The Adventures of Rose Hood

Chapter 8: The King

After I woke up, Jalad and Dallel took me out to get a drink and have dinner. They talked about how I was super strong.
"Saliad was a hero, known for decimating mature dragons with ease as a teenager, and you bested him."
"Barely. If he had let loose that last blow, I'd be in critical condition."
"Still, he was regarded as the 11th strongest person in the world, a transcendent person, and you won."
Yeah, I get that it's impressive, but if I were to fight another S rank, I'd lose.
"The king himself saw your battle with the kingsguard."
Crap.
"Wait, so Royce saw it?"
"Yes, Sir Royce saw it. Why are you... wait."
"He's going to kill me."
"Probably."
As though he was summoned, he burst into the guild hall with a furious expression. He stamped over fangs out. The wolfkin's aura was far smaller than mine, but in this moment it was terrifying.
"Hi, Sir Royce."
I decided to play full respect. Then Darsen came in,
"Hey Rose, you did so well. I never thought you'd be able to kill Saliad, despite you supposedly fighting a dragon. And you being a dragonslayer is even cooler."
'Darsen, you are either pure evil or an idiot.'
"Rose,"
Royce started smiling. It was scarier than Saliad's smile.
"Do you know how much effort I went through to play down your achievements so you wouldn't draw to much attention, that I remind you, YOU ASKED ME TO DO?"
"Uuuh. A lot?"
"Yep! And then you throw all that away and kill the Dragon Slayer in a tournament that the whole city watched, and reports of the winners reach even other kingdoms."
I wilted.
"Sorry."
"It's fine, I bet that ******* Mammon insisted you enter, and I heard that Saliad marked you as a target. Still, there goes 2 sleepless nights."
"Sorry."
He growled and then sighed.
"Still, good job on winning. I knew you were strong, but I never anticipated you were that powerful."
"Thank you."
"I'm still mad, but a little less so then I would've been if you lost."
"Why?"
"Cause then your granny would kill me."
"Good point."
Granny when angry is scarier than anything. Despite only meeting her once, Royce understood that.
Both of us shivered at imagining her mad. Darsen looked at us with his eyes wide.
"Now I just want to know how strong her granny is."
That caused us to laugh.
_
After dinner, I was called to Mammon's office.
"Well, lassie. It seems I was right that your actions were a bit understated. Still caught me off guard."
He looked at me in reverence.
"A dragonslayer, huh? Well, I wasn't expecting you to be a match for Saliad's aspects without using yours, and I certainly wasn't expecting you to have one of your own."
"I barely won."
"Still, that puts you in S rank strength. Heck, after the tournament I've been receiving messages from other guildmasters to promote you to A, but I knew that was too fast, you haven't done enough. So, to compromise I made you a B and an A candidate."
"What does that mean?"
"You are able to become A as soon as you fulfill your requirements."
"What are they?"
"15 guildmasters approval, you already have 20, 30 requests fulfilled, you don't have any of that, and finally, you need to defeat the adventurer's bane dungeon solo."
"Adventurer's bane?"
"That last one is normally for making you an S rank, but you already have beaten an A or above adventurer, so we decided to make it a bit harder. Especially since you just became an adventurer a week ago, and yet, you are already B."
"Understandable."
"Thanks for understanding. I would like to make you an A, but we don't know you enough to trust you fully. Especially since you showed up out of nowhere."
"I fully get it, I never did anything but practice with my siblings before I got enslaved, and after that I did only basic tasks."
"Well, now that you're a B rank, I should get a blacksmith to get you good armor. That arcane armor is powerful, but I bet it's hard to hold, correct."
"Yes."
"By the way, did the man kill your brother? It seemed that way from what little we heard of your conversation."
"Yes, my older brother Ravi. I knew it was him because he described him in such detail."
"I see, well that's a shame."
"Indeed, it is, I hope my other siblings are alive."
"I hope for your sake they are too."
"Thank you."
I left the office feeling thankful for the old man. He recognized my strength and decided to help me despite not knowing much about me. If he knew what I was, he'd likely kill me, Jalad and Dallel would too. I think Royce only didn't because he saw me save him, but the others would kill me.
'And I think I'd let them.'
I walked back to the main room and Jalad looked concerned.
"Rose, are you ok?"
I realized I was crying.
"Did that old man do something?"
"No, I think I'm just realizing that my brother is actually gone."
Dallel and Jalad hugged me. And in the guild hall, with many seeing me, I cried for the first time in 90 years.
_
Rose fell asleep in our arms. I suppose she was still very fatigued from the fight with Saliad. We sat her down and she curled up a bit.
"I know she's 19, but like this, she looks way younger."
Jalad was right. Rose looked like she was no older than 10 when sleeping. I know that adolescent beastkin look young, but she looked far younger than Sir Royce who was only 5 years her senior.
"We should bring her back to her inn."
"Agreed."
