Chapter 16
ight now, we are inside the castle .
Sponsored Content
A soldier enters the royal court and salutes Franbel IV .
「Your Majesty! It looks like the adventurers have succeeded in subjugating the basilisk! 」
「Are you sure?! Good, that’s really good to hear… 」
The King quickly tries to prepare the document to give the reward .
「…Ano . 」
「What’s the matter? 」
As I fill out the paperwork, I heard him trying to say something .
「Did the adventurers really the one who defeats the basilisk? 」
King Franbel’s hand stops .
「What do you mean by that? 」
「An unnatural hole was left in the recovered basilisk’s skin .
Sponsored Content
However, there are holes in the ground from a battle . 」
「Hmm? 」
「And I don’t think the adventurers who reported this has the skills to subjugate a basilisk . 」
「But they found the corpse, right? 」
「There’s not even a kilo of basilisk meat except for the head! 」
「They ate it as food for the trip, didn’t they? 」
「They said as much .
The leftover meat was thrown away because it would rot .
Even though the guild asked for the meat as the subjugation proof . 」
「What are you implying? 」
King Franbel could somehow predict what the soldier was going to say, too .
Sponsored Content
「The one who defeated the basilisk is probably a different adventurer .
And isn’t affiliated with the guild . 」
「Are you thinking that they’re lying?
Or stealing from the people who defeated it? 」
「We’ll see if we can find out by torturing them . 」
「Those people are being welcomed and treated as heroes in the town . 」
If he did that, the King’s reputation would be tarnished .
And if it’s not done right, it could lead to a coup .
「They’re not used to deceive people, sooner or later they will slip up .
Five people claim to have defeated the basilisk .
Call them separately and try to find more information about them .
If you call them officially, they would be alarmed, so use the soldiers that you can trust, ask them to meet for a drink and listen to what they have to say .
Sponsored Content
If the conversation goes wrong, I’ll call them to the palace and ask them about the basilisk skin .
If they still refuse to tell the truth, you may torture them . 」
「U-umm… Do you have to go that far? 」
「The scammer, who tries to cheat the kingdom’s money must pay for what they deserve . 」
The King trusted the adventurers .
For this reason, he asked the five adventurers about the subjugation’s details .
His fear would be unfounded anyway .
Unfortunately, they were not very forthcoming .
Their lies were unravelled immediately .
The soldier was right, they just stole everything, then admitted it was them that defeated the basilisk .
The reward for subjugating the basilisk blinded them .
The news that the five adventurers had deceived the King and his people soon became a major event that greatly discredited the Adventurer’s Guild and the kingdom appointed an auditor to the Adventurer’s Guild .
「So, have you found the tent’s owner? 」
「We haven’t found anything yet, we don’t even have a clue . 」
「I see . By the way, how is our heroes training? Is it going well? 」
「Ha! Now that the basilisk’s threat has passed, I’m going to bring them in the forest to train them for subjugating magical beast . 」
「Hmm . 」
If the King ever found out who defeated the basilisk, he’s going to reward them and add them to the Demon Lord’s subjugating party .
If they were that powerful, sooner or later, he would find out . Their name will eventually be known to the world .
「Who in the world was it? 」
Thanking the nameless hero in his heart, the King resumed his work .