Chapter 527: A Fragile Level 1 Mage Like Me
"Thank you so much! We truly don't know how to express our gratitude!"
In the guild hall, Luna kept bowing deeply to Eiji while the applauding staff surrounded them, her voice trembling with emotion.
"A Demon King Army executive could have single-handedly slaughtered this beginner's town! If not for adventurers like you, who knows what would have happened to Axel!"
Well, actually, nothing much would have happened.
The Demon King Army was prohibited from killing civilians anyway. As long as people didn't provoke him, Beldia wouldn't have caused any trouble.
Honestly, it was all Megumin's fault for being an idiot—charging into that abandoned castle every day to cast Explosion magic, which eventually pissed Beldia off. Otherwise, he would've been perfectly content lazing around.
Come to think of it, the Demon King Army executive was the real victim here!
"I'll take my leave now."
Eiji smiled warmly, but internally, he was sweating bullets.
"Wait a moment!"
Seeing him about to leave, Luna quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
Despite being just an ordinary beauty, her grip was surprisingly strong.
"Judging from the confrontation at the city gates earlier, Mr. Nangou, you seemed to be acquainted with the Demon King Army executive, Beldia?"
"We've met once."
Eiji's reply was deliberately vague.
He really didn't want to answer this question.
"I knew it!"
Luna's expression suddenly turned serious, her eyes locking onto him.
"If I'm not mistaken, you two must have had a master-servant relationship in the past!"
"Uh..."
Eiji froze.
Damn it, should I just charm everyone here right now?
He shot a glare at Airi beside him.
The witch, however, smirked back at him smugly.
What are you looking at?
You're already exposed! If you stay in the human world any longer, you'll be hunted down like a criminal!
"Ah, what a shame."
Eiji sighed and glanced around at the guild staff and adventurers.
"I didn't expect to be found out so soon. Fine, I admit it—Beldia was indeed my subordinate. I am—"
Forget charming them.
These people had done nothing wrong to him and even trusted him. If he carelessly charmed them and ended up frying their brains, the fault would be his.
Though it was a pity he couldn't keep playing around in the human city, it seemed he had no choice but to leave.
"I knew that had to be the case!"
"He knelt the moment he saw you, and there was all that talk about rebellion—it must be because you were his master!"
"Now that I think about it, Beldia is a Headless Knight, so he must've been a knight in life. And knights always have someone they serve—that must've been Mr. Nangou's family!"
"Well, it's a noble household! It's only natural they'd have knights in their service!"
The adventurers in the hall chattered excitedly, each adding their own theories.
Huh?
This wasn't the reaction he expected.
"Exactly! That's right!"
After a brief pause, Eiji nodded solemnly.
Though the situation had taken an unexpected turn, this seemed way more fun!
Airi's jaw dropped.
She immediately stepped forward—one sentence was all it would take to expose the truth. She refused to let this man keep living so shamelessly!
"If you dare say one more word, do you believe I can make you pass out on the spot?"
Eiji subtly shot her a strange look.
At the same time, his hand silently crept over like a writhing octopus tentacle.
This wasn't an empty threat.
After mastering the Twin Wings Style, Eiji's control over force had reached an exquisite level.
Unfortunately, he had practiced this skill many times on Freya and had long since perfected it.
Airi cast a terrified glance before lowering her head in silence, her delicate frame trembling uncontrollably.
One wonders what Edelweiss would think if she knew about this.
At the edge of the adventurers' gathering, Satou Kazuma sat on a chair, idly teasing a winged black kitten.
Nearby, Megumin and Darkness had joined the adventurers' conversation, enthusiastically debating which noble family Eiji might belong to.
"A noble, huh..."
Kazuma didn't participate. He always disliked social butterflies.
At first glance, he had assumed Eiji was another reincarnated person—one who had taken the "handsome looks" cheat package.
"Aqua, do you recognize him?"
"Super handsome!"
"That's not what I meant. Is he one of the people you reincarnated?"
"Nope!"
"So sure?"
"A reincarnated person this handsome would be deeply engraved in my memory even with my forgetfulness!"
"I see."
Kazuma fell into thought.
So that social butterfly wasn't a reincarnated person?
Could he be a descendant of one? Inheriting his ancestor's cheats and noble status, coming out to play while possessing powerful magic items... That would make sense.
Ah well, it's got nothing to do with a NEET like me anyway!
After collecting the reward for driving off Beldia, it's time to leave. Winter's approaching, and I need to find a good house to spend it in. Otherwise, I might become the first reincarnated person to freeze to death in a stable—now that would be hilarious!
Though the credit for repelling Beldia belonged entirely to Eiji, every participating adventurer would receive a bounty. Not much, but for their current party, it was still a small fortune.
"Mr. Nangou, for someone of your caliber, I have an unreasonable request!"
Luna still hadn't released Eiji's arm.
If anything, she pressed closer, gazing at him with burning intensity.
"Please help us defeat the Demon King Army's generals!"
"I refuse."
"Wonderful, thank you so much... Huh?"
"I said I refuse."
"But... Mr. Nangou, I understand you might have feelings for your former subordinate, but he's already dead and has become a Demon King Army general threatening the kingdom's safety?"
Luna carefully studied Eiji's expression.
"The kingdom has received the news, but it'll take at least half a month before they can dispatch knights for the subjugation. Time is running out—only you can save Axel from this crisis now!"
"I understand the difficult situation, but asking a fragile level 1 mage like me is pointless!"
"...But you've already killed two manticores?"
"Fine, level 10 then."
Eiji patted his rock-hard chest, producing a duang duang sound.
"Look at my delicate physique—how could I possibly fight a powerful enemy like the Headless Knight?"
Honestly, this is getting hard to watch!
Luna swallowed hard, her muscles seemed so taut—she really wanted to touch them!
"And look!"
Eiji pointed at Airi beside him.
Following his gaze, Luna didn't see anything unusual. The hooded cleric attendant looked the same as always, her face obscured, but it was still clear she was quite beautiful.
"Actually, her injuries haven't healed yet!"
Eiji sneakily poked a finger in her direction.
Airi stared at him with an innocent expression before going limp and collapsing to the ground again.
Just how did he manage that?