Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 4

by Hiro Ainana

  In that case, this confusing rank-reversal situation would be solved as well.

  “Do you have any preferences about your family name?”

  “My family name?”

  Ten days after the decision to grant me the title of honorary hereditary knight, I was called into Miss Nina’s office and instructed to decide on my name as a noble.

  According to her, she’d finally gotten her case for urgency approved and was making preparations for my knighting ceremony.

  “An honorary noble title is limited to one generation, isn’t it? Is a family name really necessary?”

  “It is indeed only one generation, but a surprising number of houses continue to receive honorary titles for many generations.”

  I nodded thoughtfully at her explanation.

  “Right! Even if a single-generation noble is viewed as an upstart, they still have more money than a poor or fallen noble. There are some territories where you can buy a title with money, and you can get an excellent education for your children, after all.”

  Arisa, who was helping Miss Nina with paperwork, piped up from behind a stack of documents.

  Because Miss Nina had eliminated so many corrupt officials when she came back into power, the government was short on manpower.

  At first, Arisa had only been delivering lost items to officials, but she sympathized when she saw how busy they were and offered to help by sorting office documents.

  Then, she naturally moved from sorting to assisting with processing the paperwork, and eventually wound up with the position of being Miss Nina’s assistant. Apparently, Arisa had a knack for accounting.

  “Is Arisa being helpful?”

  “Yeah, enough that I wish you’d leave her here to work as my aide.”

  “Oh my, that wouldn’t do. I’m fully dedicated to my master in mind and body alike!” Arisa shot me an exaggerated wink, so I rolled my eyes and patted her on the head.

  “Well, I’m sure you can’t come up with one on the spot, right? I’ll give you a couple of days to decide.”

  “How about, say, Tachibana?”

  As I recall, that was Arisa’s last name in her previous life.

  “I’ll pass, thanks.”

  “Yes, I believe there’s already a hereditary knight named Tachibana. You can check with the civil official Yuyurina about whether a certain family name’s available or not. She studied heraldry at the royal academy, so she’d know better than I would.”

  “All right. I’ll try and come up with a few possibilities to ask about.”

  Her business with me finished, Miss Nina returned to her paperwork.

  If I remembered right, Yuyurina was the quiet civil official with brown hair in a refined braid.

  After a few words with Arisa, I left the office.

  I racked my brain for a good family name as I strode through the corridor, but nothing came to mind.

  Of course there was my real surname, Suzuki, but then my name in this world would sound so Japanese that I might forget my real one, so I decided against it.

  As you might’ve guessed from my character name, I’d always been pretty arbitrary in naming things, so I decided to poll everyone else for ideas.

  “Familyyy?”

  “Family’s great, sir!”

  The nearest members of my group were Tama and Pochi in one of the Muno family’s private rooms, but they didn’t know what a “family name” was.

  The two of them were sitting next to Miss Soluna and munching on something that looked like fried fish with bones sticking out. Kinda dull for a teatime snack, if you ask me.

  These three were the only people in the room. The baron was in the office next door and would be battling paperwork until the next day. Hauto was patrolling the city with Liza and Nana.

  “A family name? Well, if you marry our darling Karina, I’m sure you could take over the Donano family name.”

  Miss Soluna smiled mischievously. Donano had been the baron’s family’s surname until they took over the Muno name.

  Baron Muno also had the title of Baronet Donano, so whoever married Miss Soluna or Miss Karina in the future would take that family name and rank.

  “That seems quite intimidating, so I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”

  “Oh well. Karina has a tough road ahead of her.”

  Miss Soluna giggled after me as I left the room.

  “Sorry, but could you let me through?”

  “Ah, Sir Knight!”

  “Please, go right ahead!”

  The cluster of maids in front of the kitchen entrance moved aside to let me in.

  “Oh-ho, good to see you, Sir Knight.”

  “Welcome back, master.”

