by Hiro Ainana
Thanks to the tour guide’s cart leading the way, we wouldn’t get lost.
“This is quite a comfortable ride.”
“Yes, it’s amazing to be able to speak so easily in a moving carriage.”
Miss Karina and her maid escort Pina marveled aloud.
“Well, of course! Our master enhanced it with love!”
“Mm. Love.”
Arisa and Mia spoke proudly with me between them.
I was pretty sure it was because I enhanced it with technology not love, but I decided to keep that to myself.
Except for our driver Lulu, the other girls were riding in front of and behind the carriage.
Tama and Pochi were riding the runosaur, their ears and tails hidden by hooded cloaks, while Liza and Nana were armored and on horseback. Erina, another one of Miss Karina’s maid escorts, was riding a horse next to the carriage.
After we left the Dreamglow Cavern, the temperature had risen to a springlike warmth. The hooded cloaks were probably pretty warm.
As soon as we passed through a large set of gates near the harbor, we were in the middle of the aristocratic quarter of the city. We were stopped just inside the gates, but the guide in front took care of things, so all I had to do was show the silver plate that was proof of my nobility.
The streets of the aristocratic district were paved with stone, and the buildings resembled concrete.
According to what I learned at the banquet in Muno Castle, this area was built with a special kind of Earth Magic called architectural magic. A noble called Count Hohen who lived there in the old capital was apparently a master of the art.
Most of the maids hurrying to and fro on the streets were in the same kind of outfits I’d seen in Muno Castle: plain dresses.
I’ll have to popularize maid outfits in the old capital, too.
As I mused on these ambitions, the cart arrived in a quiet neighborhood where the wealthiest aristocrats lived.
On the map, I saw that other high-ranked nobles like marquises and counts lived near the duke’s castle.
Each of the mansions was as big and spacious as Tokyo Dome. If anything, it might be more apt to describe them as “palaces.”
Arisa quickly tired of viewing the houses and lobbed a question at Miss Karina instead.
“Are you staying with Count Worgoch, too, Lady Karina?”
“I-indeed. I was planning to stay at Orion’s boarding house, but as it seems several other young men are staying there besides him…”
Right. It would probably be too much for someone as uncomfortable around men as Miss Karina to stay there.
I had planned to accompany her there so I could meet Orion myself, but from the sound of things, that might have to wait until another day.
Orion was Baron Muno’s eldest son, five years younger than Karina at age fourteen. He was studying abroad in the old capital.
According to Viscount Nina from the Muno Barony, he had chosen this over the esteemed academy in the royal capital because the nobles there objected to his visit, owing to the barony’s reputation as a “cursed territory.”
Eventually, the carriages slowed their pace not far from the duke’s castle.
Once we arrived at Count Worgoch’s impressively mansion-like estate, the viceroy’s parents—the previous duke and his wife—greeted us. Once we’d exchanged pleasantries, they directed us to the count’s private house.
Here we parted ways with the guide, who went off to the duke’s castle to deliver a report along with a letter requesting my introduction to him.
The viceroy’s house was a large three-story mansion, complete with stables and separate lodging for the servants. It was even more impressive than the guesthouse where the beastfolk girls and I had stayed in Seiryuu City’s local castle.
When we stopped our carriage in front of the entrance, twenty or so servants were waiting for us, led by a thin older gentleman with gray hair.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Sebaf, the supervisor of this house.” The man bowed politely, as did the staff behind him.
“Aw, man…,” Arisa muttered behind me, and I privately agreed. If only his name were Sebastian, it would have been perfect.
“I am Satou Pendragon, a hereditary knight. Thank you for having us, Mr. Sebaf.”
“Please, you may simply call me Sebaf.”
I nodded at the mild-mannered man, then introduced Miss Karina as well.
After Sebaf guided us to a living room and we relaxed awhile, I asked him for a tour.
“This will be your room, Sir Satou.”
This suite had several smaller chambers, including a bedroom, a study, and a dressing room. There was an extra-large bed in the center of the bedroom, big enough to fit our entire group.
There were private rooms for everyone else, too, but since several of my kids didn’t like to sleep alone, I suspected that the rooms other than mine and the living room wouldn’t see much use.
However, Miss Karina’s party was staying on a different floor, so I didn’t see an “accidentally got into the wrong bed” type of event in the cards.
After the tour, I let the kids explore the mansion freely.
“It’s Tamaaa?”
“And Pochi, sir.”
“What a beautiful mirror. The reflection is quite different from that of a copper mirror.”
I heard voices from the dressing room next to the living room.
Beyond the open door, I found the beastfolk girls standing in front of the glass mirror inside, gleefully waving at their reflections.
As I flopped down on the bed to organize our plans for our old capital visit, Arisa and Lulu returned from touring the kitchen.
“We’re back!”
“Master! The kitchen here is amazing!”
Flushed with excitement, Lulu told me all about the cooking-related magic tools there.
Sebaf gave us permission to use the space, so we could prepare our own meals as long as we let them know in advance. He added that meals were generally cooked in the kitchen of the main building; this one was mainly for preparing light fare and snacks.
“There was even an oven and a refrigerator!”
