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“What’s going on?”

“Nothing… at all!!”

“I see. Then, could you come this way, Luke?”

The receptionist who had dragged me over approached us amid the commotion.

She asked us to follow her in a familiar manner, so I just followed silently.

Whether that brat possessed by Arthur was here or not didn’t matter; he’d go his way, and I’d go mine.

As long as he didn’t try to mess with my high-class slave like earlier.

We arrived at a platform with the receptionist, and aside from us, there were about a dozen adventurers gathered.

She asked us to wait a moment and then disappeared somewhere.

Excluding the fact that it was an emergency request, no one seemed to know what was going on, as I heard murmurs from the surrounding adventurers.

“After the vampire event, it’s definitely connected to the ocean event…”

Just having Yui by my side meant that all the events supposed to happen in this Count’s territory had already concluded.

Apart from a bit of fun with the main heroines at sea and one side event, there should be nothing else.

‘What on earth is all this commotion?’

Is it really because that brat Arthur showed up that such an emergency event is happening?

I’m really glad I dropped out of the academy.

‘Good job, past me!’

After a few minutes of letting the adventurers loiter around, a familiar figure stepped onto the platform.

“Greetings, adventurers! I am the lord of Devon County, Isaac Devon.”

The person we wanted to see had come personally.

“The reason I called you here is that, with my authority as lord, I’ve submitted an urgent request to the Adventurer’s Guild, and thankfully, it was promptly approved due to the urgency of the matter.”

The content of the urgent request Isaac mentioned was as follows:

An Iron Golem has appeared outside the territory.

It’s currently heading in the direction of the territory, so a request for extermination has been made to the adventurers.

I had no idea what kind of monster an Iron Golem was, as it didn’t appear in the original work, but seeing that they were gathering adventurers due to not having enough soldiers, it must be quite a formidable monster.

The reward for completing the request is one gold coin per person.

Considering that the missing person request I received needed to be tripled to be worth 45 silver coins, this request is quite generous.

“Lord! We also want to help!”

At that moment, a familiar voice rang out.

“Hmm? Who might that be?”

“I am a student from Jeminal Academy. I just happened to pass by and thought I could lend a hand.”

Just passing by, huh? Anyone could tell you came to catch a vampire.

It’s as if you’re cleaning up someone else’s poop just so you don’t get mistaken for a toilet.

“Ah… it’s always good to have more talent. I’ll be counting on you.”

“Yes!”

Look at that Count, he’s loving it.

He probably doesn’t even realize his territory is being invaded.

The saying ‘closing one’s eyes and playing dumb’ fits perfectly here.

“Luke, why are you just standing there?”

“What about it?”

“Usually, you would have either killed them all or trampled them mercilessly, right?”

Is he talking about me like I’m some kind of psychopathic serial killer?

“This toilet has an automatic cleaning function.”

“…?”

There was a time I wondered how the story would progress if the protagonist died.

But if that brat dies, who would clean up the mess I made? He at least has to stay alive.

Even if he loses a limb, he should at least stay alive.

“Then, adventurers, please move to the location I mentioned!”

As the receptionist shouted, everyone began moving in unison.

I hadn’t paid attention and just followed the adventurers.

The place where the adventurers gathered was the entrance to the territory.

Excluding the adventurers, many soldiers were nervously adjusting their equipment.

“Is this really something that requires this much effort against an Iron Golem?”

Compared to the Empire, there are fewer adventurers, but still, there should be a dozen or so.

And bringing together so many adventurers along with soldiers for this?

That brat Arthur may be a toilet, but he should still be able to handle it alone, right?

“…It seems you didn’t hear anything during the explanation earlier.”

“What did they say?”

I had Luna reiterate the explanation I missed earlier.

The Iron Golem.

A named variant of a Stone Golem monster.

It’s a steel version of a Stone Golem whose arms and legs are made of stone, with a core as the center.

It doesn’t have any other unique features, just being stronger and sturdier.

Since a Stone Golem is categorized as a low C-rank monster, an Iron Golem should be considered an unlucky B-rank at best.

Either in the extreme low B-rank or extreme high C-rank.

Most of the adventurers here are at E-Rank, maybe reaching D-Rank at best, so it’s understandable why everyone needs to be gathered.

One of them includes us.

“So if we take that down, we could advance to C-Rank right away, right?”

“Well…”

“But Luna, are you really capable of moving properly with that condition?”

You were limping when we left the inn this morning.

“Whose fault is that…?”

“Are you blaming your master here?”

It’s not like I can express my gratitude for giving him my precious little one.

Kids these days…

Back in my day! Slaves would serve with utmost sincerity!

While whining to Luna, Arthur, burdened by heroines, approached us.

