Chapter 18
――The following night.
I was standing in the middle of a bustling party.
A noble’s ball.
Held at the grandest mansion in Lyon, it was truly a sight to behold.
As my parents had mentioned, a gathering of nobles had recently been held in Lyon.
The meeting itself was over, but many of the nobles with time on their hands were attending this ball.
Glittering chandeliers and all sorts of furnishings that looked incredibly expensive.
Just being here made me feel like I was drifting further from being a background character. This was bad. Really bad.
And at a party that already clashed with my principles, there was another presence making me feel even more ill at ease.
Because—
“Duke Randall. Might I be introduced to your son?”
“Ah, this is my son. Ultos, this is Viscount Lindor…”
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
After being introduced, I said that and bowed respectfully to Viscount Lindor.
That’s right.
The nobles had been showering me with compliments like this ever since the party began.
Viscount Lindor seemed to be the same sort of noble. The moment I greeted him, he said,
“Oh… What an impressive greeting…!! As expected of the only son of the Duke of Randall!!”
He praised me in a pretty outrageous way, and at an awfully loud volume.
“....................”
No, that sounded way too fake. Just because I’d greeted him properly…
I wanted to head straight for the exit right then and there.
But Viscount Lindor didn’t stop.
“Why, this is just wonderful! With such a clever-looking son, your future is assured!”
How could he tell whether someone’s future was assured based on how another man’s kid greeted him?
Well, for now, I was just following behind my parents and trying not to stand out, so perhaps my greeting was the only thing he could praise.
And then…
To put it another way, this sort of thing kept happening without a break.
Maybe because my father, the Duke of Randall, was such a big name, people were approaching us at an absurd rate.
There was even a scene in the story where the protagonist, Sieg-kun, attended a ball to make connections with nobles!
But I’d always skipped through it with a single tap, so I’d never imagined it would be this exhausting.
Sieg-kun really is amazing…
Save the world already.
And while you’re at it, please save me from this eye-straining venue as soon as possible.
Then, perhaps sensing how fed up I was,
“Ultos-sama… Are you all right?” Liera asked in a worried whisper.
“I’m fine.”
It was true that I was sick of nobles probing each other for hidden motives, but I had a very good reason I absolutely had to be here.
If things were about to start moving in the game, then the other party would probably make contact soon.
And so…
Just as I was starting to think that I’d been introduced to more than twenty people, a voice called out.
“Well, well, welcome. Lord Randall.”
I turned toward the voice and saw a pleasant-looking man who appeared to be in his thirties.
Unlike the nobles I’d met so far, he wasn’t dressed in anything especially ostentatious, but there was an unmistakable air of refinement about him.
The man bowed deeply.
As soon as he appeared, quiet whispers arose from those around us.
“So that’s Gregorio…”
“…I hear he’s quite the sharp one. Rumor has it he’s on close terms with the Duke of Randall, too.”
My father, Dominic, approached the man as if he’d been waiting for him.
“Ah, Gregorio! There you are. I was wondering where the host had gotten to.”
Then he introduced the man to me.
“Ultos, this is Gregorio—the mayor of Lyon. He’s truly dedicated to his work, and Lyon’s stability is thanks to him. Recently, with the monster outbreaks, he’s been handling all sorts of matters in my place while I’m away from the domain.”
“No, no, the pleasure is mine, Ultos-sama.”
The man who said it was a pleasure to meet me smiled brightly.
“They call me the mayor, but I come from a merchant family. I owe your father a great deal for taking me under his wing.”
As Gregorio held out his hand, I, too,
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I replied.
No.
To be precise, it wasn’t our first meeting.
I knew this man.
Because I’d seen his face several times in the game.
――Gregorio.
Well, Kuzutos himself had shown plenty of signs of having the makings of a scumbag from an early age, but…
He was the one who set Kuzutos on the path to becoming the hopeless scumbag he was in the main story: a man who flaunted his family name and constantly harassed the protagonist, a mere villager.
Also, although he was mayor of Lyon, he was actively plotting to weaken House Randall.
And right now, my father and mother placed their complete trust in this very Gregorio.
He wasn’t satisfied with meddling in Lyon’s politics; he was sticking his nose into House Randall’s affairs, too…
Just as Father had said, he really was a dedicated and wonderful mayor.
I was moved to tears.
――And yet.
At the same time, standing there before him, I couldn’t help thinking what incredible acting skills he had.
His refreshing smile and graceful manner.
He hardly seemed like someone who’d encourage Kuzutos to get carried away and become the sort of person who opposed the protagonist in the story.
Could he perhaps be as good an actor as Enrique?
By this point, I basically thought of Enrique as “an actor who accidentally chose the adventurer’s path,” so…
I couldn’t help judging Gregorio’s acting, now that he was standing before me, by Enrique’s standards.