36 Northern capital (1/2)

Shirone the Maiden of Swords

The Kingdom of Velos is the largest of the human nations in the region closest to Nargol.

The blue forest that stretches to the south of the Acheron Mountains. The country was located at the mouth of a river that flowed into the center of the forest.

The population is about 150,000. Since it was a region where there were many demons, there was no outer city outside the city walls. Many of the countries in this area are poor, but only the kingdom of Velos was different. The Veros Kingdom is the largest producer of the apple-like fruit that can only be found in this region.

The berries are sweet and are in demand in many countries because they can be used to make alcohol and seasonings.

The veros fruit is even exported to the far south, as far as the Republic of St. Renaria.

Kaya, Kyouka and I are currently in the royal palace of Velos. By the way, Hippogriff is in the care of a horse barn in this country.

I feel sorry for the other horses, but there was no other place to leave them, so there was no choice.

''Well, well, Syrone-sama. It is good of you to come to this Velos.

The man in front of me, about 50 years old, is the king of this country, Ekaras. This is the second time we've met him.

Ekaras is a well-built, fat, well-built man, and he speaks to us, who are younger than his daughter, in a respectful manner, without making an unpleasant face.

He looks a bit like Ethigos. However, it's only his name and appearance that are similar, but inside it's a completely different story.

I'm not going to be able to get it right. I'm sure you'll be able to find it.

King Ekaras looks at Kyouka, who is sitting on my right side, looking important.

Normally, the king of this country is standing, so I should be standing to respond to him, but I'm sitting down. I don't know if it's Reigi-kun, but that attitude is probably not good.

But Kaya doesn't pay attention to Kyouka at all. In fact, she seems to take it for granted.

You are right, King Velos. This person is the younger sister of the heroic Rage-sama, Miss Kyouka. The young lady will be staying in this country for a while. Please take care of those arrangements.

Kaya says in a great way.

'Hahaha. 'Of course. You can stay here in Velos for as long as you like.

Not offended by Kaya's blunt offer, Ekaras laughs and agrees.

Unlike with Ethigos, there's nothing suspicious in his gaze. I thought he was a nice guy when we met before, but he doesn't seem to have changed.

We chose the Kingdom of Velos as our base for obtaining information about Kroki.

However, it is not suitable for a place to stay in Argoa because of its past history of conflict, and Veros is richer and better for a place to stay.

By the way, ladies. In fact, there is a ball the day after tomorrow, and I wonder if you would all be interested in attending it?

”'The Ball?!

Our words overlap.

We looked at each other at the words of King Ekaras.

Everywhere in the world, there is an upper class social circle. The so-called social circles are also in this world.

Especially in this world where there are many demons, humans must live together.

It is desirable to cooperate not only within the walls of the city, but also between nations beyond the walls, and there are many social gatherings where the royalty and aristocracy of the countries and the upper classes gather to exchange ideas. This is the so-called communication between countries.

It could be a simple meeting, a dinner party, a tea party, or even a ball.

When I was traveling with Reiji and Chiyuki-san, I have attended several dinners and balls.

There are various styles of balls, not all of them are like the one in ”Cinderella” that I first thought of.

Depending on the area, there are balls like folk dances or dance parties like you see in American movies.

According to Ms. Chiyuki, Japanese festivals such as Bon dances are in some sense the same as a ball.

Well, even if the costumes are slightly different, it seems to be common to dance in pairs to the same graceful music as the ball in ”Cinderella”.

The ball held at Velos is also like a typical ball.

What shall we do?

I ask Kyouka and Kaya.

If you have common sense, you should attend.

Ekaras is not forcing you to attend, but he is the person you will be taking care of in the future. It would be wrong to disregard the invitation.

At the very least, I should leave on my own.

However, I'm sorry to Ekaras, but I'm not too keen on it.

This is because the ball also has a marriage ceremony connotation.

When we came to this world with Mr. Rage, we were courted by a number of men.

One of them was a prince of some country, and another was a son of a nobleman of some country.

Normally it would be a great honor to receive a proposal from such a nobleman, but to be honest, I didn't find it attractive.

After all, they are all poor. With our strength, ordinary men would break their bones if they gripped our hands a little too strongly. Therefore, we had to dance with care. It is no fun to dance with such a man, and I don't feel like accepting a marriage proposal even if he asks for it.

It's easy to become the king of some country with our power without getting on the ball in the first place. The position of a prince is not attractive to me either.

Besides, I can't help but compare myself to Rage.

It's a hassle to be courted by people who are inferior to you.

