On the surface, a jubilant crowd awaited us. There was much work ahead, clearing the debris in the mine and disposing of the remains of the monsters, but at the sight of the fearsome head of the queen and her enormous blades, the people sighed with relief. The horror that had tormented them for the past five years was behind them. Following us from the cave were people whom the monsters had held captive. Supported on both sides by Algo and Leira, Myrida led the prisoners. The Count rushed to embrace his daughters and, seizing Algo by chance, hugged him as well. The militiamen rushed to embrace the rescued people, friends, relatives, and loved ones.
"Thank you for our salvation," the Count bowed to us almost to the ground, but that's unnecessary: "We still have to get rid of the monster corpses, but soon the mine will start yielding profit, and I will repay all your efforts, even my entire life won't be enough."
"Eh, Count. There's no need to bow like that. And it's better not to get rid of the corpses. Their shells are made of high-strength mythril, which you can melt down and use for new items."
"Hmm, it looks like the fame of Renerim, the city of the best blacksmiths, will soon spread across the continent again," Seleria stepped forward with a satisfied smile. "I will inform my father that our longtime partners are back in business."
"Thank you, Your Highness. Thank you all."
"I just want to keep these two blades for myself; I think they will come in handy in the future."
"Of course, that's your well-deserved trophy."
"And we should discuss the second part of our deal."
"Mm, alright, let's go inside the estate."
We left the jubilant crowd and followed the Count.
The main hall of the estate was of impressive size. The residents had cleaned it of dust in anticipation of the heroes' return.
The Count sat on his throne, brought here in advance from the servants' house, and his daughters stood on either side. Our guild stood before him, and Algo, not fitting into any group of assembled people, stood aside.
"Krito, did you really talk about marriage seriously?" Katrina stamped her foot in displeasure.
"As serious as it gets," I shrugged indifferently.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Just be quiet and watch."
"Well, I promised to meet your conditions, and I will do that," the Count's face was extremely serious. "I understand that an alliance with such a powerful guild will only benefit my family. But which of my daughters will you choose?"
I approached the Count deliberately and took Leira's hand.
"Perhaps her."
The whole hall gasped.
"Krito, what are you talking about?!?" Katrina growled with anger.
"And why not? She's a powerful mage and has proven it many times. Of course, her sister is a competent treasurer, but to profit from our contract, it would be much better to leave her here."
"Your words are not without logic, young man. I wouldn't mind such a son-in-law."
"Well, now we just need to decide whom she'll marry. Grain, you definitely don't want to, right?"
"Me? Uh? No, but how can you..."
Ignoring the protests of the burly man, I continued.
"Well, well, isn't this delightful? If there are no other objections, then it's time to prepare for the wedding."
"STOP!" Algo blocked my path. "I object. Lady Leira clearly has no desire to marry you."
"How do you know? Besides, that was the agreement. She has no choice."
"You don't care about her feelings?!" Algo grabbed the hilt of his sword. "I promised to protect the lady, and I won't let her marry someone like you!!"
A malicious smirk appeared on my face.
"Oh my. You won't let her marry me?!" I emphasized each word. "We can always settle this like proper academy students."
"A duel?"
"Yes, a duel, if you're not afraid. After all, I could wound you."
Leira rushed to Algo.
"No, Algo! He's stronger than you. If something happens to you, I won't forgive myself. I must do this, forgive me."
"If I let you go, I'll have no reason to live. Step away, Lady Leira."
"Well then? Are you ready?"
"Ready."
To save time, we decided to fight right there in the hall. Algo had never been so serious. The thirst for blood burned in his eyes. He was willing to fight to the death for Leira, but my plan was more important to me.
"Attack whenever you want, I'm in no hurry."
"You little..." Algo roared and lunged at me.
He delivered powerful, sweeping strikes, and I effortlessly parried them.
"Is that all? How could you ever protect your lady until now?"
"I'll kill you!" Algo leaped back and swung a sweeping strike from his shoulder, but it was so predictable that I easily dodged it.
"Yawn," I feigned boredom, covering my mouth with one hand. "Why did the Count waste so much mythril to make a blade for such incompetence?"
"Cough."
Algo attacked fiercely but predictably.
"Ah, little Algo, you won't even scratch me. If you keep fighting like this, you won't survive another mission."
