Brunhilde, Scarlett, and Victor stood before the king.
The King of Grimoire, Grand Grimoire, was an elderly man.
He was over 90 years old and, as if his vision was poor, he kept his eyes half-closed, hunched over like a clearly aged man, barely sitting on his throne.
His appearance was a stark contrast to Emperor Carlos, who was still in his prime.
Even so, the king was still the king.
The three, including Brunhilde, respectfully kneeled and sat.
Brunhilde spoke on behalf of them.
“We greet His Majesty the King.”
“Ahh…”
The Grand King replied with difficulty.
“Isn’t this the border of the left-hand kingdom… hmm… What is it you wish to speak of today?”
“We have selected a new talent and seek the King’s approval.”
“A new talent?”
“Indeed, it is this person.”
As Brunhilde glanced sideways, Victor immediately caught on.
He was someone with that much quick wit. Victor spoke politely.
“My name is Victor Evans, Your Majesty. I currently serve as a vassal under Count Scarlett Volanshefor.”
“Volanshefor… A prestigious family. One of the foremost noble houses of this country…”
“You’re too kind,” Brunhilde said, modestly.
“Thus, with the authority of my family, we have initially appointed Victor Evans as a baron, but we seek His Majesty’s formal grant of the title.”
“How audacious!”
It was then that the servant guarding the King’s right spoke.
His name was Elphi Clarus.
He was a formidable figure, rivaling Brunhilde in influence, and represented the opposing faction.
“To take liberties and bestow titles as a mere count, and now even to borrow the King’s authority to expand one’s faction…”
“You are mistaken, Lord Clarus. This man was selected not by me, but by my youngest sibling, and he is undoubtedly a capable talent,” Brunhilde replied.
“Capable, you say? That’s a laughable claim.”
Elphi Clarus, well-informed, grinned slyly.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know? This is none other than Victor, the incompetent hero who was expelled from the Empire.”
“…That is indeed correct.”
“Then why did you not mention this right away? What reason did you have to hide the truth? Were you afraid that the true purpose—of using the false reputation of a ‘hero’ to expand your faction—would be exposed?”
Shifting his focus, Clarus began to address the King directly.
“Your Majesty. Lord Clarus is trying to use the hero for his own power. That hero is nothing but a discarded failure from the Empire. Furthermore, by his presence, our kingdom has been forced to pay exorbitant tribute to the Empire, leaving us impoverished. In some ways, he is our enemy. It would be better to execute him and boost the morale of our troops than to bestow a barony upon such a person.”
“Wait, just a moment.”
Victor, who had been silent until now, stood up and spoke.
He could no longer remain silent.
As soon as he heard it, Victor was dumbfounded.
He didn’t usually want to be rude in front of a foreign king, but this time, he couldn’t let it slide.
“Well, the one who crossed the line first is over there,” Victor began.
“You said your name was Lord Clarus, right? Half of what you said is true, and half is false. Yes, I admit I was exiled because of my incompetence. But I did not extort enough money to impoverish an entire nation. I used only 10,000 gold in expedition costs over the span of a year. That amount would not have placed an excessive burden on the nations involved.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
Lord Clarus, the so-called “Lord of the Friendly Kingdom,” retorted angrily.
“Our kingdom alone contributed more than 1 million gold! Under the pretext of supporting the hero, mind you! And now you’re telling me you only spent 10,000 gold? If you had only used 10,000 gold, you might have actually been a hero with some integrity and virtue!”
“What…?”
One million gold?
I had never even seen such a large sum.
When I first arrived here, I didn’t know the local market prices or living costs, so I consulted with Saint Teresa and really tried to set the expedition costs as fairly as possible.
Teresa assured me that with about 10,000 gold, one could barely survive for a year, and so I billed the Empire for exactly 10,000 gold.
The Emperor himself had agreed, so why was this happening?
“Something must have been… misunderstood. I truly only used 10,000 gold. I was frugal with food, and…”
“Stop spouting nonsense! We had to squeeze every last drop of blood from the common people just to cover that one million gold! And you…!!”
“Wait a moment.”
The old king blocked Clarus’s fury.
King Grang seemed to pause, stroking his beard as if lost in thought.
“I see… So it was that young man’s scheme…”
Our eyes met.
