Chapter 118: Invitation to a Meeting

The royal capital at the end of the year was unexpectedly quiet.

Nobles from all over the country were arriving one after another, and the residents were busy with preparations for the New Year, so naturally, there was a lively atmosphere in the city.

However, for Isamu, who was used to the festive atmosphere of the New Year’s celebrations in Japan, which disregarded religious beliefs and lasted from Christmas to New Year’s, it was somewhat lacking.

“The festivities won’t start until the New Year. The New Year’s celebrations, which celebrate the arrival of the new year, will begin on the first day, followed by the Grand Council meetings until the third day, and then there will be announcements of honors such as conferment of titles and recognition of engagements and marriages, including yours. That’s when the real festivities begin. The day after that, the royal tournament will finally begin. It will take three days to determine the winner. Then, after a day of rest, there will be a joint suppression exercise near the capital, which will last for one night and two days. The finale will be a triumphant parade by the entire knight order upon their return from the exercise. These ten days are the busiest time of the year in the royal capital during the New Year’s celebrations.”

As Isamu asked questions while walking towards the inn where they would be staying, Lord Dafyyd Jansen, the lord of the neighboring territory, provided him with information.

“I see. The festivities start after the New Year. Where I come from, we make noise all night long while crossing over into the new year, and then it’s customary to visit the shrine or the church here for New Year’s prayers.”

“Oh, making noise while crossing over into the new year isn’t a custom here.”

As they chatted about such trivial matters, they arrived at the inn for nobles located near the border between the commercial and aristocratic districts.

Count Maraine Bisseling, being an upper-class noble, had a separate residence in the royal capital.

However, the houses of the Klaufeldt and Jansen families were not so poopular, so when they came to the capital, staying at an inn was the norm.

This area was where such noble inns were located, and it had been bustling with carriages arriving non-stop for the past few days.

“Welcome back, Lord Klaufeldt, Lord Jansen. Thank you for your hard work on your carriage journey.”

Since both the Klaufeldt and Jansen families stayed at the same inn every year, they were greeted with “welcome back” instead of “welcome.”

“Hello, Master. We’ll be relying on you again this year. Oh, and my daughter got engaged just the other day. She’s accompanying me to report it at the Grand Council. I think we’ll be coming to the capital more often in the future, so I’m counting on you.”

“Oh, congratulations on your engagement!”

“I am Isamu Matsumoto. Please take care of me.” 

“Thank you very much. My name is Grendel, and I serve as the steward of the Silver Dragon Scale. Matsumoto-san, please feel free to visit us when you come to the capital.”

After introducing themselves, the innkeeper, Grendel, bowed deeply.

“Oh, Klaufeldt-sama. I have a message for you. Could you please confirm and sign for it?”

After completing the check-in process, Selfars received two sealed letters from Grendel.

Seeing the wax seals resembling crests, it was clear that both letters were from noble families somewhere.

“Thank you. This crest is… from Marquis Innocenti’s Border Territory, and this one… Huh!? From the Duke of Chartreuse?”

Although Selfars exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the crests, he quickly moved on to confirming the contents.

After confirming that the addressee was indeed himself, he first opened the letter from Marquis Innocenti.

“Hmm… It is indeed a letter addressed to us from the Marquis. There is no mistake about that.”

After confirming the contents, Selfars nodded once and put the letter away.

“…This is also addressed to me, but to be honest, I can’t think of any reason why.”

Although the addressee was indeed himself, he had no idea why, as he had hardly had any contact with the high-ranking noble before. Therefore, he read the letter with a puzzled expression.

“…I see. This one is also definitely addressed to us from Duke Chartreuse. Let me sign for it to receive it.”

“Thank you very much. Where would you like to have dinner?”

After confirming the contents of the letter, Selfars signed to receive it, and Grendel asked about their dinner plans.

“Right. We’ll be dining in our room tonight, so please bring it to us there.”

“Understood. I will bring it to your room later.”

After leaving the reception, they moved to the floor where they would be staying for a while starting today. The Klaufeldt family was on the third floor, and the Jansen family was on the fourth floor.

This inn, which was mainly for nobles and major commercial firms, was rented out by floor rather than by individual rooms.

In addition to a main room with a living room, dining room, and reception room, there were several bedrooms and connecting rooms.

Since not all the knights of the escort could stay here, except for the guards on duty, the other knights would be staying at nearby inns, as they did when they visited Count Kalenberg’s territory.

After bidding farewell to the Jansen family, the Klaufeldt family gathered in the living room. They had to discuss their schedule until the Grand Council.

“Phew. Just when I thought we finally arrived, we get letters from unexpected people… There’s no time to catch our breath at all.” 

Selfars sighed as he sank into the sofa. In the dining area, Karina, the head maid accompanying Annemarie, began preparing tea.

“I can kind of guess what the letter from Marquis Innocenti is about, but what about Duke Chartreuse? What kind of person is he?” 

Isamu cut to the chase as soon as he saw Karina preparing tea.

“The Chartreuse family is a ducal family that holds territory on the southeast peninsula of the capital. They’re famous as the Ice Duke’s family.”

“The Ice Duke’s family?”

“Yeah. The Chartreuse territory has a mine that produces ice magic stones. They’ve prospered around that.”

“Ice magic stones… Does that mean it’s related to the new refrigerators?”

“It doesn’t explicitly say so, but the letter was kind of roundabout in expressing gratitude for the increased sales of ice magic stones thanks to our new refrigerators. Oh, that’s right. Rudolf, please deliver letters to Marquis Innocenti and Duke Chartreuse now. Inform Marquis Innocenti that we’ll visit tomorrow afternoon and Duke Chartreuse the afternoon after tomorrow.”

“Understood. I’ll arrange it immediately.”

“Counting on you.”

Following Selfars’ instructions, Rudolf left the room.

“Isn’t it getting close to evening? Are you sure it’s okay?” 

Isamu asked, even though there were letters requesting a meeting from both the marquis and the duke. They were a count and a duke, after all, and it didn’t seem likely they could meet so soon.

“Yeah, it should be fine. The letter from Marquis Innocenti mentioned that even if it’s a same-day request, they’ll make time, and the one from Duke Chartreuse said they’ll make time in the afternoon until New Year’s.”

Selfars shrugged in response to Isamu question.

“But isn’t that…”

“Yeah, it’s not something that usually happens. It’s like saying you can come anytime, so it’s not the kind of response you’d expect for a lower-ranking noble family.”

“Yeah, that’s true… Then why?”

“Well, I can’t really say. I don’t think there’s anything particular with Marquis Innocenti, but I’ve hardly ever spoken with Duke Chartreuse.”

With a shrug and a sigh, Selfars collapsed backward onto the sofa.

“Well, we won’t know until we meet them. There’s no use thinking about it, so let’s have our meal and rest early today.”

Unable to come to any conclusions, they decided to have their meal in the room and retire early to rest from the long journey.

The next morning, as they were having a late breakfast in their room, they were informed of consecutive visitors who had agreed to visits today and tomorrow – one from the marquis and one from the duke.

“See? It’s fine, isn’t it?” 

Selfars said with a dry laugh as Isamu expressed surprise.

“On the contrary, because it’s fine, I’m scared of what the content might be…” 

With a dry laugh still on his lips, Selfars looked up at the ceiling.

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