Leave a comment

Having defeated Evil Dragon Colchis, each of us received enough money and materials to live in luxury for a lifetime.
Simultaneously, we gained fame surpassing that of royalty and titled nobles.

Excluding Maxwell who was already a royal, we were just an eyesore to the ruling class.
After all, they pushed us to restore the three northern countries destroyed by Colchis to keep us out of their power struggle.

Luckily, a newborn survivor of the royalty there has been found, and somehow that country has begun to successfully build itself up around that child by all outward appearances.
At their request, we spent day-in-day-out subjugating monsters and bandits.

I suppose those days of being worked like a horse are about to come to an end, it’s been about a year since I came to the north, hasn’t it.
Despite the continent having a stable climate, the northern part of the country is often locked in by snow.
On those days, we would be left to our own devices to spend time leisurely locked indoors.
Lyell who stood on the frontlines, and Maria who healed his wounds were already quite intimate with each other, so they spent many such days together.
And on an ordinary day just like any other, they suddenly announced they were going to tie the knot.

I’m not so dense that I couldn’t tell what was going on.
Cortina who had just pieced things together was the one giving them the most blessings.

The problem came after.
Lyell the vanguard attacker and Maria the main healer.
It’s obvious we couldn’t ask the newlyweds out on adventures.
Even we wouldn’t ask them that. If we put them in a party we’d just fuss over them.

And so, we ended up breaking up the party with each of us going about making a new life for ourselves.
Maxwell who was a royal returned to his home country to fulfill his duties as part of the royal family.
Gadius started running an inn for newbie adventurers so he could nurture new talent.
Maria started helping out at a nearby village’s church, Lyell meanwhile moved with her to become a guard at that village.

Which left me and Cortina without a place to belong.

“I think it’s time I retired…”
“What’re you saying, you’re still so young.”
“I don’t see what age has to do with it though?”

I started grumbling to him over drinks while killing time at his inn.
I mean, sure I’m still in my mid-20s.
I did try to lead a party of beginners, but that didn’t go as planned.
I joined up with some newbies and at Gadius’ request I was gonna show ‘em the ropes but I ended up doing everything myself.

“Well, what are the newbies going to learn if you run off and exterminate trolls and have their heads roll at your feet.”
“The trolls were too much for them though?”
“You could’ve let them gain some experience fighting one even if they couldn’t win. Just have to stick around to make sure no one dies.”

Gadius poured some wine into my cup and pulled another glass out to pour whiskey into.
I reached out to grab hold of my cup, but Gadius blocked me.
As expected of the defense expert.

“That’s alcohol.”
“Ain’t it the shop’s?”
“It’s the shop’s alcohol and the shop’s alcohol is mine.”
“Ain’t that kinda unfair eh?”

Completely ignoring my complaints, Gadius chugged the alcohol down.
BOOM! After slamming down the empty glass on the table Gadius glared at me fiercely.
“Honestly, the two of you… being too good is a problem in itself.”
“The two… of us?”
“Cortina too!”

Did you make her do it too? Cortina can keep up with top-class adventurers even without having legendary skills like us.
Still… having trouble doesn’t sound like her.

“What’d she do?”
“Her instructions…”
“If it’s Tina’s instruction, then they can’t be wrong can they?”
“It’s only you and Lyell that can barely keep up with her demands y’know.”
“Ah, that, maybe…”

Cortina’s instructions are determined by the enemy’s strengths and abilities, which means they’re often pretty hard.
For a newbie, it’ll definitely be a tough hurdle to keep up with her.

“You can’t do it?”
“I don’t have any talent so I can’t ask others to follow my lead.”

I’m not good at teaching others myself. I once tried to teach Cortina stealth techniques but it ended in failure.
Thinking about it, maybe now’s a good time.
Luckily, if I retire now I’ll have enough resources to get by until I die. Though I don’t know how long half-demons like me live.

And it’s not just the money, we all split the scales of the Evil Dragon up, so if we had to sell them, they’d bring in a pretty penny.
The Evil Dragon’s corpse is itself a treasure trove you could say.
The heart especially is said to be an ingredient for a potion of immortality.
But since we made the Evil Dragon explode from the inside out, the only salvageable parts were the skin, nails, fangs, and scales.
But just that is an incredible treasure that many countries have tried asking us to share.

But just a single scale is very strong by itself, it defends from everything except the holy sword.
We’re worried about letting something like this circulate around.
So we decided to split the materials between us.
That way if someone’s robbed the others can still use the power of the dragon to subjugate the offender.

You can expect to gain considerable power by making equipment out of these materials.
Or you could just earn a living defeating monsters.
But it doesn’t matter if I’m single, I wish I had someone to snuggle with like Lyell does.

Cortina’s face popped into my head at that moment for some reason.

The one who gave me the most hellish orders, who relied on me to always keep them safe.
If you’re Lyell, Gadius, Maria, or Maxwell you could easily protect yourself.
But Cortina doesn’t have such power.
No, in general, she’s a pretty skilled adventurer.
Still, when it comes to the battlefields we tread on, you can’t deny she’s lacking in power.
She’s contributed her knowledge and walked with us through perilous hellscapes.
Putting her life in my hands like that, it’s a testimony to her trust in us… no, to her trust in me.

Has there ever been another woman who trusted me as much as her…

“Anyways… she’s not that bad”
“Hm, what’s up with you?”
“It’s nothing…”

I decided to keep my decision to myself, that day I mulled over how to win her over.