Eguchi Ren: I wonder who made that strange sound, lol~
“Everyone, it’s been a while!”
The nostalgic faces of Werner, Ramon, Vincent, Rita and Franca warmed something inside of me and I grinned at them. “Are you here for the special project?”
“Yes,” said Werner-san. “Well, we happened to be at the Royal Capital anyway.”
“When we heard Mukouda-san’s name, we couldn’t stay away,” said Ramon-san with a smile.
“Woah, thanks, everyone!”
“Speaking of which…” Werner-san looked past me at Grandpa Gon. The others were also staring a little openly at my latest familiar.
“Well, this and that happened. Hahaha,” I said a little awkwardly.
“To make an Ancient Dragon your familiar, Mukouda-san is too amazing! Astounding! Incredible!” Vincent gushed.
I coughed, “Well, he joined for the same reason Fer did…”
There was no point hiding this. Rather, I hoped that these people would at least be a little more understanding than most.
“Indeed, there is nothing better than Master’s meals,” said Grandpa Gon.
“Umu, agreed,” said Fer.
“Woah, it could talk!” Rita cried.
“Ah, everyone, this is Grandpa Gon,” I said, quickly taking the initiative to introduce Grandpa Gon to the first group of Adventurers that I had ever contracted with.
Everyone from the [Iron Will] scooted away to huddle together for a moment. Vincent was the first to come back to say, “Hey, um, didn’t Fer-sama say that he fought with an Ancient Dragon before? Could it be…”
Woah, you still remember that?
“That’s right, I distinctly remember that!”
“Umu, you are right. We have a temporary truce for now,” said Fer.
“Though it pains me to agree, it is so,” said Grandpa Gon.
“Woah! Team Fenrir and Ancient Dragon! That’s so super powered!” Vincent squealed.
“”Oi! Oi! Us too!””
“”Sui too~! Sui too~!””
“Wow, that’s right~! Mukouda’s small dragon and slime are awesome too!”
“They aren’t as strong as Fer or Grandpa Gon, but they are very strong together,” I said, thinking back to how they had each taken out S Class monsters by themselves.
“So, everyone’s here because they like Mukouda-san’s food?” asked Rita.
“Well…” I said.
“That’s so great, to be able to eat Mukouda-san’s cooking every day is so great…”
Ramon-san smacked the drooling Rita on the head, “Idiot child, we are not low-ranked Adventurers who only think with our stomachs.”
“That’s right, you make it sound like we don’t feed you at all,” said Werner-san.
“But, eating regular food and eating Mukouda-san’s food are completely different things! Mukouda’s cooking is amazing~”
Vincent nodded vigorously from the side.
“When I heard that Mukouda-san was at the Royal Capital, I was hoping to bump into him at the Adventurer’s Guild, but I never saw him…” Vincent said with a pout.
“Sorry, sorry,” I felt a little apologetic to these fellows. Especially since I decided to stay away from the Guild for fear of meeting that one annoying guy.
We still ended up meeting that annoying guy though.
“You’re just aiming for Mukouda’s food, aren’t you?” said Franca-san exasperatedly.
“N-no way! Rita’s the one who’s always drooling and talking about how she wished she could eat Mukouda’s food.”
“Lies! I never drooled!”
“Hah! You’re doing it now! Drool is still hanging off your lips!”
“You two…” Franca-san glared at the two quarrelling people.
“Stop it,” said Ramon-san.
The two stopped arguing, but the sideway glares continued.
I guess this is the ‘get along so well that they argue’ kind of relationship?
“Apologies for the disturbances,” said Werner-san.
“No, no, I’m happy that everyone’s still pretty much the same as when I first met them,” I said with a laugh.
“Haha, that’s right. Vincent’s still greedy and Rita’s just as noisy as before.”
“Leader!?”
“Oho, your ears are still as good as ever,”
Everyone from the party laughed except Vincent and Rita, who pouted. Well, I may have pouted a little myself. It must be nice to have party mates who got on so well together like this.
“Oh yes, speaking of which, our party did change, Mukouda-san.”
“Oh?”
