The Exiled Noble Rises as the Holy King: Befriending Fluffy Beasts and a Holy Maiden with My Ultimate Cheat Skill! Volume 2 E-Book

Yu Okano

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: The Exiled Noble Rises as the Holy King: Befriending Fluffy Beasts and a Holy Maiden with My Ultimate Cheat Skill!
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 268

Beschreibung

Noah and his fluffy companions have escaped from the Purgatory Forest at last. As they make their way into civilization, they rescue a young noblewoman named Katarina, who quickly sees that Noah is more than he claims to be. Through Katarina’s patronage, Noah’s party is able to enter the town of Midrogue. But before they can settle in, they’ll have to get new status cards by joining the adventurer’s guild...and any good adventurer should challenge themselves with some quests. Luckily, thanks to Aht’s training, Noah now has enough powerful skills to make quick work of any enemy.

Between fighting hordes of undead, thwarting political subterfuge, inadvertently gaining new followers, and reuniting with an old friend, Noah gradually gains more power and influence. But how long will it be before he can settle down safely with his monster family?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Characters

The Story So Far

Prologue: At the Order of Knights

Chapter 1: Outside the Purgatory Forest

Chapter 2: The Adventurer’s Guild

Chapter 3: At the Ghost Town

Chapter 4: Reclaiming the Ghost Town

Chapter 5: Growing Reputation and Friendships

Chapter 6: The Resolution

Side Story: Liber’s Impatience

Afterword

Illustrator’s Afterword

Volume 2 Character Designs

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Prologue: At the Order of Knights

After Aht temporarily left Noah’s side, this exchange was carried out in the guardroom of Duke Olipiage’s knights.

“Huh? No no no, father! I can’t do that!” said a young man in his mid-teens. He was waving his hands in front of his face and smiling, as if he doubted the sanity of the person he was talking to. This was Kuzan Rogue, squire of Duke Olipiage’s order of knights and son of its captain, Bach Rogue. His father stood across from him, eyeing him with a terribly stern expression.

Even when they were put side by side, few people would have been able to tell that they were related, or that they were similar at all. Bach had an inflexible attitude, but remained a serious and steadfast knight. His son, on the other hand, acted like a frivolous youth right down to the way he carried himself.

Bach was used to his son’s behavior, but this time he sighed heavily. “You have to. This is a direct order from the master. There’s no getting out of this. The mistress and Master Zeld have put their faith in you too. You’re the only one who can do this.”

“Why do they trust me so much? I’m telling you, I can’t! The Purgatory Forest is monster territory, you know! A lone squire heading there on his own is sure to get killed!”

Kuzan found his father’s orders to be highly unreasonable. Technically, they were orders from their shared master—Seto, the Duke of Olipiage. When he’d joined the knights, he’d sworn absolute loyalty to the Duke and his household, even if it were to cost him his life. But that only applied in situations where it was a reasonable sacrifice. He wasn’t going to simply die on a whim. That was Kuzan’s excuse, anyway. His father would’ve said that orders were orders, and it was his duty as a knight to offer his life regardless. Kuzan had a different opinion entirely, and that was how they’d gotten into this argument.

Bach corrected Kuzan. “But Noah went, and he’s still alive.”

Yes, that was the root of it all. That was why he was being told to find him—or rather, to confirm that he was safe.

Kuzan didn’t have any qualms about that part. Noah was his future master. He’d trained his whole life with that in mind. He didn’t want to throw his life away for no good reason for the current duke, but if it were for Noah...then he’d probably choose to do so with a smile on his face, whether he thought it reasonable or not. He was that dedicated to Noah.

And yet Noah had been exiled. Kuzan hadn’t been told why exactly, but he must have done something incredibly outrageous. That was the only conceivable answer. After all, the Church had come looking for him.

I told you so, Kuzan had thought when he saw the Duke’s household in such a state. The future master thinks of himself as normal and average, but he can screw up and do some pretty heretical things. Every time, I warned him that he’d get tossed out one of these days if he wasn’t careful. He’d reply, with an odd look on his face, “Got it, I’ll be careful.” But look at him now...

It’s because he didn’t listen to me.

But I can’t imagine he’d commit a sin so bad that it’d get him shipped off to the Purgatory Forest, he thought now. I wish I could just leave the Duke’s knights and go look for him myself. Well, the opportunity is right here, so I might as well take it.

But there was still something bothering him.

