With that, she practically fled from me. What a rambunctious woman. I was confused as to why her face was red, but once I watched her leave, I turned back and saw Fol.
“Huh... You’re here,” I said.
“I’ve been here this whole time,” she replied, shooting me a glare that only left me more confused.
She approached me and touched my left cheek; a few hours ago, it was badly burned, but it was now good as new.
“Are you okay now?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m not in pain either.”
Her gaze fell to my left arm. “Your arm’s still...”
“Does it still bother you?”
“Well, yeah.”
Gazing in the direction where Yusurika left, she muttered, “Is that his type?”
“Huh? What’d you just say?”
“Nothing.”
She coldly walked past my side and grabbed my hand to pull me out of the house.
“Come, Lofus,” she said.
“Huh? Where’re you going?” I asked.
“To the village square. Pops asked me to bring you over once you’re done. We’re gonna hold a banquet.”
“What?”
“You’re obviously the guest of honor.”
“Are you telling me to join a banquet with commoners and eat your filthy gruel?”
Despite my complaints, Fol tugged me along. “C’mon, join us. My pops and bro, the sailors, everyone at the village, and I—we all want to thank you. This is the result of everything that you’ve done, and you’ve got the responsibility of accepting everyone’s gratitude.”
“Responsibility? That’s an absurd leap of logic.”
“But it makes sense, doesn’t it?” She flashed a triumphant grin. “C’mon, don’t give me that look. You might be surprised how fun it’ll be.”
“How arrogant of you.”
And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to shake free from her delicate hand that guided me to the banquet.
“Kiiid!” Greig shrieked. “I heard it all! You lost your left arm to protect Fol, didn’t you?!”
As I joined the banquet, a drunken Greig clung onto me as tears streamed down his face.
“I can entrust Fol in your hands!” he wailed. “She might be a bit pigheaded and tough, but she takes after my late wife—and she’s a looker! Please make her happy!”
“Fol!” I snapped. “Your father’s prattling nonsense. Stop him at once!”
Fol was bringing out a plate of fish as I asked her to get her father off me.
“Yeah, my pops is a crying drunkard,” she said. “Just leave him be and don’t let him get to you.”
“But he keeps rambling on about me taking you for my wife,” I snapped.
“What, you won’t? After we spent a night together?”
She flashed a mischievous grin, and her bombshell made all the villagers roar with surprise and delight. The nearby Dark Knights looked obviously shocked, and I could practically see their stunned expressions underneath their armor.
“Tsk...” I grumbled.
The knights heard that. I ought to silence them. If word spreads to my father that I spent a night with a commoner girl, things’ll get messy.
“Fol, you wench...” I muttered.
I noticed that her cheeks were red, just like Greig.
“Hey, you’re drunk too,” I pointed out.
“It’s a celebration. Of course I’m gonna have a pint,” she replied. “You should drink too. Do you like wine?”
“I won’t drink a sip! I’m not of age yet.”
“Don’t be such a square. I’m underage too—well, I’ll be an adult next year.”
“Then you shouldn’t drink either. Looks like you take after your father with your drunken antics.”
Fol stepped between her father and me, pushing Greig away, before she immediately put all her weight onto me. It almost felt like she was trying to push her chest on me. Where’s that cloth that hid your chest? Are you no longer trying to hide the fact that you’re a woman?
“You’re getting awfully close,” I pointed out.
“Lofus, take it back,” Fol whined. “I’m not like my pops, am I? I really don’t like that.”
“Just get away from me.”
Stop clinging onto me. You’re acting just like your father.
“Hey, having fun?” Log asked.
He appeared with a few of the younger villagers behind him. When he saw Fol glued to my side, he smiled and clinked his mug of alcohol with mine that rested on the table (mine drink was alcohol-free, of course). As he said a little toast, he chugged his pint of ale with gusto.
“Kid, instead of calling me your brother-in-law, I’d want you to call me ‘bro’ or something along those lines,” Log said. “Yeah, I like the sound of that.”
Cheers rose once more, and the younger villagers began to hoot and holler. Good grief. You guys are having a bit too much fun.
“You don’t change even when you’re drunk...” I mumbled with a sigh.
I was exhausted having to handle several drunkards, and I’d never experienced anything this rowdy before. Parties hosted by high society were lavish and cheerful, but none were this loud. But the banquet continued.
✶✶✶
On the outskirts of Roguebert, atop the hill where the chief of the sailors built his home, was an elderly butler. He watched the banquet of the village from afar. Carlos, the personal butler of House Lightless, was able to see his master well, even from a great distance away. The butler channeled mana into his eyes, which enhanced his vision exponentially, and even from so far away, he didn’t miss a single detail.
Lofus was dragged into the banquet and forced to handle several drunkards—it was a rather wholesome sight. Carlos smiled as though he was watching his own grandson grow up. Behind him, a Dark Knight appeared without making a single sound; he removed his helm and revealed his long, white hair. Alba, the captain of the Dark Knights, stood beside Carlos and gazed at the banquet.
“I can’t believe that my lord is participating in a banquet with commoners...” Alba murmured.
He generally was rather expressionless, but even he couldn’t hide his surprise. Carlos quietly nodded along.
“Indeed,” Carlos replied. “My lord has changed considerably over the past few days. He seems to especially trust that girl, Fol.”
“Ah, the daughter of that commoner. They seem awfully close, but I wonder if they share a...relationship.”
“The two deny it, at the very least, and personally, I highly doubt it. My lord’s a bit too young for things like that.”
“But you aren’t certain either. Some houses allow people to lose their virginity by the age of twelve.”
“Even if he’s done anything, my lord doesn’t have an official fiancée. I don’t see any particular issues.”
“I’m not so sure. If he did do anything, I fear that it might affect his relationship with the house of Marquess Vermeil.”