Duke Quento. A leading figure of the King's Faction—the largest faction in the Kingdom of Mireana, boasting more nobles than either the Noble's Faction or the Neutral Faction.
Rei was surprised that such a man was reaching out to request a handshake, but he clasped the offered hand without hesitation.
He had heard beforehand that the person before him was strict about etiquette, and had formed a preconception that he would be difficult to deal with.
Yet the man whose hand he was now shaking did not seem at all like the stickler for propriety he had been described as.
"Hmm. So this is the hand of the adventurer who bears the alias Crimson. ...What a curious hand. Despite appearances, I am well accustomed to seeing strong individuals. But even to my eyes, you do not look strong at all."
Ronald released Rei's hand gently, then studied his face and murmured thoughtfully.
Because he understood the many deeds Rei had accomplished—deeds that could fairly be called legendary—he would never make the mistake of underestimating him. But had he known nothing about Rei, he would never have believed the boy was a B-Rank adventurer, let alone a high-ranking one.
That was how peculiar the boy before Ronald appeared.
Not that seeming peculiar stirred any desire in Ronald to look down on him. After all, if one were to speak of peculiar existences, his own beloved daughter was peculiar enough.
At a mere ten years of age, she possessed a brilliant mind and the ability to wield multiple types of magic, and she even carried out the duties of a noble as her father's proxy.
Reminded of this, Ronald pulled himself back to the present. This was no time for such thoughts. He turned his gaze once more to the person before him and spoke.
"Thanks to you, those within the King's Faction who committed major misconduct are being punished one after another. Naturally, we cannot discipline every noble who has engaged in wrongdoing, but still, a considerable number have had their ranks reduced over this matter. In the worst cases, some will even face outright title revocation."
"...It goes that far?"
Rei spoke up, sounding genuinely surprised.
He had heard talk of a discipline enforcement campaign, but he never expected it to reach the point of stripping titles entirely.
Title revocation—meaning one's status would be reduced from noble to commoner.
For someone who had lived arrogantly as a noble, indulging in every luxury, being cast down to commoner status would make simply surviving a struggle. Once a person grew accustomed to extravagance, giving it up was not impossible, but it was undeniably difficult.
Those who had earned the resentment of commoners might well be killed. Others, unable to lower their standard of living, would sink into debt—their wives and daughters forced into prostitution, they and their sons sold into slavery. Such stories were far from rare. Indeed, they were among the more common fates for those stripped of their titles.
Of course, not every noble met such an end. Some turned over a new leaf, pursued commerce, and succeeded as merchants. Others became adventurers, achieved great feats, and were reinstated as nobles. There were even those who founded their own nations and became kings. Even so, those who achieved such success remained the rare exception.
"Indeed. Among them were some who imposed outrageous taxes on their subjects, and some who seriously enforced something called droit du seigneur within their own territories. ...Fools, the lot of them."
As if the mere memory was unbearable, Ronald's brows drew together in displeasure.
From that reaction alone, aided by the words from Ronald's own mouth, Rei—who had no love for nobles—could more or less grasp what the King's Faction nobles had been doing.
"If that makes the Kingdom of Mireana even a little easier to live in, then it helps me out too."
Ronald's brow furrowed for just an instant at Rei's casual self-reference. But he had already heard from Erinde that Rei was uncomfortable with noble etiquette, so he voiced no complaint.
He had come to meet Rei fully knowing his attitude, after all. And when he considered that Daskar—the noble Rei was closest to—tolerated this very same behavior, scolding Rei here would only make himself seem petty by comparison.
More importantly, in this incident they had invited Rei into their domain and then failed to protect him. They were the ones who deserved blame, yet Rei was the one showing forbearance. From Ronald's position, he could only feel grateful.
...Had Ronald known that the noble Rei was truly closest to was Elena Kerebel, he would have been too stunned to think about anything else.
The idea that the woman bearing the alias Princess General—a symbolic figure of the Noble's Faction—was romantically involved with Rei was, under ordinary circumstances, something no one would ever believe.
"True enough. We have caused you a great deal of trouble on account of the King's Faction. But once this purge is complete, the King's Faction should be able to cleanse its stained reputation."
Ronald's words carried the desire for that to come to pass—no, the resolve to make it so by his own hand. Rei could only nod, even if only half in earnest.
Prompted to sit on the sofa, Rei took his seat across from Ronald, and across from Maruka.
That naturally put him face to face with Koan and Isukerudo, who were present as guards for Ronald and Maruka. Yet when their eyes met Rei's, neither showed any inclination to speak. Koan offered only a slight bow.
They understood full well that in this setting, they were nothing more than guards.
"So then. What do you intend to do from here?"
Ronald took a sip of the tea on the table and asked what Rei planned to do going forward. Rei tilted his head.
"What do you mean? I assumed I would continue as an instructor at the Officer Academy here for a while yet."
"Are you truly satisfied with that? Forgive me for saying so, but you were attacked by enemies within Gracial—my own domain, as it were—and inside the Officer Academy, no less. We brought you here precisely to prevent retaliatory strikes from King's Faction nobles, and yet..."
He must have felt pathetic saying it himself. Ronald broke off and exhaled a heavy sigh.
For Ronald, who held the exceedingly high rank of duke, this incident was an unmistakable failure on his part.
