Vol 1 Chapter 22 (1/2)

Master of the Brave (Part 1 Epilogue)

It was in the Cliffdorf estate at the imperial capital.

Many luxurious carriages were lined up before the gate, and from within them, n.o.blemen all filed into the estate.

In the hall, an orchestra the marquis hired performed, while extravagant dishes and delicacies were served on a buffet table.

The table was also lavishly decorated with fresh flowers, giving off a resplendent image.

The dressed-up men and women engaged in small talk, and danced to the orchestra’s music, as waiters moved among them, offering the guests wine and juice.

There was a banquet at the Cliffdorf residence.

They were celebrating the prevention of the coup d’état, and the captain of the knight order and the generals had arranged it.

At the center of the banquet hall.

There, Jade was surrounded by the n.o.bles who were part of the Cliffdorf faction.

“Jade-dono, were you promoted for having saved Her Highness the Imperial Princess?”

“As expected of General Cliffdorf’s son. The family is peerless.”

“Truly so. Also, the empire is safe again.”

Surrounded by the flattering smiles and comments of the n.o.bles around him, Jade looked down at the gla.s.s of wine in his hand.

“No, no, I was able to rescue Her Highness the Imperial Princess, but I didn’t liberate the capital. I have come to realize that I am powerless.”

“In those circ.u.mstances, there was no way you could have done that. Rather, for even only having saved Her Highness the Imperial Princess, you deserve a substantial reward.”

Jade showed a relieved expression as the n.o.bles surrounding him unanimously affirmed that statement.

“Since everybody is saying such things, I feel relieved from the bottom of my heart[1]. As I am still inexperienced, from now on, I will continue to respect everybody’s guidance.”

‘Those imbeciles!’

Contrary to his words and expression, Jade scorned the n.o.bles in his mind.

‘Well, this imbecilic way of using flattery can still be used.’

At most, as they went around praising the Cliffdorf House, good rumours would also spread.

In this event, Jade was to be celebrated for having promptly rescued and sheltered the First Princess Cornelia Raul Cole Remuls.h.i.+l from the coup d’état faction.

“Not good, not good.”[2]

“Please calm down. Father.”

Jade frowned as he watched his father, Marquis Welt van Cliffdorf, on his feet, pacing back and forth.

They had successfully taken custody of Cornelia and were headed to the Cliffdorf’s vacation estate.

As they had summoned their knights to receive the princess, they received news that the coup was suppressed.

“Why!? They had occupied the fort. They activated the magic-sealing barrier.Theywould gain control of all of the empire’s inst.i.tutions. Everything would have succeeded, but why did the coup fail?”

“Somehow, that Brave Mavis, intervened.”[3]

“The Brave intervened in a fight between humans!? Shouldn’t the Brave have been watched, or otherwise kept in check by the Seven-fold barrier formation? I thought they had used a demon! That incompetent Zaunas!”[4]

It was Welt, though his subordinates, who had introduced the black-hooded demon to Zaunas, who had feared the Brave’s intervention. [5]

Trusting in his subordinates, and not knowing that Welt had intervened, Zaunas was manipulated into using the the demon’s Seven-fold Barrier Formation as the countermeasure to the Brave that he was searching for.

Of course, Zaunas needed enough determination to borrow the strength of his mortal enemies, the demons.

After hesitating for a while, he borrowed the power of the demon, in order to check the strength of the Brave, Leticia van Mavis.

However, they were still unable to seal her with that much.

“We stayed on the sidelines, knowing the insurgents were gathering an army! Furthermore, using Princess Cornelia, we would have an excuse to attack the capital!”

After the insurgents harmed the imperial family, he could say that he raised an army by using under Princess Cornelia’s banner.

But with only an excuse, the Cliffdorf House would lose influence.

However, unlike the impatient Welt, Jade wore a slight smile.

“That’s not it, Father. I had taken Princess Cornelia into our protection.”

“What are you saying?”

“They can’t prove that we had any advance information about the coup d’état. At any rate, the ringleader was the empire’s hero, Sir Zaunas. I was in the same group as the princess, secretly guarding the princess, and protected her from the insurgents. And then, we raised an army.”

“However, will Her Highness consent?”

“I guess so… Then we should hold a banquet.”

“Banquet?”

“That’s right. At the suggestion of Father, the Knight Order Commander, we will invite those who were meritorious.”

“You mean, Brave Mavis, too?”

“We had sheltered Her Highness Cornelia, and raised an army to liberate the capital, but the Brave had quelled the rebellion first. When we invite Brave Mavis to the banquet, you, Father, will congratulate her along with the Princess. This will give the other n.o.bles, and the populace the impression that we, the Cliffdorf House, worked alongside the Brave.”

In the end, Welt approved of Jade’s plan and held a banquet.

Thanks to their prior knowledge of the coup, the n.o.bles of the marquis faction, and those belonging to the military did not come to any real harm.

