Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

–Two Days Ago–

–Prime Minister Villis Burke’s POV–

“Lord Prime Minister, Sir Lucilia has arrived and requests for an audience.”

“Have him come in.”

At my permission, Lucilia and his three attendants proceeded to enter my office. Lucilia went on to sit on the office’s sofa.

“So you’ve finally made it back. But it sure took you quite some time.”

“Please forgive me, My Lord. Gantz was farther than I expected……”

“It’s fine. Let me hear your report.”

“Yes. Most of the rumors surrounding the adventurer Alan turned out to be true. His Adventurer Clan, Shining Star, boasts a total of a hundred and five members. All of them are very capable C-rank adventurers or higher, and the Clan leader Alan himself is A-rank.

Since they have the capability to wipe out an entire Orcish settlement with only five party members, they certainly seem to be more than capable enough, befitting their ranks. No one has witnessed the act of their leader defeating the dragon in person.

It is possible that they managed to defeat one with a large group of at least fifty men instead of the claim that the leader defeated one alone. But it is also true that a dragon brought the corpse of another dragon back to Gantz city.”

“……So it was actually true. What about that rumor of the dragon obeying his commands?”

“It seems that one is true as well. There were hundreds of people who witnessed Alan climbing on one of the dragon’s limbs and getting intimate with it. They have even seen him talking to the creature.

The dragon seems to understand human language and its name is Gloria. I was able to obtain multiple testimonies that corroborated what Alan had claimed.”

“So it’s even true that a dragon that can actually understand human words exists. ………I see. How dangerous.”

“It is as you say. He is certainly an extremely dangerous man.”

“……Should we do away with him? Can you finish him off if it comes to that?”

“Of course, it is possible. However, due to the previous bandit ambush, Shining Star has been exercising extreme caution and has stationed dozens of men in the inn Alan and his companions are currently staying at. Based on their ability to subdue the bandit ambush, it seems we’ll need a good number of troops in order to handle them.”

“If so, then it would be better to strike when he comes to the castle for the ceremony……”

“That would be the most efficient and reliable option. Please leave everything to me, My Lord.”

–Alan’s POV–

We arrived at the castle gate well before 12 o’clock, which was the scheduled time.

In addition to the castle guards, I found the Chief Protocol Officer, Zard, standing outside the gate as well. Apparently, he was also waiting for my arrival.

After Chief Protocol Officer Zard confirmed the inside of our carriage, he nodded to the guards, and we were able to pass through the gates unimpeded.

Just like the last time I came here together with the baron, we entered the castle’s rear gate and parked the carriage in the inner courtyard. The spot we parked the carriage on was about 40 meters away from the castle’s rear gate.

“I’ve been waiting for your arrival, Alan-sama. Now then, let us make our way inside immediately. We will be explaining how you will handle the taxation of your territory as well later on, so would you like to bring one of your attendants with you to learn about it together?”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t think they would be able to understand such a complicated topic, so I’ll just have them wait here for my return.”

“Your attendants can opt to wait for you inside that building then. Of course, they can also opt to stay within your carriage as well.

There was a barracks-like building in the direction Chief Protocol Officer Zard pointed towards. It seems to be a waiting area exclusive to the attendants of nobles visiting the castle.

“We shall wait for our master inside the carriage, sir.”

“I see. Well then, Alan-sama, let us depart.”

I nodded toward Selena and the others and the three of them silently nodded back. At an opportune timing, they would change into the lady-in-waiting uniforms that were stashed inside the carriage and then proceed to infiltrate the underground castle dungeon to conduct the rescue mission.

The room I was led to was the same meeting room I and the baron entered on my first visit.

“Alan-sama, you will now be learning all about court etiquette in the next hour or so. His Royal Majesty will be attending the ceremony later, so we cannot afford any missteps, or the consequences would be dire. It might be difficult for you to learn everything on such short notice, but let us do our best together.

You will also learn all about the conferment ceremony rites and the correct way to carry yourself during the celebration banquet afterward.

After that, you will be assigned to another instructor to learn the knowledge necessary to govern your new territory which will go on from 1 o’clock to 4 o’clock in the afternoon.”

I see. So the reason they called me this early to the castle was to undergo these etiquette lessons and training to become a qualified aristocrat, even though the ceremony will officially start at 4 in the afternoon.

It’s impossible for most people to completely master the etiquette required to not mess up when having an audience with the king in just one hour, and they’d even squeezed in aristocratic training to a mere three hours. Wow. I sure hope they’d hand me written materials or guidebooks later on as well.

“I’ve learned a little in regards to etiquette, so could you confirm if what I’ve learned is correct?”

I proceeded to demonstrate the etiquette knowledge I’d learned from Cleria and Elna to Chief Protocol Officer Zard. Just as I was taught, I pretended that Chief Protocol Officer Zard was the king and gave my greetings.

“Wonderful! Your manners are almost perfect. Just where did you manage to learn all of this from, Alan-sama?

No, this is not the time to be talking about this. I first thought it would be impossible to finish everything within the allotted time, but it looks like we will be able to somehow manage with this.”

Apparently, having me learn court etiquette and aristocratic manners in just one hour was not Chief Protocol Officer Zard’s idea.

Afterward, Chief Protocol Officer Zard straightened up the remaining rough edges of my court etiquette, and the training moved on to how I should behave and respond to others during the celebration banquet.

Fortunately, the entire process of the conferment ceremony had already been strictly arranged, and it seems the king’s lines as well as my own were already pre-arranged as well. They were really short lines too so that sure is a relief.

Since I would already be an officially recognized noble once the celebration banquet begins, it seems I wouldn’t need to perform any particularly complicated manners.

In the first place, I was actually the guest of honor during the celebration banquet. And since I would have just become an official noble by then, I would be forgiven for any gaffes as long as they didn’t seem unbearably rude.

Next would be table manners. They brought in actual food and made me eat them with a knife and fork. I was also taught table manners by Cleria, so I should pass this with no problems as well.

“Alright, that should be fine. Such splendid table manners you’ve shown me. As expected, the person who is the current center of attention in the royal capital truly is of a different caliber. I didn’t think you would truly be able to finish every lesson within just one hour.”

“It’s because of your easy-to-understand explanations.”

“Not at all. And besides, if you made a mistake, later on, I will also be held responsible as well, so I’m really thankful that you are actually so outstanding, Alan-sama.

Truly, thank you very much for being such a quick learner, Alan-sama. Well then, I shall hand you over to your next instructor.”

Whew. Next up is aristocratic lessons huh. It looks like I’ll be studying without any breaks.

–Selena’s POV–

I confirmed that the change in shift of the castle soldiers guarding the entrance to the castle underground dungeon had occurred on schedule through a virtual window and exchanged glances with Sharon. We both nodded in relief.

The surveillance efforts conducted for the past few days revealed that the dungeon guards would change shifts every 13:00 hours, so we concluded that this was probably their regular schedule and that the same thing will also occur today.

If this was their regular shift schedule, then there shouldn’t be any more shift exchanges at least until midnight.

We immediately changed into the lady-in-waiting uniforms hidden inside the carriage and prepared for the rescue operation.