!
Johnson-san!
Didn't you learn from your mistake?!
Sig-san was literally growling at you now!
If he weren't supporting me, he would've launched at your neck!
"Ah.. What a disappointment.. To think that a guild master from an adventurer guild could be so blind.. Did you see our battle properly? Ah, forget it since I don't think you have enough brain cells to process such difficult things, I will explain it to you now. First, Ren-kun had displayed the amazing capability in support magic by casting 'sleep' to an S-ranked monster. Thanks to that, we could evacuate the adventurer and focused on defeating the dragon. Next, Ren-kun successfully casted 'root' on the dragon, rendering the dragon from moving even for an inch. But, even though the dragon couldn't move, we still couldn't land a proper blow to the dragon no matter how hard we tried. When any of us got slightly injured, Ren-kun would've run straight and healed us whilst still being wary of his own surroundings. Lastly, just when we were at our last wits, Ren-kun was able to come up with such amazing tactics, he once again casted his support magic to the dragon, giving the three of us a chance to land the finishing blow to the dragon. No matter how I see it, the one that deserves praises is Ren-kun. How could you be so blind not to notice? Pathetic."
As Fer-san talked, Johnson-san could only stood still and watched with his mouth gaping open.
"To be honest if Ren-chan wasn't here, not only us but even the people in Baunov would've been dead by now. It was thanks to Ren-chan, creating an opening for us that we able to defeat the dragon~", Chris-san said as he smiled at me tenderly.
"That's right! No matter how you look at it, that boy actually played a huge part to defeat that dragon!"
"Yeah! There's no one amongst us that could inflict a debuff on that redondo dragon!"
"Of course that old fuck doesn't know! He was busy cowering in fear inside his tent!"
The other adventurer also started to yell in unity, the voice of the mass really had a great impact, the usual boisterous Johnson-san couldn't even look at me in the eye.
"Ugh… My apologies.. This time, you really helped us…" Johnson-san finally said, he was bowing his head to me.
"No, no. Please lift your face.. and it's not only me. We could defeat it thanks to the effort and great teamwork between Luche." I insisted.
Physically, I looked like a child in Alsar so having an old men bowing to me was a little..too much for me.
And also, they shouldn't put too much credit on me.
It was the result between our teamwork and trust.
Because we've spent this whole week working together, everyone could work smoothly and provided good result just like today.
"You saved us all, you know." Another adventurer came up to me.
"Yeah, you showed us your bravery back then!"
"What are you saying?! You're the leader of Luche, right?! Don't sell yourself short!"
"You did an excellent job,sonny!"
Once again, we were surrounded by bunch of adventurer.
They started to speak at the same time, giving us encouragement and praises.
Ah but, why did most of them look so disheveled like that?
They had cuts here and there,their clothes torn apart and they looked very tired.
Some even had huge eyebags on them.
Was it because of the dragon?
Or maybe because of the subjugation?
Fer-san suddenly appeared, he tapped the magic bag on his waist while saying,"Well then, I've collected the materials from the redondo dragon. Like its horn and claws. Let's burn the body so other monster won't approach it. Sig!"
Turned out, while I was busy talking with the other adventurer, Fer-san had diligently gathered the materials from redondo dragon.
"Okay! [Fire Arrow]!"
Since the corpse of monster could attract other monster, Sig-san burned the body with his fire magic.
We always burned the corpse from the monster that we subjugated this last week.
Of course, this redondo dragon was not an exception for us.
"Make way, make way~ Ren-chan!~ Are you tired? Let's head off to the village soon~" Chris-san came while pushing the other adventurer.
"Yeah.. I didn't expect we're going to fight off a dragon right when we returned to the camp… I actually thought we were done for but thanks to everyone's support, we can still stand proud like this!"
Everyone was already exhausted but for me, rather than my physical state, my mental state was in a worse condition.
If I thought about it thoroughly, if my plan failed back then..
I would become the main reason behind everyone's death…
That kind of responsibility was too heavy for me..
"Ah.. We need to report our-"
"We could do it tomorrow. First thing first, we need to recuperate ourselves and then we will report to the guild."
"Ah that's right! We should book a room for the 4 of us!~" Chris-san suggested.
The other two also muttered their agreement to Chris-san's suggestion.
I was glad we finally could get a rest soon..
I could heal my sore muscle with magic but I still felt tired..
Honestly, the only reason I could still stand straight like this because Sig-san was supporting me.
"Ren-chan!~ You're tired, right? Well then!"
Suddenly, Chris-san's right hand was on my back and his other hand was on my thighs and he lifted me off the ground easily.
This new position was just like the way parent would carry their children while walking around the disneyland.
And what was more, his left hand was dangerously close to my butt!
"Chris-san! Please put me down! I can still walk!"
"What are you saying?~ You couldn't even stand properly, let alone walk. It's okay, the distance from the camp to the village is only 20 minutes away~ I don't mind carrying you all the way there~"
No please put me down!
