Morning arrived as the sun rose in the east, spreading golden rays across the land and dispelling the darkness of night.
Outside the inn where the group was staying, a large number of luxurious carriages were parked along the road. People dressed in opulent attire stepped out, followed by many soldiers carrying chests.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There was a knock at the door. Klee, still in her pajamas, ran to the door with her bare little feet, struggling to reach the handle as she opened it. She looked curiously at the young man in a butler's uniform standing outside. "What can I do for you, Mister?"
Henry looked at the little girl with pointed ears in front of him, gave a gentlemanly bow, and knelt down slightly. "I am Henry, the butler of Lord Barta, the heir to this city's lordship. My master wishes to personally thank the heroes who saved Axel, which is why I am here."
Hearing the man's formal words, Klee tilted her head, thinking hard. Suddenly, she raised her right hand and lightly hit her left palm, as if she had an epiphany.
"Oh! You're here to see Brother hiroshi, right? Wait here, I'll go get him!" Klee turned and ran back inside, her small feet tapping against the floor.
Henry smiled as he watched the little girl run off. He stood up, adjusted his attire, and waited politely by the door.
Soon, the door opened again. Hiroshi emerged with Klee, now dressed neatly. Hiroshi looked at the butler bowing at the door and nodded. "Since we have a visitor, let's head over quickly."
Seeing the tall man holding the hand of the little girl, Henry straightened himself. He smiled and said, "My master wishes to meet all the heroes who saved the city. So, if you don't mind waiting for the others?"
"Need me to wake them up for you?" Hiroshi asked casually.
"Thank you for your kindness, but that won't be necessary," Henry replied politely, glancing at the other rooms. "I have already knocked on the other guests' doors."
Just as he spoke, Mu appeared with Xiaohei, yawning. On the other side, Megumin and Kazuma Sato also exited their rooms.
"Yo, good morning everyone!" Kazuma greeted energetically, running over to Megumin.
Watching Kazuma, full of vigor, Hiroshi silently opened the group chat. He glanced at Kazuma's long string of cringeworthy, cheesy messages directed at Megumin and scrolled up further, discovering that Kazuma had spent the entire night spamming her with lovey-dovey messages, eventually causing Megumin to get annoyed and respond.
Suppressing a shudder from the secondhand embarrassment, Hiroshi looked at Kazuma, who was holding Megumin's hand, her face flushed red. He gave Kazuma a thumbs-up.
In terms of shamelessness, I admit you're the strongest!
He then proceeded to flood the chat with hundreds of messages, ensuring Klee, who had just woken up, wouldn't see any of that nonsense. Hiroshi then closed the chat and patted Klee on the head, who seemed very happy to have spent the night outside for the first time.
"Next time, send those cringeworthy messages to Megumin privately," Hiroshi's voice echoed in Kazuma's mind.
Kazuma turned to see Hiroshi smiling at him and nodded calmly. He replied, "Weren't you the one who told me to keep messaging? I had no choice; it was boring by myself, so I chatted with Megumin."
"Perverted Lolicon! I'll curse you!" Ruri Gokou joined the telepathic conversation, leading Hinata by the hand. Her long black hair rested on her shoulders, and her white dress glowed in the morning light, highlighting her fair skin.
"+1," Mu, standing expressionless nearby, also joined the chat, initiating a morning tribunal against Kazuma the Pervert.
Seeing the three looking at him, Kazuma wisely accepted everyone's suggestions. It was for the best.
Hiroshi looked at everyone and then asked Kazuma, who was clinging to Megumin with a pitiful look, "Where's Aqua?"
Kazuma shook his head in confusion, releasing Megumin and pointing at Henry. "Ask him. He should know."
Henry glanced at Megumin, who looked like she was about to faint after being released, and took a step back, distancing himself from Kazuma. He pointed downstairs and said, "If you're asking about the High Priestess, she went downstairs earlier to meet with Lord Barta."
Hiroshi, Ruri, and Kazuma exchanged worried glances.
Holding Xiaohei, Mu looked at the trio, a question mark almost visibly floating above his head.
"This isn't good. We need to get downstairs fast. Who knows what that idiot Aqua might do," Kazuma shouted, rushing downstairs.
Seeing Kazuma's abrupt departure, Henry couldn't help but ask, "Is something wrong with this… hero?"
Hiroshi glanced at Henry, recalling Kazuma's infamous reputation in the city, and decided to ignore the butler's slip. He said calmly, "Yes, just a small issue. Let's head down as well."
