Fantastic Dream Upon This Wonderful Existence

I slowly opened my eyes and found myself sleeping in a large luxurious room. I yawned a little and quickly looked around for a bit. I'm in my underwear and I don't have any spare clothing.

"Who is it?"

"I am Heidel, I'm here to bring you breakfast, Kazuma sama."

"Can you wait for a bit? I need to teleport to my mansion and grab some spare clothes real quick,"

With that, I teleported back to my room in the mansion. I went straight to the cupboard, quickly dress up, and grabbed my one million Eris cloak. Then I teleported back to my room.

"Okay, I'm done,"

The door opened, revealing an elderly man in a butler uniform. "Pardon me," he said while pushing a breakfast cart. On top of it is an array of traditional western breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs with side dish of salad.

"Today's breakfast is Lesser Dragon Bacon with fried egg, and salad with plenty of asparagus. Please choose a bread you prefer to go with your meal. The salad's made from fresh ingredients picked earlier this morning. The asparagus have powerful attacks, be careful not to get hit."

I'm sorry, dragon bacon? Is this fine? It feels really wrong eating this…

Heidel noticed my expression. "Is the food not to your liking, Kazuma sama?"

I shook my head. "It's not that, just that… Ahh, what the hell, it's a lesser dragon anyway," I muttered before climbing off the bed.

Heidel bowed slightly before leaving the breakfast beside my bed. He then walked out of my room.

I propped myself at the edge of the bed and looked at my breakfast. Then I grabbed a fork before trying out the dragon meat. It's juicy and crispy with a hint of tendery, chewy taste. In other words, bacon.

After that, I tried eating the egg. It makes a 'chu' sound when I stabbed it with my fork. I decided to ignore it and just eat the damn eggs. When I'm done, I moved to the asparagus salad.

For the record, most vegetables in this world doesn't want to be eaten. That means, I have to prepare for a fight. Those little shoots of asparagus are more than they seems.

An asparagus shot out of the bowl. I blocked it with my fork before catching it with my bare hand. I bit the struggling vegetables down, killing it, before moving on to another.

The asparagus formed a line on the bowl, each one of them pointing at me. They resembles an army of spear men protecting the city from an angry dragon. I smirked a little and accepted the challenge.

With my trusty fork, I stabbed two asparagus in midair. I caught one more in midair before shoving them all into my mouth. The pattern continues for the next five minutes before I finally finished all the vegetables.

I finished my breakfast feeling stronger than ever. I took out my adventurer card and saw that I just leveled up to level sixty five. Probably because of my exp bonus buff.

A knocking sound came from the door. I didn't answer immediately, instead I walked towards the door and opened it myself.

Princess Iris stood outside the door. She fidgets shyly under my gaze. "Good morning," she said softly.

"Morning Princess! Have a good night sleep?" I asked her cheerfully.

"Yes, I did…"

"Something on your mind, Iris chan?" I teased her.

Iris blushed a little and shook her head. "No, I was just surprised to see you in your adventurer outfit," she said. "Did you bring it with you?"

"No, I just teleported back home and grabbed a few clothes from my cupboard," I told her. "Anyway, anything you want to do Iris chan? How about giving me a tour around the castle?"

"Yes, let's do that, Onii chan,"

YES! She called me Onii chan!

---

Let's see, more servants lives in this castle than the actual royalty. The prince, the general, and the king are away fighting in the frontline. This leaves Iris, the most important person in this kingdom alone with me in this castle.

I mean, her body guards aren't THAT powerful anyway…

"So, Iris chan, how good at you at influencing people?"

"Influencing people? Like ordering people?"

"No, it's way different," I looked around the hallway and saw a bunch maids bowing down at us as we walked forth. "You are a princess, your word is law, people obeys you because they have to, not because they want to."

I led Iris to the nearest window, overlooking the capital.

"But as an adventurer, your family, your name, your status, it doesn't matter," I told her. "Down there, you can't demand someone to do something, even being polite would not suffice, you need to make them want to do it."

Iris turned towards me. "Like a reward?"

"No, not at all. When it comes to influencing people, you want to make them want to help you. A reward is one of the simplest solution, but it's not permanent. A well placed influence can last a lifetime."

"So… a bargain?"

"You could say that,"

We continued our way through the castle. We walked downstairs from the top of the castle. Passing by all sorts of beautiful art around us. At the bottom of the staircase we saw Aqua's sand painting being displayed proudly.

"The first and the most important step is treating others with respect. Don't call someone a plebeian just because they're below you,"

"Sorry…"

I pet her head and chuckled.

"Just be nice and optimistic. Show that you truly enjoy their company and that they have the skills to help you. You'll make them feel good about themselves that they'll do anything to help you."

