Grandiosa, A Luscious Kingdom of Greenery and Forestry. The Houses are coexisting with the wide varieties of vines and roots. It looked like a whole country eaten by nature but, in fact, it was booming in activities. Lareans looks like Elves with their pointed ears and Eyes tinted with Blue, Green or anything in between. Their clothes were, surprisingly, not like what is shown in any media on Earth. They were wearing normal clothing than pieces of scrap clothes and leaves. Despite looking old and derelict on the outside, the inside of the houses was comfy and inviting.

Everything seems completely normal and peaceful, except for a certain duo being escorted by the Royal Guards towards the Castle. And yes, that duo was, indeed, us.

We’re just camping deep in the forest, how the hell would we know that it was inside Grandiosa’s Territory! And we just woke up, for god’s sake! Who, in their right mind, would send hundreds of their troops just to capture 2 unsuspecting travelers who just happens to camp inside a forest. Of course, this kingdom is. Do you know how much convincing I needed to do to stop Eri from annihilating all of them? I never want to do that again. These idiots should be thankful of me for not letting a blood-seeking demon massacre all of them. If I don’t have any sense of reason within me, I would’ve been the one to banish all of them in existence. But I needed to consider the consequence of my action. That’s why I did not engage and willingly surrendered. While Eri’s looking at me with a lot of bloodlust. She must’ve hated being restrained. I need to seriously apologize to her later.

As soon as we arrived in a major kingdom, this is what happened. What kind of welcome is this! Not only are we bound by hand, we’re also being dragged towards the castle. I hope this doesn’t get any worse.

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It got worst.

Right after being dragged into the castle, were told to prepare ourselves without even telling us what will happen afterwards. We were then thrown into a prison deep in the castle dungeon prison. After that, they left without even saying anything nor telling us what to do next. Because of that, we were left inside a dark prison with only a torch as a source of light. In addition, there’s also a super pissed off girl with me that’s one word away from clobbering me.

“Hans? Do you know what I feel right now?”

“Uhm… Extremely Pissed Off?”

“And?”

“Extreme Anger?”

“And?”

“Wanting to punch me?”

“And?”

“An excessive urge to Kill me?”

Eri then smiled at me.

“You’re right!”

She said it with a soft and cute voice.

“Uhm, Miss Erylla?”

No reply, she’s just slowly approaching me while saying nothing.

“Hello? Erylla? Wait, what are you going to do with that those daggers?”

Eri slowly approached me while swinging her daggers.

“Hey, Eri! Stop it! Stop!”

I was then assaulted by Eri. I can feel her raw bloodlust focused on me alone. If I’m not careful, I could’ve hurt myself.

I let Eri swing her daggers round until she exhausted herself. Her rampaged continued for the last 10 minutes until she stopped. After that, I approached her and started talking to her.

“So, are you done?”

“You’re awfully calm considering the situation we are in right now.”

“Why don’t you try to be like me and calm down too?”

“How come you’re that calm and layback even in this situation?!”

“Let’s think about it calmly. If we want to, we can bust through this prison and slaughter all of them with ease, but what would we gain by doing that? Nothing. If I were to kill someone, I prefer that it would be of some help or significance to others. If I were to kill just because I want to or I am pissed off, then that would leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

“So, what are your plans now? I believe that you let us be captured without offering any resistance because you are planning on doing something, right?”

“You really do know me… is what I want to say right now, but the truth is I do not have any plans whatsoever. I just let us be captured because I don’t want those guards to be killed by you.”

“What the-!”

“Wait, wait. We can escape whenever we want to. But let’s just see how things unfolds. I kind of want to know what would happen to us.”

“*sigh* I can’t change your mind at this point, right? Just do what you want.”

“Good. You know me very well, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I do. Do you know how I’m observing you and trying to look for your weak point? I carefully observe you and your attitude.”

“Oh, come on. You’re making me blush.”

“Don’t get too close to me! You weirdo!”