Though the king was frail, his gaze was unnervingly clear.
His eyes, like a lake, seemed to see through everything about me, and I had the unsettling feeling that they could pierce to the very core of my being.
“You are Victor, yes… young hero.”
“I am no longer a hero.”
“I may be old, but my eyes for people are still sharp. You are not the kind of person who would embezzle one million gold.”
“Your Majesty…”
Flustered, Clarus intervened.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, you shouldn’t trust this foreigner so easily. History shows that there have been many heroes with evil intentions.”
“Then let me ask you this, Clarus. If it were you, would you take one million gold and choose to re-enter service as a vassal under a foreign noble?”
“Th-That’s…”
“As the wealthiest man in the world, you must understand how great a sum one million gold is. With that kind of money, you could purchase a trading company and play at being a king. Or, like you, you could buy a position and become a real prime minister. In any case, there would be no reason to remain in such a lowly position as a baron. In other words… it’s highly likely that Victor never had one million gold in his pocket…”
“…That is… I mean…”
“From my perspective,” the King’s gaze shifted from Clarus to me.
“I believe it would be best to formally accept Victor Evans as a noble of our kingdom.”
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty, please!”
Protests erupted from all sides.
Exclamations of support and sighs of opposition.
The conflicting voices, however, held no real power to challenge the King’s decision.
In this place, King Grang was the absolute authority.
He spoke.
“Victor Evans,” the King began.
“I hereby appoint you as a baron of the Kingdom of Grimoire, in accordance with the proposal of Lord Clarus and Brunhilde Volanshefor.”
The scribe, who had been writing tirelessly behind the throne, quickly handed a piece of paper to the King. The King then extended it toward me.
“Come, take it.”
“…Yes!”
I walked up to the throne and received the appointment.
It read:
The King of Grimoire, Grang Grimoire, hereby appoints Victor Evans as a baron, accompanied by the royal seal.
With this, I had become a confirmed and legitimate “true noble.”
Not just any noble, but a baron who had been elevated by one rank.
It felt like I’d just received a huge bonus.
“Baron Evans,” the King spoke in a kind tone.
He seemed like a very different type of person compared to the Emperor.
“I believe we will be acquainted for a long time. I ask that you assist me in various matters from now on. Also, there is something I wish to discuss with you, so please come to my chambers later.”
“Later…” Though it was supposed to be later, it didn’t take long at all.
After a brief inauguration ceremony and a party, the King immediately summoned me.
I decided to keep it a secret from Scarlett and Brunhilde and went alone to meet the King.
The royal palace was unusually quiet, with no guards in sight.
It seemed the King trusted that I wouldn’t harm him.
“I’ve arrived, Your Majesty.”
“Ah, welcome, Baron Evans. I called you here because there is something I wish to ask you.”
“What is it, Your Majesty?”
“In fact, I met Teresa some time ago.”
“? Yes.”
“Teresa was a very good and honest nun. When I heard that she had become the saint of the hero’s party, I thought it was well-deserved. There was no one else more suited for the role than her.”
“However, not long after, I received the news that Teresa had been expelled from the party for embezzlement. Moreover, I was told it was confidential, and I couldn’t disclose the details to anyone outside the Empire.”
“You were a hero of the party. Can you tell me the truth behind Teresa’s expulsion?”
“I’m sorry… I don’t know much about it either. One day, I woke up to find that Teresa had been taken away by the Imperial forces, and the only charge they mentioned was embezzlement…”
It wasn’t a lie.
Teresa had suddenly been thrown into a dungeon, and even the members of our party didn’t know the full details of why.
“I see… So, even you, as a hero, didn’t witness her committing the embezzlement yourself.”
“Furthermore, you traveled with only 10,000 gold, far less than the one million gold, and the Emperor concealed this while forcing tribute payments?”
“…That seems to be the case.”
“One more thing, I’m curious about. Brunhilde is a very shrewd person—how did you manage to make her your sponsor?”
“I’m not sure myself. It was a bit surprising. She seemed to examine me through some kind of monocle, and then her attitude suddenly changed.”
“…It must have been a monocle made by Green Green. In that case… I understand now. The mystery is solved.”
The King turned toward me.
“You are not an incompetent hero. In fact, you must be a very capable individual.”