Over the next few days, the group of four, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness, continued to laze around at home, doing absolutely nothing. Aside from helping Fang Li clean the house each day as the bare minimum of their responsibilities, they didn't want to do anything else.
This actually surprised Fang Li a bit.
Kazuma and Aqua were one thing.
Those two, if left alone with their basic needs provided, would undoubtedly turn into total freeloaders who didn't even want to move a finger.
After all, Kazuma was originally a shut-in NEET who had hoped to live out the rest of his life in leisure with the billion Eris he once had. Aqua, on the other hand, was the type to just go with the flow in all things. If she saw others slacking off, she definitely wouldn't want to work either.
So the fact that these two had devolved into total uselessness wasn't surprising at all.
But seeing Megumin and Darkness like this was a little unexpected.
No matter what, these two were usually quite restless.
Normally, they'd absolutely say things like,
"Let's go hunt some monsters already! My explosion magic is burning to be unleashed!"
"My body is burning for battle! Hurry and find a quest with some insanely powerful monster!"
Then they'd pester Fang Li to give them a quest.
However, over the past few days, the two had been surprisingly calm and hadn't brought up any of that.
How could Fang Li not be surprised?
"Was the reward issue really that much of a blow to them?"
Thinking this, Fang Li went to talk with Megumin and Darkness.
And then, he found out the real reason behind their sudden docility.
"I'm not too comfortable leaving Chomusuke with Yunyun. As her master, I should be dropping by regularly. Otherwise, that furball might start thinking Yunyun is her real master."
That's what Megumin said. So every day, she'd go visit Yunyun, claiming it was to check on Chomusuke, but clearly just going to hang out. She even had Yunyun accompany her for her usual daily explosion ritual.
"The Adventurer's Guild mentioned it, right? People from the Royal Capital are coming to pay us a visit. So I can't be running around aimlessly."
That's what Darkness said. For once, she was behaving herself, probably because, as the daughter of the Dustiness family, she felt she couldn't just ignore the dignitaries sent from the Royal Capital.
So, Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin, and Darkness ended up staying cooped up at home, rarely going outside.
Given that, Fang Li didn't push them. Instead, he headed to the Adventurer's Guild to take on quests himself.
When he defeated a Demon King army leader, the Guild had issued that as an official quest with added rewards and bonuses.
Upon completing that quest, Fang Li gained 500 Quest Points.
But that was still far from the 5,000 Quest Points required for Main Quest 2.
On top of that, Fang Li still had to grind monsters to reach Level 50 to meet the requirements for Main Quest 1, so he didn't have time to sit around idly.
As a result, while Kazuma and the others holed up at home, Fang Li went out and handled quests on his own.
Perhaps because news of him defeating a Demon King army leader had spread widely, Fang Li's reputation as a classless adventurer was gradually rising, and many of the doubts people had about him started to fade.
For example, in the past, when Fang Li had defeated powerful monsters and completed high-level quests, others thought he must have hired bodyguards and secretly cheated to level up.
By now, voices of doubt like those from before had mostly faded away.
As a result, Fang Li's reputation grew louder, and word began to spread that he was the only Classless person in history, something many found hard to believe.
Still, Fang Li continued to go about his quests methodically and steadily.
Over time, the people in the Adventurer's Guild began to look at Fang Li with eyes filled with respect and awe. Even the guild staff started treating him with noticeably more courtesy.
Notably, Luna, the receptionist who had nearly been "charmed" by one of Fang Li's rings before, seemed to be warming up to him as well.
Of course, Fang Li couldn't really afford to take her seriously. He kept his flirting light; if he actually crossed the line, Sylphiette might very well dismantle him once she woke up.
These peaceful days lasted until the seventh day, when they were finally broken.
That day, Fang Li hadn't gone to the Adventurer's Guild yet, but was instead invited there by the Guild itself.
And there, he received rather surprising news.
"A summons from the Royal Capital?"
Hearing what Luna had said, Fang Li raised an eyebrow.
To that reaction, Luna patiently explained:
"It seems that some high-ranking individuals in the Royal Capital wish to see for themselves the adventurer who managed to defeat a Demon King army leader who hadn't been taken down for years. So, they issued an official summons."
That was the reason.
Originally, the Royal Capital was supposed to send emissaries here to reward and honor the adventurers who had defeated the Demon King army leader.
However, due to that interest, it was ultimately decided that Fang Li's entire group would be summoned instead.
"In simple terms, Mr. Fang Li, you and your teammates are to head to the Royal Capital to receive official commendations," Luna said with a smile. "It won't just be nobles attending, rumor has it that even the Royal Family may be meeting you. That's quite an honor, you know?"
As she said this, Luna handed a letter to Fang Li.
"This is the formal invitation. Please bring your teammates with you to the Royal Capital. This invitation also serves as your travel permit."
Upon hearing that, Fang Li silently accepted the letter.
On the envelope was the crest of the Belzerg Kingdom.
That was something only used on the most important occasions, or for the most important individuals.
In other words, the Royal Capital was treating the adventurers who had defeated the Demon King's army leader with significant importance.
Still, whether it would be the nobles or the royal family meeting them remained unclear.
Looking at the invitation in his hand, Fang Li couldn't help but think of that little princess again.
"Don't tell me…"
Fang Li gave a bitter smile.
"This could get troublesome…"
However, going to the Royal Capital wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
At the very least, the quests available in Axel were no longer sufficient to meet Fang Li's growing need for Quest Points, nor for the increasingly difficult experience grind to raise his Rank.
"If I go to the Adventurer's Guild in the Royal Capital, I should be able to take on the highest-ranking quests and fight higher-ranking monsters, right?"
For Fang Li, this could only be a good thing.
Even if going to the Royal Capital itself might not turn out to be a good thing…
"I wonder how those useless housemates of mine will react to this…"
…
When Fang Li returned home and explained the situation to everyone,
"I object!"
As expected, Darkness was the first to stand up and express her opposition without the slightest hesitation.
And her expression was unusually serious.
(End of chapter)
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