Chapter 364: The Knight's Banquet
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 364: The Knight's Banquet
Night had fallen on Avalon, a place where it had seemed the sun would never set.
As if a light had been switched off, darkness descended in an instant, and all across Avalon, lights began to shine brightly.
The view of Avalon from the banquet hall's balcony was breathtakingly beautiful.
Magic stones embedded throughout the meadows twinkled like jewels, and the Milky Way, stretched across a clear, cloudless sky, created a picturesque scene.
Just gazing at it seemed to melt away all my anxieties and worries like snow.
And to top it off, I had a glass of wine from the banquet hall.
This was the best moment I’d had since coming to England.
Except for one thing.
“Huu… I concede. I’ll allow you up to five.”
“…?”
“Concubines, I mean. I’ll turn a blind eye if you see other women after we’re married.”
The young lady, who had suddenly opened the balcony door and entered, began spouting nonsense.
It was giving me a headache.
I shot a look at the maid standing behind her, but it was no use.
Seeing her deadpan expression, it was as if she were saying, ‘Let our master do whatever she wants.’
I swallowed a dry laugh.
Who in their right mind would assign such a complacent and dangerous guardian to a spoiled child?
Instead of sighing, I downed the rest of my wine and looked at the young lady.
Honestly, she was ridiculously cute.
I wanted to pull her into a hug and stroke her hair right then and there.
But it absolutely wasn't a romantic feeling.
It was literally like looking at a cute little sister.
I wondered if these damn people in the ducal mansion could possibly understand how my heart dropped every time words like ‘concubine’ or ‘lust’ came out of her mouth.
Of course, from their perspective, I was the strange one.
Pedophilia?
It was illegal, of course, but nobles like that were a dime a dozen.
According to Choi Hyena, men ten years older than me were getting engaged to girls around Lady Ophelia’s age.
Naturally, they weren't committing unspeakable crimes like child pornography or sexual abuse.
These were strictly contracts between families, so they would respect them as individuals and treat them preciously as fiancées.
In other words, in European high society, there was nothing wrong with me getting engaged to the young lady.
If anything, an Eastern mage who wasn't even a noble refusing an engagement to the one and only daughter of the Winchester ducal family wouldn't be looked upon kindly.
But I couldn't care less about that.
No matter what excuses I made, the common sense, morals, and ethics I had built up over the past twenty-one years rejected an engagement to an eleven-year-old girl.
“Huu… My lady.”
I set down my wine glass and looked at her with a rather serious expression.
Her complexion paled slightly.
“D-Don’t tell me five isn’t enough…?”
“…That’s not it.”
I was momentarily flustered by her completely unexpected words, but I denied it firmly.
Even so, the demon of suspicion lurking in her eyes didn't vanish; it remained, fixed on me.
Seeing that, I hesitated for a moment before sending a telepathic message to the maid.
-Could you please give us a moment?
The maid who received the message gave me a meaningful look, then obediently nodded.
I was honestly surprised.
I had expected her to refuse, saying she couldn't.
“My lady, Sir Hyun-woo has asked me to step away for a moment.”
“Huh? R-Really?”
“Yes. It seems he intends to roughly steal your lips and manfully confess his feelings.”
“…Hic?!”
I stared blankly at the maid.
I was once again reminded that the reason an eleven-year-old girl’s views on romance were so warped was because this entire ducal household was insane.
“…That’s enough joking around.”
“My apologies.”
The maid bowed as if nothing had happened and left the balcony.
She didn't go far, though.
She skillfully concealed her presence and was waiting nearby.
She doesn't seem like a knight. An assassin, perhaps? Her level is that of a perfected master. No, since we’re in Europe, I should say she’s a mid-level Aura Expert.
In Hunter terms, she seemed to be about B-rank.
After the maid left, a strange silence fell over the balcony.
Only the music and laughter flowing from the banquet hall quietly filled the space.
I looked at the young lady, whose ears were bright red, and pressed a hand to my forehead.
The master, the servants… does everyone in this household have a talent for driving people crazy?
It seemed the naive young lady, who had believed every word the maid said, needed a bit of gentle handling.
Thud-
I stepped back and perched on the railing.
A cool night breeze blew past.
After a brief pause, I spoke first.
“…It was sixteen years ago, on a day when the snow was falling heavily.”
A story from my distant past began to spill from my lips.
My voice sank of its own accord.
“My parents were killed by a magical beast that came down from the front lines.”
“…What?”
It wasn't a pleasant story to share, but children tend to open up more to those who have experienced similar pain.
So, I decided to briefly pull out an old story I had kept buried in a corner of my memory.
“I became an orphan overnight, but I was lucky enough to be taken in by the head nun and live at an orphanage. If it weren't for her, I would have frozen or starved to death on the streets.”
Even thinking back on it now, those days were a series of harrowing moments.
Sometimes I begged, sometimes I pickpocketed, and sometimes I stole food from shops.
A guilty conscience about my crimes?
I didn't feel a shred of it.
In those days, you could kill a person for a piece of bread, and I survived day by day in a place overflowing with people who would do just that.
There was no such thing as going easy on someone just because they were a child.
Just as a policeman beating a street urchin to within an inch of his life wasn't unique to London, I had seen plenty of kids beaten to death by adults when I was young.
“Life at the orphanage wasn't easy either, but it was at least better than begging on the streets. Plus, thanks to the nuns, I was able to attend high school.”
Middle school was compulsory education, but in reality, there were plenty of kids who couldn't even attend elementary school.
Especially in the slums where I spent my childhood, people who could read were rare.
