Today is the eve of the festival, so the real festival should start tomorrow, but there are stalls all over the place that target the hurriedly-minded, and they are creating more than enough sparks to create a lively atmosphere.
In the midst of all this, we are heading to the venue to rest and prepare for the "War Victory Prayer Gomae Martial Arts Festival", commonly known as the "Martial Arts Tournament", which starts tomorrow.........
'Temma, let's go over there!
Temma, I want some of that!
'Temma, I'm thirsty!
Right now, I'm walking with my three cat girls, who I haven't seen in a long time, pulling me along.
And behind us were Primera with a bitter smile on her face, Jeanne and Aura with a dissatisfied expression, and Aina and Chris who were looking at us with an amused look.
'How did this happen........'
It all started this morning when I was getting ready to go check out the venue on my own.
"Temma, you have a visitor.
I was almost done getting ready when my grandpa came into my room.
'I have a guest? Who is it?
In this royal capital, the number of people who are likely to visit me is limited. Moreover, most of them........especially those related to the royal family often come into the mansion without permission, so I have no choice but to order the golems guarding the mansion to pass through with a face pass.
So the only thing I can think of is someone I don't know.......mainly a cunning nobleman coming to recruit me.
Even so, no one has ever come to solicit me inside the mansion...or rather, my grandfather wouldn't allow it.
'Anyway, come down. I'll let you through to the guest room.
I followed my grandfather, who had a slight grin on his face, and opened the door to the guest room.
There he was........
"'Temma! Wow! Temma~
Three sisters, Lily, Nellie and Millie, jump on me.
'It's been a while. Miss Temma.
And it was a primera in armor.
'It's been a while for all four of us but why are you here?'
My question was answered by Primera with a bitter smile.
''Actually, it's to participate in the tournament.......Most of all, while doing so, the Commander told me to go study a bit in the royal capital, and the entire Fourth Order was sent to the royal capital.......''
When I asked for details, it seems that the reason for this is that a request from the royal capital came to Duke Sanga's place, and the simple explanation of the content of the request was 'lend me a hand because I don't have enough people'.
It seems like a no-questions-asked order when you hear that it's a request from the royal capital, but in reality, other influential nobles (mainly the royalists) have been approached as well, and although it doesn't pay much, the dispatched knights are given some money and days off, so it's like an invitation to a temporary part-time job, to say the least.
It's not a bad idea to have a few people in your unit.
'That's all well and good, but why are Lily and the others here?'
I pulled away from the lillies who swarmed me and sat down in a chair and asked the lillies their next question.
'We happened to meet in front of the Fullness Pavilion a few days before Primera left town, and that's when she told us that Temma had gone to King's Landing, so we followed her!
Lily answered that on behalf of the three of us. Apparently, Primera found out about my whereabouts via the Duke and told Lily and the others about it.
''While we were at it, I thought I'd join the team competition at the tournament, and Temma came to invite me too.
Lily said that she arrived in Wangdue late last night and was able to register for the tournament just in time.
In order to avoid showing the opponent's hand in team competitions, there was no need to write the names of all the team members when registering, only the representative's name, so that the members could be registered before the first game of the team competition.
By the way, when I asked Lily who the members were, she said she was going to form a team with 'Wildcat Princess', 'Me (Temma) and Shiroumaru or Slarin', and 'Primera (...)'.
''Wait a minute! Why is Primera in the head count (members)!
Earlier, Primera's explanation should have said that the Fourth Order (.........) came at the request (...........................) of the royal capital.
If that's the case, wouldn't they be unable to participate in the tournament? , when I confirmed this to Primera, Primera blurted out while looking away.
''........The Warlord has given me permission.......''
Why is the Warlord there? I also thought, but at the same time, I understood that the Warlord must have gotten a bad ride with that word.
''It's something, there was a pompous man coming to greet the Fourth Order, so I asked, 'Can I go to a team fight with Primera? I asked, 'Oh! Great! That's what he told me.
'I thought you were of the same rank as Primera since you were coming to pick me up, so I was surprised to hear later that you were royalty~'
It didn't feel that way~
You're not getting off on the wrong foot, Warlord... but Lily and her friends should be penalized for that...
When I was thinking about that, Primera added a supplement.
