Vol 2: Chapter 25
* Eva Sillys *
Reiji was introduced to Eva out of the blue. She would never have accepted Reiji as her escort if it weren’t for the fact that he saved her father’s life. Her father is the only family she has. She knew her dad would have scary eyes from time to time, but it was never aimed at her. And because Reiji saved her precious father, he was a very important person for Eva from the very beginning.
She has tested Reiji in various ways by acting like a selfish young lady. But Reiji has always responded to all of it. She was also inspired by Reiji that people have the right to live equally. Naturally, Eva didn’t know that Reiji’s thoughts came from his previous life in Japan, which were completely out of the norm and exciting in this world.
—What if Reiji leaves?
That thought had a big impact on Eva when he left her side the day after the banquet. That was enough to change her way of thinking.
「Where are you going today, my lady?」
Reiji would ask at the beginning of every day.
A busy noble like her father, would have his schedule planned for a few months ahead, but Eva was not at that level yet.
She had a plan today, however.
「Today, I am going to attend a tea party with everyone from the banquet!」
On the day when she confronted her father about the “human resource centers”, he recognized her as an “adult”. Apparently, he set up the whole “human resource centers” thinking that Eva would eventually reach the truth.
Because her father said this at the end:
—If you can’t walk without your parents holding your hand, you can’t survive in the nobles society. Even more so since this “sideshow” is the most favored by evil nobles.
When he mentioned “sideshow”, it felt as if he was taking a jab at the Holy King, but Eva decided not to bring it up.
And so, her father allowed her to go out freely and make friends.
「Understood.」Reiji said, as he maintained the same emotional distance as before. Nothing in particular was different.
Eva, on her own initiative, decided to get involved with the members of the dinner table — Louis, Ethane, Charlotte, and Mira. Kluvshrat was not given permission to go out by the Holy King on the grounds of, “It is too dangerous”. Other nobles also came to learn that the Holy King loved Kluvshrat that much
The other members cannot leave the Holy City until the skill orbs awarding ceremony is over. Beyond the tea party, Eva even started exchanging letters with Mira.
(I have to first grasp my own position and understand the current political landscape of the nobles society.)
Eva-Sillys, 12 years old, was steadily moving towards the realization of her great dream.
* Escort: Lelenore *
House Duke Ebene is one of the six Great Dukes houses, and their mansion was located closest to the gate leading to the 1st Holy District from the 2nd Holy District. When the Holy King fell ill 200 years ago, they managed to develop a medicine for the illness, and also succeeded in containing a widespread epidemic. Due to those achievements, even though they have lost the Holy Blue, they were allowed to continue with the title of Duke.
However, their territory is far from the Holy City. The head of the House, Ebene, who only stays in the Holy City for about a quarter of the year, had his stay extended due to the recent assaination attempt on the Holy Prince. The mansion was in a commotion, having to reschedule his official duties.
「Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten some off days.」
Lelenore was in Block 5. The stores and houses were well-organized and there was plenty of room for the people on the road. Public security begins to deteriorate from Block 6 onwards, where walking through the back alleys would be dangerous. Block 7 has no stone paving other than the main street. Beyond that is the outside of the Holy City.
Although she usually dresses formally as Ethan’s escort, Lelenore thinks that it’s a bit too stiff. Born and raised in the countryside, Lelenore feels uncomfortable without the loose clothing she is wearing now and the beaded misanga bracelets on each hand.
When she dressed like this, an employee in the mansion said, “That looks unseemly in the 2nd Holy District, so get on a carriage until you reach Block 4”, and she rode on a carriage to Block 4, feeling pained due to that.
(Even though Halflings always look like this, everyone is trying to put on airs just because we’re in the capital.)
Lelenore walked around aimlessly, buying and eating pasta found at nearby food stalls. It was not flour pasta, but triangular pasta that looked like a half of a square lasagna dough. The pasta was added with tomato soup with plenty of spices in a wooden bowl. Eating a spoonful, the sourness pops in her mouth, and chewing the pasta has a jellylike texture.
「It’s super delicious, pops!」
「Thank you for the kind words, young lady!」
She wouldn’t be able to try these foods while on escort duty.
After that, she went through several other food stalls, and when her stomach was full, she finally reached her destination.
「It’s been a while…」
The three-story building was made of stone, and a large door with unique patterns was wide open — this pattern is the same at Adventurer guilds everywhere.
However, the interiors are usually different. In the Kruvan Holy Kingdom, pillars made of stone supported the structure in the center, because wood is more costly than in other countries, giving off an imposing air.
The Adventurer’s guild is located in Block 5 and Block 7. The guild in Block 5 is frequented by high level adventurers because they may receive requests from nobles. There is also a branch of the Adventurer’s guild in the 3rd Holy District, but it generally doesn’t receive adventurers, and only the guild staff are stationed there to interact with the noble houses.
(Hmm, the number of people with good equipment has increased in the short while I didn’t visit this place…)
She saw a man donning shiny red armor – probably made from monster materials, a female swordsman carrying two swords on her back, and a mage carrying a rod that seemed to hold considerable mana.
All three were not from the human race. It was a dwarf, a fox beastman, and a dark elf with silver hair and bluish black skin — although Reiji doesn’t know this, 2nd Secretary Specular is also a dark elf.
Adventurers are valued by their abilities, so race barriers do not prevent them from flourishing. On the other hand, humans with fairly high magical aptitude are numerous among the guild staff. Since the Kruvan Holy Kingdom has no racial prejudice, many races coexisted without any discomfort because the Holy King himself was a human with the special characteristic of “Holy Blue”.
「Lelenore!」
The voice which called out to Lelenore, as she was vaguely assessing the adventurers,
「Oh, Mimino! It’s been a long time!」
Belonged to a female herbalist, who was a halfling the same as her.
