"Well, that's a good story! Then, as a member of the royal family…" (King)
Gwan! (Pot drop SFX)
"Aaah!" (King)
The king held his head and raised his voice, and the ministers and guards were too shocked to move.
…well, I guess so. What if suddenly a pot of gold falls on the king's head?
Since it's indoors, above is of course the ceiling. An empty space. There's no way something like that would fall.
Unless the goddess is playing a prank on him.
Of course, I am very careful in dropping the money pile.
Ordinary gold barrels are quite heavy and hard. In old skits, lightweight aluminum or specially made soft materials were used, the person being dropped wore a specially made wig made of thin metal, and the height and angle of the drop were carefully calculated. I was very careful about safety. Then, the Celes guy randomly dropped a wooden pail…
Yes, it was during the Layette-chan kidnapping incident!
Well, out of consideration for the elderly, I dropped something that was made of ultra-thin aluminum and was so light and soft that I couldn't actually use it because it wasn't strong enough and was a waste of money. The one I brought out as a container with a few drops of potion inside.
So, although the sound and appearance may be flashy, there should be no damage at all.
"Wha…" (King)
Stunned, the king stares at the gold trough spinning on the floor, making rattling noises.
And….
""""It-It's gone!!""""
Yes, I stored it in the item box.
""""……""""
And then, in the silence, Marial's special move, which she had practiced many times, exploded!
"Goddess, please wait a little longer before killing all the royal family and ministers and destroying the royal palace…" (Marial)
Marial folded my hands in front of my chest, looked diagonally upward at about 30 degrees, and prayed as she said these words. Yes, it's the same one that was used at the Count's house.
And then…
""""Gyaaaaaa~!!""""
Amidst the commotion, I suddenly looked at Marquis Cerdric, and saw him smiling with a gentle archaic smile.
…have you become enlightened?
Or maybe he gave up on everything, or stopped thinking about it…?
And before they knew it, the commotion had subsided, and the king and his ministers stood from their chairs and bowed their heads.
…As expected, there is no prostrate.
"I-I’m sorry, please forgive my rudeness….And, please, please intercede with the goddess, please intercede with me!!" (King)
It is out of common sense for a king to bow in the manner of a viscount, and moreover, to a minor child, but right now, these people are bowing not to Marial, but to the goddess who is waiting behind them. That's right. So, no problem.
"Then, from now on, please never again interfere with my marriage-related matters. Do not interfere with my affairs with my parents or the people I am indebted to. On the other hand, please refrain from any kind of relationship with me, except for good stories, such as support, grants, and stories of high rankings…" (Marial)
Wow, Marial, you improvised a line that wasn't there during practice! This guy has a cute face and is quite strong…
And the king, who had no way of refusing, kept nodding his head like a broken toy.
…alright, mission complete!
After that, there was a bit of innocuous conversation, and we quickly broke up. The king's side believes that if they make a careless comment, everything will end, so they're already stiff. The reversal of positions was so severe that it made you wonder who was the "underage girl who appeared before the king".
What was even worse was Marial's devilish nature as she teased the kings with a smile while making a series of politically risqué statements, even though she was completely aware of their feelings.
…that's scary!
And today ended without incident.
The real thing starts tomorrow.
No, for Marial, yesterday was the prelude, today is the actual battle, and tomorrow and beyond will be nothing more than processing the remaining work.
However, Marial's support is nothing more than an incidental errand for us. After all, Our first objective is that.
…that's right, the people who meddled with Rayette-chan were roasted.
And from tomorrow, we will leave Count Maslius's mansion and move to a luxury inn, and free play will begin.
Yes, after being taken around greetings by the marquis, as the head of Viscount Reifel's family, he started interacting with each noble family that transcended factions, making connections with merchant families, and many other things.
Therefore, it would be too difficult for the other party to come visit if I visited Count Maslius' residence, so I moved to an inn.
And if that happens, of course it will come.
Nobles from the same faction. Nobles from other factions. politician. High class military officer. merchant. Priest. Charlatans and scammers. His public face is that of an ordinary celebrity, but his secret face is the face of a criminal organization…
Those who know about yesterday and today's "Frustration of the Goddess" would not say anything unreasonable. There are people who are religious to begin with, and people who have proper information.
However, I thought that Marial was just a little girl who took advantage of a coincidence, or an ordinary girl who just happened to be saved by a goddess once, or a naive little girl who could be useful if you were able to provoke her and take advantage of her. The people who did it might do it again. Maybe matching pump Aristocrat will also come.
And more importantly.
Yes, that means the people who attacked Layette-chan will almost certainly come into contact with us.
In other words, it's the actual event. For us…
"Thank you for your help. I'm sure I'll be able to thank you someday…" (Count Maslius)
With that said, Marial and the rest of us leave Count Maslius' residence.
The Count saw me off with a smile.
Apparently, although he was frightened by the "mysterious explosion in the Count's house" and "mysterious gold-filled incident in the royal palace" that he had heard from Marquis Cerdric, he did not want Marial to do anything, and Marial herself was just an ordinary aristocratic girl. He seemed to have realized that as long as he didn't force her, there was no problem, and at one point his attitude towards Marial was a little awkward, but now he had returned to his original attitude, like that of a grandfather towards his granddaughter.
Come to think of it, after Marquis Cerdric resigned from the royal palace, he also had a calm expression, as if he had been possessed.
Perhaps, once he completely gave up on his strange ambition to use Marial, he returned to being a relatively honest, mild-mannered old man with no ambitions.
The incident at the royal palace probably wouldn't spread much, but the "mysterious explosion incident" at the Count's house two days ago probably had already been known to the nobles within the faction, so "it's a matter of goodwill among the same faction". Even if there were people who said things like, "So…", I didn't think it would be that unreasonable or pushy.
As for other nobles and merchants, those who were useful to Marial should be accepted, and those who were not should be rejected. The rest was up to the head of the Viscount Reifel family, Viscount Marial von Reifel.
The inn was taken care of by my host, Count Maslius. It was a set of 5 rooms, including a guest room for press conferences, that suits the purpose. Two of the rooms are bedrooms, one for the master's family and the other for the servants.
The number of beds was 4 each.
This time, Marial and I were in the bedroom for the master's family, along with Rayette, Francette, and Belle. The servant version was used by Roland and Emile, as well as two servants from the Viscount Reifel family. The women's bed was tight, but Layette-chan sleeps in the same bed as me, so it's not a problem.
Men and women had to be separated, there's no way Francette could leave me because we're away from enemy territory, and I couldn't leave Layette-chan… When I thought about it, there's no way I had any other options.
The other servants were staying in other, cheaper rooms.
I decided to use the morning for traveling, resting, and meetings, and then having breakfast and brunch a little early, and then taking a slightly longer siesta to prepare for the battle in the afternoon.
Yeah, "You can't fight if you're hungry," and "Even if your parents die, you can't take a break from eating." The words passed down by people in the past had their own meanings. For now, there's no harm in following it.