'Apparently, he came to check on me because I'm the Duke of Sangha's daughter and at the same time, I think he came to see how I was doing because he knew Temma-san. It was like she knew Lily and the others as well.
And then, as usual, I got into a bad mood and ... maybe I'll call Maria next time ... for real.
"By the way, Temma,
Who's that?
The maid here?
When Lily and the others looked in the direction they were pointing at, they saw Jeanne and Aura peeking at us from the shadow of the door like some housekeeper.
''Temma-sama...................Are you cheating on me by leaving Jeanne and me alone?
Aura muttered in a whisper as she stared at me. Aura's voice was so small that an ordinary person might not be able to hear it, but the only people here had excellent hearing, except for Primera, so I could hear her voice.
'Temma! What do you mean, cheating?!
What's going on with them?
What is this about?
Aura pushed Jeanne in front of herself as the three of them asked me quickly.
''That's enough! You thieving cat! This Jeanne is Master Tenma's wife! And I am a concubine! ... well, it's planned, but...
Aura added the last line in a whisper with a blur.
Lily and the others were so stunned that they didn't seem to notice Aura's last line.
'Temma, you're lying!'
'You're not planning on getting married! Hey!
''There's no way that's Temma's concubine!
The three of them returned to me and questioned me, shaking me violently.
I tried to say something in response to them, but before I could, Aura started laughing hard.
''O~hohohoho! It's unseemly! Next to Master Temma is already our designated place! If you understand, then stay away from Master Tenma, you thieving cat, Hebu!
Aura, who had been playing the trifecta like a villainous daughter, suddenly blew up in front of her.
''You're not going to be doing anything random! You crappy maid!
The one who kicked Aura from behind was Aina, who had come early in the morning for some reason.
'I am very sorry. I am, regrettably, this idiot's sister, my name is Aina.
Aina approached, apologizing to Lily and the others. In her hand she held a tray with sweets on it, and there was also a golem pushing a wagon with a tea set on it at the entrance.
''Geez!''
Aina stomped on Aura as she lay on the floor before placing the pastries on the table and not forgetting to step on her as she went to get the tea set.
'Geez!
After saying something unnecessary, Aura stopped moving, this time when her head was stomped on. Aina, who stomped on Aura's head, immediately turned her eyes towards me, but I ignored her with an attitude of not listening.
''So........that means Temma is free! Then I'll be your wife!
Me too!
Me too!
Now that Aura had gone quiet, this time Lily and the others started to make a scene. But this time the commotion didn't last long.
'Stop! Lady Temma's marriage partner must be approved by a certain One!
Suddenly Aina came back and said that.............................and when she came back, she stepped firmly on Aura.
'Aina, that's new to me too but why do you need my permission? To my marriage.
As of now, I don't have the slightest interest in getting married, but I'm a little pissed off when he suddenly says that the person I'm going to marry needs to be recognized by someone other than me, etc.
''That person wouldn't be my grandfather... well, the king... we'll have to have a little talk about it...''
Of all the people who would say such a thing, I'm not sure if the first person who comes to mind is the king (top) of this country, but that guy (the king) would say it.
So I sat up to ask him to explain a bit, and I sat up to head to the castle.......but Aina was shaking her head.
'Temma-sama, if this is what His Majesty said, I don't think Maria-sama would be silent. This time, it was Maria-sama's words. To be precise, it's 'Mary-sama, the deputy (...) of Shelia-sama'.
What does that mean?
My mom's name came out of Aina's mouth, so I decided to sit back in the chair for now and listen to what she had to say.
After waiting for me to sit down in the chair, Aina opened her mouth.... standing over Aura.
'To put it simply, Shelia-sama wrote a letter to Maria-sama saying, 'Please take care of Temma.'
Huh?
When I was confused by my oversimplified content, Aina bowed her head.
''I'm sorry, but I can't tell you in detail. However, this letter was written just before that incident (...), and Maria-sama seems to have taken it as a will (...) of Shelia-sama, and therefore is sticking to it.
Aina finished her story as if she could only say so much, but the air in the room remained delicate due to me not being convinced and Aina saying she couldn't talk any more.
In such an atmosphere, a few minutes passed with me and Aina's eyes locked on each other, when I heard a voice from Aina's feet.
'You're heavy - you're gaining weight, sister (weight) - you're going too far, Hebu!
