Chapter 10 (1/2)

10.LORD TEIRAH

The residence of Lord Teirah was unexpectedly not very splendid. However, the furniture of good taste and each of the decorations of the residence gave it color. With the airs given off by the decoration being very uniform, it could be seen that there was only one theme being used. There was a good feeling of honesty in it; it was something that wouldn´t be felt from the tastes of the first cla.s.s citizen rich upstarts.

“Because my father has the principle of not using much money in material objects, people often say that we are being too much of misers for how we keep our house like that, . Bt even so, I really like my home.”

Willian mentally nodded at Karl´s words. It wasn´t gaudy, but it was elegant.

“In my opinion, I also think it is graceful.”

“As I said before, stop with the polite language! It is starting to feel creepy.”

“”Isn´t it obvious that doing this is impossible, r.e.t.a.r.d.””

Willian got angry at Karl, who was looking at him with dissatisfied eyes, and complained in his mind.

“”Their garden isn´t too big and their walls aren´t that high. If necessary, it will be possible for me to escape from here.””

The garden wasn´t that much wide, but as to be expected, its decoration had good taste. There was a water fountain at its center, and it was surrounded by a pound. If right now was the habitual state of affairs, perhaps Willian would be able to have a comfortable rest at that garden, but he didn´t have the spare time to be doing this at the moment.

“”I can´t find anything eye-catching in the structure of the house. Even without having a good look at it, I can already imagine how the corridors are organized.””

It was indispensable that Willian made his preparations for escaping in case Karl was to go back in his words or if Karl´s father wanted to have Willian dead.

Perhaps the chance for this to happen was low. However, the percentage wasn´t zero.

“This way. They should already be done with the preparations for dinner by now.”

Karl signaled Willian to come with a hand gesture. There were many servants in front of the door. It was possible to notice that they were wearing maid clothes of quality and that they had been well trained in their conduct and way of movement.

“…Understood.”

Willian´s expression didn´t change. Since he came all his way here anyway, he was able to set his resolve. Him meeting a n.o.ble, an existence he couldn´t even imagine about, was an opportunity that had came early for him. Yes, this was an opportunity.

“”I… won´t lose.””

His resolve was now completely set.

“Please enter, Karl-sama, Rivius-sama.”

A maid that seemed to be of old age opened the door. Then, the person sitting at the farthest seat of the table said…

“Welcome to the Teirah residence. I welcome you, Willian-kun.”

It was Lord Teirah. It was the first genuine n.o.ble Willian had seen in his life.

“It is my deepest honor to be invited by you, Lord Teirah.”

Willian deeply bowed his head. He had some etiquette imbued in his body. This too was knowledge he acquired from books. It was the first time he put it in practice. Since this was the first time he had met with a n.o.ble, such was obvious, but…

“Your hair is really as white as chalk. I was thinking the man would have white hair mixed with his hair, Karl.”(TL note: I think he is saying that he thought Willian was an old man. Karl should have told him that Willian was very knowledgeable, so it should be the case.”

Willian turned his eyes to the direction of the voice. At that direction, there was a man that had a wavy blonde hair tied together in one bundle. He looked to be slightly older than both Karl and Willian.

“I am very sorry, elder brother.”

Anger could be seen in Karl´s response.

“I am being rude to the visitor for not introducing myself already. My name is Ainhart Von Teirah. My profession is being a scholar and I am Karl´s elder brother.”

Seeing Ainhart respectfully bow to Willian, Willian himself bowed to him in reaction. Seeming that that scene was amusing for the Lord Teirah, he laughed.

“And the one sitting to my opposite side is our most beloved little sister, Lutogarde.”

The girl that was sitting to Aingart´s opposite side of the table bowed in an embarra.s.sed manner. The moment her eyes met with Willian´s, she immediately averted her gaze.

“”…Is it too disgraceful for her to meet eyes with a commoner?””

Willian´s expression didn´t change the slightest, but he wasn´t calm in his mind. Willian couldn´t help but feel that the man sitting at the back of the table, Karl´s elder brother Ainhart and even Lutogarde were looking down on him. Rather, it was definitely only him imagining that.