Turning to Ruri, who clearly didn't want to go downstairs, Hiroshi said, "Stay calm. It's too late to change anything now. And by the way, you look great today."
With an emotionless face, Ruri took a deep breath. Holding Hinata's hand tightly, she headed downstairs, her face tense.
Hiroshi patted Mu on the shoulder, seeing his confusion, and said, "If you have time, check out other people's destiny fragments in the chat group. Then you'll understand."
Mu gave Hiroshi a curious look and asked, "Aren't they worried about sharing their privacy with others?"
Hiroshi smiled. "The destiny fragments we see are automatically edited by the chat group. What we see is harmless. Watching group members' destiny fragments helps build camaraderie. The unedited version, the true private experience, can only be seen if you use the immersive mode and experience it personally. So, it's perfectly fine."
Mu nodded in understanding. He looked at Ruri, who was already heading downstairs, and followed along with Hiroshi, who had Klee in tow.
Henry, trailing behind, looked at the group, each holding a child's hand, and a thought popped into his mind.
Is this the new mark of a powerful person? To have a kid in tow?
Descending the spiral staircase, they arrived at the first floor. In the hall, people dressed in elegant clothes surrounded a handsome young man with blonde hair. On the other side, Kazuma was shaking Aqua furiously, shouting for her to snap out of it.
As Hiroshi and the others entered, the attention of the crowd naturally turned to them.
Henry walked over to the young blond man and bowed before introducing him to Hiroshi and the others. "This is my master, Lord Barta, heir to the Axel territory."
Barta quickly stepped forward, bowing to Hiroshi and his companions, and said gratefully, "Thank you all for saving Axel and its people. On behalf of the lord, I am deeply grateful. These are some tokens of our appreciation. If there's anything else you need, please let me know, and I will do my utmost to fulfill it."
As Barta finished speaking, the soldiers standing around the hall lifted the large chests beside them. With the clinking of metal armor, they opened a dozen large chests in front of Hiroshi and the others.
Inside were boxes filled with shining gold coins, weapons, and armor engraved with magical runes, along with a variety of expensive alchemical potions, all neatly arranged.
Hearing the commotion, Kazuma turned his head. The dazzling sight of the gold coins made the hero of Axel swallow several times.
Dragging Aqua over to the group, Kazuma shook her. "Aqua, wake up! Look at all the gold we have! Why are you still thinking about working for the lord?!"
Hearing Kazuma's voice, Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, thinking for a moment. He glanced at Barta, who was sincerely looking at them, and telepathically asked Kazuma, "Why would Aqua want to work for the lord?"
Pulling Aqua, who was slowly waking up from the gleam of the gold, Kazuma explained, "Barta heard about how Aqua revived a lot of the fallen adventurers on the city walls. He offered her a generous sum to work for his family. The moment she heard 'generous pay,' she turned into this."
Hiroshi gave Aqua a complicated look. As Kazuma raised his fist to give Aqua a corrective smack, Hiroshi warned, "You better keep a tight grip on her! She's troublesome, but she's still your companion. You know the lord here is a creep."
"Aqua might be a bit dim, but she's still a goddess. With her intelligence, she'd probably be turned into a literal hot weapon in no time if she went with him."
While the two were conversing, the guests in the hall were busy whispering among themselves.
"Look, the one in the green cloak—that's the infamous Perverted Hero, Kazuma Sato."
"I heard he once publicly humiliated his two teammates in some weird way."
"Wow, really perverted! The rumors must be true. And apparently, he likes using his Steal skill to steal girls' panties and wear them on his head."
"See that high priestess on the ground? That's one of his teammates. I heard he humiliates her so much that she loses her mind sometimes."
"And last night, he banged on her door, naked, shouting all sorts of shameless things. He even ripped his clothes to shreds right there in the hallway. It's terrifying!"
Among the murmuring guests, a young blonde lady in a gown blushed more and more. She twisted her legs shyly, her eyes glistening as she watched Kazuma. She mumbled to herself, "Kazuma Sato, from the first time I heard about you, I knew you were the one I've been looking for. The more I know you, the more I realize you're my dream man."
Seeing Kazuma in the distance, being dragged by a small crimson demon girl and shouting at Aqua, the blonde girl let out a soft whimper, her flushed skin glistening with sweat. She sat down on a nearby bench, covering her dress as she stared at Kazuma. Her voice was determined as she whispered, "I, Darkness, will definitely join your party."