Various factors piled up, making updates unstable.
I'm sorry about that.
"Everyone, thank you for gathering here. We shall now begin the party. Cheers!"
The party kicked off with the King's incredibly brief opening.
Several hundred people—nobles and special invitees combined—had gathered in the grand event hall of the royal castle, and at the King's words, everyone moved into action all at once.
My current spot was at a corner of the venue, where special invitees like myself had been gathered, set apart from the nobles.
This was because they couldn't have the special invitees and nobles waiting in the same area before things began, and it also served as a kind of escape zone. A similar area had been set up on the nobles' side as well.
Its main purpose was to protect the special invitees from aggressive recruitment by the nobles. Occasionally the reverse scenario happened, but in those cases the invitee would usually end up straight in the dungeon, so the nobles rarely holed up in the escape zone.
Besides, food was prepared here too, so there was no need to go out of one's way to leave.
Moreover, the only people who could enter both areas were the servers arranged by the hosts, so as long as you stayed here, your chances of getting caught up in trouble were
almost
nonexistent.
"This is even better than I expected."
"This one's delicious too."
"Hey, Branca. This booze is the real deal!"
"Oh, this one's pretty good too."
Currently, Amour, Jin, and Branca were clustered around me.
A few nobles were eyeing us from just at the edge of their range, so I decided not to move from here.
Incidentally, Grandpa had said, "There's some fine liquor over there, so I think I'll go fetch some," and headed out.
"So, Tenma, are you going to stay here forever?"
Jin picked up his next drink and asked. He wasn't speaking especially loud, but it seemed the eavesdroppers nearby had been straining to listen, because the murmur around us quieted slightly.
"No, I don't plan to hole up here forever. I figure my escort should be arriving before too long..."
Before I could finish speaking, one of the attendants approached and whispered something in my ear.
"Sounds like my escort is here, so I'm heading out."
"I'm coming with you."
"Miss... please, for the love of everything, don't cause trouble."
Branca placed her hands on both of Amour's shoulders and spoke to her with a stern expression. She glanced at my face as she did it, so she was clearly asking me to back her up.
I figured if she was that worried, Branca should just come along too, but apparently something was going on and she ended up not.
"If you spot anything good to eat, bring some back for me~"
Jin waved cheerfully from beside the grimacing Branca. It looked like the alcohol was finally hitting him.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Your Grace. Primera, too."
The one who had come to collect me was Duke Sanga. Behind him stood Primera, dressed beautifully.
"Nah, I wasn't waiting that long, so it's fine. More to the point — yeah, we're attracting a lot of attention."
"Father, that goes without saying. If anything, I'd question what kind of noble wouldn't draw attention here."
Primera looked every bit the ducal daughter she was supposed to be — a departure from her usual self — and as I shook Duke Sanga's hand and set off with him, I couldn't shake the feeling of strangeness at the contrast.
Our destination was the place where the King and the others were waiting.
Seeing us head that way, the nobles who appeared to belong to the Royalist Faction wore smiles on their faces, while those likely aligned with the Reformist Faction looked sour. I made a mental note of the ones among them who clicked their tongues or glared daggers at me.
We walked straight through the crowd of attendees and arrived before the King.
There, only the King, Maria, and Marquis Samons were present — Caesar and the rest were apparently busy entertaining other guests.
"Oh! Tenma, you're already wearing the outfit Isabella gave you!"
Before the King could even open his mouth, Maria had already spotted what I was wearing and was delighted. Her voice carried so loudly that the nobles milling about nearby, sizing us up, began to stir.
Ignoring those whispering nobles, Maria looked me over as though appraising my appearance, then nodded with satisfaction.
"That looks lovely... But I'd love to see you wearing the outfit I gave you, too."
She said this with a nod, naturally sliding her request into the conversation. No doubt she was telling me to come visit wearing that next time.
At Maria's words, the King laughed and clapped me on the shoulder. And then...
"Tenma, congratulations on winning first place! And good work slaying the Earth Dragon!"
From the nobles around us, I could hear murmurs of "So that rumor really was true?!"
The King just couldn't resist saying things he had no business saying in a place like this, drawing everyone's attention to me — his personality really was something else. Sure enough, he was grinning like a prankster who'd just pulled off a successful trick...