“Kuzan, why do you hesitate? You were so insistent that I let you go look for Noah, but now you’re getting cold feet? You don’t need to repeat the same excuse. Nobody will get in your way now,” Bach pointed out.

The fake smile on Kuzan’s face faded, and he bit his lip. “Father...I...I’m afraid. Master Noah might condemn me. He might say he doesn’t need me, because I wasn’t there for him when it mattered the most...”

Indeed, that was probably his only reason. That was why he’d taken a flippant attitude and tried to say no. But Bach had seen through his act from the start.

“Ridiculous. You know well that Noah...that your master isn’t that petty. He accepted you and earned your devotion. Well, he probably didn’t think of it that way. I think he became your friend because you were playmates around the same age. But that’s what gave me hope that he would be an excellent duke...”

Yet things had turned out for the worse. Bach restrained himself from saying as much, and took another deep breath. Then he rested a hand on Kuzan’s shoulder and told him straight out.

“Squire Kuzan Rogue, these are your orders. Covertly head to the vicinity of the Purgatory Forest and find Noah. Furthermore, you shall forsake any social status which may hinder you on this mission. Do you follow?”

In other words, his status as a squire was being taken away. That was what going after Noah right now entailed. Otherwise, it’d cause issues for the Duke’s household and Bach. Conversely, this meant that Kuzan would have less liability and could travel across national borders more easily. The Duke’s household would offer him the same assistance as usual, but it was necessary to do this for form’s sake. That was the long and short of it.

Even so, most people would have refused. Social status was important. It was something that people could rely upon. There was usually a very good reason for having one’s status revoked, so Kuzan would probably be accused of some major misdeed. In other words, it was very likely that he would be unable to regain his position as a squire.

Even so, Kuzan said, “I accept. I swear I’ll find Noah and report on his situation!”

Chapter 1: Outside the Purgatory Forest

Seriously?

Our party had just exited the Purgatory Forest and was headed toward the cities of the Urizen Federation. When the forest thinned out, we were overjoyed. It was an unforgettable moment.

The situation that was unfolding in front of us, however, was a real problem. I was at a loss for what to do. But...

“I can’t just abandon them...can I?”

I gave Cath and the kobolds orders as I rushed out. “We’re going to save that coach! Mataza and Liber, you’re with me. We’ll take out the guys nearby. Cath, back us up. Everyone else, take them down one by one!”

There was a coach ahead of us, a common sight among the highways and foot traffic we’d be coming across now that we were outside the forest. But this coach was currently under attack. Not by monsters, but by humans.

Judging by their attire, I couldn’t be certain that the assailants were bandits. They gave more of an impression of being rogues. Meanwhile, the people fighting back were fairly well-dressed, but there were only two of them. There had probably been more of them before, but I could see the corpses of soldiers littering the ground. The assailants must have lost some of their number as well, but there were still ten or so of them, outnumbering the rest. We had to go help them.

Honestly, considering my status, I shouldn’t have gotten involved. I didn’t know what might give away my identity. But I felt like if I abandoned them, I’d lose some vital part of myself. So I didn’t have much of a choice.

I do have a few backup plans just in case, so I should be okay. In the worst-case scenario, we’ll just retreat back into the Purgatory Forest. Nobody would chase us all the way there, or at least not as far in as where our base is.

Having a stronghold I could run back to made me feel a lot more relaxed.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Milady, I believe we are at the breaking point. Please, you must run. I have here a robe of concealment. If you quietly leave with it on, you should be safe. I’ll draw their attention.”

This was the northern region of the Urizen Federation, in the state of Altair. Inside the coach stopped on the road, a man who looked like a butler respectfully addressed the girl sitting across from him.

The girl shook her head. “I couldn’t possibly do that, Greg! I won’t abandon you.”

“But milady, at this rate, all of us will be killed. It is crucial that you survive. You will one day succeed Lord Pagauss. You must not die in such a place.”

“Anyone can become the representative. It doesn’t have to be me.”

“But you will inherit the title of marchioness as well. Lady Katarina, as the sole daughter of Lord Pagauss, you are the only one who can succeed that title.”

The girl he called Katarina was the only daughter of Pagauss, the Marquess of Trahn, and a prominent member of Altair’s state legislature. In Altair, noble succession was not influenced by gender, and thus Katarina had a right to the title. Marquess Pagauss’s position in the legislature also made him eligible to become state governor, and he served as the leader of state representatives. He held sway in the federal government as well, and was a man of considerable influence. The daughter of such a personage could not be permitted to die in this place. That was the opinion of Greg Burton, the steward of House Trahn.

