Madman in a Fantasy World

134. Meet-and-greet (?)

After falling out with Luke, Richie went straight to the inside of the social hall. I don’t really want to meet you, but they say it’s better to be beaten first.

Thinking that it would be better to go find something you will meet anyway, she moved first.

He had come a few times with his father in the past, so he knew what time he was coming. And… that you don’t travel alone.

Wandering around the hall, Richie was able to find her older sister, who was talking to a child from another family.

“sister.”

“Yes?”

At first, I didn’t know who she was, so I respected her, but when I looked back and confirmed Leeche, a line was engraved on her forehead.

However, she changed her expression again, as if she had never done that before, and asked for the understanding of the nobles she was talking with, biting them off.

Saying that she had a good time, she greeted the departing aristocrats, and eventually, when no one was left around, she turned around and looked at Richie. Unlike the grinning appearance he showed to others until just now, he was infinitely chilly, as if he had been hit by a cold wave.

“So. Why did I come? Before that, how did you get here?”

eldest daughter Karol Winchester. She was a thorough pragmatist. When she was young, she was naive like Richie, but the circumstances around her made her that way.

There was no way that an invitation had gone to Richie, who would be at the academy, and of course, the news that Richie had dropped out had already been delivered, but she didn’t even hear the news because it wasn’t a subject of interest to her.

“I have a group of people I go with.”

“Really? You must have caught even an A-class adventurer with that pretty look? It’s good. I found your husband.”

Huhu, Carol laughed. Whoever sees it, a mocking laugh. If it was the usual lychee, it would have confidently responded to such a cheap provocation, but the current lychee could do nothing but lower its head and wiggle its fingers.

Originally, the relationship was not this far, but after my mother passed away, everything changed.

After my mother passed away, of course someone had to become Hex’s vessel. But, of course, it was impossible because her brother, the eldest son, was the next head of the family who would lead the family in the future.

If that’s the case, then one of the two, Richie and Karol, has to become the vessel of the seal. Karol, who hated that, proved his usefulness.

While helping the family from a young age, he actively took on diplomacy and served as a single person. So, Liche, who was still young and couldn’t do anything, naturally became the vessel of the seal.

After Liche became the vessel of the seal, she treated Liche as a person without it, just like her father.

“Yeah. I can’t argue with you until you move. But I wouldn’t recommend going to the family head. We’ll be in trouble if you’re shocked and go berserk.”

“… that’s not going to happen.”

There are no hexes now. I wanted to say that, but after finishing what I had to say, Karol immediately turned around and left as if time was wasted.

Thinking that it would be impossible to have a conversation with her even if she followed anyway, Richie moved on again.

This time, she found Duke Winchester. Along with her butler Conrad, he was her brother, one of her few allies.

Like the next head of household, he seemed busy among the other nobles, but when his eyes met Riche by chance, unlike Carol from before, a happy expression was revealed on his face.

Duke Winchester asked for the nobles’ understanding for a while and left his seat, and immediately approached Richie.

“Lice…!”

“brother.”

“It’s been a while. How are you?”

“Yes. Thanks.”

Her brother, who was always kind, asked anxiously.

“I heard you dropped out of the academy. What happened?”

It was all thanks to Duke’s help that she helped her enter the academy. The hex was a secret that the family wanted to hide somehow, and the father stubbornly refused to send the lychee containing it out of the territory.

It was Duke who persuaded his father and helped him go to the academy. Now… even though I dropped out on my own.

“No, because I have something I want to do.”

“···yes?”

How long had it been since I heard that there was something I wanted to do to Riche, who was always blinded by vengeance?

Duke was heartbroken. It was because the image of Richie, who smiled brightly and talked about her dreams as a child, flickered in front of her eyes.

“·······.”

“·······.”

The conversation was brief, but silence quickly fell between the two. It was rather awkward because it had been such a long time since we had met face-to-face like this.

It seemed that only the two of them were in different places in a noisy social gathering. But the first thing to break the silence was a self-deprecating word from Duke.

“Rice… are you happy now…?”

The voice of Duke, who had been educated as a family head and grew up cool, trembled slightly.

Duke always felt sorry for Richie. Because he, the eldest son, had to put the burden on young Richie who knew nothing.

At Duke’s question, Richie met his eyes and smiled lightly.

“···yes.”

“I see···.”

“Then I’ll go see my father now.”

“What? Richie wait a minute…!”

Before Duke’s voice reached her, it was Richie who left first. I accidentally met the whole family, but the original purpose was to meet my father. Fortunately, her father was not far away.

“···father.”

“What’s your business?”

In the end, we met, but I forgot everything to say because of the tension. No, did I have something to say in the first place? I started thinking about what to say and finally came up with something.

“Oh, that’s right! I finally killed Hex! I didn’t do it, but the guy who killed my mother…!”

“therefore?”

“Yes···?”

“So I asked what would be different.”

