It was evening when Rune reached the inn. People were giving him stares as he walked through the street holding a beast girl while covered in bloody armor. A couple people stopped him thinking that he was a slave trader, but Rune just used [Iram’s Curse] to send blades from his body into their shins.
He was a bit bored now that he had his fun and wanted to get more money. He entered the inn and Era approached him. She was still in the maid outfit and seemed to have just finished serving a customer some tea.
“Hello! Seems like you got another girl now, huh? Is it going to be a-”
Rune cut her off before she said anything else and headed to his room. In his arms was the beast girl who seemed starved and wore rags. She seemed to be a young girl who was in single digits age wise.
Rune knocked on the door and Sophia opened it. She saw Rune and the girl and frowned.
“Who is this?”
“Hmmm… Okay.”
Rune placed her on one of the two beds. Suddenly, the girl frowned and opened an eye. She looked around suspiciously before Rune spoke to her.
She seemed to understand that she wasn’t in danger of dying anymore and sat up. It seemed that she wanted to say something, but was too thirsty to do so.
Rune grabbed a cup from the nearby table and used [Water Ball] to create water in the cup. He handed it to her and she greedily gulped it down. Then she held out the cup timidly to Rune and he filled it again.
Sophia started to ask the little girl some questions. Although, she started to interrogate her, she spoke in a gentle, soothing voice.
“What is your name?”
“...Roxana Tigrystis…”
“Why were you with the Pit Fiend?”
“...Kidnapped from village...seemed like he was going to eat me…”
She spoke in fragmented sentences or short phrases as she paused to think about the answers. In between the questions, she sipped the water and, while Sophia was asking questions, Rune was downstairs trying to find food fit for a little girl.
“Is there anyone left you know?”
Roxana shook her head and she started to shake and tears rolled down her dirty face. Sophia was a bit taken back, but regained her posture.
“Would you like a bath? Rune is bring some food up for you to eat. Is there anything you are allergic to?”
Roxana shook her head to notify Sophia that she wasn’t allergic to anything, then nodded her head to show that she did want to cleanse herself.
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Rune came back upstairs with two plates of food. It was already dinnertime and it seemed like Roxana needed to eat. Roxana was wearing a blouse that was much too big for her and had a towel on her long hair.
She was sitting on Sophia’s lap while Sophia was talking to her. Rune made a coughing noise with telepathy and the two saw him with two plates of food.
Rune handed Roxana a plate with steaks cut up into small, bite sized chunks and mashed potatoes on the side. She scarfed it down immediately and looked around for more food like a hungry wolf.
Sophia laughed and gave her a bit of her food to eat. Rune sat in a chair near the corner while watching both of their interactions. To him, it seemed like a mother and daughter type of relationship.
Roxana turned towards Rune and climbed down from Sophia’s lap. Then she tottered over to Rune, still unsteady on her feet, and tried to climb onto his lap.
He was becoming rather gentle towards more and more people now, but he still carried the urge to kill random monsters. It was like his instinct to find and decimate creatures that were a danger to him, Sophia, or his friends.
He was not about to let his life become one of tragedy if he could help it. Unknowing to him, two goddesses, Sune of love and beauty and Lliira of joy, were rooting for him to have a fun and happy life. Of course, some gods wanted to turn his life into a nightmare, but figured that, if he grew as powerful as the gods, he would likely hurt them a lot or even banish their existences for several eons. Also, the majority of gods wanted to watch a happy life with the occasional sideshow of blood and guts.
The slaughter he performed did sate Bhaal, god of murder, Loviatar, goddess of pain, Myrkul, god of death, and Tempus, god of war. They decided to let him have his life without too much trouble as they still had the other 20 classmates to monitor.
Rune lifted Roxana up and placed her onto his lap. He felt like a father and, to be honest, it was kind of disappointing to him. He was only 17 after all.
“...what do you look like...without armor?”
“...n…okay…”
<...Is there anything you want to do? Anything you want to learn?>
“...magic…”
“...fire magic…”
He turned to Sophia to ask her a question.
