Chapter 61: First Meeting with Nobles

「Oh my.1 What adorable visitors we have here.」

As we knocked on the mansion’s door, a high-spirited, slightly over-the-top old lady came out.

「Please wait for a bit, I shall call the head of the house now, alright?」 「Ah, yes.」

Overwhelmed by her excitement, Urania and I reflexively exchanged glances with each other. How can I say this? It reminds me of how grandma would react back when I visited my relatives as a child.2

「Really? Just leaving the guests in front of the entryway? Sorry about that, from the requested matter, she must have expected some intimidating adventurers to arrive.」 「Please don’t mind it, we haven’t been waiting that long as well.」 「Hm? Is that so? Well, come in. You could use some tea, right?」 「Yes, we’d love to.」

In the old lady’s place came out an old man with a drooping mane. In actuality, the old lady earlier also had roundish cat ears on the top of her head. However, the residents of this mansion aren’t a cat ear-kin like the old lady. As the mane implies, they’re the king of the cats, the Lion royalty, it seems.

It seems like they were originally from the same clan as the cat ear-kins, but a distant ancestor of theirs defeated the demon lord with the hero. As an effect of the demon lord’s influence at that time, it seems like they were transformed into a completely different species. The story of them fighting with the hero implies that the ancestor of the Lion royalty was one of the original twelve sages and the present Sage of Leo is a Lion royalty as well. Rather, it’s this old man’s son.

「Now, let me introduce myself. My name is Kent. Kent Blanco Leo Iglesio.3 This is my wife, Fiona.」 「I am a D-rank adventurer from Motsi, Lily. White Peer Iglesio, we would like to give our thanks for the audience……」 「Aah, I don’t like formalities that much. Could you talk like you usually do? Even though I may have the title of White Peer, as you can see, I myself am a failure that couldn’t become a sage. Having a young sorcerer act formally to me is giving me the chills.」

Since old man Kent said so, I had no choice but to act as usual. Rather, considering the contents of the request, the problem is I might need to act a bit more rudely later on. Personally, I can feel an amount of life essence from this old man fitting for the years he’s lived. It’s really something I ought to respect and not underestimate, even if the old man allows it himself.

Let me supplement this country’s peerage system here.4 The title White Peer is definitely not some sort of mistake. This country classifies their peerage by color like in some certain dystopia game’s world.

The royalty is exempted from this classification but the nobles consist of four titles: the white peer, purple peer, blue peer, and yellow peer. Typically, the commoners aren’t assigned any colors but they’re occasionally called red folk by custom and similarly, slaves are sometimes called black serfs.

By the way, since this is just a casual occasion, the old couple in front of us are wearing normal clothes. However, during formal events or when they’re working, it seems like they’re always required to wear something white. It’s so that their peerage can be easily identified but it also acts as a sign that they have responsibilities expected of their peerage.

「Umm, so act casual then. My name’s Lily, a D-rank adventurer. This is Urania, she’s also D-rank like me.5」 「Umu, glad to meet you. Now then, how much were you told?」 「Just a brief outline. We heard that your grandkid was being pretty mischievous and stuff.」 「Umu, the child’s father, well my son, is awfully indulgent of the child you see…… The child truly has genuine talent, so it’s a bit too much for old dropout to handle.」

Saying so, old man Kent let out an awfully troubled sigh. The request given to us this time… is the babysitting and re-education of the White Household Iglesio’s next head, the grandchild of the old couple right in front of us, Adanalbus Blanca Leora Iglesio.