But Katarina disagreed. “Nonetheless, I don’t want to le—” She suddenly stopped herself when more noise came from outside. “What just happened?!”

“I don’t know! What could it be?!” Greg exclaimed as well.

The sound of swords crossing had already been clamorous, but it had just gotten exponentially louder. Not only that, there was even more groaning. Had the enemy gained reinforcements? It was highly possible. Katarina’s forces couldn’t have increased. There was no longer a moment to waste.

“I beg your pardon, milady!” Greg threw the robe over Katarina, causing her to become hard to detect due to the effect of this magic tool. Greg had kept it with him so that at least his mistress could escape in an emergency.

“Greg!”

“Stay quiet, milady. People are coming. You must run away the very moment the door opens. I’ll draw the enemy’s attention.”

“...ngh!”

The situation no longer allowed any protest. Katarina held her breath and waited for the sound of approaching footsteps. Once the door clicked open, she attempted to bolt out. But then...

“Meow.”

Katarina heard an animal cry, and a moment later, she bumped her nose into an invisible wall. She could tell it was probably some kind of magical barrier. She could also tell that despite the robe, her presence had been detected. Her face turned pale. She knew that this was the end for her.

But then she heard a weirdly nonchalant voice say, “Cath? What’s up? ...Hm? A girl?”

Katarina raised her eyes and saw a boy around her age standing there, looking down at her.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Are you certain this is all right? I’m told you are the daughter of the honorable Marquess of Trahn. You should hardly share a coach with a rogue like myself,” said the boy sitting across from Katarina inside the coach. He looked about fourteen, around the same age as her. He wasn’t very well-kept. The most striking things about him were his messy black hair and beast-like black eyes that suggested both intelligence and barbarity at the same time. He clearly wasn’t someone with an upstanding profession, but his manner of speech indicated that he at least understood proper etiquette.

Greg the steward, who was sitting next to Katarina, eyed the boy Noah with suspicion.

Katarina herself thought him very suspicious as well. His external presentation and the skill he had displayed in wiping out so many assailants were just completely incomprehensible. He called himself a rogue, but were any rogues this talented? Then there were his companion beastmen, and the small feline monster he said he’d tamed as a pet. That wasn’t unusual in and of itself, but it still struck a strange chord.

All these flags told Katarina that this group was accustomed to danger, and that under ordinary circumstances, she shouldn’t get involved with them. But she had to show her gratitude to them, including on a sentimental level. Thus, she had suggested that they accompany her to town.

Of course, Greg had disapproved at the start. But his opinion had changed when he saw the boy try to leave right away after claiming that he didn’t need a reward. Greg had suggested to Katarina that he utilize his competent steward skills of conversation and negotiation to hear out the boy’s wants and satisfy them. Doing so would be an extremely simple matter for someone in Katarina’s position, so she had agreed.

However, Greg’s suggestion had not included letting him aboard the coach. Katarina had decided that on her own. She wanted to talk to this boy. She wasn’t wholly conscious of it herself, but Katarina had taken a great interest in Noah.

“No, please don’t let it concern you. You say you are a rogue, but you saved our lives in the nick of time. After all that, I cannot treat you as a threat to my safety.”

“Yes, but...Mr. Greg? You’re her steward. Don’t you have any objections?”

“I simply follow the wishes of my mistress. Moreover, if you are headed to Midrogue, it would certainly be better to go together. It will be easier to explain to the guards that you are an official guest if you ride in the coach. I do not see an issue.”

Greg’s explanation was an interim response and probably wasn’t his actual opinion. But he was a first-rate steward for a prominent noble house, so he spoke and acted courteously, and showed no unpleasantness in his expression.

Normally, it should have been fine for the other party to take him at his word, especially if they were a commoner. Even among nobles, an unsympathetic young lord or absent-minded young lady would think nothing more of it. But Katarina noticed something in Noah’s expression at that moment. He opened his mouth to argue back at Greg, but showed no dissatisfaction. Instead, his eyes betrayed a tiny bit of emotion. It was as if he was thinking, “This house’s steward has it rough too.”

It might’ve just been her imagination. But if it wasn’t...

This person really is intriguing, thought Katarina.

Katarina didn’t notice that beside her, Greg’s face only grew more weary. Her interest in this boy was not very proper for a noble lady.

