kscans

Chapter 134 - NPC Charmer

The day after defeating the Illusion Dragon Suien Mikazuki in the Spirit Country, it was decided to hold a victory celebration.

It would also serve as a strategy meeting for the upcoming battle against the Tyrant Dragon Agres Berion, and most of the members were expected to attend. The base would be too small for that, so the celebration was to be held at a different location.

The person who provided the venue was Mist.

Mist's mansion in the Demon Country was quite spacious. She said there would be no problem gathering a large number of people in the hall, so the victory party was held there.

The attendees included not only the members of Hayato's clan, Daedalus, but also members of Black Rose, the combat maids from the Maid Guild, and people from the Butler Guild and Tamer Guild.

Furthermore, the collector Cecil from the Imperial Capital, and the prima donna Noat and her orchestra, who were already guests at the mansion, would also participate. Also, though he had contacted them to say he would be late, the Hero Ivan was also scheduled to attend.

Not only that, but Ney's clan, Kokuryu, Adrian's Demon Summoning Research Association, and Jolth's Bandit clan would also be participating. As the Bandit clan was too large, only the ten core members would attend.

Only Diite was unable to attend due to various investigations, but that couldn't be helped.

Around eight in the evening, before the victory party began, the so-called leaders of the groups gathered in a room on the third floor of Mist's mansion to talk.

What was decided was as follows.

They would fight Agres Berion three days from now, on Sunday, starting around nine in the morning.

Since there was no time to prepare for complex collaboration, they would fight in a way that each side unleashed its full firepower.

They would communicate using a common voice chat channel.

This couldn't exactly be called a strategy, but many of the members were strong-willed, and the opinion was that holding back would actually make them weaker. So they settled on the idea of going in with the momentum to defeat him themselves.

In addition to that, information about the Tyrant Dragon Agres Berion was shared by Ash and Jolth, and they also discussed what preparations to make before the day of the battle.

And when the time was right, the victory party was set to begin.

In the hall on the second floor of the mansion, many people had already gathered, and meals and conversation had begun.

The members who had been in the strategy meeting decided to join in as they pleased and once dispersed.

But Jolth didn't leave Hayato's side.

"Um, is there something else?"

"Not really, but Hayato, aren't you a little too friendly with the NPCs? I thought so during the Clan War, but normally, you don't make allies with the Demon Lord and such."

"Even if you tell me that, I can only say it just happened that way."

Lunaria had only come to repair her magic sword, Arondight, relying on Esha. At the time, he felt it was a bit of a hassle, but now he thought of her as an important ally.

"Our verification team has tried various things to get friendly with NPCs, but I can't say we're this close. Maybe this is the difference between calculation and natural talent."

"I don't know what to say if you call it natural talent, but I have my own calculations too. During the Clan War, I was looking for strong allies. Since I was a production class and couldn't fight, I had no choice but to rely on NPCs for combat power."

"Our investigation team looked into that. I laughed, thinking what an interesting story."

"Are you a stalker? So, what's your real question?"

"No, there's no real question, I just wanted to talk. The investigation team called you an 'NPC charmer,' and seeing this, I thought it was true."

"An NPC charmer... I'd like you to tell me where I can sue and win."

"I think you could call it an honorable title, though? And the Maid Guild calls you a savior, right? Our investigation team is frantically trying to figure out what kind of quest you have to do to be called that. Could it be you have a title like 'Savior'?"

"...Not at all."

Jolth said, "That's a shame," and walked away from Hayato, laughing.

Hayato hadn't looked at the titles he had acquired since that time. He felt that unnecessary ones were likely to have been added. The titles Hayato wanted were things like 'Craftsman,' but he had a feeling that only strange titles had been added.

Yesterday, after defeating the Illusion Dragon, the Elf Queen, the Dwarf King, and the spirits who were apparently there though he hadn't seen them, thanked him. And as a token of their gratitude, they said they would give him World Tree lumber. However, since the amount was large, they said they would bring it to his base in installments.

(I haven't looked, but I feel like I've gotten another unnecessary title from this. I don't dislike it, but I feel like it's not a proper title. If I equipped it, I'd stand out, but not in a good way.)

Titles were only for fun, but some people would want them.

However, the acquisition conditions were so special that it was highly likely he was the only one. If he equipped such a title, people would undoubtedly flock to his base asking him how to get it. For that reason, Hayato didn't equip his titles even if he had them.

Hayato shook his head. More importantly, this was a victory party to build up morale. The taste of the food he made was five stars, but the combination of dishes was a matter of taste. He decided to walk around and check the reception.

