Well speak of the devil and they shall appear" I mumbled, "Well bring it here so I can read it," I ordered.
Victor then came and handed me the letter, it had a special envelope and a gold seal with a dragon on it. Opening the letter there was very neat handwriting, as well as an invitation in it.
"Haaaaaa" I sighed.
"What is it? What does it say?!" Eun Sim and Victor said at the same time.
The letter was a detailed apology, as well as an explanation of why they hadn't sent forces to aid in the reconstruction yet. But the invitation was for an awards ceremony, as well as a banquet for nobles. It was basically acknowledging that I had become the head of my own house and that the royal family recognized me as someone they would want in their faction.
"...And that was basically what the letter said," I explained to Victor and Eun Sim.
"I see, so you're going to go right?" Eun Sim said.
"No"
"What! Why not? This could be a good thing for our estate!" Eun Sim commented
"Ahem, if you don't mind me interrupting. His Grace isn't very fond of social gatherings, especially when other nobles are attending." Victor announced.
"Exactly, plus I have a few things to do." I then left the greenhouse and went back into the mansion.
In the room with the grand staircase, instead of the three photos of Count Griffins, Duke Casilda, and Me, it was now just one of me. Though the Painting was now much more recent, and realistic. Avery was also currently talking to Ziven by the entrance to the grand hall.
"Avery" I called, "Could you come here for a moment?"
Avery then ran over, "Do you need anything Nii-san?" Avery looked much healthier and was more well-dressed than she had previously been.
"I'll be on a trip for the next couple of weeks, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me," I asked.
"Huh?! Can I really go with you?" She asked with surprise showing on her face.
"Oh course you can, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to," I said.
'Plus I don't want those old geezers coming and bothering you.'[1]
"Actually Your Grace, with all due respect, I had been planning to start Avery's rune lessons this week." Ziven cut in. He was now wearing his gardening uniform, considering that he just finished watering the flowers in the greenhouse.
"I see...It's a shame then, I can't have you missing your lessons,"
"Awww, I wanted to go with you though…"
"Maybe next time, I'll definitely try to plan a trip when you don't have lessons," I gave a smile full of contempt towards Ziven.
"Alright, I'll keep in mind to try to have time in between her lessons," Ziven said bowing
"Good, now I'm going up to my office to do some work. Eun Sim, please make sure to get the Letters to Duke Casilda and Count Ezra," I ordered.
"Alright, would you like me to burn the letter to the royal family?"
"No, put it in the Archive and save it for later."
"Understood"
***
Up in my office, I was finally alone with no one outside of the door.
"Haaaaa, alone at last," I sighed.
'I can now start to properly planning the trip.'
More like planning ways to change the story, since I'm mostly going there for a Divine power.[2]
In the original novel, then was an ancient power in a City called Vienna. It was the ability to cause holes to form in the ground and cause spikes to erupt from the earth. It was wielded by a necromancer, who used it to store bones in various places, and I planned to use it for the same thing.
'I'll have to get some bones to store in there as well, so for now all I can use it for is traps and the spikes.'
There was another person in the Novel who was quite significant, but didn't actually make an appearance and was rarely mentioned. That man's name was Fatin Henry, and he was the High-Elf Great Sage of the World Tree. In the novel, it was said that he was the product of the World Tree's consciousness. He was essential to the rest of my plans, mostly concerning ways of being able to defeat the demon king's army more easily.
The reason he never showed up in the novel was because he was always by the world tree's side. In the novel, the protagonist is never able to find the location of the world tree, but he does show up two days before the MC arrived in Vienna City. But he unfortunately left after the attack on Vienna, so the MC did have an interaction with him then either. Meaning that his appearance was also never given.
'Man, he'll be hard to find.'
After finding him I'll at least help a bit with defending the City, but try my best to avoid the Protagonist. I decided not to approach him at all, since I didn't want to change the original story too much. Considering I'm not letting myself get killed, and I've already gotten some of his future party members on my side.
After writing down the rest of my goals from the Vienna City plan, I decided to look at the letter from the royal family again. But as I picked it up, a smaller piece of paper fell out of the envelope.
I then picked it up and read its contents, it said:
"This banquet will not only be announcing you're achievements, but also we will be awarding you a medal and a higher title, considering you directly helped a great deal."
-Roman Fortunata
'OH HELL NO!' I screamed eternally, 'There is no way in hell that I am taking that medal! The title I'd consider, but a medal!'
"VICTORRRRRR!" I yelled.
"Yes M'lord!" he said barging in.
"Start packing your bags! We are leaving in two days!" I announced.
"..." Victor stood there for a moment with a blank look on his face, "But the royal banquet is in two days…"
"I know."
"...But this is a banquet being hosted by the royal family, you can't just go!"
"Like I careee! There is no way in hell that I am going to that banquet!" I complained.
"But my lord! This could be a big chance for the Viscounty!" Victor pointed out.