∗ ∗ ∗

“You want to let these beastmen into town? Can I see their identification? ...I see, they’ll get that later. So they’re refugees... Yeah, that happens to beastmen a lot. Just happened to some others recently. Midrogue’s got plenty of beastmen already, but there are issues with just letting them in. Of course, if you say House Trahn will take some of the responsibility, that’ll do. Yes, otherwise there’ll be no end to them. All right, as long as we’re agreed.” The officer stationed at the front gate guardhouse spoke to Greg in a somewhat high-strung tone.

This was Midrogue, a provincial city in the Marquess of Trahn’s territory in the state of Altair. Katarina’s father had sent her here to learn governance. She wouldn’t be ruling on her own; she had just been given limited powers on the city council. Nonetheless, most of the other council members were under the patronage of the Marquess, so Katarina wouldn’t have to waste her time with incessant power struggles. Thus, it was a simple matter for her to admit a boy, his ten or so beastmen companions, and his pet cat as citizens of Midrogue. Regardless, Katarina was not completely devoid of political enemies, hence the officer’s mild crankiness.

Katarina apologized to the boy. “I’m sorry for the unpleasant experience. You may think it’s easy to accomplish something like this with the Marquess’s authority, but that is not actually the case.”

“Not at all. If I remember correctly, this city is governed by a council. Even if it is part of the Marquess’s territory, the power structure isn’t set up to allow them to get their way all the time. Being questioned like that was only natural. The political systems of federations really are intriguing with how complex they are...”

Both Katarina and her steward Greg were surprised by this response. It certainly wasn’t the kind of thing any rogue on the street would say.

The boy suddenly seemed to realize this as well. “Ah, pardon me. That’s just what I overheard from some merchants conversing at an inn I stayed at during my travels.”

Though he made this excuse, Katarina’s interest was only further ignited.

∗ ∗ ∗

Just who was this boy? This was the plain and simple question on the mind of Greg Burton, steward of the Marquess of Trahn, who was currently acting as Katarina’s advisor. This boy, Noah...who had introduced himself as “just Noah.”

To be frank, the word “just” made him sound more suspicious instead of less. If he really were nobody special, he wouldn’t have added that word; people would have assumed as much without him needing to say so. But this Noah had such a captivating charisma that nobody could dismiss him. From the very moment they’d met, both Greg and his mistress Katarina’s attention was forcibly drawn to him. After all, Noah had effortlessly defeated the people who had attacked them.

Half of the assailants’ group had been people they’d hired as escorts, and the other half had suddenly popped up out of hiding along the road. Judging by this, they had clearly been stationed there ahead of time in order to take Katarina’s life. Their belongings only indicated them as rogues, and they had no uniting emblems whatsoever, so this was actually further evidence. Even rogues—especially rogues—often wore some distinct symbol to boast their strength.

The most easily recognized of these were tattoos. They would get tattoos with designs based on symbols of evil or the name of their organization, to show they belonged to the same gang of robbers or underground society. This elevated the group’s identity and sense of belonging, and could also be used for intimidation. When they attacked in a group and one of their number was killed, they could often be tracked down through this, but that didn’t matter to them. They would instead use it to claim that they could be anywhere—that they were snakes poised to strike the moment an enemy let down their guard. The terror they instilled persisted even beyond the grave.

But while the assailants in this instance certainly had that kind of vibe, they didn’t have any body markings or common belongings. It was like they were intentionally signaling that they were plain old lowlifes with no affiliation to any group. These were the kinds of people employed for carrying out assassinations against powerful figures...which was exactly what had almost happened here. People who were planned to be used for these objectives were often trained and taught much better than the average thug.

Simply put, they were strong. And a whole group of them had attacked.

Half of Katarina’s actual escort had been hired men, and the other half had served her family. But even then, it was a tough battle, and they’d been beaten down to only a few survivors. They were by no means weak. And yet, Noah and his companions had defeated the enemy without a hitch.

Greg hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, but that was what the surviving soldiers had reported. According to them, Noah had stood at the vanguard and killed the majority of the enemy with astonishing swordsmanship. The beastmen were each mighty too, and had defeated their opponents without a single injury. There had even been powerful magic fired off from somewhere. The boy had a startling arsenal at his command.

He had to be someone special. It was plain to see. But he himself denied it, which in itself was startling.

That was why Greg’s first and foremost thought was that he should conduct things in such a way to keep Noah and Katarina from interacting as much as possible. Noah’s power was a threat.

