The legend of the Crimson Demon clan started from Suqing

#426 - The prince who worships the dragon-slaying hero

Hearing that the neighboring country's prince was his little fanboy, Kazuma actually felt rather complicated. He never expected it to be like this.

However, he could roughly guess the reason.

Firstly, the prime minister of this kingdom was actually a spy planted by the Demon King's army. Kazuma's recent success in subduing the Demon King's army's executives had made him very wary. Furthermore, he always mentioned Kazuma's name for some unknown reason, which piqued Prince Revi's interest and turned him into a fan.

Sato Kazuma's face lit up as he figured this out.

"Then—"

"It's impossible for me to budge. This is this, and that is that."

He had hoped to get Prince Revi to agree, using the opportunity to give them the support funds, but he didn't expect this guy to remain so stubborn.

However, Kazuma's opinion of him changed somewhat.

Not putting personal preferences above national affairs is the duty of every royal. He did well in this regard... Although using a competition to determine the amount of support money was still criticized, it was quite normal in a gambling-oriented country.

"Hey, you should know who I am, right?"

"...Huh?"

"It's me, Sato Kazuma! The unsurpassed adventurer who shone brightly in the battles against many Demon King Army executives, and who is currently very popular!"

"What's that? Never heard of him."

"What!?"

Sato Kazuma seemed very angry that his name wasn't well-known. He kept emphasizing how crucial his support had been in the battles against the Demon King Army executives, but just like how no one ever pays attention to second place, he didn't play a decisive role and was far less famous than Kazuma.

Thinking about it, it made sense.

Prince Revi didn't even know about Megumin, Yunyun, Aqua, or Darkness when they first met. He only changed his attitude towards Kazuma after hearing the prime minister's introduction. How could Sato Kazuma possibly bother to gather information?

Seeing that he really wasn't famous, Sato Kazuma could only angrily stab at the steak on his plate, earning a scolding from Alice.

Although he was ostensibly Alice's older brother, he was still being too outrageous.

Kazuma's side was actually a bit chaotic as well.

Before attending the banquet, he had thought that Prince Revi had come up with some trick to deliberately make things difficult for them. He had even prepared to throw a tantrum at the banquet, but he didn't expect it to suddenly turn into a fan meeting.

Especially since the target was himself!

How should he put it...

He suddenly didn't know what to do.

Especially with Prince Revi looking at him with shining eyes, which made Kazuma feel very uncomfortable. That adoring gaze was definitely not fake or acting.

It even made him feel apologetic for threatening and coercing Prince Revi earlier.

As an idol, threatening his own fans... If this were another world, he would be flamed online!

Just as Kazuma didn't know how to start, Sato Kazuma rudely shook the hand holding the fork and said, "Alright, alright, I know Prince Revi admires Kazuma very much, but don't stare so intently. It'll make the idol uncomfortable."

"...That was indeed rude. I apologize."

Prince Revi withdrew his gaze and apologized very politely.

This was completely different from when they first met.

It immediately made Kazuma and the others realize that Prince Revi wasn't truly a mischievous child. Rather, he was deliberately acting mischievous to provoke their dislike.

This was also a social tactic, which could provoke opposition between the two sides, using the excuse of disagreement to reduce the support funds.

They should have entered the stage of speaking frankly and openly, but just like how this banquet was still very simple and unadorned, Prince Revi didn't intend to tear apart this clumsy disguise.

However, his admiration was sincere.

"Um, Kazuma... Can I ask you a question?"

"It's probably about how you defeated the Demon King Army executives, right?" Sato Kazuma interjected, as if he had expected it, and said, "In that case, you might as well ask me. I can give you a good explanation..."

"No, I'm not concerned about that."

"...Huh?"

Prince Revi's reaction surprised everyone slightly. With the Demon King Army wreaking havoc on the continent, it was impossible not to care about how to defeat the Demon King Army executives, right? Rather, under normal circumstances, everyone would care about this, right? That's what's always described to death in heroic sagas, right?

He wasn't playing by the rules at all.

"What I want to ask is..."

"What he wants to ask is..."

As his tone lengthened, everyone became slightly nervous. Then, Prince Revi slowly opened his mouth and said:

"Have you ever defeated a dragon?"

"Dragon...?

Kazuma was slightly stunned.

He didn't expect it to be this question.

Prince Revi seemed to have opened a floodgate, speaking excitedly and spraying saliva as he said, "Yes! Don't you think it's very cool, a dragon-slaying hero! Whether it's in comics or heroic sagas, surely defeating a dragon is more exciting, right!"

After speaking, he stared intently at Kazuma.

"Um... Heh... Is that so..."

