Evan D. Sherden, Becoming the Count. (1)

“Worm, you should behave well, and be gentle.”

[Guoooorgh!]

After being successfully tamed by Serena, the Kraken… no, the Sea Worm that somehow regained the energy to move with Serena’s ‘Tamer Healing’ skill, broke up as soon as they met.

Of course, there was no way she could move the Kraken anywhere else.

“You can’t eat people from now on, okay? Instead, you can eat a lot of other monsters. If you find something shiny in the ocean, keep it safe and give it to me.”

[Guooorgh!]

“If you’re doing well, I’ll call you soon.”

Serena patted Kraken’s massive head with a crackling sound, and with Evan’s help, she stepped back. Then Kraken cried with a weak voice.

“Huh? Give you that?”

[Guoooorgh]

What Kraken asked for was Matthew—or rather, Matthew’s clothes, who was still scattered in the middle of the ice.

“You can’t eat people, okay? Just the red one?”

[Guoooorgh!]

The others didn’t know how they could even communicate, but Serena nodded when she heard the Kraken’s cries and said to Shine.

“Shine, please undress Little Bear.”

“But… Your Majesty, isn’t that person still the Duke’s successor?”

“And I am the Princess of this country.”

It was indeed like that. Shine took off Matthew’s octopus costume without complaining any more. Dain, who had been waiting on one side, clicked his tongue and covered Matthew’s body with a robe. His modesty was preserved for now.

“Okay, here.”

[Guooooorgh!]

Kraken, who saw the octopus costume, was extremely excited, then it stretched out its legs to pick up the costume. The sight of the sucker trembling and sticking to the costume was really disgusting. Was it a female? Kraken moved its costume to the corner of its mouth and ate it, and then it wept satisfactorily and stepped back.

“What does it want with that costume, Master…?”

“I don’t want to think about it. No, I just don’t want to be involved with it in the future.”

Evan, who had thought of the bad ending in the game, replied with a frowned expression.

However, the Kraken itself seemed to know about it, and even though it had been tamed, it was still afraid of Evan. It kept as much distance between him and itself as possible… The two were very much alike, being the strongest amongst their races.

[Guooooorgh!]

“Goodbye, Worm!”

After eating Serena’s gift happily, the Kraken cried once to say goodbye, and then went back to the sea.

Serena shook her arms and sent it out until it disappeared completely. It indeed looked like a touching farewell scene.

“Then let’s go up there.”

“They are looking this way instead of evacuating… Oh, everyone is soaked. I’ll dry it a little. Wind!”

After the battle was over, the group returned to the cruise ship’s deck in good condition. Before that, the Druid, Anastasia, used the wind’s power to dry Evan and others’ wet bodies.

“It’s different from magic, so it’s hard to dry it completely. I’m sorry.”

“This is enough, thank you. Oops!”

Evan, who first climbed onto the deck, gathered his bangs, squeezed the water out, and smiled. It was very natural and full of color, and the cheers came out everywhere.

Everyone was paying attention to him for his heroic action in the sea, and those who were envious of him before now admired him.

“What are you waiting for now? The battle’s over, you can resume the party.”

“Master, please refrain from giving instructions. It’s your appearance that has them awe-struck.”

“Huh?”

After this, Shine hugged Anastasia and got off the deck with light movements. Shine gave Evan such a hard time. However, Evan didn’t mind it.

Well, this was indeed Evan, who tried to avoid women as much as possible, so it wasn’t intentional. However, it was because of the curse that brought discord, and every little action, he usually attracted people’s attention. As it was now… No, maybe he had just been born that way.

“Young Masteeeeeeeer!”

At that time, at the end of the conversation with Shine, there was someone who struck Evan, who was tilting his head, and of course, it was Maybell. Dressed in a party dress, she groped all over Evan’s body, speaking in an anxious voice.

“You fought such a ridiculous monster. Did you get hurt anywhere? Maybe here…!”

“Maybell, I’m out of breath from the battle. Don’t suffocate me more.”

What Shine said before seemed to be right. At first, she appeared to have been purely concerned about him, but her behavior was getting suspicious. As a bonus, he was getting out of breath this time.

“Let me check a little…!”

“Diona!”

“Yes, yes. Please calm down, Baroness Solayu.”

Evan managed to remove Maybell and left her to Diona, her escort, and approached the King. They were indeed looking at Evan with a complicated expression.

Even the guard knights were retreating and stumbling while trying to create some distance.

“The battle is over, so what’s with everyone’s expressions?”

“Evan, it’s because we don’t know how to treat you.”

The Duke spouted instead of the King. Like Evan, he was shining in purple and staring at Evan with deep eyes, which had become a little cloudy over the years.

“We thought maybe this was the force demonstration you decided to do. Tell me honestly, what do you say?”

“Why would I do a force demonstration…? Did you two want to do something that I wouldn’t like?”

“That… I wondered if you were dissatisfied with us bringing you to the kingdom’s capital this time.”