Greg had to make sure that this power wouldn’t be turned against the House. And on the other hand, it would be risky to let Noah get too involved with Katarina. That was why the best course of action would be to give the boy a reward and get the whole thing over with. But Noah didn’t even want a reward. He’d said that he was just satisfied to have saved them and he didn’t need anything else.

This seemed somewhat suspicious. It was conceivable that he might’ve fended off the attack in order to gain her trust. But Greg quickly understood that this would have been superfluous. It would have been a lot more convenient for anyone targeting Katarina to just kill her instead of trying to gain her trust. With forces as powerful as Noah’s, they wouldn’t need to take the indirect approach. In conclusion, it was very likely that Noah really was happy just to have saved her.

Of course, Greg hoped that Noah would just continue on his way if this was really the case. But he knew his mistress well. She wouldn’t let the person who’d saved her life leave without any reward.

He recalled that the Marquess of Trahn had been quite similar in his younger days. But while he was glad that she resembled her father in that way, he also sincerely thought that this would be a tremendous bother.

This feeling worsened when he noticed how Katarina regarded Noah with something fervid in her gaze. It didn’t seem to be an emotion with a clear name. But considering the situation—a good-looking, somewhat coarse man the same age as her, coming to her rescue in her moment of peril... Greg was getting up in years, but he knew the kind of feelings that would produce. And at the rate things were going...

That was why Greg drew out what Noah’s wants were. Unexpectedly, Noah wanted some proof of identification not just for himself, but for the beastmen that accompanied him as well.

This would be the perfect opportunity. Greg made a suggestion to Katarina. At the time, he hadn’t yet realized that this was both a grave mistake and a great stroke of luck.

∗ ∗ ∗

Did I just screw up big time?

Reflecting back on the exchange I’d just had, I was starting to feel a little nervous. Specifically, over how I’d accidentally started chatting about this country’s political system. Thinking about it, that definitely wasn’t something the typical commoner would talk about. Though the city’s inhabitants would have a rough understanding of its political system, the majority of them would only understand that some important local ruler and a council worked together to manage the city. It’d be a different story for merchants and pro association leaders, since they had the qualifications to participate as council members. Regular, unaffiliated citizens wouldn’t know the intricate details. They wouldn’t have much interest in politics in the first place.

In my case, I was familiar with the system here because I’d been taught about the political systems and structures of other countries in comparison with my own. My prior knowledge had just slipped off my tongue. I genuinely thought it was interesting too. After all, the political system of the Urizen Federation was fairly complex.

Maybe it was just that my homeland of Oraculum was a conventional monarchy and therefore easy to comprehend. A federal system was made up of multiple member governments and would naturally be more elaborate. They’d originally been separate nations, and even now the people tended to think of the states they lived in as their own countries.

For example, the state of Altair used to be the Altair Kingdom. People in this state still thought of themselves as citizens of Altair, but not so much as citizens of the Urizen Federation. Of course, they had basic awareness of the fact, but it just didn’t register with them.

There was a reason for this: the politics and systems of each state government varied greatly. There was federal law which applied to all regions and served as the basis for the united Urizen Federation, but the miscellaneous details were often decided by the individual state governments. One such example was the presence or absence of nobility. Not all of the Urizen Federation’s member states were former monarchies; some of them had been countries which never had nobility in the first place. Altair had originally been a monarchy, but that was no longer viable once it joined the Federation.

However, it’s not a simple affair to govern countries and regions. At the time, Altair hadn’t had any ongoing internal disputes, but it had felt threatened by outside forces—the Kingdom of Oraculum, among others—and decided to join the larger aegis of the Federation. Thus the spirit of revolution never took root in its citizens and the nobility had been preserved without issue.

However, in order to send state representatives to the parliament of the federal government, it was required that the citizenry participate in government. Therefore, while the nobility remained in place, the system was reworked so that a council which citizens could become members of was established in each city.

Of course, not all inhabitants were eligible. It was limited to people like representatives of pro associations or merchants who made above a certain income. But officially, citizens could participate in government, and the political gap between nobility and the general public had narrowed.

Regardless, the nobles still had possession of their land and special privileges. Their armed might hadn’t changed much either, so there was still a large difference in power. Even so, being able to participate in the federal parliament granted tremendous power to any state representative, even if they were a commoner. Hence, nobles were not always dominant.

