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Within the Scarlet Jade Castle, at the corner of a bar room, sat a green man (he looks like a cactus at a glance with ivy growing over his head as a replacement for hair) over 3 meters in height. Besides him is a saber dog over 2 meters in height (curved swords approximately 1 meter in length grew on his back and forehead) who was grumbling over his mug.

“—Damn that ophidian brat, how long will he remains a big shot by bootlicking the Princess!”

“…Well, it can’t be helped right? From the start, that guy possessed that kind of strength. It took not only the Princess but also the likes of those transcendence and demon kings numbering up to 150 to bring him down, his ability is guaranteed. That’s what convinced the Princess to add that guy as a retainer, you must not be unaware of the amount of money the princess spent to bring him into her service.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you, that acting like he’s her number one loyal subject is f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g ridiculous!”

Bang! The saber dog vigorously slams his mug on the table as if it was his mortal enemy.

“It’s 300 years, 300 years! We were struggling for 300 years, and not even a single moment apart from the Princess! And that stinking brat with only 50 to 60 years at best together with her acts like this, he dares to push us around!”

In this case, when it came to Hiyuki, she couldn’t possibly notice the time difference in the game and the reality that they recognize, but it seems that to them, they have been together with her for 300 years.

“Well, even so, I can’t possibly complain seeing how that guy devotes-”
“YOU, who are you siding with!?”
“Nah, I’m not siding with anyone… Rather, aren’t you drunk?”
“This is still far too weak to make me drunk! Apart from that, aren’t you drinking as well?! I’ve been watching for quite a while and that’s not just water right!?”
“It’s inevitable, my plant system makes me immune to poison and medicine. I won’t get drunk from something like sake.”

Then, a seraph carrying 3 mugs with both of her hands — Mikoto came along.

“You two are in surprisingly high spirits, eh, Lord Iki, Lord Soujyu.”
“Ahh, if it isn’t one of the four heavenly evil kings, Mikoto.”

Those two stopped and stood up in a hurry as Mikoto placed her mugs on the table.

“Take it easy, you two. Our titles may differ, but we three are equals since we joined together at the same time period. Please act freely like always. —And to begin with, the seven beasts of calamity were supposed to be the nine beasts of calamity starting from Lord Iki to Lord Kokonoe, but you both have regretfully declined the position… Lord Susa is grieving, you know. The three of you originated together but are now separated.”

“Mmh…to even talk about that. We were only elected because of our old age.”
“…Even we have pride.”

Silently, Mikoto hands over the mugs that she brought to the two sullen people.

“Hou, this is a kumis! Thank you.”

The green man Soujyu was about to break into smiles, but in contrast, the saber dog Iki, who was rising on the drunk scale, suddenly dropped down.

“After all, we are good for nothings who failed the crucial evolution opportunity, compared to the likes of Susa and the others, who succeeded in evolving 2-3 times more than us. How could we stand before the Princess?”

After saying so, he gulped down the rest of his mug.

“… Are you still on about that? The evolution only adds a little amount of usefulness for your abilities, what matters in a fight is—”
“Cut it out, you bring out the same speech over and over. We are satisfied with our current position.”
“Ah… come to think of it. Isn’t the Princess currently taking action on the ground?”

Toward Soujyu’s question, Mikoto expressed a bitter smile.

“No matter where we are, even in this world the existence of adventurers is prevalent. Sooner or later we will get in touch with a person, so how strong are this world’s adventurers? In order to find out, she set off to see the adventurer’s guild.”
“… Adventurers, huh.”

Iki’s voice was filled with deep emotion.

That’s right, I remember. The first time we were picked by the Princess, she was an adventurer.”
“Indeed, it was shortly after that the three of us were assisting the Princess.”

Each one of them sank into their memories of the past, drowning in nostalgia.

“Come to think of it…” Mikoto blinked as she remembered something, “Princess wants to meet the two of you.”
“”Wh– What?!””

They both simultaneously left their seats and began to press Mikoto.

“Pr– Princess wants to meet us?!”
“R– Really? She didn’t forget about us?!”
“Of course. The story goes like this: when I introduced the seven beasts of calamity, the princess asked, ‘Where’s Iki and Soujyu?’…”
“O, oooooooh……”
“Pr– Princess. She was concerned for the likes of us…”

These two boorish men shed a flood of tears.

“I answered, ‘Those two are alive and doing well,’ she looked very glad and certainly wanted to meet you.”

Words are no longer reached those two who broke down crying.

“Then I continued, ‘Moreso, they desperately devoted themselves to training and amassing strength that wouldn’t lose to the demon commanders of the round table’, with her eyes wet she said, ‘Those two, to that extent….!’ and look greatly impressed.”

Suddenly, those two stopped crying, and looked at each other, with the weight gone from their face, they firmly nodded to each other.

“Mikoto, we leave the payment here. Sorry, but we leave the tab to you.”
“Hmm? Did you both have some urgent business?”
“We have decided! We will train our body without fail before we meet the Princess.”
“Yea, we will show Princess that our devotion will not lose to anyone!”

Seeing how both of them left the bar full of energy after saying so, Mikoto sips her mug alone with a satisfied smile.

Later, after training their body to the utmost limit, both Iki and Soujyu reunited again with Hiyuki, needless to say, she was screaming in happiness(?).

Author Notes:
For the background on the possibility of pet evolution as well as equipment reinforcement, in the case of the pet, the maximum amount of times they can evolve is 5 times, and equipment can be reinforced up to 10 times. Each grade that increases will naturally make the failure chance grow higher (There’s a cash item that increases the upgrade chance, but it only doubles the success rate, because the success rate by nature is well known at 5%, 2%, 0.3% and so forth, it doesn’t give any significant boost)

The weapon is lost when the reinforcement fails. For the pet, the evolution count is reduced with only a small change in its parameters. Also, a new skill will be added at random when it succeeds.

The seven beasts of calamity have each evolved at least 4 times, as for Soujyu and Iki, in this story, Hiyuki had only just begun the game so she didn’t use a cash item, resulting in their evolution ending at 2 times (it’s just because she got emotionally attached that she gave them names).