Aura, who seemed to have come up for air, fell asleep for another (forced) extra word.
But that eased the air in the room... a rare Aura fine play... really, really rare.
'All right. I'll ask Maria directly next time. Aina, tell Lady Maria that I'm eager to see her about it. I won't be able to see you at the convention for a while, but...
Okay. I'll make sure to tell him.
Before I returned to the unpleasant atmosphere, I calmed myself down by saying that I would cut the story short and ask them directly next time.
When me and Aina were done talking, I noticed for the first time that Grandpa and Chris were in the room.
'Oh, were they both there?'
Whoa!
Hi-Duck!
Since I asked them straight away, they were both a little hurt.
Putting those two aside, I decided to go to the arena where the tournament would take place, as we had planned, to check it out.
Naturally, Lily and the others who came to see me said they would follow me, and since Primera was not busy, she decided to go with me, along with Jeanne, who for some reason was becoming a bit of a rivalry fighter, a revived Aura, and Aina, who was Chris's chaperone (and Aura's chaperone), decided to come along as well. Grandpa wasn't sure what to do with them, but he asked them to stay behind because he had so many women with him, and it would be a big problem if a wise man got mixed in with them.
We went out to check it out with a dejected grandfather, but the situation described above came about because Lily and the other three girls got carried away by the heat of the town.
"You three, stop frolicking and let's get to the venue!
At this rate, we were unlikely to reach the venue before nightfall, so we decided to shake off the three of them a little too forcefully and proceed.
However, the royal capital was already quite crowded with people and it was difficult to walk as much as I wanted.
''It can't be helped. Shall we go by carriage?''
Due to the size of the city, carriage transportation exists in King's City, and its number is increasing for the festivities that will begin tomorrow.
There are also pathways for carriages in the royal capital, which are quite convenient in some places.
''If it were up to today, it wouldn't be that crowded, so let's take a carriage for a ride.
There are two types of carriages on the road, like buses and taxis in a previous life, here we call them horse-drawn carriages and street carriages.
At a nearby carriage stop, we were able to get in line at the front of the carriage, which seemed to be after it left. However, since the carriage's capacity is about 12 people, we decided to meet at the venue at that time, as we might have to split up into several groups.
The carriage came about ten minutes later, and many of the guests got off at the stop where we were waiting, so we were all able to get in safely.
About 30 minutes later, the carriage arrived at a stop near the venue.
The distance from the stop to the venue was about two or three minutes, and as soon as we got out of the carriage, we could see the arena where the event was to take place.
''There are quite a few participants who think the same way I do...''
In the vicinity of the venue, some people who were apparently participants of the tournament had come to check it out.
Most of them seemed to be checking out the route to the venue or just wanting to have a look at the venue, but some of them seemed to be soliciting for a team competition or threatening other participants.
''Oh! They're already in line at the entrance!
It seems that there are those in this world who stand in line early and try to get a ticket for as good a seat as possible.
As we were walking around the venue, looking at such a scene similar to our previous life, we suddenly felt multiple eyes from behind us.
When I turned around, I saw about a dozen men approaching us.
I suddenly stopped and turned around, and they all looked in the same direction, catching on to that.
''Tch!''
As soon as I turned my eyes to them, Aina clicked her tongue with an expression that revealed her disgust that she normally wouldn't show.
And Jeanne and Aura immediately went behind me to hide.
'This is an odd place to be, Aina. And Jeanne and Aura I was worried about you.
From the center of the men who came near us, a man came forward in a theatrical manner.
''Yes, it's an oddity, Quartermaster Chloride. We have some business to attend to, so we'll take our leave. Well, good day to you.
From Aina's words, I knew that this man was the quasi-consort of Podolo Il Chloride as an example. From the looks of it, it looks like a small thing, and Aina didn't even try to hide her disgusted face as she spoke quickly and turned away.
''You're being rude to the Quasi-Vice Viscount-sama!
One of her cronies became enraged by Aina's attitude and reached out to grab Aina's shoulder, but....
Don't try to touch it with your dirty hands!
Aina reversed and quickly grabbed the other man's hand and slammed him to the ground, pulling him forward. The man struck his face so hard that he seemed to pass out. Aina removed the gloves she had been wearing at some point and slammed them into the back of the man's head.
