Once the King made his announcement, the nobles' conversation turned exclusively to Jin and his "Dawn Sword" group. Amour, who had been pestering me about Chris earlier, seemed to brighten up when talk of Chris died down, and went off to get a fresh plate for seconds.
"This is going to cause quite a stir."
"Well, I feel bad for Jin and the others, but it means less hassle for us, doesn't it?"
All of us in Orasion nominally had the backing of the royal family—Amour technically belonged to a southern baron house, but we were treated as a package deal. On top of that, the Ōtori family's strength and influence had become widely known over the past few years, so we didn't get dragged into as much trouble as we used to. Still, there were always people who would try their luck whenever they got the chance. Especially after winning a tournament—suddenly, long-lost relatives of Dad's or Mom's would appear claiming they used to help us out, and there were always idiots willing to collude with them. As for whether these people were actually acquaintances, Maria and the King checked for us. If they were genuinely friends of our parents, there was a high chance Maria and the King knew them too, so it was easy to verify. And when meeting people who claimed to be friends, Maria, the King, and Grandpa were required to be present.
"Tenma! Why don't you come over here?"
I was talking with Grandpa and the others about Dawn Sword when Lion called out to me from outside the participants-only area. Normally, nobles accosting participants like this would be frowned upon, but when the onlookers realized it was Lion calling and Tenma being called, they seemed to think it was "just their usual thing" and went back to their own conversations.
"Alright! Coming!"
"Mm. Have something tasty ready!"
As I replied and headed toward Lion, Amour tagged along with some high-handed remark, but the eavesdroppers didn't seem to think much of those words. Lion felt the same way—if anything, he puffed out his chest and proudly declared, "It's already prepared!"
"With three of us, we can claim a good spot."
"The three indispensable men!"
"Don't flatter us like that. We'll get embarrassed."
"I don't think she was really praising you, though?"
"With Amour, it honestly felt more like she was mocking you. Well, same as always."
"Given how Lion usually is, I suppose that can't be helped."
"Now that's a bit..."
"Sister-in-law, surely that's going too far... isn't it?"
The place Lion took us was the terrace of the party venue. With Albert and Cain already there, the other nobles kept their distance and merely watched from afar.
"Hmm! Drill and Primera... and who's this?"
"That's why I'm not Drill! You're definitely saying that on purpose, aren't you?"
"Hmm? I have no idea what you're talking about. Drill the Twin Swirl, was it?"
"What is that dubious name?! How could anyone possibly have a name like that?"
"Sorry, my mistake. Swirl von Twin-Drill."
"That's not it!"
"Could you two stop already? We're not getting anywhere."
Primera stepped in to rein in the two jesters—well, Eliza had merely been caught up in it, but... Beside Primera, a woman I vaguely recognized was staring at Amour and Eliza with a look of surprise.
"Right. First, we should introduce her to the people Tenma and Amour haven't met."
Cain changed the subject before Amour and Eliza could protest any further, and moved on to introducing the woman.
"Tenma, this is my fiancée."
"Sierra von Ibrik, second daughter of the Earl of Ibrik. Please call me Sierra."
I thought she looked familiar—she was the fiancée Cain had mentioned. We'd exchanged brief nods at the Royal Castle library and the town library before, but this was the first time I'd heard her speak.
"Mmm! Hmph... Barely an ally!"
Before exchanging greetings with Sierra, Amour stared at her chest and said something terribly rude. Sierra, sensing something ominous in Amour's gaze, fled behind Primera. For the record, Cain had mentioned later that Sierra was of average size—possibly bigger than Chris's—and had said something that put me in an awkward position. Please, I begged silently, never talk about your fiancée's chest to another man. Seriously.
"Even so, betting on Tenma isn't as profitable anymore."
"Yeah, it's almost a wash at this point. People place bets more out of habit now, and someone I know who works under Zain has been complaining these past few years that the house's profits are too slim. Since it's come to this, why not not only predict the winner, but also guess second and third place, or even make a lottery where you pick the top three in order! ...That's the kind of desperate talk they've resorted to."