The food was well-received. And as he walked around, he saw that people were chatting in rather interesting combinations.

First, Mist and Adrian.

"So, as long as they have a coffin, vampires can be resurrected in the Clan War?"

"Yes, that's right. If you link yourself to a coffin, your ashes will be transported there. However, resurrection requires either tomato juice or human blood. Dragon Blood would also work."

"I see. I believe vampires turn to ash when defeated in normal combat as well, is it possible to resurrect them with tomato juice then?"

"...Are you planning to offset the lives taken by summoning a Duke-class Demon with that?"

"Yes, we are disliked by the church and they won't teach us Holy Magic. We were considering another method for resurrection, but it is difficult to prepare Phoenix Feathers. However, tomato juice is not so difficult. Raising Necromancy skill to 100 is difficult, but I believe it is worth doing."

"Wonderful. Please let me know if you decide to do it. I would like to see how it turns out myself."

"Yes, by all means."

(They're both gentlemanly men, but talking about vampires and demon summoning is too occult and scary... Ash is surrounded by people from Black Rose and maids, so it's a bit hard to approach. Relic-san is talking to the Maid Chief. It'd be bad to interrupt. Maris's group has started bragging about their pets, and Ney's group is... that's also hard to approach.)

Around Ney were gathered the women.

Ney, Esha, Lunaria, Rosalie, Cecil, and Noat. Six of them.

They were a group of beautiful women, but their personalities were, to put it mildly, terrible.

"Lunaria's Arondight is so cool. How much would it cost?"

"What are you saying to our Lunaria-sama? If you're too persistent, I'll beat you up, you hear?"

"Ney, did you see me win against the Underworld Dragon? As Cecil-chan said, I think you now understand that Arondight is cooler."

"No, at that time I was fighting Agres and Randa here, so I didn't see it. Don't look so down. I heard you looked cool when you appeared in the carriage."

"I wish we had a victory party every day. We could eat our fill without working."

"I totally get it. A rotation of singing, eating, and sleeping is all I need."

(This is all kinds of terrible.)

"Yo, Hayato. I came 'cause you called. Can I eat some of the stuff over there? The smell is making me hungry."

It was the Hero Ivan who called out to Hayato from behind.

It had been half a year since they last met, but he didn't feel particularly nostalgic. Ivan seemed to feel the same, as they started talking without celebrating their reunion.

"Feel free to eat whatever you like. Oh, right, we're defeating Agres Berion in three days, so I'm counting on you."

"Three days from now, huh. Got it. But I see the Stampede has started? I was soloing a dungeon until recently, so I didn't know."

"A dungeon? You were going solo?"

Exploring dungeons is difficult with strength alone. You need skills of the thief class, such as disarming traps and picking locks.

No matter how strong Ivan the Hero was, there would be places he couldn't pass, so soloing a dungeon was not something people usually did. If he could, it would only be in dungeons of the natural type.

"Yeah, it was kind of like a trip to get over a broken heart. I was alone, reflecting on myself."

"That's a new one."

As they were talking, Ivan's gaze shifted from Hayato. And he made a clearly displeased face.

"Cecil and Noat are here too? And Lunaria and that gothic lolita from back then? I don't know the other one... but she's beautiful!"

"Come to think of it, Cecil and Noat-san were in your previous clan, right? But why do you look so displeased?"

"Huh? It's unpleasant, right? Oh, crap."

Ivan was spotted by Esha's group. Cecil and Noat, as well as Esha, approached.

"Yo, Ivan. Long time no see. Found any cool weapons? Sell 'em to me."

"I want to be lazy, so take care of me for old time's sake. You're a hero, so you're making money, right?"

"If you have any food ingredients, please give them to my master. My stomach can still take more."

"...You guys haven't changed. A modest woman like Lunaria is really the best..."

A heartfelt voice leaked from Ivan. Hayato felt it was a very sincere voice.

And now, Lunaria's group came over.

"The one who will get the MVP in the next battle is me, the Demon Lord Lunaria. I'll prove that a hero like you isn't needed."

Lunaria said so with her arms crossed, puffing out her chest. Rosalie said nothing, just glaring at Ivan, and Ney looked at him as if to say, who are you.

"...Lunaria has changed a little. In a bad way. My oasis of the heart..."

Hayato wondered if it was okay for the hero to be in this state, but thinking that if he stayed here, he would get caught up in something, he faded out without being noticed.

At that moment, he suddenly realized. Ren was not here.

As he moved around looking for Ren, he saw her alone on the balcony.

He didn't know what she was doing, but Hayato approached Ren to talk to her.