Volume 3 Chapter 73 It Doesn’t Concern Me
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Kian returned to the old Oswald mansion and changed into the noble clothes of the Franz Kingdom that were prepared in the guest room.
Tonight, only Maribel, Priscilla, and Kian would join dinner, so noble clothes weren’t really needed. But since Kian was now officially a Master Knight and didn’t have proper formal wear, Maribel had kindly prepared some in advance.
He always took what was given, and storing the noble clothes in his room at The Boar’s Trot Inn was easy enough.
If he ever needed them later, wearing these would prevent any high-class guests from looking down on him.
He was grateful for Maribel’s thoughtfulness.
After changing, he moved straight to the main building.
Along the way, many torches burned in the hallways and plaza, and guards patrolled in groups of 3, watching carefully.
They seemed tense because of the undead soldiers locked in the basement and the monster rumors.
He was stopped and had to show his face a few times.
At the front of the main building, Liam and Gao were standing, and they let him inside right away.
Gao stayed wary, snarling, “I’m watching you. Do anything strange, and I’ll kill you!” But Liam guided him very politely.
They passed through the entrance with grand chandeliers floating overhead and entered the dining room through a large door beside the stairs.
The dining room had 3 rows of tables, all covered with long white tablecloths, giving a clean impression.
Countless candles lit the entire space on all 3 tables, but dishes for eating were only arranged near the middle, at the head of the room.
There sat Maribel, dressed in a soft pink dress with a golden circlet, and Priscilla, wearing a black witch’s outfit with a bit of frill, sitting opposite her.
Kian sat to Maribel’s right, across from Priscilla.
When a maid asked him what he wanted to drink, he chose apple juice.
That was because Maribel held a glass of apple juice herself.
Priscilla was sipping red wine that had been left to breathe.
She looked like she was already a little drunk before the meal even started.
Maybe she had been drinking at Renaud’s place earlier.
”Kian, tonight don’t worry about manners. Just enjoy the food as much as you can.”
Maribel pointed at the table, decorated with grape leaves, nuts, and pig’s head, and said this.
Kian understood that in Franz, people enjoyed food by making it look nice, but he only thought how messy it looked and how hard the cleanup must be.
’I’ve thought this for a while──your taste really fails, huh…’
(It’s because of being an adventurer for so long. I care more about what’s inside than looks. But I’m really looking forward to the food.)
”Priscilla, is Renaud doing well?”
While Kian was having an inner conversation with ‘glasses,’ Maribel started talking with Priscilla again.
Priscilla raised her glass happily, clearly feeling buzzed.
”Yes, he was as usual. Still not interested in Châtillon politics, and no interest in the latest trends or new cultures either.”
”Well, he rarely joins anything except the martial arts contests. Even when he visits here, he only talks about Knights of the Sun matters or my marriage. The last time I saw him was… 8 days ago?”
”Yes, 8 days ago is right. He asked me to marry Lord Gosh to someone related to Your Excellency.”
Lucretia, standing just behind Maribel, spoke up.
The witch called ‘glasses’ said that much and then returned to her serious, expressionless face.
She seemed like she wanted to join the conversation but planned to stay quiet during the meal.
Remembering the former Head Magician Natasha, she seemed like a shadow support figure.
”After that, he seemed to stay inside the mansion all the time, so I was worried. There are monsters appearing in town, and I wondered if something happened.”
”You don’t need to worry about my father. If a monster attacks Renaud, that will be the monster’s last moment. In fact, the monsters still alive near Your Excellency’s home haven’t crossed my father’s anger.”
”Hehe, if someone from the Châtillon Knight group becomes a victim, maybe Renaud will help me.”
”I guess he’ll just send a complaint letter to Your Excellency.”
(Unlike Guy, it seems Renaud basically does nothing. Well, I kind of expected that.)
Thinking this, Kian looked down at the first plate served──almond rice.
On the white plate were rice, almonds, peas, and chopped walnuts.
From the white steam came sweet smells of honey and cinnamon, mixed with fresh lemon scent.
(The rice has a faint purple color. They cooked it with red wine, probably to make it taste fancy, but the strong smells of almonds and red wine fight each other…)
He scooped a spoonful and put it in his mouth.
The rich butter felt smooth, and the crunchy almonds were fun to eat.
But just like I thought, the red wine smell killed the nice almond aroma.
(It would have been better to cook with mild white wine. The strong sweet flavor is eye-catching but kinda rude. I would cook it better.)
’You must be the worst kind of customer for any cook…’
(I’m just saying this in my head. I think this dish is okay enough.)
’How about the asparagus dish?’
(I think asparagus is a medicine for gout. But it’s okay to eat it as a vegetable. The cook uses new ideas. It tastes like salt, olive oil, and red wine vinegar… Red wine again? He really likes red wine. It’s a little sour, but maybe it’s okay as a medicine food?)
”Kian, how is it? Do you like the food?”
”Yes, Your Excellency. It’s very delicious.”
”I’m glad you like it. The cook says the venison steak and cod with mustard sauce are also his best dishes. Please look forward to it.”
