068: Let's go around the royal capital

November 28, 2020 - 8 minutes read - 1536 words

I calm down and listen to Bran’s story. Bran was attending a party that Eleanora was at, he then fell in love with Eleanora at first sight and sought an engagement. Eleanora immediately refused without a second thought. Bran didn’t want to give up, so he repeatedly proposed throughout the party. Eventually, Eleanora was impressed by his enthusiasm, and gave him a challenge.

“If you can defeat me with a sword, I’ll consent to the engagement.” Eleanora

Why must it be decided that way?

Even Nord, the Dragon Slayer, wouldn’t make up that kind of requirement. Recently, Eleanora is doing well against the well-trained Count Melna or the B-ranked adventurer Rumba, so she’s pretty scary. I can’t see any way for Bran to defeat Eleanora with a sword. When Bran first asked for a duel from Eleanora… he was instantly defeated.

After that, Bran sent letters and invitations to Eleanora in an attempt for a rematch, but never received a reply. Interestingly, I’ve witnessed ELeanora burning paper in the garden from time to time. When I asked, she said she was practicing Fire Magic. The letter were incinerated without being read.

“When I heard that a son of the Slowlette family would attend this years exchange party, I seized the opportunity and sent many letters to Eleanora!” Bran

Bran acts proud, but I feel he’s more like a stalker. Apparently he happened to receive a reply from Eleanora.

“If you can defeat my younger brother Alfred, who is participating in the exchange party, I will accept a rematch.” Eleanora

Augh! Eleanora told me to not get entangled with strange aristocrats, but set me up to have to deal with one! Did the letter arrive after I left Koriat Village, so Eleanora couldn’t give me a better warning. I’m betting she’s incinerated many letters and eaten many cookies.

“That’s why you should play along!” Bran

“I absolutely detest it, this has nothing to do with me.” Al

“But your name is on the letter.” Bran

Bran opens a carefully folded letter and sticks it in my face. Wow, the handwriting is a mess. He must have written in on a desk while being too fired up to write properly.

“So, what about it?” Al

I look to Eric for help, but his response doesn’t really do much.

“Well, normally it would be written as a formal letter from the head of family…” Eric

“It looks like a duel is inevitable. But right now, we’re attending an aristocratic exchange party with Princess Cordelia in attendance. A better time would be tomorrow morning at the garden here.” Alicia

“Makes sense. I agree with that.” Bran nods in agreement.

Uhh, why is Alicia in charge?

“Well can you make it?” Alicia

“Eric, tomorrow’s tour of the royal capital will be in the afternoon? I’ll meet you then?” Al

Of course, it’s not a duel to the death, but it’s troublesome to wake up and have a duel. That’s how the second day of the aristocratic exchange party ended.

The Next Day

“I overslept…” Al

I wake up in my bed at the inn. The sun has risen to nearly overhead, so I slept through the morning. The appointment time of the duel with Bran has passed. Well, it’s not quite noon yet, but it will be by the time I’m ready to head out. I open the window’s shutters and squint into the sunlight.

“This is good weather” Al

When I stretched my body, I heard a few pops. I then put my elbows on the window sill to enjoy the scenery. Today’s weather is sunny without a cloud in the sky. When I look down, I can see the hustle and bustle of the royal capital. It seems like a bunch of people are heading towards the restaurants for lunch, based on the time. There’s a lot of people running around, so I’d think that Koriat Village would be a nice and calming place for me. After all, I like the country, countryside.

“Well, I should get ready to attend the play with Eric.” Al

What should I do about the duel with Bran? So, I never actually said that I accepted the duel, so I don’t think it’s a problem. I thinks it’s a problem to just expect another person to cater to your whims, and then fail to make sure the other person agrees.

I agreed to tour the royal capital with Eric today, so I’m not going to break that agreement for some love-addled nitwit. Since he couldn’t get me to agree to a match, he can’t rematch Eleanora. That way, he doesn’t have to get instantly defeated by Eleanora, again. Aren’t I full of kindness?

I use Water Magic to fill an empty cup and swish it around in my mouth. I then wash my face in the washbasin, dry off, and wear some everyday clothes.

I’ve been in the royal capital for over a week, but I haven’t been able to go sightseeing much between Ra-chan’s lost child incident and the visit to my maternal grandparents. The aristocratic exchange event ended yesterday, so let’s sightsee all today.

“Ok, I should meet Eric in the square.” Al

I hum an upbeat song and run onto the main boulevard.

The large square in the center of the royal capital is peaceful today. There’s children playing in and around the fountain, they jump in the water with their clothes on. I’d be worried my clothes would stick to me in an uncomfortable manner. I was worried about it while the children are smiling and playing innocently without worry.

There are older people and couples on benches around the fountain as well, they’re chatting and watching the playing children.

“I’m sure we agreed to meet around noon.” Al

There’s aren’t any convenient items like watches or mobile phones in this world, so it’s hard to be precise about meeting times. In the royal capital, the bell rings after a certain amount of time, but it’s not very exact.

The bell tolls in the early morning, then there’s a loud bell at noon and in the evening, so three main bells. Between each of the large bells, there’s a medium bell, spaced out somewhat evenly. Perhaps they have a sundial they use for the bells?

Since the timekeeping is pretty rough, people in this world are pretty lax about time. Some people, like merchants and knights, keep a stricter schedule, but that’s the exception. I can see several people on benches that look annoyed that the person they’re meeting has still not arrived.

Wow, I’m pretty scared of a certain annoyed women. When the man comes, she’ll give him a good slap to the face! That’s clearly what they’re thinking. I spot a boyfriend looking person approaching, he has a worried face like he’s walking to his own execution. The man rested for a short while by bending over and taking breaths, then put his hands together and started to apologize. He must be saying things like ‘I’m sorry I’m late!’.

The other person in the exchange loses her pouty expression and smiles softly. I wonder if they will go with a sweet development like going to a nicer place than normal. The two have attracted the attention of most of the square. From children frolicking in the fountain to the old men on the benches.

Then, the sound of the majestic bells echo across the royal capital. Two tolls sound, signifying that it’s noon. When the bell stop ringing…

“You said we would meet when the bell rings for the second time? And yet you’ve shown up at the third time the bells ring?” Woman

“Wait a minute? What?!” Man

The woman slugged the man in his chest with all of her might. The watching children cheered.

“Oh, oh!” Children

“She finally went and did it!” Child A

“She’s been waiting her since the morning.” Child B

So the woman has been waiting from the mid-morning bell? I’m sure she was looking forward to today’s date. I’m convinced by her anger, that man who was so late is awful. To set the date for mid-morning and arrive at noon is inexcusable.

“Oh, nice shot” Bystander

“That was a good punch.” Bystander

“He’s not getting up anytime soon” Bystander

I’d agree with that. He’s not going to be able to run around for a while. Soon, the woman noticed everyone was watching and her face flushed in embarrassment.

“Stupid!” Woman

She then ran off. The man stared after her from where he was on the ground. The people around him seem to be saying to not chase after her, not that he’s in the shape to be chasing anything. That must have been a strong blow.

Nord has said that a blow filled with the other person’s thought can really hurt the core of a person. If he didn’t say it after taking one of those blows, it would have sounded deeper. I think this guy is learning the same lesson.

“Why aren’t you chasing me?!” Woman

Oh, the woman has come back.

“I’m… sorry… Quina… I wanted… to… chase… but I’m… a little… I can’t stand up.” Man