"Don't let it go to your head, dear..."
At Maria's low, quiet voice, the temperature around us seemed to drop.
Standing closest to her, the King broke into a cold sweat from his forehead and nodded meekly.
"I'm sorry, Tenma. I need to step away for a moment. Come along, dear."
With that, Maria led the King off to the royals' private waiting room.
All we could do left behind was stand there, dumbfounded.
"Well... that's about par for the course."
Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons gave light nods at my muttering. But honestly, this was a perfect opportunity.
Among the nobles who'd been sizing us up ever since we arrived, there were some I wanted to introduce myself to.
I glanced toward where they were standing, and a pair who'd caught my eye started heading our way.
Technically, cutting in where higher-ranking nobles were present constituted an act of discourtesy, so Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons furrowed their brows for an instant — but once they saw who it was, their expressions immediately returned to normal.
"Oh? You two?"
"At least announce yourselves before you come over."
The pair approaching us were two young men, each bearing a resemblance to Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, respectively.
"Big brother—where's Big Brother Lion?"
Primera called out to the taller of the two.
The man furrowed his brow for an instant, then—
"No idea. Probably off slacking somewhere again."
he said.
Primera and the others looked satisfied with that answer.
"Well, let's leave him be for now—time for introductions. I'm Albert von Sanga, eldest son of Duke Alsace von Sanga. Just call me Albert. I'm Primera's full brother—the one she's been dragging into all this trouble. Looking forward to working with you."
He was one of the stalkers who'd been tailing me before, and easily the best-looking of the trio. It was clear he'd inherited Duke Sanga's bloodline in full.
"Nice to meet you... though I guess that's a bit strange at this point? I'm Cain von Samons, eldest son of the Marquis Samons household. Sorry about my brother for all the stuff he pulled. And you can just call me Cain, too—no need for any fancy titles."
This man, with his easygoing manner, was the most baby-faced of the three. He was about the same height as me, but his slighter build made him look younger. He didn't resemble Geiri much, and there was little of Marquis Samons in his features either.
"The pleasure is mine. And over there..."
"Stop! It's way funnier to keep ignoring him for now."
When I tried to ask about the man lingering a good ways behind them, watching our exchange, Albert cut me off. It seemed the plan was to leave him be until he came over on his own.
"By the way, Tenma—have you met my brothers before?"
Primera asked, picking up on the vibe of our introduction. The dukes seemed curious too, so I gave a colorful account of how their children had stalked me in the past—which left both fathers struggling to keep a straight face.
Primera, for her part, was regarding the two of them with a look of faint contempt.
"Big Brother Albert... Big Brother Cain... so the two of you actually liked men...?"
That was what she'd said.
Incidentally, Cain and another man named Lion apparently grew up alongside Albert as childhood friends. Since Primera was close in age, they used to play with her a lot when she was little. That was why she called them both "Big Brother" as well.
As for Gary, Cain's younger brother, she'd apparently had almost no interaction with him whatsoever.
"It's a misunderstanding!"
"Yeah! It's a total misunderstanding!"
Seeing the two of them panicking, Amour pointed at them and...
"Tenma, are they homos?"
...tilting her head as she asked me. I immediately shook my head side to side and pointed at the man who was still hanging back, watching us from a distance.
"Not me—those two and that guy over there."
The two of them were shaking their heads furiously, but from the surrounding crowd I could hear things like "I knew it" and "I always thought they seemed suspicious." Among the onlookers, a portion of the young ladies were letting out excited, high-pitched squeals.
Fujoshi, it seemed. They existed in this world too, after all.
Maybe he mistook my pointing as a signal that he'd been called—
The remaining one
started making his way over toward us.
His steps were somehow light and bouncy, and he wore a broad grin.
"You called?!"
Number Three announced cheerfully as he placed his hands on Number One and Number Two's shoulders. In that instant, the fujoshi girls around their age went into absolute raptures. Some got nosebleeds and keeled over, and others burst into tears.
"Wh-what?! What's going on?! Hey—Albert! Cain! What the hell is happening?!"
