Chapter 30 (1/2)
30.EAHART VON ARCADIA
The carriage Willian and Karl were on was shaking. They were sitting in a position which both were facing each other. Karl had a slightly frowny face.
“Where did you go on the afternoon? Even though I was planing for us to play together until night…”
“…Have you finished your homework?”
“…Oh, I am so excited for the party… Hehe…”
The conversation stopped there. The number one method to have Karl shut up was that. It was to give him some kind of question to solve. Then, he would keep quiet until he finished solving it. Karl would do his utmost to solve any questions given to him, but it was weird to him how Willian would give him questions that while were solvable for him, who didn´t have much knowledge, were still ones that would take him time to do. That was the method for those magic words that could shut the talkative Karl to be set up. Doing this might end up becoming a problem if Willian was to overuse it though…
“Who is the one that will be organizing the party?”
Because Willian thought it was a bit too pitiful for Karl, he brought up a topic to talk about. At that instant, Karl´s face brightened in happiness.
“Hmm, I believe it is the general Baldias. It seems like there were many people that received medals and promotions, so there will be many people related to the military. But because there will be very terrifying n.o.bles, I am kind of nervous.”
The unmoveable Baldias. He was the ultimate knight; the one Arcadia was the most proud of. The way his name would thunder through the nations was one of the things that Willian aimed for. Of course, he didn´t intend on getting satisfied with only that.
“”The problem is the nature of the n.o.bles. It is obvious their family ties aren´t firm. There is something there. That said, I don´t have enough knowledge about this world to be able to guess what it is.””(TL note: Not sure about the first part of this line ->問題は貴族の質。明らかに身内を固めたとかそういうものじゃない。<>
Regardless of that, Karl´s promotion to centurion was something that has been already decided. It was possible to be certain of that from the time Karl was invited to the party. It was just how many military achievements he raised. It is rare to see in the history for a ten-man squad to raise such achievements.
“”That said, neither I nor Karl have the power to eat up people of that level. The one to receive spotlight here is someone else. We are at most just extras.””
Even if they were only extras, once Karl was to become a centurion, the extension of their military tatics would widen immensely. To Willian, who felt that he was being limited by being on a ten-man squad, that moment was something he antic.i.p.ated.
“For now, let´s carry on calmly and without carelessness.”
“….These last few days Willian has been so much untalkative.”
The carriage was transporting the two of them. They were going to Baldias´s mansion, which was at the inner part of the n.o.ble district.
Luxurious and gorgeous. It was a mansion that could be described by those words. Baldias apparently was someone that didn´t like gaudy decorations himself, but his position wouldn´t let him do as he pleased. The gaudiness of the inner part of the mansion wasn´t something one could casually have in their home.
“It´s really amazing how big this place is for how it can easily accommodate this many people.”
“Yes, as to be expected, you must have a house of this level in a place like this. Even if you had the money, you wouldn´t be able to buy the land. There is the eyes of people surrounding you after all.”
The land of the n.o.ble district was bound by unique rules. At the underworld, as long as you had the money to pay for it, you could have anything granted. However, at this place, there was something called status that would come in need. In contrast, if you had status, even if you didn´t desire for it, you would need to live in a residence of those standards. The n.o.ble district was a place where status had the priority over money. Perhaps it was because of that that Lord Teirah was racking his brains to solve this problem.
“…Who is that masked man?”
“You see, it is that Teirah family´s…”
“Yes, that jumped-up…”
From their surroundings, eyes filled with wonderment were looking at the two that obviously didn´t have enough status to be there. Even Karl, who was supposed to be a n.o.ble, was being treated like that. As for Willian, his treatment was lower than that of a worthless n.o.body.
“You came with your mask on?”
“Yes. I am here as Karl´s shadow. Besides, there is no way the [White Mask] would just remove his mask.”
Together with Willian´s military fame, his nickname [White Mask] also spread. It was only limited to the countries neighboring Arcadia, but there were signs it was spreading little by little. This time, Willian had been invited as a soldier, and so wearing his mask was in fact part of his courtesy.
Of course his true intention was to have the mask make him stand out. Hence, in this place where standing out was next to impossible, it was a very convenient item.
“Karl, it really seems you are doing good, doesn´t it?”
Karl received a fright. His expression wasn´t really one of happiness. Rather, it looked to be one of dread. For the time being, Willian decided to observe what was going to happen. He was leaving him by himself.
“Karl´s invincible ten-man squad; is that how they call it? Isn´t this amazing?”
A female came over next to Karl and embraced his neck.
“That all sickly Karl is so lively now.”
“N-no, compared to Hilda, I am nothing…”
“Compared to Hilda? Since when did I become something that you can just compare to? In the end, it is Karl-chan´s bad habit to get all c.o.c.ky.”
Raising her eyes, the woman called Hilda looked at Willian.
“Or could it be that you are all happy after finding your so excellent sword? Hm?”
There wasn´t the slightest warmth in her eyes. Rather, it was killing intent that overflowed from it. Wind gushed out from her body. Like a windstorm, it hit Willian´s whole body. It carried a distinct killing intent.
“”This guy too… can use it?””
Willian evaluated his opponent. The wind-like aura gus.h.i.+ng out from her whole body was her peculiarity. Seeing that he couldn´t feel malicious intents coming from her, she should be a good person. However, the hostility being brought against Willian wasn´t something average.
“Hahan, so you can see it too. My name is Hilda Von Gardener. Dame Hirda you may call. That´s quite the good mask, handsome.”
Dame. In order words, it was a woman that received the t.i.tle of a knight. The knight positions in Arcadia weren´t pa.s.sed down by heritage. They were t.i.tles that could only be obtained by making achievements in the battlefield. It was because of that that the n.o.bility desired it. It was because that would become a symbol for what they achieved in the battlefield.
“It is an honor to receive your praise, Dame Hilda. My name is Willian Rivius. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Even without her knight t.i.tle, Willian could see that she wasn´t average. And besides that…
“I am eagerly waiting for the day we can fight on the battlefield side-by-side.”
Willian was also someone abnormal. The stench of corpses followed him to the point of it being lightly fragrant. Hilda´s eyebrows moved in surprise.
“Heh, the disparity between you and Karl is more and more.” (TL note: Weird to translate -.- She is talking about her point of view, with she becoming more and more aware of the amount of the disparity. Since the way she says in the raw is also really ambiguous, I guess it is accurate? ‘ 3’)
Throwing Karl aside, she approached Willian. Hilda´s eyes were set on Willian. She had just been trifling around with Karl.
“I don´t care what happens to this sickly, to his old brother or to that suspicious-looking old man, but if something happens to Lutogarde, I will be killing you, so best regards.”
After saying that, Hilda left them. The two were left with surprised faces.
“…Is she Lutogarde-sama´s acquaintance?”
“No, I guess… she is her best friend? Like you saw before, Lutogarde doesn´t have many friends. Among the few she has, Hilda is the only one that still hangs out with her. But Hilda is busy, and there is also her family lineage, so it is not like they meet often.”