It was probably like win, place, and trifecta in horse racing, but in this world where everything was processed by hand rather than by computer, the calculations would be complicated—so while the idea was good, execution would be difficult.
"The quickest fix would be for His Majesty to request that Tenma withdraw from the tournament... but the public backlash would be too severe for that."
"What if we declared Tenma had been inducted into the hall of fame or something, so he couldn't participate, and then matched him against the tournament winner instead?"
Lion proposed this to Albert, but Albert shook his head.
"That won't work either. The hall of fame idea might be fine, but matching him against the winner means keeping Tenma under restraint for the duration of the tournament. There's the question of how much compensation you'd need to offer to restrain an adventurer of Tenma's caliber for that long, and more fundamentally, Tenma is an adventurer—not a knight or soldier in service to the kingdom. Preventing him from entering would be seen by the Reformist Faction as the King himself trampling on an adventurer's freedom, and they'd make a huge fuss about it."
Even though the Reformist Faction had become smaller and more subdued in recent years, they still held the second-largest power after the Royalist Faction, and they would exploit any opportunity they could find.
"If they asked me not to enter, I'd be happy to sit it out... but even if I agreed, the public wouldn't accept it. If the Reformists spread word that the King had a hand in it, the people would think it was the Royalist Faction's doing... no, they'd think it was the King's doing."
That was the tricky part. No matter how many times the King and I denied it, our close relationship was known throughout the kingdom. Someone would always suspect a deal had been made, no matter who tried to explain.
"It's such a hassle that I'd rather not get involved, but the King will definitely come talk to me about this... seriously, what a pain. Maybe I should go visit the south for a while?"
"Mm. That would be best! The south would welcome you!"
The south would get noisy too, but it was the straightforward, brawling kind of noise—hardly any political complications. In other words, it was rowdy in a simple way; show your strength and most people would treat you well. Besides, it was far from the Royal Capital, making it perfect for escaping trouble.
Just as I was thinking about fleeing the capital...
"That would be problematic. I'd like your trip to the south to wait until after next year's tournament is settled."
Of all people, the King appeared. Beside him were Caesar-sama and Zain. The smell of trouble was practically oozing from them.
"You seemed to be having an interesting conversation. What were you discussing?"
The King looked at Albert and the others as he spoke. He wouldn't get me to talk, so he was directing the question at his three retainers. True to his expectations, the three relayed our conversation to the King and his companions without hesitation.
"Hmm. So Tenma feels the same way... What a truly troublesome matter."
"Your Majesty, this isn't a matter we can simply call 'troubling.' You need to take it more seriously."
The King's expression clearly said he found it exhausting, but Caesar-sama, who was beside him, reined him in.
"Hmm, well... troublesome or not, it's a problem that must be solved. So, Tenma—what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know. Don't leave this to me. Work it out with Caesar-sama and the others first, then bring whatever you decide to me."
"Quite right. But the fact that we'll be bringing you what we've discussed means it's already been decided—essentially an order from the royal family. The reason we want to discuss it with you is precisely because we want to avoid giving it as an order. You understand."
While the King was trying to pass the buck, Caesar-sama politely and firmly explained the situation with no room for escape.
"You know, Caesar-sama should just take the throne already."
"...I'm starting to think so too."
The King agreed with my mutter, but...
"His Majesty is still in good health... We need him to remain on the throne a while longer."
For that reason, Caesar-sama said he wouldn't take the throne just yet. Probably because he thought that if the King abdicated while still healthy, he'd start doing whatever he pleased. And I agreed. Plus, I had a strong feeling I'd be the biggest victim of that, so I'd rather Caesar-sama wait until the King was more subdued before handing over the throne. In that case, Maria could keep him in line even if it meant putting a collar on him.
"W-well, Caesar-sama is right. I do want to have a talk with Tenma about future matters, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave the capital until that's done."
"Fine... Understood."
Having secured my word, the King said he couldn't relax if he stayed any longer and took his leave.
"Whenever the King shows up acting like an actual king, it usually means he's bringing trouble."
