The palace corridors were wide and luxurious, with portraits of past kings hanging along the walls.
Just as the group was about to pass through the central corridor connecting the east and west wings, a group of people approached from the opposite direction.
Leading them was an extremely bloated middle-aged noble, his face covered in folds of flesh and his skin so greasy it seemed to reflect the light.
He wore an outrageously gaudy silk formal suit, and glittering gemstone rings covered all ten of his thick, stubby fingers. He looked exactly like a Giant Toad that had somehow cultivated into human form.
It was none other than Alderp, the infamous grand noble of the Royal Capital.
"Oh my, oh my, if it isn't Lady Claire. It has been quite some time."
Alderp let out an oily, nauseating laugh as his gaze swept over the group.
However, when his eyes landed on Darkness at the very back, dressed in a filthy maid outfit with dust still on her face, his murky eyes suddenly lit up as if he had discovered a priceless treasure.
"Oh my! Oh my, my! Isn't this Lalatina-san of the Dustiness family?!"
Alderp was so excited that the fat all over his body trembled wildly. He made no attempt to hide the vulgar, greedy desire in his eyes as he rubbed his hands and stepped closer.
"How did you end up in such a filthy state? Could the Dustiness family's finances have finally collapsed, forcing you to work as a lowly maid in the royal palace? If that is the case, I, Alderp, would be willing to offer you my protection at once! As long as you are willing to become my..."
"Eek!"
Darkness let out a cry of genuine fear.
She might become excited when facing monsters or physical torture, but confronted with such a purely repulsive, greasy stare, she felt only a chill run down her spine.
She instinctively took two steps back and hid directly behind Kōichi and Kazuma.
Seeing this fat toad trying to get his hands on their Party's exclusive rag, Kōichi and Kazuma's eyes went cold at the same time.
Although they usually showed Darkness nothing but disgust, cursed her as they pleased, and even ordered her around like a bottom-tier slave, she was still their teammate.
"Hey, you drooling wild pig over there."
Kōichi took a step forward and arrogantly pushed up the pure-gold sunglasses on his nose. Pointing at Alderp with his chin, his voice was full of condescending contempt.
"Are those beady little eyes of yours, almost buried under all that fat, blind? Can't you see my name written on this rag?"
"Exactly."
Kazuma stuck both hands into his pockets and showed his signature sadistic grin, one even more villainous than a villain's.
"Don't stare at her with those sewer-stinking eyes of yours. If your grease gets on her, that'd be terrifying!"
The moment those words came out, the entire corridor fell into deathly silence.
Even Claire, who had always wanted to cut them down, was now staring with her mouth wide open in shock.
These two country Adventurers with no background whatsoever had actually dared to stand inside the palace, point at Alderp, a man of enormous influence at court, and call him a wild fat pig?
The air in the corridor seemed to freeze.
Alderp's already comical, fat-swollen face turned a spectacular shade of liver red.
His ten short, thick fingers, covered in jeweled rings, trembled violently as he pointed at Kōichi and Kazuma, unable to form a complete sentence for a long time.
"Y-You... You lowborn scum who crawled out of some filthy ditch! How dare you... how dare you speak to this great lord..."
"What did we do? Was I wrong?"
Kōichi cut him off without the slightest courtesy.
Kōichi and Kazuma had long known what kind of person this grand noble named Alderp was. Not only was he greedy beyond measure, he often used his power to seize commoner women by force.
Back in Axel, as low-level Adventurers, they might have taken a detour around someone this powerful.
But now things were different! They had latched onto the thickest thigh in the entire kingdom, Princess Iris!
If they did not use borrowed power to bully someone now, then when would they?
Kōichi took an extremely arrogant step forward, even deliberately grinding the sole of his shoe against the expensive Persian carpet, putting on an expression even worse than a spoiled noble brat's.
"Open those beady little eyes of yours and look carefully! We are great heroes personally invited by Her Highness Iris and treated as honored guests! We eat royal-exclusive dragon steak and sleep in velvet beds! And a mere creature who looks like a Giant Toad dares block the path of Her Highness's distinguished guests? Are you trying to rebel?"
"Exactly!"
Kazuma immediately caught on and fanned the flames like mad from the side. He crossed his arms, his chin nearly tilting up to the ceiling.
"We're on our way to have afternoon tea with Her Highness the Princess right now! If Her Highness gets tired of waiting and asks why, we'll report the truth. A huge pile of foul-smelling non-burnable garbage was blocking the corridor! When the time comes, can you bear the crime of making Her Highness the Princess so upset she cries?"
"Y-You... this is utter nonsense!"
Alderp was so furious that the fat all over his body rippled like waves. He turned and roared at the guards behind him.
"What are you standing there for?! Seize these two filthy commoners who dare run their mouths! I'll cut out their tongues and feed them to the dogs!"
However, the guards looked at one another, and not a single one dared move forward.
After all, Claire, the ace of the Royal Guard Knights, was standing right there.
Seeing this, Kōichi's sadistic grin grew even more unrestrained.
Not only did he refuse to back down, he actually leaned closer to Alderp, fanning his hand in front of his nose and pretending he was about to suffocate.
"Oh my, what a stink! Kazuma, do you smell that? That stench of rotten fat is even more disgusting than the Undead!"
Kōichi turned to Claire and shouted loudly.
"Lady Claire! As the princess's guard, are you really going to stand by and watch Her Highness's honored guest suffer mental contamination from such a lowlife? My eyes and nose have sustained severe magical damage! If I don't receive ten million Eris as compensation for emotional distress, I'm not leaving today. I'll lie down right here and let Her Highness personally come see how her guests are being bullied!"
As he spoke, Kōichi actually made as if to lie down on the carpet.
Looking at this utterly absurd yet nearly airtight display of borrowed authority, Alderp was so angry he almost had a stroke on the spot.
He knew that Princess Iris currently listened to these two scoundrels. If this really reached the princess, he would be the one at a disadvantage.
"Fine! Fine! Just you wait!"
Alderp ground his yellow teeth, glared viciously at Kōichi and Kazuma, then looked at Darkness with extreme reluctance. With a sweep of his oversized sleeves, he turned and slunk away with his guards.
"Take care, wild fat pig! Remember to take a few extra baths when you get home!"
Kōichi waved goodbye from behind with extreme arrogance.
"If you ever look at us again, we'll dig out your eyeballs and step on them like bubble wrap!"
Kazuma also raised his middle finger.
Beside them, Claire watched these two scumbags push bullying with borrowed power to the absolute limit and covered her face in agony.
She swore that if Her Highness the Princess were not still waiting in the tea room, she would throw these two men, who had disgraced the royal family beyond belief, straight out the window.
***
...
If you'd like to support my work and unlock advanced chapters, you can follow me on p-@-treon.
[email protected]/PinkSnake (50 Chapters Ahead for now).
You can also follow as a free member to read a few advanced chapters.
***