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Chapter 35
It had been about a week since I had asked the glasses-wearing clerk to refine me an elixir. While I was working on administrative tasks with Iris, Gazelle came to me.
Since the incident back then, Gazelle had not changed his attitude and was interacting with me as usual, just as he had promised me before. He really wouldn’t ask anything until I decided to talk to him first. While grateful for his thoughtfulness, I felt a prickling guilt in my chest. Perhaps that was why.
“There’s a joint meeting between the knight orders, so Takumi, come with me. After the meeting, I’ll introduce you to the guys from the Green-winged and Red-winged knight orders.”
I was caught off guard by the unexpected announcement of the meeting.
‘No, no! When did you come up with such an idea? An underling like me should not be present at such a crucial meeting?! ’
I asked Iris, who was nearby, for assistance, but he laughed and said, “Don’t worry, it’ll will be fine. Maybe Gazelle wants to brag about you, and acts as a deterrent?” Instead of stopping Gazelle, he chuckled amusedly.
According to Iris, the meeting was originally intended to be attended only by the captain and vice-captain, but it became necessary to have someone in charge of recording the proceedings and distributing materials. It was said that under such a pretext, one or two lower-ranking knights, including members of the executive committee, were permitted to participate because it was a good opportunity for promising junior members to learn.
‘But, if that’s the case, doesn’t it make even less sense for me to take part? Wouldn’t it be better if more promising members took part instead of me?’
“Why is someone like me are participating?” I said, to which Gazelle replied, “You’re talking like that again,” and simply patted me on the head without retracting his invitation.
‘Why is that?’
Gazelle didn’t seem willing to change his stance, so I went to Felix and told him that someone like me shouldn’t be involved, or that there were many more promising people than me, and that he should let them go, but Felix also shook his head.
“Takumi’s humility is admirable. However, being humble is not the same as belittling oneself.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s not about being humble or belittling oneself. It’s just a plain fact!!”
I told him several times, but it appeared that my participation in the joint meeting was a done deal, and there was nothing I could do to change it.
‘—And now, the big day has arrived. It’s the day of the Knight’s Order Joint Conference. Or rather, it had arrived. Ugh, I’m such an idiot who got tricked…’
The place that I, Gazelle, and Felix visited was the Royal Courthouse near the center of Ritzheim. Apparently, we were in the Ritzheim Magic Kingdom’s Supreme Court, whose white-gray stone building exuded a majestic atmosphere just by looking at it. The court would hold trials here on a regular basis, but once a month, members of the royal order of knights would gather for a joint meeting.
Furthermore, depending on the time and occasion, participants in this conference include not only knightly orders, but also nobles in charge of the military bureau, local lords and commoners who have come to petition for monster damage, and so on. Occasionally, even members of royalty would attend this conference in person.
…The more I listen to the explanation, the more I feel out of place! T-today, I really feel like I should act like an adult and shrink behind Gazelle and Felix…
I finally entered the royal court while trailing behind the two of them. We followed a red-carpeted corridor until we arrived in front of the innermost room, where two guards stood side by side. The guards inspected both Felix’s and my armbands after Gazelle showed them the armlet of the order’s uniform as identification.
It seems that this armband is used as an ID card. Well, since this is a courthouse, I’ve always assumed that there would be a testimony stand and side-by-side seats, just like you see on TV.
Despite the presence of a witness stand in the room we entered, the center was dominated by a large round table and chairs. The round table was surrounded by fifteen chairs, which were evenly spaced around it.
“So the seating arrangement is a round table.”
“Yeah, it’s usually different, but on meeting days, they set it up this way on purpose.”
Only on meeting days, according to Gazelle, did they use magic to arrange the round table and chairs in this manner.
‘Magic sure is convenient.’
When we entered the room, the other members of the Order, who were chatting amongst themselves, and the gorgeous looking nobles all had mixed reactions. There were those who nodded at me, those who chose to ignore me, and those who gave me unsolicited stares. Many people stared at me, and when I was feeling self-conscious about all the attention, Gazelle and Felix casually stepped in between my gazes.
That’s our Commander and Vice Commander! I can really count on you! Ah, yes. Speaking of Felix, I haven’t heard the results of that matter yet.
“Come to think of it, Felix, how is your father’s health these days?”
“Thank you for your concern. I have to say, for some reason, my father’s health has improved significantly in the last few days,” Felix responded to my question with a happy smile on his face.
“Well, I’m relieved.”
“It’s all thanks to you. On the contrary, he appears to be in better shape than in years. He even chastises my brothers in the office… My brother jokingly asked him yesterday, ‘Father, are you going back to your bed?'”
“Haha, is that correct?” That makes me very happy.”
‘I guess everything is fine now if such jokes come out in his family.’
“Ah… That reminds me, Father’s health returned around the same time Takumi gave him the confectionaries you brought as a get-well gift.”
Felix muttered something as if he’d noticed something. His incisive words nearly made my heart leap out of my mouth.
“O-Oh really? Well, it must’ve been a coincidence.”
” He couldn’t seem to eat anything lately, but as soon as he took a bite of that pastry, his appetite returned, and before he knew it, he had eaten all of the pastry he had received, Father said so.”
“I see. It’s just a coincidence,” I managed to calm my racing heart and respond casually.
Yes…The glasses-wearing clerk had successfully completed the elixir I asked for. However, if I handed over the elixir as it was, Felix would definitely ask, “What is this suspicious liquid? What are you trying to make my father drink?” So, I injected it into the sweets that were sold in the castle town. By the way, I got the idea from the pastries I received from Iris the other day.
It was that confection where the syrup boiled with fruit liquor spread in your mouth as you chew on the moist dough. Since the confection was originally moist, he probably wouldn’t notice even if the elixir was mixed in a little. I hope he won’t notice—with that in mind, I entrusted the candy to Felix.
“Is it just a coincidence?”
“Yeah, that’s right. It must be.”
“… I see. If Takumi says so, then it must be true. Thank you for the thoughtful gift.”
Felix smiled softly and turned to face forward after staring at my face for a few moments. When I saw that smile, my heart thumped. But it wasn’t because Felix was too attractive or anything; it was because that expression was very similar to the one Gazelle had before. It was the same gentle smile Gazelle gave me when he said, “I won’t ask anything until you tell me.”
“…”