By Zephyria 
We moved to the Valentia townhouse for dinner.
The servants and maids, whom I had seen just a few days prior, greeted me with polite bows and warm welcomes. I felt quite awkward, wondering what I had done to deserve such solicitous attention. Eisen Valentia, handing his coat to a servant, turned to me and asked,
“Did you stay at the townhouse? I didn’t see you yesterday.”
“No, I didn’t. I urgently needed clothes, so I borrowed some from my Uncle.”
“My clothes?”
My Uncle looked me up and down. It was obvious at a glance that I was more heavily built than he was. Still, the difference was only by a finger’s width at most.
“He had a few vests that were open in the back and tied like this. I borrowed them and returned them.”
“Ah, you said you just returned. It would be good to have a servant take your measurements, even simply, tonight. I’ll have a few outfits made for you, so wear them after you return from Floyd.”
“…Yes. Thank you.”
I hadn’t said anything with the intention of asking for something, so I felt greatly awkward. However, I had received many things from my Uncle, so I simply accepted with gratitude.
After we each washed up and changed, we reconvened in the dinner hall.
The table was laden with the foods I had loved as a child. It was both amusing and heartwarming. It seemed they still thought of me as being around ten years old. While cutting into a stewed meat dish, cooked so tenderly that even those with weak teeth could eat it, I suddenly asked,
“Did Aunt not come with you? I heard there’s no limit on the number of people, even if there’s a time limit on the portal.”
“Asdel has recovered. They’ve all moved back to Duke Valentia’s residence. Asdel hasn’t fully regained his stamina yet, so we couldn’t bring him to the boisterous capital, and it might be inconvenient for the host to leave the mansion entirely when guests are present.”
“Ah.”
“It’s the safest place, all things considered.”
I gazed at Eisen Valentia’s smiling face.
On this continent, was there truly a place that was safer or more dangerous than another? If the Ninth God’s actions were not stopped, the entire continent would be crushed into a vast mass of mana.
Ruben’s actions were like covering a child’s eyes to shield them from frightening sights.
However, the people before me were already capable of thinking and acting for themselves, so I didn’t want to deceive them any further. How should I bring it up? Would it be better to inform them or conceal it? What if my lack of eloquence resulted in me spouting only nonsense?
As I pondered this, the conversation flowed as easily as rainwater overflowing a levee during the rainy season.
“Mika, do you remember the dried fruit you said was dry when you visited before?”
“Yes? Ah… yes.”
“We recently succeeded in our first expeditionary voyage. This is all thanks to you, too. Thank you.”
“Me?”
“The Golden Turtle. I heard that rampaging spirits in Indus Bay had wrapped around the turtle, causing passing ships to run aground. Fortunately, because you rescued the turtle right before, I was able to return safely as well.”
She said ‘recently,’ but she was talking about events from several years ago.
Still, it was good that Indus Bay was now safe for ships to travel. That alone was a great relief.
“Did you also board the ship on its first voyage, Brother?”
“The first time is important, after all. Someone responsible had to be on board. Ha, it was the first time I’d been on a ship for so long, I thought I was going to die. If you spend too long on a ship, you get seasick even on land.”
“If you diligently train your balance…”
“…Dad. Why have you become so young?”
I laughed foolishly at the trivial joke. Hendel Valentia, who had been chuckling beside me, also chimed in.
“Speaking of Yulan, it reminds me. Crown Princess Yulan has imprisoned King Yulan on suspicion of colluding with black magicians. Did you hear about that?”
“What? No, what are you talking about. No, I haven’t heard.”
Crown Princess?
What had happened in Yulan felt like a distant memory from long ago. I recalled seeing the faces of five royals: a younger, innocent pair of siblings below the older ones, and the youngest, who was as small as Wesley.
So, the elder sister had become the next queen. I remembered the princess, who was somewhat hasty but liked to take the lead, and the prince, who followed his sister’s words well and took care of those around him.
“Still… is that permissible?”
“It wasn’t permissible if she wanted to inherit the Divine object properly. But the princess said that the King of Yulan at the time had gone mad with black magic, indulging in luxury and pleasure, and had sold the Divine object.”
“…What?”
“The coastal villages in low-lying areas were wiped out by the rampaging sea spirits, and while the mother was preoccupied with gathering beasts and slaves instead of distributing relief supplies, she even sold the Divine object. She must have gone mad. They said she could no longer be considered king, so they dragged her away and imprisoned her in the tower.”
The Divine object… Ruben had brought it.