“I can say the same to you, Stalker!”

“You’re looking for a fight?! Huh?!”

“I couldn’t ask for more!”

Before we start a brawl, a guard called up on us.

“Hey! Stop that! Don’t start anything here!”

There are 4 guards in front of our prison cell right now.

“Fix yourselves, you two have been granted an audience with the King itself. The least you can do is to present yourselves diligently.”

“Ok, ok. We will… Wait, what did you just say?!”

“Fix yourselves?”

“No, before that!”

“You have been granted an audience with the King itself?”

“What the-?! The King?! But why?”

“It is to decide your punishment. You are an outsider, after all.”

“But why the King?”

“He is the one who imposes rules and punishment in this kingdom. He wants to make sure that no crimes are left unpunished and no good deeds are left uncompensated.”

“Oh, this king is a lot more level-headed and justice-inclined than the kind of King in my mental image.”

“Stop blubbering nonsense, we’re going to head out now.”

What could be more worse than being imprisoned? Well, if you ask me, it is to be called by the King itself. We were, once again, being escorted by the guards towards the Royal Chambers where the King is. As soon as we entered the Chamber, we were overwhelmed with the looks of it and the people inside. The Chamber is full of Nobles and Royal Guards in the sides, while there are no people in the middle. There is also a barricade that prevents the onlookers from going to the middle part of the chambers where the usual suspects were brought in and placed to.

The Guards brought us in the middle of the room facing the Throne. The King is sitting in the Throne and looking at us.

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“Oh, Mighty King, Rightful Ruler of Grandiosa, King Lucar Targon. We have brought to you the trespassers.”

“So, he is the king, huh? Quite Formidable in terms of the atmosphere surrounding him, I might say.”

“You two! Pay Respect to the King! Bow Down!”

We were forced to bow down to their King. I can feel Eri’s Wrath from beside me but she’s trying to control herself to not create a more troublesome scenario.

The King Stood up and looked down on us through where he was standing. Finally, the King opened his Mouth.

“You two, where are you from?”

I raised my head to answer him, but a guard immediately pushed my head downwards.

“You can’t raise your head if you’re not permitted to!”

“I don’t mind. Let him be.”

After hearing those words, the guard whose pressing my head on the floor, let go of me.

“Thank you, your highness. And to answer your question, we are merely travelers. We don’t have permanent settlement. We just go where our fates told us to.”

“And why are the both of you inside our territory?”

“Your Majesty, we have been chased by monster up until deep in the forest. After being able to outrun them, we settled inside the forest and make our camp there. We are not aware that we’re already trespassing. Please forgive us.”

“I understand. But still, your crime should be punished. It is not an excuse to say that you are not aware of what you’ve done. The Both of you still needs to receive punishment.”

The King went back to his throne and pointed his scepter on us.

“Off with their limbs!”

“Huh?”

The guards then grab us and is about to drag us to outside the execution grounds when I heard Eri’s whisper.

“I had enough of this…”

Suddenly, a guard flew all the way back to the Chambers Doors, destroying the door itself.

Everyone was stunned on what had just happened. Even the King is speechless. A single girl managed to send a guard flying across the room, if that’s not absurd enough, then I don’t know what is.

Eri then stood up and looked at the King.

“You know what? I tried really hard to control myself and stop this overbearing anger that I’m feeling deep inside. But you all just went ahead and get on my nerves. And now you want to cut our limbs? How about I do that to every last one of you and your citizens. Screw that, I’ll decapitate everyone instead, consider it a just compensation for making me angry.”

The King, while trying to maintain composure, address his soldiers.

“D-do not fret! It’s just the two of them! You can overcome them with sheer numbers alone. The guard that was thrown was just caught off guard. If you remain on guard, she can’t do anything to all of you. Now, capture them and We will execute them Publicly!”

Eri laghed hysterically and then pointed her dagger to the King.

“You dared to belittle me, you filthy mongrel! I hope you do not regret everything you said about me.”

