Chapter 116: Heading Towards the Capital

During the period from announcing the team members to departure, time was spent on training to improve coordination among team members.

Unfortunately, even the knights who were not selected are eager to play the role of simulated enemies without any hesitation.

Isamu, Selfers, Nicolette, Annemarie, Diluc, and Orihime formed a party to act as simulated enemies in the mock battles.

Isamu, who manipulates the most powerful ancient magic in the world despite having a small amount of magic power, Annemarie, who has made remarkable progress in learning ancient magic under Isamu’s tutelage, and Nicolette, the forest witch, are formidable rear-guard members. Moreover, the vanguard protecting them consists of Selfers, who continues to fight on the front lines despite being a lord, Diluc, who still boasts the top skills in the knight order, and Orihime, who is both strong and cute, making for an extremely unfair lineup.

“Wait, hold on! Aren’t they stronger than us!?”

Ulysses, the half-elf knight, shouted while creating a Wind Wall to block the Stone Fist Rock Fist unleashed by Isamu.

“Isn’t the young lady too merciless!?”

As soon as Isamu’s Stone Fist was blocked, Marcela countered Annemarie, who was setting up another barrage with Ice Burst.

“As expected of Nicolette-sama… There are too many!”

Liddell intercepted Nicolette’s Blaze Arrow raining down from above by scattering Water Balls.

“Gah, even though he’s the captain, he won’t let us off easily!!”

“Whoa, Orihime-sensei is serious!? But cute!!”

Mizeroi and Tiramisu attempted to suppress Diluc and Orihime, who had flanked them, with the Physical Shield “Xiao mao Type 1.”

“I see, although I understood it, I didn’t expect the lord’s family’s strength to be boosted so much…”

Felix, who was observing the battle situation between the vanguard and the rear-guard, inadvertently muttered.

Originally, the mother and daughter of the lord’s family were proficient in magic, but they have made remarkable progress after learning ancient magic from Isamu. Isamu himself uses eccentric magic centered around earth magic that nobody has paid attention to until now, and his repertoire has been increasing recently. Even after seeing his Stone Fist being blocked, he successfully unbalanced Mizeroi and Tiramisu by creating several bricks at their feet using a magic called Brick Creation.

Ultimately, Felix’s team, which was pushed back due to a gap created by the Brick Creation magic, was defeated in this battle.

“Isamu-sama’s magic is always cheating!! I never thought I would trip over bricks and lose!?”

There’s no way to avoid them when bricks suddenly appear at your feet while desperately defending against Orihime’s fierce attacks.

“Haha, because your feet were were wide open.”

To Marcella’s frustrated words, Isamu replied cheerfully.

Actually, Isamu used this magic to say the line he always wanted to say.

“Yeah, Isamu is really good at using magic. Nobody uses the Brick Creation magic in battles, even if they know about it. Everyone, let’s try various things without being bound by preconceptions. With ingenuity, even bricks can change the course of the battle.”

“Yes!”

Everyone nodded earnestly at Selfers’ summary.

Thus, they continued to train more intensively until the departure.

Two days before departure to the capital, on the 20th of the 12th month.

In the Bisseling Marquis’ mansion, two carriages with family crests, clearly indicating noble houses, were parked.

One belonged to Marquis Bisseling, and the other belonged to Viscount Jansen, who is related to the same adoptive family.

Since the three families, whose territories are close to each other, use the same road to move to the capital, it has become customary for them to form a caravan and travel together every year.

However, this year, there was a slightly different reason for their early arrival compared to usual…

“What? Armor with Orihime’s claws engraved on it?”

“Hey, what’s with that fun-looking armor?”

Maraine Bisseling and Dafyyd Jansen, the lords of both families, were both interested in the “Nyafu Marked Armor” worn in the mock battles.

Yes, the purpose of both lords was Orihime. Even though the capital is close, the lord cannot easily leave the territory.

Having obtained a large pardon known as the Grand Evaluation, the two lords left their territories earlier than usual under the pretext of “celebrating Annemarie and Isamu’s engagement.”

I’m sure His Majesty the King wouldn’t be able to close his mouth if he heard that two good old lords were coming forward to meet a cat for some reason.

Of course, they also wholeheartedly congratulated Annemarie and Isamu on their engagement upon their early arrival.

However, since it is essentially the engagement of the lord’s eldest child, they cannot give anything without the approval of His Majesty the King, so the topic quickly shifted to Orihime and the earlier conversation.

“As for this Grand Evaluation, we have two main objectives. One is, of course, to obtain approval for Annemarie and Isamu’s engagement. The other is to demonstrate the overwhelming strength of our knight order in the mock battles and suppression exercises…”

Selfers declared while looking into the eyes of both lords.

“Hmm…”

“What?”

Maraine squinted his eyes, and Dafyyd raised an eyebrow.

“In addition to that… We are considering disclosing Isamu’s ability skill.”

“Hm. Are you finally going to disclose it…”

“Disclose? What do you mean? Isn’t it just an ability skill that allows for efficient use of magic?”

Maraine, who knows the full extent of Isamu’s ability skills, groaned, while Dafyyd, who has not been fully informed, tilted his head.