It's too embarrassing!!
"Isn't better if I'm the one holding Ren? After all I'm the tallest one."
"If it's you, Sig.. You guys will look like a father and son instead. Chris, let me hold Ren-kun instead."
That might be true, but I thought that was not the only reason why Fer-san insisted he would be the better choice to be the one that carried me around.
"Th-that's not a problem! Anyway, Chris-san please put me down! I'm heavy aren't I?!"
"Nope! Anyway Ren-chan aren't you tired? We could get back to the inn faster this way, don't you want to quickly return and rest?~ And you two, first come first served! I'm the one that picked Ren first so I get to carry him!"
Chris-san had zero intention to put me down.
What did you mean by first come first served…
More importantly, having to carry me all the way to the inn must be tiring..
Last time I weighed myself, I was about 60kg..
"At least, please put me down when we arrive at the village.." I muttered as I slowly put my head on Chris-san's shoulder and wrapped my hand around his neck.
I gave up.
I didn't have any energy left to argue.
As Chris-san started walking, I felt the wind breeze caressing my face.
It felt rocky at first but then Chris-san's hand started to pat my back in a gentle rhythm.
Combined with the warmth radiated from Chris-san's body…
Everything felt so comfortable..
Gradually, I felt really sleepy..
——————————————-
Chris's POV
"Ah? Ren-chan fell asleep?~"
When I was holding Ren-chan, he was really stiff but after a while I could feel his body growing lax and turned out he already fell asleep.
Fer looked over my shoulder and he said,"You're right, it seem like he already fallen asleep. Fufu~ His sleeping face look so peaceful and innocent, how cute."
"Well it is given that Ren is tired. It was his first subjugation quest and he already had to took on a dragon."
Fer and Sig was looking at Ren-chan's sleeping face while smiling.
"Ahhh~ No faiiir~ I also want to look at Ren-chan's sleeping face!~"
Because Ren-chan was leaning his face over my shoulder, I couldn't look at his face!
"What are you saying! I want to hold Ren as well!" Sig raised his voice.
"Sig, keep your voice down. You will wake up Ren-kun. He looked so peacefully asleep, it would be a shame if he got woken up." Fer immediately reprimanded Sig.
Fufu~
It was a shame that I couldn't look at Ren-chan's sleeping face but I was still the winner!
After all, I get to hold Ren-chan like this~
"By the way, do you guys remember what Ren said when we were about to face the redondo dragon?" Sig asked.
Of course I remembered, at that time I felt like I could do my best for Ren-chan!
"Yeah.. I don't think Ren-kun is the type that will joke about something like that but I don't think he really meant it too.. I'm a little conflicted.."
"I don't like it that I have to share Ren but if it's you guys… Well I guess it can't be helped."
Well that was true.
Ren-chan prolly was only saying it in a spur of moment but since he already promised, of course the three of us will asked him to keep his words~
"Fufu~ Ren-chan suddenly have three fiance~ I have to report it to Malik-san soon~"
"I haven't seen him for a long time.. To think that after all these time, I will meet him again as my father in law.." Fer muttered.
Ah wasn't Fer in a wait-and-see period?
Since when did he fall in love with Ren-chan?
"Fer you are still in wait-and-see period, right?" I asked.
"I was. Now, I've decided that I also want Ren-kun to become my spouse."
"Fufu~ Well that can't be helped, after all Ren-chan is just too cute for his own good~ Well if it's with the three of us, the annoying bugs will stop pestering Ren-chan so I don't really mind~"
I knew it, I knew it they will love Ren-chan in the end~
When we arrived in Pedrell, we will need to order an ear cuff for Ren-chan~
Ah but rather than a large ear cuff, I thought a small one would suit Ren-chan better~
"Still, I wondered why that redondo dragon appeared in Calhea?" Sig said.
Yeah, why?
Usually the monster that appeared was C-ranked monster, well there was a rare case where B-ranked monster appeared but that was it.
Because of that, Calhea subjugation quest wasn't popular for high ranked adventurer.
"Maybe today isn't the first time a high ranked monster appeared in Calhea since the last recorded scripture of Calhea was about 150 years ago. In this world, places where monster appeared systematically like Calhea is rare as well so we couldn't know for sure whether it is irregular or not.."
"Is that so? Well, thankfully we managed to defeat it properly~"
I was glad we had Ren-chan with us ~
If I was being honest, defeating redondo dragon with only the three of us was an impossible feat.
Ren-chan's support magic was top notch and furthermore, his perception of the battle and quick thinking was amazing as well.
No matter how I saw it, Ren-chan was fitting to be an S-ranked adventurer.
Maybe when we had the ranking readjusted, Ren-chan will be promoted to A-rank?
"Ah, I can see the village! Ren is..still sleeping.. Well I guess it's okay to keep carrying him then?"
"That's true~ I don't have the heart to wake him up~"
Ren-chan didn't have any sign of waking up so I tucked him closer and started to walk to the inn.