"Tenma, why must I ride with this fellow?"
Grandpa grumbled for what must have been the dozenth time since we set out.
"If you don't like it, you can just get off! Fortunately, you can fly, you know."
From there, the usual pattern would follow.
I formed a small chunk of ice in my palm and tossed it at both their backs.
"Ow, that's cold!"
"Both of you, knock it off, okay?"
At my words, they groaned but fell silent.
Tida watched the two of them with a complicated expression. It seemed the boy had held some sort of fantasy about these two. Now that it was crumbling, he was visibly confused.
While I kept an eye on Tida, Luna stuffed her cheeks with snacks and asked for a refill of tea.
Jeanne and Aura were also reeling from the reality behind the rumored Grand Duke and Sage—and from the revelation that my grandfather was the Sage himself.
As a result, with Aura too bewildered to manage, the task of making Luna's tea fell to me.
"Hah... By the way, Tenma. I've been wondering about something for a while now... are those two your slaves?"
Grandpa had apparently heard that I'd acquired slaves in Seigen, and he was watching Jeanne and Aura as he spoke.
At the same time, the Grand Duke looked at Jeanne and said,
"Could that white-haired girl be the daughter of Viscount Almeria?"
At that name, Jeanne and Aura's faces went stiff.
The Grand Duke seemed to take their reaction as confirmation. He turned back toward me and said,
"Tenma, would you part with these two?"
At his sudden proposal, I—
"Your Grace, the exit is that way."
Without even asking why, I pointed at the carriage door, ready to throw him out.
"Come on, get out of here already! Or I'll throw you out by force!"
Grandpa joined in, urging the Grand Duke to leave.
"W-wait, Tenma! Hear me out!"
Before I could respond to the Grand Duke's words, Grandpa was faster:
"You're probably after young concubines... or something along those lines, right? You dirty old man!"
At Grandpa's words, Jeanne and Aura shrank behind me, covering their bodies.
"Great-Uncle..."
"...Pervert."
Tida gazed at him with a hurt look, while Luna fixed him with a contemptuous stare. Surprisingly, Luna apparently knew what "concubine" meant.
Under the weight of those gazes, the flustered Grand Duke protested:
"Wait, wait, wait—it's a misunderstanding! I've been faithful only to my late wife!"
"Then what exactly do you mean?"
Between the hostility in my voice and the stares from everyone around, the Grand Duke shifted uncomfortably before mumbling a certain name.
"It's about Baronet Crolide."
Now that he mentioned it, there had been someone by that name...
Honestly, he'd seemed so insignificant that I'd half-forgotten about him. Jeanne and the others clearly didn't want to be reminded either—both of them were frowning.
"So, what about this Baronet Crolide?"
"The current kingdom has roughly three major factions. The Royalist Faction, centered around the royal family and hereditary nobles. The Reformist Faction, led by the Minister of Internal Affairs and several dukes. And the Neutral Faction, which includes the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and doesn't belong to either side."
Here, the Grand Duke gave us a brief overview of the factions.
The Royalist Faction was composed of those who believed the kingdom should be governed primarily by the royal family, with other nobles serving in support—and most of them were ancient, long-established houses.
The Reformist Faction was largely made up of newer nobles who believed the royal family should exist as a national symbol, while actual governance and decision-making should be carried out by elected representatives.
The Neutral Faction consisted mostly of those who didn't align with either side—undecided, so to speak. But among them were people with firm convictions, like the Prime Minister, who believed public officials should set aside personal interests, or the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who felt the kingdom ought to fight rather than submit.
Currently, in terms of power, the breakdown was Royalist: five, Reformist: three, Neutral: one, and Others: one. The Royalist Faction held the advantage, but the situation was far from settled.
Incidentally, the Royal Advisor was the Crown Prince, while the Minister of Finance and the Minister of War were His Majesty's second and third sons, respectively—so they were naturally part of the Royalist Faction.
The Baronet Crolide in question belonged to the Reformist Faction and was apparently a protégé of one of the dukes at the faction's core.
"And how does that concern me?"
"If there's anyone who might help bolster the Reformist Faction's strength even slightly, we'd want to secure them if possible. Especially if they have value."
As he explained further, it turned out that Viscount Almeria—Jeanne's father—had been a central figure among the lower nobility (baronets and below) within the Neutral Faction. If his daughter had gone over to the Reformist Faction, it was possible that some Neutral Faction nobles would follow suit.
Conversely, if the Royalist Faction could secure Jeanne, a number of nobles might switch to their side. That was why the Grand Duke wanted me to hand her over.
"So, what's your answer?"
