The Welcome Banquet (1)

When Maru introduced himself next, stating his position and name, the Hero's party exchanged astonished glances, each of them confirming once again that this really was not the man they had once known.

"I'm grateful you came out to greet us, Duke Toledo."

"Duke Toledo, our Kingdom of Basilite gives its full support to House Toledo's Eastern Expedition. You must have had a long and arduous journey—please set down your heavy burdens for a while and rest before you go."

"I could not be more delighted by such a warm welcome. How fares His Highness?"

"He has been eagerly awaiting his first meeting with you, Duke. And while you stay with us, there are several grand events that…"

While Maru spoke with Duke Toledo, Kiera simply stared at him, slack-jawed, as if her soul had drifted off somewhere.

Maru, who had grown leaner and more powerfully built than before, stood tall and proud—and never once did he so much as glance her way.

As if they were complete strangers to one another.

Her mind filled with questions.

What could he have done to rise so far?

Off to the side, Yoris was wearing a mischievous grin as he needled Lucy.

"Would you truly squander this heaven-sent opportunity, milady? You said you missed Maru dearly—that you were going to hire a pack mule to fill his place, wasn't it? That you needed someone to take your frustrations out on? Well, there he is. The very man you longed for, right over there. Why not hurry over and at least say hello?"

"Shut up, you trash of a priest! I said that's enough!"

Lucy's face flushed as red as a ripened persimmon, and she hurled curses at Yoris. And yet, even in the middle of it, her expression was bright.

She snickered and sniffled quietly, careful that no one else would see, a bashful smile playing on her lips.

"This is Hero Kiera. Please, exchange greetings."

Duke Toledo gestured courteously toward Kiera, who stood behind them.

Maru spared her a brief look before dismounting his horse. He stepped close and pressed a light kiss to the back of her hand.

"We welcome your visit, Lady Hero. Please rest well before you depart."

"Have you some connection to this place?"

Perhaps out of sheer curiosity, Kiera's question carried a faint note of urgency. Maru only offered a faint smile.

"I'm afraid personal questions are out of bounds. Then, if you'll excuse me."

Maru turned away, glancing toward Duke Toledo.

"From this moment, my subordinates and I will attend to your every need."

"Now, hold on a moment!"

Josef approached on horseback, extending a hand.

"I am Josef, eldest son of Duke Toledo. Surely I'm owed a greeting as well."

"Of course. Thank you for coming all this way. Let's be off, everyone."

After brushing through the greeting as briefly as courtesy allowed, Maru swung back up into his saddle.

"Follow me, if you would. Knights! Escort our honored guests!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Two hours later, on a cozy spring afternoon drenched in gentle sunlight, the inner courtyard—built around a single magnificent tree—had been turned upside down by a mountain of luggage. All of it belonged to House Toledo.

Servants bustled to and fro, sorting the baggage, while Maru moved among them inside the courtyard, issuing instructions as he sized up one situation after another.

"Which building exactly does 'guest keep' refer to?"

When a servant laden with a heavy pack came over to ask, Maru turned to one of his subordinates nearby.

"Go with him and show him the way."

"Sir!"

The moment the two of them left, someone else appeared—this time a retainer of House Toledo, carrying two great bundles of straw bound with rope, one in each hand.

"What do you mean Paradise Grass can't be brought in? Is there a nation anywhere that doesn't smoke this stuff?"

"This one. Light it here and it's an execution offense. Men—confiscate it."

"Yes, sir!"

"N-no, wait! How am I supposed to survive that grueling journey without it!"

"We'll hold it for you and return it when you depart. This paper lists all prohibited items, so if you're carrying anything on it, I'd ask you to surrender it voluntarily."

"Good heavens, what a persnickety kingdom."

The retainer took the paper, shaking his head all the while, and trudged off—only for Josef to appear in his place.

"I say, you do remember me, don't you?"

"That would be Lord Josef, yes?"

"Quite right. Sharp mind you have there. Hahahaha."

"What brings you here?"

"Well, now. I've been looking over the rooms, and the one our Hero is to use is dreadfully modest—far too cramped. So here's my thought: might you see fit to give her the largest chamber in the royal palace?"

Maru shook his head.

"The lodgings provided to distinguished guests of the palace are fixed by protocol. They cannot be changed."

"Come now, let's be flexible about this. This is the Hero we're speaking of—the Hero the whole world knows. Surely you can't offer her such shabby treatment? What if she goes about grumbling later that her stay in the Kingdom of Basilite was insufferable?"

"She would pay it no mind. I'll say it once more: the chambers reserved for honored guests are fixed. I apologize for any inconvenience, and I ask for your understanding."

"Ha. What a maddening fellow."

Josef laughed as if the whole thing were beneath him, then rolled his shoulders with a subtly arrogant air.

"Listen carefully, then. House Toledo is spoken of as the true power behind the Kingdom of Rupalum."

"So I have heard."

"Then you ought to read the room, oughtn't you? If we are treated well, relations between Rupalum and Basilite will only flourish—"

While Josef droned on at length, Maru quietly beckoned a subordinate and had him fetch pen and paper.

"Winning the approval of House Toledo, you see, means winning the approval of the Kingdom of Rupalum itself. And Rupalum will in turn endorse Basilite, and the King of Basilite will shower you with praise and lavish rewards, and you will go down in this nation's history as a man remembered for all time and… hm? What are you writing there?"

"Ah, pay me no mind. Please, do carry on."

Maru had bent a subordinate into the shape of a letter 'L', spread the paper across his back, and was scribbling away with great diligence. Josef drifted closer to peer over the page, and tilted his head at the words scrawled across the very bottom.

"Addressee: the Noble Ethics Review Committee of the Kingdom of Rupalum…?"

