Royal Mob Takes It All - Chapter 76

—A week has passed since Dantha and the others were accepted.

As usual, Princess Leia is working on internal affairs in the Royal Castle to prepare for the war against the Empire. In particular, the princess is a childhood friend of the lord of the town of Kainis, where the first decisive battle will take place, so she is closely exchanging documents and sharing information with her.

I’m glad that this childhood friend is not a man. That’s a real relief. Well, busy things just keep busy. Recently I haven’t been able to spend time alone with Princess… it’s a bit lonely.

I’m off duty today with such a broken heart. Today, too, I came to the castle town to visit the blacksmith. I just want to finish my business quickly and go back to the castle. It’s not like I have a date with the princess, so there’s no point in staying long…”, I thought.

“Heh~! So this is the castle town~”

Hibiki is excited next to me.” Amazing, amazing! This is a medieval-style fantasy!” She looks so delighted that she’s like a Japanese tourist on her first trip abroad.

“Wasn’t the Empire like this?”

“Well, I don’t know. I mean, we were told ‘don’t go outside so much’ and ‘train’ and we were treated with light house arrest in the palace.”

“Is that so?”

“Oh, yeah! That’s why I’ve never been out on the town like this before! I’m so excited! Welcome to another world!”

Welcome is the line of the welcoming party, isn’t it? But let’s not dwell on that.

The reason Hibiki is in castle town with me today is not because I invited her. I was caught as I was about to go out, and she said to me, “Show me the way, Gufu-nii! Please!” Because she asked him to show her around.

“Gufu-nii! What’s that fragrant meat skewer…?”

“No, it’s a meat skewer, as you can see.”

“Looks delicious!”

Gulp!

“Yum! Thank you, Gufu-nii! What? What’s that fruit cut up and stuck on a skewer…

“It’s a fruit skewer, just like you see…”

“Looks delicious!”

Gulp! Gulp!

“Yum! Thank you, Gufu-nii! What? The marshmallows exposed to the coals over there…”

“Wait, wait, Hibiki, are you sure you’re not just ripping me off? It’s no longer taking you around but to buy and eat things, is it?”

“Hehe. Because I don’t have the kingdom’s currency.”

Holding a skewer in each hand, Hibiki stuck out her tongue mischievously.

“Well, well, Gufu-nii. It’s a date, at least a little bit, no?”

“It’s not a date…”

“Eh! It’s not…?”

To Hibiki, who is shunned.

“Of course it is…”

The one who answered in a low, dusky voice was actually Nina, who had been following behind us the whole time.

“Don’t forget that I’m with you…!”

Nina drilled Hibiki’s cheek with her index finger with tremendous pressure.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten about you! I’m happy to go out together with Nina-chan!”

“Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t come here to go out with you. I’m only here because I’m worried about Gustav, who is sweet to this girl, so I’m here to watch over you!”

“Eh~, let’s enjoy it to the fullest together, Nina?”

“Y-yes!”

Nina folded her arms as she said that, glanced at me and then fell back behind us again.

…Niña, you’re angry. I think it’s mainly against me.

I was caught earlier when I was about to be taken out of the castle by Hibiki, and she said to me in a pissed-off tone, [You’ve been creating an atmosphere as if you were officially approved with Leia. but you’re going out with another woman in the middle of the day…?]… It was certainly my fault, that’s for sure.

“…Hey, hey, Gufu-nii.”

“Hm? What is it?”

Hibiki whispered something in a whisper. As I listened.

“Nina-chan… you’re definitely a tsundere, aren’t you?”

“Yes?”

“Because, she said [don’t get me wrong], didn’t she? I’m thrilled to hear such a classic cliche words in these days of 2022!”

“Huh?”

“I wonder where the likability gauge is?”

Hibiki, glancing at Nina behind her and grinning… after being treated with so much salt by Nina, she’s got too much of a strong mentality.

…And by the way, if we were to compare it to likability, then without a doubt, both Hibiki and I have a declining gauge… and, well, I’m not going to confront you with that sad truth.

“Oh, Gufu-nii! They’re selling potions over there! Potions!”

“Hey, Wait!”

Hibiki now flies off to the alchemy shop where a potion is being sold at a street stall. She’s a very fast-paced person.

“Amazing! It’s really green…! Uncle, if I drink this, will it really heal my wounds? I’ve always wondered! I’ve always wondered why wounds heal with a drink. Tell me… uncle…

Hibiki annoys the stall owner with her vigorous approach. Nina drops her hand sword over her head and drags her to me.

“Gustav, let’s go buy a collar and leash. They’re essential for a walk.”

“Nina, Wow, you’re awful? I’m not a dog!”

“You’re like a dog that chases after butterflies.”

“That’s because… I found a potion…”

Hibiki pokes the index fingers of both hands together with a teasing smile.

“I’ve been longing for it. It’s a staple of the game, and so are its effects… but I was curious what it tasted like…”

“…”

“…and I’ve been stuck in the imperial court for so long, so I was really looking forward to this kind of market…”

“…….Jeez.”

Nina let out a sigh, and went to the shop earlier.

“Uncle, three potions.”

After saying that and paying, she put a bottle in her own waist pouch and handed one to me and one to Hibiki.

“You never know when you might get hurt, so keep them. Don’t drink it if you’re not injured.”

“Ni, Nina-chan…!”

“Don’t get me wrong. It just so happened that I was out of my spare potion… so I just had to have it with me.”

Hibiki’s eyes lit up at Nina, who turned away with a pout.

“Dere! Nina-chan is deredere! She’s so cute~!”

“I’m not!”

