Night fell over the city.
I returned to the ducal residence, feeling satisfied after my tour of the rope factory and my meeting with Marlo and the other managers. To my surprise, Sebas was waiting for me. He was supposed to be in the Royal Capital, but apparently, something urgent had required an immediate report. He had used Space Magic to return ahead of the rest of the party.
Yudum and I sat down with him in one of the private rooms to hear what he had to say.
"It is fortunate that you were in residence, Ryoma-sama," Sebas began.
His very first words gave me a sense of foreboding. I steeled myself for whatever was coming, but as Sebas spoke, it became clear that every single update centered on me.
"I see... Well, first, regarding the heating technology," I said, summarizing his report. "The King’s approval and the public reaction are within expectations, so we'll consider that fine. Church support for the foundation is also good news. But Glen... I never imagined that not following him back then would lead to this."
"It would be unreasonable to expect you to have acted with such foresight, so please do not trouble yourself, Ryoma-sama," Sebas reassured me. "This is simply the result of various coincidences. Besides, it was only a matter of time before your true value was recognized. Think of the supply of materials from the Sea of Trees and your relationship with Lord Glen as a mere acceleration of the schedule."
"Understood. Are there any other plans for the future?"
"Regarding noble affairs, you may continue as you have been. However, we would like your cooperation regarding Lord Glen. We don't have a specific request for your actions just yet; rather, we want to brainstorm our next steps together."
Certainly, dealing with Glen was something only I could really do. I had little influence over the nobility, which was exactly why people like Yudum and Eleanora had been assigned to me in the first place.
"Glen is coming to the Jamil Duchy specifically to find me, so there will likely be chances to talk," I noted. "I’m just not sure how much help I can be."
"The fact that you already know him and understand his character is more than enough," Sebas replied. "We are gathering our own intelligence, of course, but secondhand information always carries some degree of discrepancy from the truth."
That made sense, but it raised a question. Had the Jamil family never tried to establish a connection with him before?
Sebas had already explained how much influence an S-Rank adventurer had—the economic shift caused by Glen moving his base was proof of that. It seemed only natural for a noble family to want a relationship with him, especially a house as prominent as the Jamils. When I asked, Sebas offered an explanation.
"There are several reasons. First, Lord Glen himself finds socializing with nobles to be a chore. Knowing there was a high probability he would despise us rather than build a bridge, we refrained from unnecessary contact. The second reason is a bit closer to slander, but his reputation among the nobility is quite poor. While his strength is undeniable and sought after, many nobles view him as a man of low birth and argue that all ties with him should be severed."
"He certainly doesn't seem like the type for stiff formalities," I agreed. "His personality is so boisterous that I can't imagine him getting along with anyone who prioritizes etiquette."
"...There are his general habits, yes," Sebas continued, "but there was a specific incident in the past that many consider particularly problematic."
"What kind of incident?"
"Typically, when an adventurer is promoted to S-Rank, they receive a formal approval from His Majesty the King followed by a ceremony. It is a highly prestigious and historical event... yet, he fell asleep on the spot. Of all things, he snored loudly right in the middle of His Majesty’s address."
"What was he thinking?!"
The words slipped out before I could stop them. No, really—what was he doing? Even back in Japan, you'd be a social pariah if you fell asleep during a major ceremony or meeting. To do it in a world with a rigid noble hierarchy, right in front of the King...
"I’m amazed he’s still allowed to operate as an S-Rank adventurer so freely," I said.
"It is only because His Majesty laughed it off and declared it an amusing anecdote, and more importantly, because it would have been nearly impossible to restrain Lord Glen by force anyway."
"Oh, I remember that," Yudum added. "I was still at the Academy back then, and the whole place was buzzing with the news. Most of the people around me were screaming that his promotion should be revoked."
That wasn't surprising. Given Yudum’s background, he was likely talking about the students in the Knight Department. I’d heard they were incredibly strict; anyone training to be a knight would have had manners and decorum beaten into them. Seeing Glen’s behavior would have been a personal affront.
Wait... knights?
"I remember Sieber-san mentioned losing a match to Glen once," I recalled. "Does that have anything to do with this?"
"Your intuition is correct," Sebas said. "Even if His Majesty chose to forgive the insult, the fact remained that he had been disrespectful. The nobles in attendance wouldn't have been satisfied with no repercussions at all. However, mobilizing the guards would have caused a scene, and there was no guarantee Glen would have gone along with it quietly. Thus, the ceremony was pivoted into an Exhibition Match against the Knight Commander. It was meant to vent the nobles' frustrations while maintaining a shred of dignity for the crown."
"If the Knight Commander won and taught him a lesson, the nobles would have been satisfied," Yudum explained. "If the Knight Commander lost, Glen’s strength would be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, forcing everyone to shut up. It ended up being the latter, but either way, it was a much better way to settle things than doing nothing."
Criticism hadn't vanished entirely, but few nobles were willing to pick a fight with a man who had defeated a Knight Commander rumored to be the strongest in history. Furthermore, since the King had explicitly pardoned him, continuing to complain could be seen as an act of defiance against the throne.
A rift had formed between Glen and the nobility, but the ceremony ended without further disaster. Over time, as nobles realized the sheer economic benefit of having him around, many had changed their tune. His career wasn't exactly suffering.
At least the matter was settled... more or less.