"You don't need to worry, there will be other chances," I assured him, "Now go pack your bags, and tell Diarmaid to bring me my suitcases," I said pushing him out the door.
"As you wish, M'Lord." Victor sighed.
***
Two days later we were on our way to the docks to get on a ship for Vienna City. The only way to get there was to take a small boat through a river, at least that was the quickest way to get there.
"When you arrive at the docks I suggest that you look for a woman named Chobi Sakamoto, she will be able to get a ship that will take you there safely," Alvaro advised.
Alvaro organized the carriage that would take us to the docks, as well as the guards that would accompany us to the docks in Vienna. Regular humans were not allowed to enter Vienna, due to wanting to keep the natural mana there. But half-humans and other species of creatures that could help purify things, such as getting rid of dead mana, could stay. But creatures such as Demons, and dark mages could not enter, though dark elves were an exception.
"Thank you Sir Malyen for organizing our trip to the docks," I said.
"Oh please, as long as I could help Your Grace lessin your work." He assured.
"Well, then with that being said I will see you lot in a week from now. Till next time," I said.
After that the carriage man rode us off, it took an hour to reach the docks. But when we did we reached a small town, its buildings were a mix of old Western and traditional Japanese.
"Oh my, this town is rather unique," I said while in awe. It reminded me of Earth in a way. Its Western but traditional style was similar to those of modern-day Japan, but they still had a sort of "Fantasy" appeal to them.
"Hm, do the structure of these buildings catch your fancy?" Victor asked while tilting his head.
"They just feel a bit familiar is all, but yes I think they do look rather unique," I explained. Saying that didn't seem quite right, but at the same time, it also felt like the best thing to say.
"Before we came here, I read that the person that oversees the docks and the rest of the town was from the Aislinn kingdom originally," Victor commented, he then took out a pouch from his pocket.
"Hmm, what's in there?"
"They're seeds, Ziven told me to give them to Miss. Chobi when we see her."
I then looked out the curtains, and closed them, "Victor, what all do you know about the people of the Aislinn Kingdom?"
'He seems to know an awful lot about the people of Aislinn, his knowledge could be useful.'
"Well, I know that Aislinn is split between two types of races…One is the Beastman and another is Yokai or Spirits." He explained.
He then went on to explain the architecture and agriculture of the two different factions. And before we knew it, we had arrived at Miss. Chobi's estate.
From what I could remember, Miss. Chobi had earned the Title of "Lady", which really wasn't much. She was also apparently a refugee who had fled the previous Demon King, and apparently, at the time, she was supposed to be his fiancee.
A guard then came and opened the carriage door for us, Victor then stepped out first, and I then followed suit.
"Finally decided to follow proper courtesy?" I mumbled with a grunt.
"I could at least show manners, especially in front of the Lady." He whispered back.
"Ohhhh, so you'll be respectful to a Lady but not your own Lord?! Especially who is a Viscount." I said sarcastically to Victor, but only loud enough for the guards around us to hear.
They flinched, "I apologize Your Grace, but I think it's best not to argue in front of someone else's home." He also put in a bit of sarcasm with the 'Your Grace' part.
"Hmph, well then shall we head in?" I said.
***
Inside the estate, it looked like a traditional Japanese mansion.
'Huh, I guess Victor wasn't lying about the Yokai's faction architecture. I think I'm starting to feel a bit homesick.'
A butler then came and escorted us to the tea room, where a young-looking woman was sitting on a chair at the table while looking out to the sea.
The butler then bowed and excused himself, "I presume your Lady Sakamoto, am I correct?" I asked with a polite tone.
"Yes, you are correct," She then stood up and bowed slightly, "My name is Chobi Sakamoto, and I am the head of the Estate, and the Mayor of the town. It is quite the pleasure to be in your presence, Viscount Varuna." She added.
'Huh, she actually got the name right, and it hadn't even been that long since I changed it. I must give much more credit.'
I then examined her, she had long blonde hair that was swept over one of her shoulders. She had Maroon eyes and her bangs were covering the left one, but I could just slightly see a scar. But even with the scar, she still looked rather beautiful. She was also wearing a white kimono that had a pattern with a stream of water, sakura trees, and traditional shrine gates, of course, they were Japanese. I also noticed a small sack and a pink fan at her side, and that she had long pink-tinted nails.
"I must say, you look much more beautiful than what I imagined," I teased.
"Please, you flatter me, Young Master." She said.
"No really, I had imagined you as some old mean hag who was always scowling."
"Hahahaha! Please I may be at times…But I am no old hag," Chobi laughed and said coldly.
"Why of course, I think nothing of the sort now."
"Haaa, well then, please sit down, the tea will get cold." Chobi sighed.
***
[1] Lev is referring to Ezra and Penelope
[2] I decided to use the term Divine instead of Ancient from now on. To explain it, Divine powers are a power or blessing that a god g
rants someone, but when that person passes the god did not take that ability back. So instead it stayed in the place of its owner when they passed, waiting for someone to come and claim it.