“Thank you, Nina-chan! I love you! I love you! I’ll drink this potion carefully, little by little.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t drink it when you’re not hurt! Don’t say you love me! And don’t hug me~~!”

The two of them intertwined with each other in a friendly manner… Eh, Nina, could it be that she really had a tsundere towards Hibiki? Does that saltiness actually mean that she was just being tsun?

“Niña-chan wow! Look how cute Nina-chan is!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Don’t touch my neck.”

Watching the two of them being so close to each other, it really does feel like that.

…Or perhaps Hibiki’s bottomless brightness is pulling Nina towards that direction? If so, Hibiki has the attributes of a harem protagonist… Perhaps unconsciously, and natural gigolos are terrifying…

“Enough, enough!”

“Fugiii?”

Nina’s powerful chop fell on Hibiki’s head again.

“Gustav! Don’t just look at me, stop it!”

“Eh, ah… sorry…”

I was just watching it because it was such a good scene.

***

We then arrive at the blacksmith’s shop. While I was taking care of business with the owner, Nina was picking up various weapons on sale, and Hibiki seemed to be looking at the shop’s best weapons with a twinkle in her eye.

“You like weapons?”

When I called out to her, Hibiki nodded with a big smile.

“I love them! Whenever I come to a new town in RPGs, I always look in the weapon shop. I wonder what kind of weapons they have. It’s so exciting…”

“Oh, really?”

I was like that in a previous life. It’s kind of nostalgic. It’s not as if I want to go back to those days of digging through wagon-sale games, but even now that I’ve come to a world that mirrors the world of games as it is, the memories of playing many games are still beautiful inside me.

Hibiki must have loved games just as much as I do.

Speaking of which, there was one thing I wanted to ask Hibiki.

“Hm, what?”

“When you fought me, why didn’t Hibiki use her [Unique Skill]?”

“Eh…”

“The seven warriors all have their own unique skills with extraordinary power, Hibiki shared that information with us the other day, didn’t you? But you didn’t use it in the battle with me, did you?”

“…”

Huh, no reply? When I looked at Hibiki’s profile, somehow the brightness that had been there earlier was gone. Her mouth was tied in a single line, and she had fallen silent.

…Could it be that I stepped on some kind of landmine?

“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it. I’m sorry, I asked you something weird…”

When I unintentionally apologized, Hibiki shook her head “No”.

“I don’t like it. Cheats.”

“You hate cheats?”

“Yeah. I’ve always been quite a gamer… but people in this world wouldn’t understand, would they? What’s a game? It’s like, ‘What’s a game? But… that game was a part of my life.”

Hibiki puts this forward.

“If you ask me what’s interesting about games, I think it’s that you can live the life of the other person in the game with excitement and thrill. At first, you are completely weak and scared to fight even a single monster, but you gradually become stronger and stronger through bravery and fighting, and that’s how you become attached to the game and the characters.”

Hibiki speaks passionately, then lets out a sigh and says

“But you know, cheats are different. Having strong skills from the start, being a warrior who never loses to any enemy, that doesn’t thrill me at all. It’s not exciting at all. I was actually really excited when I was summoned to this other world. I thought that a life of great adventure awaited me from now on. I thought. But it wasn’t long before I woke up from the dream.”

Hibiki smiled sadly at me.

“I looked at my status and saw that my initial level was 50 and the skill column was full, and I had a unique skill that was obviously very strong… I was like… ‘What the hell? And then Agranis told me that there are only a few people and monsters of our level… Again I was like, ‘What’s that?’ My big adventure was over before it even started.”

As a gamer, I agree with Hibiki that this would not be a good experience for her, as she was expecting an orthodox RPG. I’m not sure I was as good a gamer as Hibiki, but I still agree with her about the real thrill of the game.

“Everyone else accepted the situation… rather [we could] play Warriors! They were happy. I despaired, how can you accept such a boring life? I thought. But you know, it was my Gufu-nii who gave me hope.”

“Eh…?”

Hibiki’s gloomy expression changed and she smiled at me smugly.

“I knew it when I saw Brother Gufu fighting Nanjou. [Ah, this is someone who became stronger than us by his own strength alone]. He beat Nanjou’s cheats head-on with his accumulated efforts, and it was a great feeling in my heart. [Life ain’t that easy!] It was like you said to me what I couldn’t say anything back then, because I had the cheat.”

“Ah, so that’s why Hibiki was smiling then…”

“Yeah. And you know, I couldn’t stop being excited. [I want to fight this person fair and square too]. And I also thought that if I’m going to be a friend, I’d like someone like my Gufu-nii, who has the same values.”

“That’s how you got out of the Empire… You didn’t even know if we would accept you.”

“You know, you just have to take a shot at everything, right? Keke!”

I smile back at Hibiki, who gives me a peace sign.

“…That’s right. After this, shall we go level up?”

“Eh?”

“There’s a little known spot. It’s not as bad as when the Demon King was here, but there’s a wasteland where a lot of experience-efficient monsters gather.”

“Eh, eh, I’ll definitely go to such a place! Are you sure?”

“Well, I need to get my combat instincts back for fighting the Empire, and since I can’t contribute with my brains, I need to get as strong as possible.”

“Me too! We’re a stupid bunch, so let’s go~!”

In reality, when you’re about our level, you don’t level up that much… well, leveling up is just a pretext.

…Life is all about having fun. If war breaks out in the future, there may not be many opportunities to enjoy this world in the RPG style anymore. It would be good to take Hibiki for a walk in the neighborhood of the castle town.

Yes! I thought, smiling at Hibiki who was so excited.