"By the way, if Glen moves to Gimul, he’ll almost certainly run into Sieber-san. Will that be okay?"
"The Exhibition Match is in the past, and Lord Sieber has accepted the results. I doubt there will be any grudges. However, Lord Glen is always looking for strong opponents to fight, and I hear Lord Sieber has regained much of his old fighting spirit..."
"So even if there isn't a grudge, they might just decide to trade blows to test each other. I suppose I should scout out some locations where they won't cause collateral damage and where healing will be easy to provide—"
I stopped mid-sentence as it dawned on me that this wasn't just someone else's problem.
"—I think I need to step up my own training."
"Ryoma-sama?"
"Sorry. I just realized that he might challenge me, too, not just Sieber-san."
"Right, you did mention that you caught his eye, Shop Manager," Yudum said.
"I think he just likes fighting people he respects. But because of that, he'll probably come looking for a sparring match whenever he’s bored. He really is as strong as his rank suggests. Half-hearted attacks don't even phase him, and I won't have the luxury of worrying about the scenery if I have to defend myself..."
Even if it was just a light workout for him, I had to be deadly serious. Even a non-lethal blow from him could cause a critical injury if I wasn't careful. That was how terrifying his Constant Physical Strengthening was.
His technique was unrefined—practically an amateur’s—but his raw physical power, combined with his instincts and experience, more than made up for it. There were no openings. A head-on fight was a losing battle.
"He's the kind of person you can talk to, so he isn't going to just jump out of an alley and attack me, but still..."
"He’s the man who fell asleep in front of the King," Yudum reminded me. "I don't think standard logic applies to his motivations."
"We can only wait and see," Sebas concluded. "In the meantime, we will be sending internal notices to the guilds within the duchy. If anything happens, please report to the Gimul branch of the Adventurer Guild first. We will let them handle the initial response for adventurer-related issues."
Glen was an S-Rank, Sieber was a Former Knight Commander, and I was a technician for a ducal house. None of us were "ordinary" adventurers, but as far as the law was concerned, we were members of the guild.
I caught a brief mental image of Guild Master Wogan and Meilyne the receptionist drowning in paperwork and headaches, but I didn't have time to dwell on it before Sebas moved on to the next topic.
"Next, regarding the retort food, which was Lord Glen's original goal. Sale permits have been issued, but it would be far too much work for you to handle both manufacturing and sales personally, Ryoma-sama. The Duke suggested that we utilize a facility prepared by our house to manufacture the food based on your recipes. What are your thoughts on this?"
"I have no objections," I replied.
I had intended to make it myself along with my own supplies, but if the ducal house was willing to take over, it would certainly lighten the load. In fact, maybe I could just buy my own portion from them.
My main concern was production volume—whether they could make enough for Glen, myself, and the Goblins. I’d almost forgotten they were setting up a dedicated production line.
"What is the current status of the manufacturing?" I asked. "I knew they were testing the reproducibility of the Slime Farming Method and the retort process with other staff, but I haven't heard an update since."
"My apologies. The results for both have been excellent. We are currently processing crops grown through the Slime Farming Method into retort pouches and have begun trial runs using them for military logistics and as emergency stockpiles for the Charity Granaries. While technically still in the experimental phase, it is effectively ready for practical use. We will continue to refine the process based on feedback from the staff."
"It’s already come that far?"
"The documentation you provided was incredibly detailed, and we focused heavily on scaling up production. Because there was so much work to do, the staff became proficient quite quickly."
They had produced vast quantities of ingredients and processed them immediately. Most of it was simply "boiled in water," functioning more as long-life ingredients than finished meals.
"Mass production requires both facilities and skilled labor. By having the staff master the basics first, they’ll be ready to handle more complex recipes later," I noted.
"Exactly. We are training workers in tandem with our experiments. At this rate, supplying the general market won't be far off."
"I'm looking forward to it. Once we hit that stage, maybe we should open a restaurant specializing in retort food."
"In a restaurant?" Yudum looked skeptical. "Wouldn't just heating up a pouch feel like cutting corners?"
Sebas seemed to share the concern, but back on Earth, the Central Kitchen Method was standard for family restaurants. Food was prepared at a factory and then finished or plated at the individual stores. Customers would come as long as the food tasted good.
"At first, it might be better to have a simple eating space attached to a retort food shop," I suggested. "People could heat up their purchases in a water bath right there. It lets them test the flavor and learn how to prepare it, and the staff would be on hand to answer questions."
"That's true. People are often hesitant to buy things they've never tried," Yudum admitted.
"And if we keep researching flavors, the variety will eventually be massive. It could be fun for people to go to a shop specifically to find a flavor that suits them. Retort food can be anything: side dishes, snacks for drinking, food for the sick, regional specialties... or even high-end luxury goods. We could even have a line of pouches supervised by Batz-san."
"A fascinating prospect," Sebas said, smiling. "A product supervised by a noble house's head chef would be an instant success. Showcasing the talent of one’s kitchen is a classic way to demonstrate noble status."
"And if other houses try to copy the technology, you'll be swimming in licensing fees, Shop Manager. You'd better start thinking about how to spend your money again," Yudum teased.
I must have looked genuinely distressed at the thought of more wealth management, because both Sebas and Yudum started to laugh. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I steered the conversation back to our future plans.
The discussion continued peacefully into the late hours of the night.