“Guess what! There was milk and fruit in the refrigerator. You should bake a cake or something!”
“Good idea. Maybe I’ll try making a sponge cake.”
At that, Arisa gave a shriek of delight.
Tama and Pochi had been peering out from the dressing room, but they came rushing over at the mention of food.
“Caaake?”
“Sir!”
Both of them joined Arisa in jumping for joy.
If it would make them that happy, the effort of baking a cake would be well worth it.
“Letter.”
“We have received two messages from the elderly man, I report.”
Mia and Nana had returned from their exploration of the grounds.
The letters in question were from the former Count Worgoch and Duke Ougoch himself. The count was inviting us to dinner that evening, while the duke was accepting the request for a meeting the tour guide had delivered on my behalf. According to the letter, he would meet with me tomorrow.
Both invitations were directed toward only Miss Karina and me, so I told the other girls to relax and enjoy the mansion.
Dinner that evening came in the form of many trays of small but extravagant delicacies to delight the palate, several of which seemed reproducible. I decided I should cook them for the others during our stay in the old capital.
The next day, Miss Karina and I went to Ougoch Castle for our audience with the duke.
Duke Ougoch was a sturdy old man with an abundance of gray hair, especially his beard. My first instinct was to classify him as a jolly old man, but the powerful glint in his eye said otherwise.
“Welcome, daughter of Leon. Ipasa has told me all. I have heard that you fought valiantly on the front lines in the defense of Muno City and even took on a demon in Gururian City. I commend your brav
ery.”
Leon was Baron Muno’s first name. Oh yeah, I guess the duke and Baron Muno are related.
Normally, this would be where Miss Karina gave a demure response, but instead she just acted nervous. Her social anxiety must be kicking in again.
I would’ve liked to back her up, but for all intents and purposes, I was just a tagalong lesser noble. It would be rude to speak without the duke’s permission.
Instead, Raka spoke up for her, glowing blue on Miss Karina’s chest.
“I accept your words with gratitude on behalf of my master.”
“Oh-ho, a magic tool that understands human language? It’s just like the invincible armor that my parents spoke of in legends.”
“Indeed.”
The response came from a slender consul who was standing nearby the duke.
His slitted eyes resembled a snake’s as he observed us appraisingly, but because he didn’t have nearly as powerful a presence as the duke, I paid him no mind.
“Grandfather!”
I heard the sound of familiar footsteps along with the cry, and sure enough, Miss Ringrande entered the room.
“Rin…this is official business. Leave us.”
“Not likely! I heard that Miss Karina and Satou were here, so I came to rescue them before you put them through the wringer.”
Ignoring the duke’s complaints, Miss Ringrande looked around at the armored knights stiffly lining the audience room.
“Honestly. What sort of a welcome is this for the heroes who saved Gururian City? Besides, it doesn’t seem to be intimidating the person you wanted it to.”
Ringrande gazed right at me as she spoke.
Wait, he was trying to intimidate me?
Given their formal stance and perfectly polished armor, I had assumed that the knights were supposed to be some sort of honor guard giving us a warm welcome. Walking down the line of armored knights was honestly a pretty exciting experience. I felt more like thanking him than complaining, really.
“I can’t get anything past you, Rin.”
The duke raised a hand to signal the officer standing nearby, and the knights marched out of the room.
Other than us, the only people who stayed in the room were the council, the haughty-looking level-50 military officer, and a few knight guards, including Sir Ipasa.
As well as some maids and other servants, of course.
“Now, is that good enough?” the duke grumbled to Miss Ringrande.
Then he signaled to the consul, who took a rectangular tray from a nearby servant and carried it over to us.
“As thanks to Lady Karina Muno and Sir Satou Pendragon of Muno Barony for their heroic service in protecting Gururian City from demons, Duke Ougoch hereby bestows upon thee the Ougoch Duchy Sapphire Medal.”
Laid on the tray were two heavy-looking medals and two velvet sachets chock-full of gold coins.
If I had to guess just by looking at the sachets, there were probably about a hundred coins in each. Miss Karina, unaccustomed to seeing this much gold, had sparkles in her eyes.
“So that’s the Sapphire Medal…,” Sir Ipasa murmured in admiration, which I was able to pick up on with my “Keen Hearing” skill. Given his reaction, this medal had to be a pretty rare and valuable object.
“Please accept these gifts. They are well deserved for your achievements.” The duke had evidently mistaken Miss Karina’s rapture at the sight of the gold coins as reluctance to accept them. “You may not have heard, but lesser hell demons like the one in Gururian City have been attacking in every city in the duchy.”
I hadn’t seen any signs of a demon attack in Zurute City, where we stayed on the way here, but that could have been because it was nighttime and our stay was short.
At the request of the duke, the consul elaborated. “Gururian and Sutoandell are the only two cities where damage was minimal. The rest may take years to fully recover.”
Huh? The greater hell demon I fought beneath Seiryuu City was one thing, but there should be enough people of high enough level to defeat a lesser hell demon in pretty much any city…
Well, I suppose the damage might’ve been done before anyone strong enough to do that showed up. Now I understood why the viceroy of Gururian City gave a low-ranking noble like me such generous treatment.