We walked through the main hall at the bottom of the castle. The garden is visible just outside the window. There, we saw some servants tending the flowers and the bushes.

"Next, make do with what they love. Don't force people to forsake something or do something they don't want to. For example, I didn't demand Darkness to learn how to attack enemy or demand Megumin to learn new spells, kinda. But I play by their strength and they slowly grow up by themselves."

We soon made it to the castle's courtyard. I picked an empty spot with the best view of the garden. "Here, watch,"

Iris watched in awe as a bunch of vines burst out of the ground to form a garden bench. A bunch of flowers sprouted at the corner of the garden bench before the whole thing hardens into wood.

I sat down on the bench and the princess sat down beside me.

"Next, is to never underestimate a potential. What you just witnessed was 'Nature's Beauty' a party trick skill. It's pointless to most people, but with a proper training and seeds, it became a force to be reckoned with. Same thing with people, many people are called useless and weak because we just can't see the real potential behind them."

"Finally, you need to learn what exactly someone wants. Not just what they want at that moment, but something that they actually really want and line it up with what you want. For example, you really want to listen to my stories and I want to get to influence a royalty such as yourself."

Iris looked at me with wide eyes before lowering her gaze. "So… You've been influencing me?"

"Not in a bad way, I care a lot about you and this kingdom that I just have to do something about it,"

After sitting together for a while we saw Claire walking out of the castle. She noticed us sitting on the bench and greeted us.

"Good morning, your highness, Kazuma dono," Claire took a closer look at us and narrowed her eyes. "Odd… is this a new chair?"

"Onii chan made them," Iris replied.

"Onii chan? You mean Kazuma dono?" Claire sighed a little. "Iris sama, you can't refer him as Onii chan no matter how you like him. He's not your brother and it's inappropriate for a princess to call someone as such."

Iris looked down for a bit. "But we're in private, it's fine right?"

"Your highness…"

"Please… Claire Onee chan,"

"I deem it acceptable for you to call us as such privately," she said immediately without hesitation.

Iris and I fist bumped victoriously.

---

Rain's voice came from inside the room.

"– And that's why each generation of royalty's born with more talent than normal people. Taking the heroes who defeated the Demon King into the family as a husband is not simply to reward the hero."

She seemed to be teaching history, but I knocked on the door without hesitation.

"… Kazuma-sama, my apologies. Now's the time for Iris's lessons, so can you come back later?"

I took out my pen and my notes. "Actually, can I join in the lesson? I promise I won't disturb the princess, she won't even notice my presence,"

Rain blinked a little before nodding. "I see no problem with that, we're pleased to have you here Kazuma sama," she said before motioning me to sit down next to Iris.

The princess looked overjoyed after seeing me. But then her smile faltered as I waved my hand and turned invisible. Coupled with casting Lurk on myself, I became practically undetectable.

After that, Rain continued her lesson, she probably even forgets that I'm here.

I took notes on all the important stuff… Both implicit and explicit.

Iris will marry anyone who defeats the demon King

Iris's marriage is a political trump card

Iris is as strong as Liz but weaker than Megumin.

Rain is a talented girl from a peasant family

The Kingdom will probably suffer from economical collapse after the Demon King's defeat.

Iris has a divine artifact somewhere with her.

All in all, the lesson went for hours, all the way until evening. There were a few breaks, in which I will show myself to her and we have lunch. But more frequently, we just sit there and listen to the lecture.

At the end of the lesson, we sat down together on the park bench I made the other day.

"Iris chan, do you think Lalatina did the right thing?"

Iris turned towards me. "What do you mean? Did what?"

"Remember that funny story about Darkness's desperate attempt to refuse the lord's son's proposal?"

Iris giggled a little. "Yes, I remember…"

"Well, she fought tooth and nail for the sake of her freedom and her choice to marry someone she loves," I looked at her in the eyes. "Do you think she did the right thing? For her to put her own selfish desire over her own family?"

Iris looked down in deep thought after hearing that. She opened her mouth, every now and then, but quickly closed it again. It was until her fifth attempt that she finally answers my question.

"No, she didn't do the right thing…" Iris said. "But I couldn't blame her. To fight for one's freedom is… Anyone would do that."

"Even though it might hurt those around her? I could get in trouble with the nobles and her family might suffer the consequence you know?"

"I… I don't know…" Iris shook her head. "It's wrong for her to do something like that, but… everything turns out for the better right? So it's okay right?"

"What about her choice in becoming an adventurer? Do you think it's right for her to put on an armor, grab a sword, and just do quests like a commoner?"

"It… It's not right… she's not supposed to do that."

"Why do you think she did all that? Why do you think she refused that marriage proposal?"

