Volume 6 17

Volume 6 Chapter 17

Ryouma turned his eyes toward three people standing behind him.

“Now then, everything has been going well to this point but the actual show will start now…”

Bergston, Zeref, Elena who followed his words from behind nodded their head.

At first glance, it was their usual attitude.

However, if one looks closely, their face looked stiff due to the tension.

That was normal.

After all, Elena was a war hero that had seen many battlefields as the General of the Rozeria Kingdom.

Earl Bergston might have only seen a few battles. However, his political skills were outstanding and his brother, Earl Zeref, also had a high ability when it comes to information warfare.

Despite the fact that both sides had a difference as a fighter and politicians, both were a first ranked warrior in their respective fields.

Normally, they should not feel nervous.

After all, there was no way someone who would feel nervous could lead a country.

That was why seeing them stiff like this was unusual.

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No one could blame them, after all, the banquet they were about to have would decide the rise and fall of the Baron Mikoshiba household. -

For Ryouma, in a sense, this was like that time when they were about to cross the Thaves river during the civil war.

For these three people, they also had bet their own household on the survival of the Mikoshiba household.

The heavy pressure they had was not inferior to that Ryouma felt.

Instead, if something went wrong, they stand to lose more compared to Ryouma.

Bergston and Zeref had prestigious families and those who lived in their territory.

Elena was a reputable war hero.

They wager the lives of their vassals and family who had supported them.

For all of them, this was a huge gamble.

“Well, that being said, the preparation is perfect, but there is no guarantee that everything would go smoothly.”

Saying that Ryouma shrugged his shoulders and tried to ease the tension.

Indeed, for this banquet, Baron Mikoshiba had used extraordinary time and effort.

First, in the garden, Roberto and Signiz had been stationed with their 100 skilled knights chosen from their respective houses.

Together, they were called the twin swords of the north, but now they were under the command of Mikoshiba.

. All attendees could tell the seriousness of the event given that Ryouma could station those two in charge of security for the mansion.

After all, many aristocrats would be invited to the banquet in the future.

It was a great opportunity to introduce the young lord that managed to enter the high society of the Rozeria Kingdom.

The reason why those two came to the guard of this mansion was that, even though the possibility was low, Lupis might raid the mansion.

If that happened, they planned to return to the Wortenia peninsula by meeting Leona who was stationed outside of the capital city with 500 men, while Roberto and Signiz acted as his guard.

They had tried to think of every detail in this regard.

-

“Now then, shall we start?”

With those words being said, the door was opened and Ryouma entered the hall.

At that moment all eyes gathered upon Ryouma.

Many of them looked at him full of hatred.

If one thinks with common sense, usually the guests would applaud the appearance of the host.

But, he had learned most of the manners about nobles in this world from Laura and the others.

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(Scorn, Envy, and Anger… Though some of them are friendly, most people here don’t like me… But then again, I’m not that surprised since I heard it from Sakuya’s report and many rumors regarding this… I don’t dislike their attitude since that is what humans would do…)

Such thoughts crossed inside Ryouma’s mind causing him to sigh.

He understood that his existence was not welcomed among the aristocracy of the Rozeria Kingdom.

That being the case, being disliked this blatantly, even Ryouma felt tired of it.

Of course, Ryouma also won’t deny his feelings, since it was normal for a human to feel such a thing.

Ryouma was also a human being, not limited to these nobles of the Rozeria Kingdom.

Every man had a darkness inside their mind, which usually didn’t show up in daily lives.

No normal humans would celebrate the success of other people from the bottom of their heart.

(Well, unexpectedly there are also those who manage to come to terms with their own feeling, for example, those two…)

Ryouma gazed at the two middle-aged men who tagged along with him.

He could feel some envy existed in the gaze of Earl Bergston and Earl Zeref who had sworn loyalty to Ryouma.

Even though both of their households were spared by Duke Gerhardt during the aftermath of their political struggle, being able to survive and lead the people while dealing with the constant harassment, they felt pride for it.

It can be said their skills showed some result.

They were first rate talent among the many Rozeria nobility.

That was also why they had complicated feelings toward Mikoshiba Ryouma.

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After all, Earl Bergston had already passed middle age and it was the same for Earl Zeref as well.

On the other hand, the young man, who was younger than he looked, was supposedly the same age as their children or even grandchildren.

He had managed to defeat the enemy who had tormented them for many years. How should they react to that?

Certainly, they would feel grateful at first.

On the other hand, it was also natural to feel envy toward Ryouma who managed to do that.

The fact that it took time for Earl Bergston to make up his mind to side with Ryouma showed that.

However, Ryouma didn’t felt hatred toward such two people.

Whether or not they showed it on the surface, people were always envious of other’s success.

The important factor was whether they used it to criticize others or used it as a fuel for motivation.

​

In that sense, no matter which world they were in, humans are the same.

The only thing left was how to deal with the narrow-minded ones.

(The best thing is not to get involved with them but…)

It was a very effective choice to not get involved with such humans.

To put it briefly, one should avoid the narrow-minded ones.

In theory, emotions always triumph against logic, even if it sounds reasonable, there was the possibility that those kinds of people might reject it.

And if badly handled, it might instead cause a wound in the relationship.

And eventually, one who keeps reason will have to make concessions.

Of course, with an established forum for discussion, an exchange needs to be made to make sure that the problem was solved. However, it would take time to do that.

Furthermore, third-party mediation was not necessarily always effective, and not only that it would cost a considerable amount of money and time.

That was why the most effective thing was not to get involved.

Usually, the realistic move when meeting with such a situation would beto change school, move residence or change place of work.

Even if we thought of not getting involved, those narrow-minded people often times would still bother you like a stalker and there was even a case when one could not escape from them.

Like this time Ryouma experienced.

The course of action Ryouma could take was extremely limited.

Namely, erasing the opponents existence by force or using intimidation to make them obey.

It was too risky to kill all of the people belonging to the Rozeria aristocracy.

If he did that, then the Rozeria kingdom would fall into dysfunction.

(Well, it’s not like I could understand that woman’s movement completely, but if I don’t use the things I can use, I won’t be able to advance…)

Ryouma’s company was very fresh and from now on what he needed to do was expand his business.

The most important thing for that was the human resource.

He might be able to buy outstanding high-performance equipment, but if there were no one who could operate it, it would turn into troublesome treasure instead.

Developing human resources takes a lot of time however, which meant the easiest way would be to recruit talented people.

(Well then, why don’t we start?)

Ryouma lightly signaled the maid waiting at the corner of the hall.

Then the maids immediately distribute drink to the guests once again.

“Ryouma-sama…here you are.”

Before one knew it, Laura already stands beside him and handed him a glass and in front of his guests, Ryouma began to open his mouth. -