Count Hamilton's Knights took the lead in the triumphal return of the new Lord, Kiel. The announcement of the defeat of the White Dragon was also made at the same time, and many people saw the head of the White Dragon brought to Carnel City with the arrival of the new Lord.
The main street was already flooded with people from Carnel City.
It was because Count Hamilton had used his Knights to spread the word throughout the city in a short time that the new Lord, Kiel, and his friends had succeeded in defeating the White Dragon.
Some of them started crying when they saw the head of the White Dragon.
They might have been the bereaved families of those who were sacrificed when the White Dragon suddenly appeared in the territory several years ago.
I had heard that the White Dragon had destroyed several mining sites for Mithril ore and many miners died in the process.
The joy, gratitude, and maybe even the sadness of those days were coming back to them.
It seemed that the head of the White Dragon was going to be placed in the central square of the city for a while under the guard of Knights for the sake of the people who had yet to see it.
My friends and I proceeded with the flow of Knights, and after a while we arrived at the Carnell Family's mansion.
(Oh, an official from the Royal Castle.)
As I entered the mansion, which was larger than Viscount Granvelle's mansion, I saw a number of people wearing the same clothes I had seen at the Royal Castle.
Kiel had been made a Baron of Carnell territory, but it had only been a few days since then.
I wondered if there was still some paperwork that needed to be done, such as the transfer from the Royal Territory to the Baronial Territory.
In the midst of all that, I saw a girl that used to live with us a few months ago.
"Brother Kiel! You're safe!"
"Nina!"
(There's a sense of Nobility even in the way she is running up to Kiel. It's very different from Mash and Muras.)
Nina hugged Kiel and looked like she was about to cry.
The way she hugged Kiel made me think that she was raised differently from Mash and Muras, whom I had just recently met for the first time in about two years.
"Well, well, Baron von Carnell."
"What? Yes."
An official came up to Kiel, interrupting the emotional reunion of the siblings, while rubbing his hands.
"I am a Royal Messenger, and I would like to congratulate you on being made a Baron..."
"Hmm, how about we have this talk some other place?"
"It was my mistake, Count Hamilton. Please forgive me."
(Count Hamilton doesn't yield to a Royal Messenger. He is indeed a high-ranking Noble.)
Count Hamilton, a high-ranking Noble who held a powerful position in the faction known as the Alliance Faction, could at least complain to the Royal Messenger even when he had come with the Royal Order.
"Let's talk about the future." the Royal Messenger said, and we moved to the Meeting Room.
We had just arrived at the mansion, but we had to talk with the Royal Family.
My friends and I just followed Kiel.
Count Hamilton, Kiel, Nina, the Royal Messenger, us and several servants from the mansion were to attend the meeting.
At the center of the meeting were Count Hamilton and Kiel.
"Congratulations on becoming a Baron and re-establishing the Carnell Family."
"Re-establishing is just the beginning, but thank you."
The Royal Messenger congratulated Kiel again, and Kiel replied politely.
I checked with Kiel and he said he wasn't that shocked that he was only made a Baron and that only half of his territory had been returned to him.
Kiel's goal was to become a Lord and create a place for Nina and the servants to return to.
(Besides, it's not a bad thing for Kiel, who will be traveling with me, to only have to manage half the territory.)
Kiel was only fourteen years old.
And since he had not been educated as a Lord by his father, Viscount Carnell, he still had a lot to learn.
It was better for him to start with having to manage less land at the beginning.
"Baron Kiel. Count Hamilton has told me that you will have a deputy."
(Well, we'll have one.)
"That's right. That's what I'm asking you to do."
Surrounded by Royal Messenger and Count Hamilton, I thought that Kiel was also a man of polite words.
"Well, we have already selected the person, and he should be arriving shortly."
The Lord didn't always have to be in the territory.
There was a system called "deputy" in which a person can act on behalf of his Lord, so we planned to leave it to that.
I had already told Count Hamilton that Kiel would always be a part of the adventure party as our healer.
I had already asked Viscount Granvelle to help me find a deputy to take Kiel's place as Lord, and he said that Count Hamilton would find one for me from his extensive network.
"Well, even then, defeating the White Dragon, immediately after being the Lord. I'm sure His Majesty will be pleased."
"Is that so?"
"..."
(What are you staring at?)
Kiel was being stared at by the Royal Messenger.
"I would be happy to present it to the Royal Family."
(Yes, it came. I really felt he would ask that.)
The Royal Messenger asked Kiel to give him the White Dragon's corpse.
I wanted nothing more than enough meat to eat so that the corpse of the White Dragon could be used to rebuild the Carnell territory.