His gaze ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠slid up the page.

"I swear on my name I never said any such thing!"

Josef tore the paper to shreds, ripping it apart with both hands.

Maru spoke, a glimmer of amusement on his face.

"You kept insisting so stubbornly that I thought I'd have a little fun. In any case, the room cannot be changed. Every person here has been assigned lodgings appropriate to their station, after proper deliberation. I ask that you accept that."

"To toy with me like this—what insufferable insolence! I shall go to Prince Edward himself, your direct superior, and demand you be punished!"

"Do as you please."

"Hmph!"

Josef stormed off, grumbling under his breath, and Maru returned to the work at hand.

"Keep people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of that area over there."

"Yes, sir!"

At that very moment, Kiera was making her way along an open-air corridor that connected one building to another. She had been walking beneath the arched awning of the covered walkway when she spotted Maru in the courtyard below, working alongside his subordinates—and her steps stopped without her willing it.

"……"

Look at him again and again, and he had still changed so much.

The body that had always been hunched forward in a permanent crick of the neck now stood straight and true, its frame carved and solid in a way it never used to be.

And that confident voice. That bright laughter he lavished on his men.

This was not the Maru of a few months ago.

He had changed beyond recognition.

Curiosity stirred in her, unbidden. She wanted to ask what had made him this way—and how on earth he had climbed so high.

If you have money and power, I'd be willing to see you again, you know. We always got along well, you and I.

Drawn forward before she realized it, she set her foot inside the courtyard—when someone caught her eye on the second floor of a building overlooking it. Kiera recoiled a step, purely on instinct.

Then she watched in silence.

"Captain of the Guard, for the banquet this evening—His Highness's table will seat Duke Toledo and his eldest son, plus the four of the Hero's party. Just those, correct?"

"Right. Add one more seat for the knight commander on that side."

"Oh—one more chair to prepare, then. Understood."

Maru stood with both hands pressed to the small of his back, watching contentedly as a subordinate dashed off on some errand.

Then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠quite suddenly, something fluttered down onto his head.

He picked it up and examined it: a pink handkerchief with a lovely fragrance.

"Excuse me~ Knight standing down there, oh so stiff and dignified~"

When Maru looked up in puzzlement, Audrite was leaning out of a second-floor window, beaming brightly down at him.

"Forgive the imposition, but that's my handkerchief. Would you bring it up to me?"

"This one?"

Maru held the handkerchief high.

"Did you drop it on purpose, by any chance?"

"I certainly did not~"

"It certainly seems like you dropped it on purpose."

"I dropped it by accident, I assure you~"

"Hmm~ I'm terribly busy at the moment; climbing all the way up there would be a chore. Couldn't I simply keep it?"

"Absolutely not. That's an expensive silk handkerchief~"

"Even better. I've been wanting something expensive myself."

"You're impossible! Come up and I'll give you something even nicer~"

"Really? There's something nicer? Then I suppose I'd better come along."

Maru broke into a broad grin and started walking toward the open-air corridor.

In that instant, Kiera stumbled backward in alarm—then froze. She caught herself, reassembled her composure, and simply stood there as though nothing had happened.

Secretly, she found herself hoping to see how he would react when he passed. But Maru never so much as glanced at her; he swept right on by and disappeared into the building.

"…Is he ignoring me?"

Could he have resolved to pretend he didn't know her?

Who is that woman?

Ever since reuniting with Maru, the questions would not stop coming.

Kiera lifted her eyes to the second floor. Through the wide-open window she could see Maru meeting the woman.

The two of them chatted merrily, laughter flowing without pause.

The woman laughed along at everything he said, and she was remarkably forward about it.

One look was enough: that woman was hanging off Maru like some simpering flirt.

And somehow, inexplicably, the sight left a sour taste in her chest.

"I hate how well you two seem to be getting along…"

Kiera quietly bit her lower lip.

When evening came, the royal palace was thick with the scent of roasting meat, fresh-baked bread, grilled fish—every aroma of a feast, all tangled together in the air.

The welcome banquet was being held in a vast hall. Since the King himself was hosting, every noble residing in the capital attended without exception, and the banquet hall thronged busier than it ever had before.

To the lilting music of the court orchestra, everyone wore expressions of delight—everyone, that is, save one lone mage who could not manage a single smile.

That mage was Lucy.

Her attention had drifted far from the lavish spread before her. All through the banquet, she did nothing but stare blankly across the hall at Maru in the distance.

Should I go over and tell him I'm sorry…?

That afternoon, when she had crossed paths with Maru again, it had felt like meeting an old childhood friend—so warm, so welcome, that she had wanted to run straight to him and speak.

Mutt~ how have you been all this time?

But in the end, she hadn't.

The past had snagged her by the ankles.

She was still regretting everything she had ever done to Maru.

Ooh, the guy's heading to his hometown and he's gonna get grabbed by bandits and die. Hahaha.

Their parting scene kept surfacing in her mind, and Lucy heaved sigh after sigh.

"I was the demon, wasn't I…"

During the period when Kiera had lost the Hero's Power, Lucy had agonized as her comrade, and weathered accusations from the people besides—why isn't the Hero showing herself?—and through it all, she had matured a great deal.

Now, having lived alongside Kiera ever since Maru left, something about the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hero felt wrong to her, deep in her heart.

Is Kiera really the Hero? A woman whose surface and soul don't match, like a flower with poison in it—is that the Hero? That's not the righteous Hero I always believed in. A true Hero should have… should have persuaded the rest of us, even fought us if she had to, and embraced that pathetic excuse for a man Maru used to be, and held him close.

Only now was Lucy finally beginning to understand what justice truly meant.

"Still… beating someone down all together like that was kinda fun, though."

Only half beginning to understand, that is.