Maid, I'll have some wine...

'Yes ... and no. This is an adult beverage.

　I wanted to have a drink, but apparently not. I was told to chastise the child.

Well well, let's just drink some fruit water and eat some food.

　I'm currently finishing up a meet and greet with my dad Nord.

　Too many people with long names and such already. I've forgotten most of them. I don't think it's possible for me to remember them all at once.

　Thanks to Nord Dad's follow-up, I finished what I had to do.

　Then, in the blink of an eye, Nord-Dad was surrounded by a group of noble ladies and knight's children who were waiting for him.

''Nord-sama, are you still staying in the royal capital?　If you'd like, you could come to a tea party at my house?

"In my house, then!　I would appreciate your instruction in swordsmanship.

"Tell us the story of the Dragonslayer.　I've only heard of it in private plays and stories.

　Oh, oh, oh, it's as popular as they say. It's as popular as they say.

　A lot of ladies, but also a lot of men.

　Although I'm a step behind the ladies who are aggressively attacking me with their bodies in close contact, I'm listening to my father Nord, who boldly asks questions and answers them politely.

　The sullen faces of the ladies at that moment..... Women really are scary. It's true that the man who talks about the sword in the place where he's talking with a flourish is also a question, but....

　Is this a world where we can't survive by backing off?

　By the way, Mother Erna seems to be having a great conversation with some ladies.

　She is smiling and occasionally giving the Father Nord a sarcastic look.

　He's smiling and occasionally giving his father a sly look, as if he's trying to be nice to the ladies and not grow a nose.

　Father Nord notices this, but he's too good-natured to shun them.

　I get a fruit water from the man who serves me and walk to the other side pretending to be a stranger.

　Father Nord had told me I could spend my time as I pleased, and that's no problem. He said something like, "If you can, make sure you get along with the other nobleman's children.

　I look around the hall and see a group of kids about my age talking to each other.

　Some of them look high and mighty because of their high rank, while others smile and praise and lift up their children as if they were in the company of their peers.

　Something about them all seem to be so proud that it's hard to get along with them.

　I'd rather have them all lined up on this long table.

　Gathered together in King's Landing, these are brightly colored and splendidly decorated. The scent of them tickling your nostrils is irresistible.

　The noble people over here seem to be easier to associate with.

　I'll be making friends with the delicacies of the capital as planned.

　I picked up a platter in a good mood and took the meat from the platter.

　With silver tongs, the meat, vegetables and seafood........is this a member of the shrimp family?　I have a very long tail, though. Well, it's just like going to a nobleman's party. It can't be a strange food, right? Feel free to eat it.




　Oh no........I was licking aristocratic food.

　The chef is much better than I imagined. This is the power of the duke's own chef........

　I'm being attacked by Alfried delicious food.

　What exactly is the sauce on this meat mixed with?

　Hmm, I don't know. This sauce refreshes the thick meat oil and advances the food.

　It must have been made with ingredients from the royal capital. I've never tasted such a sauce before.

　If you notice, there are hardly any ingredients on the table around me.

　In case you're wondering, it's definitely not me eating it all up.

　The one eating like an idiot is the boy in front of me.

　He's been eating like an idiot, and he's been gobbling it up since a while ago.

　A serving maid passing by saw the empty plates and hurriedly cleared them away and disappeared into the back.

　Probably the food must always be on the table. The waiter seems to be having a hard time.

　Oops, there's only one more slice of meat in front of me.

　This one is my favorite. I'll keep it.

　Then, with my silver tongs, the boy's tongs in front of me collided with mine.

"..........

　Me and the boy's gaze crossed.

　A slightly blind boy with brown hair parted in the middle. Thanks to the brown suit, I can barely judge him as a nobleman, but if he wasn't wearing a suit, he'd look like a mere child with poor eyesight.

''What house are you from?''

　Where the hell are you?　He asked me something like.

'When you ask me my name, you should be the one to tell me your name.'

　I tried to reach out with my tongs to see if I could casually take the meat away, but the boy blocked me.

"d*mn ... you. It's Eric-Silford.

　Silford?　Huh? I've heard of this.

The Rowlettes.

Hey, what's your name?

No, I mean, what house do you belong to?

I'm an idiot!

'Yes, yes, yes, it's Alfried-Throwlett.

So you're a baronet, then?

Yeah?

　As I responded, a boy named Eric or something like that knocked my tongs away, as if to tell me to back off.

"Then give it up. This is the one I had my eye on.

　And then I'm going to put the meat in between them.

No, you're a baronet.

　I'm defending myself with the tongs that were pushed away from me.

　It's a habit that he's a baronial man himself, and he's trying to restrain himself from talking as if he were a high ranking member of the baronial family. What a cunning fellow.

"A country baron from the east is equal to my land?

