Ch.363The Country of My In-Laws (3)

The limousine headed straight for the palace of the Never Dreaming Kingdom.

“Wow… it’s beautiful…”

Eri’s eyes sparkled brightly.

It was truly a palace straight out of a fairy tale. Unlike the drab castles of reality, a colorful palace spread out before us.

“This way, please. This is where you’ll be staying.”

The security guard led us.

“I never realized because we always traveled… Tina really is a princess.”

Umi marveled at this fact.

“Of course I’m a princess. My birth is different. My birth.”

Tina laughed with a “uhuhu” as she spoke.

“I… suddenly feel intimidated about dating Tina.”

That was my honest feeling.

“Ah! Then I’ll give up being a princess!”

Tina immediately tried to renounce her position.

“Don’t do that!! That’s even more pressure!!”

That’s what’s intimidating!!

Anyway, we headed toward the palace entrance.

The structure had a reception hall right in the center. As soon as we entered, there was a throne. My father-in-law and mother-in-law were there.

“Is this how normal palaces are?”

Mika tilted her head.

“It’s standard in games and such. Dragon Quest is like that too.”

That’s what I said.

The king was right there as soon as we entered. In reality, this would be a dangerous setup that could easily lead to assassination… but in games, it was acceptable. If gamers had to wander around looking for the king after entering the castle, they’d just quit the game.

“Hmph. So you’ve come. Arigiri Shota. I heard you’ve been through quite a lot.”

My father-in-law, who had exchanged heated fists with me last time, spoke.

As expected. The throne was a massive crocodile. Using crocodiles instead of chairs was this country’s custom.

“Dad. Let Shota take the hero’s trial!! The kingdom is in danger!”

Tina shouted.

“…A hero, huh. It certainly fits the prophecy… but I have my dignity.”

My father-in-law said.

“Dignity…?”

Tina made an uncomfortable expression.

“You came to our kingdom as guests. It would be rude to entrust our kingdom’s affairs to outsiders.”

My father-in-law stated firmly.

“But at this rate, we can’t even sightsee safely.”

I immediately stepped forward.

“I think it would be a fun trip to both sightsee and slice up monsters. I’m used to getting involved in dangerous situations anyway. My girlfriends will be satisfied with that too.”

That’s what I said.

Tina’s homeland and country was in danger. Naturally, as her boyfriend, I had to step up.

“Well… I’m used to it. My first meeting with Shota was like that too.”

Mika said.

“Yeah… it’s a bit late to start seeking safety now.”

Umi immediately understood.

“Sigh. Let’s just get it over with quickly.”

Taiga shrugged his shoulders.

“If needed, I can open a dimensional gate. We can escape through it.”

Violet was surprisingly supportive.

“Dear. You should thank these heroes who came from afar. They’re volunteering to help us.”

At that moment, the beautiful woman sitting next to him spoke. She was Tina’s mother. Originally a concubine, she had secured the position of the official wife with her outstanding charm, as Tina had told me. That career path itself was Tina’s wannabe.

“…Thank you.”

My father-in-law immediately responded in a shy tone. He listens well to his wife.

“You shall take the hero’s trial.”

My father-in-law rose from his seat.

“H-hero’s trial…?”

“The legend says that when Never Dreaming is in danger, a hero will appear again… are we about to witness that legend come true?”

Everyone whispered among themselves.

“Follow me.”

My father-in-law voluntarily stood up. We followed behind him.

Clunk-!

On the way, I saw an impressive-looking treasure chest and opened it.

“What are you doing casually opening treasure chests!”

My father-in-law immediately scolded me.

“Ah… I’m sorry. Since you called me a hero, I thought it was allowed.”

I apologized right away.

In games and such, heroes just enter people’s houses and open drawers or treasure chests freely. I thought that was ‘common sense.’

“Shota’s common sense is sometimes quite twisted…”

Eri spoke in a tone that suggested I was hopeless.

Anyway, we headed to the palace garden.

In the center of the garden, there was a sword embedded in a rock. The sword was stuck in the middle of a massive rock shaped like a dragon.

“Ohhh…”

Though it seemed quite old, the sword hadn’t rusted at all. Moreover, it was glowing strangely.

“You must know our country’s situation. Our country has an inseparable connection with fantasy beings that flowed in from other dimensions in the past. This sword also came from another dimension. It’s called the Fantasy Slayer. This sword boasts excellent performance in cutting down beings from fantasy.”

My father-in-law explained.

“In the past, a hero drove out the beings from fantasy with this sword and brought stability to this country.”

My father-in-law roughly explained the background story.

“Only those who are qualified can pull out this sword. If you pull it out, it means you are the hero of our Never Dreaming Kingdom.”

My father-in-law stated firmly.

“……..”

But it looks easy to pull out. It wasn’t firmly embedded in the rock like Excalibur, but rather loosely stuck. Why hasn’t anyone pulled it out until now? That was my question.

