ebookland #120 - Journey to the West for Her Royal Highness
#120 - Journey to the West for Her Royal Highness
“… … That’s how it is. I smoothly opened the lock deep within the labyrinth, and then everyone obtained the treasure without any close calls, successfully clearing the dungeon. Haha… Haha…”
Chris was originally quite enthusiastically recounting her experiences in the dungeon, but when she saw Alice's increasingly calm and dim expression, she immediately felt awkward and didn't know what to do.
The reason Alice felt bored was very simple.
It lacked excitement, dominance, and爽 (爽, shuǎng - a feeling of being refreshed and satisfied), completely missing the exhilarating feeling of a Dragon-like character slaying enemies with overwhelming power—a far cry from the heroic adventures in the stories.
Actually, Chris can't be blamed.
Besides her poor storytelling skills, she was originally just an ordinary thief, and the dungeons she went to with her companions were generally easy, simple, and without much danger.
After all, constantly hanging around Axel, a beginner's village, made it quite difficult to encounter danger.
However, telling stories about how to infiltrate people's homes, break through guards to steal things as a chivalrous thief, would be a guaranteed hit.
Unfortunately, she couldn't tell those stories.
Chris looked at Zun Zun with pleading eyes, but only received a helpless response.
“I-Is that so… What a truly thrilling adventure, Miss Chris is really amazing—”
The completely flat tone indicated that it wasn't true.
Alice was a good girl. Even if the adventure story wasn't that interesting or dramatic, she still thoughtfully praised Chris to avoid embarrassing her. However, this thoughtfulness only made Chris feel discouraged.
—So sorry for being so bland!
“Compared to me, Zun Zun's adventure experiences are actually much richer.” Chris said, pointing at Zun Zun.
Zun Zun waved his hand and said, “I'm still a novice adventurer just starting out. You know, it's only been two and a half months since I became an adventurer.”
“Two and a half months to defeat Mitsurugi Kyouya? Two and a half months to repel a Demon King Army executive? If all novice adventurers were like you, then the Demon King Army would definitely be nothing to worry about.”
“Eh? Eh? Eh————!?”
Hearing Chris say this, Alice's eyes widened with excitement as she looked at Zun Zun with sparkling eyes.
“W-What's wrong?”
“Um… Zun Zun, did you really defeat Mitsurugi Kyouya? The Magic Sword Hero who's been so famous in the royal capital recently?”
“Very famous?”
“Yes! Actually, Mr. Mitsurugi has been very famous for a long time, but later, for some reason, he said he wanted to find companions and went into seclusion for a while. Recently, he's started doing a lot of high-difficulty quests again, and the Demon King Army has been retreating in defeat!”
Hearing that Mitsurugi Kyouya was working so hard, Zun Zun felt very gratified, because he was definitely trying to earn money to pay back the loan he owed him.
Was there any other employee as dedicated as him?
No!
Alice twisted her fingers and said softly, “Um, um…”
“Ah, you want to know how he defeated Mitsurugi Kyouya, right?” Chris said with a mischievous smile, “It was a sneak attack. Zun Zun used a trick to sneak attack Mitsurugi Kyouya.”
“Eh?”
“This guy Zun Zun clearly said he would count to 5 before starting the fight, but he attacked when he counted to 4. He's really scum.”
“How could…”
Wait, wait, wait!
What are you talking about?
Seeing Alice looking at him with the eyes of someone looking at scum, Zun Zun immediately slammed the table and loudly defended himself.
“That's not how it is! Alice, you have to know that adventurers don't count to 5! So, in a battle, you can attack as soon as you count to 4! This is a common agreement among adventurers!”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“…How is that possible?”
Alice looked to Chris for confirmation and received a negative answer, looking at Zun Zun with deep disappointment.
Damn it!
He only did that because he didn't like Mitsurugi Kyouya, who would have thought that there would be such a boomerang effect one day.
“Ah, but Zun Zun later legitimately defeated Mitsurugi Kyouya.”
“Chris!”
Seeing Chris speaking well of him, Zun Zun was very touched… wait, was she doing it on purpose? Seeing her sticking her tongue out at him like a little devil, he became even more certain.
Alice was slightly surprised after hearing this, “Really?”
“Well… cough cough, that's right, but Mitsurugi also didn't use his full strength, because he didn't use the power of the Magic Sword.”
Zun Zun didn't get carried away because of this, because a true expert shouldn't brag in front of others, and should even praise the other party.
“Mitsurugi Kyouya, he is very strong.”
Only in this way can he show that he, who defeated the other party, is even stronger!
No one
Understands
Creating
The atmosphere of an expert
More than me.
Zun Zun wasn't actually wrong, Mitsurugi Kyouya was really strong. After all, he wasn't like Megumin, who recklessly used Explosion magic regardless of the situation. When fighting Zun Zun, Mitsurugi Kyouya was restrained.
If he used the Magic Sword that could kill an Ancient Dragon in one hit, not to mention Zun Zun and the onlookers, Axel would be leveled.
