Thanks to Ghise’s interference, the audience with the queen has been postponed.
It’s now happening the morning after the apology letter has arrived, so we head to the Castle of Merzelia.
The queen has distinctive blonde hair that’s spread out in a fan shape, and is long enough to reach the ground.
She’s very young, in her early teens, and she’s wearing a pink crown.
Her upper body is clad with tight clothes that show the contours of her body, and she’s wearing a white miniskirt and knee socks.
She comes off as a bit strong willed, and the way she carries herself is dignified despite her young age.
She really likes the word elegance, and demands it from anyone who has an audience with her.
She’s typically indifferent to people without elegance, and I’m a prime example.
This is my fifth time seeing her, and she’s completely forgotten about me, despite seeing me just half a year ago. She doesn’t remember me even after an aide tries to remind her.
In the end, she says ‘blame your lack of elegance, just be more elegant’, which sounds unreasonable to me.
There are troublesome things like that, but she can let some carelessness go with a smile, so she’s easy to talk to.
Most of her questions are for Iris and Till. It makes sense for Iris, since she was a saintess, but she’s very interested in Till too.
I guess it’s because being the head maid makes Till elegant. She’s also very loyal to Iris, which is a plus. If we assume the queen’s likability value towards me is one, I’d say it’s ninety-nine towards Till.
In the end, she grants Iris and her group the right to stay in the Kingdom of Merzelia indefinitely.
◇ ◇ ◇
Two days later, despite the delay, we leave the capital, and we’re on our way back to Minerva.
Now that we don’t have to worry about assassins, everyone’s feeling more at ease compared to when we came here.
Iris is talking to the guards too, and I feel like there’s less distance between her and other people.
She was probably wary of people she didn’t know, even if she didn’t say it, but now those worries are practically gone.
As for how she talks to me, it’s honestly not any different. Maybe I’d say she’s talking to me more.
A week after we left the capital, we camp in a place called Catarina Plateau.
It’s a wide grassy field with good visibility, so it would be easy to deal with any monsters, should they appear.
There are practically no plant monsters, and most of the beast types are red boars. But even when we come across them, they typically keep their distance. Not all monsters attack on the spot, a lot don’t do anything unless provoked.
This place is an Area Two, so there shouldn’t be vicious monsters here, but there’s a giant black shadow passing above us.
It’s one of the five great dragons, a Fairy Dragon.
It has a colorful body, with green being its main color, and it appeared out of nowhere.
I would normally sense any monsters getting close, but I didn’t notice this one until I could see it.
It’s not really doing anything bad. The Fairy Dragon just passes by and keeps flying, but just seeing it is stunning, and leaves an impression.
“What was that big green dragon?”
Iris asks Isolte.
“A Fairy Dragon.”
Isolte looks nervous too. I doubt she was expecting to see one up close.
“F-Fairy Dragon!? That monster!?”
“It lives in the Minerva mountain range, so I assume it’s on its way back.”
Says Isolte while pointing to the mountain range where the dragon is heading.
“I’m glad it didn’t see us as enemies…”
Iris says, sounding relieved. If it did, we would all be wiped out.
“More importantly, it looks like we need to be ready for combat, Loyd.”
Isolte says with a serious expression while unsheathing her sword.
I look to where she’s pointing now, and see a group of red boars coming this way. There are about fifty of them,
“It’s probably because of the Fairy Dragon.”
“The fear probably spread within them and caused them to panic.
If they get close, Iris and the others will be in danger. I’ll start by using magic to stop them, so give everyone instructions to stay away.”
“All right.”
Says Isolte, and she moves out to do that.
After a four second incantation, I fire the highest rank spell Lightning Storm.
The big electric attack electrocutes the red boars. It’s so powerful, and it leaves big craters.
I was trying to thin their numbers, but I ended this in one move. I tend to hide in the shadow of master rank spells, but highest rank still packs a big punch.
“That was incredible Mister Loyd! What kind of magic was that!?”
Iris sounds excited.
“W-wow… What was that lightning magic…”
“Those rumors were completely wrong.”
I hear knights say.
I feel like people’s impression of me is slowly being reformed.
I’m glad I tried so hard to learn this magic.
Taking down a bunch of red boars means we get a lot of materials, so we have a barbecue.
It’s a three week journey from the capital to Minerva, so our meals tend to be simple, and it’s hard to have one that really fills our stomachs.
But that group of red boars couldn’t be better at doing that.
In the middle of the barbecue, I try making a steak with a specialty from the eastern continent called kokurai.
This kokurai is an obscure flavoring here in the western continent, but it goes with all sorts of food.
I wrap the meat in it, put it on the iron plate, and a very appetizing aroma fills the air.
“W-what’s this nice smell!?”
“I’ve never smelled this before, but it’s making me hungry!”
I serve steak to the knights, and they really enjoy it. Some cry tears of joy. I’m really glad they like it.
“It’s a new taste for Roland.”
Says Iris with a smile. I’m glad she likes it too.
“This is called kokurai.”
“That’s a strange name. I’ve never heard it before.”
She says.
“It’s not well known in the western continent.”
“You know a lot about cooking. It just makes me respect you even more.”
“No no. It used to be my job to gather materials, so I’ve naturally come to know about cooking too.”
I’m putting that experience to use.
In that sense, it’s good that I was an exclusive mage. I get to see Iris smile like this.
I thought my life was just a series of failures, but now that I can look at things this way, I can think of that not as failures, but as me building experience.
And now I want to put that knowledge and experience to use not just for me, but to make other people happy.
Having smiles around me is sure to help me be happy too.
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