Chapter 1-11: The First Noble I Met Was the King?!

It had been ten years since I was reincarnated into this world, and the very first noble I ever met turned out to be none other than the king.

Even in my previous life, nobles were people I only ever saw on television or read about in books, so if I had to honestly describe how I felt right now…

(This looks like it’s going to be a pain… Maybe I should run…)

“I’m glad to see that you’re unharmed. Well then, I’ll be taking my leave.”

With that, I turned on my heel and decided to leave.

“Now, now. Wait a moment.”

Someone grabbed me by the shoulder from behind.

The king!

This king was smiling pleasantly, but somehow, he gave off the feeling that he was thinking, You look amusing, so I’m not letting you escape.

To be honest, I had nothing but a bad feeling about this.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but if I don’t get home soon, my mother will worry.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll personally explain things to your mother. Surely she wouldn’t ignore an explanation from the king himself.”

You’re scary, Your Majesty.

Your eyes aren’t smiling.

Also, your manner of speaking has changed quite a bit.

Perhaps sensing how I felt, one of the people standing behind him stepped forward.

She was a woman with chestnut-colored hair that reached halfway down her back.

She placed a hand on the shoulder the king was not holding and whispered gently:

“You should give up. Once His Majesty gets like this, no one can stop him.”

The king heard that and laughed.

“You understand me well!”

“Hahahaha!”

…I feel like crying.

“Your Majesty, please calm down. The boy is clearly troubled.”

“That’s right, Your Majesty. He saved your life. It would be rude to trouble your benefactor.”

The first to speak was a man with short brown hair who looked like a bandit and wore a bandana around his head.

The second was a slim, handsome man with smooth blond hair.

“All right, all right! Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t introduced myself yet.”

“My name is Alex von Bluemail Crastin. I am the king of this country.”

“Call me whatever you like.”

Since he said that, I blurted out:

“Then… old man?”

The king’s casual atmosphere got to me, and the words slipped out before I could stop them.

Everyone except the king and one other person froze.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“You’re an amusing brat!”

“I like you!”

“It’s been a long time since anyone dared talk to me that casually!”

Apparently, he liked it.

“My apologies. I spoke out of turn, Your Majesty.”

For the time being, I apologized.

Calling the king “old man” was probably a little too much.

“I don’t mind if you call me old man.”

Please, I’m sincerely apologizing, so forgive me, old ma—Your Majesty.

“Your Majesty, that’s enough.”

The man who had remained silent until now finally spoke.

Oh, thank good—

“No matter how you look at it, Your Majesty currently looks exactly like some drunk old man pestering a child!”

“In that case, it’s only natural that the boy would call you an old man!”

“If you are a king, then please conduct yourself with the dignity appropriate to one!”

“Truly deplorable.”

“Wouldn’t you agree, young man?”

…He didn’t save me at all.

The king took massive psychological damage from the relentless verbal assault.

But somehow, he managed to endure it.

Whew.

Looks like he survived.

Good.

At least I didn’t have to jump in with the classic:

“Stop it already! The king’s HP is already zero!”

Or something like that.

“More importantly, Your Majesty, you are always getting carried away without ever thinking about the burden placed on me when I have to clean up after you.”

“Are you listening, Your Majesty?!”

What?!

He’s still not finished?!

How long is this verbal attack going to continue?!

“And furthermore, Your Majes—”

“Now, now, please calm down, Mr. Clive. His Majesty seems to be reflecting on his actions.”

“…Very well. I suppose I’ll stop here for today.”

“Since Lord Edgar has asked, I’ll forgive him with a shorter lecture than usual.”

That was short?!

“Ah, my apologies for the late introduction.”

“My name is Clive Sebas Chan.”

“I serve as the chief steward of the royal household.”

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“I am Edgar van Valentine.”

“Thank you very much for saving us earlier.”

So the man who had just verbally annihilated the king was his butler?

Wait.

A butler named Sebas Chan?

“Ah, ‘Sebas Chan’ is something of a title that successive chief stewards are permitted to use.”

What?!

Can he read my mind?!

“I cannot read minds, but because of my profession, I am rather skilled at reading people’s thoughts from their facial expressions.”

That’s amazing, butler!

“I’m Jean Jack Bauer.”

“Thanks for saving us earlier!”

That name sounds like the protagonist of some drama where the entire story takes place within twenty-four hours.

Incidentally, a day in this world is also twenty-four hours long.

However, each month has thirty days, and there are twelve months in a year, making a year exactly 360 days.

“I’m Sigurd.”

“Thank you for helping us earlier.”

“And… I’m sorry.”

“You saved us when we were in danger, yet I nearly pointed my sword at you…”

“Thank you for saving us.”

“My name is Chris. Nice to meet you.”

“And, if possible, could you do something about that?”

The woman who introduced herself as Chris pointed apologetically toward the golems.

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

“Golems, good work.”

“Deactivate!”

When Tenma said that, the golems disappeared as though melting into the ground.

Only their magic stones remained behind.

“Golems, I see.”

“It’s impressive that you can control them this well.”

“May I ask your name?”

Clive asked.

While gathering the magic stones, I answered:

“My name is Tenma.”

“I live in Kukuri Village, just ahead.”

“Oh, Kukuri Village?”

“What a coincidence.”

“We were heading there ourselves because we have business in the village.”

The king suddenly revived and joined the conversation again.

“All right!”

“Let’s head to Kukuri Village immediately.”

“Clive! There’s nothing wrong with the horses or carriage, is there?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I finished inspecting them while Your Majesty was busy speaking in that ill-fitting manner of yours.”

“I-I see…”

“A-Anyway, we’re departing for Kukuri Village!”

“Come on, everyone, get in!”

“We’re in a hurry!”

For some reason, the king was now extremely energetic and began rushing everyone into the carriage.

“Come on, Tenma! You get in too!”

(If I ride with that king, he’s probably going to be annoying… and it’ll take longer.)

“No, thank you.”

“I can use flight magic, so I’ll fly ahead.”

I was just about to activate my magic.

But the moment I turned around…

My shoulder was grabbed again.

“Don’t be so cold, Tenma.”

“We’ve already met, so let’s travel together.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Those two horses are among the finest horses in the royal family.”

“They have exceptional speed and strength.”

“On top of that, we’ll cast physical enhancement on them, so this carriage will move far faster than an ordinary one!”

Flying would still be faster…

But I could not bring myself to say that to the king, who was talking to me with a raised thumb and a huge grin.

I had lost.

The king’s character has changed quite a bit.

I changed his characterization because I thought this version would be easier to involve in future events.

In the previous afterword, I had just written that the number of bookmarks had exceeded 100.

And just a little while ago, it passed 200.

Thank you very much, everyone.