That was why Katarina, despite being the daughter of the Marquess of Trahn, didn’t hold absolute power in the city of Midrogue. The Marquess himself might’ve been a different story, but his daughter had just become a city councilmember by appointment of her father. In other words, she had about the same status as the other council members.

If I were in Katarina’s position, I would consider exploiting my father’s authority to put pressure on the other council members and seize power for myself, but as far as I was hearing, Katarina hadn’t gone that far. Rather, she’d been instructed by her father to not do that.

As the old proverb goes, dragons throw their young into monster territory. The Marquess of Trahn probably had something similar in mind. He wanted her to govern this tiny locale of Midrogue by her own independent power. Of course, though she’d be “independent,” one could tell that he hadn’t left Katarina entirely on her own by the fact that Greg, the steward of House Trahn’s main branch, was with her.

Whether he’d done this because he expected her to be met with opposition or even assassination was a mystery. Even if she wasn’t in a position to get much support from the main branch, most people would think it risky to sabotage her. So he had probably felt like nobody would go that far and it would be safe to send her off on her own. That was all assumption on my part, though.

Well, Greg will probably report to the main branch about this incident, so it’s not something I need to worry about. What I really need right now is...

“Is this arrangement satisfactory, Mr. Noah?”

Greg’s prompt made me perk my head up. We were at the dinner table. Of course, Greg wasn’t eating with us—he was just standing to the side—but we’d been talking over some things until just now, since Katarina had wanted more details.

The topic of our discussion was proof of identification for myself and the kobolds. Yes, that was what mattered to me.

∗ ∗ ∗

“Yes, it’s fine with me. You’re referring to registering us with the adventurer’s guild and having them issue us status cards, correct?” I repeated the main points of Greg’s explanation for good measure.

From what he’d said, that was the easiest legitimate method of getting identification in this city. Naturally, there were other possible methods if we invoked the Marquess of Trahn’s power. He’d explained these as well, but each one had some kind of drawback. The most problematic were the ones that weren’t in the realm of Katarina’s own authority. What was within her power was speaking to one of her allies on the city council—namely, the adventurer’s guild leader—and getting him to issue us status cards quicker than it would normally take.

Well, it was the safe choice. Status cards were the most common form of identification, but there were a limited number of organizations which issued them. The adventurer’s guild was one of these, and unlike the Church, it mainly used status cards to manage its adventurers. The entry categories and design also had various differences from the Church-issued ones. The cards from the adventurer’s guild themselves represented an adventurer’s rank, the measure of their expertise. Of course, the rank was listed as well, so it wasn’t strictly necessary to have distinct designs. It was just for decoration. It probably made it easier to tell at a glance too. They were basically split by color and material.

Status cards needed to have circuits for mana to flow through, due to their nature as magic tools, but they didn’t always have to be made of mythril. Plain iron would work too, depending on how it was processed. In exchange for convenience, they were less durable and had more limited functionality. They were different than the status cards which the Church issued to nobility, but they were good enough for general use. In other words, you could call the Church-issued cards a complete version, and the adventurer’s guild-issued ones a simplified or limited-functionality version. Apparently high-ranking adventurers had status cards that were more complete, but the ones that we were to be issued would undoubtedly be for the very lowest rank: iron.

“Indeed. Mr. Fresco Main is the leader of the adventurer’s guild, and he dotes on Lady Katarina like a little sister. I’m certain that if we explain the situation to him, he will gladly cooperate. We will give you a letter of introduction. Simply present it to the staff there and they should accommodate you,” Greg said with full confidence.

But I wondered if things would really go so well. It might be suspicious if a guy like me showed up out of the blue one day and handed him a letter like that. Well, if he was on good terms with Katarina, he’d have plenty of ways to verify the story, so he might come around pretty quickly...

I decided to voice my concerns anyway. “Even with such a letter, would he really believe a person like myself?”

Katarina answered this. “Indubitably. Lord Fresco is a man of very firm character, but he is as kind as can be toward those who have won his trust. He has helped me on many occasions. So I am quite certain.”

“I see. If you say so, then.”

The mention of “firm character” made me feel a bit intimidated. I used to know someone like that. Specifically, my old home’s captain of knights. He was an obstinate and stern man. And he’d always end up saying to me, “prove it with your sword” or “show me your skills.”

But I definitely couldn’t complain about that to Katarina and Greg. I just knew I needed to have a line of support ready in case there were issues.

So I asked, “If some manner of misunderstanding occurs, can I contact you?”