Translator: Reflet

Editor: Weasalopes

「Anyhow, we'd best start by figuring out how to get through this unavoidable upcoming scene.」

「Tomorrow is the only day that we can't do anything about.」

「Right…Well, as long as we come in there fully prepared 'n duke it out, one day ain't nothin' special.」

　Certainly, no matter what they tried, it would be difficult to run away from the audience with n.o.bility, the luncheon meeting afterward, and the evening party. It wasn't like there would be any women trying to find fault with him at the audience with n.o.bility, and only the royalty would be attending the luncheon meeting. As long as they paid attention only to Katrina's speech and conduct, they could probably work something out with the first two. Therefore, the issue lay with the evening party.

「No matter how short we try to cut it, leaving aside the time for greetings and such, we probably have to deal with 30 minutes.」

「We need to know who would follow up during that time…」

「If it were me, it would probably just make things worse. If Haruna or Mio were by his side, I think it'd be a bit better.」

「Yeah. In this case, based on capacity to deal with things, Haruna should be next to him. And this is good for you too, right Haruna? You wouldn't want any half a.s.sed flirty guy approaching you.」

「There's also the old man as a possibility.」

　They all began steadily laying out the best strategies for the upcoming situation. At length, they settled at the conclusion that Hiros.h.i.+, Haruna, and Mio should stick together at all times.

「With all that out of the way, have you guys heard what we're supposed to do later today?」

　With advance arrangements coming to a halt, Makoto brought up the rest of the day's plans.

「I haven't, but aren't we just supposed to not cause any trouble and stay here？」

「Right… In the first place, castles ain't the kinds of places where ya can just carelessly wander around without a guide if yer an outsider, 'n if ya even so much as wander into the wrong place, I don't even wanna know what would happen.」

「And it's that lord we're talking about. He wasn't the kind of person who would leave us out of the loop after all the talking was over, right？」

　Everyone nodded at what Tatsuya had said. This was very possible. In general, Layotte would not explain to them about this event other than what was the minimum necessary for them to know about. Judging from what had happened up till now, he would make use of the ad-lib ability of Hiros.h.i.+ and the others and only discuss what had been leaked to the outside. Sometimes, ignorance was one's greatest defense mechanism.

「Well, it ain't like we're gonna be waitin' for long with no news, so whenever we have free time we can play parliament or concentration or…」

As Hiros.h.i.+ trailed off, there was a knock at the door.

「Yes, come in.」

「Sorry to disturb you.」

　Speaking of the man in question, Layotte was the one who had showed up. Julius was standing behind him as per usual. Hiros.h.i.+ and Mio thought they heard three sets of footsteps, but from what they saw, there were only two people there.

「Sorry to keep you waiting.」

「Don't even worry 'bout it. We just finished talkin'.」

「But this will be a burden on all of you.」

「Even if this is in private, ya don't hafta bow like that, crown prince.」

「But both kings and crown princes must bow when they have to. Especially as you have saved two of our family members.」

　All of a sudden, they heard a third voice from somewhere.

「So Lay going out of his way yesterday to bring back the Stealth Mantle…」

「Yeah, that's exactly it.」

　A middle-aged man with a dignified appearance and st.u.r.dy-looking body appeared before them. You did not have to even look at the shape of his face or the color of his hair to immediately know that this man was Layotte's father, the unmistakable King of Farlane.

「I believe this is our first time meeting. I am the King of Farlane as well as the father of Layotte, Elena, and Aearis: Regnas.」

　All j.a.panese people present did not even know how to react at such an unexpectedly casual appearance of King Regnas, dumbfounded.

「Umm, Your Majesty…、what errand might you have in such a place as this…？」

　Tatsuya fearfully asked this unexpected visitor.

「Please, do not feel the need to be stiff. All I wanted to do was convey my thanks as a parent.」

「Were you not going to do that at the royal reception tomorrow?」

「Do you really think that my true sincerity could be conveyed by taking such a high stance in such a high position?」

「Well, I ain't the king here, so sure you could do that…」

　The j.a.panese people fretted about whether they should ask if Regnas was really okay in the head after the things he had said in response to Tatsuya's doubts.

「Anyhow, we shall not worry about rank in private situations such as these, so as long as you at the very least be courteous as a human being, there is nothing wrong with going about as you always do.」

「You might say that, but…」

「Hiros.h.i.+-dono, was it? Are you not always referring to my son as Lay? Then there is no need to become formal when the king of said country is around either.」

「Well, what you're saying makes sense, but…」

　That was very true. He was already doing things like casually referring to a prince as “Lay”, so by this point it was a little silly to not give the king similar treatment.

「Although if I'm being entirely honest, I feel quite sorry for dragging a benefactor such as yourself into these troublesome matters…」

「Well, we've been long ready for this as soon as we picked up Elle. I don't see a reason for you to worry 'bout it…」

「Still, even so, as both a king and as a parent, it gives me extremely bitter regret to have you forcibly partic.i.p.ating in an event that is the bane of your existence.」

　Hearing the king of a country apologize to him in such a dignified manner, Hiros.h.i.+ found himself panicking.

