Would You Like to Meet My Daughter?

A banquet was being held in the grand banquet hall of the Imperial Palace.

It was a victory banquet hosted by the imperial family to celebrate the subjugation of the calamity Rahav.

Naturally, I attended too. Not that I had even been given the option to refuse.

‘I’m here again.’

I attended my first imperial banquet as Renua’s escort during Aither’s coming-of-age ceremony.

To attend, I had to learn everything from minor details like how to walk to how to treat nobles and even how to dance.

I went through hell back then. I still remembered Renua scolding me whenever I made even the slightest mistake.

It was all just a fond memory now, though.

“Well, well. Who do we have here? Isn’t this the hero who defeated a calamity?”

Rosanna approached me with a mischievous expression, tossing out an embarrassing remark.

“I see you attended as well, Sir Rosanna.”

“Why? Does it bother you that it sounds like I’m taking credit even though you defeated the calamity alone?”

“I never said anything like that. Don’t slander me.”

“Heh heh. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Of course, it’s true that I didn’t do anything, but I worked hard before that. That gives me the minimum qualification to participate.”

The minimum qualification Rosanna mentioned referred to the subjugation of the swarm of magical beasts that had descended before Rahav arrived.

Perhaps for that reason, I could see not only her but most of the Second Knight Order scattered throughout the banquet hall.

Everyone was dressed in gowns and dress uniforms, unlike usual.

“So, how does it feel to become a hero of the Empire?”

“Hmm, I don’t feel much. I just wish he’d stop keeping me confined and set me free already.”

When on earth was this old man planning to free me?

It was obvious that he was dragging things out, slyly stalling when all he had to do was say, ‘You’re free.’

Surely he wasn’t planning to keep me enslaved, was he?

Could he possibly be gathering mages behind my back to research how to break the contract?

Did he really think I’d stay quiet if that was what he was doing?

‘…….’

The truth was, there was nothing I could do. All I could do was pray that he would please set me free.

Slaves were fucking powerless.

No wonder they were the lowest class.

“Leon!”

Helena and Elodie approached me. They were dressed in gowns as well.

“You came, Helena. Lady Elodie, you came too. Did His Highness the Imperial Prince invite you?”

“Yes!”

“The commander told me to attend too. He said I’d worked hard. Even though I didn’t do anything……”

Helena spoke with a bitter expression.

Before I could say anything, Rosanna beat me to it.

“What? You didn’t do anything? Who the hell said that? I’ll beat the bastard to a pulp.”

“N-no. Nobody said that. I was just thinking it myself.”

“Tsk. If you were a formal member of the knight order, I’d have punched you for saying that. There are no exceptions.”

Perhaps because she couldn’t bring herself to hit Helena, an outsider, Rosanna clicked her tongue regretfully.

“I understand how you feel, but don’t let it get you down. Plenty of proper knights are too scared to go to the battlefield.”

“That may be true, but……”

“A knight has to be arrogant, you know. Even if you haven’t done anything, you still have to keep your chin up. Like this guy.”

As she said that, Rosanna pointed at me.

“Why am I suddenly involved……?”

“He says he feels nothing after taking down a calamity. If that isn’t arrogance, what is?”

“It is nice. It really is.”

To me, subjugating a calamity was merely a means of gaining my freedom.

Whether I defeated ten calamities or a hundred, if I still couldn’t become free, it would all be meaningless.

I’d just become a ‘working slave.’

“Anyway, keep your chin up and your shoulders straight. No matter how skilled you are, you can’t be a knight without the right spirit.”

“……I understand.”

Helena nodded with a solemn expression.

Thanks to Rosanna’s advice, the gloom in her face had eased considerably.

As we continued making small talk, the Emperor appeared on the balcony before long.

The Empress, Aither, and Aurora stood in a row on either side of him.

Aurora looked around beneath the balcony as if she were searching for something.

Then her eyes met mine, and she smiled brightly. Apparently, she had been looking for me.

Aurora mouthed something.

‘Stay there. I’ll come when it’s over.’

That was roughly what she mouthed.

‘Should I hide?’

I briefly considered it because I was curious how Aurora would react, but decided against it.

The Emperor’s speech began.

It consisted of the usual platitudes: the Empire had subjugated a calamity for the first time, the Empire was mighty as ever, and its future would continue to shine brightly.

For the record, the fact that I had subjugated the calamity alone was not made public.

If word got out that a slave had defeated a calamity by himself, it would cause all sorts of problems.

I was more comfortable with that too, rather than attracting the attention of the public.

The speech ended before long.

I was just about to leisurely enjoy the banquet.

“Oh, at last we get to meet the man who led the subjugation of the calamity.”

As if they had been waiting for the speech to end, people began crowding toward me.

“You’re far more handsome than the rumors suggested. I expected a hulking brute because you’re called a hero, but I never imagined you’d be such a refined and handsome young man.”

“My thoughts exactly. With such well-defined features, you wouldn’t fall behind any of the capital’s young masters.”

The nobles had come in a group as though they had arranged it beforehand.

Along with strained smiles, they showered me with ridiculous flattery.

‘Why are all these people acting like this?’

The Emperor simply hadn’t officially acknowledged it.

Everyone who needed to know already knew that I had subjugated the calamity.

So they could approach me out of curiosity and pretend to be friendly, but their intentions were highly suspicious.

I wasn’t a noble, so I didn’t know much about this ecosystem, but when someone suddenly starts flattering you, they have a reason.

Especially when nobles who lived off their own self-importance went so far as to flatter a slave like me.