Honestly, it wasn't that Kazuma looked down on dragons, but among the Demon King Army executives he had defeated, any one of them—even Wiz—could easily take care of the so-called dragons. Even the Dragon King or something wouldn't be a problem.

That's right, the Demon King Army executives were that powerful, which was why they were so troublesome.

However—

"Dragon... Dragon, huh... A dragon... is a big lizard with wings, right?" Sato Kazuma scratched his head and couldn't help but say, "I do know that Aqua bought a dragon egg some time ago, but it actually hatched into a chick... Speaking of which, we've never defeated a dragon, right?"

"Y-yes, that's right..."

Prince Revi's disappointment was unconcealed.

That expression was as if his father, whom he thought was omnipotent when he was young, suddenly told him that he couldn't have children. It was as if the sky had fallen.

Come to think of it, they had defeated many Demon King Army executives. Even the Winter Shogun had been recklessly attempted, but it seemed they had never encountered a dragon.

After all, Axel was just an ordinary beginner town.

If it were Kyouya Mitsurugi, he might have defeated many ancient dragons with his magic sword Gram.

Seeing that the conversation wasn't progressing, Sato Kazuma quickly said, "H-how about this! How about the Demon King Army executives? For example, the headless knight that we tried our best to defeat but still let escape? Or the clairvoyant demon who could see through people's hearts and trick everyone? Or the poisonous slime that almost polluted the hot spring city of Alcanretia... or something like that?"

"N-no, thank you..."

No matter what he said, Prince Revi still looked listless. On the other hand, Alice's eyes lit up with interest, but she didn't act spoiled and instead quietly asked them to tell her the details when they returned.

Sato Kazuma was also helpless.

"Um... Thank you very much for your hospitality today. We'll..."

"Wait a moment."

"Kazuma?"

At the moment Alice wanted to get up to say goodbye, she was stopped.

Kazuma looked at the disappointed Prince Revi and said, "It's not like I haven't had any adventures defeating dragons..."

"No need, I don't want you to make up stories..."

"No, it's true."

Then, Kazuma used magic.

"—Memory Manifestation."

"What is this?"

"A virtual screen!?"

When they saw the screen floating in mid-air, Sato Kazuma opened his mouth in surprise, while Prince Revi and Alice looked puzzled.

"This is magic. It extracts past experiences from my memory and plays them back. You can even know what happened when Kazuma first came to this world. How about it? Do you want to try it?"

"Please don't!"

Sato Kazuma lowered his head decisively.

He had to know that he was very embarrassed when he transmigrated. If Prince Revi found out and laughed at him, Alice's filter for him would also be broken, so it was absolutely impossible.

Kazuma didn't continue to tease him, but instead looked at Prince Revi and said, "How about it? Is that convincing enough?"

"Well..."

"Besides, I'm not too sure what your definition of a dragon is. Although I've encountered poison dragons, wind dragons, and mirage dragons, the one that made me feel the most threatened was definitely this one."

As he spoke, a dragon that was hundreds of meters tall and burning with flames appeared on the screen. Even through the screen, they could feel the heat.

"—Magic Flame Dragon!"

"This is...!?"

Obviously, Prince Revi had also recognized that this dragon was the fairy dragon that had appeared in the castle yesterday and intimidated everyone.

"Don't be nervous. If you keep watching, you'll know why."

Then, the documentary began to play.

One hour later.

"—That's how it is." Kazuma closed the screen and said, "Although the Magic Flame Dragon was eliminated, I really don't know if it should be considered a defeat. I'm actually a bit unable to accept it. You guys agree, right?"

He thought they would express their own opinions, but—

"Kazuma, what's going on with that beautiful elf girl!?"

"That's right, that's right! She's actually so close to you, Kazuma. I can't accept it! Tell me the truth. What's your relationship!?"

Alice and Sato Kazuma shouted excitedly.

Although they were excited for different reasons, they were all interested in the beautiful elf girl—翠.

"There's a very deep reason for that. Anyway, the problem isn't here, right?"

"How could it not be!"

"That's right, that's right!"

These two guys are so annoying!

He was clearly in the middle of a conversation with Prince Revi, yet they were concerned about other things. What would happen to the support funds if he made the other party unhappy!?

The two of them then realized this and looked at Prince Revi.

But they found him lowering his head and trembling.

Sure enough, this kind of abrupt ending at a crucial moment wasn't as enjoyable as a thorough defeat of the Magic Flame Dragon. He should have shown him the video of himself fighting the wind dragon alone.

"Um..."

"So cool!"

"What?"

"So cool! Really so cool! That dragon was so powerful, so big, and in such a dangerous situation, you still managed to defeat it, Kazuma. Really... really, really cool!"

Prince Revi's eyes were shining, and he was so excited that his face was flushed.

Seeing him like this, the three of them tilted their heads.

"...Eh?" X3