How long did I sleep this time? My stomach felt completely hollow, growling nonstop. I needed to eat and replenish my energy fast, or I will die.
When I opened my eyes, it was already night. What time was it now? I wanted to take out my pocket watch to check, but food came first.
After eating my fill, my strength returned, and I finally had the presence of mind to notice my surroundings. Lina was asleep, leaning against my shoulder, and Lanivia was sleeping on Lina's lap.
The time was 3:58 a.m.
Why did I wake up at such an awkward time? Couldn't it have been a bit earlier or later? Whatever, use this time to think things through.
First, about whether Lanivia could live in the capital. Staying at an inn was out of the question. And, I want Lina to stay in the capital, so we should have found a house regardless.
But what kind of house should we look for? Once we returned, we'd receive a reward of ten white gold coins… and something else, right? I took out the quest paper to check.
(The nation will grant the adventurer one wish.)
The moment I read that reward, a brilliant idea came to mind. After carefully calculating how to handle the nobles' favorite game of verbal maneuvering, I figured it would work.
Next was how to report the hunt down itself. Telling the truth was impossible. I had to make up a story—one that wouldn't make Samidoride seem weak, like anyone could have hunted it down.
But there was a problem. If I said the battle was extremely difficult, it would sound fake, since we weren't injured at all. Still, the fact that we spent the night here could serve as a good excuse—something like me needing rest after a sprain.
Then there was how Sabuin attacked, and how we avoided its attacks. That part needed careful crafting, no loopholes allowed.
I kept working on the story until the first light of dawn appeared. Once Lina woke up, I'd review it with her.
Just then, I heard crying.
I immediately turned toward the sound. It was Lanivia. I quickly picked her up, guessing she was hungry, and took out a sandwich, holding it in front of her.
"Lanivi—Lani, are you hungry?"
She was going to be family now. Calling her by a more affectionate name just felt right. Lani looked at the sandwich, stopped crying, sniffed it, then took a small bite. After that, she happily finished the entire sandwich.
I noticed her teeth had grown in neatly. She could probably eat chunks of meat already. Would drinking milk help her grow faster? If she could eat human food, she was probably similar to humans in that regard. I'd grab a bunch from the dungeon later.
While waiting for Lina to wake up, I kept playing with Lani. I needed to build a bond with her, or she might cling to Lina all the time, which would ruin my future plans. Still… were dragons really this cute?
Lani rubbed against my hand, licked it, then rolled over to expose her belly, making adorable, spoiled sounds as she asked for belly rubs.
(No—what's cute is Lani herself!)
At that moment, I realized it. Lani was the second cutest being in the world. The first was obviously Lina—on that point, I would never yield.
Suddenly, I felt movement on my shoulder. I looked over and saw the cutest person in the world waking up.
"...Mm, is it morning already? …Mmm~"
Lina stretched as she woke, letting out a sweet sound. I greeted her.
"Good morning, Lina."
"Good morning, Karen… ah, Karen, you're awake! When did you wake up?"
After drowsily greeting me, she suddenly focused on me and asked energetically.
"Just before four. Did you and Lani eat properly yesterday?"
"Of course we did. …Lani? Karen, when did you get so close to little Lani?"
It seemed she was surprised that I was calling Lanivia by a nickname, since I'd been using her full name yesterday. I explained.
"She woke up hungry earlier. I gave her a sandwich and played with her for a bit. Also, Lanivia is kind of long to say."
Just then, Lani rolled over and crawled toward Lina to act cute. I felt a little hurt. Lina took Lani into her arms and replied.
"I see. Good morning, little Lani. Karen, I want to talk with you about her."
"Perfect. I have a lot to tell you too. But I've been sitting for too long—I need to move around first."
I'd been in the same position for half a day, and my body felt stiff. I stood up, stretched my arms, breathed in and out, and started loosening up.
Once my body finally felt comfortable again, we had breakfast. Then I told Lina about my conversation with Samidoride, the fabricated hunt down report, and our quest to the nation. As for matters concerning Lani, I had already taken them into account.
Next, it was time to head back to the capital. We rode back on the motorcycle, but I drove very slowly because Lina was holding Lani. It was dangerous, sure—but riding a bicycle one-handed would be even worse, and considering that Lani might move around unexpectedly, it just wasn't a good option.
We were heading for the southern gate, since the Adventurers' Guild was on the southern side. The eastern gate still had soldiers stationed there, along with that annoying gate guard. Going that way would only waste time.
Before long, we finally returned to the capital and headed straight to the Adventurers' Guild to find Dex. The moment we entered the guild, we went to Sally to ask about him.
"Sally, is the guild master here?"
The instant Sally saw us, she slammed her hands on the table and stood up forcefully, startling me.
"Lina! Karen! You're back—does that mean…?!"
In response to her unspoken question, I raised my thumb.
"We completed the quest."
Sally's eyes immediately filled with tears, shocking both Lina and me. Lina hurriedly asked her why.
"Sally, why are you crying?"
"You… you didn't come back yesterday, and I was so worried. But thank—thank goodness… I believed you two could do it! Are you hurt?!"
So she was crying because she'd been worried about us. That was unexpectedly warm-hearted. In contrast, the adventurers around us began whispering among themselves.
"Karen and Lina are back?"
"Does that mean they really hunted down Samidoride?"
"Wait, they don't have a single scratch on them. Did they really fight Samidoride? This isn't some lie, is it?"
"But they're dungeon conquerors. Maybe they really did succeed."
"This is a world where age equals strength. I won't believe it until I see Samidoride."
I could understand their skepticism—but could they at least not say it where I could hear? It was irritating enough that I almost wanted to pull out Samidoride just to shut them up.
At that moment, there was a commotion upstairs, followed by the voice of the person we were looking for.
"Karen and Lina are back?! Where are they?!"
Dex was shouting loudly from upstairs, sounding both frantic and excited. He really was starting to look less and less like a guild master—so much so that even the staff seemed reluctant to look at him. I raised my hand to answer.
"We're here."
Dex spotted us and rushed downstairs, stopping right in front of me. His face kept inching closer, his expression screaming impatience as he asked,
"Did you hunt it down?!"
It felt like Dex had completely forgotten his position. We needed to maintain some social distance. I took a few steps back before replying.
"We successfully hunted it down. I'll show you the proof first."
The guild hall was large, but the usable open space was less than thirty meters. Still, I only needed to prove that what I brought out was a dragon matching the description.
I opened a massive storage hole, reached inside, while picturing the item I wanted to retrieve in my mind. My hand grasped it, and I pulled out Samidoride's intact head.
"""Ooooh!"""
Huh? The reaction sounded a bit quieter than expected. I turned around to look—why were there only about half as many adventurers as usual? Still asleep, maybe?
"That's a massive dragon head… the body must be enormous too. Black scales… it matches the description. It's Samidoride!"
"I can't believe they really hunted it down…"
"So it's true. I told you they'd succeed!"
"They've shattered this world's common sense… age doesn't equal strength after all."
No, no—hold on, sir. Age really does equal strength. Lina and I are just exceptions to common sense.
Since everyone had seen it, I put the head back away. Now it was time to tell the story.
"Guild master, I'll report the hunt down process now."
"...Ah, right. Let's go upstairs and talk."
Dex responded a beat too late, pointing toward the office upstairs—but I refused.
"We can do it here."
The more listeners, the better. I needed everyone to recognize that Lani was harmless. And our fabricated battle with Sabuin needed to be announced here as well—every single one of them looked like they were dying of curiosity.
"Alright then. I'll go get some paper and a pen."
Dex headed off to fetch writing materials so he could record the hunt down report.