Chapter 351 – Sparrows Can’t Just Walk Past the Mill.
Natalya, who was sitting next to me, wiped the cold sweat from my forehead with her handkerchief and looked up with a worried expression.
“Are you okay?”
“Ah, yes. Are you okay.”
I wondered if I had ever felt so sick with the uncomfortable ride of a rattling carriage.
He must have been nervous about going to meet the lord.
It is also a place to meet the lord of a huge city called Westway, and a heavyweight aristocrat. It’s strange that you’re not nervous.
Since Natalya had been submissive to me from the start, he didn’t feel the difference in his status as a nobleman.
Denevalve Trician? His unique businesslike and rigid attitude makes him feel more like a civil servant than an aristocrat.
What about Arpagon Jace, the second son of Count Arpagon? The bastard didn’t like the way I flirted with my women at first, and he was seething with rage.
Excluding the children of the three aristocrats I have met, the Lord of the West Way, Earl of Denevalve Verolder, is the first proper nobleman to meet in this world.
But, three… ?
No, I think there was one more.
“Ah.”
I remembered.
Desiien Seirwin, a woman I met while exploring an anthill.
It seems like a lot of things happened with her, but she remembers nothing but tattered, shabby pussy tightening like a rag.
Anyway, I’ve met many children of noble families, but today is the first time I’ve met a noble who has a title of his own.
I started to get a bit nervous and clenched my fists on her lap.
“Am I shaking?”
“Isn’t it because the carriage was shaking? Are you all right?”
“…”
My murmur was answered by Berry, who was sitting across from me. Feeling a bit absurd, he kept his mouth shut when Vivian, who was next to him, comforted Berry.
“Berry, after entering the lord’s castle today, you will have to wait patiently.”
“Ah, yes.”
Only four of us were invited, Natalya, Roin, and Germi, but Trisian advised me that bringing an attendant would be helpful, so I brought Vivian and Berry with me.
“Whoa, I’m a little nervous.”
Let’s think about what to do when we meet the lord.
First of all, we hand over the high-grade fabric prepared as a gift, and proceed with PPL using the interlude, saying that the clothes we are wearing are also made of this fabric.
What next?
Is it luncheon? No, isn’t it too early to eat lunch just like that?
So what do you do after handing over the gift? What are we supposed to talk about?
Should I ask if you had breakfast?
No, that question is too stupid. If you’re a noble, you’ll eat all three meals a day.
It is a low-level question, such as asking if the sun rose properly in the morning.
Asking about the other person’s well-being would be a polite gentleman’s way of greeting, but as a Korean, I’m not sure how to ask how they’re doing other than asking if they had a good meal.
No, I think I’ve heard some good greetings.
Damn, my heart is pounding so I can’t calm down.
Calm down, let’s calm down. Conversation is, after all, something that goes on while brushing your tongue well.
Why are you so nervous and crazy like me?
Let’s stay calm. Keep calm and count to a few.
By the way, according to what you learned from etiquette, it seems that if you remove the chair, you sit down?
Did you sit in the chair on the right? No left?
Damn, was the right hand eating? No, wait, I’m left-handed.
Let’s stay calm. Calm down.
The napkin is only half folded… Was it hanging around your neck?
No, no. It was on my lap. Yeah I remember this
Good. You seem to have calmed down a bit.
And from what I’ve heard, there’s an awful lot of cutlery on top, but did they use it in order from the outside? No, inside?
Damn, why don’t these noses use chopsticks?
My head is confused and stuffy, it’s driving me crazy.
“Whoa…”
“What are you so nervous about? The lord is also a human being. If you look closely, even Hanseong is secretly shy.”
“What, who’s calling you a jerk!”
“This is the entrance to the lord’s castle!”
Her chariot came to a halt at the sound of Germi’s teasing words.
After waiting for a while in silence, the carriage door opened and Trisian’s familiar face was seen in an unexpected place.
“… You came earlier than expected.”
“… Trician? What’s going on here?”
“I am the captain of the Westway’s security. Is it strange that I guard the gate leading to the lord’s castle, the most important place in the city?”
