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Epilogue

Satou here. I feel like there aren’t as many stories about people who get discovered by a famous person and have a sudden rise to stardom as there used to be. Maybe people are more into relatable stories of happiness than distant fame and glory these days.

“Phew. I think that should do it.”

I used the remains of the airship’s cockpit to restore the steering mechanism enough that it looked like it might be theoretically possible to use it.

If I said I was controlling things with the development console, I would basically be admitting that I’m really Nanashi the Hero, hence the slight cover-up.

For the same reason, I had also fixed the bend in the dragon bone.

“Master, we’ve finished healing the wounded and evacuating everyone.”

“Great. I’ll use a rope to descend to the surface.”

I had bent the bridge door beyond all possibility of opening so that no one would come in while I was covering things up.

No ordinary person would be able to get down onto the bridge from the front deck, and the bow had been bent upward by all the earth when we landed, meaning it would be impossible to peer into the bridge from the front deck or the city’s outer wall.

I even used the Light Magic spell Illusion to display what it would look like when I was done, in case a birdfolk soldier peeked inside from the sky, but it didn’t end up being necessary.

“Welcome baaack?”

“Good work, sir!”

Tama and Pochi jumped up and latched onto my legs when I arrived.

“You did great, too, Lady Karina. Thank you for supporting Tama and Pochi.”

“B-but of course!”

Miss Karina was shrinking inward while being scolded by Pina, so I decided to throw her a bone.

“Here, have a damp cloth.”

“Thanks, Arisa.”

I used the cloth to wipe my hands clean as I looked around to assess the situation.

The people who’d come down from the airship had been divided into five groups: the wounded, the crew, explorers, people connected to Vistall Duchy, and everyone else.

Since all the crewmen who were on the bridge except the captain had lost a lot of blood, they were still resting after being healed.

Which was all well and good, but…

“Where did all these gawkers come from?”

“The west gate of the royal capital. I guess it’s pretty close by.”

There was a crowd of nosy onlookers gathered around the airship.

Thanks to the help of some guards who had ridden over from the west gate, they weren’t barging into our space, at least.

The captain of the guard was getting a rundown of the situation from the captain and other men on stretcher-like carriers.

“They said some carriages will be here to pick up the wounded soon, and nobles and such, too.”

Arisa kept me updated as I looked on.

“Master, have some tea.”

“Thank you, Lulu. I’m pretty cold from all that wind.”

Sitting on a tarp that had been spread on the ground, I sipped the delicious blue-green tea Lulu gave me.

“Master, sweets will make you feel better, I declare.”

Nana produced some chick-shaped cookies from her Fairy Pack and handed them to me.

As I nibbled on them, Tama and Pochi sat down next to me and started snacking, too.

Lady Karina joined us as well, and Pochi started doting on her. She seemed to really enjoy acting like a big sister.

Once Tama finished her cookie, she curled up on my lap and settled in. When our eyes met, she smiled up at me adorably.

“Satou.”

Mia latched on to my head from above.

“Master, it seems our ride will take a little longer to arrive.”

Liza and Mia had just come back from inquiring about the schedule from the soldiers.

“Mew?”

There were some angry shouts from the direction of Duke Vistall and his entourage.

They seemed to be using some kind of counterintelligence devices, but their voices were raised enough to be audible nonetheless.

Listening closer, I gathered that they were arguing fruitlessly about who had or hadn’t betrayed whom.

What a waste of my “Keen Hearing” skill.

“Sir Pendragon.”

I was approached by Baronet Jelil, the mithril explorer known as the “Scarlet Nobleman.”

He had changed into his trademark red armor and knight’s mantle.

It would be rude to stay seated, so I gently removed Tama from my lap and stood.

“Liza of the Black Spear told me of your deeds. A far cry from mine, when I could barely keep up with fending off the tentacle monster’s attacks.”

“Please, Sir Jelil, there’s no need to be modest. You were simply prioritizing protecting His Excellency the Duke’s life over defeating the monsters, were you not?”

I wasn’t actually sure if that was true, but until backup had arrived, the only person in the nobles’ VIP room who was injured besides the knights and soldiers was just one of the duke’s wives.

That particular wife had separated herself from the rest of Duke Vistall’s entourage, which made me think that she must’ve been up to something that was bound to result in her getting hurt anyway.

“Hey, check out that red armor.”

“Isn’t that Jelil, the Scarlet Nobleman who defeated the floormaster?”