“Yes, there are two around here. Should we go together, Roxana?”
“...n…”
She voiced her agreement and Sophia started to get herself and Roxana ready. After several minutes, Roxana and Sophia were ready and they took off. Rune, feeling a bit left out, went to the adventurer’s guild.
Rune stepped outside of the inn and saw that the sky was still bright. Apparently, Arborea had the same seasons as Earth and it was now the end of Spring when days were longer. He traveled down the streets and reached the guild to find that there were four men in golden armor following a man in black armor. They were at the entrance of the guild.
The man in black armor had a helmet in the shape of a panther. At his belt was a longsword that was in a golden and black sheath. He was taller than the rest of the people following him and he seemed imposing.
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As Rune warily approached, one of the men pointed at him and seemed to say something to the others. The five approached him and Rune started to move his hands to try out a new weapon when the one in black armor spoke.
“Are you the one called Rune? I heard that a man in a cold steel suit had, almost single handedly, defeated the devil army. Is that you?”
<...Yes, but why do you want to know?>
“You even use telepathy like the reports said!! His royal majesty invites you to the palace for a reward!!”
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“It is advised to look as presentable as possible when encountering his majesty. You Should remove your armor and show him the face of the capital’s savior.”
“...Ok, but at least clean it until it is so shiny, that one can see their reflection perfectly in it.”
“Maids!!! Do your job and clean this man’s armor!!!”
The man in black armor yelled for the maids who came running and carried buckets of water and sponges. They started to clean his armor where he stood.
After several minutes of uncomfortableness, Rune was free of the cleaning and his cold steel armor was now shiny. The man in black armor led Rune to a large door and he knocked three times on it.
The doors opened slowly after a moment and they both walked in. The moment they entered, Rune could see that the ceiling and pillars were made in gold and there were hundreds of small tapestries on the wall. Ten guards stood on either side of the throne, lining the red carpet.
The guards wore golden armor and carried halberds with blacks blade heads. They were kneeling on the carpet border and had their heads looking down.
On the throne sat a man wearing pure white armor detailed with golden engravings. The armor was whiter than snow and was sleek and not bulky like most armor. He carried a small fang in his left hand and was looking straight at Rune.
“Hello. I am king Leo Regis Domini.”
His voice boomed throughout the hall and the black knight kneeled with Rune following suit. Rune could feel the gaze of the king on him as time passed. It felt like an eternity until the king spoke again.
“I heard that you defeated most of the devils and even ventured into the moving fortress. What was it like to face so many foes and the great boss. You must be a hero!
I would like to personally give you what you desire. This event could have ended the capital. Last time this happened, there were about half as many devils and we also had several B rank adventurers. Even with them, there was trouble and they were a bit overwhelmed with all the devils. However, you defeated hundreds of them and you were by yourself doing so.”
He paused to rest his throat for a moment and to let the idea of almost total destruction of the capital sink into Rune’s mind.
“I shall give you the rank of Marquis, but I may call on you in times of peril. You will be given a pay of 1000 gold per month and own a home in the Living District. Also, you can have any selection of women you want, huh. How does that sound?”
“Ah! That is fine, but I have assignment for you. You will receive it in a month. For now, go live in a nice mansion.”
Rune was having a difficult time speaking to a person who stood at the pinnacle of the noble ranking system. Now, Rune was a marquis and didn’t have to be an adventurer any more. Although, he would likely leave the capital just to kill something.
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“We’re back!”
Rune was sitting in a chair in the inn waiting for Sophia and Roxana to come back. He was going to take Sophia and Roxana to the mansion that was now his.
“...n…”
“Really!? You became a marquis?! That’s amazing!!”
“Roxana, what do you want.”
“...to go...with mama and papa…”
“Oh, since she lost her entire village, I thought that we can take care of her and she started to call me mama. It was when we were buying the books and the person at the counter said that it was nice to see a mother and a child spending time together. She started calling me “mama” at that point.”
