Inspector?

　Inside the mansion, the big dining room in the morning.
　I am eating breakfast served by a maid.

　My sister comes to me and says the name of the position I've never heard of.

I'm being dispatched by the government. They should arrive this afternoon.
You mean they're coming here?
They're coming to see Hermes.

　My sister looked smug.
　Oh, not good. That's not good.

　I'm sure you're not going to be able to get away with it.

"I have to ask you, but... why?
'His Majesty has heard that the new head of House Cano is the one who defeated the Slime Lord. That's why he's coming to find out if it's true.
Shh....

　I frowned.
　Did that, which I had inadvertently done, still have a tail on it?

'So, hang in there, Hermes.

　You're smiling at me, and you don't know how people feel.
　I don't know what's going on.

　　　　　☆

　In the afternoon, there were two carriages and a little over a hundred soldiers escorting them.
　It arrived at the compound.

　First, a middle-aged man came down from one side.

　I got the impression that he was some kind of pompous, shady-looking man.
　The man went to the other carriage, and after saying something, a girl came down from that one.

　She's about sixteen years old, beautiful but with a tight face.
　I saw her as a stubborn type with a strong sense of justice, with one in the classroom.

　Considering the name "inspector," it might be the perfect physiognomy for you.
　While I was thinking this, the other side came towards me.

　The middle-aged man leads the way in front of me, and the girl follows.
　They came to a halt in front of me.

'So you're the Baron Cano?'

　The middle-aged man asked, as arrogant as his face was.

'Yeah,'
I am Moro Korokos, First Inspector of the Kingdom. This is His Royal Highness Lina Mi Aigina, First Inspector.
Your Highness?

　And Aegina.

　I looked at the girl so hard.
　Is that name royalty?

"His Royal Highness has taken the liberty of coming himself. His Royal Highness prefers the truth to all his treasures. He prefers to tell the truth to any treasure he is asked.
... haha.

　It's hard.
　It's a difficult balance.

　You don't want to take them seriously, it'll get messy.
　But if you're dealing with royalty, it's not a good idea to demolish the house.

　I'll hand it over to my sister sooner or later, and I don't want to give up my position as a nobleman living in a room.

　I have to carefully judge how far I can go.

　In that sense, I'm getting more serious now than I have in a long time.

''You have defeated the Slime Lord?

　The second-in-command, Morro - probably that guy who is an assistant - asked me about it.
　Most of the time the royals don't speak in person in these situations to maintain their prestige, so I don't particularly care.

　

''Ha.''
How did you beat him?
I burned it out with fire magic.

　Morro nodded with satisfaction.
　'I knew you'd have to do some preliminary research before you came here.

'His Highness is willing to see it in person.
What do you mean?

　When he asked back, Morro turned back and raised his hands in a scha.

　Then the soldiers bring in something wrapped in cloth.

　They put it on the ground and take the cloth off.

　It was a wooden doll - like a mannequin.

'You know this one, don't you?'
'Huh...'

　This is the place to play dumb.
　I gave him a confused look and gave him a look back.

　He looked down at me and said, "You don't know this stuff?

This is Mimille, the greatest puppeteer in history. It is a magical tool invented by one of the greatest puppeteers in history. It looks like wood, but it's something that can perfectly set up and replicate the endurance aspect of a monster.

　Morro explains with a look of astonishment.
　I think it was used by an adventurer's guild or something like that, "Is this guy really capable of defeating the monster you asked for? It's used when you're questioned about it.

　It doesn't attack at all, but you can recreate its strength, defense, and characteristics perfectly.
　If you set it up as just a slime, it's a little more like a wooden doll that flies apart when you attack it.

　I see... this is how you're going to test me?

I've set it to the endurance of a slime load from my past documents. I'm going to destroy it with flying colors.
Okay.

　This is a scene that needs to be done.

　Then let's at least keep the power in check.

　Once you've fought a monster, you'll have a rough idea of its strength.
　The fact that I (inadvertently) defeated the Slime Lord doesn't go away anymore, but if that's the case, let's just say that I just barely made it.

　Lina and Morro left with the soldiers protecting them.
　Me and my doll stayed in the yard of the mansion, and the rest of us were in a distant audience.

　I close my eyes, remembering the response I got when I defeated the slime lord.

　Let's make it a scenario where I adjusted my power, spent about five minutes burning and managed to get it to work.

"Fire, fire, gather in my hands and dispel the enemy!

　With a chant there, he unleashed his magic.
　The flames burned the doll.

　Oooh, it regenerates like a slime?
　I knew the knowledge, but it's kind of interesting to actually see a wooden doll being burned and countered by regeneration.

　The flames continued to burn the doll - for exactly five minutes.
　It reduced the doll to ashes in a calculated amount of time.

'This is what it looks like,'

　I reported the completion with a faint smugness that was not disrespectful.
　Then Morro asked back.

'It took a while, but in the actual battle, the Slime Lords should have fought back, right?
'I was on the run. I found out that the firepower was just barely outweighing it.
Looks like it.

　Morro snickers slightly.
　I can see the reaction in his hand, and it's one I wanted.

'As you can see, Your Highness, it appears that you have beaten him, but it also appears that you were lucky.

　Come on, boy, come on, Moro, I love you.

　Lina, on the other hand, wouldn't let herself fall into that straight face she's been wearing for a while.
　Instead, he replaced it with...

"I understand the details,

　He looked more and more condescending to me.
　Okay, mission accomplished.

　　　　　Stars.

　We entertained the whole house that day.
　There's no refraining from this.

　I'll do my best to entertain the Inspector.
　It's natural to do this for the house, and it's just as well to create the image of me as a man who does his best to woo royalty.

　I'm going to set up a big feast from the mountains and the sea, and hold a ball of sorts.
　Anyway, I did my best to entertain the two inspectors.

"Huh?

　Suddenly, I notice that the star of the show, Lina, is not there.
　I look around the hall, the door leading to the balcony is open, and beyond it is Lina in her dress.

　Let's make a little more of a sesame appeal.

　I followed her out onto the balcony and called out to her from behind.

'There you are, Your Highness.'
Baron Cano.

　Lina took one look at me.
　It was the first time I'd heard her voice, but it was a solid, crisp voice, perfect for the image I was receiving.

'You're in a place like this?'
Do you like falconry?

　.....
　Nobility, falconry.
　It's synonymous with fun.

Yes, I love it. Does Your Highness enjoy it?
I don't, but I like the hawk.
That's how many cows we have in the family--
"A skilled hawk hides its claws," as they say.
What?

　Lina turned her body to me and looked up at me.
　She has an intelligent, crisp face that looks good in a dress.

'Did you ever arm-wrestle an adult as a child?'
Yeah, that's right, several times...

　What is it?　This from earlier.
　What's going on in this conversation that I can't read your intentions?

'You can tell just by looking at them that we're serious and they still have plenty of room for more.
'Yes,' I say, 'Wahaha,'
The same is true of the martial arts instruction of the royal family. After I teach it, they do it on purpose to build up my confidence, but I know that it was done on purpose.
....

　I don't like the way this is going.
　What the f*ck are you talking about, seriously?

You're not. You're not taking yourself too seriously.
-Oh!

　I felt a shock like being hit in the head with a hammer.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I wasn't asked to see that. I was only told to see if the slime lord was really defeated. That's all I was told.
....
I don't know why you are hiding your true strength.

　Lina returns the kibisu and turns to walk back into the hall.

　She looks over her shoulder as if to say one last thing.

Someday you'll show me your unfathomable size and how serious you are.

　I said.
　........I wanted to hold my head up.

　I felt like I was in more depth because I suppressed my power.