”Yes.”
”I’m going to take my chef to the East End summer market in the middle of this month~. Christy bragged to me before, ‘Kian’s cooking is very delicious,’ and I want to have a cooking battle with you.”
”I’m just an Adventurer, not a cook…”
”──Sounds interesting. I’m also interested in a cooking battle.”
Priscilla leaned forward and said that, but Kian didn’t want to accept a cooking battle that wouldn’t benefit him at all.
If they issued a Quest through the Adventurer Guild, he might consider it.
Kian lowered his head slightly to the maid who placed the venison steak and opened his mouth.
”We’re going to take a lot of Quests around Izerland and East End after this, so I don’t know if we’ll have time. We can do a cooking battle in half a day, but we need to prepare a lot if we want to win.”
”Oh, are you going to take Quests around Izerland after this, Lord Kian? I thought you were going to leave for Ramsey.”
”Eh?”
”Over there, it’s the middle of a war. There seem to be a lot of requests for Lord Kian. Especially in Ramsey, it looks like the powerful Bloodsucking Kind are running wild. Considering the efficiency of ranking up, it seems like the best solution to go over there, but what are Lord Kian’s people thinking about it?”
”I see…”
Kian replied while tilting his glass of apple juice.
”Sure, the talk of going to Ramsey for work has come up, but in the end, it doesn’t make much sense to go all the way to Ramsey unless I become at least intermediate-rank.”
”Well, why~?”
”──Ah, right. The Adventurer Guild’s ranking system.”
Priscilla raised an eyebrow.
”Your Excellency, if a party takes on a quest that is 3 ranks above, the points and rewards they receive are greatly reduced. If there’s at least one high-rank person in the party, they can get points by leeching off them. But with Lord Kian’s party…”
”I’m the highest rank at Level 7. I got a big boost in contribution points the other day, and if I try hard, I might be able to take the intermediate-rank Adventurer promotion test by the end of the month. But right now, whether I go to Ramsey or stay in East End, it wouldn’t change how easy it is to get Rank 5 quests. I think that if I get promoted to Rank 6 and want a lot of Rank 4 – advanced-rank level quests, then it might be better to go to war-torn Ramsey for an easier time getting quests.”
”The return isn’t worth the risk of changing bases or environments~.”
”That’s right. For now, unless there’s a mass of personal requests, I won’t be going to Ramsey.”
And if he were to take on a personal request, it would likely be around Izerland where Kian knows many nobles and merchants.
Among them, the ones who might have requests related to Ramsey would be Oswald, Aisha, or maybe Owl, who is a commanding officer on the ground.
”By the way, I heard there’s a call for help from Ramsey’s Adventurer Guild?”
Kian asked while cutting the deer steak, and Maribel’s smile clearly faded.
She had said earlier that she wanted to talk to Kian about this before going to see Oswald.
”Yes, that’s right.”
”Hehe. It sounds like there was a big fight in the salon?”
Priscilla’s tone was a bit sticky.
Maribel turned serious for a moment, thinking about the white-haired witch’s words.
But she soon returned to her soft smile and nodded honestly.
”Everyone cares deeply about our country, so there was no decision. You heard it too, Kian, but recently we got a letter from Owl saying ‘Do not respond to Ramsey’s Adventurer Guild’s call for help.’ Because Owl will handle the vampire trouble there, no help is needed. In fact, adventurers might get in the way by saving monsters from enemy forces.”
”Your Excellency doesn’t agree with Lord Owl’s words?”
”Yes. But I’m in the minority. Most think we should leave it to Lord Owl, who was just sent there. Eleonora says adventurers might start killing Owl’s men, pretending to be mercenaries, so we should notify the guild at once not to interfere.”
Kian spoke up.
”Your Excellency Maribel, how much command do you have over the frontier Adventurer Guild?”
”The Guild is a semi-official, semi-civilian institution, and there are no clear provisions regarding command authority. Conventionally, it’s believed that the Guild follows notifications, but sending a document like ‘Do not save civilians’ to the Adventurer Guild, which aims to protect civilians from monsters, would lead to our judgment being questioned from all sides. If the Guild sends a letter to King Franz or Her Highness the Princess, next month a dozen court magicians from the central authority would be sent here to audit us, as if they were just fetching our will. The King is one thing, but Her Highness the Princess doesn’t think too kindly of me. Considering the previous rebellion incident, my position is becoming increasingly precarious.”
”That sounds really tough. As Châtillon, and as Margrave Izerland, I want to ask Princess Maribel to come here and help.”
”Is it because I’m just a little girl and easier to boss around than the big noble people from the capital?”
”No, no, that’s not what I mean.”
Priscilla continued with a wry smile.
”I’m sure Lady Eleonora and the others know what’s going on. But they still want you to send that message?”
”Yeah, they think that if I’m really the leader, I should do what’s best to keep the peace, even if it means risking my own place. If Eleonora or Mankovitch can still take care of their people, they don’t really care who’s in charge above them.”
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply