Volume 2 Chapter 9: Barbecue

“–you overdid it.”

“I’m sorry.”

The instructor knight was really mad with me– not. We were actually having a barbecue outside of the party venue.

Originally, I was supposed to join the party on the inside, but I was expelled to the outside as punishment for disrupting yesterday’s event.

Unfortunately, the other children who received the same treatment as me were also expelled to the outside barbecue.

“Still, I think it was worth it.”

“The faces they made after they woke up were masterpieces.”

“Even if we were on the inside, the way they treat us wouldn’t have changed that much anyways.”

Somehow, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Despite the barbecue set being cheap.

Well, it’s still better than the punishment I thought the instructor was going to give me.

Kurt was grilling meat.

“Sorry, it’s a little burnt.”

A skewer covered in meat and vegetables was handed over to me.

“I don’t want the peppers. I hate them.”

“It’s not good to be picky.”

The green peppers in the viscount’s territory were bitter.

They were really bad.

The instructor was laughing.

“Well, a lot of things might’ve happened, but it’s always better to end things with a smile.”

I wholeheartedly agreed with that opinion.

◇ ◇ ◇

The party venue.

As he was invited, Thomas of the Henfrey company was looking for Liam at the venue after he had finished his greetings.

“I can’t see Lord Liam’s figure anywhere.”

Dressed in a military uniform, Nias drew near and called out to him,

“Thomas, have you seen Lord Liam?”

To Nias, who looked like she was in a hurry, Thomas shook his head.

“I haven’t seen him. Maybe he’s running late?”

Nias also pondered this,

“He isn’t someone who loses track of their time… I wonder if there’s a reason?”

“–you’re really bringing up business talks in a place like this?”

Nias turned her gaze away from the pampered laugh that was approaching her.

That’s when Eulisia gracefully appeared in a dress.

“Oh my, I didn’t know the Seventh Weapons Company would send a representative.”

“…so you’re here as well.”

Sparks started to burst out between the two, but Eulisia was the one who turned away first.

“Ehhh~ To be honest, I’m actually here to thank Count Banfield for the large number of mobile knights he just recently purchased from us. While I was at it, I thought I might as well sell him a fortress-class battleship too.”

Nias seemed to grow more flustered as she heard that.

“W-why are you trying to sell him a fortress-class?”

“We recently announced the new model, so we’re calling out to all of our potential buyers, not just him.”

Sparks scattered between the two who were planning to sell to Liam.

Thomas turned his gaze away.

(Lord Liam has it hard. Still, where is he?)

Thomas, Nias, and Eulisia– it wasn’t just those three.

There were many people who were taking advantage of their participation in the party for this chance.

The majority of the people in the hall were all searching for Liam.

That’s when Randolph’s voiced echoed throughout the venue.

“Everyone, I’d like to thank you for coming to our party this time-”

First was a simple greeting, which was then followed by his daughter’s engagement announcement.

However, her partner was strange.

“My daughter Katerina, will be taking Peter of the Peetak house to be her husband.”

It was the Peetak house that was introduced.

Nias applauded to match the venue’s atmosphere, but those that knew- like Thomas, were stunned.

“A boy came here for training, but ended up getting engaged to the lord’s daughter, how romantic.”

“Huh? No, that’s… what?”

He couldn’t understand.

(Why would the Razel house seek a connection with the Peetak house? No matter how I think about them, they’re definitely people who I’d never consider marrying into…)

For Thomas, who knew about the inner workings of the Peetak house, this situation was nothing but strange.

Eulisia thought the same,

“By Peetak house… do they mean that Peetak house?”

“Yes, I think so. I’m sure that’s the heir of the Peetak house.”

Projected into the air above the venue, the figures of Peter and Katerina were shown.

Eulisia was making a face that said she couldn’t believe this,

“The Peetak house… has there been any news of them unearthing a mine full of rare metals?”

Thomas shook his head.

The Razel house specialised in mining resources and processing them.