Aina, who had put her new gloves back on as if nothing had happened, took one look at Podolo with a filthy look in her eyes and walked straight to me.
'Come on, Temma-sama, let's hurry on. We're going to be busy tomorrow, so there's no need to waste your precious rest time against flies.
After understanding the meaning of Aina's words, Podolo's face turned red, a change from his big-name appearance earlier.
''Don't get carried away! You little b*tc*! You don't know who I am! This is a nobleman! He's a quasi-consort!
Mad, Podolo is shouting loudly without paying attention to the area.
However, Aina didn't show any signs of concern.
Oh, I'm not a fool, you know?
Aina's words elicited laughter from those who had been watching the situation nearby.
Podolo was silenced by glaring at those laughing around him while his face turned red.
The people around them were also glared at by Podolo, a nobleman, so they shut up, but Podolo, feeling somewhat better about it, pointed at me.
'Oh well ... more importantly, you little bastard!
...What...?
Honestly, I'd like to ignore this guy because I don't want to deal with him, but Podolo is pointing at me, so I have no choice but to deal with him... even though he's probably going to say something I don't understand anyway... ...
'I am Jeanne's relative! So let's have you give me Jeanne!
I'm afraid not.
It was exactly what I had imagined, so I decided to say no to it immediately.
Podolo froze, not expecting to be turned down like that because of my immediate response.
''Well then, let's all go.''
The moment we turned our backs on him, Podolo came back to himself and started screaming at the top of his lungs.
'You little brat! I'm a nobleman! You have no right to say no to me!
To such a podolo, I sighed and decided to deal with him.
When you abandoned Jeanne's house in the first place, you are no relation to Jeanne or anything else. Moreover, there are even rumors that you actively tried to destroy Jeanne's house and so on.......And as for Jeanne's ownership, I'm more recognized than the royal family. So even though you are a nobleman, there is no reason to say that I have to hand over my own slaves.
My furious words made Podolo break out in a cold sweat.
''Oh, proper things with royalty and others...''
If you think it's a lie, ask the Grand Duke, Prince Tida, or Princess Luna.
Before, in the carriage, His Excellency the Grand Duke told me to give Jeanne away (.......). That's probably because he admitted that the ownership of Jeanne is mine, and the kings have never said anything to me about enslaving former nobles.
In this world, nobles losing themselves to slavery is not a frequent occurrence, but it's not so uncommon. It's a different story when it comes to someone of the royal or duke class, but Jeanne is a former viscountess, and there's no end to the amount of time you'd have to wait for a nobleman of that rank to give you a helping hand every time. Moreover, there are former noble slaves who can be used in various capacities, so it's not uncommon for such former nobles to have a high price for a slave.
So those who buy them rarely let go of them, and even if they do sell them, many of them are said to charge more than when they bought them, which is another reason why it's difficult to reach out to them financially.
'If you understand, then I'll go now.
This time he was about to turn his back on Podolo and walk away, but Podolo didn't seem to have given up on him yet.
'Don't think I'm just a quasi-baron! I am the Lord Privy Seal, messenger of the 'Duke of Daraam'!
Podolo is dignified by mentioning the Duke's name, but to me, it's more of an "oh yeah" or "so what?". I'd rather say, "Thank you for telling me who's behind this.
Podolo seems to have misunderstood my silence and thought I was being scared, and unlike a moment ago, he is beaming with a smug look on his face.
When I stopped Aina from trying to talk back to her, someone interrupted her from near us.
''Hou, does the Home Secretary try to blackmail the people's property?
What the f*ck?
Podolo was surprised by the words suddenly thrown at him, but he shouted in the direction of the voice.
'Didn't you hear it? I asked if the Minister of the Interior would try to threaten the good people of the country to take away slaves that are recognized by the state as property....
The person spoke to Podolo in a deliberately loud voice so that the people around us who were watching us could hear. He especially emphasized the 'Minister of the Interior' and the 'take away' part, not so much to Podolo as to ask the people around him.
At first Podolo's face was red and angry, but as he realized who this person was and heard more accusations of Podolo and the Minister of the Interior coming from around him, his face now turned blue.
Podolo seemed to understand that he had been dealt a blow that not only shattered his confidence, but also his own progress.
By contrast, the man seemed satisfied that he had arrived at the best possible time.
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