The Goddess Granted Me the [Hatching] Skill and Somehow I Became the Strongest Tamer, Commanding Mythical and Divine Beasts - 142

Chapter 142: Klaus Becomes a Noble

“Achoo!”

“Klaus, caught a cold?”

Douglas spoke to me from the seat next to mine.

“I’ve heard it’s going around the capital lately, so we need to be careful.”

Xavier gave me that warning.

“No, I think I’m fine on that front.”

Feni’s Purifying Flame worked against illnesses too, it seemed. My home stayed clean every day thanks to Feni’s Purifying Flame. Thanks to that, both Celia and I stayed healthy day in and day out.

“Anyway, about the next item on the agenda…”

As we chatted, Nicholas brought up the next topic.

“The next item covers winter training for the guards in the castle, security for the end of the year, and monster subjugations in early spring.”

Dwight, who oversaw military affairs, looked very busy since he handled all of those.

“Lately, relations with other countries seem peaceful on the surface, but it’s easy enough to imagine spies slipping in at this time of year. Everyone, stay on your toes.”

Dwight grumbled that various countries had been poking at Stesia lately, even though things stayed calm along the border.

Just the other day, Negrei from the Tamer Guild had gotten caught spying and lost his noble title. Things looked peaceful on the surface, but no one could afford to let their guard down.

“By the way, Klaus.”

“Yes, what is it, Your Majesty?”

King Kings IV suddenly turned to me as if a thought had struck him. At first, I’d felt tense around him, but after meeting him so many times in a short span, I could talk to him normally now.

“You left your other familiars at home, aside from Neige, right?”

He glanced at Neige, who yawned and relaxed right in front of me, then checked on my other familiars.

“Feni and the others have a friend from the National Adventurers looking after them at the mansion.”

Regular adventurers squeezed in one last job before the year ended, but Carol, who never worried about money and hated the cold, had been hanging around the mansion nonstop lately.

She napped by the fireplace with Feni as a body pillow, and lately, Feni seemed to have given up and just let it happen.

“Hmm, that should be fine, then.”

I’d asked for extra patrols after that attempted kidnapping before, but having Carol at the mansion felt like the best backup imaginable.

As I thought about that…

“Here’s the thing. We discussed this in private and reached a decision.”

King Kings IV cleared his throat, and everyone in the room put on a serious face.

“About that condition for making you a noble…”

He looked me straight in the eye and broached the subject.

“Uh…”

The condition came back to me. If I tamed ten familiars, he’d make me a noble. That was the promise he and I had made.

Months had passed since then, and I’d only tamed Neige, so maybe he doubted my commitment.

As I worried about that, Douglas, who sat next to me, put a hand on my shoulder. He shook his head to tell me my fears were groundless.

“We’ll scrap that condition. I promise to make you a noble as soon as possible.”

“Um… why?”

I felt thrown by the unexpected words and asked him.

“Charlotte made a plea about it.”

Douglas answered my question, not King Kings IV.

“If Klaus got serious, he’d tame more than ten familiars in no time. His Majesty and I always figured that was the case.”

In fact, since hatching eggs made it possible, their guess hit the mark.

“Charlotte told me you’d been holding back on taming monsters for familiars because of your career. So I went to His Majesty again, and we all talked it over.”

I did remember grumbling that I hated the idea of using familiars as a ticket to nobility. Apparently, Charlotte had worried about it and talked to Douglas.

“My proposal disregarded the wishes of you, a tamer. I’m sorry.”

King Kings IV bowed his head to me with a sincere attitude. If any other nobles had been there, a king bowing to a mere adventurer who wasn’t even one of them would have caused a huge uproar.

“No… please, lift your head.”

That made his genuine apology hit even harder.

I hurried to speak up.

“I should’ve turned it down flat back then, so that’s on me too.”

King Kings IV raised his head and looked me straight in the eye.

“Then, you’ll forgive me?”

“Of course.”

I answered the king’s check right away.

“Then, you’ll hear my request?”

“Yes.”

Spreading rumors that I’d made a king bow to me sounded way worse. I nodded hard.

“Very well, Klaus. From this moment, you are a noble.”

“Yes, as you command… huh?”

I gaped, too stunned to process what he’d said.

“Kyupi?”

Maybe because I didn’t react, Neige came over and hopped onto my lap.

“Everyone heard that, right? Now Klaus is a noble in name and fact.”

“Huh? What?”

“Kyupikyupi♪”

Neige let out a happy chirp as it watched everyone celebrate.

I couldn’t keep up with how things had unfolded, like I’d been dazzled by a spirit’s flash.

“I admitted my approach was wrong and you forgave me, right? So I’ll take that as you agreeing to become a noble.”

“That’s… how it… works… right?”

My head wouldn’t turn fast enough against such a sharp operator. I was just a commoner from town to begin with. Celia might handle political back-and-forth, but I couldn’t, so he’d talked me into it.

I felt cornered and didn’t like it. Maybe that showed on my face.

“Klaus, don’t look so glum.”

Dwight chided me.

“Indeed, we’re all happy you’ve become a noble.”

“Let’s get along even better from now on.”

Xavier and Nicholas smiled at me.

Up to now, I’d been a National Adventurer with a patron, still just a commoner in status. But from here on, we’d stand as fellow nobles.

“Still, isn’t this too sudden?”

Didn’t he say before that becoming a noble needed a solid reason to convince everyone around?

I’d figured it would take a while because of that, but this kind of offer lay way outside what I’d imagined.

“On that point, the other nobles accepted it because of the achievements you’ve racked up.”

“What do you mean?”

As I tilted my head, King Kings IV explained.

“First, stopping Negrei’s flight from the country. If information and goods had leaked to another nation, the kingdom would’ve taken a huge hit.”

That incident from the other day. Negrei, an executive in the Tamer Guild, had tried to load rare guild materials into a carriage and smuggle them out.

Charlotte had gotten kidnapped in the process, and I’d rescued her, which stopped the whole scheme.

“That was just luck, though…”

It only worked with help from the goddess Muse, so I felt bad claiming credit.

“Then there’s taming the divine dragon—Neige. You made a legendary being no one’s ever seen your familiar. Even if the country vouches for its existence, it wouldn’t look right with a commoner as its master, would it?”

True enough. Even when Scarlet became the kingdom’s guardian dragon with the country’s backing, she’d faced pushback, I’d heard. In a pinch, you’d need the power to protect those around you.

“Plus, dismantling Negrei’s house opened up a noble slot.”

“I see.”

I’d caught him myself and stripped him of his noble status. Sliding me into that spot meant no need to create a new one, so it went through easier, it seemed.

“We’ll announce your ennoblement and Neige’s existence come spring next year. Lots of prep to do until then, so get ready.”

My schedule as a National Adventurer had finally settled down, but this sudden news left my immediate future looking pitch black.

“Our house went through the same thing. As a senior tamer and a senior noble, I’ll guide you, so relax.”

Douglas spoke to me with a grin. From now on, he’d mentor me not just as head of the Tamer Guild, but as a noble predecessor too.

“How the heck did it come to this?”

“Kyupikyupi.”

As Neige patted my arm with its paws, I cradled my head and thought about everything I had to do before the ennoblement ceremony.