“To everyone except Lord Dafyyd and, no, Lord Maraine, I haven’t told anyone yet… Isamu can read some magic circles and can draw new ones based on them.”

“What!?”

“Furthermore, he understands the meaning of magic words, so he can use ancient magic.”

“…Ancient magic!? …Are you serious?”

“Ah, it’s true. The swords we used during the recent monster incident were all magic swords crafted by Isamu.”

“I see… So that’s how it is. And the fact that Diluc and Mizeroi took down the ogres with them…”

“The benefits of magic swords are significant. Of course, it’s thanks to the skill of those two as well.”

In response to Selfers’ reply, Dafyyd nodded silently, urging him to continue.

“Since then, I’ve been making several magic weapons. We plan to utilize some of them to aim for a decisive victory in the mock battles. So, we thought it would be a good idea to put a mark on them that would clearly identify them as our knights.”

“I see… So you’re going to strike before they can act…”

Maraine muttered with his arms crossed.

“Certainly, your knights are strong… But winning overwhelmingly in the mock battles is quite something, isn’t it?”

Dafyyd, who also enjoys being on the front lines, having participated in the mock battles in his younger days, expressed his concern, knowing the level well.

“Yeah, I think they’ll be fine with the current state. How about giving it a try?”

Selfers, who should also be aware of the level, grinned confidently, believing there would be no problem.

“…All right. Shall we go with 6 vs. 6?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

And so, a mock battle between the Klaufeldt House Knights and the Jansen House Knights was hastily arranged.

“Hey… What’s with this strength…?”

Three mock battles were held with precise stops to ensure they wouldn’t interfere with the upcoming journey, but the result was a complete victory for the Klaufeldt Knights. Dafyyd was astonished at the defeat with hardly any redeeming qualities.

“Hehe, how about that? Now you don’t have to worry, right?”

Selfers patted Dafyyd’s shoulder with a smile.

“Yeah. And there are still some magic tools you haven’t used yet, right? Geez, your son-in-law seems harmless with that face, but he’s quite something, huh?”

With an extremely grim expression, Dafyyd evaluated Isamu.

“Hahaha, isn’t my son-in-law amazing?”

Selfers replied happily.

“Using ancient magic on top of this is cheating. I’ve heard people say how amazing that guy is countless times, but I finally realized it for myself.”

“Well, Isamu is probably one of the strongest among those people. In terms of individual combat power, he may not be that strong, but with magic tools and ancient magic, the impact he has on those around him is immeasurable.”

“No kidding…”

Dafyyd shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if surrendering.

“But seriously, what’s with Orihime’s strength? Isn’t it unfair to be cute and strong at the same time?”

Maraine, who was watching the mock battles, was surprised by the results, but he was also amazed by Orihime’s performance when she participated once in a member replacement.

“That familiar of Isamu’s, or rather, as Isamu puts it, his family, you see? And apparently, it’s even blessed by the goddess? “

“The goddess? What do you mean?”

Maraine frowned at the sudden mention of the goddess.

“The other day, we had a ceremony at the church for the engagement. And as Your Lordship knows, this church here enshrines Lady Orihime, right?”

“Yeah. That divine object is of exceptional quality.”

“I don’t know if it’s because of the enshrinement or not, but during the engagement ceremony, I heard a voice that seemed to be from the goddess directly in my head. As a result, Lady Orihime’s crest was even inscribed on the engagement proof. Right, Isamu?”

“Yeah, I was surprised by that… Ah, here’s the engagement proof and Orihime’s crest.”

Isamu said, taking out the engagement proof from his pocket and handing it to Maraine.

“What…!?”

Maraine’s hands trembled as he held the received engagement proof.

“What were the conditions for reissuing the marriage certificate…? No, should I divorce my wife and marry again right away? But… hmmm…”

Isamu overheard Maraine muttering something nonsensical while seriously contemplating something.

“…Maraine-san, should I ask Orihime if you can get a stamp on your forefoot later?”

Feeling uneasy, Isamu asked Maraine.

“What? really??”

Marlene raised his face from the engagement proof and gave Isamu a sharp look.

“Uh, yes. Whether you can get it stamped or not depends on Orihime, so I can’t promise anything…”

“Hehe, it doesn’t matter. If Orihime refuses, then there’s nothing to be done. So, a stamp on the forefoot, huh… hehe.”

Despite the lack of a guarantee, Maraine became cheerful.

Seeing no other choice but to beg for a stamp, Isamu chuckled wryly, and then another gentleman spoke up.

“Wait a minute. Is it just Lord Maraine? What about me??”

Although he wanted to avoid childish squabbles over sweets like immature siblings, Isamu swallowed the words that were about to come out of his throat.

“…Understood. I’ll ask Orihime.”

As Isamu replied, Dafyyd nodded satisfactorily.

After Isamu begged for it,

“Nyaffu…”

Despite letting out a grand sigh, the next day, Orihime stamped a handkerchief for the two gentlemen as they departed, bid farewell by Nicolette who stayed behind in the capital, Isamu and the others set off for the royal capital in a large caravan consisting of nearly 20 carriages on the early morning of the 22nd day of the 12th month.

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