On the other hand, their rivals, especially the Reinhardt Marquisate, which had lost their eldest son, had been weakened.

In this incident, many influential people lost their lives.

Though it wasn’t the best outcome for the Cliffdorf marquisate, it was an acceptable outcome.

The only problem was to explain why the Cliffdorf House was the only faction who didn’t sustain any substantial harm.

Despite this, there would be no influential people in the other weakened factions who could pursue the matter.

But they still had to pay attention to this matter.

Inviting the Brave and the royalty to the banquet would the cement the perception of the Cliffdorf as the foundation of the empire.

Due to the subordinate n.o.bles, they had skillfully manipulated the perceptions.

Jade took a sip of the winegla.s.s that he was looking at, and then greeted the arriving n.o.bles with a refres.h.i.+ng smile.

It wasn’t just the princ.i.p.al n.o.bles, but the n.o.bles of allied nations were also present—

“Oh! Your Highness!”

A loud voice echoed through the hall.

Everybody’s eyes moved to the entrance of the hall.

Smiling as he entered, it was the 11th generation Emperor of the Remuls.h.i.+l Empire, Alexei Raul Lute Remuls.h.i.+l.

His daughter, Cornelia accompanied him.

The organizer of the banquet, Welt, hastened to kneel down and bow before the two.

Taking that cue, the whole hall knelt down.

“It is our highest honour to receive Your Highness at our mansion.”

“Umu. It is because your son has helped Our[6] daughter. When the father of that hero invited us, We couldn’t not go.”

“I am delighted to hear such gracious words. I am sure that the Princess was also worried by this incident.”

“No… Thanks to the Marquis, I was not injured.”

Cornelia bowed.

She used her willpower to maintain her smile.

It was clear to Cornelia that they had tried to expand their influence using the coup d’état, but Marquis Cliffdorf persistently insisted that he merely intended to shelter the princess and raised an army to retake the capital.

The fact that all of the n.o.bles of Marquis Cliffdorf’s faction returned to their territories during the revolt, while the n.o.bles of their rival faction was harmed, was clearly unnatural, but n.o.body was able to pursue the matter.

“This evening, the people a.s.sembled here have rendered distinguished service. Please extend their thanks to them, Your Highness.”

“Is that so…”

Maintaining her smile, Cornelia wanted to immediately take her eyes off of this man.

“That is so. Let us leave these matters for later. You may all stand. You have taken great pains in preparing this banquet. You may all enjoy yourselves.”

Bowing once more at Alexei’s words, they all stood.

The hall became filled with sound.

Welt raised his hands, and the orchestra that had stopped playing when Alexei entered began playing again, filling the hall with music.

Welt nodded, satisfied, and turned towards Alexei and Cornelia.

Ignoring the plodding Welt, who continued to greet people, Cornelia quickly glanced around the room.

She had been told that Wynn and Locke survived, but since then, Cornelia, having been shut inside the castle, was unable to meet them.

At the banquet, she had heard that many of the people who had played a big role were invited.

That was why, the ten or so students who survived the subjugation mission were invited, or so she heard.

In her group, apart from her, there were no more than four students who survived.

Though they should have been in that hall, but she couldn’t see the figures of Wynn and Locke.

Before she knew it, Cornelia was surrounded by n.o.bles coming to greet her one by one.

They wanted to make connections with the person who was second in line to the throne.

There were also n.o.bles who introduced their sons to her.

Listening to those flowery words, in which their intentions were plainly visible, she struggled to maintain her deteriorating smile with all her will, while searching for a glimpse of those two through the gaps in the crowd.

“Hey, why are we here in a place like this?”

“Isn’t it pretty much because we survived? At least you look fine, Locke. But with this being my first time, what should I do?”

“You ninny[7]. If you want to become a knight, experiencing this sort of place is a must, no? Well, did you think it was fine just to study diligently?”

The students that had survived the subjugation mission.

Including Wynn and Locke, four people from their group survived, but several students from the groups deployed to the fort also survived.

That was why they were invited to the banquet.

Though they were students, they were also n.o.bles.

Only by obtaining the appropriate clothes, Locke was making acquaintances with the n.o.bles.

Also, Locke was the son of a wealthy family.

Since he had experience with high society, he didn’t feel out of place.

Wynn felt out of place, being the only one wearing the knight school uniform.

Of course, the uniform was worn for ceremonial purposes, so it didn’t look strange in this place, but he stood out as the only one wearing it.

Unable to just let it be, Locke had arranged for clothes for him, but Wynn refused it, saying that the uniform was fine.

Now, he slightly regretted it.

At the beginning of the banquet, Locke also conversed with n.o.bles he knew, and prominent merchants who were potential trade partners, whom Locke could not ignore, and exchanged greetings with them.

Left alone, Wynn had n.o.body to talk to.

In the end, there was nothing else Wynn could do other than reach for the food on the table.

However, since it was a banquet, he treated himself to the foods that he normally couldn’t eat.