“Urghhhh… don’t pull it out… don’t… please…!”

At that moment, a voice came from beyond the rock.

The rock was alive!! What was said to be a dragon-shaped statue… was just a dragon. And a very old one at that.

The sword was stuck in the dragon’s neck. Soon, I discovered that the dragon’s blood was slowly flowing from where the sword was embedded.

“If you pull it out… the dragon dies. From excessive bleeding.”

My father-in-law said.

“Excessive bleeding…?”

Isn’t that too ordinary a cause of death for a dragon? It’s a dragon! An immortal being.

“Ah… Shota. This dragon seems to be female.”

At that moment, Umi spoke.

There were small dragons in the dragon’s embrace.

“Please!! Whoever you are, please!! Don’t pull out the sword!! Mom will die!!”

“Save her!!!”

The small dragons in the dragon’s embrace cried out with tears.

“Six children… and they’re not yet adults. If the mother dies, they won’t be able to survive on their own.”

My father-in-law caressed his moistened eyes.

“Until now, the strongest warriors of our kingdom have challenged this test. However… all of them couldn’t pull out the sword because they felt compassion.”

My father-in-law said.

So the difficulty wasn’t physical but psychological.

“Children… you must live strong even without your mother, okay? The destiny of us dragons… is to deliver the sword to the hero. Hero… please pull it out. Don’t mind the children.”

The dragon looked at me with sorrowful eyes and spoke. Tears were streaming from those eyes.

“Shota… you don’t need the hero’s sword. You’re strong without it, right? Let’s just pretend we didn’t see this. Okay?”

Eri grabbed my sleeve.

“This is… a bit tough.”

Kana also expressed reluctance.

Hmm… what should I do? I opened my status window first. And calmly looked at the sword. I was going to check the sword’s specs.

‘Fantasy Slayer: Deals additional damage to fantasy beings or monstrous creatures.’

The option was the same as my beloved sword Tomato. But… the base specs were naturally higher than Tomato’s. Tomato is a sword obtained in the early to mid-game, while this is an end-content sword. Of course, there was a clear difference in specs.

‘Damage 250~389’

‘Critical Strike: When you land a critical hit on an enemy, it deals additional damage proportional to your attack power over 5 seconds.’

It also had an additional damage option.

‘I should pull this out.’

I immediately decided to pull out the sword. It was about time to replace Tomato. I decided to feed the well-used Tomato to Pinocchio.

Grip-!

I grabbed the sword right away.

Sluuurp-!

And pulled the sword out forcefully.

Splaaaash-!!!!

As the sword was pulled out, an enormous amount of blood gushed from the dragon’s neck.

“No… shit!! You really pulled it out?!! I can’t believe it!!! You pulled that out?!!!”

The dragon screamed with its dying breath before death.

“Hey! You said it was okay to kill you! What was all that talk about giving up earlier?!!”

I feel wronged!!

“That was just something to say for the atmosphere!!! Did you really pull it out because of that?!! You ruthless… guheeeerk!!!”

The dragon couldn’t finish its words and collapsed.

“Mom!!!”

“Mom!!! Wake up!!!!”

The dragons clutched their parent and wailed. No matter how much they cry like in the movie Clementine, she won’t wake up. You know that.

“Shota… sometimes I question your humanity.”

Mika muttered with her mouth wide open.

“Psychopath… he’s a psychopath…!!”

Kana quickly distanced herself from me. Shut up!! Cyber psycho!!!

“Pulling it out without even a moment’s hesitation isn’t easy…”

Violet also chimed in.

“Namu Amitabul…”

Ms. Aiko, true to her profession, prayed for the dragon’s soul.

“I-I’m… on Shota’s side. Whether Shota becomes a monster… or not.”

Aki stroked me with a strangely considerate expression. No!! Why are you arbitrarily labeling me a monster!!

“You pass the test. You seem to be the prophesied hero indeed.”

However, my father-in-law remained calm.

“According to the prophecy, the hero was a killing machine without emotions. You… are sufficiently emotionless!! A benevolent psychopath!!! Just as the prophecy foretold!!”

My father-in-law gave a thumbs up as he spoke.

“Father-in-law… are you picking a fight with me right now?”

Hearing it like this makes me a bit upset.

“Hero!!!! Please save this Never Dreaming Kingdom!!”

My father-in-law ignored my words and immediately shouted loudly.

“Indeed… Shota is the man I had my eye on…”

Tina gently smiled and firmly held my hand. Tina, who doesn’t denounce me as a psychopath… it’s healing.

“For now, I’ll give you the best room in this palace to rest! After that, we’ll discuss future matters!”

My father-in-law clapped his hands and led us away.

“Long live the hero!!!”

“Long live the hero!!!!”

Everyone around responded to the existence of the new hero.

Anyway… anyway, I’m a hero!!