Volume 1 Chapter 71 After The Commotion
After defeating Allen, who had become the guardian of the key, everyone who was present at the scene was gathered at the Clow Merchant guild's mansion by Chester and his friends.
Inside the hastily assigned room were me, Fatina, Mel, and Iria, a knight of the Cretia Kingdom's knight order.
Iria, who had shown no sign of yielding to persuasion until now, came down to Mel immediately after the battle with Allen and asked what had happened.
It seems that seeing a dragon suddenly appear inside the city made her more receptive to explanation, unlike before when she had been unwilling to listen. She agreed to have a straightforward discussion.
Mel honestly told Iria about everything that had happened: confronting her father, King Cretia, and being imprisoned; the king's attempt to gather three keys for something; and the hiring of S-Rank adventurers like Allen and Balzark for that purpose.
Iria, after hearing the story, seemed extremely surprised by the unexpected content.
However, upon seeing Allen transform back into a human form, she seemed to have completely lost her desire to argue with Mel about it.
After listening to the whole story, Iria knelt down and bowed her head.
"I didn't know there were such circumstances, but I apologize for all the disrespect I have shown so far. Please, punish me. I am willing to accept any form of punishment."
"No... It's fine. You were only trying to be faithful to your mission."
Mel immediately responded to Iria's apology.
Although Mel was dressed no differently from a townsperson, her appearance exuded the elegance and dignity of a princess of Cretia.
"Punishing you here and now would not benefit our country's interests. Rather, the one to blame is me, who couldn't stop my father."
"Princess, you bear no responsibility. If only I had believed in your words earlier, this wouldn't have happened."
"Iria, please lift your head. What we need to do now is not apologize to each other. It is to destroy all three keys that caused this incident and resolve this turmoil."
Iria looked straight at Mel, as if she understood Mel's intentions.
"I understand. Merletta-sama, please give me the opportunity to redeem myself as a knight. From now on, I vow to be your strength, swearing on my bow and my dragon."
"Thank you, Iria."
Mel finally relaxed her tense expression and smiled. It took time, but it seemed that both of them had finally resolved their misunderstanding.
"It's good that you two could reconcile!"
"Yeah, it is."
While watching the two of them, Fatina nodded with satisfaction.
"I'm sorry for what I did to you both. And, I know it's not my place to say this, but... thank you for protecting the princess."
Next, Iria came before us and bowed her head.
"N-no, it's okay! If Mel-san doesn't mind, then I'm okay too!"
Suddenly, Fatina started waving her hands around in a panic, as if Iria's sudden change in attitude had caused it.
"I feel the same way as Fatina. We should just move on from this, right?"
"I'm relieved to hear you say that. I promise to help from now on."
Iria will probably try to protect Mel from now on.
With that, we shouldn't be chased by her unit anymore.
I glanced at Mel, who was standing by the window, staring outside.
In the distance, there was a section destroyed and turned into a pile of rubble from the earlier battle.
After the battle ended, Elliot and Chester, out of breath, came running when they heard the commotion.
After hearing everything from us, they quickly gathered people to help treat the injured who had not been able to escape. We joined in and helped them.
Because of the quick response, there were injuries but no deaths.
It seemed that the residents, misunderstanding that Cretia soldiers had attacked the city, had fled outside the gates, which had a positive impact.
Elliot is in charge and talking to the merchants about different problems.
Of course, because things have gotten this serious, we have to give the residents an explanation that makes sense.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and Chester came in.
"Sorry for making you wait, everyone!"
"No, it's fine. What's going on right now?"
"Um, about that..."
Chester looked at Iria and then didn't say anything else.
"Chester-san, our country's soldiers are fine now. I convinced them, so there won't be any more attacks on Trasverum. I'm sorry for making this happen."
"No, no! Merletta-sama, you don't need to apologize! So, as I was saying..."
It's normal to be cautious of people who suddenly come to their city and cause trouble. But since Merletta said it's okay, Chester kept on talking.
"For now, there is no need to worry about the injured. They have all been fully healed with potions and Healing Magic (Holy Magic). As for the buildings, we will rebuild them using the funds stored in our city, so that is also taken care of. The problem is──"
"Is it about the sudden appearance of the dragon?"
Chester nodded.
"Yes. Fortunately, there were no witnesses in the alley, so no one knows that Allen used the Aquaflow Key to become a dragon. Explaining the key and Allen's actions honestly would only cause confusion, and we don't know how King Cretia would react in that case, so we won't make it public."
"That does seem like a better idea."
From the perspective of someone responsible for managing Trasverum, Chester's approach of not unnecessarily spreading the news seems correct.
"How do you plan to explain it?"
"We will say that there was an item among the goods handled by the Wiol Merchant Guild that can summon dragons. In the first place, it was the result of them hiring Allen and allowing him to do as he pleased that led to this situation. It's a shared responsibility. Dolthos has been thrown into jail."
"I see."
The Wiol Merchant Guild may find it difficult to conduct business properly with such a bad reputation, but perhaps it can't be helped.
"Where are Allen and the others?"
"Allen is still unconscious. I believe all the party members are in their rooms. Also, there's something that's been bothering me."
"Bothering you?"
Chester, with a thoughtful look and folded arms, seemed unsure of how to explain things.
"We used the [Appraisal] skill on Allen just to be safe due to the issue with the key... but there's something unusual about it."
"Unusual?"
"Well, it seems that Allen's Level Cap has 'inexplicably dropped'."
"Level Cap...? Are you sure about that?"
"Yes, his Level Cap was rumored to be a remarkable '90', but for some reason, no matter how many times we appraised it, it consistently shows '10'. His status also corresponds to that level."
Normally, this would be an unlikely story, but since it involves a key, denying it was not an option.
Is it possible that after Allen gained the power as a guardian, he was affected by losing it?
I suddenly turned my gaze to find Mel standing right next to me. However, she quickly shook her head.
No one here has specific knowledge about the effects of the key.
So, the answer remains elusive.
And as a newly discovered fact── the key may not necessarily bring beneficial effects for us.
Nevertheless, I need the key, and the same goes for Mel.
However, is it really a good idea to gather all the keys?
It's a late thought, but such a notion briefly crosses my mind.
"If the appraisal result is indeed true, it would be impossible for him to continue as an S-rank adventurer."
"It seems that way, doesn't it?"
As a guide for the adventurer's guild, having a Level Cap of 10 means being able to defeat E-Rank monsters. If the appraisal result is true, then as an adventurer, there isn't much ahead for me with a Level Cap of 1.
If that's the case, I wonder what will happen to Allen from now on.
"Chester-sama, are you there?"
"Yeah, you can come in."
Chester responded to the voice coming from the hallway. The door opened slightly, revealing a man who seemed to be from the merchant guild.
"Sorry to interrupt. One of Adventurer Allen's party members wants to have a discussion. What would you like me to do?"
"I see... Let them know that I'll be there soon."
"Understood. I'll tell them to move to the large room on the first floor."
"Got it."
The door closed, and the sound of footsteps grew distant.
"Hmm, it seems like there's something to talk about. What will everyone do?"
"I would like to participate."
Mel immediately said that, Iria expressed, "I would also like to be present," and then Fatina said, "I want to go too," declaring their participation.
"I also want to hear the discussion. However, is it okay for Allen to be absent?"
"Well... that basically means they want to talk where Allen isn't present, I suppose."
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