Chapter 43 – At Theoreme Castle

The dinner party—this year’s special event—but according to Sheila’s gathered information, it’s apparently a rather orthodox affair where guests enjoy dinner and conversation in previous years. The only slightly unusual aspect is that knights demonstrate their training results through martial displays and test matches in the courtyard while everyone watches.

The stated purpose is for the Kingdom of Verdugal’s Knight Order to display their training achievements to the royal family, showcasing the excellence and valor of the distinguished kingdom’s knights.

This year, they seem to have added the meaning of honoring the courage of fallen soldiers and renewing vows to protect the kingdom’s peace.

When attending such dinner parties, it’s customary for invited guests to bring their fiancés or spouses if they have them. Since dinner parties and balls are utilized by nobles as venues to find marriage partners, they use them to determine whether to approach someone based on whether their prospective match has a fiancé or not.

And so, I headed to Theoreme Castle together with Grace and Ashley.

Grace wasn’t wearing her usual apron dress but an evening dress instead. It was primarily black with vibrant blue decorations, and since the color scheme was similar to her original maid uniform, one could say it suited her well.

Apparently, this was something made for her to wear when attending dinner parties or evening gatherings while at Gartner’s mansion, where she wasn’t in a servant’s position.

As for Ashley, she wore a white-based dress with a bolero in a pale purple color reminiscent of lavender over it. The frills and ribbons were dyed in the same color. It was an elegant yet composed, cute design that also suited Ashley perfectly.

…Well, standing together, they made quite a spectacular sight.

As for my attire, it was the usual ready-made formal wear. Since it was reasonably proper and formal, I’d resigned myself to the fact that as long as I looked presentable in form, that would suffice.

That’s because while both of them were exceptionally beautiful girls, I considered myself relatively plain or ordinary-looking. Whether I balanced well standing beside them was questionable.

Well… There’s no point dwelling on such matters, so it can’t be helped. I should just be careful not to embarrass myself too much in my escort role.

Both of them wore colored flower ornaments in their hair. Apparently, this meant “I already have a partner, so please don’t invite me,” automatically making the man with them that partner. The fact that both wore matching ornaments probably meant they’d coordinated them.

“Shall we go then? Your hands.”

“Yes.”

“Fufu~”

In the evening dusk, with Termwills’ streets dyed red.

I escorted the two onto the carriage that had come to pick us up from Theoreme Castle.

“Well then, take care.”

“Yeah. We’ll be back soon.”

Waving slightly to Sheila who’d come to see us off, the carriage departed.

“Although I understand there might be some ulterior motives… Um. Having Theo escort me like this… Somehow makes me happy.”

“That’s right. Going out like this with Theodore-sama makes me excited too.”

Both of them seemed quite happy. If this could make them happy—maybe I should create more opportunities like this. Not just evening parties, but going somewhere for fun.

…That’s right. Since Termwills happens to be near the sea, maybe we should go out there next time.

Crossing the drawbridge, the carriage proceeded into Theoreme Castle, a massive stone structure that made you look up when viewing it.

Though simply called Theoreme Castle, the term refers to the collection of buildings inside the castle walls. The particularly large central building is the King’s Tower where the royal family lives.

The event this time was apparently being held at the guesthouse adjacent to the Knight’s Tower and training grounds. It wasn’t a structure created by the labyrinth but seemed to be something the Knight Order had later added on for various uses.

The wide open training ground was brightly illuminated throughout by magical lights and bonfires. Judging by the knights lined up with their horses and wyverns waiting, they’d probably be performing martial displays here.

The first floor of the building connected from the dance hall to something like a café terrace, with tables arranged. You could tell it was designed with holding this event in mind.

Although decorated guests had already gathered, when we presented our invitation, we were guided to balcony seats on the second floor.

…VIP treatment, huh. Hmm.

I can’t quite figure out the Knight Order’s intentions. Are they picking a fight with me or showing respect?

“Oh, Theodore!”

The one who called out with a smile was the Adventurer Guild Vice-Commander, Sword Saint Oswald.

For a martial arts event hosted by the Knight Order, he’d be exactly the person you’d invite—who else would you call?