Number Three couldn't keep up with the situation around him, vigorously shaking the other two by their shoulders and leaning in close, trying to figure out what was going on. And so the screaming and wailing began anew.
I watched the whole scene from the corner of my eye as I casually slipped away. Following behind me were Amour and Primera.
Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons were doing their best to calm the commotion, but the young ladies' momentum was far from subsiding.
In the end, to restore order the party was temporarily suspended, the venue was relocated to the inner courtyard, and the festivities resumed there.
At the resumed party, none of the soiled young ladies were to be found. Apparently, they had all left with their parents under the pretense of sudden illness.
Their parents must have been on the verge of tears.
"I've been through hell…"
"A coward who can't read the room, on top of being a brute and a jinx on top of that… Lion is truly beyond saving."
"…None of that was my fault."
The three of them—centerpieces of the entire ordeal—had been subjected to questioning by the King and the others, and were completely exhausted.
In the end, however, it was determined that the three bore no responsibility and that the incident was simply an unfortunate accident caused by sudden fits from the young ladies. After all, apparently there were multiple young ladies in such a state of mortification that they looked like they might kill themselves out of sheer embarrassment, and even the King and his entourage realized that pressing the matter further would be problematic.
We were currently in a private room near the inner courtyard, ostensibly taking a break while the matter was discussed following the earlier incident.
"So, now that all three of you are here—what exactly were you following me around town for?"
I finally decided to ask the assembled trio of stalkers the truth behind their pursuit through the streets.
Also present were Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, both wearing grim expressions as they watched the three.
"First, let us clear up the misunderstanding. Cain and I had no intention of stalking you—we were merely accompanying Lion."
"We do apologize for the fact that it ended up looking like stalking, but our real goal was to mediate between the two of you when Lion approached you. Since both our families already know you, we figured you'd at least hear us out even if we bumped into you suddenly, so we ended up being dragged around by Lion."
"Well, all of this stems from Lion being too spineless to act on his own, which is why we ended up dragged into this perverted behavior of tailing someone for days…"
The two of them shot Lion sideways glares while professing their innocence.
Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, along with Primera, seemed relieved to learn that their son and brother did not harbor perverted intentions.
"I understand the situation with the two of you, but what exactly was Lion's business with me?"
"Um, well, you see, the thing is…"
When I spoke up, Lion started squirming and mumbling, clearly struggling to get the words out.
"Gross."
"That's gross, yeah."
Albert and Cain immediately jumped on him for that behavior.
Even getting called gross by the two of them didn't prompt Lion to start talking, and I was running out of patience with this whole thing.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be heading back. Excuse us."
I gave a light bow to Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, then started walking toward the door.
The old man, who had been as silent as the air up until now, also offered a brief greeting to the two and came to stand beside me. Amour followed right behind me, and Primera, though looking a bit flustered, was urged forward by Duke Sanga and trailed along behind me.
And just as my hand reached for the door, Lion finally spoke up.
"Wait! I have a favor to ask!"
At those words, I stopped and turned back toward Lion.
Because I had suddenly stopped in response to Lion's words, Amour, who had been walking right behind me, bumped into my back, and in the ensuing chaos she latched onto me and wouldn't let go. But since it looked like things were about to get serious, I forcibly peeled her off and handed her to Primera.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. So, what's the favor?"
When I stood face to face with him and met his eyes, Lion finally seemed to steel himself, and in a voice loud enough to be heard from outside...
"Tenma, come to me!"
That's what he said... with a completely serious expression on his face...
I slowly backed away, putting distance between myself and Lion.
Amour stepped in between me and Lion, shielding me and growling threateningly.
When I looked around, Duke Sanga and the others had likewise been putting distance between themselves and Lion.
"Lion... I guess this is where our friendship ends, then..."
Among them, Albert was moving toward me and Primera with a serious expression on his face.
Cain had also kept his distance with a dry expression, standing near Marquis Samons.
"Huh? Why?"
Lion didn't seem to have any idea what was going on. His confusion made me feel slightly relieved, but I still kept my distance.
"Lion, think real carefully about what those words just meant. No matter how you look at it, it sounded like you were confessing to Tenma."
Whether he'd figured out what Lion meant, Cain started teasing him.
By this point, Albert seemed to have calmed down a bit as well, apparently letting his guard down.
