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Good morning.

Sometime after Karua had learned about the relationship between Mika and me, I apparently passed out again.
Is it already early evening?

Reddish rays of light were peeking through the sickbay’s skylight.

While she kept holding my hand, Mika had stretched her upper body onto the bed and fallen asleep, too. She was talking in her sleep, calling my name.

For now, I moved her onto the bed and covered her with a blanket, so she wouldn’t wake up.

According to what Karua had relayed to me, I needed to go to the king. I sent him a message, telling him I’d now be on my way, to which he replied immediately with an “Understood”.

I left the bed to make my way to the king. My body felt completely fine, and the headache and dizziness were gone, too.
All thanks to some good rest.

From the sickbay’s exit, the king’s room was straight ahead, then two turns to the right and one to the left. They had taught me the way one of the times when I was here before.

Two guards stood in front of the king’s room.

“Little Ali-¹… I mean… Miss Alim Nariwei, correct?”
“We were informed by the King. Just go through.” (Oh, is this guy part of the ‘Little Alim Fanclub’?)

The soldier on the left was about to call me Little Alim. I don’t think I’ve met him before.
He’s one of my fans, isn’t he?

While giving him some fan service in form of a radiant smile, I went into the room.

“Are you fine already, Alim?” the king asked as soon as I entered.
“Yes, since I had plenty of rest, your Majesty,” I replied.

Rather that the overly extravagant decoration I was expecting, the room’s interior was plain. Still, each of the items and furniture present were of “supreme grade” or “treasure grade”.

Among them, currently leaning against the bed, was also the king’s treasured² staff. It was mainly white and red and made from hard-to-get magic beast feathers. It was of “legend grade”.

I wonder, might the king be the type who likes to fight?

“That’s great. It would be no good, if you were to act too recklessly, would it? At any rate, Alim, do have a seat.”
“I will.”

Urged by the king, I sat down on a chair with a red cushion and cabriole legs³. On the back, an animal looking like an elephant was embroidered.

“You quickly picked up on the danger my daughter was in and went to rescue her. You also went through hardship, creating the items to strengthen the soldiers. In regards to these two things, I first want to give you my thanks.”
“Y-yes, your Majesty! Still, since Karua is my friend… rescuing her was only natural! Moreover… the latter was something… I decided on my own.”

The king laughed joyfully.

“Of course, that’s why I put my trust in you.”

I wonder, what does he mean by that?

“What are you saying, your Majetsty?”
“I had heard about you before the fact: A little girl, below the suitable age for an adventurer, raised her rank with unprecedented speed. Finally, that little girl shockingly became an A-Ranker in a mere 10 days. Furthermore, she had the audacity⁴ to win in the A-Rank section of the battle tournament, that’s only held once every few years and includes a shared meal for the victors. At this point in time, I had a hunch this Alim Nariwei might become friends with my daughter.”

So, that’s why the king handed me the flag of victory personally⁵… Moreover, I also thought it strange, they let me into the castle so easily, didn’t they…? So, this is how it happened?

Of course, since he’s someone standing on the top, he probably has to be aware of such personal matters.

“Is that true…?”
“Yes, that was, genuinely, what I read about you. Every day, Karua seems to be happy. Whenever she tells me about you and Mika, she looks overjoyed. In fact, right after meeting her, you protected her from the Thunderbird, today you went and rescued her from the demons, and you continue to protect her with the ornament you crafted for her. I’ll say it as often as needed. Truly… you have my gratitude. Thank you.”

The king quickly bowed his head to me.

I wouldn’t even have dreamed of the king lowering his head.
However, it looks like he has the mentality of a knight.

He probably won’t hesitate to bow his head to someone he owes his thanks. It’s as if he believes it’s expected of him to show his gratitude.

“Finally, today. You wrecked your own body, manufacturing the tools to help my country win the war against the demons. Ha-ha-ha! The gratitude I owe you, Alim, can no longer be measured.”

Eh-heh-heh, being told this frankly feels embarrassing.

I don’t need any particular reward, do I?
For now, let’s tell him my honest thoughts.

“…That was because I didn’t want anyone to die, and… Additionally, your Majesty, though launching a surprise attack would have been easier, the demons must have some ulterior motive that made them go out of their way to send us a declaration of war and lose out on that opportunity.”
“True, I think so, too, you know.”

An ulterior motive… Though my words had sounded uncertain, the king didn’t look like he had any big qualms with them.
Does he also have some kind of secret plan?

“Still, that’s not a problem!” the king said as he threw out his chest.
As expected, there is something.

“Why, there’s no strain between our country and other nations, and have you seen how peaceful it is, except for some parts of the underworld?
“I have… If only the demons didn’t send that declaration of war…”
“Of course, that’s also true. But they have one very good reason.”

I cocked my head to the side, trying to understand him.
I don’t really get it.

“What reason would that be, your Majesty?”
“It’s simple, our country is powerful. In the past, we took pride in never having lost a war. Therefore, we even declared we wouldn’t go to war, unless we were attacked.”

I see, so, this country is powerful in a conflict? I had no idea. Or rather, it’s terrific they were never defeated.

However…

“Still, your Majesty. The demons threw down the gauntlet, being fully aware of this… Why would they do that?
“That’s probably to say they’re feeling indebted. They’ve attained a noticeably high chance at victory, thanks to you, Alim.”

That’s right. Mephistophales even said so, didn’t he?
Indeed, even though he was in a bad spot, he looked like he was brimming with self-confidence.

“If that’s the case, he was prepared.”
“Yes, but I still want to thank you, Alim… I haven’t yet repaid that debt in the least, so would you listen to me?”

As soon as he said that, his gaze turned serious.
Maybe he is about to breach the main subject…

As for me… I think I’d do anything to be useful to him, as long as Mika won’t cry since she’s worried.
Bring it on!

“You don’t need to thank me, your Majesty. Didn’t you already grant me that favor?”
“Yes… that’s true…”

The king took a deep breath and looked at me with a pointed gaze.

“Alim, won’t you become the ‘Hero’?”

TL notes:
A prime example of a light novel protagonist being unable to accept rewards/gratitude from a person of authority. I get that being humble is an integral trait for Japanese people, but in situations like these, I think continuously refusing to accept a reward becomes insulting. To the king it probably sounds like nothing he could offer is worthy of being an acceptable reward.

1. Alim-chan in the original. I find it somewhat hard to localize this suffix properly, so I usually just use the name (e.g. when Karua addresses Alim and Mika since she always uses “chan” for them). Here I used a workaround since it wouldn’t have made much sense otherwise.
2. The original uses the word 宝級 (treasure grade) that’s normally utilized for the value of items. Since he says it’s legend grade shortly afterwards, it’s clearly something else. It might be a typo and intended to be something like 宝物 (“treasure”, “treasured item”).
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabriole_leg. The original is 猫足 (lit. “Cat Leg”).
4. The verb form used here is one that expresses disdain about an action. It doesn’t really make sense, since the king seems so fond of Alim, so I tried to convey it in a form that doesn’t appear overly negative.
5. Back in chapter 70.