THE next day a great many people have gathered in the royal audience chamber. Nobles and royal knights make up the majority. The rest are essentially the heroes of our last mission—the Lucors. They are kneeling before the king, who is seated upon the throne.
I’m watching them from a corner of the chamber near the throne with Lex.
“I hear you made huge contributions toward defeating the dragons during the last big quest.”
“We merely returned the debt we owed to the Holy Priestess for saving us,” Theos says reverently in response to His Majesty.
“The Holy Priestess is essential to this world’s survival. You have rendered this world a great service protecting her. Lucors, please accept this small reward.”
“We humbly accept.”
This ceremony is being held to reward the Lucors for playing a huge role in vanquishing the dragon. The Lucors accept the numerous wooden boxes and velvet bags Grantz’s soldiers bring before them. I can only imagine what expensive treasures are inside. Speaking of which, I remember being asked to purify the treasure room a while back—ugh, don’t think about it. No one wants to know that their rewards were washed in my spit, and I absolutely don’t want to be the one to tell them.
“Nady Ol Theos La Quim Rom Lucor, come forward.”
“Y-Yes, Your Majesty,” Nady squeaks in response to the king calling her name.
I can tell how nervous she is at a glance. Is she trying to make herself look smaller? Her ears are flicked back against her head and her tail is curled between her legs. Though I’ve gotten used to it, I’m still smitten by Nady’s adorable, catlike gestures.
“My soldiers have told me a great deal about your feats. They say you alone felled the dragon that gave everyone else a run for their money.”
“It is true that my arrow brought down the dragon. However, my strength alone would not have been enough. It is because everyone distracted the dragon…and because my good friend gave me courage, that I was able to slay the dragon.”
Nady had been a bundle of nerves, but she spoke just that part with complete confidence. She also glanced my way when she said “good friend.”
“Be that as it may, you alone shot down the dragon. Therefore, you will be specially given the Meteor Medal. This medal was bestowed by the first King Grantz to the best archer in the land. The arrows he shot soared through the sky—like meteors, they say.”
“I h-humbly accept…!” Nady responds stiffly. She likely thinks it’s too great of an honor for her. I don’t know anything about the last person awarded this medal, but the main point is that Nady’s skill with the bow was recognized. I’m as delighted as if it was me receiving it.
The formal ceremony ended with bestowing the awards, so we moved to the grand hall originally constructed for receiving international guests. There began a ball unlike anything a commoner like me had any business attending. Most of the attendees are the people who took part in vanquishing the dragons. Approximately one person was kicked out at the start for trying to convert people to their cultic religion.
“There’s a lot more color and variety to the foods we have now, huh?” I remark as I look around the various dishes placed on the long tables.
It goes without saying that there’s an utter lack of meat dishes. According to Lex, things have finally stabilized enough with the domestic farm animals to start breeding. I hope I can force myself to permanently forget that any meat will come from a line of animals that had once been a part of a Boneless Ham.
“All thanks to your invaluable sp—”
“You were saying?”
“All thanks to the blessings brought about by the special holy water.” Lex instantly yielded to my death glare and corrected himself. I couldn’t care less about maintaining a master-knight relationship, but I do enjoy making use of my superiority in these situations.
“Anyways…Nady is suddenly Miss Popular, huh?” I say to change the topic.
“I can understand why. She was easily the champion of the last quest.”
I look to the center of the hall where Nady is surrounded by about twenty soldiers. They all speak to her like excited fans meeting their favorite idol for the first time.
“That last arrow you shot was astounding, Lady Nady!”
“I concur. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. I know! Would you mind giving me personal archery lessons next time you are free?”
“I want in on that, too!”
“Not fair, guys! I was going to ask first. Please teach me, Miss Nady!”
“U-Um, Umm…er…” Nady is overwhelmed by them and who she should answer first. I want to help her out, but the party only just started. The soldiers all want to speak to her, so I will give them some time before I step in unless something requires action on my part sooner.
“You look gloomier than usual, Pino,” I say when I spot him out of the corner of my eye.
“I’m not very fond of these events,” he says dourly.
“I’m impressed you came anyway.”
“I came because something was bothering me.”
“…What’s that?”
“I didn’t account for the possibility of a second dragon. Forgive me,” Pino apologizes with his eyes cast down. I’m completely taken by surprise.
“You didn’t come all the way here just to say that, did you?”
“…Got a problem with that?” he snips.