“Indeed, we are a B Rank party now.”
“Really! Goodness, congratulations!”
“Thank you,”
“Hohoho, which is why we are allowed to participate in this mission,” said Ramon-san.
Oh, so B Rankers are considered ‘high-rank’?
“We must celebrate!”
Once the Leviathan’s been dismantled and everything has settled down, I must treat them to a good meal at a nice restaurant. There must be lots of great restaurants at the Royal Capital, right?
“Yes, yes, yes! I want Mukouda-san’s delicious food!” Rita yelled.
“Ou! Agree!” Vicent cried.
“Eh? Don’t you want something else? I mean, I’m sure my skills can’t be compared to the restaurants here…” These places serve the elite rich, after all.
“No way! I’ve eaten at some of these so-called high-end restaurants, but Mukouda’s food is the one that remains with me!” said Vincent.
“Mukouda-san’s food is the best!” Rita agreed.
Ehhhh? Really? Have I ever served them anything expensive like Wyvern meat? It can’t be. The first thing I served them was bread and soup, and then… I can’t really remember but it had to be some random food I had prepared for my familiars.
Even so, Vincent and Rita were looking at me with pleading eyes.
Please stop looking at me like that.
“Well, if you really want my home cooking…”
“Yes!!”
“Awesome!!”
Vincent and Rita both had their arms in the air as though they had won something. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’m glad they seemed happy?
“Mukouda-san, please accept my apologies for these guys’ immature behaviour,” said Werner-san.
“Ah, no, no, I’m flattered that they think my humble cooking is delicious. Hahaha.”
We chatted a little while longer until the summons came for the high-ranking Adventurers to gather.
More and more people gathered.
Eventually, I was called away by the higher-ups. After waving goodbye to the [Iron Will], I made my way to meet with Bram, the Royal Capital Guild Master.
“Could you bring out the Leviathan?” he said.
I hesitated for a moment. There were too many people around me. Considering the size of the creature, the moment I reveal the size of my [Item Box], I would pretty much out myself as someone who was summoned through the [Hero Summoning Circle]. Who knows what would happen to me then?
“Oi, what are you doing? Hurry up!”
“Is there a problem, Master?”
“”Aruji~?””
“”Hey, don’t tell me you’re being shy for some reason now?””
I sighed, “I guess it’s too late to worry about it.”
The main reason why I had been keeping my skills under wraps was to avoid being exploited. The last thing I wanted was for people to force me into churning out goods through [Net Super] and… well, I don’t want to reveal my so-called ‘Hero’ status because I don’t want to be tracked down by those greedy people who summoned me.
Come to think of it, that country had been crushed and taken over by the Demon Lord, right?
So, I guess I don’t have to worry about being exposed as a ‘Hero’ anymore. Not to mention, whoever wants to exploit me would have to go through not only Fer, but Grandpa Gon and the rest of my familiars… good luck with that!
“Oi!”
What was I thinking? I’m being exploited now!!!
“Haahhhhh… fine, fine, I’m doing it now,” I grumbled as I summoned up my [Item Box] and rummaged for the Leviathan’s head. Once the head was out… oh, wow, it looked super pathetic with its head like that…
After making sure the rest of the body followed after the head, [1] I moved away from the head, allowing the rest of the body to flow out of the [Item Box]. It was… actually quite a long walk. I think I walked for close to five minutes without stopping. It’s not like I can just let the creature pour out of my [Item Box] as usual due to its humungous size.
I avoided looking at the crowd.
I’m sure most of them had their mouths hanging open from the sheer size of the thing.
Even the Adventurers were staring at the Leviathan in shock.
“Ohoooooo!!!!!”
Suddenly, with a weird indescribable cry, something leapt out of the crowd and attached itself to the body of the Leviathan with a splat.
“Leviathannnn!!! A real Leviathannn!!!”
I walked a little faster.
The tail part should be out soon.
I am totally not walking away from Elland-san!
[Gumihou: Eh, adjusted some little stuff to make things a bit more exciting.]
[1] Added detail re how to get the super long and big creature out from the [Item Box]
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