“Now there’s a fine man. If I were ten years younger, I’d try to snag him myself.”

“Ga-ha-ha, more like thirty years…”

I heard chatter from the far-off gawkers.

Evidently, Baronet Jelil was famous even in the royal capital.

“Then does that mean the black-haired fella next to him is the young leader of Pendragon?”

Hmm? Sounds like they’ve heard of our explorer team name, too.

“What, that kid?”

“He doesn’t have a sword or a staff. Gotta be some noble kid who looks up to Jelil, right?”

“Yeah, he’s got no muscle, either…”

I guess I really don’t look like an explorer.

“Hmm? What’s going on?”

Arisa was the first to notice that something was amiss with the crowd of gawkers.

Someone famous seemed to have shown up behind them and drawn their attention.

“I-isn’t that…?”

Baronet Jelil stared at the newcomer and trailed off.

I knew of this person, too. But I’d met him as Nanashi the Hero, not Satou, so I had better pretend otherwise.

“He looks to be a military man. Is he an acquaintance of yours?”

“You don’t know him? That’s Sir Zef Juleburg the Unstoppable, the leader of the Shiga Eight.”

I only knew him as the king’s guard, so I wasn’t very familiar with his real strength or fame.

The other explorers seemed to have noticed him, too; a wave of murmurs spread through the crowd.

Was this like what would happen if a pro baseball player showed up in front of a bunch of promising high school players?

The commotion gradually began to take the form of baseless rumors.

Most frequent of all were lines like these:

“He must be here to recruit Jelil.”

“That’s gotta be it. Maybe he’s even looking for a successor.”

“That’s our leader Jelil for you!”

The murmurs of the members of the Red Dragon’s Roar party seemed to have reached Baronet Jelil’s ears, too; he wore a barely suppressed grin of complete confidence.

It all sounded a little too good to be true; next to me, Arisa was smirking evilly, as if she fully expected a plot twist to come.

The second most popular theory was that he was here to scout me, and people began betting on who he was here for.

“Master, isn’t that the gun user?”

At Arisa’s comment, I noticed that behind Juleburg was Miss Helmina, a gun user from the Shiga Eight, as well as several of her Holy Knights.

Miss Helmina and a knight with a white spear were saying something to Juleburg.

The crowd of gawkers was so loud that I couldn’t really hear what they were saying, even with my “Keen Hearing” skill. The most I could tell with my “Lip Reading” skill was that they said my name and Liza’s a few times.

But it was only Helmina and her Holy Knight who mentioned my name, so they were probably just mentioning that we met in Labyrinth City or something unimportant like that.

“They’re coming this way.”

Arisa grabbed my arm as she whispered.

The leader of the Shiga Eight walked directly toward me, as if there were no one else around.

The crowd parted for him like the Red Sea around Moses.

Baronet Jelil took a few steps forward to greet Juleburg.

For just a moment, I saw the hint of a smug smirk on Baronet Jelil’s face. I’m sure he was picturing himself as the protagonist of a drama or something.

Hmm?

My skin started prickling.

The crowd suddenly stiffened, and my group and Baronet Jelil all readied themselves and put their hands on their weapons.

Liza even stepped in front of Arisa and me and took a battle-ready stance.

Juleburg must have used a full-throttle “Intimidation” skill.

Heedless of the tense silence, the head of the Shiga Eight kept walking forward.

“That was quite a baptism by fire.”

Though I could see he was sweating, Baronet Jelil nevertheless greeted the leader in a casual tone.

But Juleburg just shot him a cold, dismissive glance and walked right past him.

“So you are Liza of the Black Spear?”

Ooh, so he’s got his sights on Liza after all.

I recognized the Holy Knight with the spear who’d been speaking to Juleburg as someone who had challenged Liza to a match in Labyrinth City before and had gotten handily defeated.

“I am interested in the spear user who defeated Kerun, but I will not spar with you now.”

With that, he pushed Liza’s spear aside with his hand, and stopped in front of me.

“So young… You are Pendragon the Untouchable, then?”

Juleburg looked down at me appraisingly.

Behind him, I saw Miss Helmina give me a cheerful little wave.

She must have prompted him to come seek me out, then.

“Yes, I—”

“I am Zef Juleburg the Unstoppable, First Seat of the Shiga Eight. I have come to request a duel with you, Sir Pendragon the Untouchable!”

Juleburg interrupted my greeting with a bombshell declaration.

I guess I won’t be able to enjoy a peaceful end of the year just yet…





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