Eri then removed her hooded cloak revealing her Sheep-like Horns and her battle outfit.

“Behold, Insects! I have graced you all with my presence! I am The Assassin General Efreet! One of the Demon King’s General! I am Erylla Erfreth of the Demon’s Descent, and I am here to Annihilate you all! Be glad for I will take my time killing every last one of you!”

And She just revealed her identity to everyone. I can’t escape this trouble now. First, we’ve been caught by the guards the moment we woke up, and then we were thrown into a prison, punished by the King and now, having our identity revealed in front of everyone. What a really nice day it is! I’m fucking ecstatic!

Eri entered her battle stance while the soldiers are now hesitating to go near her. The King is now trembling in fear realizing that a Demon General has entered his Kingdom. The King can’t even command the Guards. Looks like he realized that resisting is futile in the face of a calamity.

“Not even going to resist, are we. If so, then just sit there and wait for your time to be decapitated!”

Eri dashed towards the King while attempting to decapitate his head. I decided that this is the right time to intervene so I dashed towards the King and stopped Eri’s daggers from reaching the King’s head.

“I think it’s enough, Eri.”

Eri looked at me while she’s still in his bloodlust mode. Upon seeing me, though, she began to calm down and put back her daggers.

“I haven’t even have my fun yet. What a buzzkill.”

“Would you mind stepping back now?”

“Ok…”

Eri backed away from the King while I helped him stand up and sit at his throne.

“Are you ok, sir?”

“What happened?”

“Uhm… You were almost killed by a Demon General out of irritation.”

“Right! Where is that Demon, have you killed it? Wait, you’re with her! Are you a Demon too?!”

“Sorry to break it to you but I’m no Demon. I’m just a normal human.”

As soon as he heard that, the King then commanded the guards.

“Capture this guy! He’s the one that brought the Demon to us!”

The Soldiers quickly close in towards my position.

“So, this is what I get from trying to protect you from the Demon? I thought you were more reasonable than that.”

The Soldiers quickly surrounded me while the King backed away.

“Pay for your sins with your life!”

I sighed.

“What a stubborn King.”

The Soldiers attacked me all at once. In return, I send them all flying. Every soldier that attacked me is now laying down in the ground, unconscious and scattered.

The King was dumbfounded. Looks like his brain can’t handle what just happened. The King then, once again, lumped in the ground while looking at me, terrified.

“W-w-what are you?!”

Looks like I have no choice but to reveal our identities to them. I would rather not, but if it’s to stop this unreasonable fight, then might as well do it. I can kill them all, but I don’t want to just erase a whole kingdom from existence just because its king is a bit of asshole.

“Sorry for the late introduction. I am the Slayer of the Demon King and its Generals. I am Johannes Aarvold and trust me, you do not want to mess with me.”

The King was stunned about what I said.

“Y-You? You are the hero?”

“Honestly, I do not consider myself as a Hero. After all, I’m just an ordinary guy that happens to defeat the Demon King, nothing special.”

“No, no, no. Defeating a Demon King isn’t something that a normal human can do!”

“I just did what everyone would obviously do when they are threatened by others, fight back.”

“But still, being able to defeat the Demon King… I need a proof.”

“Huh?”

“If you really defeated the Demon King, then you must have something that can be considered as a proof, right?”

“Why should I prove to you that I’m genuine? Do I have any obligation to do so?”

“Not really, but still, we can’t believe that you’re the one that killed the Demon King unless you prove it to us.”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not, your opinion is not important for me.”

“But we won’t hold a Hero Parade unless you prove it to us.”

“I don’t care, I’m not here to be welcomed, I’m just here because we were dragged by your army.”

“Ok, ok. We won’t hold a parade. But if I, the king, were to recognize you as the hero, then I need to see proofs.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t need any recognition from you. *sigh* This won’t end unless I show you any proofs, am I right?”

“Yes!”

“*sigh*, Alright.”

