Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Saving the Kingdom
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They say a kids' fight can turn into an adults' brawl.
The petty squabble between the rank-and-file knights of the Sword Family and the Shield Family had steadily ballooned in scale before anyone knew it.
"Haha, Sir Beskin. You've gotten awfully arrogant in the time we haven't seen each other."
"Haha, and you, Sir Lennon? Isn't your oversight of your knights a bit lax?"
"No, no. The one who can't manage his men is you. Taking in a lowly lycanthrope as a knight? Are you in your right mind?"
Before long, the two proud knights who represented their families' entourages appeared and launched into a barbed conversation.
"What... Are you saying we can take that as an insult to the Shield Family?"
Beskin's eyes began to chill.
He loved the Shield Family and brimmed with infinite pride in it.
So he couldn't just let Lennon's remark slide.
"I don't know when stating facts became an insult, but that's up to how you take it, isn't it?"
Sir Lennon showed no sign of yielding to Beskin as he ramped up his intensity.
The situation was one spark away from exploding.
"What's going on?!"
"What happened?"
Just as it was about to blow, Victor and I rushed over after hearing the news.
"Third Young Master, the thing is..."
Beskin explained to me.
'Oh man, seriously. Not a single peaceful day.'
Just two days ago, I'd saddled Victor—no, the Sword Family—with a debt to keep things quiet while I painted.
Why couldn't even one day pass without drama?
Victor had apparently gotten the rundown from Lennon in a whisper too, because moments later, he walked over to me after separating from Lennon.
And he bowed.
"Sorry. I apologize."
"...?!"
"Y-Young Master? What in the..."
Lennon stammered, shocked by Victor's unprecedented behavior—something he'd never seen in his life.
Who was Victor?
The heir to the kingdom's greatest house.
A man who treated even Prince Julius lightly was apologizing!
And to a bug from the Shield Family, no less.
"Shut it, Lennon."
Lennon straightened up immediately at Victor's icy words.
He could sense from Victor's curt reply that he was displeased with the situation too.
Victor, having silenced the Silver Eagle Knights led by Lennon, slowly approached me and muttered,
"The prince has gone quiet."
"Well, yeah. You probably guessed as much."
"...Don't think I'll thank you just because he shut his mouth."
I just shrugged at Victor's words.
"What, you think I did it for you? It was all for my own gain, so don't worry about it."
"Hmph."
Victor snorted, turned on his heel, and bellowed at the Silver Eagle Knights.
"We're leaving!"
The Silver Eagle Knights followed Victor's order without a hint of protest.
This alone showed the extent of his grip on the Sword Family and his standing within it.
As Victor brought up the rear of the knights, he suddenly stopped, turned back, and said to me,
"This retreat? It's a one-time thing."
Yeah, figures.
I shrugged again in lieu of a reply.
"Third Young Master? What exactly is going on?"
Beskin, who had watched the whole thing, asked in bewilderment from my side.
From his perspective, it must have looked like someone utterly unlikely had done the unthinkable.
"...Who knows. Maybe he's turned over a new leaf."
The matters involving Drake and the Olivia territory were still top secret.
Regrettably, I couldn't tell anyone.
Someday, when time passed, another chance would come.
"Grrr. Sorry, human."
On the way back, Baukalrak spoke in a rare subdued tone, his ears and tail drooping as he expressed remorse with his whole body.
'Kinda cute, actually.'
"It's fine. This festival is a real ordeal for the escorts anyway."
For dynamic types like lycanthropes, it must have been especially tough to endure.
But wait.
A sudden question popped into my head, and I addressed Baukalrak again.
"By the way, why are you so desperate to get stronger? You're already pretty tough."
Lycanthropes were a race whose physical prowess overwhelmed other species.
That innate power made them insufferably arrogant.
For such a race to seek training from others—let alone humans who had tried to enslave him.
At first, I'd chalked it up to curiosity.
But seeing his diligent training, his endurance through this boring festival, and his eagerness to train with the knights...
I could tell Baukalrak's desire to grow stronger was genuine.
"Grrr. To protect the pack."
Baukalrak's answer was completely unexpected.
"Huh?"
Were there monsters in the Dragon Mountains that could threaten proud wolf lycanthropes?
'Sure, individuals maybe, but nothing that could threaten a whole pack.'
As if reading my doubt, Baukalrak continued.
"Grrr. I get your curiosity."
Wariness flickered in Baukalrak's eyes.
"A new star has emerged, shaking the mountains' ecosystem. It grows so fast, we couldn't handle it."
Baukalrak said with resolute eyes.
"I plan to get stronger and stop it. Expanding territory is fine, but it can't invade our pack."
Pretty commendable thinking.
"Alright, fine. Train hard, and good things will come. Though street chicken skewers won't make you stronger."