If rare metals could be excavated in the Peetak house’s territory, then there might be justification behind marriage.

It would be possible then– but no such news has come out about that topic.

“I’ve heard no such thing. I thought they investigated various things about the children they admitted, so I can’t understand Viscount Razel’s thought process in supporting this marriage.”

Many of the participants were also confused about this.

Nias noticed the surrounding atmosphere, and-

“Um, excuse me? Do you by any chance know where Lord Liam is?”

All three of them were desperate for information on Liam, so they eagerly listened to the story of the recently-caught waiter.

The waiter was another noble child undergoing their training.

“You want to know where Liam is? Yesterday, he beat up all the people who were given preferential treatment and laughed at them, so he was kicked out of the venue by the Viscount. Oh, and if you ever need a drink, just let me know.”

The waiter was an underclassmen that was receiving the same treatment as Liam.

“The Liam of that time was amazing,” he said while laughing.

Thomas’ face had turned pale.

“…he drove Lord Liam out of the venue?”

To the Henfrey company, Liam was their benefactor.

Furthermore, Thomas himself was the Banfield house’s purveyor.

He felt dizzy.

Nias grabbed his swaying shoulder,

“Quickly guide us to him!”

“Huh? Sure, I don’t mind but-”

Eulisia was quickly making a call to someone.

Meanwhile, Thomas quickly rushed outside after learning the location from the waiter,

“Lord Liaaaaaaam!”

◇ ◇ ◇

Thomas ran up to me during the barbecue.

“Lord Liaaaaaaam!”

I put the peppers I didn’t eat on a plate and handed them over to Thomas.

“Long time no see, Thomas. So you came here too? Come join us and eat.”

Kurt was saying “Liam, your awful,” in the background, but it’s only natural for an evil lord to be disliked.

That’s why it was okay for me to do this.

“T-thanks for the meal. —bitter! Bleh! W-wait, that’s not what I’m here for! What exactly is the meaning of this?! Lord Liam, why have you been expelled to outside the venue?!”

He was making quite the racket.

“The viscount got mad at me. There’s no need to worry though, I couldn’t really get along with him anyway.”

Seriously– it was a total failure for me to come under the tutelage of the serious and virtuous Razel house.

Thomas looked relieved.

Don’t tell me, did this guy think I might turn into a virtuous person?

After all, this guy is my Echigoya-no, he’s an evil merchant.

“I’m going to put in a complaint with the viscount. Come, let’s go inside.”

“I don’t need it. What’s the point of complaining now? Instead, bring us something to eat. Oh, and prepare some drinks too.”

Thomas quickly made a call to his ship.

“M-my apologies, there isn’t really anything that I can afford to offer as a gift. As for alcohol, will some of the more expensive brands do?”

Well, I was still in a good mood from yesterday’s events.

I’ll just pay him this time.

“Thomas, bring me everything that you could possibly use as a gift. Oh, and give the alcohol to the men who’ve been taking care of me. Nothing but the best brands, and of course, I’ll pay for it.”

Even if I paid for everything I just asked for in bulk, the balance in my bank account wouldn’t change.

Just how much did I save up?

“I-I’ll bring you everything right away!”

As Thomas left while calling his subordinates, more people exited out of the venue.

Kurt looked a little confused.

“Huh? Is it already finished?”

“Didn’t it just start? Maybe they’re taking a break already, or some kind of problem occured.”

As I pondered that, this time it was Nias and Eulisia who ran up to me while out of breath.

“Lord Liam, long time no see! Now, please buy a fortress-class from me!”

I looked at Nias, who tried to sell me a battleship while she was still greeting me, with cold eyes.

Eulisia, who was wiping her sweat, had an amazed expression on her face.

“–you’re actually bringing up business negotiations before you even finish saying hello? My lord, why don’t you just ignore this boorish woman from the Seventh Weapons Factory and talk to me instead? Today I’d actually like to tell you about our new fortress-class battleship. Unlike the outdated version from the Seventh Weapons Factory, ours is a brand-new model.”

You’re exactly the same though.

I looked at the dress-wearing Eulisia with a slightly amazed expression.

Maybe noticing my gaze, she started to smile at me.

“…I’m not interested.”

She reminded me of my former wife, who used to dress up and perfect her makeup everytime she cheated on me.

In other words, it was a turn-off.

“Huh?”

Eulisia seemed to be surprised by my reaction.

In response to that, Nias started laughing at her.

“Too bad~”

After saying that, she started opening her suit jacket’s buttons from the front.

Rather than trying to seduce me, I think she was just hot from all the running.

Maybe because of that, her sweat made the shirt she wore underneath see-through, allowing me to see the sports bra she had on.

Noticing that she was seen, she nervously started to laugh while covering herself up, embarrassed.

“N-no, I’m not wearing this because my pay was docked from the poor sales or anything… Yes! I’m only wearing these because I’m trying to be more conscious of my health! It’s that sort of thing!”

I approached Nias who was desperately trying to make an excuse and-

“How much is it?”

“Huh?”

“How much is the fortress-class ship you were selling?”

“You’re going to buy it?”

“I guess it just can’t be helped. Here, give me the contract. Is this enough?”

“P-please buy some destroyers and cruisers as well! They might be new models but this is a great deal!”

“Just what would you ever do without me? I understand, buying three hundred should be fine.”

Nias was so overjoyed that she started to cry, and everytime she moved I was able to see underwear that had no sex-appeal through her shirt.

They were exactly the type I preferred.

Since I was shown something nice, I decided to help her out and buy a fortress-class.

Eulisia grabbed my arm.

“Wait, please wait! Why?! You haven’t even checked the specs yet, right?!”

“…so you were a disappointing woman too.”

Or was it that they were the only kind of female workers that the weapon factories hired?

After that, more weapon factory representatives and merchant house heads came to greet me.

“Lord Liam, I believe this is our first time meeting.”

“Lord Liam, please feel free to purchase anything from our weapons factory by all means.”

“Lord Liam, if you ever ask, I’d be happy to lend you-”

Before I knew it, a long line was formed.

◇ ◇ ◇

In the party venue- Randolph was stunned.

Most of the invited guests had left.

Less than a third were remaining.

The venue that had quickly emptied out was an amazing sight to see.

Making confused expressions, the remaining guests didn’t seem to understand what was going on either.

“W-what is the meaning of all this?”

Just what the hell was happening?

As he pondered this and was about to give an order to find out, one of his subordinates gave him a report,

“Lord Randolph! Outside the venue! Outside!”

“What happened?!”

Rushing outside, what he saw was- the barbecue.

Stealing away all the invited guests, Randolph assumed the evicted children had done something.

And in the middle of it all was- Liam.

“What’s the meaning of this? Why is everyone gathering around the son of the Banfield house?”

Humans were very honest creatures.

If the aristocrat the served turned out to be incompetant, they’d quickly abandon them.

However, on the other hand- people would quickly gather around those they thought were worth it.

It wasn’t just one or two people either, but all the merchants seemed to be trying to make a connection with Liam.

“-look into the Banfield house right away.”

“But my lord, we’ve already done our research-”

“Just look into them! Go!”

◇ ◇ ◇

A spaceport located in the Razel house’s territory.

The Banfield house’s fleet had arrived, and were waiting on standby.

A shuttle landed at the port and was preparing to pick up Liam.

Tia was there to supervise everything.

Right now she was talking to one of the spaceport’s officials.

“Can’t we permission for the red carpet?”

“Due to certain policies, I’ll have to ask you to refrain yourself, unfortunately. I can give you permission to recreate the atmosphere with holograms though.”

“And I’m telling you that’s too bland! After three whole years of training, my lord deserves a reception worthy of him!”

The knights and the soldiers who were standing in formation seemed to freeze as tensions started to rise.

