After retrieving just one of its heads, we quickly slipped out of the castle.

“Haa... Should we just go retrieve the turtle itself while we’re at it?”

Letting out a deep sigh with the castle entrance behind us.

“That might be best. We were a little forceful, and if we act before word spreads to the port town, they might let us take it without resistance.”

Deciding to retrieve it before anyone could interfere, we left the imperial capital right away. After a light run to avoid prying eyes, we left the road and took to the sky.

“That turtle sure is conspicuous.”

Even without flying, it’s obvious from a distance. The giant turtle shell is clearly visible, parked near the port town.

“Should we just go straight there?”

“Yeah.”

It had already been pulled close to the shore and looked like it was about to be dragged onto land. Numerous ropes were hooked onto it, and people were pulling them together.

We landed slightly behind the group.

“Who are you!?”

They all let go of the ropes at once and looked at us cautiously.

“We’re the adventurers who defeated that thing—Shu and Rio.”

“What...?”

“The division of the Sea Emperor Turtle was decided at the castle, so we’ve come to claim it.”

I pulled my adventurer card from around my neck and showed it to the nearest soldier.

“...An S-Rank!?”

The whispered voice spilled out, spreading murmurs throughout the crowd.

“We’re to receive the entire body, so we’ll be taking it now.”

“P-please wait a moment. I’ll confirm with my superior...”

This wasn’t a decision a regular soldier could make. With a nod, a messenger was quickly dispatched.

Ah, I just remembered—we left Nir at the inn. Hope he’s not sulking... He’ll probably cheer up if I give him some turtle meat, so it’s fine.

“So it was you two...”

After a short wait, a white-haired man I vaguely recognized appeared. I think his name was Vol-something. Yeah, I can’t recall, but whatever.

“You said you’re taking the Sea Emperor Turtle. Was that formally decided?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have any written documentation?”

Oh. So you're particular about that kind of thing. We didn’t have time to prepare anything, and even if we had asked for it, I doubt they would’ve issued it without a fuss.

“We don’t have any documents. We came straight here as soon as it was decided.”

“I see...”

He put his hand on his chin, seemingly deep in thought, but his reaction was different from what I expected. I thought he’d complain right away and yell “Go back!” or something.

“Well, fine. Take it.”

“Eh, ah... Thank you very much.”

He gave in surprisingly easily, turned on his heel, and walked away.

I exchanged a glance with Rio, who simply tilted her head in an adorable gesture.

“Not sure what that was about, but let’s just chalk it up to S-Rank adventurer privileges.”

Can’t think of any other reason anyway.

“Alright, let’s try putting it in the extradimensional box.”

As we watched the ropes used to drag it being removed, we looked up at the top of the shell, which was over a hundred meters tall. Still huge as ever.

Once the ropes were off and the people cleared away, we approached the Sea Emperor Turtle.

“I’ll lift it. I’m counting on you for the rest.”

“Got it.”

I activated gravity magic, targeting the entire turtle. As I gradually infused it with mana, the shell slowly began to lighten. Once it was lighter than air and began to float, I used wind magic to make fine adjustments.

The increasing noise from the surroundings was ignored.

Mana surged from Rio as well, and a line split the space beside the turtle. It gradually expanded until it was large enough to swallow the turtle whole.

“Okay.”

“Here we go.”

On cue, we moved the Sea Emperor Turtle into the portal, and it disappeared into Rio’s extradimensional box. Before we knew it, the imposing shadow of the massive creature had vanished, and the usual sandy beach stretched before us.

“It’s in.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t too worried, though.”

“Haha, true. Alright, let’s head back to the inn in the capital.”

“Right. ...Sorry for the trouble, everyone.”

The latter was directed at the surrounding people. Not sure how many actually heard, but either way, our job was done.

We lifted off and flew straight toward the capital. The shell was safely retrieved, and there was no need to worry about keeping a low profile anymore. We landed just before the noble gate into the capital. The guards of the noble in front gave us wary looks, but showing our adventurer cards cleared their doubts.

On our second entry, there were no problems at the gate. Smoothly re-entering the capital, we headed back to the inn where Ivan, Phonia, and Nir were waiting.

All that remained was reporting the delivery of the turtle head and getting our S-Rank adventurer cards issued. Might as well finish everything today and leave the capital.

“We’re ba—whoa!”

As we entered our room, Nir leapt at me, tail wagging wildly. While he licked my face all over, I heard Phonia’s laughter from behind him.

“You’re happy, aren’t you, Nir?”

“W-wait, wait, sorry for being late!”

I patted his neck fluff, and Phonia, who had been laughing moments ago, gave me a steady look.

“Ivan looks well too.”

“Thanks to you.”

Now that I think about it, despite being near death, he was walking again pretty quickly.

“We’re thinking of leaving the capital soon. How are you feeling?”

If needed, we could rest for a few days, or he could ride on Nir’s back... Actually, even if he's fine, maybe we’ll still have him ride on Nir.

“Ah—no problems, I think...?”

Ivan answered hesitantly while rotating his shoulders to check his condition.

“Really? Then I’ll head to the guild to report the completed request. We can leave once that’s done.”

“We’re leaving today—”

“Take me to the guild too!”

As I was confirming our plans, Phonia interrupted Ivan and declared so confidently.