"Huh?! Haaaaa! I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted Tenma to come visit my place!"
Lion was shouting in shock, trying to explain what his words really meant. He should've just said that from the start...
"I understand what you meant, but why the sudden invitation to come visit?"
I confronted Lion with the question that had been bugging me as he started making a fuss with Cain. It would make sense if it were Albert or Cain, who had a close relationship with my father, but I couldn't figure out why Lion wanted me to come visit.
Ever since he'd been stalking me, I'd always felt that Lion wasn't trying to rope me into anything — if anything, he looked rather guilty about the whole thing.
"Tenma, you're originally from Kukuri Village, right? That Kukuri Village was located in the Houst Viscount's domain—"
"in the borderlands."
"And Lion is the Houst Viscount's heir."
"As for the reason, I'd say he wants to put a stop to the economic downturn in the Houst Viscount's domain."
Albert and Duke Sanga answered my question.
"The economic downturn — you mean the one where adventurers started avoiding the area because of what happened at Kukuri Village?"
When I brought up the story I'd once heard as a rumor, the two nodded in confirmation.
"Things have settled down quite a bit since then, but there's a possibility it could start declining again."
The possibility of decline that Albert had mentioned was apparently because of my performance at the tournament.
Until now, the economy had worsened because adventurers who had simply been on good terms with Kukuri Village had drifted away, but things had somehow stabilized. However, apparently in that "lowered state."
"If things had stayed the same as before, Lion wouldn't have been in such a rush. But Tenma formed a dragon as his Familiar, pulled off the first-ever dual-division victory in the tournament, and single-handedly defeated an Earth Dragon — his name shot up like a tidal wave. And when that happens, people start spreading rumors like 'that's the place that drove out Tenma' or 'that's where they tried to kill Tenma'... or rather, they've already started. Mostly from nobles on bad terms with Baron Haust, and nobles trying to curry favor with Tenma."
Apparently, Lion needed to make those people think that he and I were on good terms, as a form of deterrence.
However, even if Lion approached me alone to make that request, I would probably turn him down. That was why Albert and Cain were there — to increase the chances, even slightly.
The plan was for the two of them to come along and create an opening by asking me to at least hear him out, but apparently Lion's cluelessness exceeded all expectations and it amounted to nothing.
"Going out to have fun is one thing, but... if Baron Haust's family is trying to pull me into their fold, then I really can't do that."
"That, Cain and I will guarantee. If that's really what Lion intends, then we'll sever ties with Baron Haust's family entirely."
In reality, they probably couldn't cut ties completely, but if they were going to make that guarantee, they apparently had that level of resolve.
Looking around, Duke Sanga, Marquis Samons, and Primera were all watching with pleading eyes... but Lion himself was busy desperately trying to grab hold of Cain, and seemed to have completely forgotten about me.
"...Sorry. Just wait a moment."
Albert, holding his head with one hand, approached Lion and Cain and kicked them both as hard as he could. Then he sat them down and started lecturing them.
After laying into them for a while, he dragged Lion over to me and pushed his head down.
"Why do I have to do your asking for you?!"
With that, Albert left Lion there and walked away.
Left behind, Lion hesitated for a moment before steeling himself and speaking up.
"Right now, Baron Haust's territory is in crisis. Granted, we brought it on ourselves, but I can't just leave it as is. Tenma, you might be angry that I'm only coming to you when it's convenient, but please — lend me your strength for the sake of my territory. I'm begging you."
Lion bowed his head and pleaded with me. Gone was the cowardly demeanor he'd had just moments before.
"Sure."
I agreed without much hesitation. Lion was so surprised by how readily I accepted that his mouth hung half open.
"However, there are conditions. First, you absolutely must never consider making me your retainer. Second, you must lend your strength if anything happens to the people from Kukuri Village. And lastly, when something comes up, you do what you can to help me out. If you can promise me that, then whenever the occasion arises, I'll make it known that there is no ill will between myself and Margrave Haust."
"I will! I'll contact my father right away and get his word on it! If he refuses, I'll drag him here if I have to!"
