The Reward for the World's Strongest Explorer's Perfect Dungeon Conquest is apparently Marriage to me, who is known as an S-rank Fraud - Chapter 21

“Alright… so what the hell do we do now? Haaah… what a mess.”

Araki-san had his arms crossed, pacing back and forth in the living room, muttering to himself.

“Eri-chan, getting used to this yet?”

“…A little.”

She was still sitting as far away from Belgrims as possible, her chair pushed back.

At least now, she could look at him without completely panicking.

“For non-explorers, I guess your reaction is pretty normal.

Ayane’s case is probably the rare one.”

“Huh?”

Ayane, who was pouring Belgrims another glass of cola, looked up with a confused expression.

“Did I do something weird?”

Yes.

Yes, you did.

A normal person wouldn’t be casually serving a goblin cola.

“…Anyone would panic.”

Eri-chan muttered, still looking at Ayane with a mix of envy and disbelief.

“Hmph. What’s wrong with panicking?”

Belgrims, lounging casually, took another sip of cola before continuing.

“Explorers fight goblin-like monsters every day in dungeons.

But here I am—just one goblin, on the surface, and a gentleman at that—

And yet, people still panic? Hmph.”

I agreed with him—at least on this.

Belgrims could communicate, had no clear hostility, and wasn’t a threat.

The only ones who’d make a fuss were those who never set foot in a dungeon, the kind who shouted opinions from a safe distance—whether it be the media or online critics.

Just thinking about them pissed me off.

“Araki-san, I’m going to walk around the surface openly with Belgrims.”

“…I’m already working on a plan for that.”

“If that’s what you want, then we need to figure out a way to make society accept it—

At least somewhat.”

“Making society accept it, huh…?”

How the hell do you convince a bunch of loud, opinionated idiots?

“Shia, got any ideas?”

“Punch them.”

“Gahahaha! Simple and effective!”

Yeah, honestly?

Wouldn’t it be easier if we just punched all the annoying ones?

“Hmph. You’re more violent than me.”

“Haaah… either way, this isn’t something I can decide alone.”

“We’ll have to negotiate within the government and determine how we classify him.”

Araki-san ignored our nonsense and got ready to leave.

He was probably going to consult with the higher-ups.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”

“And just so we’re clear—

I’m a gentleman, and I’m quite patient.

But if anyone tries to screw me over… I’ll kill them.”

A faint killing intent laced Belgrims’ voice as he spoke directly to Araki.

“…I’ll make sure they understand.”

“Good. I look forward to the news.”

“Takayama, we’re leaving.

Kuma, we’ll try to decide on a course of action as soon as possible.

Until then, stay here.

Especially him—make sure no one sees him.

If you need anything, Takayama will deliver it.”

“Understood! Everyone, excuse us!”

“Got it.”

And with that, Araki-san and Eri-chan left.

One Day Later…

“Hmm… I think I’ll choose this character.

For some reason, I feel a sense of connection.”

“Grikun is going with Yoshi?

I’ll be Toad!”

The character Belgrims picked was a green dinosaur.

Yeah—honestly, if we had to pick a closest match, that was probably it.

And it seemed Ayane had decided to call him ‘Grikun’ from now on.

“You guys are all picking top-tier characters.

Obviously, I’m going with Olimar.

For some reason, even though he’s the protagonist, no one ever picks him.”

“Shia, what about you?”

“Peach.

I want to be Kuma’s partner, even in-game.”

…Okay.

Just a heads-up—

I’m about to pelt you with shells.

“Three… Two… One… GO—!”

“ORA ORA ORA! OLIMAR-SAMA COMING THROUGH! MOVE IT!”

“Ahh! Big brother, don’t bump into me!”

“Hmm… what is this square box?

Ah, I see. An item. Understood.

Hmm. I have three shells. Kuma, I’ll let you pass.”

“Oh, thanks, man—wait, what—”

The moment I tried to overtake him—

BAM!

The shell he threw ricocheted—

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

I got hit by ALL of them.

“Big brother, see you later~”

“Kuma, I’ll wait for you.”