“Hello. Beautiful evening, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. That seat over there is empty. Well, if you don’t mind sitting at the table next to this old bone.”

“Watching martial arts displays with Oswald-sama—sounds quite interesting.”

Following his suggestion, I sat at the adjacent table.

“From my perspective, it’d be more interesting if you were the one performing. During the demon incident, I was occupied with evacuation guidance and escort duties, so I missed seeing your rumored aerial combat and staff handling.”

“Unfortunately, today I’m just an escort.”

Just looking at my clothes alone made that clear. I hadn’t come dressed to wield a staff and go wild.

When I spread my hands and answered like that, Oswald looked at Grace and Ashley’s hair ornaments and nodded with a “Hmm.” I don’t know what he found satisfactory, but I decided not to ask.

After introducing everyone to each other, I asked Oswald:

“Oswald-sama, do you get invited every year?”

“More or less. I make appearances, but recently things have become smaller-scale with fewer interesting characters.”

“Is that so?”

“The current Knight Order Commander was quite something back in his day. But it seems he’s no longer in a position to swing his sword around.”

Oswald shrugged while looking across the training ground.

“Do you know a young knight named Chester?”

“That wyvern rider? I think he stands head and shoulders above the rest in the current Knight Order.”

Dragon Knight Chester. Though he’s a knight, he’s apparently the kind of knight who rides dragons.

According to Sheila’s research, he’s reputed to excel in both literary and military arts with no apparent flaws… but somehow suspicious was our shared opinion. Even just looking at his behavior alone, it doesn’t connect with that kind of character profile.

If that’s the case, then that behavior must be deliberate, I think—but I can’t quite understand why he’d do such a thing.

“Sir Chester, we pray for your success in today’s test match!”

“Please don’t get injured!”

“Haha. It’s fine. There are excellent healing magicians standing by, and the weapons have blunted edges. Nothing serious should happen.”

While I was pondering, I heard such voices. Chester himself, wearing ceremonial attire, had apparently appeared in the balcony seating.

He had some noble daughters gathered around him and was drawing attention from the surroundings. Well… I suppose he’s the rising star within the Knight Order. Well, he certainly looks the part and would make a good painting.

Chester smiled, told the young ladies around him to wait there, then approached Oswald directly.

“Oswald-sama. Thank you for coming. I’m running slightly behind schedule. I came to inform you of this and offer my apologies.”

“Is that so. I have high expectations for your martial display today.”

“I’ll strive to meet your expectations.”

He bowed to Oswald.

“And Theodore-kun. Thank you for coming today.”

“Yes, Sir Chester.”

“Please enjoy our martial displays.”

“I’ll be watching.”

His attitude was the same as before, though.

“And—beautiful young ladies, pleased to meet you. I’m Chester.”

Chester addressed Grace and Ashley, but… Grace sent a chilly glance for just a moment and settled for a nod. Ashley too. Not a trace of a polite smile appeared as she gave a slight bow, ending it there.

Well… That makes sense. They’d both heard about his behavior at the Guild and received information from Sheila. Even if he acted friendly now, he wouldn’t be trustworthy, and the more smoothly he behaved, the more suspicious he’d appear.

Still, it seemed they’d made the formal greetings for my sake. Or rather, that’s probably what actually happened.

Perhaps because he didn’t get the reaction he expected, Chester’s expression froze for a moment while maintaining his smile.

“Well, this is troubling. You must be shy. Well then, I have other greetings to make, so I’ll take my leave.”

Or something like that, immediately rebooting and leaving.

Bottomless positive thinking or just covering up? I can’t quite tell… but there’s no way they looked shy. That response was absolutely freezing cold.

“Somehow, it reminds me of Byron,” said Grace.

Ah… He was good at playing the innocent card in front of adults.

In short, Grace’s evaluation of him was rock bottom.

“He’s quite an incomprehensible person. More importantly, this tablecloth’s embroidery… it’s so detailed and amazing!”

“Ah, you’re right. They’re using techniques I’ve never done before.”

The two seemed to regain their spirits and started girl talk.