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Chapter 54 – Staying in the Royal Capital 2: Appointment Ceremony (Makyo)
The day of the appointment ceremony.
It seems that an escort is needed to enter the castle, so Sasha came with me.
“I’m sorry about yesterday. After that, all the soldiers tried, but none of them were as good as the Margrave. Please train them next time.”
“Yes, no, that’s fine. How will I pay for the sword?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s a consumable item.”
We talked about this in the carriage, and soon we arrived at the castle. I should have looked around the city a bit more.
The castle was incredibly large, and I was just overwhelmed and nervous. A guide took me to the back of the castle.
Everything inside, from the pillars to the floor, was shining. I think my family home could be built with just the stone floor. I felt bad stepping on it.
I was taken to a waiting room and made to wait until it was time. I was so nervous that I was sweating profusely. I wanted to take a bath in the river.
When the appointment ceremony began, I was led into the hall by the knight who had come to tell me.
There were many men and women in the hall, dressed as if they belonged to the nobility, and in the back, there was a luxurious high-backed chair.
A thin, middle-aged man with piercing eyes was sitting there. The King of the Kingdom of Estinia had no beard, and his long white hair was very impressive.
I stood on the carpet above the round cross symbol. A man who looked like a minister was saying something, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying because of the sound of my own heart.
The king stood and raised his ceremonial sword, so I dropped to one knee and bowed my head. I had learned that much from Warren.
Then the king placed the sword on both my shoulders and said, “I appoint you Margrave.” I was officially appointed the Margrave of the demonic land.
“What a hassle. Really…”
I couldn’t hear the sounds around me, but the words the king murmured after the declaration remained in my ears.
After the appointment ceremony, the king sent the nobles out of the room, leaving only the ministers, and stared at me.
“I see, you pretend to be normal, but your strength and magic power… Perhaps it is the way of the world that the lost family survives.”
The king said something I didn’t understand and waved his hand at me.
When I approached as I was told, the king also stood up and led me into a room that looked like an office adjacent to the hall.
In the office room was a map of the territory of the Kingdom of Estinia. The capital was drawn in the west, East Kenya in the east, and the demonic land was painted gray. Beyond that, there was a little bit of the sea and the land of the demon race. This was the birthplace of Cher.
“The Kingdom of Estinia is long from east to west. The demonic land that is your territory is a region that borders three countries: the land of the elves in the north, the land of the demon tribe across the sea in the east, and the land of the birdman tribe in the south. It is also a key point for the defense of the east.”
The king explained as he looked at the map.
I have only been as far south as the desert, so there is a possibility that the birdman tribe will attack us.
“Is something wrong?”
The king asked, noticing my expression.
“No, I’ve only been as far as the desert in the south, and I was wondering if the birdman tribe might attack us.”
“I see. Have you found anything in the desert?”
“A flying island chained to the ground, I think. There were signs that people had lived there, but there was no one there.”
“So it’s just like the legend says. Did you find anything in the demonic land?”
The king leaned forward and asked.
“What else? Oh, I found something like a pendant with a thunderbolt design on it. I don’t know about the ruins. There was an underground lake to the north, and the skeleton there also had the same pendant.”
“Did you bring it with you?”
“Oh, no, I left it in the demonic land…”
“I see. Is it a pendant like this?”
With that, the king took a doughnut-shaped pendant with a thunderbolt design out of his pocket.
“Ah, yes! It’s probably the same one.”
“As I thought!”
“What exactly is this design?”
“It is considered to be the ancient royal family crest. However, it’s also considered to be the crest of a family with dragon blood. It seems that I have dragon blood as well. Maybe that’s why I seem to see people’s abilities as weak. Looking at you, I understand.”
“Is there something wrong with me?”
I asked, looking at my own hands.
“Yes. It’s not as strange as it sounds. If you put your all into it, you could probably twist Warren’s head with one hand. You’ve met Warren, right?”
There is no way I could do something as horrible as twisting the head of the army with one hand, and I don’t have the strength for such a joke. It would be a joke unique to the king. It is difficult to find a great man who can make a joke.
“Yes, I am also indebted to his younger brother.”
“Oh, the boy who doesn’t get along with others was on the frontier? Their mother is also a member of a dragon-descended family, although it is a branch family. If you look at history, many dragon-descended families have been bewitched by the demonic land. However, all of them ended in failure.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It is said that the demonic land was once home to the dragon city of Midgard. My family has been searching for this lost city for a long time.”
Hel said that Midgard was a city in the demonic land, but it was also the dragon city?
“The whole family is going? That sounds like a big undertaking.”
It sounds difficult because they won’t be able to excavate the ruins if a “giant monster” appears.
