While wearing clothes that screamed ‘we are victorious!’ from head to toe, we entered the capital gate and were greeted by loud cheers. As we had achieved victory against the demons again, this sort of reaction was normal.
Like what had been planned before, the knights of the First and Second Division stood at the very front of the parade, followed by Mazell and the hero party as the people who actually killed the demon general. I was behind the hero party. If this was a victory parade for a sports team, my position would be the benchwarmer.
I wasn’t dissatisfied, though, since I knew this would happen from the beginning. Plus, even though I stood behind the hero party, I still garnered quite a bit of attention.
Still, seeing how Mazell calmly waved his hand to the crowd, I kind of felt that we belonged to a different world. Maybe this was Mazell’s feeling when he saw me working as a noble. Was this what they call ‘the neighbor’s lawn is always greener?’
I saw a group of familiar faces in the crowd. There was Lily, the lady knight that escorted Lily before, and several knights of the Zeavert family among the crowd. When I saw the lady knight’s star-struck face as she looked at Mazell, I laughed inside. When I lightly smiled at them, Lily looked really happy. Ah, my heart feels itchy.
Still, just a while before in Finnoi, I was just a reinforcement for the main army, but now I became one of the key members of the main army. My stomach started to hurt again.
***
In the palace, we were listening to His Majesty’s announcement of rewards. As expected, Mazell and his party got the heaviest reward. Well, the reward for the knights was mostly something related to honor. I guess since we would be fighting against the demons, the kingdom needed to save as much money as possible.
As for me, I was treated as someone who had done a good job as the governor. When I was praised, I answered ‘It’s all thanks to the hero party and the knights for defeating the demon general’ according to the script.
The reward I mainly received was money, and I also got the so-called ‘famous horse’, but honestly, that wasn’t that useful for me.
Even after using the reward money for debt repayment, there would still be a considerable amount left, so that was good. Though, I would divide the most of the remaining money among the people that worked for me. It was my duty as a governor to help in Anheim reconstruction.
The victory banquet would be held at a later date, so we would leave the palace first… or so was my original plan. There might be some change to that plan because elder Uwe made some kind of request to His Majesty out of nowhere. That old man really didn’t know how to read the atmosphere.
“To think he will say, ‘Your Majesty, there is something that I wanted to talk to you about’ out of nowhere.” (Welner)
“Yeah, I’m also surprised with that.” (Mazell)
While walking in the corridor, me and Mazell talked with a wry smile on our faces. Laura and elder Uwe were discussing something else with His Highness and His Majesty, while Feli, Luguentz, and the rest of the hero party returned to the capital, leaving only us now. For some reason, it was decided that they would regroup in the Zeavert mansion… Really, why my house? In any case, since that was already decided, I would send a message to the mansion later.
By the way, we were currently on our way to meet a certain person. It was still early, so I guess rather than ‘meeting over lunch’, it was more of a ‘meeting over a tea’.
After walking for a while, we finally arrived at our destination.
“I’m Welner von Zeavert and this is Mazell Hearthing.” (Welner)
“Please come in.” (Guard)
We were invited into the room by the knight who was guarding the room. Acting high and mighty in front of the guard made my stomach hurt, but I was a Viscount, so I had no other choice. After this, I would be meeting a person who would make my stomach hurt even more.
“Sir Welner, Mazell-kun. Sorry for calling you here.” (Seyfart)
“It is me who ought to apologize for making you two wait.” (Welner)
“It’s been a while, sir.” (Mazell)
“Please, you can act comfortably.” (Falkenstein)
Even though I now wanted to do nothing but go home and sleep, I had no choice but to accept Grand Duke Seyfart’s invitation. Even Prime Minister Falkenstein was here. The number of knights who were escorting them here were minimal, so I see this was really a more private meeting, rather than an official one.
By the way, Mazell met the Grand Duke once before he went to Anheim, so it had been roughly half a month since they both last saw each other. Well, it had been roughly half a year since I last saw the Grand Duke too.
“First of all, I would like to thank both of you for your hard work.” (Seyfart)
“Not at all. I merely moved according to the plan.” (Welner)
“I only helped a little bit in the end.” (Mazell)
After being invited to sit down, being offered tea, and having the knights leave the room, we finally started the conversation.
The first subject of our conversation was Mazell’s story about the first Heavenly King and the third Demon General. I didn’t expect Mazell to have already defeated two of them. Things were progressing faster compared to the game.
“You defeated all three demon generals?” (Welner)
“Yeah. The demon general we fought in Anheim was the fourth one.”
Mazell said as if it was nothing, but that was a really amazing thing. It seemed like Mazell had defeated the third demon general when I was constructing the four forts.