「Quite honestly, I do believe it to be worthless, but it is customary to reward regular people who have accomplished great deeds with an audience with the king, a luncheon meeting, and an evening party. Although again, I do not in the slightest view this as the correct way to reward you.」

「I have also been particularly doubtful about this "evening party" as of late. It sounds like it was established only to make a laughingstock of ordinary people who have made their way up.」

　In relation to the country's top cla.s.s, this was a rather harsh evaluation. It was pretty clear from this just how they viewed high society.

「Umm, so is that everything you came for？」

　If she let this continue, there would probably be many more negative complaints. Haruna decided to slip in and shoot him a question.

「No, do not worry. The main topic is something else.」

「I seek to inform you all of what to take heed of at the evening party.」

　The king and prince had come all the way here to convey precautions. This didn't make the situation sound very good.

「Firstly, Tatsuydono and Hiros.h.i.+-dono should generally avoid conversing with any females whenever those on our side are not present.」

「Think of it as them getting pregnant just by you talking to them. Tatsuya, you in particular must take care.」

　Being told something so ridiculous, Tatsuya was at a loss for words. Hiros.h.i.+'s face became deathly pale as he understood what he was trying to say.

「I-It's THAT serious?」

　Haruna, just like Hiros.h.i.+, had immediately understood what was meant by that, confirming this with a drawn-back face.

「Indeed. I cannot count the number of times that Layotte has been confronted about recognizing the danger of impregnating women by airborne infection.」

「Yeah, they took advantage of the fact that I can't refuse conversation and just did whatever they wanted.」

「And yer just leavin' it be？」

「Why would I do something like that？」

　Layotte smiled fiercely as he said that in a dangerous tone. Hiros.h.i.+ seriously questioned why he would tell such a lie that could easily be investigated.

「By the way, it goes without saying that Older Brother and Mark also have had similar experiences. Not as much as I, of course.」

「It isn't even as if the princes have had all that much s.e.xual education. How society's standards have fallen.」

　Everyone found themselves aghast at the comments from the two royals. There wasn't even a way to comment on how low the level and disposition of high society was in this world. The current generation of royalty had a strong blood connection, and undoubtedly it would have been difficult to expand their rights and interests without entering into Layotte's or Aearis's factions, but seriously? People should honestly use their heads more.

「For the time being, let me try and take Hiros.h.i.+ out of the venue whenever the opportunity presents itself.」

「I will also leave Ernest and Julius by your side, so please hold out for one hour from commencement.」

「Aye aye.」

「Afterwards, we shall say that I tasked Hiros.h.i.+-dono with various things so that he stays away from the evening party as much as possible.」

「Be as that may, even with Father and I, Big Sister and Aearis, and Big Brother and Mark asking him to do various tasks, I still do not think that he will be able to be absent for the entirety of the evening party. My apologies, but please do ready yourself for such an event.」

「Yup, I know.」

　In all honesty, even in the case of the royalty, they did not really want to send Hiros.h.i.+ out to the evening party. If he actually had the amount of inter-human relation skills that Tatsuya or Haruna did, then that would have been fine, but perhaps because of his gynophobia, Hiros.h.i.+ would often behave in a manner that could be considered rude when meeting someone (especially a female) for the first time. There were quite a few people who wouldn't be able to tell what was rude or what wasn't, so that in itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but on the flipside, there were quite a few ambitious houses that were seeking to bring down the authority of the royal family. They could easily see Hiros.h.i.+'s demeanor as problematic and seek to execute him. That was the troubling state of circ.u.mstances.

　In actuality, with the people who would say those sorts of things and Hiros.h.i.+ put on the scale, Hiros.h.i.+ was overwhelmingly more important, but even for those who understood that, they would not dare to oppose the current royal family, who had no issues other than Katrina. In the first place, by just saying that he could make a Cla.s.s Four Potion, that was enough to surpa.s.s the worth of more than half the n.o.bles, but just how many of them were aware of this?

「Come to think of it, what ever happened to all that involvement with that lizard's tail from when we infiltrated the temple?」

「Unfortunately, we failed at securing the perpetrator. No matter how skilled we may be, I do not think it is possible to do anything when they explode themselves.」

「What about the boss?」

「No dice in that regard either. The only reason we were able to pinpoint the bard as the perpetrator was because they had a lack of facial features, making it difficult to remember who they were if you were to avert your eyes from them for even an instant. As long as the person in question was having tea with Big Sister Katrina and Mark until the event died down, even if we were to confront them about being connected to this, we would be brushed aside.」

　Albeit expected, it seemed that it was indeed the tail of a lizard. Although it was canceled by Hiros.h.i.+, using and discarding a human who could easily use Greater Magic as a tail, their opponent might truly be someone who was well-versed in combat.

「So how far does Ellie's relation with them go?」

「We have already incarcerated one who is thought to be the perpetrator. However, it does seem like it will be a bit difficult to trace their background from there.」

「And why's that？」

「It's simple. It seems that half of the perpetrators didn't even know that they had been dealing with poisonous substances. And we have searched for the people who had handed them the poison, but once again, it seems like the people in question either don't know that they were carrying the poison themselves, or they've vanished without a trace. Honestly, we are at a loss as to how we should deal with the majority.」

　After hearing Layotte's report, all who were present found themselves groaning at the difficulty of the situation at hand.