"That's up to Jeanne and the others, but... they've said no, so I'll have to decline."
Mid-conversation, I glanced at Jeanne and Aura, who were both shaking their heads. So I refused.
"Hmm... Then, Tenma, if you joined the Royalist Faction—"
"I'm an adventurer, so I'd rather avoid trouble. Besides, I'm not even a noble—"
Before I could finish, the Grand Duke grinned.
"There's no need to worry about that. You've already accomplished more than enough to be nominated as a noble!"
"What—"
Ignoring my surprise, the Grand Duke began listing the reasons I could be elevated to the nobility.
"First, saving His Majesty five years ago—this alone would qualify you for an honorary title. Second, single-handedly taking down a Dragon Zombie—a crisis that could have threatened the entire kingdom, making you worthy of a regular title. Third, saving Crown Grand Prince Tida—this too qualifies you for an honorary title. And more than that—annoyingly enough—if, by some coincidence, a title were granted to the grandson of the famous Sage Merlin, it would, strangely enough, boost the kingdom's favorability with the public... which is truly baffling."
Seeing everyone (except Grandpa and Luna) looking stunned, the Grand Duke continued.
"Let's see... Considering all of this, you'd likely be made a Viscount. After that, with a suitable achievement, you'd advance to Count. Once you reach that level, eventually a marriage proposal from a ducal house would come your way."
"No way—Count is way too much. And a marriage proposal from a ducal house? That's impossible—"
Before I could finish dismissing the idea, the Grand Duke murmured under his breath:
"Primera of the Duke Sanga household."
Merlin reacted immediately:
"Now that you mention it, Tenma did have a female acquaintance in Gunjou City... the vice guildmaster among the three cat sisters, the woman he rescued from bandits, and Primera..."
Grandpa casually counted them off on his fingers, and from behind me, a strange pressure began to emanate.
"H-hey, what in the..."
By the time everyone noticed the pressure, Jeanne and Aura were already standing behind Grandpa.
"Lord Merlin, forgive the late introduction. I'm Aura, a maid and slave of Lord Tenma. Jeanne there has likewise had her life saved by Lord Tenma."
"My apologies for the late greeting, Lord Merlin. I'm Jeanne. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Jeanne and Aura began introducing themselves to Grandpa. I was wondering why now of all times, when Aura continued:
"As a matter of fact, Jeanne here is a prospective bride for Lord Tenma..."
She dropped a bombshell.
"This has Lord Tenma's own approval, so in a sense, she's his betrothed."
Before I could object to Aura's fabrication:
"Well, isn't that wonderful news! I can't wait for great-grandchildren!"
Grandpa started celebrating. When I tried to deny it, the Grand Duke chimed in:
"If that's the case, all the better. Having the late Viscount Almeria's daughter with Tenma would actually make things easier from the Royalist Faction's perspective."
He was laughing. And to make matters worse, even Tida and Luna piled on:
"Congratulations, Tenma! So that's why you were sitting with us earlier!"
"Big brother, congratulations to big sis~"
One by one, they blocked off every avenue of escape.
At this point, it would be awkward to say I'd never considered Jeanne as a potential bride. I shot a glare at Aura from the corner of my eye, and she noticed, smiling faintly.
As I nursed a headache over Aura's scheming nature, the Grand Duke suddenly seemed to remember something and said to her:
"Come to think of it, your older sister works at the royal castle."
Aura's face went pale.
"My... sister...?"
she whispered in a trembling voice. Her behavior was so strange that I asked Jeanne quietly about Aura's sister, but Jeanne just tilted her head.
"I don't really remember Aura's older sister. Aura was the daughter of a maid who worked at my house when she was little, and through that connection we played together, and before I knew it she'd become my maid... but her sister just disappeared at some point."
Even as we talked, Aura's trembling didn't stop. Her face had turned even paler, and she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Watching her like that, Aura suddenly turned to face me.
"Lo-Lord Tenma... could I go back to Seigen on my own? Actually, I'm leaving right now!"
Aura sprang into motion, dashing to the door and flinging it open to rush outside—just before she could leap out, I yanked her back in by force.
"Ngh—"
I'd grabbed her by the back of her collar, so Aura let out that strangled sound and went limp, her body sagging against me as she lost consciousness.
"That was dangerous... Jeanne, get a bed ready, I'm going to carry her... hup."
I directed Jeanne to lay out bedding, then scooped Aura up in my arms and carried her over.
It was technically a princess carry, but with her face turned blue and her body limp, Aura looked less like a princess and more like a belligerently drunk passerby.
"There we go."