For that reason, Reno-chan quickly stopped leaving. Nao-chan was not interested from the start. Sahoko-san is not good at attracting attention, so she doesn't attend in the first place. Naturally, I no longer attend.

As expected, it's not good that no one is attending, so now only Reiji and Chiyuki are attending.

And I didn't want to attend this time either if I could.

I look at Kyouka-san.

Kyouka-san also looks reluctant, as if she's not keen on the idea.

Kyouka-san is an incredibly beautiful woman if she stands quietly.

I'm sure there are many men who would like to go out with her, not only in this world, but in the original world as well. It seems that she's actually been courted by a lot more people than me and others. And she seems to be pretty fed up with that. So I'm sure he won't join in.

I understand. I will attend that ball. Is that all right with you, Miss?

However, Kaya agrees to participate.

'Kaya!　What's the matter with you!

Kyouka panicked.

'Miss!　These things are your business, young lady!　Besides, it's time for the young lady to get away from Rage-sama. You should take this opportunity to get used to the other lords!

Ugh. ......

Kyouka is so powerful that even she can't say anything.

Normally Kyouka is a self-righteous person, but Kaya is the only one who can't stand up to her.

The relationship between the two is still unclear.

But I feel bad for Kyouka-san, but I think this kind of thing suits Kyouka-san because she's only Reigi-kun's sister. She would look very beautiful in her dress.

''Haha ...... I understand, Kaya .......

Kyouka and I reluctantly agree to Kaya's power.

''Haha, I'm sure this will make the ballroom more exciting.''

This is how we are going to participate in the ball the day after tomorrow.

Omiros, Prince of Argoa

I rode my horse with Parsis and arrived at the kingdom of Velos. Although we left Argoa early in the morning, it was already evening.

The kingdom of Velos is a large country, not only the city, but also the forest is surrounded by walls. Trees in the forest bear sweet fruit, known as the fruit of Veros, one of the industries of Veros.

If you look at the ramparts, you can see that the high walls are decorated throughout.

Perhaps because Argoa is based on a fortress against demons, all of the buildings are ruggedly built. It's a big difference from Argoa.

Veros is a rich country, unlike Argoa.

Veros has developed as a center of industry and trade in this region.

It has a large population, more than three times as large as Argoa's. The country is also rich and its wealth is more than 10 times greater than Argoa's.

The kingdom of Velos is the central state of this region, and the royal families and nobles of the surrounding countries all gather for the balls it hosts. Of course, I'm one of them.

The ball is the day after tomorrow, but I came early for a reason.

I don't know how to dance. I think it's the same for Parsis beside me.

In the first place, not being able to dance is no obstacle to living.

I was educated as a warrior, but I never learned to dance. That's why he's just become a prince, and now he's forced to take on such a difficult task.

I want to complain to my father, Montes. My father should have attended the ball, but he forced himself to do it because he didn't want to dance.

The future of Argoa is at stake at this ball. Can I do such an important job?

During the time of the previous King Cupius, Algoa was isolated and impoverished. In order to break that isolation, it has to get along with the kingdom of Velos, the largest country in the region.

The ball is a perfect place to end the isolation, since it attracts royalty and aristocrats from many different countries.

If we do well, we will be able to make a good impression on the leaders of each country.

That's why I had to attend the ball, although I didn't feel like it.

”I'm looking forward to the ball, Prince.

Parsis, beside me, says excitedly.

Unlike himself, Parsis seems to be looking forward to the ball. He shouldn't be able to dance as well as he does, but isn't he worried?

I can't do anything about it if I can't dance. So I'm going to ask King Ekaras to introduce me to someone who can dance.

There is not one person in Algoa who can dance. That's why I was going to come early to practice.

The time was evening, but they would still be able to have an audience with the king.

We went to the royal palace.

When we arrived at the palace, we informed the gatekeeper that the Prince of Algore had arrived.

I'm still uncomfortable calling myself a prince, but I have no choice.

The palace guards come and show us to the palace.

'Oh, you are very welcome. Prince Omiros and Mr. Parsis.

When they enter the room, they are greeted by King Ekaras, who greets them. He was the prince who had lost his betrothed to King Cupius.

Therefore, while Cupius was on the throne, Velos and Algore could not get along with each other.

'Thank you for inviting me to the ball,'

I thank myself.

'No, no, good and good. I hope to get along with Algore from now on.

King Echalas smiles brightly. King Ekaras is a big-hearted person and really wanted to forgive his fiancée who went to King Cupius, but people around him didn't allow it and diplomatic relations were cut off. But from now on, I want to make it work.

