Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 80 First Meeting with Alice

The title of Demon Sword Hero still resonates.

On their second day in the capital, they were granted permission to have an audience, which, of course, also indicates that the situation in the capital is rather tense...

Is he really nervous? It makes one wonder.

After arriving at the palace, the group was taken to another location where they were asked to change into formal attire.

Hibiki was dressed in a pure black suit, looking quite presentable. Clemeria and Fio were also wearing orange and green dresses respectively, looking even cuter than usual.

Youyou, on the other hand, wore red and black. Naturally beautiful, she shone even brighter in her dress, especially in contrast, making the other two grit their teeth in anger.

As for Charlotte, she was still wearing her priest's robes.

As a priest of the Church of Eris, he was qualified to meet the royal family wearing only this outfit, not to mention his glorious achievement of defeating the Demon King's army officers.

The group was then led to wait outside a banquet hall.

Behind that door, Alice must be waiting for them... Charlotte's heart raced slightly, and his emotions rose involuntarily.

However, this excitement was mistaken for cowardice.

Clementine and Fio covered their mouths and teased, "What's wrong? Are you scared?"

"It's funny, even priests who have defeated the Demon King's army get nervous when they meet the royal family."

Those two stinky women—

Although they acknowledged Charlotte's strength, their constant, sarcastic remarks made him want to take them to the confessional and give them a good dressing down.

Yujian Xiangye smiled.

"Don't worry, Charlotte. Princess Alice is very easy to get along with, and she loves listening to adventure stories. And you happen to have the most captivating story right now, don't you? Actually, I'm also very curious about how you defeated the Headless Horseman."

At that time, he was not in Axel because he was redeeming the Demon Sword, so he did not know the details of the process.

"Storytelling is simple, it's just..."

"that is?"

"No, it's nothing."

Charlotte shook her head without offering any further explanation.

Just then, the palace gates slowly opened, revealing the magnificent hall—two rows of huge pillars carved with exquisite relief patterns stood tall, and in the center of the pillars was a wide red carpet that stretched from the entrance to the throne, making the space feel somewhat frighteningly empty.

At the far end of the carpet, on the throne, sat a lovely girl.

She has beautiful blonde hair, clear blue eyes, and exudes a noble temperament, yet also gives off a subtle impression of fragility; she is undoubtedly a classic beauty.

With his hands on his lap, he sat calmly on the large throne, without giving the impression of a child wearing adult clothes, as if he were already used to it.

By the way.

The king and the first prince had already gone to the front lines to meet the enemy when the demon army attacked, and the kingdom is currently being managed by Alice.

Besides.

Standing on either side of the throne is a short-haired girl dressed in what appears to be knightly attire with a short sword at her waist on the left, and a mage wearing a long robe, a beret, and a ring, holding a wand on the right.

Their positioning subtly protected Alice.

However, they all looked at Charlotte with smiles on their faces... and did not regard them as a potential threat.

They must be Claire and Rhine.

With his hand on his chest, Mikami Kyouya bowed slightly and said, "It's been a long time since I've greeted you, Princess Alice. I, Mikami Kyouya, rushed here to provide assistance as soon as I heard about the disaster in the capital."

You're kidding me!

Didn't you waste a month trying to redeem the Demon Sword?! And since you came right away, why did you take a carriage?!

Perhaps it was Charlotte's gaze that was too intimidating, but Mikami Hibiki awkwardly turned his head away, unable to meet her eyes.

Clementa and Fiore bowed respectfully.

The two were just ordinary adventurers, or to put it more politely, mere followers of the Demon Sword Hero, so naturally they dared not be presumptuous in front of the royal family.

Youyou also quickly bowed.

"I... I am called Youyou, and I am a Grand Magister of the Crimson Demon Clan. It's my first time here, please take care of me."

It wasn't a typical Crimson Demon Clan self-introduction, which felt a bit disappointing. Also, she nervously misspoke again; it should have been "this is our first meeting."

Claire was slightly surprised.

"The Crimson Demon Clan? I remember that although the Crimson Demon Clan is highly intelligent and powerful, and is a natural-born Archmage, they... how should I put it, have very strange personalities. Miss Yuyu doesn't seem to be like that."

"...I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"

Youyou apologized repeatedly.

I have absolutely no idea why she apologized.

However, as the next leader of the Crimson Demon Clan, she should be apologizing for the Crimson Demon Clan's bad reputation. It must be tough for her to be the only normal person among her clansmen.

Finally, everyone's gaze fell on Charlotte, who was dressed in a priest's robe.

"I am Charlotte, a priestess of the Church of Eris. It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Alice. Please forgive any rudeness I may have displayed."

He greeted Alice with a standard church greeting.

Alice whispered to Claire.

"—No need to be so polite. As a hero who defeated the Demon King's army executives, I am entitled to be exempt from formalities when meeting the royal family. Also, I am very interested in your process of defeating the Demon King's army executives. Could you please explain in detail... Actually, I am quite curious myself."

That's what Claire said.

Alice looked at him with expectant eyes.

I'm not really good at making up stories, so can I fulfill a little girl's fantasies?

"That's it."

Charlotte concluded, "Thanks to the combined efforts of Axel and the others, we successfully defeated the Headless Horseman. This is a victory for friendship and bonds."

The standard theme of a shonen manga.

What might have been a tired, overused plot for Charlotte and Hibiki Mitsurugi, sparkled with Alice's eyes like a child's, while Claire and Rein looked on with nostalgia.

At that moment, Mikami Hibiki whispered, "Although I knew this a long time ago, Charlotte, you really have a talent for public speaking, whether in battle or now."

Wait, what do you mean?

Alice, with the adoring gaze of a child, whispered in Claire's ear.

"—I never expected it to be like this, it's amazing! This is the first time I've ever heard of a fighting style like this. Other adventurers' stories are always about how they annihilated monsters in some gorgeous way, or how they defeated the evil on a mountain with just a sword. While those are certainly exciting, they are all stories of heroes who absolutely cannot lose overwhelmingly defeating monsters! ...That's what Your Highness said."

I always felt that she was implying something.

Charlotte glanced out of the corner of her eye at a magical swordsman who had just defeated the dragon leader with a single sword.

Actually, I didn't do anything special; I just described the oppressive feeling brought by the Demon King's army officers in a straightforward manner. However, in order to make the story more vivid and interesting, I intentionally made the other characters more distinct.

Even so.

This also greatly excited Alice.

Kids from another world are so easy to fool.