“Is that so… ?”
I was shaking my head stupidly to see if I was wrong, but Trisian came into the carriage and sat down in an empty seat.
“Of course it is strange. Guarding the castle gate is the role of the crew. As the captain of the guard, my job is to manage the unit. I will lead this wagon! Record the number of people besides Trisian at 7!”
“Yes! All right!”
“Yes!”
At Trisian’s instructions, the guards guarding the gate responded loudly. At the same time, the wagon started to sway through the gate.
“Ah… Is that just a joke?”
“It seems like you’re nervous because your face hardened. It was a joke I was trying to lighten up, wasn’t it?”
If you think about it, it makes sense. There was no way Trisian, the captain of the guard, would stand guard at the gate.
The reason she was waiting in front of the lord’s castle must have been to check our wagon and move together.
It is she who has told the lord about us, and her lord has sent us his wishes to interview us through her, so meeting the lord without the mediation of her trician seems strange.
After thinking like that, I felt like an idiot, who had been stupidly hardened, and my laughter leaked out.
“After… No, it was a good joke. Thanks to that, it seems to have eased the tension a bit.”
“Now I’m back to my normal face. Miss Germi, have you ever had a private meeting with the lord?”
“Huh. Twice…”
After looking for some time, I could see that Germi’s attitude in answering Trisian’s question was strange. Her ears stand upright, and her tail is stiff, giving a clear sense of tension.
“Once to greet you as the president of the Black Moon, and twice in total, including the case of the traitor Johannes…”
Until just a while ago, they teased me for being nervous and calling me a coward, but it must have been a way to relieve tension in their own way.
“Twice would be enough experience. Miss Natalya is originally from a noble family, so a position like this shouldn’t be new to her, and Miss Roin… Are you sleeping?”
“Uh?”
At Trisian’s words, the figure of the old man sitting in the corner came into view. She wrapped herself tightly in the shawl over her dress, leaned her head against the wall of the carriage, closed her eyes and slept peacefully in the world.
“Roin, Roin!”
“Uh, huh?”
Fortunately, I was not in a deep sleep, so when I called my name, I opened my eyes.
“Huaam… Arrived? Ah, Trisian, hello~”
“… This one is as relaxing as this one. Anyway, in a way, you guys are meeting the lord through my introduction. When you interview the lord, I will be by your side, so don’t be too nervous.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I will do most of the conversation, so you just have to answer the lord’s questions well.”
“That, yes… ?”
“Conversation with the lord shouldn’t be a big problem, but there are a few people to be careful of.”
“A person to watch out for?”
A person to be careful of, I tilted my head at the unexpected remark.
“Can I have a bite?”
“Well, it has a viper-like edge, so it might be similar to biting.”
“Venomous snake?”
“Magistrate, Baron Simir Jack is a man who needs attention.”
“Magistrate Baron Simir Jack?”
If he is an administrator, he is one of the most influential people in the city.
“Administrative Simir Jack is not from the lord’s faction.”
“Clique… ?”
Clique, what is this? Since ancient times, if a lord is a lord, isn’t he the one who has absolute power within the territory?
Is Count Verolder not a person with as much power as I thought?
“The current lord, Count Verolder, is the second son.”
“Second son? Are you talking about having an eldest son?”
“Okay.”
The fact that there is a second son who is the current lord and an eldest son who has not been able to become an heir creates a rough story in my head.
“Since the second son is superior to the eldest son, the former lord appointed the second son as the successor, but the eldest son and some of the retainers who served him did not recognize the second son who became the lord, so it sounds like the faction split into two.”
“That’s an accurate review.”
“So you’re saying that he wanted to see us because he was thirsty for recruiting excellent talent?”
I think I fully understand why the lord was interested in our power that almost killed Drake.
“By the way, the former guard commander was from the faction on the side of my eldest uncle.”
“… Aren’t you from the current lord’s faction?”
“Okay.”
It’s our credit that Trisian drove out the former guard commander and now sits in the position of guard chief.
This, we don’t look good in the eyes of the eldest son and his clique.