“What’s up, toilet?”

“Just watch. I’ll show you the difference between a protagonist and extras like you. I came to say that.”

“Really!?”

As I perked up and asked, Arthur answered, flustered.

“Uh, yeah…? Something like that!”

Truly, what a toilet!

Even though it’s not my poop, to take the initiative to clean up such annoying matters!

Bravo! The people’s toilet!

Once Arthur finished what he wanted to say, he parted with the heroines, heading off to prepare like the soldiers.

“He’ll handle it, so I guess I’ll just rest in first class.”

“Where do you plan to rest? There’s nowhere around here to relax.”

“Luna, lap pillow.”

“……”

*

“What on earth is that guy’s problem? Calling someone a toilet just for looking at them!”

Tia said, sounding very angry as she confronted Arthur.

“Don’t get too mad, Tia. Everyone gets jealous sometimes. They’re probably envious of us.”

“Hmph.”

“We can just show them our skills this time.”

We’ve grown stronger than before.

Having gained more opportunities and trained harder, we’ve become stronger since the last fight against the demons.

The protagonist’s body is indeed excellent. Even with the same training volume as others, there’s a guarantee of growth.

At the same time, I’ve built a deeper connection with the heroines, increasing my affection levels.

Thanks to this, we could reach this region, which has a vampire event, much earlier than expected.

Even though the vampire event was taken by a lousy possessor of an extra role, that’s fine.

The world is indeed on the protagonist’s side, as it has spawned events that didn’t exist in the original work.

This must be a divine revelation to show my strength and build bonds with the heroines!

All that was left to prepare was to simply take out my sword.

Nonetheless, Arthur collected himself and mingled among the adventurers and soldiers, waiting for the signal.

“Um, um… Am I truly going to be helpful?”

“Stella, have confidence.”

Stella.

A very cute character with a petite figure and a large bust, yet a timid personality.

Her kindness and commoner background, like Arthur’s, made her easy to gain affection from.

And the last was Riche, who came half-forced along.

When I asked her to come, she initially refused outright, but Tia persuaded her to join.

Thankfully, she seems willing to cooperate.

‘It hurts my heart to be disliked by my favorite character, but I believe she will eventually open her heart to me!’

For good reason—I’m the protagonist, right?

We’re destined to be together!

“It looks like they’re about to show up.”

-Thud!

As Riche spoke, a huge monster appeared in the distance.

It towered at least 4 meters tall. A luminous core in its center was the main body, and it had arms, legs, and a head made of steel.

‘W-Can we really take that down…?’

Even the one possessing the protagonist, Arthur, was starting to doubt.

For a moment, he was gripped by fear, but he shook his head quickly to clear his mind.

“Alright, everyone. I’ll take the lead, so Riche and Tia, stay back and time your magic! Stella, block any attacks coming from my blind spot!”

“Just leave it to me!”

“Sure!”

“……”

Riche didn’t respond, but I chose to believe she’d help, and Arthur began to run at Isaac’s signal.

Around him were not just adventurers but also soldiers and other adventurers taking the lead.

As the vanguard moved, the mages unleashed their spells, signaling the start of battle.

Fire, lightning, earth, wind, water, ice.

Various elements poured onto the Iron Golem, and in particular, the heroines’ attacks were much stronger than the adventurers’.

Recognizing the attacks, the Iron Golem raised its arms to guard.

-Bang! Bang! Bang!

With ferocious sounds, dense smoke billowed.

Soon after the smoke cleared, if it had fallen from this alone, they wouldn’t have issued an emergency request.

The Iron Golem was completely unharmed.

It was clear that to take it down, they needed to destroy the core at the center.

After the mages attacked, it was the vanguards’ turn.

As the Iron Golem lifted its arm to attack, the soldiers and adventurers taking the lead worked together to defend.

-Clang!

It was a power that could only be blocked by a group.

Catching this brief opening, Arthur attempted to sneak in towards the core.

Overlaying both fire and water magical powers onto his sword, he lunged at the core.

However, the strike was instantly nullified by an Iron Golem blocking the core with its remaining arm, forcing Arthur to retreat.

Immediately thereafter, an attack surged towards Arthur’s side.

In that critical moment, a rock arose to block the attack.

That was the rock wall made by Stella, whose special skill was defense.

After dozens of minutes of back-and-forth exchange, the Iron Golem finally began to stagger.

Now, all that remained was to smash the core.

“Did we take it downAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!”

At that moment, a voice echoed from far behind.

The speaker was Luke, who had been spectating until now.

‘That crazy brat…!’

As the flag was raised, a loud thud rumbled through the air.

When I looked back, the Iron Golem was standing once more.

 

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