The Baronage Conferment Ceremony
A month had passed since the Cyclops destined for delivery to the royal palace was finally completed. The arena, which had lately been repurposed as a live training ground for golems, was now packed with people dressed in formal attire.
At a glance, it looked like another duel had broken out at the academy and folks had gathered to watch. But the reality was entirely different. With the flag symbolizing the king planted firmly in the arena, this was no mere academy dueling ground.
Once the date was set, the academy professors had spent two full days transforming the arena into something fit for a royal banquet—lavish and grand. At the highest seat loomed a canopied pavilion, where Prince Gilford Rex Vespa and a few others sat within. The fluttering Vespa Kingdom flag right beside it made their status obvious enough.
Just below and outside it, Noel Nexia and Erica Phoenix sat quietly in their finery, surrounded by every high noble who could possibly attend. Nearby, people in white formal robes—likely sent from some church order—stood in neat formation, while Mina Christa and a couple of other women sat in resplendent gowns.
Further down, academy students had been fully mobilized, along with local residents, filling every seat to capacity. The royal guard maintained strict security, and the professors lined up in outfits symbolizing their stations.
Soon, the arena gates creaked open, and the Cyclops began to move slowly.
"That's the one for the palace..."
"I heard it's no different on the outside from the ones we've been selling."
"The internals are what's different, apparently. They beefed it up assuming knights would pilot it..."
As murmurs rippled through the crowd, the Cyclops delivered to the palace moved silently. Its massive frame, emblazoned with the royal crest on the shoulder to mark it as crown property, glided smoothly. Mass-production-ready equipment was mounted securely all over, unmoving despite the motion.
Then the opposite gate opened, and illusion-spawned monsters burst forth. Without hesitation, the Cyclops unleashed the Rodellini Machine Gun on them, swinging its axe into the fray.
When a colossal one-eyed giant illusion appeared, it triggered Overload right away, grappling the foe, hoisting it up, and hurling it aside in a flawless demonstration.
Finally, it knelt toward the royal pavilion, paying its respects.
Admiring gasps echoed from the stands at the Cyclops's fluid motions. The knight piloting it for the demo nodded approvingly and followed his comrades out. Then, a man standing right by the royal canopy waved the flag high and bellowed,
One of the spectator entrance gates swung open immediately. Aizen walked the laid-out red carpet, clad in the formal attire Noel and Erica had insisted on—no compromises.
Today of all days, he couldn't goof around or crack jokes; they'd warned him not even to speak, so despite the discomfort, he kept a straight face and strode obediently.
He followed the crimson path between the stands, then slowly ascended the stairs.
Right, so the symbolism is the new titled noble walking through the ranks of the established ones to take the lowest seat among them...
Noel had explained all the etiquette and history, but simply put, it felt like making a new hire introduce themselves in the middle of the office.
The newly titled noble walks among the kingdom's peers to show their face and name, swears loyalty to the crown, and the king bestows the title. Something like that.
By the time he'd traversed the full length, only the ornate canopy lay ahead.
Through its gap, he glimpsed the queen, veiled to conceal her face, and Prince Gilford—whose dumbstruck expression was by now familiar. In the center sat a black-haired man wearing a resplendent crown.
A man who looked young for middle age, yet worn by a few hard years, smiled softly down at him.
Aizen assumed the proper posture, and the court mage serving as master of ceremonies spoke up at once.
In truth, there'd been backroom deals and haggling aplenty, but publicly, it was framed as Aizen voluntarily crafting and donating the Cyclops to strengthen the palace's forces—a meritorious act.
Titled nobles had to be patriots, by law, so this was a demonstration of patriotism. In short, his tinkering was recast as the deeds of a fervent young noble earning his title through service to the realm.
Bluntly admitting I just built it 'cause I wanted to would've had the guards drawing swords on the spot, so Aizen stayed mum.
This was nominally a safeguard—inviting unknown crimes to be aired before the king. But predictably, it was meaningless.
"We honor His Majesty's decision."
The deal was done long before. A scripted show.
Kingdom etiquette was some exhausting nonsense.
A tedious procession followed, with high nobles rising to offer congratulations and praise—all ultimately blessing his future.
"The Saras Church, through its Second Saintess, declares its respect for the king's decision."
A woman of higher standing than Mina stepped forward as the church's rep.
"The knight order supports the royal will."
"The academy stands with it as well."
More representatives voiced support in turn.
Then King Danimus rose and approached.
"Your Majesty, what...?"
Do as the king says, then. Aizen lifted his gaze. Murmurs of surprise rippled around, but he'd done nothing wrong.