After returning to the capital, Mazell heard that I would be fighting a demon general in Anheim, so he came to Anheim under His Highness’s order after the first fort was attacked.
I think His Highness judged that if Mazell went to Anheim earlier, he could defeat Gezarius easily. Thus, leaving the Kingdom Knights no time to shine. Although His Highness’ decision may seem right, but if I had failed to lure Gezarius… No, let’s stop thinking about that worst scenario.
“I can’t lose to you, Welner.” (Mazell)
“This isn’t a competition, you know.” (Welner)
Now that Mazell had defeated the first Heavenly King and all four Demon Generals, next would be the second Heavenly King, then the third Heavenly King who would be attacking the capital. We really had little time left.
“But Viscount, although everything went according to the plan, are you really fine with only that much reward?” (Seyfart)
“Yes, I am fine with it.” (Welner)
Well, the war ended up being the kingdom’s achievement, not mine, which went according to the plan. As I answered without missing a heartbeat, the Grand Duke and the Prime Minister exchanged gazes and let out a bitter smile.
“If that’s what you wanted, then there’s nothing I can do, Sir. But you know, your achievement is something that should receive far more reward.” (Seyfart)
“The Grand Duke is right. Although it is true that the kingdom sent you there, we never thought that you could take care of the demon general within that short of time. What you did is nothing short of amazing, Sir.” (Falkenstein)
Ah, I see. Unlike me, who wanted to finish Gezarius off before the attack on the capital event, from the perspective of the kingdom, I could have just taken things slowly. But well, there was no use of crying over spilled milk.
“I simply thought that it would be better to take care of the demon general as soon as possible.” (Welner)
“Well, that is true but still…” (Falkenstein)
Well, I kind of understand what the Prime Minister was trying to say. If I easily returned to the capital in just a short time, the other nobles would complain. Not to mention, I actually returned to the capital with the reputation of a debt-ridden noble. Anyway, that’s none of my concern.
“I know you didn’t have any greed, Sir, but you still have to reward the people under you who have contributed to this war. This time, the country will take care of that reward, but Sir, I hope you can be more greedy.”
“I understand.” (Welner)
Let’s just keep the whole reward for myself. The kingdom would take care of my subordinates.
“Well, you will definitely be appointed as a government official in the capital, though.” (Seyfart)
“Really?” (Mazell)
Mazell was the one who responded to the Grand Duke’s words, but honestly, I was also surprised. I thought there would be nobles who would demand that I should return to Anheim.
“To be precise, you will be appointed as a civil official, since you have to distance yourself from the army for a while. There has been a quite unexpected demand because of your achievement in leading the army at Anheim.” (Seyfart)
The Grand Duke’s words made me fall into thoughts for a moment. An unexpected demand…
Because Mazell was staring at me with a confused expression, I asked the Grand Duke to confirm my thoughts.
“Was the demand made by the refugee nobles from Triot?” (Welner)
“You’re right. Ah, just to be clear, I said this not to criticize your actions or anything.” (Seyfart)
Yeah, of course, I understood that, Grand Duke. Because the Bain Kingdom had successfully defeated Gezarius and even before that, other demon generals and Heavenly Kings, the refugees from Triot, especially the nobles, ended up having high expectations of the Bain Kingdom. Which led to…
“A part of the refugee nobles from Triot asked for Bain Kingdom’s cooperation to revive Triot.” (Seyfart)
…Yes, it led to that.
“So, they are asking us to lend them our army?” (Welner)
“Not only the army, but also weapons and provisions. If the army to help revive Triot was really made, there’s a high chance they will demand you to be the commander of that army.” (Seyfart)
Give me a break. I didn’t have time to do something like that! Seeing me bury my head in my knees because of sheer frustration, the Grand Duke and the Prime Minister laughed.
“Now after your work in Anheim, rather than a high chance, I would say you will definitely be chosen as the army commander if the army that will help revive Triot was really made, Sir.” (Seyfart)
“There have also been people who said that they will even let their daughter or sister marry you, Viscount.” (Falkenstein)
The Prime Minister dropped a terrifying bomb. Their ulterior motives were blatantly obvious that I ended up chuckling. In addition, ‘will even let’ they said? They sure were arrogant, even though they were refugees who came to our country to seek help.
“Of course, I would humbly refuse that sort of thing.” (Welner)
“Yeah. Sir, you even have a fiancee, so you can’t just marry a noble from another country.” (Seyfart)
Huh? Fiancee? Me? What was the Grand Duke talking about? Wasn’t that just a rumor that was spreading in Anheim?