  Lulu, who was deep-frying something with the head chef, Miss Gert, turned toward me.

  “That’s a nice color,” I said. “I think the fire’s a little too strong, though. You should probably tone it down some before the outside gets burned to a crisp.”

  “Ah, I’m sorry!”

  I took over for Lulu to adjust the fire.

  Before Miss Nina had sent for me, the three of us had been frying wild-boar cutlets.

  “It’s remarkable that you can tell the temperature just by looking.”

  I smiled at the astonished Miss Gert, then moved the boar cutlets to the net that served as a draining rack.

  Cutting one in half with a kitchen knife, I made sure that it had cooked all the way through. The coating had turned black, but it should still be edible, at least.

  “What should we do? Pawn them off on the maids who didn’t get lunch?”

  “Yes, please do! It’s all right if it’s not perfect!”

  “We’ll eat anything you cook, Sir Knight!”

  I presented to one of the maids a plate complete with sauce and mayonnaise.

  Personally, I didn’t think mayonnaise and pork cutlets went together very well, but I held my tongue. The maids loved mayo.

  “Hooray! Two per person, all right?”

  “Delicious!”

  “No fair, Erina! Don’t put so much mayo on one piece!”

  “Girls, if you’re going to be this noisy, I won’t give you any more samples!”

  “We’re sorry, Miss Gert!”

  After roaring at the bickering maids, Miss Gert went back to preparing the next pork cutlets with Lulu.

  As I helped them out, I decided to get Lulu’s opinion on a family name.

  “A family name? How about Kuvork, then?”

  Kuvork was the kingdom that Arisa and Lulu had come from. It had also been Arisa’s family name when she was a princess.

  “I don’t think that would be wise. It’d be like picking a fight with the regions that invaded the Kuvork Kingdom.”

  “I suppose so… Ah, then maybe…? Oh, never mind.”

  Lulu seemed to have an idea, but she wouldn’t spit it out. When I pressed the subject, she offered the surname “Watari.”

  Lulu’s great-grandfather had been Japanese, so this must have been his last name.

  “It’s the family name of my great-grandfather, from his faraway country. But in the Kuvork Kingdom where I was born, only nobles were permitted to have a family name, so nobody used it.”

  Satou Watari.

  It sounded a bit old-fashioned, but it wasn’t bad.

  “I’m not sure whether I’ll use it, but I’ll certainly write it down as one of the candidates, if that’s all right.”

  “Yes!” Lulu smiled brightly at my response.

  Yes, she was beautiful as ever today.

  After I’d shown Lulu and Miss Gert a few tricks for frying delicious pork cutlets, I visited the garden where Mia was playing music.

  I passed through the rear lawn, where countless sheets were billowing in the wind, and toward the shade of Mia’s favorite tree in the baron’s private space.

  Maybe it was because the baron could use the City Core now, but this place always seemed to be pleasantly warm.

  “Satou.”

 
; “Hi, Mia.”

  Small animals had gathered around Mia as she played the lute in the sunshine.

  When she noticed me and turned, her movement startled the little birds and squirrels, and they darted away in a panic.

  “Mm.”

  Mia didn’t seem to mind this particularly and simply patted the ground next to her for me to sit.

  I asked Mia for her opinion on the family name.

  “Bolenan.”

  …That would be Mia’s family name—or more precisely, the name of her clan.

  “I don’t think I can take a different clan’s name as my own, Mia. The leaders of the elf village would get mad at me.”

  “Mrrr…”

  Mia puffed out her cheeks, but I restored her good spirits by handing her a prototype crepe.

  I’d discovered how to make whipped cream in the process of churning butter, so I’d immediately tried frying up some crepes.

  I’d acquired baking powder, too, so I’d attempted to make various pastries while I had access to Muno Castle’s oven.

  As I munched on the dessert with Mia, I got her to teach me the names of various plants and animals as potential surnames. None of them seemed quite right, so I promised to add a few to the list of candidates and headed out.

