“You meticulously manage everything you put in your body… Incredible! I suppose such attention to detail is what it takes to become an elite swordsman!”
“I’m hardly an elite swordsm—”
“Ha-ha-ha, no need to be humble. If we can’t call you elite with the sword, then who can we? Don’t you agree?” Patriot asked the butler behind him.
“You speak the truth, my lord,” the butler said, bowing slightly while keeping his eyes down.
“This is a bit of a tangent…but truthfully, I once sought to become the greatest swordsman in the world,” Patriot said.
“Wow, you did?”
“Yes. However… Shamefully, I was not blessed with talent for swordcraft. And as you can see, I let myself go some time ago,” he said jokingly, squeezing his belly fat.
We continued to chat lightheartedly until someone knocked on the door.
“Lord Patriot, I have brought the drinks,” a voice called out.
“Oh, wonderful. Come in.”
“Pardon me,” the butler said. He entered the room silently and swiftly set our glasses on the table. “Here is your water and Alfredopatie Dinbrangold.”
“Thank you very much,” I said.
“Yes, thank you,” Patriot said.
The butler bowed silently, then returned to his position behind Patriot.
I stared at my water, unable to reach for it despite it being right there in front of me. There was one reason for my hesitation.
…How much is this worth?
That was no ordinary glass. It had a ruby embedded in the middle and an intricately designed handle. It was obviously worth a lot of money, and my mental alarms as a poor person were blaring.
“Umm, this might be a weird question, but…”
“Yes?”
“How much is this glass worth?” I asked.
Patriot looked taken aback. “Uhh… You wish to know its price?”
“Yes.”
“I—I see… Well, let me think… Hmm…”
He scrunched up his face, looking completely thrown off by the question. This might have been a trivial matter to him, but it was incredibly important to me.
“Perhaps…fifty million guld? Or was it sixty million? Forgive me. This is slightly embarrassing, but I don’t know how much my household items are worth,” Patriot said, rubbing his beard. He’d just casually thrown out such ridiculous amounts.
“Ha, ha-ha… Fifty or sixty million guld? Ha, ha-ha-ha-ha…”
That settled it. I was not touching that glass.
“Now then… I know we’re both busy people, so how about we move on to the reason I invited you here?” Patriot said, seemingly having decided we’d spent enough time chatting. “Allen, do you know that this country’s political landscape is split into the imperial and noble factions?”
“I do.”
“I shouldn’t have expected any less. Not only are you an elite swordsman, you’re also knowledgeable about politics. Color me impressed.” Patriot tapped his forehead and smiled. “I’m sure such an intelligent man as yourself already knows what I’m about to tell you…however, we cannot afford to have any differences of understanding between us. Would you mind if I quickly defined the imperial and noble factions?”
“Please do.”
“Wonderful. First of all, the imperial faction is led by Her Majesty and House Arkstoria, and it is loyal to the empire. The noble faction, on the other hand, is led by the nobility and the general populace, and it is striving for world peace. These two forces have divided Liengard.”
“I see. That’s generally my understanding, too.”
I hadn’t heard the noble faction described as being “led by the nobility and the general populace,” though… I should probably take Patriot’s words to mean that the noble faction’s stance is that they’re made up of the nobility and the citizens. I would have to do my own research to verify that claim later.
Now that I think about it… I wonder what side she’s on. Not wanting to pass up this opportunity, I decided to ask Patriot something that had been weighing on my mind.
“Sorry, but can I ask a question? There’s something I’ve been wondering about…”
“Please, feel free to ask me anything,” Patriot replied.
“Is Rize Dorhein of the Five Business Oligarchs part of the noble faction?”
It would make sense if Rize was a member of the noble faction, as she was the head of House Dorhein.
“…House Dorhein?” Patriot’s expression turned hard for the first time since I’d arrived. “To be frank, Lady Rize is a noble, but she is not a part of our faction.”
“Really?”
“Yes. We call it the noble faction, but the nobility is not fully unified.” He scratched his cheek and narrowed his eyes. “Allen, would you mind if I told you an old story?”
“Not at all.”
“House Dorhein used to be an insignificant noble family. They lived quiet lives in a corner of the countryside while managing farming, livestock, and sericulture, and they maintained a good relationship with their citizens.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that.”
Rize and her sister, Ferris, couldn’t look or act any more like nobles, so that was surprising to hear.
“…I miss those days. We could have had it all. Our plan was proceeding flawlessly until that damned Blood Fox showed up…,” Patriot growled, revealing his sharp canines.
““Lord Patriot!”” the two butlers suddenly exclaimed.
“Pardon the interruption, but you may have said too much, my lord,” one of them said.
“We are still unsure as to her powers, so please refrain from making any needless comments… You may be erased,” said the other.
Patriot shut his mouth, looking surprised. “Whoops… My apologies. I guess I got a little heated.” He fixed his lips into a thin smile. “Let’s not talk about Lady Rize.”
“Huh?”
“It’s best to let sleeping dogs lie. We in the noble faction try to avoid involvement with Rize Dorhein. She could have eyes and ears anywhere.”
“I see…”
It seemed like Rize was feared even in the noble faction.
“Anyway, let’s get back on topic,” Patriot said. He clapped his hands and leaned toward me. “Answer me honestly, Allen. What is your current position?”
“My position? What do you mean?”
“It is my understanding that you are close with the Empress and other members of the imperial faction, especially Shii Arkstoria of House Arkstoria… Is this true?”
“Well… Yes.”