"Because… she loves her life as adventurer."

"Is that it?"

"And… because she's selfish, maybe?" Iris shook her head. "I mean not that way, like…"

"It's okay, I do think she's selfish," I smiled at her softly. "It's okay for all of us to be just a little selfish, to be just a little greedy, because it might be the magic that can save life."

"How is being greedy and selfish a magic that save someone?"

"Darkness has saved a lot of life since she joined us you know? What I'm trying to say is, Darkness has figured out a way to do the things she loves without sacrificing things that are precious to her."

"I see… I'm glad she figured it out…"

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure it out yourself," I gave her a thumbs up. "I believe you can do it!"

Iris gave me a sweet smile. "Yes, I will figure it out, thank you Kazuma onii chan!"

---

I bit my lip and looked down on the board. One of my mage is dead, my orcs and my knights are wiped out, but I still got all my priest. An enemy knight has set its eyes on the queen, so as long as I kept the priest within the queen's reach, I'm sure it'll be fine.

"Say, are you really, really stuck here? Can't you go take a stroll through the city or something like that?"

I moved a pawn.

"I can, but a platoon of knights will be sent as my escort and both my vassals will be coming with me. It wouldn't be something like a stroll, more like a parade."

Iris made a daring move with the last of her priest. I noticed a mage near it so I'm guessing she's aiming to use teleport the moment things get dicey.

"Hee… For what purpose are those knights anyway? You're stronger than all of them right? Heck, you're statistically stronger than me.

I moved another pawn.

"I don't know, for back up I guess?"

Iris moved her knight. She really wants to get my queen, for some reason. My mage is on the other side of the board, so I can't really protect it.

"How about if you challenge all the knights in this castle to prove that you're strong enough to take care of yourself,"

A hand bonked me in the head. I turned to my right and saw Claire staring at me flatly.

"Don't give the princess ideas, Kazuma dono. I'm already having trouble with you kept teaching her those dishonorable battle tactics and strategies."

"What's wrong with teaching her how lies and deceit? Why fight your foe if you can make them fight among themselves through deceit and trickery?"

I moved my mage.

"Onii chan is right Onee chan," the princess said while staring at my board in concentration. "When it comes to protecting those precious to us, honor and pride comes later, what matters is to win and get away with it."

The princess began her work to get rid of my Priest. She then paused and clicked her tongue after noticing the pawns in her way. She then tried to retreat her knight, only to find the mage standing by out of reach but within killing range at its original spot.

"Aah…" Claire groaned in slight frustration. "I can't argue with you, but don't you feel bad about using such a disgusting trick against your enemies? That's not how royalties fights!"

"For the record, I'm not a royalty," I told her.

I moved my queen.

"How about we compromise, Nee chan?" Iris looked at Claire and smiled sweetly. "I promise I will fight honorably unless the situation calls for it. I will learn the best from both worlds, how about it?"

Iris teleported another knight into the fray. She grinned a little victoriously after seeing that it can kill both my priest and my queen. She then turned towards me with a challenging smile on her face.

"Getting good at this… Also, Iris chan is right Claire. Just because I'm teaching her these dishonorable battle tactics and strategy, such as divide and conquer warfare and throwing sands at an opponent's face, doesn't mean she can't fight honorably."

I teleported my mage away.

"Right…" Claire finally relented. "But that means you must not use dirty tactics during my military and battle lessons. Booby trapping a battlefield is nothing short of despicable and cowardice."

"Yes, yes, Claire onee chan," Iris said.

The princess killed my last priest with smirk. She looked at the entire battlefield for her handiwork. Her eyes widened after realizing her mistake. She glared at my queen and my mage.

"How about misdirection?" I asked Claire. "Like, announcing that you're going to attack this place but you're actually going to attack another place entirely?"

I killed a pawn protecting her king with my mage.

"No! That's war crime!" Claire exclaimed. "A kingdom who does that will be marked down as a Kingdom of Coward for the rest of history!"

The princess hastily moved her knight to save the king, having used her teleportation needlessly before.

"I'd rather be called coward than getting my Kingdom wiped out," Iris said simply.

I moved my queen right in front of the king.

"Here's a question for you honored knight…"

The princess moved the king.

"An honorable defeat," Iris started.

I moved my mage and aimed it to strike both the king and the knight. My queen standing by at the ready if king tried to get away.

"Or a cowardly victory?" I announced victoriously with a checkmate.

We looked at Claire.

The bodyguard looked back at us, at loss of words. She tried to say something before exhaling in defeat. "A cowardly victory is no victory, however…" she looked at us. "If it's to protect those you love, I suppose… a few tricks are acceptable."

We gave her a thumb up before cleaning up the board.