“Ahaha, Lutogarde is very shy when meeting new people. Really, you need to properly greet him!”

Karl puffed up his cheeks. (TL note: Rly mate? -.-) Looking at that, Lutogarde made an apologetic face.

“M-my name is Lutogarde. Nice to meet you, Willian-sama.”

“I am from Rus.h.i.+tania. My name is Willian Rivius. It is my pleasure meeting you, Lutogarde-sama.”

Willian carefully told his false story. No, in fact, he [himself] was without doubt Willian, who came from Rus.h.i.+tania, so there weren´t any lies.

“I guess I am the last in the self introductions. I am Lord Teirah, Louran Von Teirah. I will be in your care, Willian-kun, Karl´s friend and benefactor.”

Willian was slightly troubled at how a n.o.ble had lowered his head to him.

“Now, have a sit. Albeit it is a meager one, let´s have dinner.”

“…Excuse me.”

The arrangement of the seats was that Louran, the head of the house, was at the back; to the left was Ainhart and Karl, and to the right was Lutogarde, and now…

“…Uhm, is it fine for me to sit here?”

“Ah, yes, by all means.”

Lutogarde answered in a very meek voice. Willian sat down.

“Fill your plate with the dishes of your desire and let´s start our dinner.”

With Louran´s call, the dinner started.

“”I don´t recognize this taste. What am I eating right now?””

Every single one of the cuisine lined up in the table were tasty food Willian had never eaten before. But even so, he was having trouble with the table manners, was also worried about how the conversation would go, and in addition to that, he had to talk about Rus.h.i.+tania, his home country he actually had never been to. Because of the extreme feeling of tension and the too tasty of a food he normally wouldn´t be able to eat, his tongue became completely numb of taste.

“…But it seems Willian-kun has been studying very well.”

“No, this is nothing to be that proud of.”

Putting his elbow on the table, Louran smiled.

“No, it is quite something. For you to be that much fluent in a language of another country, and also even paying mind for learning the etiquette of another country, and the intelligence you have show during parts of our conversation. In addition to all that, at least as far as I heard from Karl, you are also strong.”

Willian was scared of that smile. It was obviously a smile that was different from the one Karl was doing. Louran´s gaze was one that was a.n.a.lyzing him. He had been thinking there was something strange with Willian since a little ago.

“”Is this man testing me?””

It was an act for the sake of making Willian delve inside more detailed subjects regarding Rus.h.i.+tania. Thinking about that now, perhaps all the self-introduction from before had also been something for the sake of examining the man called Willian.

“Despite not being very knowledgeable about it, I desperately studied about Arcadia after deciding I was going to come here.”

“This is incredible. Studying the language of a country so distant from your country Rus.h.i.+tania shouldn´t be something average.”

Willian´s back was soaked in sweat. The other three were listening to their conversation as they ate their food; they couldn´t even begin to understand the tension Willian was feeling right now.

“However, why is it Arcadia? It could have been Ostoberg, which is also one of the seven kingdoms. The closest to Rus.h.i.+tania of the seven kingdoms is the kingdom of Estaado, and walking a bit further from there, there should be the kingdom of Nehderks. If you want to rise to the top, then it should be the superpower, Garias, and by crossing the sea, there is also the developing kingdom of Arkland. I am having the feeling there aren´t any reasons for you to have chosen Arcadia.”

Willian also used to have the same doubts about this question. Why had Willian chosen Arcadia. Willian wasn´t a person to leave such a question that would definitely be asked to him buried.

“…My explanation for that might sound a little rude, though.”

Willian was making a humble face. Looking at it, Louran uttered an “Oh”, with his increasing interest showing on his voice.

“The superpower, the kingdom of Garias, is less than average for raising your fame. There aren´t many countries that would pick up a fight with that country, so there aren´t any opportunities to get achievements there. Even if I raise my name at the developing country of Arkland, I will still have my doubts on whether I would be able to go back to my home. And not to mention, the kingdom of Estaado had been known for having invaded my country a long time ago… The remaining choice is either Arcadia, Ostoberg or Nehderks. But between those three… there is a decisive difference that sets it all.”