'No, your territory is in the countryside to the south.

　Yes, Eric's Silford territory is the southernmost rural territory from the Kingdom of Misfirito. It's so far away from the royal capital as much as the Slowlet territory.

　I have been shown a map by Nord Dad and it has been confirmed.

　What I envy is the abundance of fruit and the fact that the territory faces the sea.

　This guy has all the fish sashimi he can eat. I envy him.

''You're making fun of my territory!

You were the one who fought me first!

　Eric and I glare at each other like goons from close range with our eyebrows in a figure eight.

''...........''

　And then, without either of them, I let out a huff of laughter.

　As if it's embarrassing to bicker with each other about this.

''This is where the nobles' social gatherings take place. Fighting over such a trivial matter...''

Absolutely. Go ahead and riot here. It's a blot on each other's family name...

　Cotson.

"..........

　Our space was frozen.

"Give it to me!

　With our humming rage, each other's hands began to move.

　The attack and defense over a piece of meat is dropped in the fire.

　I quickly flick my opponent's tongs, which are extended at the shortest possible distance, and try to pull them to my side.

　Once I've drawn it to my side, it's mine. The distance between you and your opponent is harder to get away from.

"d*mn it, it's so annoying!

　When Eric realizes my intentions, he gets me tangled up in my tongs, preventing me from moving.

　I twist my wrists to escape their restraints.

　The meat is still in the middle of the plate.

　To me, this seems like Princess Marlene.

　This plate is the castle where the princess was taken by the dragon and imprisoned.

　The meat on the plate is the princess waiting for help.

　A fierce battle takes place in front of her. The princess watches the knight who came to rescue her.

　The meat 《Hime》. This knight, Alfried, will defeat the evil enemy and rescue you.

　But the evil enemy will not allow it.

　As I escape from my restraints, he attacks me, this time with a vicious thrust of his tongs.

　The silver sword?　and swords clash fiercely, sparks flying.

　I assess Eric's onslaught, deflect it and catch it.

''Shh!''

　With a short burst of energy, he thrusts his right hand out like an arrow shot out of a bow.

　It is aimed precisely at the belly of my tongs, and that's two shots. It's going to pop my gain.

　I avoid it by turning my grip with my fingers.

　Here Eric's face contorts for a moment.

　No, the first two shots are decoys!　You're a meat lover!

　As expected, the third shot deviated slightly from my gain and was headed for the meat.

　I pinned it with my tongs.

　It seemed as if mine had caught Eric's thrust exactly, but quickly the opponent pulled the tongs back. And just like that, Eric grabbed the tongs and swung them down from the upper left-hand corner as a single sword.

　I also countered that by grabbing a grip and using it as a sword to catch it with a cut-off.

　The silver tongs make a noise, as if protesting against too shoddy treatment.

　Eric swiftly cuts back the leaping tongs and fires one after the other.

　In order to get the meat, I still have to take this thing down first.

　You didn't expect me to be able to defend against all of the attacks, and Eric's eyes widen.

　I switch from receiving to attacking, thrusting in with slowness and feints.

　Eric takes it calmly, with a familiar motion. Each time the tongs intersect, the impact is felt stronger.

　There is no insult in Eric right now, and he has the serious look of a serious opponent of the same rank itself.

　All he has to do is let his guard down as it is!

　After dodging my series of blows, Eric steps forcefully to his feet and releases a stab. A blow that cuts through the air using the twisting force of his body.

　I strike it with a precise strike to the side of the tongs.

''Nah!''

　Eric's body opens wide and there is a gap.

　I stick my finger in front of Eric's nose and say a few words.

'Light.'

　A strong flash of light shimmered for a moment in response to his voice.

''Nghhhhhh!　Me, me, me, my eyes!　I can't see!

　I could have just scraped the meat off of him, but I didn't know what he was going to do, so I gave him a shot.

　I took the meat to my plate with an eye on Eric, who was rolling around on the ground.

　The uncomfortable noise is the best spice to color this meat from what I'm hearing now.

　I forgive Eric's deafening scream.

Then, let's eat!

Not, right?　Al?

　When I turned around, there was a hero there, who seemed to be very angry with the hero who could slay even a dragon.

　When I suddenly looked around, the hall was silent as if it had been hit by water.

''........Sorry for the disturbance.......''




　× X X X


Did you see that?

''Yes, father. You seem to have considerable sword skills. The way he handled that grip........he might have used a knife or an implant. It's also said that his opponent is a member of the sword family, so he was not at all outdone.

...rim.

"Yes?

''I was sure of that too, but we must not forget the final blow. That magic, Light, was done with a chant break...''

Are you sure?

'Yeah, really. The only thing he said was the word 'light'.

"How could such skilled swordsmen have the skill to break the chanting...