I naturally raised my guard.

“Excuse me, but may I ask who you are?”

“Oh, I was late introducing myself. I am Count Habelt. This is my longtime friend, Viscount Warwick.”

“Count Habelt and Viscount Warwick, I see. What brings two esteemed gentlemen to seek me out?”

“I heard you’ll soon be receiving a new status. Is that true?”

How did this man know that?

Only the people close to me knew about it.

“Who knows? That’s for His Majesty to decide. As a mere slave, I know nothing about it.”

Since I couldn’t read their intentions, I drew a calm line between us.

In fact, the Emperor had said we would discuss it soon, but he was currently dragging things out, so I couldn’t give them a definite answer even if I wanted to.

But the shrewd nobles didn’t take my words at face value.

“You defeated a calamity, so your promotion is a foregone conclusion, is it not? Then again, you may even receive a greater reward.”

“What is your point?”

“Hahaha. Quite a bold young man. Is it because you’re young, or because you’re a hero? You certainly have an exuberant spirit.”

He was definitely taking a jab at me.

As if to say I was an ill-mannered bastard.

Count Habelt glanced around to see who was watching.

Then he lowered his voice and leaned in close to me.

“You may not know this because you’re a slave, but nobles are far craftier than you think. Right now, they’re pretending to praise you because you defeated a calamity, but the moment you turn your back, they’ll look down on you for your lowly slave origins and try to harass you somehow.”

“Mmm. No matter how exceptional your martial prowess is, it isn’t easy to withstand the nobles’ scrutiny and navigate the capital’s complicated political landscape on your own.”

Viscount Warwick, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.

Watching them talk as though they were sharing some secret only they understood made my irritation steadily build.

“So what is it you’re trying to say?”

“We don’t want a promising young man like you to be used and hurt by such materialistic people.”

Count Habelt lightly patted my shoulder and flashed a sly, snakelike smile.

“You need the support of a powerful noble family to shield you from the storms of this harsh world. For instance, a family like House Habelt.”

I wondered what he was going to say.

In the end, he was saying that he intended to bleed me dry, just like the nobles he’d been talking about.

When I was a slave, they worked me because I was a slave.

Now that I was about to be emancipated and become a free citizen, they were bringing out a new method.

They were such consistent people that I almost wanted to applaud them.

I wanted to cause a scene right there, but I couldn’t do that in a banquet hall full of people.

“I’ll give it positive consideration.”

Positive consideration.

Back when I played games in the modern world, it was one of the canned responses the operators tossed out as easily as breathing.

It meant they couldn’t openly refuse, so they would pretend to consider it while having no intention of doing anything.

“Hahaha, I suppose you’re broad-minded because you’re a hero! What a wise choice.”

Perhaps Count Habelt had never played a game with utterly fucked balance.

He latched onto the single word ‘positive,’ smiled brightly, and vigorously kneaded my shoulders in satisfaction.

The Viscount, who had only been watching the situation from the side, hurriedly cut in.

“Leon, come to House Warwick. My second daughter came of age this year, and she’s a beauty renowned throughout high society. You two would make a wonderful match. Without a doubt.”

“…Pardon?”

Hmm, was he asking me to marry into his family?

This was another completely new tactic.

Even so, was it really necessary to go this far when I was still a slave?

“Viscount Warwick! Are you openly trying to snatch him away right in front of me? He’s already agreed to join our family!”

“He said he’d consider it. He hasn’t made a decision yet. Besides, the state of your fief’s finances is famous even in the capital. Are you saying you’ll take a hero there just to make him suffer?”

“Are you in any position to say that? And your second daughter is a beauty of high society? Why don’t you mention that she’s notorious for preferring women?”

“Count Habelt! Mind your tongue!”

The two men who had been trying to work together to win me over just moments ago now dealt each other devastating blows.

The banquet hall instantly grew noisy.

Thanks to them, everyone in the hall was staring at us.

“What is all this commotion?”

Aither, who had been on the balcony, had somehow come down.

Aurora was with him as well.

“Y-Your Highness the Imperial Prince……”

The two men who had been arguing uglily, veins bulging in their foreheads, hurriedly bowed their heads.

Leaving the two of them behind, Aurora came over beside me with a silly grin.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing much. The two gentlemen were making various proposals, and perhaps they disagreed, because they raised their voices.”

“Proposals? What kind of proposals?”

“They asked whether I would come to their families after being emancipated, or marry their daughters.”

“…………What?”

At that moment, the smile vanished completely from Aurora’s face.

The stuffy air seemed to freeze as the atmosphere surrounding her turned icy in an instant.

Her head slowly turned to the side.

Aurora’s razor-sharp glare plunged into the crowns of the bowed Count Habelt and Viscount Warwick.

The sheer force of it made both men flinch.

“Marriage……? What do you mean?”

“Th-that is……. Since Sir Leon is apparently about to be emancipated, we meant that if he had nowhere to go, he could come to our family……”

Viscount Warwick rambled out an excuse in a shrinking voice, sweating profusely.

“Are you saying you dare to take the Imperial Princess’s property as you please?”

“H-how could that be? I merely meant after he was emancipated……”

“After he is emancipated?”

Aurora frowned fiercely, clearly displeased.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something. Leon is still my property. I decide everything about what happens to him. His future is not an area for you to meddle in based on your predictions.”

Viscount Warwick couldn’t say a word. Trembling like an aspen, he bowed his head even lower.

“Don’t presume beyond your station again. Testing my patience once is quite enough.”