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"So, you became an adventurer?" After hearing about it from Darkness, Iris gave a gentle smile.
"And you even defeated a Demon King Army leader because of it… Truly impressive, Lalatina. That armor suits you very well."
The refined and graceful praise made Darkness blush slightly as she thanked Iris.
Perhaps only Fang Li could notice it?
In Iris's eyes, behind that refined and graceful smile, there was a fleeting trace of envy and loneliness.
It was clear that she deeply resonated with Darkness's decision to become an adventurer in Axel, boldly stepping away from her aristocratic background.
This little girl, who feared loneliness, must also have longed to make companions and go adventuring like Darkness, right?
(Still the same as before… lacking freedom…)
Fang Li sighed inwardly.
Even though Fang Li had only spent a brief amount of time with Iris, for some reason, he couldn't help but be concerned about her.
(Probably because, just like Emilia, this girl makes it hard to feel at ease leaving her alone.)
At that moment, Claire, who was standing nearby, finally opened her mouth.
"This time, thanks to all of you, we were finally able to eliminate a long-time threat to the kingdom, one of the Demon King Army's leaders," Claire said. "Your achievements not only greatly boosted the morale of our country, which has long been resisting the Demon King Army, but even caught them off guard. To be honest, if it hadn't been for your sudden attack on one of their leaders, causing them to hesitate, the Royal Capital might have already fallen."
Claire's statement left the entire group, including Fang Li, visibly surprised.
"Why?" Kazuma asked bluntly, without the slightest hesitation. "Hasn't the Royal Capital been under attack by the Demon King Army for ages, and never fallen?"
"Precisely because of that, the Demon King Army's attack this time was particularly fierce," Rain sighed and explained. "If we trace it back, it all leads to the matter of the Black Knight's appearance, doesn't it?"
Fang Li raised an eyebrow immediately.
Iris quickly interjected, "It has nothing to do with that individual."
Seeing Iris, who had just been so graceful and composed, suddenly becoming somewhat desperate, Darkness glanced silently at Fang Li, as if to say: Don't take it too far.
However, Megumin stepped forward and spoke directly:
"Why blame the Black Knight? Didn't he help the Royal Capital repel the Demon King Army?"
As someone who idolized the Black Knight, Megumin's words first drew a string of nods from Iris, but were immediately met with rebuke from Claire.
"True, although we don't know his motives, that thief did help the Royal Capital fight off the Demon King Army," Claire said sharply, showing no sign of politeness. "But the unrest he caused in the capital didn't end there. And if we're being honest, it's only natural: the Knight Order was toyed with by a mere thief, of course, this would give outsiders the impression that our military strength is weak. The Demon King Army, which had already been aggressively attacking the capital, now learned that the kingdom's knight order had been completely defeated by a single man. Naturally, they became even more reckless in their assault."
Though that thief had also slaughtered an entire Demon King Army unit, for the Demon King Army, whose forces mainly consist of monsters, the loss of a single unit was not considered significant.
The fact that the Knight Order was defeated by a single individual was simply undeniable.
Given that, it was just as Claire had said, when the Demon King Army saw how poorly the Knight Order had performed, of course they would seize the opportunity to launch a fierce assault.
"Precisely because of this, ever since the Black Knight left the Royal Capital, the Demon King Army began launching aggressive attacks here, causing the Royal Capital to nearly fall several times over the past few months," Rain explained to the group. "In the end, it was only thanks to the help of Heroes empowered by the gods, with divine weapons and abilities, that the Royal Capital was barely able to hold out."
Upon hearing this, Kazuma couldn't help but glance at Aqua.
But for some reason, Aqua seemed totally detached from the conversation. She was casually wandering around the audience hall like she was at an art exhibit, admiring the decorations, leaving Kazuma and Megumin both with the strong urge to just bury their useless goddess on the spot.
Darkness, however, understood the implication.
"So that's how it is," Darkness said, glancing at Fang Li with meaning. "Then I suppose it is reasonable to trace this all back to the Black Knight."
Fang Li ignored the masochistic knight deliberately trying to provoke him and simply listened to the conversation in silence.
"In any case," Claire continued, "at a time like this, your sudden defeat of one of the Demon King Army's leaders caught them completely off guard. It made them hesitant, and that has significantly reduced the intensity of their offensive. That is precisely why Her Highness Iris decided to summon you all, to express her gratitude personally."
So that's what this was really about.
However, it was at that very moment that Fang Li suddenly spoke up.
"I'm afraid… that might not be the only reason, right?"
His unexpected question startled everyone, and all eyes simultaneously turned toward Fang Li, including Iris herself.
She stared at him intently, as if her earlier suspicions had just been reignited.
Even Darkness moved a little closer to Fang Li and whispered, "What are you trying to say…?"
Fang Li didn't respond to her. Instead, he met Iris's gaze head-on.
"Her Highness Iris summoned us to the Royal Capital… not merely to thank us, correct?" Fang Li said with a faint smile. "After all, the Demon King Army's assault has only slowed down, not ceased. If I'm not mistaken, the true purpose of the summons… was to request our assistance."
"No," Fang Li corrected himself, shaking his head. "More accurately, it was to request the help of an Adventurer team capable of defeating a Demon King Army leader."
His statement brought the entire room to a sudden realization.
"I see now," Megumin was the first to speak up, calmly. "They want us to help fight against the Demon King Army."
"Wait, what, are you serious?" Kazuma said in disbelief. "Isn't that, like… super dangerous?"
"Don't back down just because it's dangerous, you idiot!" Darkness shouted at him. "This is our chance to do something for the kingdom!"
"Hey, hey, " Aqua, who had finally wandered back over, looked at Iris with a curious expression and asked, "If we beat the Demon King Army, can we maybe, y'know… change the state religion to, mmpfh!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Kazuma, Megumin, and Darkness all simultaneously clamped their hands over her mouth.
Watching the four of them suddenly tangled together in chaos, Claire and Rain were left dumbfounded, momentarily unable to react.
Only Iris spoke again, softly.
"Um…"
She looked directly at Fang Li and said:
"May I ask you to come a little closer? I'd like to take a good look at you."
(End Of This Chapter)