After laying Aura on the bed and leaving the rest to Jeanne, I returned to my seat and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"So, what kind of person is Aura's older sister?"
At my question, the Grand Duke thought for a moment before answering:
"Aina is an excellent maid... in various ways."
Her older sister's name was apparently Aina. More concerning was the vague "various ways" the Grand Duke had muttered at the end.
When I asked Tida and Luna as well:
"Oh, Aina is Aura's sister? To put it simply, she's an incredible maid."
"Aina is pretty! All the men who come to the castle like her. And she's strong!"
Luna's last comment was probably the key to understanding why Aura had reacted the way she did.
Well, I'd be meeting her soon enough. I'd look forward to that.
For the rest of the journey to the Royal Capital, we talked about what had happened after I left Kukuri Village, Luna ate until she was stuffed and then fell asleep on a bed, I asked about the tournament, and Tida pressed me for dragon stories.
When I showed Solomon to Grandpa and the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke was so startled he let out a loud shout. This attracted Din and the others who'd been near the carriage, and seeing Solomon, they made even more of a racket. Luna, startled awake by all the noise, ended up scolding everyone.
Grandpa had apparently already heard about Solomon, so he wasn't particularly surprised—but he started bragging to the Grand Duke about my accomplishments, which devolved into a shouting match, earning Luna's ire once again.
After that, Luna calmed down once she was holding Solomon, but Aura didn't wake even through all the commotion. Occasionally she'd murmur things in her sleep like "S-sister... s-stop..." and "P-please, just forgive me, sister..."
We arrived at the Royal Capital just as darkness was beginning to fall.
The Royal Capital was surrounded by outer walls roughly ten meters high, stretching approximately one hundred kilometers east to west and eighty kilometers north to south, with a population of around six hundred thousand—of which seventy percent were humans and thirty percent were demi-humans (beastkin, elves, dwarves, and the like), more diverse than one might expect.
Inside the city, there were additional walls built at roughly five, ten, twenty, and thirty kilometers from the royal castle at the center.
These had originally served a military purpose, but were also remnants of the city's expansion as the capital grew. The walls grew older the further inward you went.
Now they served as a rough guide for residential zoning: within five kilometers of the castle, the estates of high-ranking nobles lined the streets; between five and ten kilometers lived well-off lesser nobles and the wealthy; between ten and twenty kilometers were ordinary nobles, the comfortably off, and high-class inns; and from twenty kilometers to the outer wall was where commoners lived.
This was only a rough guideline, of course. If you had the money and a vacant plot, even a commoner could build a house next to a noble's estate. But the innermost zone was exclusively for nobility, and taxes grew steeper the further in you went, which was how this social sorting held together.
Incidentally, some workshops were also built in the inner areas, but any workshop that produced significant noise faced extremely strict screening, and the soundproofing equipment required substantial investment. As a result, goods produced by inner-area workshops tended to be expensive.
People, shops, and products alike—the further in you went, the more "premium" everything became.
The walls had large gates at the cardinal points—north, south, east, and west. Built for military deployment, they consisted of three layers: a drawbridge, an iron sliding gate, and a hinged gate. They were about thirty meters wide and well-guarded, but were rarely used nowadays, reserved mainly for military exercises and state occasions. The primary reason was that opening and closing them required enormous effort and considerable expense.
In addition, entry points were constructed at intervals of twenty to thirty kilometers, these being five to fifteen meters wide and consisting of two layers: a drawbridge and a hinged gate. Usually two or three guards were posted, though depending on circumstances, the gate might be completely sealed, forcing travelers to move to another open one.
Upon entry, a quick identity check was performed, and those without a citizen's register were charged a tax of one thousand gold. However, if you took the wooden token you received to the government office, you could obtain a temporary citizen's register and get five hundred gold back.
If a citizen's register was lost, a replacement request had to be filed immediately. Reissuing cost five hundred gold, but if the register was found to have been bought or sold, the penalty was a fine or demotion to slavery—and in the worst case, execution.
That said, execution was only carried out when there were aggravating circumstances, such as deliberately selling a register to criminals leading to violent crime. As far as anyone knew, no executions had been carried out—publicly, at least—in the last fifty years.
Our party was granted immediate passage through the gate by the guards who recognized the Grand Duke's crest.
Well, with the Grand Duke, a prince, a princess, and a Sage all riding together, identity verification by mere guards was out of the question—or rather, they wouldn't have dared.
"Din, take us straight to the royal castle."
The royal castle was located near the center of the capital, about forty kilometers from the gate—less than two hours by carriage.