I sat there blankly, not responding. I chewed the thinly sliced radish and pickled vegetables several times. The refreshing, salty taste spread in my mouth along with the scent of the sea. What had they put inside it?
“The king continued to act in increasingly irrational ways, and only the royal family knew the true nature of the Divine object, so everyone just accepted it. She couldn’t formally ascend the throne without the Divine object, but she said she would inherit the position if King Yulan died while she was acting as regent.”
“…Ah.”
“And then she pleaded with us to buy the beasts the king had collected. However, since we were planning to travel by sea, we thought the ornamental animals might get too stressed, and they were beasts intended for black magic, weren’t they? We felt uneasy, so we just bought a lot of coral instead.”
“…Yes. You did well.”
“You think so too? Wouldn’t one black panther be alright?”
“No… not really. What about Biban, by any chance?”
“Biban?”
After hearing about Yulan, I became curious about Biban’s situation as well.
I had left behind the young son of Queen Consort Biban, who had suffered after the then-King Biban was killed. At the time, I was in a hurry and had far to go, so I did as Rubel instructed and left. However, Biban’s situation was even worse than Yulan’s, so I felt concerned.
Eisen seemed to ponder for a while before replying cheerfully.
“There, well, the king has come to his senses, so there’s no problem now. One of the marquesses was a black magician who had infiltrated, wasn’t he? They say he’s been properly punished and is working to purify the kingdom. So, the Second Prince has asked the shrine to send several clerics to help with the purification efforts.”
It seemed they hadn’t discovered that the king had been replaced.
I didn’t know how that was possible. It was even more suspicious if he had regained his original face after taking the medicine Gano Paquin gave him. But, well, they must have handled it themselves. It wasn’t a critical matter for me.
My Uncle, who had been listening quietly, suddenly interjected,
“After you return from Floyd this time, it would be good to visit your grandfather as well.”
“Grandfather? Is he perhaps unwell?”
“No, not that. It’s just that it’s about time your father became a Count, not just a Viscount.”
“Ah, right. Because you weren’t here, your uncle hasn’t been able to inherit the Count’s title yet.”
“Because I wasn’t here…?”
“That’s right. When inheriting the Count’s title, you also have to select a Viscount. And an inheritance of a Count’s title is a family event. They couldn’t hold the ceremony without you, so everyone was just waiting for you to descend from the Yuil Mountains.”
“…Ah.”
“I don’t know how long the Floyd expedition will take, but it’s for eighty people to go and bring back two, and the Ninth God will be punished by the gods… maybe a month? Two months? Something like that, including the search time.”
“Right. The travel time has been reduced, so it doesn’t seem like it will take that long. A portal, I never imagined there was something like that among 10th Circle magic. Try to get friendly with them and write down some Magic Formulas. I’ll give you four Magic Towers.”
After a moment of thought, I simply nodded. I didn’t have the heart to see their faces cloud over with worry. I gave up on revealing the truth and deliberately took more pieces of meat onto my plate.
“Eat, eat more.”
“Right. Eat while you listen.”
The two stopped talking and began to exchange amusing remarks amongst themselves again.
“Sigh, his appearance and appetite are the same as when he was a baby, only his body has grown.”
“Roughly… 195? Around that much?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t measured.”
“He’s probably right. I’m good at estimating with my eyes. I didn’t know that drawing a lot of mana made you grow taller. My family members are all tall, but we’ve never had anyone in the 190s.”
“Right. Is the Claudian Marquisate the only family where everyone is that tall?”
“Hmm. There might be others. You just wouldn’t know if they aren’t Dukes or Marquesses.”
I recalled Benjamin’s family, whom I had seen in the conference hall. It seemed that way…
To me, who looked at prayer and posture before people’s height or appearance, these were unfamiliar words. I shrugged my shoulders. Come to think of it, Benjamin seemed quite sad that he couldn’t join this expedition… I should comfort him before I leave.
My two cousins chattered about the many nobles they had seen that day. They spoke of who had been chosen as the successor for which family, who had married whom and then disappeared, and who had already taken the head of the family position upon inheriting their title.
Only when I put down my cutlery did the questions return to me.
“Speaking of which, there are so many rumors about you that it’s impossible to tell what’s true and what’s false. Is it true that you became a Grand Sword Master?”
“Yes. Well, it just sort of happened.”
“Then, is it also true that you piled up a mountain of corpses by killing five hundred Trolls, split a Sandworm with a single sword, parted the sea with a battle cry and walked across, grabbed the Golden Turtle by the scruff of its neck and dragged it, killed a Black Dragon and made the God of Records kneel, and flew through the sky riding a Wyvern?”
“…What?”