He smacked his lips as he ate.

“Poor peasants also have poor eating manners.Don’t believe that you belong here.”

While he was eating, somebody called out to Wynn, who was gazing at the dressed-up n.o.bles.

“Jade…”

“Outside the school, it’s Lord Cliffdorf to you. Well, since you’re a commoner, I can disregard a little impoliteness.”

Leading his lackeys closer, Jade made a faint smile.

“At any rate, so you also survived, huh.”italics for disdain…

“c.o.c.kroaches sure are tenacious…”

“If only for their resilience, they deserve some respect.”

They pointed scornful gazes at him.

However, in that place, they were n.o.bles.

Wynn stood upright without moving, and wordlessly received their words.

“The group that caused the coup, were a bunch of plebeian knights like you. Commoners who defend His Highness the Emperor, are a burden.”

“It is as Jade-sama said.”

“As expected, an honourable job like knighthood should be given only to we of high n.o.bility.”

Jade nodded in agreement at his follower’s words.

“That’s right. As Father has advised me, I have reported this to His Highness. Commoners really are just a liability.”

With a smirk, Jade and his lackeys turned their backs on Wynn.

Wynn remained standing upright, looking at their backs.

His face betrayed no emotions, but both his fists were tightly clenched.

Certainly, Instructor Aldo and the others did use violent actions to change the status quo.

However, who was the real cause of the problem?

Despite only foiling the coup d’état, they held this banquet without paying attention at all to the cause.

He understood Aldo’s and Sir Zaunas’s feelings

“Hmm? That’s…”

The departing Jade stopped in his tracks.

Before they knew it, the orchestra had stopped playing, and everybody’s eyes gathered on the entrance.

Wearing a simple, neat dress that was in no way gaudy, a girl had entered the room.

Though she hadn’t yet reached maturity, with her blond hair arranged, everybody let out a sigh upon seeing her divine beauty.

The attention everybody paid to their own country’s Emperor Alexei, and even Princess Cornelia, paled in comparison to that overwhelming presence.

It was Leticia van Mavis, the Brave.

She had entered with her Father, Duke Mavis, Lady Mavis, and also her siblings.

The whole ducal family moved towards Alexei, and knelt before him.

Among them, only Leticia remained standing, holding her dress in a slight curtsy.

Blessed by G.o.ddess Anastasia, she was above the authority of humanity, and so she need not bow to any king of a country.

“We are extremely sorry for being late. Good day, Your Highness.”

“It’s a banquet. Don’t be so formal, Duke Mavis.”

Alexei took Duke Mavis’s hand, and helped him up.

“It has been a while, Brave-dono.”

“You haven’t changed, Your Highness.”[8]

Leticia smiled.

Leticia then looked towards Cornelia and greeted her.

Cornelia also returned the greeting.

“This is, His Excellency Duke Mavis, and this is Brave-sama. Welcome to my estate.”

Shamelessly breaking into the conversation between the Emperor, the Ducal House, and the Brave’s conversation without minding the situation, Welt approached with his arms held out wide,

“Thanks to Brave-sama’s efforts, we were able to stop the lowly insurgents’ schemes. Well, we had also raised an army in the defense of His Highness and the capital, but thanks to Brave-sama’s swift action, we were only able to rescue Princess Cornelia. As expected of Brave-sama.”

“It will become another chapter in the legendary history of the Brave, Leticia van Mavis.”

“Apart from being the Brave who slew the Demon Lord, you are now also a patriotic Hero who saved the country.”

The other n.o.bles who were looking on, added words of praise.

Acknowledging their words, Alexei once again turned to Leticia.

“Brave-dono. In appreciation of your deeds, I had wanted to reward you, but you already have status, so We cannot think of anything else we can give you. You have not changed your mind about marrying Prince Alfred, have you?”

“I am pleased that you value me highly, but…”

Leticia softly rejected the offer with a small bow.

Duke Mavis made a slight grimace, while Welt smiled.

If the Crown Prince and the Brave were engaged, then the royalty’s influence would expand.

That ran counter to Welt’s plans.

In the coup d’état incident, the Cliffdorf faction was able to control the central part of the Knight Order.

The imperial family was also trying to fulfill their duty in this incident, but the n.o.bles of the anti-Cliffdorf faction had lost their influence.

After this, even the Imperial Family and the Duke couldn’t easily oppose the power of the Cliffdorfs.

As Welt erased his smirk, Leticia and Alexei continued their conversation.

“Besides, the person who did the most work this time was not me. Somebody else was the one who accomplished the deed.”

“Hou… If Brave-dono goes so far to say it like that, then We would like to greet that other person.”

“That’s right. I believe it is the right time for me to introduce him to Your Highness.”

Leticia turned around. walking in front of Alexei.

‘Hmm? A more distinguished person? Who is it?’

Welt, who was unable to conceal the smile of having obtained power, felt a tinge of doubt at Leticia’s words.