"It's still confusing as to why Carnivalia gave me a joker and a queen card. I open my eyes and rub them as I sit up from the bed. The birds are chirping as usual, then the door opens as the fairy maid goes to the curtain in the bedroom and opens it, revealing a ray of sunshine. "Good morning, Master Ryota," greeted the fairy maid with a cheerful tone and a polite bow.
Ryota responded with a tired but polite "Morning," rubbing his eyes to dispel the last remnants of sleep. The fairy maid then politely bows again and leaves the room as expected of the familiars. "Now, to my routine... drawing." I make sure that I won't get rusty at drawing. I still have my dream to develop manga in this world. "Though it'll be tough to let this world know about manga..." Ryota sighs and sits down in the chair and swipes the air, revealing the system panel.
He then clicks the "stats" button, revealing his stats. "I still have my overpowered stats. How did I level up again? Was it from the Goblin King and Queen?" He stares at the paper on the table. "I'm also running out of ideas on what to draw. The plot is getting thick as it gets longer."
He sighs deeply. A sound of a door knock comes from Ryota's room. "Come in," Ryota says as he is staring blankly at the paper. The door opens as Yui enters the room. "Good morning, Ryota." "Morning, Yui," Ryota replied with a lazy tone, still lost in his thoughts. "Breakfast is ready!" Yui repeated a hint of excitement in her voice. "Synthia prepared it."
Ryota let out a small sigh before responding. "Ahh, mhm," he said, finally tearing his eyes away from his drawing. "I'll be there." Yui nods and heads out of his room, closing it and leaving Ryota alone again. "I feel like I'm forgetting something." As he slowly stands up from his chair, his mind ticks. "Ahh, I remember now."
Last night, Synthia and Ryota were in the bath together. Synthia wanted to do it with him, but Ryota retreated by using his <"Teleport">. "I wonder if she's mad at me."
"Ahh, whatever..." Ryota sighed as he opened the door and stepped out of the room, then closed it behind him and headed to the dining room. He noticed Kanna who seemed to be reading a book as she walked to the dining area as well.
"Hey, don't read while you walk. You might hurt yourself," he teased.
Kanna stopped walking and turned her head to Ryota as he approached her. "Morning, Ryota."
"Morning... Sorry for not hanging out much around everyone," Ryota said with a hint of guilt in his voice.
"Ahh, about that, you should take a break now. You always work and whenever you take a break or a day off, you get a sudden call from Goddess Athena," Kanna suggested.
"...Noted." Ryota looked away as he said. He then closed his eyes, remembering the meeting with Ares, the God of War, and The Queen of Jokers, Carnivalia.
"Ryota? What's wrong?" Kanna asked concern etched on her face. Ryota opened his eyes and looked at Kanna. "Oh, It's... nothing. Come on, let's get some breakfast," he said, forcing a smile.
"Hmmm, alright!" Kanna responded cheerfully, though she still looked worried. Kanna went to the dining room ahead of Ryota, who followed behind. They both sat down and noticed Synthia preparing the breakfast by placing the food on the plate and putting it on the table.
"Good morning, Ryota-sama, Kanna, and Yui," Synthia greeted them.
"Morning," Kanna and Yui replied.
"Morning, Synthia..." Ryota said, his tone still slightly subdued.
"Good morning, Ryota-sama," Synthia repeated, her expression unreadable.
After finishing his breakfast, Ryota quickly stood up and made his way back to his room. He closed the door behind him and sighed as he gazed at the unsold manga on his desk. "Well, I suppose it's time to sell these," he muttered to himself. With a flick of his hand, he opened his system panel and transferred the manga to his inventory.
"Perfect," he thought as he chanted "
"Come and get it! Fifty silvers per manga!" he announced, catching the attention of some passersby. "I'll take two!" a person shouted out. "Three for me!" another person chimed in. Soon, a group had gathered around Ryota, all eager to buy his manga. "Wow, it's been ages since I've seen this!" one person exclaimed. "I know, right? The artwork is amazing!" another person gushed. As the people continued to shower him with praise,
Ryota's unease began to grow. "Please, just focus on the manga. I'm nothing special," he mumbled to himself, hoping to deflect attention away from himself. "Um, I'd like to see this book called 'manga'," a girl in a nice dress approached Ryota. Some people recognized her face and immediately bowed to the ground. "Why are they bowing?" Ryota muttered, asking.
