Princess Margaret was an idol-like adventurer who sold canned air and her time to excited buyers. I didn’t see why she’d have an interest in Plumbum, a livestock goods dungeon.
“That would be─”
She was interrupted by one of her knights─whatever his name was.
“Princess, the next monster has appeared.”
“Oops! I forgot it was almost time.”
“Allow me to set the stage.” The knight, who always acted like their leader, bowed in respect.
“Please wait a moment,” Margaret said to me.
“Sure, I guess.”
While I wondered what was going on, her group headed over to the monster.
It was their same perfect strategy as always. The four knights attacked ahead of her, weakening the monster. They had perfect judgment; in the midst of their fierce assault, they suddenly paused.
As for the monster itself, it was haggard. Anyone could tell at a glance that it was inches from death.
Margaret took a step forward and swung her sword around her. Her first-page combat stats were all F, making her the weakest adventurer out there. But her second-page drop stats were all A, giving her the best drop rates normally possible.
She shone as an adventurer who dealt killing blows and nothing else.
The broadsword cut though the monster, yielding an item drop. But it didn’t drop milk; it dropped the Prince Ryo portrait.
“Yay! Here it is!”
Margaret was overjoyed to have the portrait.
Meanwhile, her knights all took a knee and bowed. “Congratulations!” They really were like a princess and her protectors.
“What, is that all you came here for?” I asked.
“That’s right!” She lovingly stored the portrait.
“You’re not going to use it?”
“Why, I’d never! That would be such a waste!”
“Really?” I had to wonder when she planned to use it, then.
“Of course! Now. Lat, Socia, Prey, Bildar! Let’s get going.”
“Yes, milady!” they replied in unison.
“Now. Ryota, I must apologize, but…”
“Oh, it’s okay; my bad for interrupting you. See you again.”
“Of course.”
I watched as she left. “Really gotta wonder why she won’t use it.”
“A lot of people aren’t using them lately,” someone said next to me, startling me. Dale had appeared out of nowhere.
It surprised me, but I quickly calmed down and asked, “They aren’t? Why?”
“Through using it, adventurers have noticed a particular characteristic of the item. When it summons you, Ryota─”
Prince Ryo, you mean, I mentally commented. It was just embarrassing for someone to say that shoujo manga guy was me outright. The name Prince Ryo at least let me pretend it was someone else.
“─You strike the nearest monster and immediately leave. However, if there are no monsters nearby, you will neither attack nor disappear. You’ll just stand there.”
“Huh. Is that how it works?”
“Some people take advantage of that to use you for personal security purposes.”
“Oooh.” I understood now.
Prince Ryo wasn’t an item. The portrait was, yes, but Prince Ryo himself was not.
The portraits would spawn floating fish monster outsiders if left alone, but Prince Ryo wouldn’t. He had powerful attacks, and he’d stand there until a monster appeared and immediately strike if one ever did, so he could be used as an automatic security robot.
“The portraits themselves also sell for quite a sum as a result, so more people are keeping them to sell instead.”
“I see. I wonder if Margaret is doing the same.”
Now I could see why she’d put it away without using it.
☆
I went through the warp gate back to the mansion.
Now, I’ll go through Aurum and get my daily acceleration round from the monster village, I thought to myself.
My friends chatted in the distance.
“Thank you, Celeste!”
“You don’t need to thank me. I got my reward.”
“Well, thank you anyway.”
Those voices were very familiar to me; they were Erza and Celeste. Curious what they were talking about, I left the warp room and headed over to them.
Erza was in the Swallow’s Returned Favor branch office in the back of the mansion. Celeste had already left, so she was alone.
Plop!
An item drop teleported in just in time. It was a whole pile of flowers.
They’d been teleported here via magic cart. I had to assume they were Emily’s. Erza quickly tallied them up and wrote numbers into a ledger.
In this branch office, the Ryota Family’s drops were brought in via custom magic carts, and our exclusive dispatch Erza would calculate our gains.
Come to think of it, I’d never really watched her work. I went to dungeons with the others often, so I had an idea of what they did on a daily basis. But Erza wasn’t an adventurer, so I didn’t know much about her job.
What did she do all day? Curious, I decided to wait and watch for a while without saying anything.
However, someone suddenly spoke from behind me.
“Ryota?”
“Ack! Oh, Celeste. You’re still here?”
“Yep. But forget that; I need a favor.”
“A favor? Okay, what is it?”
“Come with me.”
I couldn’t say no to a request from her, so I turned around and followed her out.
“Call it mercy… No, an after-sale service.”
“What was that?” I asked. “You turned away and muttered, so I can’t really hear you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
We then continued on to an undisclosed destination.
☆
In the Swallow’s Returned Favor branch office, after Ryota and Celeste had left, the unaware Erza used a break between drop transports to look at what Celeste had brought her. This product was all the rage recently: a Prince Ryo portrait from Plumbum.
“Ryota…”
Though bashful and blushing, she used the portrait. A Ryota with a shoujo manga touch─Prince Ryo─was summoned. When he was summoned, he would stand perfectly still if no monsters were about. Naturally, there were no monsters in this branch office, so he just stood there sparklingly.
“Eheehee…” Erza giggled to herself as she gazed upon him.
She gently sat him down before sitting next to him. And, alone in her workplace, she laid his head in her lap in a moment of pure bliss.
Indeed, there were a sparse few people who would begin to use Prince Ryo as such…