In that moment, me, Jalad, and Royce, all agreed that we would defend this catkin.
_
As I woke up, I noticed I was in my room. I was still wearing the spare armor I got for the tournament. I got up and noticed a note from Royce.
"We brought you back to your apartment, don't worry. I have to leave town soon and I guess you do too. Mammon told me that he was putting you in A candidacy, good job. He told me to let you know to head to Gallson Armors and Weapons for new gear. Also, the king wants to meet with you before you leave town, so after getting new armor, be sure to visit the castle. My insignia is included, so entering will be easy. Welp, have fun."
He was concise and to the point. I understood why he said to go to the castle after I get armor. I look like I'd get blown away in the wind in this. Not to mention that it barely stood against my aura. I needed new gear.
As I walked out, many people saw me and some cheered and others moved on quickly. I wandered around and found the shop.
When I walked in, I saw an elf and a dwarf working on armor and weapons, respectively. The Elf noticed me first.
"Ah, it's the Myth killer."
"Myth killer?"
"Yes, you are called that for both defeating a dragon and Saliad."
Right, I used Dragon Aspect, people don't know dragons can use their own aspects. They think I killed a dragon.
"I came here to get gear. Both Royce and Mammon told me to come here."
"Good thing, with that aura of yours, you will require sturdy armor."
"Stats reveal... hm. You have a blocker."
"Yeah, sorry, it's a bracelet I got from my granny."
"Alright. What's your swordsmanship?"
"Let me check."
Sword king had leveled to 4 in the fight with Saliad.
"Sword king: 4"
The elf coughed and the dwarf dropped his hammer.
"Y-ye have sword king?"
"Yes? Is that odd?"
"How is it that ya have arcane and one of the highest sword skills out there."
"I trained from a young age."
"Saliad trained from a young age too. He received sword king only a week before your fight."
"He did?"
Me and Saliad were close in age, so it kind of makes sense, but each of my siblings have sword king too. Maybe our training is just a lot rougher than elven training.
"Yeah, well I can make you a masterful blade."
"How much will it cost?"
"Hmmm. How much you got?"
I received 100000 gold for winning the tournament.
"100000."
"Hm, if pointy ears here makes you a full set of armor as well, it'd come up to 50000."
"Alright."
They were silent for a second.
"No haggling?"
"Why would I haggle? That's a reasonable price for high quality gear, especially when the smiths are recommended by both the guildmaster and a member of the kingsguard."
"You're quite reasonable, girl. Here, so you don't need to walk around in that, have some spare armor, on the house. Changing rooms back there."
"Thank you so much."
I changed into the light armor and stepped out.
"Wow... note to self, make sure it is loose."
I saw where he was coming from. Despite my small stature I was still rather broad, and the armor was a bit small, exaggerating my... womanly bits... in simple terms it was very tight on my chest. Including the fact, I look 10... yeah it looked like I was a Loli.
"Definitely."
I looked at them.
"Would you mind sparing a cloak?"
"Not at all, here."
_
I made my way to the castle and showed them the insignia after introducing myself. The guards led me to a room before the throne room.
"I know you came from the countryside but try to be respectful."
The aid clearly didn't have high expectations of me. As the door opened, I entered and kneeled in respect to the king. I saw the eyes of the aid widen as my movements were smoother than his.
"Rise."
I stood and looked at the king. Royce was stationed next to him.
"Rose is your name, correct?"
"Yes, your majesty."
"What's with the cloak?"
A noble with a sneer asked.
"While the blacksmiths are working on my new armor, they gave me substitute gear, however, like most gear, it is better suited to males, making it look quite odd. The cloak is to make my appearance neater."
The king nods in understanding, but the noble insists I take off the cloak.
"I'd rather not remove the cloak."
I was lightly blushing at this point and the king was looking at the noble with clear annoyance.
"How can we know you aren't hiding a weapon if you cover your body?"
"With all due respect, Lord Daniels,"
Everyone turned to Royce as he spoke.
"As many of us saw during the tournament, she doesn't need a hidden weapon to annihilate us."
The king nodded,
"Daniels, there is no need to bring pressure on the young lady, besides we invited her to congratulate her, not pressure her."
"?"
"Ah, yes, I got Royce to leave a note, but knowing him, it wasn't clear. I wanted to congratulate you on both your victory and quick ascension of ranks."
"Thank you."
"And I want to warn you,"
I look at him with careful consideration.
"You were assigned to conquer Adventurer's bane, correct?"
Royce looked shocked.
"Yes, I was."
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Royce."
"Apologies, your majesty."
"It is fine. Rose, there has been an incident as of late, an unknown mythic monster had taken up residence in the dungeon. It has killed many powerful S candidates. I can only assume that you were assigned as you have proven yourself to be as strong as a middle S rank."
"I see."
"Well, that should be all. Have a wonderful day, Rose."
"Thank you, your majesty."
I bowed my head before leaving. All within court etiquette.