  “Master, I have returned, I report.”

  “We’ve received the processed feathers, master.”

  Nana and Liza dismounted from their horses as they debriefed me.

  I’d commissioned a craftsman in the city to prepare some feathers for making a down quilt.

  We didn’t have enough, so the advance-guard team and I had gone bird hunting near the main road while taking out thieves along the way.

  “Great, thanks.”

  “They are remarkably soft and fluffy, I report.”

  Nana was enjoying the texture of the feather-filled bag.

  I asked them if they had any family name ideas.

  “Nagasaki, I recommend. It was my former master’s surname.”

  “How about Kishreshigarza? It is the name of my clan, but nobody should be claiming it as a family name.”

  Nana and Liza gave their respective suggestions.

  Satou Nagasaki.

  Satou Kishreshigarza.

  Neither of them really jumped out at me.

  Just then, a few soldiers arrived.

  “Miss Liza, Miss Nana, we’re about to start practice. Would you like to—? Oh, Sir Knight. Why not join us as well?”

  The one who’d called out to us was named Zotol. We’d met him when Liza and I went out patrolling for bandits and defeated him after a close fight.

  He was a skilled opponent who could beat Liza one-on-one and could hold his own against all four members of the vanguard team.

  Unable to stand the cruel orders of the demon magistrate and the corruption of their fellow soldiers, he and his band of followers had left the military. They had traveled around working as guards for merchants passing through the territory or getting rid of monsters at the request of villages.

  They were more like mercenaries than thieves, but corrupt bureaucrats who viewed them as a threat had tricked them and put them on the wanted list as thieves.

  Now he and his group had been reemployed as soldiers of the barony.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t return to being a knight right away, so he was ranked as a soldier for now.

  “Sorry, I have business to take care of, so I’ll pass on training for today.”

  “You’d better join us next time, then! Oh, and if you see Hauto, please tell him to come to the practice field.”

  I agreed to pass on the message and left Liza and Nana to train with the flexing soldier.

  “Family name? There were no nobles in my village, so I don’t know the first thing about that.”

  That was Hauto’s answer when I found him in the dining hall and asked him about it.

  Hauto was currently working as a junior knight-in-training for the baron. He had learned that he wasn’t really a hero after touching a Yamato stone a few days prior.

  An analysis had proven that his “Holy Sword” Gjallarhorn was actually a cursed demon blade, so it had been sealed away in a chamber in the basement of Muno Castle. The sword at his waist was just an ordinary iron blade.

  Though no longer a hero, Hauto still had a relationship with Miss Soluna, so he was undergoing intensive training to become a proper knight and marry her.

  Miss Soluna was teaching him culture and language, while he was training in fencing and strategy with Zotol every day.

  “I’ve found you at last! Today is the day you shall finally train with me!”

  “What good fortune that Sir Hauto is here, too.”

  Miss Karina appeared in the dining hall, clad in the same shirt and pants as the soldiers.

  “Are you trying to run away from your etiquette teacher to train again?”

  “B-but of course not. Today is devoted solely to combat training.”

  There was no such day in the schedule that Miss Nina had made for Miss Karina’s education.

  Incidentally, her etiquette teacher was Miss Soluna.

  “Why not ask Lady Karina for advice about it?”

  “Advice? Whatever about?”

  At Hauto’s prompting, I took a shot in the dark and asked Miss Karina for family name suggestions.

  “You’re having difficulty in choosing a family name, are you? I know just the one.”

  “What is it?”

  “How about Pendragon? It’s a hero’s name. Lord Orion Pendragon.”

  “Ahem…” A youthful civil official with a braid, who was eating nearby, timidly entered the conversation. This was Yuyurina, the one Miss Nina had mentioned before. She was usually very quiet, so this was unexpected. “Isn’t that the name of a fictional character?”

