"Now do you see what I mean? I swear, I’m the only sane person in my crazy family..."

    Resting on his seat, Dan was looking at me with a speechless expression, his face spasming. I wryly shook my head and got myself a seat next to him.

    ".........I’ve witnessed the reason why you have a screw loose in your head. Hey, don''t sit next to me! God forbid, they might think that I’m besties with a crazy head!"

    "Aww, you''re hurting your *best friend''s* feelings by saying that, you know? I might cry."

    *Sigh.* I honestly feel like crying myself.

    I took a glance at my elder sister. She was reflecting on her performance in the match with Olina-san.

    After making bare-handed punches against Olina-san''s mana guard, she must have hurt her hands, so she was now receiving care from a holy magic user knight amidst her cheerful discussion.

    It wasn''t every day that my elder sister would take a liking to someone in their first meeting. The strength of Olina-san must have done the trick. Wait, now that I think about it, she also got along with Fey and Jeu pretty quickly last time... At our hometown back in the Rovenne Viscounty, I had never seen her get along with anyone else.

    Right now, she was intently listening to Olina-san''s advice on ways to utilize martial arts, like "Keep your opposite side tight when you throw a punch" among other things. With her beauty, outwardly at least, she looked no different from any commonplace girl learning about boxing exercises for weight loss— or well, it would''ve looked like that if it weren''t for the knights around her giving her wary looks.

    I looked away from all that, and turned to Dan as I probed him about his latest love life.

    ◆◆◆

    "Hey Allen! Come here for a bit!"

    I was engaged in trivial love talk with Dan, firmly rooting my place beside him to avoid the bustle of the soire?e, when Olina-san suddenly called out to me.

    "It must have been your trick that caused Cecilia and Rose''s rhythms to lag at the end, right? I didn''t hear it properly back then, what was the name of the technique again?"

    Gosh! Right, I was mentally drained after the fight, so I completely forgot to brag about my one-of-a-kind spell!

    "Oh, right, thank you for reminding me! The name of the technique is... ?Howling Dragon?. It''s a debuff category spell that I came up with in my journey to explore wind magic. I borrowed the name from a certain historical building (actually Tochigi Prefecture)! By the way, did you know that the acoustics of that temple have some truly fascinating secrets—"

    "Huh? Lady Olina isn''t asking you about the technique merely out of interest, Allen. She meant to ask about the underlying details of the technique. I felt a cold gust of wind blowing over me, and then suddenly a deafening silence rang into my ears. After that, I only remember the world spinning in front of my eyes."

    Just as I was about to reiterate the great origin of my technique, Mother made me cut to the main point.

    "...It’s just a debuff-type wind magic I’ve been researching about, where I reduced the air pressure and density of one''s body. The ringing in your ears likely happened because of the pressure difference between the air inside your ears and the external air."

    Interrupted, I reluctantly gave them a much simpler answer.

    The principle behind Howling Dragon was the same sensation you get when you ride an airplane or a high-rise elevator and feel that sharp change in pressure through your ears along with a feeling of stuffiness.

    Well, this world didn''t have either of those machines, let alone their concept, so they never had the chance to experience it before. And even then, the air pressure often didn''t change so quickly while riding an airplane.

    *On rainy days, for example, some people experience dizziness or headaches because their autonomous nervous system can’t properly adjust to the change in atmospheric pressure. A more extreme case of this is altitude sickness. I’ve heard that at the peak of Mount Everest, the pressure drops to about a third of normal levels.*

    I was still throwing my hands and feet in every way possible to make a ?Wind Cutter? — one of the fundamental wind magic spells that sent forth a vacuum slash — though I haven''t had even a tiny hint of success yet.

    At present, I couldn''t affect the atmospheric pressure of distant places yet, but it wasn’t a problem to cast it around my neighborhood. In fact, I often blank out just to get a proper grasp of it. And well, it was during such training that I thought of this technique.

    I have yet to work on increasing the atmospheric pressure aspect of the technique, but theoretically, it should be possible. In its ultimate form, this spell should be able to change the atmospheric pressure equivalent from 50 meters underwater to the top of Mount Everest in a blink of an eye. Though I guess that the spell would be in its own realm and cannot be considered debuff magic anymore with that achievement.

    As for the name ?Howling Dragon?, since the mystical phenomena occurred due to sound, I stuck to it because it sounded cooler that way.