It seemed my words finally had the desired effect. The swordsman stopped and took a deep breath.
"What am I doing? I'm just wasting my strength, and he's laughing in my face. If I don't stop him, he'll take Leira. I need to remember all his moves; after all, I've fought him dozens of times before." Algo finally began to think about his actions.
Strike, another strike, lunge. His attacks became more precise; he started using his whole body in his movements. For the first time, Krito had to use both swords for defense.
"Well, that's a bit better. But still weak."
"Don't listen to him; just concentrate on your techniques."
Algo closed the distance and delivered a close-range cut. Krito performed a turn, deflecting the blade to the side, but immediately received a hilt strike to the back.
"Ouch, ooh!" Krito winced. "Well done. With your skills, you managed to land a blow."
"Damn. But now I won't lose to you for sure."
Algo stopped making wide swings and began using all parts of his sword for attack. Moreover, he didn't hesitate to use strikes with his hands and legs. He became more unpredictable, but it was still not enough.
Algo lunged at Krito again, making a thrust with the tip of the sword. Krito easily parried it with the small blade in his left hand. But the attack didn't stop; tilting the blade, Algo attempted to deliver a slash with the middle of the sword. Pretending to block the sword with his second blade, Krito made a low sweeping attack. Caught off guard by the unexpected strike, Algo rolled on the floor. He turned around just to see a blade held above him.
"Hmm, useless servant. With your skills, you couldn't protect Leira even in a thousand years. It would be better to kill you right now," Krito poised the sharp blade above the defeated swordsman to the astonishment of the spectators. "I don't understand why you rushed to defend her."
"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!!" Algo's cry was interrupted by a sword swing.
"No, well, even such an idiot is too pitiful to kill," Krito waved the swords just to put them back in their sheaths. "You've already lost anyway, so it's up to me to decide Leira's fate."
Algo sat on the ground, almost on the verge of tears. Leira knelt, sobbing, scared that she could have lost her servant a minute ago.
"As I said, she will marry one of the members of our guild. And since Grain is against it, and there are no other men in the guild, I will be her husband," Krito's voice was completely indifferent. "Now that all the problems are resolved, it's time to prepare for the ceremony."
"Wait," Algo, gathering strength, stood up from the floor. "I want to join your guild."
"Huh? Just a couple of days ago, I offered you and you said something like: 'I won't leave my lady, and she's not ready to join you yet,'" Krito lowered his voice demonstratively and rolled his eyes, pronouncing the last phrase.
Algo clenched his teeth angrily.
"I changed my mind," he struggled to utter each word. "Allow me to join your guild, Master Krito, Lady Katrina."
I've never seen anything like it, but he bowed down to the floor, kneeling.
"Hehe, that's rather interesting," Krito theatrically scratched his head. "Aaah, what a nuisance. Now we have three boys in the guild. What to do? Well, okay... Leira!"
The teary-eyed girl raised her head.
"I'm tired of all this, so many problems. Choose for yourself who you'll marry. Look at the options. Grain is a decent earth mage with a good pedigree, kind and affectionate, a solid wall to lean on. I'm a mage with great prospects, and also the Vice-GM of a promising guild, intelligent and charming," I switched to a barely audible whisper, "choose wisely, I think I'm the best option," and then returned to my normal tone, "And, well, there's this newbie, a weak warrior from a simple family, who worked as a servant for so long. Not really any option at all, but let's give him a chance."
Leira, without saying a word, approached Algo and hugged him.
"Silly boy, why did you take such a risk for me?"
"Well, I wanted to protect you."
"You'll say that nonsense again, after what you said during the battle?" the noblewoman smiled.
Algo blushed.
"Well, I don't know how you feel about me, and I didn't want to embarrass you for no reason, Lady Leira... Oops!"
His foolish excuses were interrupted by a strike.
"Don't call me 'Lady' anymore, silly," Algo tried to protest, but a kiss stopped those attempts.
"Oh, well, looks like you got lucky right after joining the guild," I frowned demonstratively, crossing my arms on my chest in disapproval. "Count, if you don't mind this newcomer, then it seems he will be the groom."
"If my daughter is happy, I can't object. It's time to prepare for the wedding. Are you sure you don't want to marry my second daughter?"
Myrida, standing next to her father, seemed visibly flustered.
"What? Me? No, I'm not planning to get married yet."