"Oh come on, Tenma. That's surely disrespectful, isn't it?"
"Call it disrespectful if you want, but I'm not a vassal—I'm the one being asked. And I can't exactly say I hold the same respect for you that I do for Albert, who sold out my information."
"Hey! I'm sorry about that, but blaming Albert won't—right?"
"That's right! Albert didn't mean to... didn't have any bad... intentions, right?"
"Albert, selling out a friend for career advancement... A haiku is born!"
I shot back at Albert's reproach with a mix of genuine feeling and teasing, and Lion and Cain piled on—though Lion was probably being completely serious—and Amour, trying to put a stop to it, composed a line that didn't quite qualify as a haiku.
"No, wait! I had no such intention! Eliza! Primera!"
Albert, betrayed by Lion and Cain, desperately turned to Eliza and Primera for support, but...
"Lion, Cain, putting Amour aside, what Tenma said isn't wrong."
"Setting aside the manner of it, from Tenma's perspective, what you did deserves to be called what it was, brother. And to a stranger, it would look exactly as Amour described."
Neither of them came to Albert's defense, saying it wasn't entirely wrong. Sierra wore a bitter smile throughout their exchange but didn't object.
"Setting Albert aside, there's still time before the dance, so let's eat first... Oh, that goes without saying, doesn't it?"
While Primera and Eliza had Albert cornered, Amour, Lion, and I had already started reaching for the food and drinks Albert and his group had prepared.
"So Tenma, who are you dancing with first this year? Last year it was Baroness Hana, before that was Amour, and the year before that was Maria, right?"
When I asked how he remembered all that, Cain replied, "It just goes to show how much attention you get." By that logic, others probably remembered too.
"I don't have to dance, really... but people have weird expectations."
The first year, there was the Jeanne and Aura kidnapping incident, so the party was canceled before the dance even started. The next year's dance went ahead as planned, and Maria more or less dragged me onto the floor. After that, I ended up as a conversation partner for Maria and the King, so nobody dared ask me to dance. Starting the following year, I declared I'd only dance with acquaintances or tournament prize winners—only to be abducted by Amour mid-sentence. And last year, Hana, who had heard about that from Amour, snatched me up on a whim. Well, by limiting the criteria for dance partners, I at least avoided dancing with complete strangers—but since I didn't know many noble women, it was always pretty much the same group. And this year, the only female prize winners were Amour and Chris, so if I danced with everyone who hadn't yet, there wasn't really anyone left to... I thought, until I noticed two people who hadn't danced with me were right here. Granted, neither seemed like the type who would enjoy being asked to dance, but I figured I'd give it a try. If they turned me down, I'd just skip the dance this year.
"Primera, would you honor me with the first dance?"
Of the two I hadn't danced with before, I asked the one I was closer to first. Given Primera's personality, she might refuse out of shyness, but that would just become a funny story about being turned down by an acquaintance. But—
"Yes, I'd love to!"
She accepted in a heartbeat. It was unexpected, but I was glad to have found a partner. Though I was a bit bothered by the fact that when I then asked Sierra, she somehow looked at me with cold eyes and refused—while Sierra, Amour, and Lion all wore expressions that said "well, that's what you get," meaning I must have committed some kind of social faux pas.
"Tenma, I'm next!"
Amour tried to book the slot after Primera, but—
"Today, I'm only dancing with people I know who have never danced before. Sorry, but no."
"Ugh."
That alone didn't seem to satisfy her, and I wasn't sure what to do—but Cain and Eliza talked her down, which was a relief. A relief, yes—but the fact that they both moved at the same time made me wonder if there was some ulterior motive, and that was a little unsettling.
"Well then, time's running short—shall we move closer to the dance floor?"
At Cain's suggestion, we each headed toward the venue with our respective partners, but—
"Hey, wait! I don't have a partner!"
"I... don't mind if I can't dance with Tenma. Lion, do your best."
Lion's cry prompted Amour to reflexively start volunteering, but she quickly remembered I'd said I wasn't dancing and lost interest midway.
"The problem is, Lion doesn't have a primary dance partner to start with. His fiancée candidate is away training in the border territories."