But did that mean the short horns had shown up in other cities? I referred to the map and discovered three of them in a hidden safe in the duke’s office.
The short horn was an item that could change humans into demons. I hadn’t mentioned them to the viceroy in Gururian City out of fear of starting a panicked witch hunt, but maybe that didn’t make much difference.
The amount of used short horns I had didn’t match the number of demons I’d beaten. I concluded it wasn’t an item they dropped every time.
As for the used short horn I’d gotten in Gururian City, giving it to the duke at this point might just have been stirring up a hornet’s nest, so I decided to feign ignorance for now.
As I followed this somewhat negative train of thought, the meeting with the duke continued.
Once we’d accepted the medals and rewards, the next item on the agenda was the letter from Baron Muno.
“It’s signed from Leon, but I don’t doubt it was Nina who wrote it. She always did know how to make a troublesome request sound like an easy favor.”
I was a little surprised to hear Duke Ougoch refer to Viscount Nina by her first name. Then I remembered that he was the one who recommended her as consul for Muno Barony.
Still, what could she have requested?
“Not only is she asking for a loan and extra supplies, she wants us to lend civil officials, military officers, and even engineers? Impossible.”
Sounds like quite a wish list.
Knowing Viscount Nina, they probably only truly needed the supplies, while the manpower would be a nice bonus, added to make the rest sound more reasonable.
From the duke’s expression, he understood this as well. Then his face suddenly turned mischievous.
“How about this? Sir Pendragon, if you become my vassal, I will grant all these requests. I can even make you an honorary baron if you wish.”
Trading me for all those resources? I’d imagine any ordinary statesman would accept immediately.
As I was contemplating how to respond to his jest, someone else went ahead and overreacted.
“Y-you mustn’t! S-Satou is a vassal of my father. E-even you cannot take him away, Your Grace!”
Lady Karina leaped in front of me, spreading her arms in a childish attempt to hide me from the duke.
Her bewitchingly large bust was enough to win me over under normal circumstances; such fierce protective instincts from her almost made me fall head over heels. Especially considering how nice her curves looked from this angle.
“Hmm. No luck, huh?”
“C-certainly not!” The duke smiled drolly at Karina’s furious response. Apparently, she had managed to charm him into a good mood. “Very well. Daughter of Leon, worry not. I will not steal away this person you hold so dear.”
“D-d-dear…?!”
At that, Miss Karina turned bright red and just about fainted dead away, and I quickly caught her.
“Your Grace, Lady Karina is quite purehearted, so I beg you not to tease her too much.”
“I suppose. She is Leon’s child, after all.”
As the duke chuckled, Miss Ringrande whispered into his ear.
…Huh?
When she was finished, the duke called Sir Ipasa over, and they exchanged a few quiet words.
They had to be using some kind of magical counterintelligence-type device, because my “Keen Hearing” skill couldn’t pick up their conversation.
“Hmm, a miraculous dish, you say…”
However, my “Lip Reading” skill did manage to catch the duke’s words, since I could see his mouth.
“Sir Pendragon. Ipasa tells me you made a remarkable dish called ‘consommé soup,’ and Rin spoke highly
of your ‘tempura.’ I am hosting a banquet tonight for the highest nobility of the city, and I would like you to cook these dishes for my guests and me. If they are satisfactory, I shall give Nina the aid she requested.”
Tempura was one thing, but the pseudo-consommé soup that Ipasa described as a “miraculous dish” could be a bit of an issue.
“I would be remiss to refuse a request from Your Grace, but I must confess that preparation of consommé soup is a lengthy process, so it would be impossible to make in time for tonight’s dinner.”
“Very well. Then we shall make do with the tempura for tonight. I shall host an evening party for the nobility three days from now; you may prepare the consommé soup for that occasion.”
“It would be my pleasure.”
A real aristocrat might resent being treated like a chef, but as an ordinary citizen who ascended to nobility out of nowhere, I was actually pretty proud to hear that someone would want to eat my cooking for such a reason.
A young maidservant led me to the kitchen of the duke’s castle.
Several maids were looking after Miss Karina while she was unconscious. I told them to send her back to Count Worgoch’s place on the carriage that brought us here once she was feeling better. Hopefully, she wouldn’t come charging into the kitchen.
As we walked through a long corridor, I used my “Search Entire Map” to see what ingredients were in the castle.
They were a little short on a few things, so I expanded the search area to include all of the old capital and looked up shops that were selling what I needed. As always, the map skill was super convenient.
The room was three times the size of an average classroom and bustling with activity, like the galley of some luxurious hotel.
“I’ll go and fetch the head chef. Please wait here, Sir Knight.”
The maidservant who guided me here slipped in among the busy cooks, heading for the red-bearded head of the kitchen.
“The duke is ordering us to let some noble whippersnapper take care of the main dish?!”
“Ch-Chef, please! Not so loud! Do you want to be arrested for speaking out against the duke?!”
Sounded like the head chef and his assistant were arguing about me. Was I going to have to make a dish to prove myself worthy, like in a cooking manga? That could be fun.