They packed whatever belongings they had put out and Rune placed it in his storage.Then three of them walked downstairs to the counter to tell Era that they were leaving. They saw that she was giving people drinks when she noticed them.
“Oh!!! You three going out?”
“Yes, but we are also not going to be in the inn anymore.”
“Oh, well. That is a bit sad. I can’t make fun of you two anymore, but I hope you live nicely now! You should come and visit me sometimes, ok?”
Era wrote something down on a sheet of paper and handed them the remaining amount of money that was left to pay for living. The three moved outside and saw that it was now morning and everyone except Rune was tired.
There was a carriage waiting for them as they exited the inn and a chauffeur was holding open the door. The carriage was fancy with intricate silver designs on the black frame. The seats had red cushions of leather with a soft inside. The windows were made of slightly clear glass.
The three of them stepped inside and the chauffeur started to drive.
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“We were getting Roxana some new clothes, magic books, and her new necklace!!”
“...see…”
Roxana was sitting on Rune’s lap and was holding up a nice silver necklace in the shape of a tiger. Rune looked at it closely and asked Roxana a question.
“...n…”
She handed him the necklace and he secretly enchanted it with protection and defend against evil. Then he enchanted the metal chain holding it with unbreaking and purify. He handed it back and she smiled at him.
Rune had also noticed, when he left the throne room, there was a new notification in his stats and it said, “Requirement for Enchanter completed. New class choice available.”
He could now choose another class because the Enchanter’s requirement was to be recognized by a person that was high up in society. Being recognized by the king would definitely fulfill this.
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Sophia and Roxana were already sleeping by the time they reached the mansion and Rune carefully shook them awake. Sophia yawned as she stretched. She looked out of the window and saw a large building.
It was white with pillars supporting the entrance. It had a garden in the front yard full of flowers and the manion seemed to have three stories.
The carriage slowed down and stopped in front of the mansion and the chauffeur opened the door. Rune stepped out and started to piggy back Roxana and Sophia followed behind them.
They opened the mansion door and found six people. There were three maids and three butlers and they all bowed to him.
“Hello, master. We are your servants here.”
They all said in unison and one maid and one butler walked up to them.
“We are the head maid and head butler of this mansion. May I ask to take your armor?”
He was feeling a bit nervous because he was now a marquis and was in charge of a mansion with six servants. He and Sophia followed the butler who was leading them to a room for Roxana.
“Here you are, sir.”
The butler held open the door and Rune walked inside. He noticed that all the things in the room looked really expensive and fancy. There were velvet curtains over the windows and the carpet was blue with yellow designs. A sofa in the corner had a coffee table in front of it and there was a vase of assorted flowers on the table.
Rune set Roxana down on the bed and pulled the blanket sheets up to her neck and left the room. Then the butler led Rune and Sophia to their room which was one door down.
The bed was large and had white sheets. There were four chairs against a table on the balcony. The curtains on the balcony were velvet as well and Sophia yawned again.
She sat down on the bed and spoke one word to Rune before she fell asleep.
“Goodnight…”
Rune sat in one of the chairs and was becoming restless. He was bored and wanted something to do so he left the room after placing a saber in the corner. It was an animated sword which attacked those who tried to hurt Sophia as well as defend her if something happened.
He moved down the hall and saw a maid cleaning the carpet. He strode up to her and asked her a question.
“There is a large, empty room in the second wing. Currently we are in the third and the last room of the second wing is connected to the room you are looking for. Just go down two flights of stairs, reach the foyer, and go down the middle hallway to the end.”
She bowed as Rune left and followed her directions. Everything was going so well until he tripped on something. He caught himself by hopping on one foot several times before looking at what he tripped on.
To his dismay, he heard a strange moaning noise and movement. He looked down as he saw the succubus that had escaped him earlier. He took a glance at her before taking out a large, bladed mace from his storage. It had the properties of fainting, constraint, and paralyzing.
In disgust, he swung it at the succubus who was rolling around on the floor. It hit her face and she fell unconscious with no obvious bruise or cut on her. She looked to be perfectly fine.