Me, a priest? How could that be!

Chapter 152 How Did I Suddenly Become a Live-in Son-in-Law?

Putting aside the fact that Kazuma Sato didn't get a good evaluation because of his regular grades, his comments at the time, such as "don't get involved, it just doesn't seem like a good thing," already made people feel something was off.

"When we first arrived in this town, I happened to overhear that guy at the bathhouse saying that with this, that hateful cult is finished. The sabotage at the secret hot spring is complete. Currently, the other hot springs are also progressing quite smoothly. If everything goes according to plan, then we just have to wait. For us with our long lifespans, waiting ten or twenty years is nothing," he really kindly said all that, but because it was so troublesome, he just—oh my! What, what do you want?!

When Kazuma Sato confessed everything, Aqua couldn't help but grab him by the neck.

"Why didn't you tell me something so important! And if you had caught him back then, none of this would have happened!?"

"Hey, you bastard, let go! I'm just a weak beginner, how could I possibly subdue someone?! Besides, I came here for a hot spring therapy session, okay?! Why do I always have to get dragged into danger?! Why would I willingly get involved in such troublesome matters?!"

Kazuma Sato said he had something to say, explaining his own strength and the strength of his opponent, adding, "You understand, I don't have that kind of strength."

Although his reasons were valid and reasonable, his desire to escape still angered several people.

"You speak with such self-righteousness! Don't you have any sense of responsibility as an adventurer?! That sounds like a conversation between the Demon King's army plotting something terrible!"

"Aqua, I'll keep this trash under control. You teach him a lesson!"

"Stop, stop! Don't do this!"

Although Kazuma Sato consciously resisted, even using his signature lich skill, Absorption Touch, the one who suppressed him was Charlotte, a man with unfathomable magic power, whom he could never completely absorb no matter how much he tried.

Besides, how could a mere beginner possibly withstand the power of a nightmare and a lich?

"Damn it—"

Kazuma Sato rubbed his aching cheek, saying this unwillingly. He had just taken a hit from Aqua's Divine Light Fist, which almost killed him. Fortunately, he had been using magic to absorb Charlotte's magic and life force at that time, otherwise he would have met Eris on the spot.

After a while of arguing.

The group arrived at the Adventurers' Guild in the town, and based on Kazuma Sato's testimony, Aqua drew a portrait of the man, the Demon King's Army officer, Poisonous Slime. The portrait was so well-done that it was practically indistinguishable from a photograph.

One has to admire that Aqua is a professional in everything except her role as a goddess.

When they arrived at the guild counter with the portrait, explaining their purpose and requesting that the guild staff issue a warrant for the arrest, the staff said, "We cannot process this request so suddenly. You claim you overheard it while passing by; based on such a one-sided account, it would be difficult to issue a warrant for the arrest. If it were an adventurer with a long-standing good reputation and high credibility in this town, that would be fine, but we don't know you well, and we can't unconditionally believe your testimonies. Without more concrete evidence, perhaps—"

The clerk at the counter said this with a troubled expression.

That's right. If we, these guys of dubious origin, suddenly come to them asking them to issue an arrest warrant for this man, there's no way they'd accept it.

Just before Aqua was about to approach and show her face, Charlotte pressed down on her shoulder and gently placed a badge with an ornate design on the counter.

The counter staff's expression changed drastically instantly.

"H-How could this be!?"

His reaction surprised everyone.

Before Sato Kazuma and the others could even ask, Darkness became terrified. She grabbed Charlotte's arm and hurriedly asked, "Charlotte, where did you get this thing from?! And why do you have this thing?!"

"--I'm so sorry! I've been so rude to neglect you! I'll prepare to issue an arrest warrant for this man right away!" The clerk quickly took the portrait from Akia and ran to make a note of it.

strange?

The others exchanged bewildered glances, utterly baffled as to why this badge possessed such power. However, seeing Darkness's equally panicked expression, they already had a hunch.

Only Aqua looked completely clueless.

"Hey Darkness, what exactly is this thing?" She picked up the badge from the counter and fiddled with it, magically transferring it from her left hand to her right. "Why do you look so panicked?"

Darkness didn't answer, but looked at Charlotte with a complicated expression.

"Yes, you've been to the capital, so it's not surprising, it's not surprising at all—"

"—Darkness?"

"Ah, ah—sorry, I spaced out." Darkness shook his head and explained, "This badge is actually a token of nobility. As you know, nobles sometimes don't attend events in person, and this badge—"

—

"Does that mean they're important?" Kazuma Sato continued, "But if it can make the counter staff so flustered, it must be someone important, right?"

Darkness nodded in acknowledgment, adding, "That's right, it's a token of the Sinphonia family, and the Sinphonia are a ducal family, a very prestigious noble family in the kingdom."

"They are considered two of the two great noble families, along with the Dustinis family," Charlotte added.

"Well—"

Darkness did not deny it either.

"So that's how it is! As expected of Charlotte, this is how nobles abuse their power, isn't it!"

"I've decided, I'm going to live a wonderful life with this badge! Here you go!"

"Great, my life is now worry-free!"

Aqua toyed with the badge in her hand, reluctant to let go. Sato Kazuma leaned in to try and snatch it, while Megumin said with a serious expression, "These three are hopeless."

"Don't use it as a wish-granting tool!" Darkness snatched the badge while looking at Charlotte. "Besides, why do you have this badge?! And do you even know what it means? How dare you use it like this!"

"Well—"

Charlotte scratched her head and shushed, "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Actually, I forged this badge."

"————What!!!?"

The four of them were utterly astonished. The badge they had been fighting over suddenly became a hot potato. Aqua threw it into Kazuma Sato's arms, which startled Kazuma Sato so much that he quickly threw it to Darkness. Megumin waved her wand in a gesture of refusing everything.

As everyone knows, forging or misusing a noble's badge without authorization is a capital offense, especially when the offender is one of the kingdom's two most powerful noble families. If discovered, ten lives wouldn't be enough to secure the sentence.

"You dare to forge it? You've got some nerve!"

Darkness gripped the badge tightly and crushed it into a piece of metal, causing Charlotte immense heartache.

"But how do you know what the token looks like?"

"Well—"

Charlotte couldn't very well say that while she was in prison, she saw the letter Claire, who was annoyed by the harassment, sent to Serena, and that it had the sealing wax from the Sinphonia family, which was why she was able to forge it.

"Never mind, it's not important." Darkness visibly relaxed. "Honestly, I thought you and Miss Claire were married. If you were, I'd be—"

She mumbled something else, but Charlotte didn't hear it because his attention was already drawn to what she had said earlier.

"—Wait a minute, why would someone make such a comment? What's this about marriage?"

"Don't you know? Noble tokens are actually of two types: one for use by family members and the other for use by outsiders. What you've brought out is a token used by family members, which means..."

"If someone who isn't part of the main family uses the badge, it means they've become part of the main family. And since there's only one Claire in the Sinphonia family, that's why they say 'Claire and I'—!!!?"

Charlotte was completely devastated.

Just then, the clerk rushed back, his face full of obsequiousness, and said, "My lord, your commission has been issued, please take a look!"

The man with brown hair and dark skin depicted on the wanted poster is the Demon King's Army officer they hope the guild can help them hunt down. Of course, that's not important. What's important is that the lower left corner has the emblem of the Sinphonia family, indicating that this wanted poster was issued by the Sinphonia family.

"--Well, I've followed Mr. Sinphonia's instructions and completed the paperwork for issuing an arrest warrant for this man. If we find any information, we'll contact your hotel!"

Ruined!

This time I'm definitely dead!

Charlotte felt that her future was bleak.

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