“So amazing! Even if Mr. Mitsurugi doesn't use the Magic Sword, he must still be very strong! I didn't expect you to be able to defeat him!”
“…Is that so?”
“And the Demon King Army executive! When did you repel the Demon King Army executive, Zun Zun? Why didn't I receive any news!?”
Alice seemed very interested.
Zun Zun also knew why. After all, it was repelling rather than defeating. Weren't the Demon King Army executives always repelled every time they attacked? Alice was a princess of a country, and she was busy with government affairs every day. How could she have time to pay attention to these trivial matters? Of course, Claire probably didn't report it either.
“It wasn't just my accomplishment alone. All the adventurers in Axel contributed a lot.”
He recounted the story of the Headless Knight's attack and defeat.
“…That's how it is. Because the purification magic used by the town's most powerful high priest at the time didn't work, I guessed that he might have resistance to that aspect. I also thought that undead creatures have the attribute of being weak to water, so I tried using advanced water magic on him and successfully weakened him. The other mages in the town also took action one after another, and we were able to repel the Demon King Army executive.”
“So amazing, really clever!”
Alice looked at Zun Zun with admiration in her eyes.
Honestly, it felt great!
Although Zun Zun's storytelling ability was as bad as Chris's, the effect of “I destroyed a giant toad with one move” versus “I destroyed a Demon King Army executive with one move” was different.
Especially this understated narrative, which could add a lot of awesomeness.
However, Zun Zun quickly ran out of things to say.
As mentioned before, he was just a novice adventurer of two and a half months, and he really didn't have any legendary experiences worth mentioning. He couldn't possibly tell her about the Red Demon clan, right?
Wait, the Red Demon clan?
Zun Zun remembered, he still had a novel of supernatural tales, which was the book he had co-authored with Ugoku.
The newest novels can be found at 69shu.com!
That's right, Journey to the West!
He took out a book from his chest.
“What is this?”
“A very interesting heroic tale. It's my favorite adventure biography.”
A smile appeared on Zun Zun's face.
Satou Kazuma's tracksuit was the only modern item he had after being reincarnated. Zun Zun, who was reborn as a baby, didn't have such a thing. So, after Ugoku ghostwrote and edited this book into a volume, Zun Zun carried it with him at all times as a memento.
“Journey to the West” had two volumes.
One was the one in his hand, and the other was placed in the Red Demon clan's library, as a reward for those who constantly explored—for the day when this unknown secret would be discovered.
“Then I'll read this book to you!”
Zun Zun opened the book.
The first chapter was naturally the birth of the Stone Monkey.
When Alice heard about a monkey jumping out of a stone, she immediately retorted, “Wait, I've never seen a beastman jump out of a stone!”
“Yes, it's normal to have doubts. After all, I've never seen fruits and vegetables flying in the sky, or different species falling in love.” Zun Zun looked at the grapes and cherries still sticking together on the table.
This was the difference in culture.
But that didn't matter, being interesting was the key.
As the story slowly unfolded, Alice gradually became immersed in it, fascinated, until the monkey crossed the sea to travel among humans and visited the Three-Star Cave to learn from a master. He also refused to learn this and that, angering his master and being tapped on the head three times.
Chris asked strangely, “Tapped on the head three times?”
“That's right, tapped like this.”
Zun Zun tapped her on the back of the head three times.
“Wait, why did you tap me?”
“Because I had to demonstrate.”
Zun Zun said this as a matter of course, but Chris always felt that this had another meaning.
Alice was a little anxious, “What happened next? What happened after being tapped on the head three times!”
“If you want to know what happens next, listen to the next chapter.”
Zun Zun stopped there.
It was as annoying as some people who clearly had a story that had progressed to the climax stage, but told you that they would update it tomorrow.
“You're not going to tell it…”
“Because it's too late.”
At this time, the sky had already darkened, and there were very few pedestrians on the street. Although there were streetlights illuminating the street, the Demon King Army had been coming to harass them recently, and the residents didn't dare to stay outside for long.
Alice looked regretfully at Zun Zun's hand putting “Journey to the West” into his chest. That eager gaze had no concealment, causing Zun Zun's hand to pause.
“…Alice, do you want this book?”
“T-That… I really want to read it, but this book is also very important to you, right?”
What a good child. If it were other royal nobles, they might have seized it by force, relying on their status, but Alice didn't do that.
After thinking about it, he handed the book over.
“I'll give you this book.”
“…Can I? Is such a precious thing okay?”
“Of course! Don't worry, there's still one in the Red Demon clan. Alice, please accept it with peace of mind. Just consider it a gift from me for our first meeting. Besides, I'm also very happy that you like this book.”
Zun Zun was like an otaku recommending his favorite works to others, but this time he was recommending his own world-famous masterpiece, and he felt very proud.
Alice was very happy after receiving the book.
She would probably stay up late tonight to read it.
Zun Zun and Chris exchanged glances, seeing the triumphant look in each other's eyes. In this way, there would be no obstacles to tonight's action.