Kazuki was famous.
He didn't want to be, but he was.
Everywhere he went, people whispered in awe.
"That's him! The Chaos Saint!"
"No, no—he's the Slime Whisperer!"
"I heard he slayed a ghost king using a broom and a banana."
(Spoiler: that one was almost true.)
But deep in the less glamorous part of Tenshika…
…someone was fuming.
✦
Aurelis Flamebrand stood on a broken crate, clutching a half-torn flyer that read:
"KAZUKI: HERO OF THE PEOPLE VISIT HIM IN THE PALACE FOR A HUG, A BLESSING, OR FREE NOODLES."
"Unbelievable…" Aurelis muttered.
He looked rough. Dirt on his boots, torn cape, three days unshaved. His greatsword was missing—pawned to pay for rice balls.
"I trained for fifteen years in the volcano temples. I slayed the Salamander of Yurei Gorge. I studied with flame spirits and passed the Seven Trials of the Sun…"
He growled.
"And he gets famous by slipping on a cabbage and falling on a bandit?"
The poster flapped gently in the breeze.
A passing child said, "Hey, aren't you the guy who lost to the cabbage guy?"
Aurelis twitched.
✦
Royal Palace of Tenshika – Later That Day
Kazuki was hiding behind a curtain, trying not to be handed another royal title. He now held:
Duke of Serendipity
High Magistrate of Slimes
Official Royal Trip Hazard
Smile jiggled on a pillow.
Tala was eating grapes off a platter like an empress.
Oro wore a tiny noble vest and was reading a scroll.
Kazuki sighed. "I just wanted a nap…"
Suddenly—
BOOM.
The palace doors exploded inward.
Aurelis Flamebrand stormed in, flames flaring around him, eyes burning with dramatic fury.
"KAZUKI!!"
Kazuki peeked from behind the curtain. "…Do I know you?"
Aurelis pointed. "You don't remember me?! I was summoned with you! We were in the same hero orientation class!"
Kazuki blinked.
"Oh! You're the guy who caught fire trying to summon a sword with too much mana."
"I DID THAT ON PURPOSE."
✦
Aurelis marched up, cape swirling, boot stomping.
"I challenge you to a duel, Kazuki! Right here, right now! For glory! For vengeance! For—"
Smile launched off a pillow and slammed into Aurelis' face like a sticky cannonball.
THWUMP.
Aurelis toppled backward.
Kazuki winced. "Ow. That's Smile's 'hello.' Sorry."
The court gasped.
"Sir Aurelis has submitted!"
Kazuki blinked. "Wait, that's not what—"
The King, already dramatically standing, declared,
"Very well! As is tradition, a fallen challenger must now serve the victor!"
"WHAT?!" Aurelis roared.
Kazuki tried to protest.
"I really don't need a butler or knight or anything—"
The King handed him a contract. Already signed. By divine law. Written in glitter ink.
Aurelis paled.
"…This is binding, isn't it."
"Yes," said Oro, who could apparently read ancient law and also had a notary seal.
Smile jiggled with joy.
Tala threw a grape at Aurelis' head.
Kazuki rubbed his eyes.
"So now I have a rival… but also a servant?"
Aurelis groaned, collapsing dramatically.
"…This is humiliating."
Kazuki offered him a grape.
"Want a snack?"
"…Yes."
Rival Unlocked: Aurelis Flamebrand
Status: Angrily Loyal
Role: Dramatic Sword Guy, Kazuki's Unwanted Butler Secret
Hobby: Romantic poetry about himself