The surrounding Blizzard Knights chuckled at my words, and Baukalrak's face flushed red.
"Graaah! There's nothing else to do here but eat! Rest is training too—training!"
"Yeah, yeah."
I brushed off the exchange with Baukalrak nonchalantly.
Little did I know, in the not-too-distant future, I'd regret not taking that conversation more seriously.
Once the hectic break with its minor conflict ended, the royal family finished preparations to resume the Debate of the Forum, the festival's final event.
Some nobles grumbled that the hunt was already over—why drag it out?
But my relationship with Julius during this festival had proven the royal family's power was no joke, so most joined without complaint.
"Ugh, this event is so boring."
Saladin, attending the Debate of the Forum with me, stretched with a yawn before it even started.
"Same here, so I get it. But hey, about that thing with Princess Seira during the hunt... you really won't spill?"
Saladin's face twisted mid-yawn at my words.
"F-Fuck! I told you nothing happened—why keep prying like that? I didn't even have my Heterogenous Power back then!"
True. Back then, Saladin was just a powerless doll pervert.
But still.
This prickly reaction, like a hedgehog bristling its quills...
'Something's definitely up.'
Look at him now—eyes darting slyly. There was something, for sure.
"Did Princess Seira spank you in the woods or something? If nothing happened, why hide it and make me more curious?"
I'd tossed it out as a teasing jab, expecting his usual cat-like 'Kyaaak!'
But holy hell.
"......"
Incredibly, Saladin just sat there, face beet red, saying nothing.
What the—?
"You... don't tell me you actually...?"
"W-Why?! What?!"
We were one step from a shocking truth that sank my wildest imaginings.
Fortunate—or unfortunate—the prince and princess entered the hall right then.
"Apologies, everyone. Our poor preparations dimmed the spirits of so many nobles at this grand festival."
Snap!
With a brief apology and finger snap from Prince Julius, a long cloth descended from the ceiling.
Only two characters adorned it.
Saving the Kingdom.
The Debate of the Forum's theme.
"Saving the Kingdom...?"
"Why that as the topic?"
Knights and mages who'd scored in the hunt looked puzzled.
With no unrest from the northern Holy Empire, the kingdom felt secure.
But bureaucratic nobles, stars of these debates, hardened their faces gravely.
"Whoa, they picked a real headache."
Seizing the chance to pivot from the princess talk, Saladin jumped in.
'Right, he's from a bureaucratic house too.'
I kept forgetting amid his usual image, but Saladin hailed from Viscount Edwin's renowned bureaucratic lineage.
The bureaucrats' grim expressions stemmed from the theme's complexity.
Saving the Kingdom. Simple on the surface, but perspective made all the difference.
What part of the kingdom was in crisis?
Where was it vulnerable?
How to overcome it?
Everyone views the world through their own lens.
This tested the young nobles' insight for the next era, raw and unfiltered.
Knight and mage nobles couldn't read between the lines anyway.
Bureaucrats knew the subtext, hence their tension.
Unlike the hunt, Prince Julius had set the stage for bureaucrats to shine.
"This time, you're done f—wait, what the hell? Why are you grinning like a smug bastard?"
Saladin blurted, flustered, as he eyed me—someone who'd shone in the hunt.
And rightly so, because facing the theme, I was...
Smiling.
I'd caught the subtle aid Prince Julius was sending my way.
'You went to some trouble, Your Highness.'
For a split second, our eyes met, and Julius seemed to smile faintly.
"Since the hunt fizzled due to our misstep, I chose a theme for deep, varied discussion."
Snap!
Julius snapped again, and an attendant handed him a box deferentially.
Opening it revealed a faintly blue-tinged, dazzling white metal.
Mithril. Even major nobles had gear coated in it.
Our family alone had mithril merely coated on Sir Arandal's famed sword.
Slathering it thick on Mimi and Nene made Saladin a madman.
Anyway.
The prince's box held ten ingots of mithril.
Enough for a solid mithril weapon.
He wouldn't display it for nothing.
'Smart move. Upholds royal prestige and handles my request.'
Saving the Kingdom.
That absolute premise demanded out-of-the-box thinking.
Naturally, recruiting those with Heterogenous Powers could come up again.
It would soften others' wariness toward such power holders.
Plus, gifting that much mithril solo showed the royals' strength.
'And if I win it...'
For Julius, zero downside.
Sure enough, he declared as expected.
"The hunt may have ended tamely, but we can't ruin this festival! To the one showing the deepest insight on this theme, I grant this box!"
"......!!"
Expected, but announced from the prince's lips, nobles' eyes changed instantly.
Civilians and martial alike.
"Debate on the theme: final day of the Forum, in six days!"
With Prince Julius's closing words, the Debate of the Forum began.