The next day, with no money left, Kazuma and his party, who had been comfortably accepting guild requests, went to the guild from the morning and started diligently accepting requests. Since they had not a single penny on hand. The mansion was almost completely destroyed, so rebuilding it was akin to building a new one, which naturally required a huge amount of money.
Upon hearing the story, the estimate came out higher than the money Kazuma had, but fortunately, the manual labor Kazuma and Aqua did when they first arrived here helped, and they were recognized and given a discount, it was said.
"Sigh... It feels like starting over from the beginning... It's driving me crazy, especially since it's getting colder."
Kazuma sighed as he spoke.
"We can just earn it again. We're stronger than before, so we'll recover quickly."
"I guess so? Anyway, I'll go to the guild."
"Alright."
I also went to the capital with Yunyun to take requests again. As expected, the capital was overflowing with requests. That day, we quickly handled about three requests and were about to head home when Claire, Princess Iris's guard, came to the guild.
"There you are. Silver Flash and Crimson Mage, we've been waiting."
"Hmm? What brings you here?"
"Princess Iris has invited you both for a meal. Princess Iris enjoys hearing adventure stories from excellent adventurers, so please do not decline."
"Understood. But by when should we go?"
"Today."
Knowing the original work, I expected Iris to call someday, but it was sudden and surprising.
"Today?? But we need to prepare..."
"Princess Iris requested the invitation, so we've been looking for you all over the capital but couldn't find you. Fortunately, news came that you were at the guild today, so I hurried here."
They must have been looking for us while we were in Axel Town for Kazuma's matter.
"I see, understood."
"We'll handle the preparations. Let's go."
As Yunyun and I left the guild, a carriage prepared by the kingdom was waiting outside. We rode the carriage and moved to the royal palace.
"Uh... Cassian, what should we do? It's a princess..."
Yunyun was very nervous beside me about meeting the princess.
"Don't worry too much, nothing will happen."
Nothing really would happen. Because she was a princess who admired adventurers but also cared for the kingdom. Plus, Yunyun wasn't a troublemaker like Kazuma and the others, so no major issues were likely.
We arrived at the royal castle and, guided by maids, bathed and changed clothes before heading to the place set for dinner with Iris. When we entered, a cute blonde 12-year-old girl was sitting at the end of a long table, with her guards Claire and Lain standing on either side.
"Nice to meet you. Princess Iris. I am the adventurer Cassian."
"Nice to meet you. Princess Iris. I am the adventurer Yunyun."
We greeted as politely as possible. Then Iris looked at us and whispered to Claire beside her.
"Princess Iris says thank you for accepting the invitation. She asks you to enjoy the banquet and share your adventure stories."
"Understood."
Yunyun and I sat in the prepared seats and shared slightly embellished stories of our experiences. I did most of the talking, while Yunyun quietly enjoyed the meal. Iris listened to my stories with great interest. Then she whispered to Claire again.
"Princess Iris asks you to talk more about Lalatina."
"Understood."
Lalatina was Darkness's real name. Since Darkness's family was one of the kingdom's great nobles, Iris had known her since childhood and was somewhat close. So, she seemed very curious about Darkness's adventurer life.
I told stories of Darkness's disgraceful behavior as it was. Iris found it very amusing and listened intently. Claire and Lain, who were also great nobles, seemed a bit embarrassed by the candid stories of Darkness, but since Iris enjoyed it so much, they didn't say much.
"Then, Sir Cassian, are you married?" Princess Iris asks.
"Yes, I am. While taking guild requests, I became close with a beautiful guild staff member."
Iris showed a slightly disappointed expression. Then she whispered to Claire again.
"She says she had a very enjoyable time today. Especially the stories about Lalatina, which she couldn't hear anywhere else, were very fun."
"I see, that's good."
"And as a reward for the fun stories, she's considering giving a reward and asks if there's anything you want."
I immediately looked at Iris's necklace and said.
"In that case, I would like to receive the necklace you are wearing now, Princess."