Then, some knights surrounded the area and some people slowly walked away after bowing. "Formation A!" the knights yelled. "Sir!" and created a triangular formation. Eh? Uhm, who might you be?" Ryota asks. After that, some people cover their mouths as their eyes widen in disbelief.
"How could he not know about the princess in this city?" one person says. "Is he an outsider or something?" another person asks. "Oh? Fufufu~ I guess it's normal to introduce myself first. My name is Sylviana Le Eleanor IV," the princess says, with a light chuckle.
"Ah, my name is Ryota Kaneko. You may call me Ryota," Ryota replies, with a friendly smile. "Hm? That name is quite interesting. Are you perhaps from another country?" Sylviana asks, with curiosity in her voice.
"Ahh, I guess you could say that... Though it's far from here," Ryota says, looking up and thinking, with a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Ah~ Is it?" Sylviana says, with a touch of wonder in her voice. "Princess Sylviana, please get to the point so you won't be late for your meeting,"
a knight who seems to be much different from other knights says, with a stern tone in his voice. "You, commoner. Why haven't you bowed to the princess?!" Ley demands, with annoyance in his voice. "Ah, no no, it's okay Ley," Sylviana says, with a kind and understanding tone in her voice.
"No, princess. That's how it's supposed to work. Now you, commoner. Since you know the name of the princess, respect her and bow right now," Ley says, with a commanding and authoritative tone in his voice. Ryota stares at him blankly.
"Ha? Do I have to?" he says, with a mix of confusion and defiance in his voice. "You dare speak back to me?! Knights, apprehend him!" Ley commands, with a furious tone in his voice. "Ley, wait!" Sylviana says, with a concerned tone in her voice.
The knights then start going to Ryota and try to tackle him, but Ryota only dodges them swiftly, with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Can we stop now?" Ryota says, with a slightly exasperated tone in his voice. "Tch, guess I'll just do the work," he says, frustration evident in his tone, as he draws his iron blade from the sheath.
"Ley! I order you to stop this at once!" the princess commands, her voice filled with authority. "But princess, I'm just teaching the commoner a lesson," Ley protests, his voice laced with arrogance. "No no, it's fine, princess," Ryota says calmly, trying to diffuse the situation. "Huh?" Sylviana is surprised by his response.
"I mean, as if he can touch me," he smirks, his tone smug. Ley grits his teeth and starts attacking Ryota with a light swing. "Ahh... too boring." He then forms a glove made of ink on his hand and grabs the blade's tip, breaking it. "What? What kind of magic is that?" Ley is surprised, as is Sylviana, who covers her mouth in shock. "None of your business," Ryota says dismissively as he takes out the glove made out of ink, and the ink splatters on his hand, spilling down to the ground.
"Ink?" the princess asks, her curiosity piqued. "That's right," Ryota confirms, his tone casual. "This is water magic, is it not?" Sylviana asks, her tone curious. "Who knows?" Ryota sighs in response, his tone indifferent. As he swipes the air, he opens the system panel and puts the silver in the inventory, but to everyone's vision, he's like swinging in the air randomly.
"Uhm, what are you doing?" Sylviana asks, her tone puzzled. "Practicing how to dance," he says sarcastically, his tone filled with mockery. After that, he mutters under his breath, "
"He disappeared," Ley muttered, his eyes still scanning the surroundings for any sign of the elusive commoner. Sylviana, however, had a different reaction. She looked down at the ground, deep in thought. "I can't believe there's another person who can create their magic," she said quietly.
"Ley, are you planning on trailing him? He's dangerous," one of the knights asked, eyeing the knight captain warily. But the princess had made up her mind.
"Ley, I order you and the knights to find Ryota Kaneko," she commanded firmly. Ley hesitated for a moment, his eyes darting between the princess and the other knights. "But, princess..." "If you still don't follow this order, I will make sure to tell Father about this," Sylviana warned, her tone leaving no room for argument. With a resigned sigh, Ley relented. "As you wish," he said, gesturing to the knights to move out. Meanwhile, Sylviana's smile grew wider as she took out a small, cute doll from her pocket.
"I wonder if he can win against my dolls," she mused to herself. "It's getting interesting now."