Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Adventurers, by nature, were free to refuse summons from the state. However, for normal adventurers, being summoned by the government would be an endorsement of their work. In most cases, there would be no refusal.
Of course, there were many adventurers who rose to higher ranks without receiving summons from their country.
In fact, most adventurers of the higher ranks have risen in rank by simply fulfilling the requests of their guilds.
However, if they wanted to quickly increase their prestige, fulfilling requests that involved their country, or similar to such requests, would be the fastest way to do so.
The state might even invite such skilled adventurers to appear before the royalty to keep them based in the country.
In this sense, Kousuke and his friends, who did not need the approval of the King, were free to refuse the King’s invitation.
Even so, Kousuke still decided to accept the summons.
It was not because he wanted to form a connection to the King. Rather, it was because he was curious to know why the Royal Family needed those offerings to be delivered.
The offering itself was not that unusual. The fact that these monster material, used as offerings, could be easily gathered by other high-ranked adventurers was the issue. Furthermore, such offerings had been sent to the King for such a long time in the same manner.
Kousuke believes that the offerings themselves were of little significance. It might be the case that the whole offering was just a way to create conflict, to weed out the rotten parts within the kingdom. Still, this was all hypothetical, and the truth remains to be discovered.
Nevertheless, it definitely assesses the skill of the adventurers.
Kousuke believes that they may be using this single offering for a multitude of purposes.
Before meeting the King, Kousuke shared his thoughts with Kouhi and Mitsuki, and they both agreed with the possibility.
Nevertheless, he would need to meet the King in person to find out the truth.
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The day of the meeting with the King.
In the anteroom, where the adventurers were ushered in before the meeting, Claire was moving around restlessly.
The only people present were Kousuke and his group, the leaders of each party, and Rein, the merchant representative.
Aside from Kousuke and his group, who were directly appointed to the meeting, the other adventurers were represented only by their leaders.
“Claire-san, why don’t you calm down a little?” Kousuke said with a wry smile, seeing the way things were going down.
“I can’t calm down!” Reflexively, Claire shot back, and the other party leader nodded with similar expressions.
Incidentally, Rein also seemed restless.
“On the contrary, how can you be so calm!?” Claire asked Kousuke and his group, who looked the same as usual.
Kousuke smiled and replied, but in his mind, he was thinking, [It’s because I always meet up with a Queen.]
“It’s because there’s no point in being in a panic.”
Rein let out a sigh when Kousuke said so.
“More importantly, is it my imagination or do you seem to be used to this kind of thing?”
Kousuke did not answer. He just made a fake smile.
The smile, however, was the answer, but Rein did not dig into it any further.
“Aren’t you worried about what they might say?”
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but I don’t have anything to hide. I don’t think you should be worried, you know? Did we even do anything wrong?”
“….Huh? Oh how I wish I had even a tenth of your courage.” Claire, who let out a big sigh and said this with a dumbfounded expression.
While they were conversing, the door to the anteroom finally opened and an usher entered.
The group was about to meet the King.
The group followed the usher and moved to the room where the King was waiting.
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“I am Ernest, King of the Tausen Kingdom.”
The King, who sat on a chair in the center of the room, was the first to speak.
Kousuke and the others were led not to an audience room, where grand events were held, but to a visiting room, like those used when meeting with nobles and major merchants.
Even though the room was small, it was well decorated, and they were seated on chairs that looked like thrones.
The actual throne was guarded by a group of people wearing the equipment of the Four Knight Orders.
In terms of position, they would be leaders of the knighthood.
They were probably also the King’s Guards.
“We are here at your invitation.” Kousuke, who had been told in advance that it was okay for his language to be a bit direct, lowered his head with a bow.
At the same time, Kouhi and Mitsuki, who were standing behind him, also bowed.
The other members hurriedly followed suit.
“… Hmmm. You are seemingly quite familiar with this kind of situation, or is it my imagination?”
“I’m happy to receive your compliment. But there are only a few opportunities for someone like me to be in this kind of situation.”
This was not an understatement, but a fact of life. Kousuke was never invited to such occasions in Razequa Amamiya. At best, he had these exchanges when he met with people from Floria’s Family. Still, most of his actions were basically based on knowledge from books, not actual experience.
Therefore, he still could keep his actions in check.
King Ernest, perhaps seeing through these thoughts, or perhaps trying to see something, narrowed his eyes slightly and stared at Kousuke.
“You are the adventurer Kou, I assume?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then the two people behind you are Kouhi and Mitsuki?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm. I see. They are as beautiful as reported.”
King Ernest said so as he looked at Kouhi and Mitsuki.
Kouhi and Mitsuki remained silent.
They would not move unless something was done to Kousuke.
Seeing their complete lack of reaction, the King decided that Kousuke was the one who had the initiative among the three. Thus, he turned his attention to Kousuke again.
“Anyway, thank you for your hard work. Thanks to you and everyone in your group for bringing us what we need. Now, we can continue to do our business as the Royal Family.”
Without saying anything specific, King Ernest simply thanked Kousuke and the others.
“I humbly accept your gratitude.” To which Kousuke succinctly replied.
He did not want to say anything unnecessary and annoy the people around him. In fact, some of them were frowning from the start. Their expressions made it clear they looked down on them as adventurers.
Naturally, Kousuke was not going to bring this up to the King.
To put it bluntly, he simply could not care less about them.
“I hear that you and your group have defeated those monsters?”
“Yes. We were lucky enough to come across them.”
“Lucky, huh? According to my research, it took your group less than a week to complete the request, right?”
“Yes, and during that time, we were lucky enough to encounter the monsters right away.”
Kousuke answered casually.
“I don’t think these are monsters you can meet just because you’re lucky, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“At least that’s what I’ve been told.”
Kousuke asked the opposite question, to which the King also answered without hesitation.
The conversation up to this point was just a prelude.
Sensing these nuances in the King’s words, Kousuke simply answered as if he was just an ordinary adventurer.