You have arrived early, even so. The ball will be held the night after tomorrow.

Actually, there's something I'd like to ask you about the ball.

What is it?

'The truth is that Parsis and I cannot dance. Could you please introduce me to a woman who can dance, or someone who can teach me to dance?

King Ekaras laughs when he says it himself.

'Wahaha, I see. Good and good. Let me introduce you to both.'

Preferably a beautiful woman.

Parsis says something brazen.

'Parsis!

I'm upset. I don't want to offend anyone by doing this.

”No, no, thanks. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going to introduce you to a very pretty girl.

But King Ekaras didn't seem to mind. I was relieved by his attitude.

'Is she beautiful? I'm very much looking forward to it.

Parsis says happily.

He sighs. And I prayed that no problems would arise.

◆Silone, the maiden of swords

It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess. My name is Parsis. It is an honor to dance with someone as beautiful as you.

The man who identified himself as Parsis bows to Mr. Kyoka.

Kyouka-san's face is drawn up.

I don't want to say too much about a person's face, but the man named Pulsis looked like a goblin. To put it bluntly, he's incredibly ugly. Also, to be honest, he's not someone I'd want to be with much.

However, he wasn't born with this kind of face because he liked it either, so let's not feel too bad about it.

There was just one thing that bothered me.

This man called Pulsis seems to use magic to make his figure look beautiful.

With my eyes I can see his true form, and I can clearly see Parsis' annoying and lust-filled face.

Since Kyoka-san has more magic than me and Kaya-san has as much magic as I do, they too will be able to see the true form of Parsis.

There is no doubt that they have quite a bit of magical power for a human, even if it's not as good as ours.

We can use magic without any training from the time we came to this world. But the average person in this world, even if they have a lot of magical power, they can't use magic without a lot of training.

I'm sure he must have trained a lot of magic.

Perhaps it was difficult for him to learn the magic to change his appearance.

That he is bowing to Kyouka-san with a graceful motion.

However, that Kyouka-san's face is tightened by being introduced to a man who is so far removed from her taste.

The two men introduced to us, who had no partner for the ball, were this Pharsis and Omiros beside him.

Ekaras has made the pulsis and Kyoka has made Omiros my partner.

I suppose in Ekaras's eyes he is a beautiful man.

In case you're wondering, Kyouka-san is our leader. So Ekaras must have thought that he introduced the best man to Kyouka-san as our leader.

But if it's the truth, Omiros, who has a reasonable appearance, is better than Parsis.

''Now we have a couple of beautiful men. I'm looking forward to the ball the day after tomorrow.

Ekaras says with a laugh. Ekaras doesn't doubt that Parsis is a beautiful man.

I wonder if I should tell Ekaras what Parsis really looks like, but I don't because he may have struggled with his looks before now.

'Um, preferably someone else: ......'

Kyouka demands a change.

'No, this gentleman is fine.

Kaya interrupts Kyouka's attempt to get another man to change her.

'Kaya!

''Young lady, this is another test. If you build up your tolerance with this one, you'll be able to dance with any lord in the future.

Kaya-san also says some pretty terrible things.

The truth is, Kyouka-san is not good with the opposite s*x, unlike Reiji-kun.

And I knew that Kaya-san wanted to change that part of Kyouka-san.

Of course, she wouldn't be willing to give Kyouka-san to anyone but herself.

But isn't that a little too rough a treatment with Parsis?

By the way, Kaya doesn't dance. She said it was OK because she was a backstage dancer.

Kaya said she would participate in the ball, but she was the only one who did not attend. I don't agree with Kyouka-san on that point either.

''Hey! Hey! Sirone, you can trade partners with me.

Kyouka looks at me and suggests.

'I'm sorry, Kyouka-san ....... I have a little ...... too.

I bowed to Kyouka and declined. If possible, I'd like to refrain from Parsis too.

Kyouka-san gives me a resentful look, but I don't know.

''Ugh. ......''

Kyouka growled.

'Can I help you?'

Ekaras says with concern. As for Ekaras, he can't complain because he introduced Parsis with good intentions.

'No, it's nothing. ...... The ball will be a pleasure to meet you ...... Lord Parsis.

Apparently, he's given up on it. He says with a nod.

Kyouka-san says that and Parsis laughs happily. If it's a false face, I'm sure it would be refreshing, but it looks like a disgusting laugh to me when I see the truth.

''Then you can talk to me later, young one. Then I'll leave you to it.''

Ekaras laughs and leaves the room.

The five of us are left behind.