"Kah-kah-kah, no wonder the Emperor took such a liking to you! You tamed Behemoth in the blink of an eye, when even I couldn't manage it."
"You couldn't manage it?"
"Aye. I got my hands on it long ago, which was all well and good, but Behemoth only told me its name and refused to listen to a word I said. Its form back then was so fantastical that I always wanted to see it just one more time."
"Its form... You mean like this?"
I linked Behemoth with the Ring of Armor.
Just as I had when pitting Leviathan and Lutye against each other, I manifested Behemoth's physical form.
A golden bull materialized atop the table.
Even though we were outdoors, its golden radiance was so brilliant that everyone present was forced to avert their eyes.
Indra's eyes widened at the sight.
"That's it! That's the one! You can even do something like that?! Amazing, kid!"
"Behemoth."
I issued a command to the linked ring.
The golden bull stepped forward slowly across the tabletop, deftly pouring liquor for Indra while maintaining its bovine shape.
The liquor flowing into Indra's cup, though clear, took on a glittering golden hue.
"Oooooh!!"
Gasps of awe erupted from the surrounding onlookers.
"You can even do that?"
Indra was left even more astonished.
Behemoth's demeanor was entirely that of a loyal subordinate dutifully serving its master.
Having once received the cold shoulder from it, he couldn't help but marvel.
"By having them fight like this, I learn their powers and techniques."
"Have them fight? Fight what?"
"For example, Leviathan."
With that, I summoned Leviathan the same way, manifesting it as a swordsman composed of water.
"Hooh."
"Lutye."
This time, a martial artist of living flame appeared.
"Ohh!"
And finally, the beautiful woman from the painting.
"Huwawa."
The sentient weapons and artifacts sworn to my service.
The very instant I manifested all four of them—
Everything before my eyes flashed stark white.
No, that wasn't it.
It felt as though my very soul had been cast into the far reaches of another realm.
Then came the voices.
They possessed an overwhelming, otherworldly presence, unlike anything I had ever heard before.
『Has it truly been a thousand years since as many as four of us gathered?』
『It would be the first time since the Silver Age, then.』
『The child from back then was extraordinary as well. Level 255—and he commanded four of us, restoring our power.』
『The day when all of us gather will surely come before long. Then we shall fully regain our power. It will be the greatest blessing since the dawn of creation.』
『My, my, you've taken quite a liking to this child, haven't you? You rabid hound, Leviathan...』
They were voices I had never heard, yet somehow, I knew them.
Right after that vaguely familiar name was spoken, my consciousness was yanked rapidly back to reality.
I looked around.
I was back on the capital's main thoroughfare, right by the open-air stall.
The four doll-like figures atop the table stood completely unchanged from moments before.
Lutye, Huwawa, Behemoth, and Leviathan.
Every single one of them was exactly as they had been.
Was that just now... an auditory hallucination?
"It's a voice from the heavens! The heavens hold great expectations for the Imperial Prince!"
"Huh?"
Startled, I turned toward the voice in the crowd.
The onlookers stood there, every single one of them staring with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"Which means... that was a god, right?"
"I don't understand these things, but I'm certain that was a god just now!"
"Wait, so it wasn't just me?!"
"The gods are placing their hopes in the Wise Imperial Prince...?"
The onlookers babbled among themselves, turning gazes full of reverence and high expectations toward me.
Until a moment ago, they had looked at me with respect simply because of my royal status, but this went far beyond that.
It wasn't the begrudging deference paid merely to a title.
Their eyes shone with genuine, heartfelt reverence.
"Could it be... everyone here heard that?"
"Aye, sure looks that way. Heard it loud and clear myself."
"Lord Indra."
"Incredible, kid. This calls for a celebration!"
There was no reverence on Indra's face, but in its place beamed immense joy and anticipation.
Putting that aside for the moment, I turned.
"Gigi."
"Huh? Ah, yes!"
My maid, Gigi, who had been waiting at a distance and was similarly stunned by the voices, came rushing over the moment I called her name.
"To everyone here—distribute five... no, ten Rien to everyone who witnessed that."
With that, I took a leather coin pouch from my breast pocket and handed it to her.
This, too, was one of the duties of nobility.
A noble's auspicious occasions were almost always on a far grander scale than those of commoners.
Not hoarding such grand blessings for oneself, but sharing the fortune with the common people—being able to do so was considered a noble virtue.
Furthermore, distributing money to commoners who witnessed an auspicious event was deemed an obligation of their station.
Some nobles treated it as mere etiquette, but the higher a noble's rank, the more strictly they viewed it as a solemn duty.
Someone had once said:
A third-rate noble begrudges sharing their wealth.
A second-rate noble forces themselves through their duty with strained pride.
A first-rate noble performs it as a matter of course, without ever viewing it as a burden.
Living by that principle, I had Gigi distribute an amount equivalent to an average month's wages in the capital to the gathered crowd.
"Thank you so much!"
"Long live His Highness the Wise Imperial Prince!"
"As expected of someone chosen by the gods! Remarkable!"
While the people rejoiced in high spirits over my fulfillment of noble duty, the woman aspiring to become a knight—who had been standing dazed in the distance alongside Gigi—approached me. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head.
"I have a request for Your Highness the Imperial Prince."
"What is it? You have quite a serious look on your face."
"I wish to decline Your Highness's assistance."
Still on one knee, she raised her head and looked straight at me.
Her expression was deadly earnest.
"Why decline it?"
"I wish to become Your Highness's knight."
"Hmm? And what does that have to do with declining my aid?"
"If I simply indulge in Your Highness's patronage like this, I will grow soft and fail to become a worthy knight. I wish to push myself further through my own strength and become someone truly worthy of serving Your Highness."
"I see."
So that was why she wanted to turn down my support.
I studied her face; she wore an intensely earnest expression.
She had always been a woman of pride, but spurred on by what had just occurred, her competitive spirit had flared up even more.
Not bad. I liked people like her.
She carried a similar air to Alice, whom I had been sponsoring for some time.
"I understand your reasoning. However, your request is denied."
"W-Why?!"
It was the same principle as first-rate and second-rate nobles.
"Slacking off because you received assistance is out of the question. I agree with you there. But actively refusing aid out of pride is second-rate."
"S-Second-rate?"
"If you want to become a first-rate knight, apply yourself without slacking even while receiving aid. Regardless of your external circumstances, you must maintain your own sense of urgency and ambition from within."
"—!"
"If you truly wish to become a knight worthy of serving me, that is how you must carry yourself."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
The woman bowed her head deeply.
Her expression was filled with even greater awe and respect than before.
When she looked up again, her eyes burned with determination.
It was a focused gaze that saw only the straight path ahead and the goal at its end.
Within those eyes, I could still sense a faint trace of stubborn pride.
That made her second-rate for now, but someone like her would eventually carry that burden naturally, without even thinking of it as an effort.
A first-rate knight was in the making, and the thought satisfied me.
"Impressive, kid. In just a single moment, you've gone and cultivated an intriguing sprout."
"Indeed. Would you not agree? That is precisely why We thought of Our uncle's granddaughter."
Instantly, Indra and I snapped our heads toward the voice.
Standing right there, without either of us noticing when he had arrived, was—
"Your Majesty!"
Indra and I sprang to our feet simultaneously and dropped to one knee before His Majesty.
Startled by our sudden movement, the onlookers, Gigi, and the rest flusteredly dropped to both knees, pressing their foreheads to the ground.