"It wouldn't be appropriate to invite another woman under those circumstances. Well, it's the same every year."
Every year without fail, Lion struggled to find a dance partner and had to rely on women from noble houses under the Border Count's domain. But it was almost always widows or older women, so he rarely got the chance to dance with someone his own age.
"I really don't want to dance with Lion..."
Even Primera avoided him. Lion's reputation as a dancer was quite poor. According to Albert, Lion had technique, but he'd learned it incorrectly and never got the chance to fix it, so dancing with Lion was extremely difficult unless your own skill was considerably higher. By those standards, his dancing was about on par with mine from four years ago. As for me, I'd improved since then—though not enough to brag about—so I couldn't really mock Lion's dancing either.
"Well, it looks like it's time... Everyone, let's leave Lion to his own devices and head to the dance."
"Right. We can't afford to have everyone here skipping the dance just because we're fussing over Lion."
Just as Cain and Albert said, the eldest sons of major noble families representing the Royalist Faction couldn't all skip the dance. So we ignored Lion, who had run off to find a partner, and set off toward the venue.
When we reached the dance floor at the center of the party hall, it was packed with couples jockeying for prominent positions. However, as soon as Albert and Eliza's pair and Cain and Sierra's pair appeared, the couples blocking their path parted in unison, allowing us to advance easily to the center. Incidentally, Primera and I had agreed to try not to stand out, so we tried to move toward the edge—but Eliza forcibly dragged Primera along, and before we knew it, we'd been brought near Albert's group... right in the most visible center of the dance floor.
"Tenma, you're here too."
In the center stood the King and Maria, Caesar-sama and Isabella as a pair. Various other high-ranking nobles had also congregated in the center, so as the only commoner, I stuck out like a sore thumb.
"So, with that said... Primera, shall we move to the edge?"
"Agreed."
Dancing in such a place was only for those supremely confident in their skills or absolute fools. So when I suggested we leave and find an inconspicuous spot, Primera immediately understood without needing an explanation and began to move. But—
"There's no reason you can't dance here."
"Tenma is a guest of the royal family, and his partner Primera is a lady of the Sanga ducal house. No one would dare object."
The King and Caesar-sama grabbed my shoulders and stopped me, while Maria and Isabella cut off Primera's retreat.
"Primera. Since you've come this far, you need to steel yourself for the future."
"Fleeing after making it this far would be a stain on the Sanga ducal house's reputation."
Persuaded by the royal couples, we reluctantly returned to the center and danced near Albert's group.
"Welcome back, Tenma. Once those two have their hands on you, even you can't escape."
"Primera, surely you knew there was no way you could flee after making it this far."
We retreated to the vicinity of Albert and the others, only to be greeted by their commentary right away. Cain was teasing, while Albert sounded exasperated. Admittedly, fleeing after making it this far was unseemly—or rather, as a noble, it would be an action that invited contempt from other nobles—but...
"Shouldn't the blame fall on Albert and the others for dragging us here in the first place?"
I wasn't a noble, so being looked down on didn't bother me, and Primera had said she intended to renounce her noble status in the future anyway, so it didn't really matter to her either. Well, if the Sanga ducal house was brought up, that would be different—but even knowing that, if she'd still tried to flee, I imagined Duke Sanga would simply laugh about it.
When I pointed this out—
"Oh look, Tenma! It's about to start."
"It seems so. You two should get ready quickly."
—and just like that, they slipped away.
"Those two... Well, there's no point complaining. We should take our positions too."
"Indeed."
And so the dance began... I managed to avoid any major humiliation, I think. There were a few minor missteps, but nothing fatal, so I'd call it a success.
"I'm exhausted... At this rate, doing another Individual Battle would be less tiring... Great work, Primera."
"You worked hard too, Tenma. But that way of thinking is absolutely wrong."
"Well, that's the correct reaction."
"That's so very Tenma. I'd feel more comfortable in a match than dancing too."
"If Grandpa is like this, it's no wonder Tenma thinks that way."
