Hiropon ignored his daughter's protests. He leaned forward, his crimson eyes locked on Kōichi, a faint curve of admiration on his lips.
"So young, and yet you bear a title like Lord of Ashes, one that makes even my heart race. You've slain the Demon King's General Beldia and Hans one after another, and even completely destroyed the Mobile Fortress Destroyer, which left countless royal knight orders helpless... Kōichi, could your right hand truly be sealing the World-Rebirthing Flames capable of restarting the world?"
Kōichi cleared his throat awkwardly and was just about to say something modest when Aqua, sitting beside him, could no longer hold back.
She shot to her feet, planted her hands on her hips, and pointed at her own nose with an indignant scowl.
"Hey! You red-eyed old man! Didn't you leave out the most important part? When it comes to defeating those guys, this Goddess's sacred and inviolable Purification Magic contributed over ninety percent of the credit! Now hurry up, kneel down and praise the great Aqua-sama, then offer up the finest tribute your village has!"
Hiropon paused, looked Aqua up and down, then showed an expression of open disgust.
"Oh, so this blue-haired woman is the follower Yunyun mentioned in her letter. The one who's stunningly beautiful, but seems to have sacrificed her intelligence to the Devil? She really does live up to the rumors. This utterly illogical arrogance could rival even Megumin, the worst student in our village."
"Who are you calling a follower?! You red-eyed hick! Sounds like you want to be washed straight into the sewer by this Goddess's Holy Water!"
Aqua was so furious she was about to unleash her ultimate move on the spot, but Kōichi reacted quickly and pushed her back down onto the sofa.
Darkness, meanwhile, stood up with a solemn expression and gave Hiropon a proper knightly bow.
"It is an honor to finally meet you, Village Chief Hiropon. I am Lalatina of the Dustiness family... no, I am Darkness. To come to Crimson Demon Village and receive the baptism of being stared at by every villager as if I were some strange creature is a tremendous honor!"
Hiropon's mouth twitched.
"The Dustiness family? That noble house known for being stiff and proper actually produced such a... hm, such a remarkably individualistic descendant? It seems the world really is falling apart."
While soothing Aqua, who was still thrashing in his arms and trying to punish the village chief with God Blow, Kōichi recalled the letter Komekko had sent to Axel, the one brimming with urgency.
He frowned and looked at Hiropon, who stood there with an utterly self-important air.
"Village Chief, let's set the title issue aside for now. Komekko mentioned in her letter that Crimson Demon Village seemed to have caught the attention of a General in the Demon King's Army. And the situation sounded extremely urgent. Even Megumin was so worried that she rushed back overnight. What exactly is going on?"
"Ha! Hahahaha!"
Hiropon threw his head back and burst into laughter as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world. He laughed so hard that his ornate cloak fell right over his head.
"A Demon King's General? Targeting our Crimson Demon Village? Kōichi, don't tell me you actually believed that old windbag Hyoizaburoo's nonsense?"
Hiropon yanked the cloak off his head, his eyes brimming with the proud loneliness of a powerful man.
"Listen carefully. That was nothing more than a clumsy lie Hyoizaburoo made up to trick Megumin into coming home! After all, his Magic Item research failed recently, and he's so broke that he has to split even sweet potato peels with Komekko. He probably wants to use Megumin's Explosion magic, which may only fire once but packs absurd power, to blast some valuable materials out of the deep mountains. As for the Demon King's Army? Hmph. As long as their heads aren't stuffed with straw, they would never dare set foot on this land blessed by the gods... no, ruled by us, the Crimson Demon Clan! Here, even an elementary schoolkid by the roadside can casually throw out a few high-level spells. What General would be so eager to die that he'd come here looking for a beating?"
Kōichi froze.
He looked at Hiropon's confidence, which bordered on sheer arrogance, then thought back to the villagers he had seen when entering the village, people who even added special effects just to say hello, and suddenly felt...
The village chief made a really good point!
"So all the tension we felt on the way here was because we got dragged along by that daughter-scamming Hyoizaburoo? And Kazuma's over there spending his entire fortune on sweet potatoes, only to end up paying for a scam?"
Kōichi silently mourned Kazuma's wallet.
"D-Dad! Stop talking! Let Kōichi-san and the others rest already!"
Seeing Kōichi fall into thought, Yunyun assumed he had been frightened by her father's chuunibyou remarks. Blushing, she hurried over, grabbed Kōichi with one hand and the still-sulking Aqua with the other.
"Everyone, please follow me! I've already picked out your rooms. They all have the best natural light and are closest to the kitchen! Please stay here, no matter what. Don't leave just because Dad says weird things!"
Hiropon looked at his daughter, who seemed ready to offer up her whole heart, and shrugged helplessly before turning to leave the living room.
But as he passed Kōichi, he suddenly stopped. While Yunyun had gone to fetch the keys, he quickly leaned close to Kōichi's ear, his voice low and filled with a certain understanding shared between men.
"Hey, young man. I rarely hear Yunyun praise a man that much in her letters. You do seem pretty normal, but if you really could become my son-in-law... a marriage between the Lord of Ashes and the Village Chief of Crimson Demon Village would sound ridiculously cool! I've got high hopes for you. Don't let that sweet potato scammer Hyoizaburoo take all the credit!"
With that, Hiropon gave Kōichi a knowing look. Then, accompanied by a flash effect that appeared from who knew where, he vanished stylishly at the end of the corridor.
Kōichi stood frozen in place, his brain instantly crashing.
"S-son-in-law?! Hey, Village Chief-sama, isn't your train of thought moving way too fast? I only came here to stay the night!"
"Kōichi-san? What's wrong? Your face is so red."
Yunyun came running back with a glittering bunch of keys, looking at Kōichi in concern.
"N-nothing." Kōichi guiltily looked away. "I just suddenly realized that the elders of Crimson Demon Village... really are full of personality."
Yunyun led Kōichi down the thickly carpeted corridor on the mansion's second floor.
As soon as Aqua saw the guest room with the enormous bathtub, she had already screamed and charged in to enjoy her sacred bath time. Darkness, meanwhile, was standing at the end of the corridor with a profound expression, studying a sculpture that looked very much like a torture device. In truth, it was only a uniquely shaped coat rack.
At that moment, only Kōichi and Yunyun were left in the corridor.
Kōichi's brain was practically half shut down.
From returning to Axel from the City of Water, to setting out and making it all the way here, he had not only dealt with Kazuma's endless schemes, but also performed that mortifying act at the entrance of Crimson Demon Village. Add to that the village chief's sudden bombardment about making him a son-in-law, and right now, all he wanted was to find a pillow and bury himself in it.