Chapter 1: I want to go home!
“Many thanks for saving my life just now, Lady Saintess! You truly are the most beautiful and kind-hearted Saintess in the entire world! Long live Lady Saintess!”
“Please don’t come so close, Hero. I merely eliminated a monster that was blocking my path. I wasn’t trying to save you.”
“Uuuu… So cool and aloof, my goddess is just too awesome.”
As the Hero, Tang Yingjie stood in place watching the arrogant Saintess leave with her teammates, his eyes still filled with gratitude.
“Lady Saintess, is this really okay? The Hero came from another world to help us… At least be a little more polite?”
The teammates looked at the aloof Saintess Alice, who showed no intention of acknowledging the Hero, and awkwardly tried to persuade her.
“Hmph, what does that have to do with me?”
The Saintess paid no attention to her teammates’ advice.
Two years later～
The Saintess and the Hero successfully defeated the Demon King and returned in triumph.
After receiving a warm welcome from the empire’s people, the team members gathered inside the palace, preparing for the most exciting moment.
The King sat high upon his throne, praising the heroic deeds of the subjugation team while sighing in admiration at how powerful the team was, which made the Demon King subjugation go so smoothly.
Finally, after finishing all his words of praise, he looked at the team members below with a gratified expression and asked the question everyone was most concerned about.
“To reward you for this successful subjugation, in accordance with tradition, you may each make one wish to me as a reward. Go ahead and tell me your wishes.”
Seeing that the obligatory speech segment had finally ended, the team members eagerly began stating their wishes to the King one after another.
Some cared about their hometown and wished to repair their home villages.
Some had no attachments and wished for a large sum of wealth.
Some sought titles of nobility for their families.
Everyone’s wishes were different. After all the other members had made their wishes, only the Saintess and the Hero remained.
All eyes turned toward these two.
The two people who contributed the most in this subjugation were undoubtedly these two heroes.
Saintess Alice possessed extremely high talent in magic and potion-making. Her mana reserves were astonishing. During logistics she was an incredibly powerful master of potion supply, and during battles with the Demon King she became a devastating magical artillery on the battlefield. When fighting the Demon King’s army, she cleared trash mobs at an extremely fast speed with destructive power.
Hero Tang Yingjie came from another world. Although he knew almost nothing about combat when he first arrived and was basically a weakling, he carried the Goddess’s blessing.
He had twelve lives, possessed the talent of mastering all martial skills, and upon awakening his class he obtained the all-rounder Saint War Priest class that combined both attack and healing. His combat techniques improved by leaps and bounds through constant training and real battles.
In the final battle against the Demon King, Tang Yingjie charged alone into the Demon King’s army, fought the Demon King in single combat, and ultimately, under Alice’s magical cannon suppression, cut off the Demon King’s head amidst thousands of troops.
Although the other team members had also worked hard during the subjugation, everyone understood that they were at most luggage carriers. Their overall contribution was far less than these two heroes.
Therefore, everyone felt these two heroes deserved the best rewards.
Hero Tang Yingjie stood there somewhat silently, seemingly deep in thought.
Saintess Alice, however, stepped forward and stated her wish to the King.
“I only want a house in the imperial capital, a storefront for selling potions, and a potion sales license. That’s enough.”
“Only these?”
The King asked with some uncertainty.
“Your contributions are enormous. You can ask for much more than this.”
“Just these.”
Alice’s expression remained aloof and proud as she nodded firmly.
“Very well. Outside the palace castle there is an estate. Beyond the estate lies the imperial capital’s commercial street. I shall reward you with that estate and any storefront on the commercial street.”
Although Alice’s request was very modest, the King naturally could not give this Demon King-subjugating hero only an ordinary house.
The estate he awarded her was actually imperial clan territory. Granting her the fief would also bestow noble status upon her in addition to the house.
As for the shop on the commercial street, that was simply an added bonus.
After resolving the Saintess’s wish, the King finally turned his gaze to Hero Tang Yingjie.
“Our dear friend, the Hero from another world, Tang. What reward do you desire? Feel free to speak. As long as it is within my power, I will grant it.”
Now that the Saintess’s wish had been fulfilled, the only one left without a wish was this Hero from another world.
Everyone’s eyes focused on him.
They began guessing what kind of wish this Hero would make.
“If I were the Hero, I would definitely ask for the status of a Grand Count right away.”
“What use is a Grand Count if the Hero has no family? If it were me, I’d ask for a rich and fertile fief and then build my own family.”
“The Hero has mastered all martial skills and is already the strongest human warrior. He surely wouldn’t care for dirty money and power. He might ask to search the national treasury for holy weapons or skills left behind by previous heroes.”
The court officials discussed animatedly.
Meanwhile, the Hero’s teammates were wondering whether the Hero would choose that particular reward.
Throughout the journey, everyone could see that this Hero from another world had special feelings for the Saintess.
During the subjugation, the Hero’s meticulous care for the Saintess had been obvious to all.
And the Saintess seemed to have some feelings as well, though her attitude toward the Hero was truly quite terrible…
But! The most important point! Historically, the marriage rate between Saintess and Hero after defeating the Demon King was as high as ninety percent!
This was the most anticipated and celebrated outcome after a successful Demon King subjugation!
So the Hero would definitely choose that option, right!?
Unlike her teammates, Alice looked at Tang Yingjie, who seemed lost in thought, without the slightest worry in her heart.
Heh, this guy will definitely say something stupid like “Please allow Alice to marry me” when he makes his wish to His Majesty.
After all, for the past few years this guy had tirelessly pestered her every day, being even stricter than her mother. Even a small cold would earn her endless nagging.
Even if she was unwilling, after so many years she had grown used to it.
But setting aside the nagging and annoying parts, the Hero would actually make a very qualified husband.
He was upright, brave, extremely attentive and patient with her, and very gentle and considerate.
He was also incredibly handsome…
Although he was from another world and had no assets here, if they married, they could live together in the estate, run the potion shop, and sell some technological products he brought from his original world.
Their future life shouldn’t be bad at all.
Just as the Saintess had already begun imagining how many children she would have with the Hero in the future.
Tang Yingjie finally seemed to snap back to reality. With an expression of wild joy, he looked at the King sitting on the throne.
“Really, any wish is fine?”
“That’s correct, brave Hero from another world. As long as it is within my ability, I will help you fulfill it.”
The King nodded affirmatively.
“Great! Then I wish to go home! Please send me back!”
King: Eh?
Court officials: Eh??
Teammates: ????
Alice: ……?
The fantasy she had just been indulging in shattered instantly.