  “That’s right! It’s the hero of my very favorite story. He journeys around on a dragon, overcomes the seven trials given him by the gods, and in the end defeats the great demon lord in a brilliant epic saga.”

  This was like a weird mix of King Arthur’s legend and Greek mythology.

  “He rides a dragon?”

  “Yes, and no mere wyvern, either! He rides none other than a red dragon, named Welsh.”

  I did seem to remember King Arthur’s father’s name being Pendragon. Wasn’t he a dragon-slaying hero?

  That might actually work. I do have Excalibur, after all, so I could even change my first name to Arthur and go around as Arthur Pendragon.

  And so, after two full days of brainstorming, I finally decided on a family name.

  “… Confer Peerage Jojaku!”

  In a room of Muno Castle designated for peerage ceremonies, I received my noble rank from Baron Muno.

  The rank field in my status changed to Noble [Hereditary Knight], and my affiliation changed to Shiga Kingdom, Muno Barony.

  The three medals I’d received yesterday were listed in my Awards and Bounties column, too. Of course, I’d also received physical medals to convey my honors to others whenever I was formally dressed.

  The reason I hadn’t gained the “Confer Peerage” skill in the process was probably that it was a Ritual Magic spell that was a function of the City Core.

  “Satou, please touch the Yamato stone to confirm that the ritual was successful.”

  “All right.”

  This time, I changed a few values in my networking tab before touching the Yamato stone.

  Since I now had a powerful supporter, even if he wasn’t the most reliable, I disclosed a little more about my skills and level so that I could operate a bit more easily. I’d consulted with Arisa about this decision the day before.

  Once the ceremony was over, Miss Nina led the baron’s daughters and my kids into the room.

  The last to enter was the civil official Yuyurina.

  “All right, let us begin. Name Order Meimei! ‘Satou Pendragon.’”

  The young woman with the braids nervously invoked her “Name Order” skill.


  > Skill Acquired: “Name Order”

  The new name was granted to me as everyone looked on. It didn’t change automatically in my menu’s networking tab, so I changed it myself.

  Then, we used a Yamato stone to confirm the change and create new identification. Unlike the papers of ordinary commoners, my information was now engraved on a silver plate.

  “Heh-heh… Karina Pendragon, eh? Not bad, if I do say so myself.”

  I caught wind of some disturbing remarks but pretended not to hear. She’d murmured so quietly that aside from me with my “Keen Hearing” skill, most likely only Raka had heard it.

  “Arisa Pendragon… Sounds a bit too much like Arthur, but at least it’s got oomph.” Arisa grinned to herself, tapping her chin as she schemed away.

  “Hee-hee, it would be nice to be called Lulu Pendragon someday…”

  Et tu, Lulu?

  Of course, Lulu had whispered softly like Miss Karina. Nobody else could hear it but me.

  “Pochi Pendragon, sir!”

  “Tama Pendragooon?”

  Pochi and Tama ran circles around me as their way of saying congratulations.

  If they had wings, they probably would’ve rocketed off into the sky right there.

  “Very elegant, master.”

  Liza wiped tears from the corners of her eyes, overcome with emotion.

  “Mrrr. Bolenan…” Mia hadn’t given up yet.

  “Master. Master Pendragon. Which shall I call you, I inquire?”

  “Just ‘master’ is fine,” I told Nana.

  “Now then, Sir Satou Pendragon, hereditary knight. I look forward to working with you in the future.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, Viscount Nina Lottel.”

  Miss Nina extended her hand for a handshake. I didn’t know until now that was a practice in this world, too.

  One didn’t add the word honorary when stating someone else’s peerage aloud. However, I would have to introduce myself as “honorary hereditary knight Satou.”

  Still grasping my hand, Miss Nina gave me yet another assignment.

  “Be sure to decide on a coat of arms before you leave, as well.”

  I need to have a coat of arms, too…?

  We ended up deciding that I would receive lessons in high society and heraldry from the baron and Yuyurina respectively, starting the next day.