Fortunately, Rei harbored no such intention. But had Rei been someone hostile to Ronald, a rumor would have spread through noble society that the Duke Quento's House could not even protect a guest they had personally invited.
Naturally, a single rumor would never bring down the Duke Quento's House. Still, they would not escape unscathed, and the damage would be far from negligible.
"And in the end, it was not my men who struck down the assassins that attacked you, but you yourself. Given all that, if you chose to leave because you could no longer trust the security arrangements in Gracial, I would have no grounds to stop you. The fault is ours."
At Ronald's words, Maruka turned a gaze touched with faint anxiety toward Rei. It was her father who had spoken, but she had been the one to bring Rei from Gilm to Gracial—though strictly speaking, Rei had traveled ahead of her, so "brought" was not quite accurate.
It was by no means Maruka's fault. Even so, she could not help feeling as though she were the one being blamed.
As if to reassure her, Rei offered a small smile and spoke.
"Please don't worry. I've actually grown quite fond of life here, so I have no intention of leaving of my own accord. At the very least, not until spring, when the contract ends."
The words from Rei's mouth must have been far more unexpected than anyone anticipated. Not only Ronald, but even Koan and Isukerudo displayed visible surprise.
Among those present, Erinde and Sardat alone wore expressions of quiet certainty, as if they had known all along how Rei would answer.
"...Erinde, what of this one's qualifications as an instructor?"
"Not the absolute best, perhaps, but more than sufficient. He hasn't been teaching long, but I'm told the Third-year and Fourth-year S-Class have improved considerably. And his post-mock-battle critiques are spot-on."
The words that slipped from Erinde's mouth were casual enough toward Ronald to be called familiar. Ronald was normally strict about etiquette, but Erinde had been a friend since his youth—no, since childhood—and he had half-coaxed them into serving as the Academy Headmaster in the first place.
Because they were such an old and familiar friend, Ronald accepted even casual speech without issue, so long as they were not in a formal public setting. Had it been someone with only a passing acquaintance with Ronald addressing him in such a relaxed tone, he would certainly have taken offense.
"Hmm, I see. ...Then, Lord Rei. Would you consider taking a formal position as an instructor at the Officer Academy? Having a man of your skill among my subordinates would be an enormous asset—both for the King's Faction and for me personally."
"No. I appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid I must decline. I've told Lord Daskar the same thing: I'm willing to accept commissions as an adventurer, as I'm doing now, but taking official service is something I have no interest in whatsoever."
"...Even if I ask you personally?"
Ronald was a leading figure of the King's Faction. The power he wielded ranked among the very highest in the Kingdom of Mireana. To be fixed with an intense stare and pressed by such a man—any ordinary person would have been reduced to silent, obedient nodding.
But the one subjected to that gaze was Rei.
Without the slightest change in expression, he shook his head.
"Serving nobles simply doesn't suit my temperament. I've never been good with rigid formality, and I'm not the most patient man when it comes to certain things. Having someone like me—who's prone to causing trouble—as your retainer would likely just invite unnecessary chaos."
"If you know that about yourself, then you need only refrain from causing unnecessary chaos. ...Well, fine. I have no intention of forcibly recruiting you. Doing so would only bring disaster down the line."
Just how much power Rei possessed was something Ronald, as a leading figure of the King's Faction, understood more than well enough. In particular, the Stigma had managed to stall even Sardat. That Rei had faced two of them and emerged victorious—though only because Set was there—was beyond any doubt.
To make such a person his subordinate through force would guarantee catastrophic damage should the man turn on him.
(Besides...)
Ronald turned his gaze to his beloved daughter seated beside him.
Maruka possessed a mind far sharper than her years, but she also had many traits entirely typical of her age. Her taste in food, for instance—she disliked bitter vegetables. Her daily play—when it snowed, she wanted to rush outside. And her attachment to her favorite people.
In this case, "attachment" did not merely mean wanting to keep someone close. It also meant wanting her favorite person to live happily.
The person his daughter had recently taken a shine to was the one sitting before Ronald now. He understood this perfectly from their dinner conversations. ...It was also true that this was part of the reason he had wanted to bring Rei into his service.
If Rei's loyalty could be directed entirely toward him, there might still have been ways to make it happen. But based on everything Ronald had gathered—and the impression he drew from speaking with the man now—there was no chance Rei would ever come to feel genuine loyalty toward him.
(Though having someone like this near Maruka may not be the best influence on her education. Viewed that way, failing to recruit him is not an entirely bad thing.)
At present, Rei treated him with the outward deference one showed a superior. But it was immediately apparent to Ronald that the boy's inner feelings were far from genuine respect. His personality—the kind that treated nobles as though they were not nobles at all—was something that, so far as Ronald knew, could almost be called monstrous.
Not having such a person beside his beloved daughter was certainly no cause for regret.
Had Rei known Ronald's thoughts, he would have likened the duke to a parent who could not abide the idea of their child playing with a bad influence. And that impression, it must be said, would not have been entirely wrong.
"Then, for the time being, you will continue as an instructor here until spring, as per our original contract. Can I take that to be settled?"
"Yes. That is my intention."
"Good. I shall look forward to it. ...Ah, and as an apology for the trouble this incident has caused you, allow me to add a little something extra to your compensation."
"Thank you very much."
And so, Rei would continue to serve as an instructor at the Officer Academy.