Volume 7 - CH 3.4

Could this be the scent of this world’s perfume? Did Cassia wear it because she is visiting the Earl of Selmar? Yes, that has to be it, right? If not for that occasion, then why would she even bother with it?

It is an unbelievably sweet fragrance, the one that goes perfectly with Cassia’s regal appearance and how elegant and pretty she is, and the gorgeous dress and the tiara-like head accessory that she’s wearing make her even more beautiful, even though it was something that I never thought was going to be possible.

If I am going to be visiting the Earl of Selmar along with Cassia, then I don’t care about how that meeting is going to go, just as long as I get to spend more time with her.

「You don’t have to worry about anything, Lord Michio, this is not going to take long. And if you end up liking that place, then you’ll be free to visit it again anytime you want.」

「I see. I will be in your care then.」

「Very well. I’m glad to see that you’re so cooperative.」

I bow to Cassia in return while doing my best to ignore the Duke, who was right next to her the entire time. Ignore him, Michio, just ignore him.

I don’t know if it’s just my own imagination or not, but the Duke seems to me much more impatient today than usual. Then again, if it’s him that we’re talking about, then I guess I should have expected that something like that was going to happen.

「Well then, are you ready to go, Lord Michio?」

「Uhm, y-yeah, sure…. But wait! What about my clothes?」

「What about them? I don’t mind if you stay just the way you are if that getup is what you feel the most comfortable with.」

「A-And my sword?」

「There should be no problems with it as long as you put it in your Item Box.」

I try to come up with various excuses that would prevent me from going to meet with the Earl, but all of them have been swiftly and utterly rejected by the Duke who provided me with perfect solutions to each and every one of them.

And so, while having no choice on the matter whatsoever, we were soon joined by an Adventurer form the Knight Order of Hartz Duchy who was added to the Duke’s Party so that he could take us to the territory of Selmar, where the earl of Selmar was residing, all via the use of the Adventurer Knight’s 「Field Walker」 Skill of course. Mere seconds later, after the warping was initiated, we have arrived in a place that looked similar to the Bode castle’s lobby, which makes me wonder: does the castle of the Earl of Selmar have exactly the same construction as the one belonging to the Duke of Bode?

「The Duke of Hartz, accompanied by five people, has arrived!」

The Knight Adventurer from our Party announced our arrival quite loudly to the Knight who was standing at the other side of the lobby.

「I have been waiting for your arrival. Please, allow me to be your guide today.」

The knight from the other side responds respectfully and with an unusual amount of politeness for a Knight. At least his response seems to be hinting that the arrangement for us to arrive here has already been made, so at the very least its not like we’re coming here unannounced.

Well, of course it must have been announced to the Earl and the people at the castle beforehand. If it wasn’t, we would have quite a problem otherwise.

It’s great that the one who set up this meeting was Cassia, not the Duke. If he and the Earl of Selmar really don’t get along all that well, then who knows what might’ve happened if he tried to arrange for the meeting to be held, or if the meeting would be allowed to be held at all.

「We’re going to be in your care then.」

「The five people, except the Adventurer, please follow me. As for the Adventurer, please wait here.」

The guiding Knight then heads inside of the castle. Huh? Why do I have to go along with everyone else? Am I not an Adventurer (at least in their understanding) as well?

「Let’s go then.」

The Duke nods at me and goes inside. Should I be taking that nod of his as a signal that there is no problems and I don’t have to be afraid of anything? I mean, Cassia followed behind the Duke quite readily, so if she thinks that there is nothing to be wary off, then I guess there’s nothing left for me to do but to follow them along since I cannot afford to let myself fall behind them or I might just get lost in this place.

After walking for a while and then going up stairs, we finally arrive in front of a big door to what I assume is the Earl’s throne room?

「The Earl is awaiting you inside.」

「Of course. The two of you wait here.」

The Duke says while entrusting one of the Knights in our Party with his Orichalcum Sword. With the current arrangement, only three people are going to go inside of the throne room: the Duke, Cassia and myself. Also, it seems that even someone like the Duke is not allowed to carry a weapon beyond this point, which makes sense considering that he’s no longer in his own territory, but somebody else’s.

I have already put my weapon inside my Item Box, and it seems Cassia didn’t bring any weapon with her, so the two of us are in the clear. As such, the Knight that was guiding us here opened the door for us.

The room ahead was, just like I thought it was going to be, a throne room, although it was not the one on the big side of things. Actually, it was rather small, completely unlike what I was expecting to see, just like the person sitting on the throne in the middle of the chamber.

The one who was sitting there was a fat Elf. So, this guy is the Earl of Selmar? I checked him out with 「Identify」 out of curiosity and saw that he was a forty years old Elf with Knight Lv.21 as his Job.

I have to admit: considering his age, that level of his is not particularly impressive. Also, why is he so fat? Can Elves even get so fat? Well, since he is so fat, then they apparently can, but it doesn’t make this any less of a surprise. And what’s also surprising yet annoying at the same time is the fact that even though he’s fat, he’s still somehow good looking, which is something that I never thought was going to be possible.

Fucking good-looking fatso. Just go blow yourself up, will you?!

A huge curtain is hanging behind the throne that the Earl of Selmar is sitting on, and I recognized the pattern that has been embroidered on the left part of it, since I have seen it a number of times before.

It is the emblem of the Hartz Duchy, and as soon as we walked into the throne room, the Duke walked towards it with a step that I could only describe as arrogant.

「Come inside, Lord Michio.」

Cassia called out to me, urging me to walk forward with them as well.

I thought the order in which we’ll be entering would be the Duke > Cassia > me, but it seems it is actually going to be the Duke, then me and Cassia at the very end.

I bow, and follow after the Duke. I did that since I was instructed before hand to bow my head when entering the throne room, so I probably didn’t offend anyone quite yet. The Duke doesn’t bow to the Earl, but I didn’t expect him to do it anyway. Cassia follows from behind me and lines up next to the Duke. I could smell her perfume when she passed by my side.

Anyway, the current setup is quite a relief for me, since being hidden behind Cassia and the Duke is much better than standing in front of the Earl with those two behind me.

「Your excellency, I am glad you came. It’s been a long time, Cassia.」

「Yes. I am glad to see you in good health above all else as well, uncle.」

Cassia replies to the Earl of Selmar. Earlier, Cassia said that this place was her home, but it was apparently her uncle’s. I just hope that we can continue the conversation without touching any sentimental topics.

「And who might that person be?」