Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 7: Victory and Vanity
A line of merchants’ wagons stood at the service gate of the royal castle.
That evening’s banquet would celebrate the victory over the terrifying undead beasts and formally present the Holy Knight and the Saint. The merchants and castle servants bustling past all wore cheerful expressions.
Mountains of food and liquor were being brought inside, along with expensive fabrics and even jewels whose purpose was unclear.
Standing nearby, a deputy to the chancellor sighed as he supervised the inspections and stamped the cargo inventories.
—Do we truly need such extravagance at a time like this? Even allowing for the political objectives, it hardly seems right…
Reports stated that the campaign against the undead beasts in the north was largely complete. Nevertheless, many people had been driven from their homes.
His position left him without the courage to challenge his superiors’ decision. He too had a wife and children, so he couldn’t casually indulge his righteous anger.
The man frowned and suppressed his frustration. He thought of an acquaintance who had abandoned his position and left the royal castle the previous day.
—Apparently, the king ordered the army home too soon. I know little about the battlefield, though…
Intellectually, he understood the king’s intentions.
More than a hundred and ten years had passed since a Holy Knight bearing a holy sword had appeared anywhere in this kingdom or its surrounding region. News of Elliot’s feats had already reached neighboring nations.
The new Holy Knight had formerly been a low-ranking knight and the second son of a baronet—in other words, a commoner. The kingdom probably intended to honor his achievements with a title and secure his loyalty through a firm social position as quickly as possible. By approving his marriage to a saint, it could also proclaim the Goddess’s grace both at home and abroad.
Perhaps it was fortunate that no unmarried princess or high-ranking noblewoman of a suitable age was available.
—No. The Holy Knight already had a wife in the royal capital…
As a husband and father himself, the man felt bitterness spread through his chest.
“Cast aside that worthless wife who can do nothing.”
The words his direct superior, the chancellor, had spat still rang in his ears.
—Worthless, is she? By that standard, most people in this kingdom are worthless… myself included.
In one corner of the lively, jubilant castle, the man worked in silence while a chill settled deep in his stomach.
His thoughts returned to the acquaintance who had challenged the king soon after coming home and then left the castle.
Until the previous day, the deputy chancellor’s old friend had commanded the Royal Order of Knights. He had relinquished that prestigious honor, resigned his post, and returned to the northern kingdom. A gag order had been imposed, and only a few senior officials knew. Evidently, no one was to spoil the celebration.
—How foolish… although someone like me, who protects himself and does nothing, has no right to say so.
The only thing the man could do was pray for his friend’s valor and safety.
The celebration began as the sun started to set.
The royal castle’s great hall was lavishly decorated and filled with splendidly dressed nobles.
At its center, the king solemnly received the Holy Knight’s oath in an elaborate ceremony.
The holy sword slid from its sheath, drawing every eye in the hall.
It was a beautiful weapon, with a relief of ivy—the Goddess’s symbol—engraved upon its blade.
Murmurs of admiration rose all around.
A group of newly recruited low-ranking knights watched from one corner of the hall. Nearly overwhelmed by how out of place they felt, most gazed at Elliot with envy, but a few tilted their heads in curiosity.
“Hey, didn’t the holy sword used to glow white?”
“It did when I saw it on the battlefield…”
“Maybe that’s because there aren’t any undead beasts here?”
“…That must be it.”
The young knights’ ill-mannered whispers vanished beneath the hall’s noise, unheard and unheeded.