Willian was smoothly giving his explanation. Everything was the pure truth Willian had heard from the [person himself]. There weren´t any reasons to be anxious about that. There was no doubts all this was the truth.

“The difference would be on how foreigners are treated. Compared to Arcadia, who consider foreigners as people of their own country, giving them the t.i.tle of third cla.s.s citizens, Ostoberg and Nehderks at most treat foreigners as nothing more than foreigners. I left my country to make a name for myself. In that case, I think it is inevitable that the place I need to enlist myself at is Arcadia.”

He didn´t put in even a single lie. If there were any lies found, he would be seen as nothing more than a scammer. However, even with that said, the identification doc.u.ments were still making lies become the truth…

“You are quite the ambitious person.”

Ainhart said..

“I am grateful for the compliment.”

Willian bowed his head to Ainhart.

“Fumu, perhaps it is as you say. Arkland if there is the opportunity for it, and Arcadia otherwise… Ah, sorry for having asked you so many things. The dinner could have ended up getting cold. Now then, please eat to your heart´s content.”

As if the questioning had ended for the time, Loulan declared that Willian could go back to eating his dinner. Willian nodded. Now, all the people that were present at the place had their mind focused on the food.

“Ah, could I ask you one last thing?”

“…?”

Willian finally became relieved. But that was until Louran talked to him again, as if he had seen through that and was only waiting for the timing.

“Isn´t Karl a nuisance for you who is so ambitious?”

In an instant, the mood of the room became petrified. Karl loudly stood up from his seat.

“…What are… you saying?”

Willian was at loss for words. It was obvious. There was no way he could answer that question in his current situation. It was inevitable he would get Karl´s dislike by that. In result of that, as far as the influence Karl had as the son of a n.o.ble, it would an easy feat for him to have a single foreigner murdered.

“Yes, please don´t mind about that. It´s just that I don´t like very much that Karl is going to war. Like Ainhart had said before, he is a scholar, and because of that, he won´t accept becoming the heir. In order words, Karl must be the one to succeed the Teirah household. I want him to learn things about the business we do, and if he is going to give up on that, it would be best if he does so early on.”

Karl was about to glare at his father, but because Louran´s gaze was by far much sharper, Karl was suppressed without him even having the chance to say any word. As to be expected, there was no comparison.

“I am aware that Karl doesn´t have talents that suit the military. Let´s put an end to this dream. I will entrust my son to you. If it is your words, he might be able to wake up. Could you make him give up?”

Karl was looking at Willian with eyes that asked for help. Willian swallowed the saliva in his mouth.

This was an extremely difficult situation for Willian. If he was to stand for Karl, he wouldn´t do so for Louran, and if he was to stand for Louran, he wouldn´t do so for Karl. In terms of power, it was clear the Louran was the one most powerful. In that case, it was only logical that Willian needed to follow Louran´s will.

“”However, resentment from that will remain. The feeling of trust that Karl has right now will be destroyed, and the moment this turns into hatred, all the violations I had done will become a big vulnerability…”(TL note: Not sure about that because the word used here is ->s.h.i.+ppai<-, which=”” usually=”” translates=”” to=”” failure=”” or=”” mistake.=”” if=”” that=”” was=”” the=”” case,=”” it=”” wouldn´t=”” really=”” make=”” sense…=””>

Willian had committed violations before. They were things Karl had ignored. At the present moment, it could be said that he doesn´t mind about them, but it was inevitable that he would change his mind about that if he was to be betrayed. For all the trust he had, his anger would only become more intense.

“”To begin with, is there any necessity for me to stand on Louran´s side? If he really wanted to have Karl stay away from the battlefield, my opinion would have been unnecessary. At most, all this is only feigned. However, those are only a.s.sumptions. In either case, I will face against both of their opinions!””