Naturally, I was not asking for the magic stone either, and it was going to be used for Kiel's initiation as a Baron.
I had no intention of offering the White Dragon to the Royal Family.
"How dare you!?"
Count Hamilton couldn't accept it either.
"No, no, I'm not asking you to give it all up. To begin with."
According to the Royal Messenger, it was the responsibility of the Nobles to present the profits generated in their territory to the Royal Family in the first place.
"You don't have to offer everything, but you are asked to offer a part of the White Dragon's body."
"Count Hamilton."
"Hm? What is it? Master Allen."
"On the subject of profit, we need to restore the mining sites destroyed by the White Dragon and recruit miners who have disappeared. I think that after subtracting the expenses necessary to run these territories, we can call it profit, right?"
"Well, yes?"
The loss caused by the White Dragon was too great.
Probably, even if we sold all the valuables of the White Dragon's corpse, we wouldn't necessarily profit.
I also heard from Kiel that he wanted to offer condolence money for the bereaved families who were attacked and killed by the White Dragon.
Hearing that, I was determined to defeat the White Dragon in an almost pristine manner.
"I'm sorry, but that's it."
Finally, Kiel told the Royal Messenger that he had nothing to pay.
"..."
The Royal Messenger gasped.
The Baron, who had just taken office, refused to give something to the Royal Family.
(Well, there's nothing to be gained from this, as it would be a useless confrontation with the Royal Family.)
"However, I know that His Majesty the King wants to show his authority as he has just been crowned.
"Ha, ha."
The Royal Messenger replied to my words.
The Royal Messenger seemed to feel very uncomfortable because I was talking to him bluntly.
The King was just the Crown Prince a few months prior after all.
If we had defeated the White Dragon in the Kingdom and presented it to him, it would be one of the ingredients to solidify the King's position.
"If so, why don't you buy a White Dragon's head that will be kept in the city for the next few days?"
"Buy it?"
"Well, just between you and me, even if you can't pay in Gold coins directly, we are willing to accept land as a form of payment."
"Yeah, that's..."
I gave him a frown and concluded with the words, "Please consider."
Hearing that, my friends took a sip of the tea that was served when I had started again.
(I've got to do this too.)
"Oh, and later, we're going to the Adventurer's Guild here in Carnell City."
"Hmm? What for?"
I told Kiel that we were going to the Adventurers' Guild, and Count Hamilton asked why we were doing so.
"No, the Royal Family had made a request for the defeat of the White Dragon several years ago. Now that we have defeated it, we need to go claim that 1000 Gold coins."
"What?"
The Royal Messenger who heard the conversation and was immensely surprised.
(I've already told Viscount Granvelle to withdraw the reward for defeating the White Dragon as soon as possible.)
Viscount Granvelle had been sending out requests to the Adventurer's Guild to defeat the White Dragon for decades.
The reward was 1,000 Gold coins.
The reward was nearly impossible to give for the poor Granvelle Family before, but it was the duty of the Lord who ruled the territory. Not only the Granvelle Family, but the Lords of territories where A-rank magical beasts resided had made similar requests to the Adventurer's Guild.
And when the White Dragon moved into the Carnell territory and the Carnell territory was incorporated into the Royal territory, the Royal Family also sent a request to the Adventurer's Guild to defeat the White Dragon.
The reward was also set to 1000 Gold coins.
After informing Viscount Granvelle that we were going to kill the White Dragon, and learning that he still had a request to kill the White Dragon up, I immediately asked him to withdraw the request.
I had no intention of receiving a reward from Viscount Granvelle, who had always been a great help to me.
In addition, the Royal Family had to give us a generous reward for defeating the White Dragon.
It meant that the party 'Abandoned Gamers' were to be rewarded by the King for defeating the White Dragon.
The Royal Messenger felt so silent that I could not even hear him breathe.
"How long are you brother planning to stay, brother? I want to hear about the time you were gone."
In the meantime, Nina worried about the future of her brother, Kiel.
"Well..."
Nina was looking at Kiel with a look that said she wanted him to stay as long as possible.
"I suppose so. I heard that the permit will be issued within a few days before we come here. But until then, why don't you stay here?"
"Permit?"
"Oh, Nina."
Kiel told Nina that he had to go to the Baukis Empire.
It was the Royal Family's answer to Rosenheim's request.
"I see."
She looked pretty sad when he told her he was going out again, but she accepted it.
As Nina looked forlorn, the story of their departure from Carnell territory continued.
Thus, after a few days of lodging in Carnell's territory, and a stop at Allen's parents' home in the development village and Viscount Granvelle's mansion to deliver the meat of the White Dragon, Allen and his friends headed for the Bakius Empire.
