This cold winter hadn’t yet passed, but Axel remained peaceful.
"Adam——! Adam Carter, are you there——!"
A familiar shouting voice rudely barged into the lord’s mansion.
Looking at the serious-faced ice beauty before him, Adam wore a slightly surprised expression.
"Miss Sena, do you need something?"
She was a royal prosecutor, a position slightly higher than his own as a lord.
But barging in so rudely seemed disrespectful — though from her excited expression, Adam could tell she must have important business.
"Miss Sena, please have a seat." Adam guided her to sit across from him and personally brewed her a cup of tea, "Please, enjoy."
"Ah, thank you." Sena thanked him politely, as if she hadn’t been the rude intruder just moments ago.
"So, what brings Miss Sena here today?"
"Ah, about that..." Sena paused, then adjusted her posture to appear more formal and serious, "Lord of Axel, Hero Adam Carter!"
"...Yes." Adam paused slightly, not understanding why she was addressing him so formally.
"Regarding your previous successful subjugation of the Devil King Army’s General, the Deadly Poison Slime Hans, in Arcanletia, the kingdom has been informed and is extremely grateful!"
"Well, it wasn’t just to save the town." He shrugged.
To prevent Aqua from being sad and to keep her from losing the only town that worshipped her, Adam had put in a little effort.
He just hadn’t expected Hans to be so weak. Defeating him with just one move made this title seem somewhat inflated.
"Nothing, never mind." Adam dismissed it casually, then asked, "So, what does the kingdom intend? Are they offering a reward?"
"Yes, you’re right." Sena nodded, "To honor your repeated subjugation of a Devil King Army General and saving the town, they want to elevate your noble rank."
"...Elevate my rank?" Adam raised an eyebrow.
This reward truly surprised him.
Noble Rank. This was something extremely rare, second only to territory.
He had thought his recent achievements might have threatened other nobles enough to suppress him, but instead, they were going to earn him a higher rank?
Seeming to understand his thoughts, Sena explained.
"Actually, Lord Dustiness advocated for this reward. Not just for your recent subjugation of the Devil King Army General, but also for your previous defeat of the Duke of Hell Vanir. The combined impact of these achievements was so significant that even those greedy, corrupt nobles couldn’t deny your merit."
Her tone was unfriendly, as if she despised those disgraceful nobles.
However, when she mentioned Lord Dustiness, her tone carried surprise, and Adam’s expression also became strange.
"Well, I did ’eat’ his daughter after all."
"Hm? What did you say?"
Adam certainly wouldn’t tell her the truth.
If he said it directly, she’d probably think he was making a crude joke, and if Sena misunderstood... He couldn’t help but shudder. Google seaʀᴄh novᴇlfire.net
The ice beauty before him wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Even though she had once proposed to him, if he dared to make such jokes, he’d definitely be punished.
Sena looked suspiciously at Adam, but she didn’t pursue it further and continued, "There’s also a strange rumor going around."
"There’s a rumor that Duke Davenport approached His Majesty after the meeting to request your promotion... That infamous, detestable ’Devouring Pig’ actually advocated for someone else’s royal reward, which shocked everyone."
As she spoke, Sena’s tone toward the Duke was quite unfriendly, and her expression when looking at Adam grew increasingly puzzled.
It was like seeing a notoriously stingy person suddenly host a feast, urging everyone to eat freely and even take food home.
That man would never say a single unnecessary word without some benefit to himself.
But Adam had never had any contact with the "Devouring Pig", so why would Duke Davenport speak up for him?
Only Adam knew the reason.
His apprentice Anthony — who had only appeared in two Chapters — must have revealed their relationship. Duke Davenport, Anthony’s father, seeing the potential benefits, decided to step in at this crucial moment.
The purpose was obvious: he wanted to curry favor with Adam.
As a 『 Hero 』 with both strength and fame, this reward was something Adam deserved. Forcibly suppressing it would only damage reputations.
By helping now, the Duke gained both reputation and goodwill. This was Duke Davenport’s gesture of goodwill as "his son’s master".
You made a good deal, Duke.
"So, I don’t care much about the noble rank, but the reward money hasn’t been reduced, has it?"
Rather than the noble rank, Adam was actually more concerned about the substantial reward.
ξ500,000,000! How many rare ingredients could he buy? How much could he improve Axel?
Just thinking about it was exciting!
"Ah, the reward has already been sent to the Adventurer’s Guild. Once you go there to make a record, you can collect the reward of 500 million Eris." Speaking of this extravagant amount, Sena’s gaze toward him became increasingly suggestive, "Hey, Adam, why don’t you marry me?"
"I must respectfully decline!" Adam refused without hesitation, quickly explaining before she could get angry, "Miss Sena, you’re a beauty, that’s undeniable. But your personality is too strong, and my personality is also quite strong, so we’re not compatible."
"...How could that be." Thanks to his compliment about her beauty, Sena wasn’t too upset.
She was well aware that her strong, assertive personality had kept her single — despite her exceptional beauty and talent.
"Miss Sena, finding a partner is important, but first, please be careful not to be deceived by others."
"I’m out of the question! We’re just not compatible!"
"...Hmph." Sena sighed softly.
Such a high-quality man, right in front of her, yet unfortunately not interested in her at all.
Feeling increasingly dejected, she stood up to leave. Just before departing, she suddenly remembered Adam’s noble rank.
"Oh, right! Hero Adam Carter, congratulations, you are now an Earl."
Unfortunately, Adam showed no reaction.
{T/N: Earl is the fifth highest rank, followed by Marquis, Duke, Royal Family (Prince/Princess and such) and the King.}
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