Chapter 29 (1/2)

Although Harold had immediately agreed to Cody’s invitation, when thinking normally, it wasn’t something that could arbitrarily be decided by a child. Maybe due to feeling curious about it, Itsuki incessantly asked Harold about how he would convince his parents, after Cody left. But as for Harold, he didn’t think that it would become a huge obstacle.

Harold’s parents were the type of people who were obsessed with appearance and titles. And entering the Saint King’s chivalric order was considered to be an extremely honorable matter.

Since the chivalric order was a force different from the county’s military, an elite troop directly under the control of the King. There was also the past that his father, Hayden, was aiming to join it when he was young.

If those parents’ beloved son was to be scouted by the chivalric order that was an elite troop, then what would happen was as clear as day.

Harold, who had obtained the Cody’s contact address, as though he had no more business with this city, left Delfit the next day.

Without even stopping by the Sumeragi territory along the way, Harold, who had returned to the Stokes mansion after a journey of 2 weeks, immediately reported to his parents.

「What is it, wanting to speak formally?」

「There’s something I needed to inform father and mother about. While I was staying in Delfit, I was scouted by a person from the Saint King’s chivalric order」

「What! Is that true!?」

「Yes. If I wanted to, it would be immediate, it seems. I’ll be the youngest person in history to enter」

「Amazing, Harold!」

「I want to enter the chivalric order. Is that fine?」

「Of course!」

As he had predicted, their reactions after listening to him were superb. Especially Hayden’s delight, it didn’t seem to be ordinary. The dream that he couldn’t achieve in the past has been accomplished by his son, was what he might have been thinking.

When he had gone to watch Delfit’s fighting tournament together with Erika, they had encountered rioters who were making an uproar, and when he splendidly suppressed them, he was scouted- when he spouted out some convenient story like that, they didn’t even doubt him at all. On the contrary, saying, 「A banquet!」, they immediately started preparing for a celebration. Although they understood, it seemed as though they had no intention to stop him.

(Even the chivalric order leaves for danger zones though. Even if for argument’s sake, what will they do if their eldest son were to die?)

While looking at his ecstatic parents, he was thinking of such things. Well, since he had had the intention to join the chivalric order even when he knew that it would be dangerous, not being allowed to join it would be troublesome. And also, even Hayden was a militaristic man, so he must have understood about those matters.

And so, Harold, who had promptly received his parents’ acknowledgment, went around the mansion, which was in a flurry for preparing for the abruptly held banquet, as though it had nothing to do with him, and called Norman and Jake, and while at it, even Zen to his room. Harold informed the 3 of them.

「I’m going to the imperial capital to become a member of the Saint King’s chivalric order. Although the Sumeragi hold the initiative for LP farming, even if there’s no movement, periodically inform me about the situation here」

「If it’s the imperial capital, it’s quite distant」

「It isn’t a distance that can be covered by fast horses, and if we want to get in contact regularly, it’ll be limited to using letters」

「In that case, it’ll take a bit of time」

「Not a problem. In the case where you have to notify me immediately at any cost, cooperate with the Sumeragi. I’ll inform them beforehand」

「Understood」

To grasp the movements of the Stokes house even when he’s absent, he arranged a way to communicate beforehand. It was for the sake of responding as fast as possible when the situation changed if by chance any indications of turbulent movements were to appear.

But there was a person who interrupted them.

「P, please wait for a moment! Harold-sama, you’re entering the chivalric order?」

「That’s what I said. Are your ears there for decoration?」

「No, no, no, even Norman-san and Jake-san simply just let it go, you know! Isn’t it a normally outrageous matter!?」

Zen was quite agitated. A normally outrageous matter- leaving aside whether it was grammatically correct or not, he understood what Zen was trying to say. But since it was troublesome, Harold decided to ignore him.

「That’s all. Immediately return to your work」

「Yes」

Norman and Jake bowed and left the room, and even Zen, who seemed as though he still wanted to ask him something, left with them. When he was alone in the room, Harold exhaled slowly. It could be taken as breathing deeply or as sighing.

The emotions put into it, whether they were the feelings of loneliness due to leaving the house that he had gotten familiar to or whether they were the feelings of liberation being able to escape from his parents eyes, Harold himself was unsure which it was.

3 years.

That was the amount of time since he had come to this world without even understanding the reason. And within that, he had spent the most amount of time in this mansion, inside this room.

It wasn’t as though he felt nothing when he was going away from that.

Nonetheless, entering the chivalric order was a predetermined route for the sake of following the original work. It was just that the schedule had accelerated up a bit.