/
Since we arrived in this world and started accompanying the hero Gou, two months have passed. On that day, we were summoned by the king of the country we were staying in and had come to the royal castle.
We requested an audience with the king and ascended to the castle. It’s an opportunity that would rarely come even once in a lifetime for those leading ordinary lives, but both I and Tia had a period when we belonged to the party of Alexis, who is a genuine member of the royal family. Moreover, we had also been active as a hero party in various other worlds, so we were quite accustomed to this kind of atmosphere.
However, being accustomed to it only meant that I nervously moved my hands and feet together and looked around the inside of the castle. I was acting with the appropriate tension for the occasion, but…
“Welcome, esteemed Hero and your entourage! His Majesty the King is waiting for you, please follow me…”
“No, wait a moment.”
Upon entering the castle, Gou halted the soldier who called out to us by extending his hand forward.
“What is it? Ah, do you need to use the restroom? If so…”
“No, it’s not that. I just want to go around the castle first, breaking some pots and rummaging through some chests. Sorry, but ask His Majesty to wait for a bit.”
“What!? H-Hey!”
Gou said that unilaterally, then slipped past the soldier and started walking on his own. Naturally, Tia and I followed him, but Tia looked at him with a worried expression and spoke up.
“Hey, Gou-san, is it okay?”
“It’s fine. Besides, after an audience at the castle, we’re often just sent back home. If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to break any pots in the castle.”
“Well… I mean, I understand. I already know.”
Even though Tia muttered with a somewhat indescribable expression, having gotten quite used to it in these two months. But Gou paid no mind to such things and casually started breaking pots in the hallway.
“Eek!? What are you doing… Wait, Yuusha-sama!?”
“Don’t mind me.”
“H-Hah..”
“…No, it’s impossible not to mind, right?”
“Don’t say that, Tia. That’s just how it is.”
Since it’s a castle, there are guards in the corridors, and servants bustling about. However, Gou continued to break pots without paying any attention to these people. By the way, it remains an eternal mystery why there are so many pots lined up in the castle corridors.
In this manner, we walked around the castle, entered various rooms, and broke all the pots we could find and rummaged through the chests. After completing a full circuit, we returned to the initial main hall.
“…Yuusha-sama, may I trouble you to follow me now?”
“Yeah, please.”
“That’s good… Please here.”
We were led by the soldier who visibly breathed a sigh of relief, and we advanced toward the audience room. Actually, we had passed by it a little while ago, and the gaze of the soldier guarding the door was somewhat piercing.
As the soldiers opened the door, we stepped on the deep red carpet and walked towards the king. We were about to stop at an appropriate place—- Wait!
“You have come… Wha…!?”
“H-Hey, wait! Gou-san!?”
Even though we should have reached the place where we were supposed to stop and kneel down, Gou’s feet didn’t stop. He continued walking through the audience room, slipped past the king, and went further into the corridor behind him.
“A-Ah, H-Hello? Excuse me”
“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! Wait, Ed! Gou-san!”
While also feeling a slight panic, I followed after Gou, and Tia caught up a few steps behind, desperately apologizing. And where Gou stepped into was an exceptionally splendid bedroom that belonged to someone.
Well, to be more accurate… yeah. It was probably the king’s bedroom.
“Indeed, there is a chest here as well. Let’s rummage through it immediately.”
“Umm… Is it alright for us to enter here? This is the king’s bedroom, right?”
“I highly doubt it’s okay, but no one stopped us… Well, I mean, I doubt it’s okay.”
Whether it was alright for us to enter or whether anyone expected others to enter this place, since there were no guards or anything, we entered. That’s how Gou started rummaging through the chest, taking out men’s underwear that reached about knee length.
“Boxer shorts, huh… I’ll take them just in case. Alright, next.”
“Gou-san? What do you mean ‘next’?”
“Of course, the next room. It’s probably the queen’s room.”
Gou, who had left the room, entered the adjacent one. There was an especially gorgeous vanity table and a splendid wardrobe adorned with delicate goldwork. It was undoubtedly the queen’s room.
“Oh, a purple silk negligee! This one will fetch a good price!”
“Umm, isn’t it enough already? I’m really worried about when the guards will come and arrest us.”
“No, there’s one more room.”
“Another room…!?”
“That’s right. There should be a princess of marriageable age in this country.”
“No way! Stop it! Please stop!”
Tia, who couldn’t help but scream, clung to Gou. However, Gou dragged her along and, leaving the queen’s room, forcefully entered the room right in front and started rummaging through a cute pink chest.
“What’s this…? It’s the coveted growing-up panties!? Hehehe, this is a great find! As expected of the royal castle.”
“Ugh, I’m sorry, princess whose name I don’t even know… I’m powerless…”
“Don’t cry, Tia. You did your best.”
While I was comforting Tia, who was sobbing quietly because of her own powerlessness, Gou happily put the panties in his bag. Finally, after thoroughly rummaging through the royal family’s bedroom, we retraced our steps, entered the audience room once again, and went before the king, kneeling down.
“Hero Gou, at your command.”
“…Ah, yes. Is everything done?”
“Yes. Thanks to that, we have investigated all the pots and chests in the castle.”
“I see… Ahem. Welcome, esteemed hero Gou and his companions! I am the king of this country, Alito Kabul.”
The king, who appeared to be in his forties, introduced himself with a dignified voice. Standing next to him was a stylishly beautiful woman exuding an enchanting atmosphere, and next to her was a lovely girl who appeared to be around fourteen.
Hmm, so that’s the owner of those underwear… Ouch!
Suddenly pinched on the butt, I barely managed to suppress my voice and sent a reproachful gaze to my side. However, Tia stuck out her tongue and turned away.
Hmm, it’s unfair. Should I poke her in the side? But if it works too well, it will cause trouble… How about using the [Missing Talk] and bombarding her with laughter-inducing gags? That way, laughter won’t escape. Well, my body might twitch a bit, but I should be able to cover it up…
“—-And so, the seal of the Trial Mountain has finally been lifted.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful. Then let us go immediately and obtain the proof of the true hero.”
While I was thinking such trivial things, the conversation between Gou and the king seemed to have progressed. I had completely tuned it out, but since I had heard it in the previous loop, it was fine. As Gou stood up, we also stood up and bowed together before leaving the audience room… and eventually leaving the castle. The return trip was quick since there was no need to break any pots.
“I believe you’ve heard the plan, but our next destination is the ‘Trial Mountain.’ I plan to depart early tomorrow morning. Is there any issue?”
“Hmm, it’s already evening today, and isn’t tomorrow morning a bit too early? If there’s another town near this Trial Mountain, that would be fine, but if not, I might want to replenish some consumables.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s fine. There should be a town at the foot… right?”
“That’s right. It would take about a week on foot from here.”
“If that’s the case, we’ll be fine with our current equipment. So, the departure…”
“Let’s stick to the plan and depart early tomorrow morning. Will both of you lend me your strength?”
“Of course. Well, if we were just left here, that would be troublesome.”
“That’s right. Since we’ve come this far, we want to defeat the Demon King together, don’t we?”
“Hahaha, you’re reliable. Well then, I’m counting on you.”
After exchanging a brief conversation, we walked towards the inn. Now, our next destination is the Trial Mountain… It’s a place we couldn’t visit in the previous loop due to various circumstances. I’m excited to see what’s there.