The Grand Duke gave the order to Din Dee, who was leading the way, but Grandpa looked annoyed:
"In that case, you, Tida, and Luna should transfer here. I can't be bothered, so I'll head home with Tenma and the others!"
"Don't be ridiculous! Now that we've returned to the capital, we can't very well skip greeting His Majesty!"
They started arguing again. Grandpa had a point—going to the royal castle at this hour to greet the King was certainly a hassle. But I recalled my experience with the King back in Kukuri Village and said:
"Grandpa, I know it's a pain, but if we don't go now, there's a near certainty the King will barge in during the middle of the night. It really is a hassle, but we've got no choice—let's at least show our faces."
At my complaint, Grandpa groaned in resignation, though his reluctance was palpable.
To clarify, by "hassle," I didn't mean going to the royal castle at this hour was a hassle—I meant dealing with the King at this hour was a hassle.
When I explained this to the surprised Grand Duke and Tida, they seemed to understand, sharing a wry smile.
"Y-you can't say things like that, Tenma! You'll be arrested for lèse-majesté!"
Jeanne had taken my words seriously and was turning pale, but the Grand Duke just laughed.
"There's no need to worry about that. His Majesty wouldn't get angry over something like that. To him, Tenma is the son of a dear old friend, and he thinks of Tenma almost as a nephew."
Jeanne seemed relieved at that.
"Although, if they actually tried to arrest Tenma, they'd have to be prepared for the entire castle to be destroyed... not really worth it."
He chuckled. I didn't think I'd destroy the whole castle just because I was arrested... but depending on the circumstances, I might take out a portion, so he wasn't entirely wrong.
As I was thinking this, Grandpa looked at my face and said, quite seriously:
"Tenma... don't you dare do it... and if you absolutely must, limit it to that fellow's room."
Then, as usual, the two of them started bickering again.
By the time their argument subsided, the carriage had arrived at the castle gate. Even Grandpa had finally given up.
Incidentally, Uncle Mark had gotten off just before the twenty-kilometer wall. He'd told me to stop by and see him when I had time.
"His Grace the Grand Duke, Prince Tida, and Princess Luna have returned! Open the gates immediately!"
At Din Dee's command, the massive gates began to swing open.
The gatekeepers had tried to stop our carriage, but Din informed them that the Grand Duke and his party were inside, along with the Sage and his associates. After confirming the Grand Duke's presence inside, they saluted.
We disembarked about five hundred meters past the gate, in front of the main entrance.
I stored the carriage and Tanikaze in the Magic Bag, while Slarin and the others were put on standby in the Dimension Bag.
Aura still hadn't woken up.
With no other option, I hoisted Aura onto my back and stepped through the entrance, where over a dozen butlers and maids were lined up, bowing in greeting. Leading the butlers was Kurif.
"Kurif, where is His Majesty now?"
The Grand Duke asked Kurif about the King's location and dismissed the rest of the staff.
"His Majesty was in his private quarters, but a message was just sent, so he should be heading to the audience chamber."
After saying that, Kurif met my eyes.
"It's been a while, Kurif."
"Lord Tenma, it's been a while. I'm glad to see you safe and well... I know you've only just arrived, but His Majesty appears to be scheming something, so brace yourself."
What was meant to be a brief greeting turned into an ominous warning from Kurif. Apparently, the King hadn't changed one bit.
Just as Kurif was about to lead us to the audience chamber, I noticed a maid standing nearby.
She looked less like a maid and more like a model wearing a maid outfit—her golden hair, cut to shoulder length, was meticulously groomed and gleaming. She had a well-proportioned figure, stood a little taller than me at around one hundred and seventy centimeters, and her somewhat sharp features only enhanced her cool beauty.
The maid quietly approached and stopped in front of me.
"Pardon me."
With those words, she gave a crisp bow—then flicked the forehead of the unconscious Aura on my back.
The unexpected blow landed with a sharp crack, snapping Aura's head backward.
"Ow ow ow! Wh-what's happening?! An enemy?! Are we under attack?!"
Aura stirred violently on my back, looking around in a panic—pressing her body against mine as she moved, sending two soft sensations dancing across my back.
Distracted by those sensations, I met the maid's eyes.
She wore a knowing smile, clearly having noticed where my attention had drifted.
"What?! What is it already?! ...Huh? ...Where am I?"
As Aura's thrashing gradually slowed down:
"It's been a while, Aura."
When the maid spoke, Aura froze the instant she heard that voice.
Then, like a rusted toy slowly turning, she faced the maid, confirmed her identity—
"S-sister Aina..."
she called the maid's name in a frightened voice.