Following the Duke, the King spoke. Evan couldn’t hide his flat expression despite being in the presence of King. It was absurd.

“Even if I felt uneasy about it, would I lure the Kraken to a national gathering because of it? The reason the Kraken appeared in the first place was that Lord Matthew wore that damn costume and participated in the party.”

“I am relieved by your answer. I didn’t want to be suspicious of you, but the situation was so unfortunate.”

“Evan, you…”

Next to the King speaking with a bitter smile, the Duke sighed and added some more words.

“I know you played a big part in the invasion of the Demon Army three years ago. I’ve seen your skills before. But what you showed us today was different. You already know this, but humans fear power that they can’t control.”

In fact, young people on board just admired and applauded Evan’s performance, but many of the nobles looked at him with strange emotions, ones mixed with suspicion and skepticism.

Afterward, Evan understood the situation roughly and shrugged. It was stupid. If the war with the Demons had begun in earnest, there was no reason for holding the same human beings in check.

However, it was obvious that, just by looking at the Yo-Ma Great War Series’ game scenario that humans were not smart enough to make wise decisions every time.

“What do you want me to do?”

“As I said, now you possess a power that even the King cannot dare to make demands from you.”

“I am not trying to threaten or argue. I just want to hear your thoughts.”

It must have been what they were waiting for. At Evan’s words, the King naturally looked at Serena landing on the deck with the slimes. The Duke spoke on behalf of the King, who could not say what he wanted.

“There is nothing more trustworthy than kinship ties, Evan.”

“Sigh, don’t force yourself. But… You’ve already heard it from Damian, right? We intend to do the best we can for you. And it will be more than you can imagine.”

Well, it would be like that. Evan replied with a bitter smile.

“I have no intention to force myself. It’s been more than five years since Her Majesty Princess Serena joined my Knights. It’s ridiculous to send her back to the palace now.”

“Then…?”

“Yes. I will do whatever you want. This is what I was preparing for in the first place.”

It was also true that a princess from one country belonged to a group directly managed by the son of another noble family and stayed in their city for five years.

Obviously, even though nothing had happened between Evan and Serena, those who looked at them will have all sorts of vivid imaginations. It was a very unpleasant speculation, but it was also unavoidable.

“However, I’d like you to adjust the timing a little bit. I just got engaged, and it’s a little bit too much to welcome a new fiancé.”

“Thank you… Thank you so much, Evan. No, is this something we should thank Rey for?”

“Did you send her with the intention of doing that in the first place?”

“I’ll be honest with you. That’s how I thought I could get you.”

“…I’m glad you’re so honest.”

Evan stopped talking and remained silent for a while. It was not only because he was surprised at what he had thought before he came up to the capital, but also because Serena was approaching with her eyes shining.

“What is everyone talking about? Are you talking about my Sea Worm?”

“…Then, I will visit the palace alone in the evening. Let’s talk more about it then. Will that be all right?”

“Yes, that would be pleasant.”

The King nodded happily. Perhaps this was because he solved his great anxiety. The Duke was also frowning next to him, saying that he would beget a new daughter for Evan to marry, but Evan decided to pretend that he did not hear it.

“What, Dad, did you ever try to make Evan do something strange again? Then I will teach you a lesson! I am calling the Sea Worm!”

“It’s not like that, so calm down, Rey. We were just talking about rewards for Evan’s performance against the Kraken this time.”

“Oooh! Then, are you getting a title or something?”

Serena responded with her eyes shining at the made-up answer. Evan smiled and tried to deny it, but the King nodded calmly.

“You speak very well, Rey. Originally, the Knight Commander who leads the Dungeon Knights must be treated as a key factor at the national level. Moreover, since you have protected me and the nobles wonderfully this time, I have to reward you accordingly.”

“Three… Three years ago, Sherden was so busy recovering from the damage that we couldn’t reward him as he deserved. I guess we should take this opportunity to settle that. If Sherden hadn’t stopped the Demons, the damage would have spread throughout the country.”

Evan was rushing in a different direction than he had imagined. However, the King seized the opportunity.

“After the party, I have a lot to do. A new high-ranking nobleman will be born in our country.”

“Exciting!”

“Huh, huh?”

Evan’s delayed engagement with Serena was just to consider Arisha, but the King seemed to have misunderstood his meaning. He didn’t know when he would break his promise if he were to get it wrong, so he wanted Evan to do his best. As a result, Evan came home a few days later than he had originally planned. This was because he had to participate in a grand award ceremony held for himself.

“I’ve decided to open a new boutique in Sherden! Master—no, Count Evan, I made up my mind that I want to see you fighting against a giant monster in my clothes!”

“You are free to do as you wish. Oh, but please don’t make the octopus costume again.”

Evan got into a carriage to his hometown while discussing a new business, ‘Brotherhood Boutique’, in Sherden with Ottpah, the leading designer in the kingdom’s capital.

Thus marked the golden return of Count Evan D. Sherden.