“We gave him a grand reception at his arrival, isn’t that enough? By the way, I must say the fleet of the Peetak house sure is amazing. Even the viscount was impressed and expressed his desire to meet with you- huh?”

Almost immediately, Tia had grabbed the official by the neck and lifted him up into the air, while softly saying,

“…you can’t even recognise the family crest of Lord Liam’s Banfield house? Who the hell does your viscount dare to compare us too?”

The knights and soldiers of the Razel house nearby started to gather while the knight’s of the Banfield house started pulling out their weapons.

Tia said so while closing in on the official.

“That’s right, we are the proud Banfield fleet! No mistakes will be tolerated. We’ll be protesting this later.”

“L-let me go–”

“Too late.”

As Tia smiled while putting her hand on her sword’s handle, the spaceport elevator door started to open.

“Huh~? So you’re the people here to pick me up~?”

The air seemed to freeze with Peter’s voice that echoed out.

He turned to look at Tia,

“Oh, are you a new knight? You’re pretty beautiful. Okay, you’ll be my personal escort. Yes, I’m already ready to go home.”

Tia let go the official and dropped him.

◇ ◇ ◇

The spaceport.

Kurt and I were sitting on a bench as we waited for pick-up, while watching a video that was being projected into the air.

It was the last episode of a popular drama that aired in the viscount’s territory.

When the ending credits started rolling,

“It… doesn’t look like they’re coming.”

I sighed,

“I’m happy we got to finish the drama I was interested in, but I’m not pleased with how they’re keeping their master waiting.”

As I felt my frustration increase, the elevator door opened and Tia burst out of it.

She practically flew as she kicked off of the floor before landing and sliding into a subservient pose in front of me.

–it was kind of funny to watch.

“M-m-my deepest apologies Lord Liam! The official at the spaceport led us to another area by mistake! Please forgive me!”

To Tia that was looking up at me while stuttering excuses, I flicked her forehead.

“Don’t make excuses, the fact of the matter is that you kept me waiting.”

Tia looked like it was the end of the world when I told her that- though I think she was overreacting a bit.

She was supposed to be really talented, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at her.

How come there only seemed to be girls that had a screw loose gathering around me?

“Understood, I’ll apologise by presenting you with my head.”

She pulled out her sword and placed it on her neck.

This girl really wasn’t right in the head.

“Stop being stupid. Just carry the luggage, I want to go home already. ”

As I handed over my bags, Tia started to cry.

“Y-you’ll really forgive me?”

“I’ll give a proper punishment later on during the voyage. Kurt, do you want her to hold your luggage too?”

When I asked Kurt,

“…Liam, don’t make a girl carry your bags for you.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s her punishment for keeping me waiting. Now then, let’s go. Which battleship will we be boarding?”

Tia answered while straightening her back.

Why were her cheeks red though?

“Yes! You’ll be riding on flagship Var!”

Var, the flagship built at the Third Weapons Factory slowly approached the port.

—it really was huge from this angle.

To match it’s large size, it looks like it’s specs and performance were raised accordingly.

“Wow, that’s big. Is this a super-class battleship?”

Even seemed to be interested.

Well, he was a guy after all. It was only natural for him to love battleships and humanoid weapons.

“Why don’t you buy one too?”

“I can’t. Even if I wanted to buy one, I think it’d be better to buy a destroyer or cruiser considering the maintenance costs.”

Speaking of which, I bought a lot of those from Nias recently, didn’t I?

Considering my military plan, that wasn’t something I needed- I totally purchased them on a whim.

I was a victim of impulse buying.

However, I can’t help but marvel how easy it is to buy battleships in this universe.

“If that’s the case, do you want my surplus?”

Whenever I buy things myself, Amagi gets angry and scolds me while complaining “Our military plans have been thrown off-schedule again.”

So let’s just push them onto Kurt,

“Hmm? No I’m fine, thanks. Old ships can still be used as long as they’re properly maintained, and I’m already satisfied with the amount that we have now, even if it’s not much.”

…huh? Was he really okay using second-hand goods?