“That… mother’s revenge…”

Her speaking voice gradually diminished. It was because he felt Gerald’s cold stare. Because of the trauma, Richie began to shrink more and more uncharacteristically.

Still, she thought that killing Hex would change something. Not at all. Rather, Gerald said that, as if the past would not return.

“Rather, how did you get in here? There won’t be an invitation.”

“That-that… the party I came with are A-class adventurers…”

“Did you catch a man with that appearance? If you use it well, it can be of help to the family.”

“Yes, yes…? No he…!”

“Where are your friends?”

Luke is dangerous. He seemed to think he had caught a rook, but in reality it was the opposite.

It sounds like you’re trying to do something with yourself, but if you get caught messing around for nothing, you’ll surely die.

When Richie tried to stop Gerald.

“fist!!”

***

The pot-bellied nobleman, who could not stand being ignored by his escort, ordered the escort.

The escorts hesitated, but eventually drew their swords. If you draw the sword now, but you can’t draw it, if you go back later, it’ll be all the same.

As I said, nobles are stupid. So, without knowing the subject, he must have ordered the sword to be drawn from the imperial palace.

Not only that, but knowing that I’m an A-class adventurer, trying to kill me as an escort is itself ridiculous.

-thud!

As the escorts swung their swords, an intangible force pressed them against my will. Because of that, they naturally knelt in front of me.

“fist!!”

At that time, the knights entered the entrance with a clap and moved in an orderly manner. In the middle of the aisle, the knight at the front announced someone’s position in a loud voice.

“His Majesty the Emperor, the only light and sun of the Empire, enters!”

Immediately after, the emperor with a long white beard and gray hair entered. The emperor was wearing a red cape and a splendid crown, and his expression and movements showed his dignity.

All the nobles in it knelt down and bowed their heads. I also knelt down, putting the meat in my hand into my mouth so as not to cause trouble.

I get into fights often, but there’s no need to make troublesome things.

The moment the emperor stroked his beard a few times and took a step forward.

-Chack!

The emperor’s neck was cut in two by the sword of the guard behind him.

“”······!””

Suddenly, in the middle of the palace, the emperor was assassinated despite all the escorts. Several nobles swallowed their breaths in the silent hall. And all the escorts present drew their swords.

But the strange thing is that the escort who just cut off the emperor’s head was rather unsteady. Since you killed the emperor, does that mean you’ve accomplished your goal? The moment I thought so.

“hahahahaha! How is it? The newly acquired artifact.”

The voice came from the entrance of the hall. The emperor, who had just been decapitated, was walking towards me smiling cheerfully. Eventually, the emperor came to the knight and said as if nothing had happened.

“It was a simple show to unwind.”

Putting on a show where you risked your life just to relax. It was the moment when the first impression of the emperor was decided.

‘I’m out of my mind.’

Even the knights right next to the emperor were dumbfounded, and it seemed like they hadn’t heard anything beforehand, but if that happened, even ten hearts would be missing.

But again, perhaps the emperor had such a personality, some nobles were rather unresponsive.

“Come on, I’ll do my job, don’t worry and let everyone do their thing.”

Having said that, the emperor immediately melted into the ranks of the nobles, accompanied by an escort. Surprisingly, only the appearance of the emperor was splendid, and there was no special impact. Were you originally like that?

‘I don’t know. Let’s eat one more while thinking about it. ‘

“Uh-geuk… release this…”

“Oh right.”

I’ve been thinking about something else for a while. After freeing the pot-bellied nobleman who was still on his knees, he immediately got up and left his seat.

No matter how much it is, you can’t even wield a sword in front of the emperor. Well, that’s right, and I’m eating food and putting it in my inventory.

“Luke. I’m here.”

“Are you finished already?”

“…Yeah. I didn’t seem to have any intention of listening, so I just came.”

“Really? Then who’s the guy in the back? Your ex?”

“uh?”

Richie turned around to see who was behind her, but immediately after that, her eyes widened.

“Oh, father…?”

That stern-looking face must be Richie’s father. I don’t believe that I’m contemplative, but at first glance, I look like an old man.

“Excuse me. I’m Gerald Winchester, the father of Lychee and the head of the Winchester family.”

I thought it was amazing when I ignored Liche next to him and saw that he was Liche’s father without a change in his eyes.

Don’t you think that a mediocre adventurer would know about your family situation that other nobles don’t know? That’s why you can approach with a steel plate on your face like this.

“I am Luke, an A-class adventurer.”

“It’s nothing else, since my daughter is going with me, I want to sponsor you. What do you think?”

I’m not a mind reader, but I know what this man is thinking. Should I say it’s rather obvious?

By the way, in the original work, he was a nobleman who had a history of trying to pamper Arthur using a lychee, so what he is doing now is obvious.

Guys like that always think they’re flying high in the sky. Then shouldn’t we tell you that there is a universe above the sky? I smiled and shook hands.

“like.”