The moment he heard my words, Lion nodded his head so vigorously practically vibrated with excitement. He was so worked up that some of his words were hard to make out, but since his statements here were essentially made on behalf of the Margrave, I asked Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons to serve as witnesses.
The two agreed happily enough, and on top of that, they had an oath document prepared for us, complete with signatures bearing our respective family crests.
This way, even if the Margrave opposed the arrangement, he wouldn't go so far as to rescind this promise and pick a fight with the two of them. Thinking the matter was settled, Lion was thanking the two of them — but I saw it. I couldn't unsee it. The moment Lion looked away from them, the two of them exchanged dark, knowing grins.
They probably believed that the Margrave Haust household's chances of recruiting me as a retainer had just been reduced to virtually zero.
Even if the two of them understood that there was no chance of me becoming a retainer right now, the future was uncertain. They'd want to preserve whatever slim possibility remained for when the time came.
And so, with one fewer rival in the picture — and with the evidence of this promise firmly in their hands — they'd secured the best possible outcome.
Well, if this wrapped up the matter, there was no need to point any of that out.
"Alright! Let's get going, Tenma!"
"Huh?"
Lion placed a hand on my shoulder and tried to drag me toward the banquet hall just like that.
I'd barely registered how chummy he'd suddenly gotten when Albert grabbed a fistful of Lion's hair from behind and yanked.
"Guh! What the hell are you doing, Albert?!"
"You really are nothing but a brute... Did you already forget that His Majesty chewed you out not long ago?"
"Sad as it is, that's what makes Lion..."
"...Lion..."
"...truly..."
"...Lion..."
"...you know?"
Cain pretended to look sympathetic while making fun of Lion.
Lion, faced with the earlier incident, seemed to have no grounds for rebuttal and let go of me with a growl.
"Tenma, Lion just got a little carried away because he wanted everyone to know right away that you two are on friendly terms. As far as I know, he has no interest in men, so you should be fine... probably."
"I ain't interested in that crap! I'm into women!"
Lion was refuting Albert's words, but the way he went about it was rather questionable. Well, he wasn't wrong, but he probably should have been more careful with his phrasing.
"Well, with that settled, shall we all head to the venue together?"
Cain said this while nudging my back and trying to claim the spot beside me, but Amour blocked him. On the other side, Primera had been pushed into place by Duke Sanga, and Cain clicked his tongue in frustration.
Wait, there's no way the punchline is going to be that Cain himself is the one with an interest in that sort of thing, right...?
I heard later that Cain's behavior was simply because the only person who had clashed with me at the Marquis Samons estate was Geiri—
—just him—
—and all Cain had wanted was to show that he himself was on friendly terms with me.
When I heard that, I was genuinely relieved.
After we left the room, we headed off together toward the party venue.
The nobles who had been watching me were surprised less by my easy conversation with Duke Sanga and Marquis Samons, and more by the fact that Lion—the next Baron Haust—was chatting with me so warmly.
They must have thought it was a thoroughly unlikely pairing.
However, Lion was absolutely delighted by their reactions. This was exactly the scenario he had been hoping for—the more the other nobles gossiped about it, the more it would signal that the Haust Baronetcy's fortunes were on the upturn.
The stares from everyone around us were a bit annoying, but we decided to ignore them and enjoyed our various conversations.
Fortunately, everyone present held positions that ranked among the highest even within this venue, so no other nobles tried to barge into our conversation—the only ones approaching were members of the Royalist Faction coming to greet Duke Sanga or Marquis Samons.
And even that stopped after Duke Sanga and the others said something to them.
As we each enjoyed our conversations and our food, a commotion suddenly erupted from outside the royal castle.
Just as those in the venue began to clamor, wondering what was going on, some fool suddenly leapt over the wall and crashed into the hall.
The intruder was sleek and streamlined, its body glistening under the venue's lights... and I recognized it.
"Te-tenkeeeen! Boooooss!"
"What the... Na—no, Namiatarou!"
Spotting me, Namiatarou pulled a graceful drift and skidded to a halt right in front of me. It had a paper lantern hanging from one of its fins, and for a moment I couldn't help but think this really wasn't that big a deal after all.
"It's bad, boss! Tenma — Jeanne and Aura have been snatched!"
But contrary to my expectations, something truly dire had unfolded.