I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Leaving our companions to play with the young maids at the mansion, I slipped out with Olek. Our little excursion into Sibedev domain began with the gatekeeper - supposedly taken an arrow an to the knee from the monster waves - silently opening the door for us.

"Young Master Olek!"

"Wow! Did you take a bath?"

"You little rascals!"

I knew the Sibedev family was popular with commoners, but I hadn't expected children playing soldier with wooden sticks to greet us so enthusiastically the moment we left the mansion.

The kids waved cheerfully at Olek, proving his reputation for kindness. In a world where nobles typically beat peasants for blocking their path, the Sibedevs were remarkably approachable.

Word had clearly spread through town.

"Seems everyone knows you're back."

"Hard to hide our appearance, wasn't it?"

Well, news would spread quickly when knights covered in dried black monster blood and stinking to high heaven marched through carrying monster parts. The Giant Worm hide and Wyvern wings we carried probably added to the rumors.

While the Giant Worm's skin could be neatly cut and stacked like leather, we couldn't just chop up the Wyvern wing that was intact except for the armpit. A dragon-type creature's wingspan had to be much longer than its height - you couldn't have a flying meat cube. Even though this one was under 5m tall, its spread wings were much longer.

"The Giant Worm hide was one thing, but we carried those Wyvern wings like banners on our backs. Must have been quite a sight."

"Speaking of which, where did they take all those materials?"

"Probably to the merchant quarter's warehouse. We have a mage's storehouse for valuable materials since monster waves sometimes yield mana stones."

No wonder we drew attention - instead of a quiet date with the neighboring domain's lady, the famous visitor returned blood-soaked with his group, waving 4m Wyvern wings. In a rural town where rumors spread from boredom, Wyvern wings were bound to cause a stir.

"Young master! The market folk are saying you hunted a dragon!"

"They say you raided a dragon's nest between the Kingdom and Empire!"

"I heard you defeated an army of dragons attacking our domain!"

Sure enough, rumors flew wild when we reached the market. The Giant Worm and Wyvern we'd killed had somehow become the Demon King's creations bent on destroying the Empire.

Master of Monster Waves, Corrupted Dragon, Terror of the North, Demon King's Creation, Goddess's Adversary—

Why did these townspeople heap such grand titles on one Wyvern wing? Even if 4m wings were impressive, people who'd experienced monster waves should know better.

"Hey, young master! Back earlier than expected!"

"Come have a drink with us!"

The reason became clear pretty quickly.

Following Olek as he received warm greetings, we turned from a fruit shop into a tavern thick with the smell of stewed soup.

Like most unbuffed medieval establishments, it was more of a multipurpose hall - part inn, part stable, part restaurant, part tavern.

In the center, three hairy men raised their cups in greeting:

4★ 'Braggart' Tom

3★ 'Blabbermouth' Igor

4★ 'Storyteller' Olson

...So these bastards were behind it all.

"Sir Roland, these are three retired adventurers who taught me about monsters."

"Igor, this is the famous hero I met in the Kingdom!"

The tavern fell silent at Olek's words.

"What, a hero?!"

"Well, I'm not 3m tall, not a giant hybrid, and not a hero - just the holy sword's owner."

"Gasp! Sir Roland, the holy sword's owner!"

Han Se-ah's camera had ghosted over somehow, capturing the three men tumbling in shock at Olek's confident introduction.

Tom, who'd been offering me a friendly drink, spilled his cup on his pants but still hastily extended it with both hands. Igor, maybe from drunkenness, slipped sideways off his chair and face-planted in Tom's spilled drink.

Only 'Storyteller' Olson reacted normally. Though his title suggested a bard, he looked more like a bandit chief.

"So tell me, how did this giant hybrid rumor start?"

"Well, about that..."

"Yeah, Olson! Do you know how embarrassed I was in the Kingdom because of that?"

Han Se-ah's camera drone had naturally positioned itself above my head, probably since I'd left the mansion. But right now I was more curious about ridiculous rumors like Roland the giant hybrid, Han Se-ah the witch, and Grace the orangutan.

Olson gave an awkward smile, seeming to know something. His dirty brown beard twitched with his jaw muscles, but I sat down casually and raised an intact cup.

Gulp, gulp—

The cheap beer was bland and tasteless, but refreshingly cold thanks to the northern climate. Though hardly fitting for a Margrave's son, I downed it without hesitation, and their gazes changed.

They looked at me like elders watching a blonde, blue-eyed foreigner enthusiastically slurping down blood sausage soup with sesame powder and radish kimchi juice.

"Well you see, everyone knows our stories are mixed with exaggeration."

"What?!"

"Come on, young master. Logically, could a giant hybrid even be born? You know, when a man and woman do important things, the 'size' matters quite a bit."

Like I'd been accepted into some primitive tribe, Olson started explaining after I downed the beer. At his words, Olek shouted in surprise while everyone in the tavern burst out laughing.

Seems everyone in town knew the kid was kind but not too bright.

The uncles and aunties started chattering loudly as Olson smugly flexed his forearm to illustrate 'size'. After all, giants in this world were like ogres - at least 5m tall.

As they snickered about how a giant hybrid was physically impossible and they couldn't believe anyone would buy it, Igor staggered up from the floor.

"And Sir Roland, I hope you're not offended."

"No, go on. This is entertaining."

"Hehe, you see, even nonsense needs to sound logical for people to like it."

"Logical nonsense?"

These three seemed to be retired adventurers who'd made good money and now spread stories for drinking money - basically professional bards.

In medieval times, anyone literate who could play an instrument and carry a tune could pass as a bard.

"The giant hybrid rumor started because you're big, muscular, and brave in adventures. And up north, giants are considered more valiant and impressive than ogres..."

"True, giant hybrid does sound better than ogre hybrid."

"Heheh, the connotation is quite different, isn't it?"

Igor rambled on after Olson.

Calling someone an ogre's son would insult not just the holy sword's owner but the temple itself, but saying someone was as brave as a giant hybrid sounded like the origin story of a great hero. Of course, this was unique to the Empire's north - say that in the Kingdom and you'd deserve whatever sword came your way.

The problem was how rumors changed in the north - "Roland who's as brave as a giant hybrid" became "Roland the giant hybrid" as "as" disappeared.

Then they couldn't disappoint the sparkly-eyed village kids, so they embellished tales of Giant Hybrid Roland's mighty strikes... and with their bardic sense of duty they made the stories logically consistent, which only made them more believable...

"So you're saying this guy seriously believed the exaggerated stories you told the village kids?"

"Yes, exactly. No excuses, it's true. You know how kids who've never seen monster waves play pretend about being dragons and giants."

"Right! My kid swings icicles around claiming to be an ice dragon's heir."

"Mine asks if he's your giant brother since he's tall for his age!"

"Hahaha, Boris is suspicious though!"

Olek looked devastated, like a child learning Santa was really their parents. As the camera drone zoomed in on his shocked, betrayed face, I looked around to see everyone pounding their cups and shouting agreement.

...I had to admire how he'd completely believed and acted on stories from this environment.

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