The Villainous Aristocrat's Efforts Led to a Genuine Harem - Episode 35

Episode 35

I moved to the teleportation stone to the royal capital. I then passed through the castle town and headed toward the royal castle.

At the castle gate, the knight order’s guards were stationed. There was a familiar knight there… if things hadn’t changed since then, the third division should be on guard duty today—such thoughts floated through my mind.

There were two people standing watch; one of them was a young man I didn’t recognize. He was maybe one or two years older than Lord Reis? His slightly tense appearance was probably due to still having little actual work experience.

As I analyzed those things while approaching, the man noticed me and straightened his back in surprise.

Seeing him like that, I gave a wry smile. The rookie next to him tilted his head slightly and gave me a cautious look.

“…I’m no longer affiliated with the knight order. So you don’t need to be so formal.”

“B-but… I owe Zangell-san a lot after all.”

While exchanging such words, I handed over the pass I had received in advance, chatted briefly with the familiar knight, and headed toward the knight order’s dormitory.

The large dormitory was adjacent to the royal castle. Many members of the knight order lived there.

At the very least, the squad leader of each division and the knight captain had private rooms. And the place was maintained in a state where they could be dispatched at any time.

When I entered the dormitory, I was occasionally spoken to by knights I passed by.

Thankfully, I was told things like “I want you to come back”—though I didn’t know how sincere those words were.

Perhaps because I was exchanging greetings as I walked, it took quite some time before I reached the knight captain’s office.

Standing in front of the door, I hesitated slightly while thinking about what was to come. And I knocked on the door.

“Is that you, Zangell? Come in.”

A dignified woman’s voice rang out.

She had likely sensed my magical power and granted permission to enter.

“Excuse me.”

I knocked on the heavy door and entered. The knight captain sat at her desk. She was staring at me.

…Though she’s about the same age as me, even now she looks younger than her age.

Knight Captain Ael Reaning.

Ael straightened her back gracefully. And while directing her naturally sharp eyes at me, she relaxed her mouth gently with a soft expression.

“Zangell, I’ve been waiting. …It’s really been a while.”

“Yes. I don’t come to the royal castle very often.”

“That’s true. Though, if it’s work as a special lecturer, there’s tons of it. You could come anytime, you know? You were the former vice-captain after all… so really, you could come more freely, couldn’t you?”

“You say that, but… I’m not very good at teaching people.”

…At least, that’s what I thought.

I understood that my explanations were based too much on intuition. I couldn’t express techniques clearly in words.

Because of that, I didn’t have much success in training others in the knight order.

“…When you talk so distantly like that, it makes me sad. So stop it—I’ve told you that, haven’t I?”

“I’m not the vice-captain anymore. There’s no way I could casually address the knight captain like that.”

“……”

*Hmmph*, Ael puffed her cheeks and glared at me. …As usual, her somewhat childish personality hadn’t changed.

She always gave me trouble with her pranks—those kinds of memories came back. But I moved on to the main subject.

“So then… about the matter mentioned in the letter—”

“The Validor family, right?”

“Yes. …The Validor family has become far too corrupt. To be honest, in the current situation, if a stampede happens in the ‘Forest of Rebellion’… I think it’ll be difficult to suppress it.”

“Nobles being corrupt is the usual thing, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but… the Validor family is this country’s first line of defense. At present, it would be hard to maintain that defense.”

…Ever since receiving Lord Reis’ guidance, the strength of the Validor troops had improved significantly. It had led to an overall boost for all the soldiers.

But when it came to expensive things like equipment, they hadn’t been able to renew any of it.

“I see.”

“I had my subordinates compile some data. And recently, there’s clearly been an increase in monsters appearing outside the ‘Forest of Rebellion.’ It’s also obvious that the barrier created by the Sage is weakening. …To be frank, we don’t know what kind of disaster could strike or when.”

I handed over the documents created by Garing and the others. They contained details on recent battles with monsters.

There was a graph comparing the number of engagements over the past few months—anyone could tell at a glance that something abnormal was happening.

Ael looked at the documents for a while. She then loosened her mouth in a smile.

“How rare, Zangell.”

“What is?”

“Seeing you so passionate like this… it’s the first time.”

“……”

Ael puffed up her cheeks again like a child.

…Rare, huh.

I was originally the type to avoid conflict.

Even if something bothered me, if it wasn’t a serious problem, I usually left it alone.

That’s probably why Ael asked me that earlier.

I could’ve just answered honestly. But I felt a little embarrassed having an old friend compare the old me to who I am now. So I gave a vague response.

“I just thought it was a national crisis.”

“…No, that’s not it. It’s because of that Reis Validor, the third son of the Validor family, isn’t it?”

“……”

…It was probably because I mentioned his name directly in the letter.

When I said I wanted to meet with Ael, I also mentioned the problems the Validor family was currently facing.

And I even asked if it would be possible to change the title inheritance to Reis Validor, if at all.

…Well, the quickest way to do that would be for the first and second sons to die—but I didn’t actually hate them enough to want to kill them.

“That… might be true.”

“…Is that Reis guy really someone who could move you that much?”

“…Who knows. But… I believe that if it’s the current Lord Reis, he might be able to change Validor—or even this whole country.”

That wasn’t an exaggerated lie to praise Lord Reis…

I truly… believed that.

Lord Reis is someone who knows both the good and bad sides of nobility.

He realized the flaws within himself and is working to correct them.

Maybe not immediately. But with allies… I’m sure he’ll eventually be able to bridge the gap between commoners and nobles.

Ael, after listening to my words, stared at me for a while. She then relaxed her mouth slightly.

“…So he’s *that* kind of man.”

“Yes.”

“…Somehow, I’m getting a little jealous.”

For some reason I didn’t understand, Ael puffed her cheeks again.

And then—

The wardrobe in the room suddenly began to shake and rattle.