Having seen the original work, I knew that the necklace Iris was wearing was a dangerous artifact, so I wanted to deal with it right away. But since it was a gift from Iris's brother, Prince Zatis, it was a very rude request.
"Sir Cassian, that is too rude a statement."
Claire was quite flustered by the request and demanded it be withdrawn.
"The necklace you are wearing now, Princess, is a very dangerous artifact. That's why I intend to dispose of it."
Everyone seemed very surprised by that.
"What did you say? Sir Cassian, can you explain in more detail?"
"Understood. That necklace is an artifact that can forcibly swap bodies. Having such an artifact in the possession of royalty suggests a conspiracy to swap bodies with the royal family. I think this is a very serious matter. We need to investigate the source of this necklace."
"Is, is that true, Sir Cassian?"
"Yes. If you don't believe me, give me the necklace and I'll prove it."
Iris heard that and handed the necklace to me. I put it on Claire and taught Lain the spell.
"Do you really swap bodies with just that spell?"
"Yes. Let's try it."
"Understood. So... Yours is mine. Mine is yours. Become you~!"
As Lain chanted the spell, the necklace glowed slightly, and it seemed Claire and Lain's bodies swapped.
"Huh?? I swapped with Lain's body!! This can't be!"
"How about it? Is my statement proven?"
Claire and Lain, with swapped bodies, pondered seriously. Iris also seemed quite shocked.
"I see, this is really serious. We need to investigate immediately!! But... when does this wear off?"
I pretended to look at the necklace and said.
"Hmm... Judging by the mana amount, it seems to last about a day. It should automatically wear off after a day."
"Phew... That's a relief. Who dares to do such a thing? But how do you know about this necklace, Sir Cassian?"
I had a prepared excuse ready for this question.
"That's because I'm also a magic tool craftsman with a great interest in artifacts. So, I have the ability to analyze artifacts and magic tools."
"Oh~ I see."
Even I thought it was a flimsy excuse, but as typical of KonoSuba characters, it seemed to pass this time too.
"Anyway, I'll keep this necklace. If the culprit finds out they've been exposed, they might try to chant the spell immediately."
"But wouldn't that put you in danger, Sir Cassian?"
"No need to worry. An artifact of this level won't cause my body to be stolen or anything."
"Is that so? Then may we test it?"
"Go ahead."
Claire, now in Lain's body, chanted the spell again, but the necklace only glowed briefly, and due to the [Status Abnormality Immunity] ability, no body swap occurred.
"It's true. Then I'll entrust the necklace to you. Once we return to our original bodies, we need to start the investigation immediately."
"Understood."
With this, it seemed I had somewhat thwarted one of KonoSuba's villains, the great noble Aldap. Actually, that necklace was one of the artifacts Aldap had obtained, and even Eris was trying to retrieve it due to its danger. After a day, the body returns to normal, but if the swapped person dies, the body remains swapped permanently.
So, Aldap planned to use it to swap bodies with Iris's brother, Prince Zatis of Belzerg, by offering the necklace and waiting for an opportunity. Luckily, Zatis gifted the necklace to his sister Iris, so Iris ended up possessing it.
In the original work, Kazuma steals the necklace and gives it to Eris, thwarting Aldap's plan, but I twisted it to formalize it and corner Aldap. I don't know how powerful the demon Maxwell contracted by Aldap is, but my judgment was that it wouldn't be easy this time.
So, Yunyun and I stayed at the royal palace as important witnesses. I excused myself to Princess Iris, went to Axel Town to inform Luna and Kazuma of the situation, and returned to the castle.
While the investigation progressed, Yunyun and I took guild requests based at the royal palace. Claire said it wasn't allowed as important witnesses, but I managed to persuade her and take requests. Honestly, experience points were more important than Aldap.
After a few days of taking requests, many maids in the palace were busily preparing various things.
"Hmm? What's going on?"
"Sir Cassian, it's nothing major, but news came that Prince Zatis is returning to the royal palace."
