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, itâs been about a year since I came to the north, hasnât 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.
Iâm not so dense that I couldnât 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. Itâs obvious we couldnât ask the newlyweds out on adventures. Even we wouldnât ask them that. If we put them in a party weâd 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 villageâs church, Lyell meanwhile moved with her to become a guard at that village.
Which left me and Cortina without a place to belong.
âI think itâs time I retiredâ¦â âWhatâre you saying, youâre still so young.â âI donât see what age has to do with it though?â
I started grumbling to him over drinks while killing time at his inn. I mean, sure Iâm still in my mid-20s. I did try to lead a party of beginners, but that didnât go as planned. I joined up with some newbies and at Gadiusâ request I was gonna show âem the ropes but I ended up doing everything myself.
âWell, what are the newbies going to learn if you run off and exterminate trolls and have their heads roll at your feet.â âThe trolls were too much for them though?â âYou couldâve let them gain some experience fighting one even if they couldnât win. Just have to stick around to make sure no one dies.â
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.
âThatâs alcohol.â âAinât it the shopâs?â âItâs the shopâs alcohol and the shopâs alcohol is mine.â âAinât that kinda unfair eh?â
Completely ignoring my complaints, Gadius chugged the alcohol down. BOOM! After slamming down the empty glass on the table Gadius glared at me fiercely. âHonestly, the two of you⦠being too good is a problem in itself.â âThe two⦠of us?â âCortina too!â
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 doesnât sound like her.
âWhatâd she do?â âHer instructionsâ¦â âIf itâs Tinaâs instruction, then they canât be wrong can they?â âItâs only you and Lyell that can barely keep up with her demands yâknow.â âAh, that, maybeâ¦ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Cortinaâs instructions are determined by the enemyâs strengths and abilities, which means theyâre often pretty hard. For a newbie, itâll definitely be a tough hurdle to keep up with her.
âYou canât do it?â âI donât have any talent so I canât ask others to follow my lead.â
Iâm not good at teaching others myself. I once tried to teach Cortina stealth techniques but it ended in failure. Thinking about it, maybe nowâs a good time. Luckily, if I retire now Iâll have enough resources to get by until I die. Though I donât know how long half-demons like me live.
And itâs not just the money, we all split the scales of the Evil Dragon up, so if we had to sell them, theyâd bring in a pretty penny. The Evil Dragonâs 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. Weâre worried about letting something like this circulate around. So we decided to split the materials between us. That way if someoneâs 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 doesnât matter if Iâm single, I wish I had someone to snuggle with like Lyell does.
Cortinaâs 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 youâre Lyell, Gadius, Maria, or Maxwell you could easily protect yourself. But Cortina doesnât have such power. No, in general, sheâs a pretty skilled adventurer. Still, when it comes to the battlefields we tread on, you canât deny sheâs lacking in power. Sheâs contributed her knowledge and walked with us through perilous hellscapes. Putting her life in my hands like that, itâs 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 herâ¦
âAnyways⦠sheâs not that badâ âHm, whatâs up with you?â âItâs nothingâ¦â
I decided to keep my decision to myself, that day I mulled over how to win her over.