As King Danimus looked down, he spoke calmly.
"You have achieved much despite harsh beginnings. We ask but one thing."
His face seemed brighter than before, somehow.
"I can."
The king smiled, satisfied. He snatched the ceremonial sword from his attendant almost rudely and raised it high.
"I, Danimus Rex Vespa, do hereby proclaim it myself in this place!"
The surroundings grew restless.
"In the king's name, I bestow upon Aizen Arclight the title of baron!"
"His Majesty himself...?"
Commotion erupted everywhere, and Aizen felt a veiled woman in the canopy glaring daggers. Thus was born Baron Aizen Arclight.
The ceremony wrapped up amid quite the uproar. Once Aizen changed out of the formal wear in the waiting room and emerged, the usual crew approached.
He spotted the ever-poised Noel with her gentle smile, the bubbly Erica, and the inscrutably grinning Mina—but all three looked genuinely shocked, chatting animatedly until they spotted him and hurried over.
Noel spoke first. "...That was extraordinarily irregular. For His Majesty to close the ceremony himself."
"That rare, huh?" Aizen had zero clue.
Noel nodded. "Normally, the king doesn't utter a single word. It's all handled by proxies. Why on earth..."
For earldoms and up, a royal speech was scripted, but baronies were just entry-level nobility—no need for the king to bother, usually.
Whatever the reason, it had caused a massive stir.
"Either way, worth celebrating, I suppose..."
"Politically, this'll ripple huge."
"Cut me some slack."
Politics made him sick, thanks to the Abatus count family.
Noel, knowing his fatigue all too well, just nodded.
"At any rate, you're a baron now. Congratulations, Baron."
"Legally, regardless of our families, we're supposed to show you proper respect now, you know? Baron?"
"Wanna try it? Baron?"
"Knock it off; it's awkward."
Mina teased right away, but just laughed it off when he shut it down.
As the area buzzed chaotically, Noel said quietly, "Shall we get going, then?"
She pulled a scroll-like item from her bag. Supposedly pricey...
"Stick around, and we'll get bombarded with invites to banquets and parties. Better to slip away."
"Noel suggesting we bail? That's wild."
She usually urged facing political stuff head-on. But this time... yeah, because of those guys.
"Royal events demand attendance, but this is the academy arena. It's basically 'nice to see you after so long'—no real obligation."
The ceremony was supposed to be at the palace, but with the palace Cyclops demo, they'd shifted it here. Thus, optional.
"Plus, those gatherings would be less congratulations and more probing. No need to put you through that."
"...Thanks."
Noel smiled, soon joined by grins from Erica and Mina.
Erica asked softly, "Teleport scroll, huh? Haven't seen one in ages. Even Dad avoids them unless it's dire."
"Lucky break," Noel murmured. "Destination: Arclight Territory. Not your hometown, but the territory you'll be granted."
"It's not really a territory—just some abandoned land repurposed as one now. They slapped 'Arclight Territory' on it."
"So now Vespa Kingdom has two Arclight Territories."
Sounded messy, but apparently common here. Usually, rival kin squabbled over the family name's legitimacy without changing it. Time sorted it eventually, with folks distinguishing informally till then.
"This country's admin even remotely okay?"
"Lots to weigh. They leave it be. The original Arclights had no title, and you're now head of the new Arclight barony line. Families on good terms would've coordinated, but... not the case. Time'll handle it."
Weird to his sensibilities, but his land would officially be "Arclight Barony" or similar—clear enough.
"Call it New Arclight Territory for now."
"Er... that's up to you, my lord."
Noel smiled vaguely and let it slide.
Mina added quietly, "The tech demo unit and your Cyclops are already shipped there. Our gear too."
They'd considered ditching stuff, but with all the outsiders, Mina had fretted over nosy types snooping. The territory had a factory anyway—visit inevitable.
Plan: duck out while politics boiled over.
"It'll be noisy for a while. Let's go."
Aizen resolved to hole up tinkering quietly.
"Departing."
Noel activated the scroll, and the four of them were sucked away.
A short distance away.
"As expected, they're off. Good call judging that Nexia duke's girl might skip the fatigue banquet and bolt with the baron."
"With Noel attached, I figured as much—and spot on."
A man with a mischievous grin directed his subordinate.
Watching Aizen's group vanish via teleport, he murmured, "Looks fun. Let's tail 'em."
"Leave the grunt work to me."
His man moved with a resigned shrug.
"Let's see what you're up to, Arclight Baron."
Vespa's king, Danimus Rex Vespa, set off in pursuit.