"Ah~ I see."
It seemed things had escalated as I thought. Regardless, Yunyun and I diligently took requests that day too. Over the past few days, I leveled up 3 more times to level 41, and Yunyun leveled up 7 times to level 39. We really worked hard.
Plus, luckily, I defeated a lich archwizard and obtained [(A) KonoSuba High-Level Magic], [(B) Blast Magic], and [(A) Explosion Magic], while [(D) KonoSuba Low-Level Magic] and [(C) KonoSuba Mid-Level Magic] each upgraded to C and B rank. Unfortunately, [Explosion Magic] didn't increase, probably because the lich hadn't learned it.
The next day, Prince Zatis and Iris summoned us upon his arrival at the palace. Yunyun and I immediately moved and politely greeted the prince and Iris.
"So you are the Silver Flash. I heard you discerned the danger of the necklace. Can you demonstrate it once?"
The prince was a handsome blonde youth of about 18. I demonstrated as instructed, same as before. This time, to confirm the facts, the prince secretly gave a code to Claire, and Iris secretly gave a code to Lain, to check the body swap.
"Then, let's begin. Yours is mine. Mine is yours. Become you~!"
Again, the necklace flashed, bodies swapped, and each told the code to Iris and the prince in their swapped bodies.
"My, it's true."
"Prince, I think someone intended to swap bodies with you and usurp the throne."
As Claire seriously voiced her opinion, the prince also stood up with a serious face, slammed the chair, and shouted.
"Arrest Aldap immediately!!"
"Yes! I obey the order!"
The knight captain, who had been watching everything, led the knights outside. The prince held his forehead as if in pain, sat back down, and spoke to Yunyun and me.
"You saved the kingdom. Do you want anything?"
"What I want is the kingdom's cooperation."
The prince wondered and asked again.
"Hmm? Why is that?"
"Last time in the capital, when fighting the Demon King's army, I was refused because I was under level 30. I hope such things won't happen again."
"I see."
I asked the prince for a kingdom free pass. Then the prince handed me a medal symbolizing royalty from his pocket.
"With this, you can go anywhere in our kingdom, stand on any battlefield, and if you ask for cooperation from knights or nobles, they'll help anytime. Actually, this requires my father's permission, but with this level of achievement, he'll surely understand."
"Thank you."
"And I heard you're strong enough to capture a Demon King's army executive. Would you consider working under me?"
The prince tried to recruit me. But I refused immediately. There was no real benefit.
"I still want to travel to many places."
"I see, then I can't help it. But if you change your mind, let me know anytime."
"Understood."
Besides the free pass medal, the prince gave us 100 million Eris as a reward. So, Yunyun and I split it half. Yunyun didn't want to take it, but I forced it on her.
The next day, I heard that Aldap, despite the kingdom knights rushing in, packed his belongings, rode a carriage, and fled. The prince reprimanded the knight captain, but the knight captain only repeated 'Aldap is innocent.' Fortunately, the prince, having been on the battlefield for long, immediately realized it was the demon's doing and called Eris's priests to heal the knights and put a hefty bounty on Aldap.
'Impressive. The power to manipulate memories...'
The demon Maxwell contracted by Aldap had the power to 'twist truth,' simply put, 'the power to manipulate memories.' I wanted to obtain it if possible, but according to KonoSuba's setting, demons have their true bodies in hell, so while banishment is possible, killing them completely isn't, so it's meaningless.
After the bounty was placed on Aldap, we could finally leave the royal palace and return to Axel Town. Upon arriving home, Darkness was nowhere to be seen, so I asked Kazuma.
"Kazuma, where's Darkness?"
"Ah, Darkness went home. The noble ruling Axel committed treason and fled, so Darkness's father was appointed as the lord of Axel Town. So, she went to help for a while."
"I see."
"So, how about doing some requests together? For some reason, without Darkness, we only end up catching Giant Toads."
"Sure, let's do that."