“How long ago was this dragon capital?”
“For the past 900 years, no clan or country has been able to rule the demonic land. It must have been before that.”
Huh? What? Is that so?
“Is there anything that feels strange?”
“Well, come to think of it, I was wondering how the war with the demon tribe’s country that supposedly happened over 100 years ago was fought.”
“That’s a good point. How did the Estinia Kingdom, which did not rule over the demonic land, fight a war with the demon tribe’s country? I need to tell you some of the secrets of the royal family, but you’re already a margrave, so I’ll tell you as if you were one of us.”
“Is that okay?”
The minister, who had been listening, asked the king.
“That’s all right. It seems that he also found this pendant with the thunderbolt pattern, so he’ll find out sooner or later.”
A royal secret? Maybe I’ll be killed if I reveal it. I don’t really want to know.
“First of all, the Kingdom of Estinia and the Demon Kingdom are not at war.”
“What? Is that so?”
“Yes. A hundred years ago, during my grandfather’s reign, three adventurers accidentally fell from the sky.”
“With two retainers.”
The minister added.
“There were five of them in all, and they were all different races. They said they were investigating the demonic land. They also said that the demon tribes attacked them with ships from the eastern sea, and they crushed them. In other words, five people defeated an army of demon tribes.”
“Five people defeated an army?”
“Didn’t you also defeat the army of East Kenya with five people? Warren told me that.”
“That’s right, I guess.”
I wonder if they managed to drive them away by sinking some of their ships. But the demon tribe’s army is supposed to use magic. I don’t think we could do that. And they can fly, too.
“The adventurers also asked us to inform the other countries that the Kingdom of Estinia has won. It seems that they were told to make sure that the other surrounding countries didn’t interfere with the investigation of the demonic land. My grandfather said that the strength of the adventurers was almost like a threat.”
“Do you know the names of the adventurers?”
“No, they didn’t mention their names. But they said that the name of their party was ‘P.J.'”
“Was that the name of their party?”
“Do you know?”
“No, but the notebook that the dead man in the demonic land had also had ‘P.J.’ written in it. But the graveyard on Sky Island had ‘Peter Jefferson’ written on it, so I’m a little confused…”
“I see, maybe it was the name of the leader.”
If that’s the case, I should probably go back to Sky Island and break into the tomb again.
“So the previous king declared that he had defeated the demon tribe?”
I brought the conversation back on track.
“That’s right. Of course, he also prepared his military and sent a decoy army to the east. My grandfather told me it was more difficult that way.”
The king looked up at the ceiling as if remembering his grandfather.
“Well, for that reason, it was a secret of the royal family that we were not at war with the demon tribe country. For many years, the family descended from the dragon blood failed even when they entered the demonic land, but the shock of seeing the adventuring expedition team achieve far better results than our own family led to the decision to support the Adventuring Guild as much as possible, starting with my grandfather’s generation.”
I, too, was originally an adventurer. Although I hardly ever went on adventures.
“However, no one has ever bought the demonic land. Since the P.J. party, all investigations into the demonic land have failed. First of all, the P.J. party hasn’t appeared in history since the demon tribe incident. You are the first investigator in a long time, or rather, the first landowner in the demonic land.”
“That seems to be the case.”
“I have high hopes for you. However, I think it would be best not to take people along without thinking it through. We also want the demonic land to be developed and the Dragon City to be discovered, but we don’t want to see a mass death of adventurers and talented people. East Kenya is also collapsing. What on earth are those vampire clans doing…?”
“Vampires? The Lord of East Kenya is a vampire clan?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? They are a clan that can drain the abilities of others by sucking their blood. They are no match for the average adventurer, but it seems that the invasion of the Elf Kingdom has coincided with this.”
It seems that Sylvia’s clan was a rather powerful noble family.
“Did you tell him everything?”
The king asked the minister. The minister nodded.
“Is there anything you would like to ask, Margrave?”
“No, there’s just so much information, I’m a bit confused… Oh, do you have a spellbook for space-time magic? P.J.’s notebook said that space-time magic was essential.”
“Of course not. Both time magic and space magic have long been lost, and I’ve never even heard of space-time magic.”
“Well, it seems that some magic circles have been preserved, but… I guess I’ll have to make my own.”
“You’re going to make your own magic?”
“It seems to be the only way… Oh, sorry, I’ll do my best.”
“Well, the Dragon City is our family’s long-cherished dream. Good luck!”
The king said this and sent me on my way.
My mission to find the Dragon City of Midgard has been added to my life in the demonic land. Exploring the demonic land is important, but it might be a good idea to see what’s outside of it as well.
“Should I really be a noble?”
For now, I’ve decided to forget everything and go to the brothel.
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