Inox sat quietly on the bed in his room, his eyes scanning the place, taking in the new bed, a new wardrobe, and closed windows. After what happened with the assassin, he had quickly paid a hundred thousand Eris for all the repairs and to have some metal bars installed on his window.
He smiled slightly upon seeing the planter that had been violated by Aqua's greedy hands; all his carrots had been stolen. "Not that I had many anyway," he sighed, closing his eyes, remembering how in reality only two grade 1 carrots had actually sprouted from that seed.
He opened the system, and immediately a bunch of unseen notifications popped up in front of him.
"Congratulations on completing the secret quest 'Carrot Party.' You have received ten grade 1 carrot seeds."
"Congratulations on completing the sudden quest 'Survive the Impossible.' You survived the attack of an assassin who outclassed you in every way. You have received one grade 2 living watermelon seed."
Inox's eyes glowed with a white hue. He quickly stood up and opened the system storage.
"Grade 1 tomato seeds 'x10'"
"Grade 1 carrot seeds 'x10'"
"Grade 2 living watermelon seed 'x1'"
"Grade 2 Living Watermelon Seed: A living watermelon that, unlike traditional watermelons, grows like a tree until it reaches 3 meters tall. Its base is a massive watermelon the size of a small room. It can move thanks to its watermelon feet but usually remains seated. It produces 1 grade 2 watermelon per day, and can attack by launching giant poisonous watermelons."
He grinned from ear to ear before jumping up and down on the spot, laughing out loud for a few moments.
"Ah, hehehe, this is a good thing, a very good thing," he told himself while observing the two remaining planters. Based on his experience growing the tomatoes and carrots, the grade 1 papaya and the grade 1 random corn wouldn't take more than a week to ripen.
"In fact, this looks like a little palm tree," he muttered, touching the leaves of the grade 1 papaya. Its shape was like a small tree, 50 centimeters tall, and it had four green, marble-sized papayas that were obviously growing.
He focused his gaze on the random corn, which had also reached almost 50 centimeters in height. Its stalk was completely green, and clinging to the upper part of the stalk were 10 small, growing cobs.
"After paying for dinner and all the repairs, I barely have 550,000 Eris left." He let out a heavy sigh and scratched both his arms as a shiver ran down his spine.
"If that guy finds out I'm not dead and comes back, then..." He exhaled a cold breath, and his once-bright eyes dimmed before igniting with a dangerous gleam. "Tsk, he's probably escaped from Axel City to avoid being charged with murder."
He thought about it; after all that had happened, several guards had started patrolling the nearby areas.
"By then, I should have the grade 2 watermelon ready to defend me." Inox felt confident about that.
With one last sigh, he drank some water before lying down on his bed to sleep.
The Next Day
Knock knock
The noise at his door woke the prince. He sat up quickly in bed, whipping his head around while clutching the sheets. "T-..." he stammered, grabbing hold of a poison potion he'd bought yesterday for defense near his nightstand, and stared at the door.
His heart was pumping like an engine. Sweat had beaded on his forehead in a mere instant, and as he forced himself out of bed, the sound at the door struck his mind with intensity once again.
Knock knock If the glass of the poison potion hadn't been strong enough, it would have shattered in Inox's hand. If his training in the kingdom—albeit intermittent due to his laziness—hadn't slightly tempered him, he would have collapsed on his bed, trembling while wrapping himself in the sheets.
"So... then," he squeezed his eyes shut, recalling his trainer's instructions for combat scenarios. "I've... never... been on a... battlefield," he thought brokenly.
Even so, trembling, staring at the door with tunnel vision, and tightly gripping the poison potion in his right hand, he made his way to the door. He undid the latch, pushed the door back, and quickly leaped away from the entrance.
And the people waiting out there weren't his assassin; it was Aqua, Kazuma, and Dust.
The blond raised a hand to greet him. "Hey! Inox, I..." Dust stopped short upon seeing his friend's expression.
Hunched body, wide eyes with faint dark circles, something hidden in his right fist, and a look worthy of a cornered prey about to strike its final blow.
"Are you okay?"
After confirming that it was actually Dust and not someone in disguise, Inox calmed down almost instantly. Aqua and Kazuma were there too, which helped de-escalate the intensity of the situation.
They talked about what had happened once again, with Kazuma showing empathy, Aqua making a few jokes, and Dust calming Inox down.
"Ahem," the blond interrupted the conversation after a moment. "I talked with Aqua and Kazuma this morning, and we decided to form a new adventurer party. So, do you want to join?"
Imaginary cold water washed over the prince's brain. He looked into the eyes of the three people in less than a blink, confirming what he had just heard.
"Me?" he pointed to himself after a moment. Kazuma gave him a thumbs-up.
"Why?" he wanted to ask. He had spent the previous night thinking; when he was exiled, he hadn't truly processed the gravity of what that meant.
In the kingdom, he had always been under the care of a highly esteemed knight. If there was anything remotely dangerous that threatened his life, that knight would intervene to save him, often risking his own life.
He had thought, in his naivety, that it would last forever. He even held a deep hope in his heart that there was a knight watching over him not too far away when he was expelled from the royal family.
So, he had never been truly worried. He had proposed taking on the goblin boss with a bounty of hundreds of thousands of Eris, which was obviously a very dangerous monster for novice adventurers.
It was like suggesting a baby kill an adult—illogical. Kazuma had thought of Inox as an idiot even dumber than—
"I'm... not strong," he admitted with a sigh after a moment, but Kazuma let out a light chuckle.
"Hehehe, neither am I, and Aqua even less so," he pointed at the blue-haired girl.
"Hey!!!" she yelled before trying to pull the Japanese guy's ear. Inox smiled at the sight, while Dust beside him simply shook his head.
"Basically, Kazuma and I agree on this, and we're the majority. Aqua also seems to neither agree nor disagree," the blond looked into his friend's eyes.
"So, are you joining?"
Inox noticed how Kazuma was smiling while raising his hands in surrender, then pulled a small, paper-wrapped candy from his pocket. Aqua's eyes lit up, and she stopped trying to hit him.
"Looks like you've found a way to tame the beast, hahahaha," he couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment. "Are you kidding? Of course I'll join the party. Now, are we going to hunt that goblin boss?" he smiled brightly.