Chapter 70
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 70
The celebratory banquet was grand from the very choice of venue. They had rented the Imperial Banquet Hall, located in the heart of the Upper District of the Capital, Akbaran. Needless to say, not just anyone could rent the Imperial Banquet Hall.
It was a choice that offered a glimpse into the authority wielded by the current Imperial Guard Captain, Heilas, and the prestige the Custoria family had built up over the years.
I moved according to the family's instructions as though swept along by a current. As the guest of honor, I had to pay close attention to my attire, and there was a mountain of information I needed to memorize beforehand.
"Luka, you've memorized all the names of the officials and officers attending tonight, haven't you?"
Giselle asked. I nodded.
"No problem."
Throughout the banquet preparations, Giselle looked after me as if she were my personal aide.
Imperial attire was generally practical, but banquet wear was exceptionally tedious to put on. There was even a specific order in which everything had to be donned.
"And pin the brooch a little further to the left. No—wait, let me do it."
Giselle stepped closer and meticulously adjusted my outfit. I looked down at her, and our eyes met.
We stared at each other for a moment.
I kept my face expressionless. Giselle's was equally devoid of emotion. She resumed working with her hands.
As if to lighten the mood, Giselle parted her red lips.
"...Jupe must be terribly anxious right now. Even though he knew you were talented, he probably never imagined you'd receive the 4th Class Cross Sword Medal while still a cadet. Neither did I."
"I got lucky."
"My, I didn't know you were the modest type."
It wasn't modesty. It was the truth. Without Kinuan, I would have died.
Seeing my indifferent reaction, Giselle went on.
"Jupe will probably mobilize every connection and every ounce of influence he has for this banquet, won't he? He'll do whatever it takes to keep from being overshadowed by your achievements. It should make for quite a spectacle."
No doubt about it. I had run into Jupe several times while preparing for the banquet. He couldn't hide his anxiety—it bled through his every word and gesture.
Unfortunately for him, Jupe was average. He wasn't incompetent, but he wasn't exceptionally gifted either.
Even in such a blessed environment, Jupe failed to produce results.
An Imperial noble couldn't afford to be ordinary like everyone else. They had to possess something truly outstanding. That held even truer when one had a great father.
Nobles, too, had to prove themselves. The bar was simply set a little lower, and they had more opportunities.
"Hmm, this looks excellent. Now you truly look like a young noble master."
Giselle said, taking three steps back.
"Are you saying I didn't look like one before? Everyone in the Lower District used to call me 'young master.'"
"Those caught in the middle are always treated as half-measures. They never fully belong anywhere."
Her words carried a strange, sharp edge. I shrugged.
"I'll take that as advice, then. Thanks."
"It's not advice. It's a fact," Giselle said coldly.
It reminded me of when I first met her. She had never been the gentle, affable type. But then again, neither was I.
Creak.
The waiting room door opened. Right on cue, Heilas walked in.
Giselle tactfully excused herself. She passed by Heilas on her way out, leaving only the two of us in the room.
"Giselle is a clever girl. It's a pity she wasn't cut out to be a soldier," Heilas said as he took a seat. He was a man like a great tree—unwaveringly solid, unshakable. More than fit to be the leader who guided both the organization and the family.
"And she has ambition. She seems to harbor a desire to become the Family Head."
"Haha, that would be difficult. She is not a soldier. Family tradition is far more powerful than you might think, especially for an ancient house. Even the clever Nikolaos suffered many headaches because of those traditions."
I despised such outdated things—tradition, custom, and the like.
"Still, Giselle is better than Jupe. Jupe is a soldier who hasn't earned a single military medal despite his age."
"Haha, one never knows what the future holds. Today is a day to celebrate your achievements. There's no need to be so sharp—though I suppose that edge is one of your strengths."
I glanced at the wall clock. The banquet would begin soon.
"There's one thing I want to ask."
"Go ahead."
"Jupe and I will clash in the future. Regardless of my intentions, he sees me as a rival. If things continue like this, I might end up breaking him. If you want your own son to become the Family Head, tell me now. Tell me to throw the fight and yield to him."
Nikolaos was dead. Now I needed to know Heilas's true intentions. If the role Heilas wanted me to play was merely to spur Jupe's growth, then I intended to stop right there.
"...A Family Head is one who leads and protects their bloodline and household. If a man has that resolve, I do not care who he is. As I see it, both you and Jupe are still lacking. You are not someone who would die for the Custoria family. Do not speak of being the Family Head with such a half-hearted attitude."
Heilas rose calmly and patted my shoulder. Wearing a faint smile, he left the waiting room.
Thud.
The door closed.
I chewed over Heilas's words.
He was right. I wasn't qualified to be the Family Head. I myself defined my identity as an outsider to this family. How could someone meant to be the pillar of the household see himself as an outsider? I had spoken utter nonsense.
And yet, Heilas had never treated me any differently from his other children. If anything, he recognized my abilities more than anyone else and kept me close.
...It made me feel like a petty man, for no good reason.
* * *
The banquet began.
Servants carrying platters of food moved through the hall. They were so well-trained that they never once obstructed a guest's path. Even if someone stumbled about in a drunken stupor, they'd never bump into them.
"A pleasure to meet you, Lucaus Custoria."
A general from a prestigious family looked at me. He was the thirteenth prominent figure I'd met tonight.
My patience was being tested to its absolute limit. There was still a seemingly endless line of people waiting to be introduced and greeted.
"It is an honor to meet you. Your reputation, General, is..."