I took of the bag whose appearance I modified to look like a normal small pouch so that the soldiers will not suspect anything from it. After that, I returned it to its original Bag Form and took 6 Items in it.

“Uhm, I don’t know if this will be enough of a proof but here are the weapons of the Demon King’s Generals. The Metal Spike Club belongs to the Giant one, the Lance that’s cut in half belongs to the lancer, the Flaming Bow Belongs to the Lava Man, The Staff is from the Horned Mage and the Huge Sword Belongs to the Knight-looking Guy/Demon. This last item is not really used in battle with me, in fact, I found it in the treasure room. I take it out because it looks intimidating, you know, black steel blade with ominous handle and terrifyingly beautiful scabbard. I thought this has some significance so I took it out. Is this enough of a proof?”

After explaining, I looked at the king. The king looked like he can’t believe what he’s seeing right now.

“That Black Sword, is it possible? No! if what you’re saying is true, then it really is genuine. Did you know what that black sword is?”

“No idea.”

“That Black Sword that you have is ‘The Sword that Cuts Through Everything, Mythic Sword Traia!’ That is the sword that once wielded by the great hero of the War of Laotea, Alfa Daelus! The sword is said to be forged from a fragment of a dying star together with the aid of the seven races’ knowledge a long time before Laotea has been named as it is. The Sword was then handed to the Great Hero by the Guardian of Laotea who has the sword for safekeeping. The sheer amount of magic contained in the sword itself makes it truly genuine. That is indeed a national treasure. It disappeared during the last war, so it was under the Demon’s Possession this entire time, huh.”

“Oh, I didn’t know about that, this sword’s amazing.”

“So, if you can surrender it to us, then it will be a great help to all of Lareans, no, to all of Laotea!”

“Huh?”

“You know, it is a National Treasure, therefore, it must not be owned by someone, it is the property of all the Seven Races itself!”

“What gives you the idea that I will give this sword to you?”

“But, it must not be owned by a single person only, it belongs to everyone.”

“And by everyone, you mean only the Lareans, right?”

“No! Of course not!”

“You’ve made a slip of tongue before. You want to gain advantage towards other races by possessing the Mythic Sword itself, right?”

“N-no!”

I put the weapons back to my bag.

“I knew it, you’re just like any other noble scumbags. I won’t give it to you. Not this, nor the General’s weapons! You do not deserve it! Let’s go, Eri. This Place Disgusts me!”

“W-wait! I’m sorry! I admit it, I was wrong. But I can’t help it, you know. If you’re a ruler, then you will put your citizens first. If it’s to protect them, then acquiring is will be more than enough for protecting them. I won’t be persistent, so please, don’t go just yet!”

Looks like I jumped to the conclusions way too early. Looks like he just wants to fulfill his duty of being a king to his citizens more efficiently.

“But even if you ask that, we don’t have anything to do in this place.”

“If that’s so, then let us welcome you to our kingdom!”

“I would rather not spread my name throughout your kingdom, though.”

“Then can you at least meet with selected people in this Kingdom. We would have a ball tonight celebrating your arrival in Grandiosa.”

“Uhm, I’m bad with that kind of event so…”

“I insist! Please, let us, at least, have a small celebration for your arrival.”

I have a feeling that this wouldn’t end if I don’t agree.

“Ok then, we’ll attend the ball.”

“Good! Then once again…”

The King went towards his throne.

“Attention, Everyone! Even though our initial meeting is rough, I still want to formally welcome you to our Kingdom.”

Suddenly, everyone that are present in the Chamber stood up and the soldiers raised their swords and lance.

“Johannes Aarvold, The Hero who defeated the Demon King, and Erylla Erfreth, his companion. We formally welcome you to the Kingdom of Larean, Grandiosa Kingdom! Although it might be abrupt, I hope that you enjoy your stay in our country. Prepare their rooms, give them the best room that this castle can offer. And prepare their clothes, we will have a ball tonight to welcome the Hero in our Kingdom!”