After the dance, Primera and I made our way to the table where Grandpa and Ernest were relaxing.
I had originally intended to dance just one song and return, but after the first dance, Maria caught me. Then I danced with Isabella, Eliza, and Sierra, and danced with Primera once more.
Even accounting for the unexpected number of dances, I was tired from six consecutive songs—but when I fled the dance floor, there were still nobles trying to invite me. So I escaped to the place where the most powerful idle person in the venue happened to be. For the record, Primera had danced with the King and Caesar-sama during my absence and was mentally exhausted as well. At the same time, perhaps she'd built up some tolerance toward the royal family, because when she said she wanted to go to Ernest's table, she followed along without anyone saying a word.
"That said, your first dance was dreadful, but it gradually improved. Your last dance looked like it was a different person entirely. Of course, it was more like the change from a beginner to an intermediate level."
Ernest's way of putting it was a bit harsh, but I chose to take it as praise for my improvement.
"Definitely. The second dance was much easier than the first."
"Well, you had overwhelmingly impressive examples around you."
Caesar-sama, Albert, Cain, various other nobles... The King was skilled too, but he felt like a lesser version of Caesar-sama and didn't quite measure up to Albert and the others, so I didn't use him as a model. Plus, both Maria and Isabella had done a good job of leading to make it easier for me.
"If I danced many more times, I'd probably improve further... but I'm not especially fond of dancing, so being able to do the basics is enough for me. By the way, Primera, you're really good at dancing. As expected of a ducal lady."
"Well, dancing is practically a required subject for nobles. Though personally, I prefer physical activity outside of dancing."
"I see. It makes sense that you two ended up as partners—you're cut from the same cloth."
"You're one to talk."
Ernest was poking fun, but reacting would only amuse him, so I ignored him. Primera was about to react, but she happened to coincide with the moment Grandpa shot back at Ernest, so she couldn't get a word in.
"Tenma, do you have a moment?"
"Lyle, where have you been until now?"
Lyle, whom I hadn't seen in the venue until now, approached unobtrusively and spoke in a lower voice than usual.
"I have a small favor to ask. You know about 'Dawn Sword,' who's been the talk of the town? They've been summoned to the Royal Capital soon. The question is which noble house will host them—more specifically, which noble-affiliated lodgings they'll stay at, and there's bound to be a fierce dispute over it. If they can be lodged at the Royal Castle or somewhere connected to the royal family, there'd be no issue, but people are already saying the royal family has monopolized you and your 'Orasion' group."
"So you're saying the Ōtori family should take care of Jin and the others?"
"To put it bluntly, yes."
Since the royal family was perceived as surrounding us, it would be better for Jin and the group to be given to someone else. But the dungeon that Dawn Sword had cleared was in Seigen, which was under direct royal jurisdiction, so having another noble take credit for them was undesirable. So the plan was to have Jin and the group stay with me—their acquaintance—so that other nobles couldn't interfere, while indirectly signaling that Dawn Sword was aligned with the Royalist Faction.
"I don't mind if Jin and the others are willing... but if I explain and they refuse, please give up."
"That's fine. Thank you."
With that, Lyle slipped away.
"And here I thought I could escape from troublesome matters, but I'm getting dragged in anyway... Well, it can't be helped."
"Hmm. Sheltering Jin and the others might earn us extra grudges... but the ones who'd resent us would be nobles opposing the Royalist Faction, so I suppose it's no different from usual."
"Well, it's not like we're gaining new enemies. The resentment will deepen, though..."
The Royalist Faction and its allied nobles might resign themselves to it, reasoning that even if I took the opportunity to acquire Jin and his group, there might be some indirect benefit. But for hostile factions like the Reformists, it would mean gaining a new enemy, so they'd definitely hold a grudge. Not that the Reformists didn't already despise me, so it was nothing new.
"Though really, it all depends on what Jin and the others think."
"That's true... but Jin and his group dislike trouble too, so you should probably assume they'll agree to stay with us."
I was thinking that having Jin and the others around would bring even more trouble! ...And sure enough, after this party, my own rashness would set all sorts of things into motion.