I didn't even know what gibberish I was spouting. I was uttering words I didn't mean in the slightest. The mechanical lines I'd programmed into my head flowed smoothly past my throat and out of my mouth.
"To hear you say that makes me feel like I'm not quite dead yet. But in the end, I'm just a washed-up old man. You, on the other hand, are the young blood of the Empire..."
Even knowing there wasn't an ounce of sincerity in my words, the nobles before me put on displays of exaggerated emotion. Their theatrical behavior went beyond hypocritical—it was nauseating.
Forcing a smile was giving me a headache.
This sort of thing did not suit my temperament. It would be far easier to line up a column of bastards who wanted me dead, hand them guns and swords, and just fight it out.
Tap.
Heilas placed a hand on my shoulder and murmured softly.
"...Tonight, you are the face of Custoria."
I had to endure this night.
This banquet isn't for me.
It was for the Custoria family. If I truly wanted to become a member of this house, I had to do things I hated.
Heilas, too, had been standing at my side for over an hour, introducing me to high-ranking nobles.
Heilas is a soldier and a warrior by nature.
I had seen Heilas fight once. He had looked ecstatic, as though breaking free from chains that had bound him. He, too, missed the battlefield.
To fulfill his duties and roles as Imperial Guard Captain and Family Head, Heilas has spent decades doing things that go against his very nature.
I followed Heilas toward an elegant terrace.
Even from a distance, the cheerful laughter of men and women drifted over. Nobles stood out on the terrace, enjoying themselves in the cool night breeze. I didn't even need to consult their profiles to know: every one of them had a woman who was not his wife clinging to his arm.
"Oh, the Imperial Guard Captain has arrived."
The man in blue showed not the slightest sign of intimidation, even standing before Heilas.
Hummmmm.
In the palm of the man in blue lay a mineral that glowed with its own light.
Holystone.
I only knew it as a resource with immense military and economic potential.
"Director Jin, this is my son, Lucaus."
Heilas introduced me politely. I recalled the name and title of the man in blue. He was one of the key figures of tonight's banquet.
Director of the Imperial 4th Research Institute, Jin Gau.
The Imperial research institutes conducted various projects under the Emperor's orders. The Machine Beast that Ilay had captured would be housed in one of those facilities.
"So you're the star of tonight's banquet. Ah—more importantly, take a look at this."
Jin Gau's reaction was different from the other nobles. He made no attempt to win my favor. He simply tossed out a casual remark as if he couldn't care less.
Some might have found his manner offensive, but to me—exhausted by the unwanted attention of everyone else—it was a welcome change. Such free-spirited, blunt behavior was far more comfortable.
Heilas merely wore a faint smile, even as Jin Gau treated him like a subordinate.
In truth, Jin Gau's attitude wasn't surprising. He was a giant who had held the position of research director since before Heilas was even born.
An eccentric who, despite being one of the most influential figures in the Empire, had no children and devoted himself entirely to his research.
That was the public consensus.
Whirrrr.
Jin Gau opened his hand, revealing the Holystone. He repeatedly tossed it into the air and caught it.
I didn't even know why the mineral was called Holystone. Ilay would probably know.
"Isn't it fascinating? That something no bigger than a palm can emit enough energy to power a spaceship."
"It is dangerous to keep an unshielded raw stone so close."
Heilas kept his distance, remaining wary.
"It's fine. I applied a thin layer of a newly developed shielding film. Unlike the previous versions, it's in liquid form, which makes it easy to process and highly versatile. Well, it's still in the testing phase, so a bit of energy might leak out, but brief contact won't do any harm."
Hearing Jin Gau's explanation, the surrounding nobles paled and edged backward. Jin Gau chuckled and stood up.
"Bringing a prototype out of the institute is unwise. It's practically a state secret. If there were spies from Kora or Bellato in this banquet hall..."
"Tsk. So young, yet so rigid. Heilas, if we can stably extract energy from the raw stone, everything will change. Everything. And I guarantee you, this research will eventually be conducted jointly by all three nations. Do you know why?"
"How should I know?"
Heilas let his own irritation show. He seemed fed up with Jin Gau's self-indulgent behavior.
"Because I want to see the results before I die!"
"...As healthy as you are, you'll easily live another hundred years."
"Not at all. I won't even last another half-century. I know my own body. My brain has begun to deteriorate. It's not what it used to be."
"I feel like I'm not what I used to be every morning when I wake up."
Jin Gau laughed so hard his shoulders shook.
"I can relate—but that's not what I mean. I am being contaminated. Ah, my girlfriend's here. Anyway, it was good seeing you, Heilas, and... Lukisis?"
"It's Lucaus."
I corrected him. The word 'contaminated' piqued my interest, but I never got to hear the rest of the story. Jin Gau's girlfriend had already come up right behind us.
"I'm back, honey. The automatic bidet in the restroom here is amazing. Between my legs is so fresh and dry right now, I'm sure you'll love—"
A seductive voice tickled my ears from behind. Startled, I whipped my head around.
...The voice was incredibly familiar. And with good reason.
A woman in a dress stood there, lightly holding a wine glass. She began to flash a foxy smile—then her eyes widened slightly as they landed on me.
Both of us were taken aback.
Neither of us had expected to run into the other here.
Martina Diva of La Vie en Rose.
Jin Gau's girlfriend was none other than her.
"Don't waste your time on that again. I prefer a bit of a natural scent to being squeaky clean."
Jin Gau brushed past us and approached Martina. He wrapped an arm around her waist and slid his hand deep inside her dress.