    "...Debuff type, err, wind magic?... And the principle is, what, air d-difference...? I didn''t get any of it, but at least it wasn''t poison, huh? I had tried to extract any foreign substance from my body with mana as soon as I felt the strangeness since I thought it had something to do with poison. It was ineffective though. Even someone with extreme skills should be easily confused. It''s a nice technique."

    Then, with a smile like that of a young girl, she added.

    "It wouldn’t be enough to incapacitate someone... but it would certainly be difficult to deal with when encountering it for the first time. In battle, be careful about when to use it, and make sure you finish them off with the first strike."

    Hearing my explanation, Olina-san, who once again wore a somber expression that was strikingly similar to Leo’s, crossed her arms and rested her chin in her hand.

    "...Well, err, it was something that we had achieved with everyone''s help, so... I didn''t think there was anything worth mentioning about that mission."

    Allen scratched his cheek in awkwardness as he stated this. Though he wasn''t really embarrassed, he instead felt a little guilty.

    After staring into Allen''s eyes, Patrick let out a deep sigh.

    "I have heard of the circumstances. You shouldn''t feel responsible for the incident with Aldol Engraver. Don’t try to carry everything on your small shoulders. Bellwood, Cecilia... Allen is the savior of this nation. Many kept pointing their fingers at them behind their back, but he remained devoted to his cause, and the fruit of his labor saved us all. These kids are the new rising stars that will illuminate the kingdom in the coming future—"

    Then King Patrick proceeded to personally describe the details of the urgent transportation mission, which was a race against Hellrowcast''s incubation time, and of the follow-up incident.

    Of course, the incident with the blue flamingo had been excluded. Otherwise, once she heard of the details, Cecilia gently ruffled Allen''s hair.

    "...You''ve grown up so remarkably, Allen. You should be more proud of yourself. You are the pride of our family, after all."

    ◆◆◆

    Despite my mother''s praise, I could only scratch my head awkwardly.

    The king spoke as if he knew everything, but honestly, a majority of my drive came from my spite against Al who was getting all flirty while they were working. Ain''t no way I could''ve done nothing after seeing that...

    I mean, I had thoroughly explained to everyone, including His Majesty, that everything — including my sailing and wind magic pursuits — I did was merely a pastime for me. So where in the world did all of this mega immense resolve come from? I couldn''t comprehend it...

    After clearing his throat, His Majesty returned to the main topic.

    "*Ahem* So returning to the previous topic, I would like to personally grant the two families who have raised these two supernovas a reward for their spectacular performance. This had been my main reason for inviting them. Speak of whatever you desire. I will do my utmost to ensure that your demands are met. Say it, Thomas..."

    Hearing his name, Count Serdos requested the expansion of Solcoast''s harbor, Dan''s birthplace, as well as the permit and authority to work on maritime trade.

    He probably had guessed the reason behind the invitation, so his request appeared pre-planned.

    "Haha. This is quite a modest wish in contrast to the achievement. Let''s do it this way: in addition to your request, I confer to you 100kg mithril, and 5000kg ore of graphite. However, this is merely the start. I’ll make sure to reward you handsomely for your further achievements in sailing, so I hope you continue to strive for the nation."

    "Ah, I-I am most grateful!"

    Next, His Majesty turned toward my father.

    "So, Bellwood, what is it that you desire? Allen, in addition to this mission, has also contributed greatly to the kingdom through his activities as a Knight Order member, a provisional one he may be. This is your time, so speak of whatever you want."

    Uh-huh, unlike Count Serdos, my hopeless father could not give His Majesty a prompt reply.

    Just as I had thought so, my father, surprisingly, went silent for a moment with an expression I had never seen him make before, one that looked unusually determined. After a pause, he asked His Majesty with a resolute tone.

    "...So, am I correct in understanding that the reward for Allen is a separate matter, while this is specifically a reward for the Rovenne family?"

    The intensity and tension in my father’s eyes, which had previously lacked any sort of spark, made the whole room fall silent.

    The king squinted at my father and, after a moment, smiled as the corners of his lips curled in amusement.

    "That’s correct. Don’t hold back, and speak of your desires."

    My father briefly glanced at my mother.

    She smiled and said, "It''s your call to make, Bell."

    "Then—"

    And so, my father made his request, which had everyone, including me, doubting their ears in surprise.

    T/N - That aria had to be one of the moment where I had spent most time in translating a phrase due to cringe.

    E/N - The spell aria part physically hurt me while editing it. The cringe...

    T/N - Happy new year guys! I seriously forgot the day of update and ended up being one day late. Hope you all have blast this year.