“NO. JUST GO AHEAD.”

For some reason, Shia was waiting beside me as I respawned.

She had completely ignored the whole concept of a racing game.

This wasn’t even team mode.

“Hey, Belgrims.

Are you cheating? Or have you been playing games in the dungeon when no one’s around?”

Yoshi (Grikun) was blazing ahead, leaving everyone in the dust.

Even though I could only see glimpses of his screen, it was clear—

He was flawless.

Perfect line control.

Perfect item use.

And for some reason, every attack or obstacle was being directed solely at me.

“No, this is my first time.”

“Actually, Kuma—

You’re unbelievably bad at this.

Are you throwing the match?

Or… is this your first time playing, too?”

Belgrims briefly looked away from the screen, locking eyes with me.

Then—he grinned.

“Alright, you die now.”

I immediately threw a blue shell at him.

There was no way he could dodge this.

…He dodged it.

“What the hell?!”

“Big brother? You shouldn’t say things like ‘die’ so casually.”

“…I’m sorry.”

Just then, my phone rang.

I picked it up without taking my eyes off the game.

“Yeah? …You’re asking if now’s a good time?”

“Nope. Definitely not.

If I lose, it’s Araki-san’s fault.

Ah—damn it, Belgrims just won.”

“…Huh? Wait, what?”

“Three hours from now?”

“Again?”

“…Wait, Belgrims has to come too?”

“Yeah, yeah. Got it. See you.”

“Was that Araki? About Grikun?”

“Yeah.

The government has made a decision.”

“That was fast.

I guess Araki-san really pulled through.”

“Not exactly.

The second full dungeon conquest caught everyone completely off guard.

The public isn’t celebrating—it’s more like they’re in shock.

So the government wants to hold a press conference as soon as possible to explain things.

Shia, you’re the main event.

And at the same time, they’ve decided to introduce Belgrims.”

It made sense.

Even looking online, most articles were skeptical.

After all—

Shia is the only explorer who has ever made it past the 100th floor.

No one knows what the difficulty of the 150th floor is actually like.

They just don’t have enough information to believe it.

“So Eri-chan is coming over soon to brief us, help us prepare, and drive us to the venue.”

“Will Eri-san be able to drive with Grikun in the car?”

“Let’s put him in the front seat and see what happens.”

“Big brother?

It’s that kind of attitude that gets you flamed online.”

“…Sorry.”

She was absolutely right.

A Short While Later…

Ding-dong.

Eri-chan arrived.

I let Belgrims answer the door.

“Welcome—”

“Ah, Hayama-san—HIIIII—!!

G-G-GOB—GOBLIN?!”

As expected, Ayane was furious at me.

But I pushed through, arguing that Eri-chan needed shock therapy.

If she kept freaking out every time she saw Belgrims, it would be a problem in the long run.

So—forced exposure.

The result?

Eri-chan fell straight on her butt.

And because of her tight skirt…

I caught a glimpse of something very mature.

Thank you, Belgrims.

Thank you, me.

“Here, Eri-chan. Take my hand.”

I offered to help her up.

“Ugh… Kuma-kun, you’re awful!”

The fact that she had called me ‘Hayama-san’ at first meant she had been trying to stay professional.

But just three seconds later, she was back to “Kuma-kun.”

Eri-chan (32) was adorable.

“Ahem. I lost my composure. I apologize.

Let’s go over the government’s decision.”

She fixed her outfit, straightened her hair, and forced herself back into work mode.

She then explained the scripted narrative for the press conference.

“How’s Belgrims’ role in all this?”

“This is probably the best compromise we could hope for.

It seems like they actually took our feelings into account.

Araki really pulled through.”

But the ones who were truly saved—

Were the government officials.

“Alright.

Please follow the script as closely as possible.

The press conference will be held with only pre-approved journalists.

All questions will align with this narrative.

Understood?”

A fully scripted press conference, huh?

The truth will be buried in darkness.

And what emerges will be a conveniently fabricated illusion.

It’s disheartening to witness how the world actually works at this age.

“Alright.

Let’s go put on a show.”