“There were many children at the orphanage who were around your age, my lady. As one of the older ones, I often looked after them in place of the nuns, playing with them or helping them with their studies.”
It went without saying that once you became an adult, you had to leave the orphanage and become independent.
And as a second-year in high school, I had become the oldest of the orphanage children a little early.
“…Honestly, it would be a lie to say it wasn't a bother, but at least now, I think of those children as my own younger siblings.”
I regularly donated to the orphanage, of course, and also sent the children money for college tuition and living expenses under the guise of an independence support fund.
But that was as far as it went.
To survive in this harsh world, you couldn't rely solely on others.
“Even now, there are two children at the orphanage who are the same age as you, my lady. For the sake of those children, who followed me like a real older brother, I cannot get engaged to you.”
Besides, what would the nuns think if I told them I was engaged to an eleven-year-old?
Of course, both of those girls used to casually say they would marry me, just like Lady Ophelia, but it was just the talk of a child that would eventually be forgotten as if it never happened.
Right now, the young lady might not like my answer, but in time, a day would come when she would be grateful to me.
“So please, forgive my discourtesy, Lady Ophelia.”
“…”
I knelt on one knee before the young lady, who had her head bowed, and gently stroked her hair.
As expected of a duke's daughter, her hair was as soft as silk.
Lady Ophelia was silent for a long time.
But it didn't seem like she was angry.
The proof was that she didn't push my hand away.
Instead, she would flinch every time I tried to pull my hand back, so I had to stroke her hair for nearly ten minutes.
Maybe because it had been a while, but taking care of a child wasn't easy.
*
When I came out of the balcony a short while later, the first person to greet me was the young lady’s maid.
“12 minutes and 27 seconds… Considering foreplay, the time spent on intercourse is a bit short. Of course, it’s an appropriate amount of time considering the young lady’s stamina, but I worry about the future…”
I briskly ignored the maid’s nonsense and hurried toward the banquet hall.
Strictly speaking, this was my debut into high society, and being absent for too long could be a problem in itself.
It was at that moment.
“…Thank you.”
A familiar yet somehow strange voice brushed past my ear.
It was a voice that seemed to hold a complex tangle of various emotions.
“If you’re so grateful, go and take care of the young lady.”
For whatever reason, our young lady hadn't made eye contact with me even once before leaving the balcony.
“I understand. Although wiping away the semen is a bit of a hassle, messing up a cute dress is a fairly common fetish, so you need not worry.”
“…”
Looking at the maid before me, I realized something.
For the sake of the young lady’s mental health, I had to get this bitch away from her as soon as possible.
˙
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Leaving the maid behind, I returned to the banquet hall and slowly looked around.
Against the backdrop of the splendid hall where gentle music flowed, nobles were gathered in small groups, chatting.
At a glance, it was the scene of an ordinary, unremarkable party.
But all of their gazes were fixed on me.
-Is that the Eastern mage the Duke of Winchester personally invited?
-Hmm… His achievements are certainly impressive for his age. But to say he’s good enough to catch the Duke’s eye… I’m not so sure.
-I don’t like that he’s an Easterner, but being a 5th Circle mage at that age isn’t too bad. My third daughter is about ready for marriage; it might be good to connect them.
-Haha, for the prestigious House of Rusleck to accept an Easterner as a live-in son-in-law, isn’t that a bit too generous?
Baronet Sheffield’s advice flashed through my mind.
Just as the thought of returning to the balcony began to fill my head…
That person is…?
I spotted a familiar face in a particularly bustling area.
“There will be a party at our estate next week. It would be a great honor for our family if you would attend, Count Greymont.”
“Around that time, our Lauderdale baronetcy will be holding a party to celebrate the birth of our founding family head. Would you please grace us with your presence?”
“Haha, you people. Won’t you put the Count in a difficult position? Ahem, Count Greymont. When I saw you last, it seemed you enjoyed wine. If you don’t mind, we’re holding a wine tasting at our estate in two weeks. What do you say?”
At the center of the nobles’ fawning gazes stood a handsome, middle-aged man.
“…My apologies. I’m scheduled to be away from England on an overseas expedition for the time being, so it will be difficult for me to attend any parties.”
Richard Thorne Greymont.
He was the man I had met at Baronet Sheffield’s workshop, Sir Lancelot, a member of the Round Table.
I never expected to meet him here.
Well, it is a party hosted by the Duke of Winchester, who holds the title of Merlin, so it’s only natural for him to attend.
The first Merlin wasn't a Knight of the Round Table, but he was a great archmage who assisted the first King Arthur and conquered S-rank Gates alongside the knights.
Some hypothesized that Merlin might have been another identity of the First Tower Lord, Baylion Crowhurst, but since nothing about Baylion, from his birth to his death, was clear, it was never accepted as an established theory.
…Wait a minute.
Suddenly, a rather good idea crossed my mind.
With the Duke of Winchester absent, the highest-ranking person here was, without a doubt, the head of the Greymont family.
The marquis families that held military power rarely attended such events, and in high society, the influence of the Greymont family was greater than that of most marquisates anyway.
Since I had already been introduced to him at Baronet Sheffield’s workshop, there would be nothing strange about me greeting him first at the banquet hall.
And if I was seen having a friendly conversation with such a major figure, the other nobles wouldn't be able to just ignore me.
I’m glad I listened to Hyena’s advice.
I maintained a poker face, but inwardly, I was smiling as I approached him.
But at that moment.
Tiring!
As two men I’d never seen before greeted him warmly, a strange screen popped up in front of my eyes.
[The title, ‘Devil Slayer,’ has discovered the trace of a demon.]