Evan D. Sherden Knows the Weight of Promise (4)
Evan's party returned just as quietly as they had left. By contacting the people above ground in advance, it was possible to specify a return time to enter or exit without being noticed. Serena, who liked to get the attention of people, insisted that she should announce her entrance into the dungeon knights confidently, but that was impossible.
"If we formally announce this, we'll receive attention unlike what we have before. Moreover, all of us are underage except for Raihan. That'll garner interest too…ugh." It didn't make sense for a minor to enter the dungeon in the first place, but now a group of them had conquered the 10th floor of the dungeon. The 10th floor! There had been countless explorers over the years who had been unable to pass the 10th floor.
"I bet the whole world would be envious of us. There are plenty of people who would make the Marquis their enemy to find out why." There were too many elements in the dungeon knight's growth actually to be explained, anyway. The way Evan was educating them was too risky, so none of that could be disclosed to the outside.
"Since the dungeon knights are people who keep the city, they just need to be applauded for being amazing. But people are very weird."
"It can't be helped. When most humans see something they don't have, they either need to take it or destroy it."
"Even if they take it away, they'll break it." It was almost funny, but it was human nature to break what you couldn't have. Serena promised to keep it a secret when she realized the seriousness of the situation. It seemed that she had come with a firm heart, evidenced by the fact that she had trained so hard.
'There is a precedent with Arisha, so will it be okay? It seems dangerous.' It didn't matter what the dungeon knights were like, but rather what other people would think. Evan sighed.
'Promoting friendship between the Marquis and the royal family…no. Studying in the dungeon city…no. Hostage for a deal with the Marquis. No! Either way, Serena and I are deeply intertwined! I need an excuse. A princess staying here for several years, so I need one that will stand up to scrutiny…is there such a thing?' As Evan considered what excuse to make for Serena to join the dungeon knights, they arrived in front of the HQ building. Evan's only oasis, Belois, was waiting out front for him.
"Young master!"
"Lua, I'm back."
"Ah, the chief is here!" Behind Belois, Raihan and the other children stood side by side. Seeing them all lined up like that made Evan feel like he had become the leader of the knights.
"You must've had a lot of trouble."
"Thank you for taking care of the children in the meantime, Raihan. How were you all?"
"I was bored because the boss wasn't here!"
"Hug me!" Evan, after greeting Raihan, had to pat Lin and Ran, who joined him. Belois politely bowed to him once more.
"Thank you for coming back safely, master."
"We only went up to the 10th floor. Did anything happen in the meantime?"
"Ugh." Jin, who had been standing back a little bit, groaned. As Evan's eyes narrowed, Belois began to explain.
"Jin was saying that he would enter the dungeon as well and make a mess."
"Ah, I see."
"Indeed." Evan understood immediately. Unlike Ran and Lin, who were enjoying their time before entering the dungeon knights, Jin had the clear goal of becoming stronger. He was about to have his ninth birthday, which meant he would be the same age as Ena and Melson, who had gone with Evan this time.
"…I wasn't making a mess. I just wanted to get stronger quickly…" Jin held his gaze down as he spoke up. Evan reached out and tousled his hair with a smile.
"Wait a little longer, Jin. I'll take you before your tenth birthday. The harder you practice, the faster I can take you."
"Yeah…!"
"Wow, I'll be living here now? Princess Knight Serena is coming!"
"Don't say it like that!" Serena was shouting in front of the HQ as she walked around to greet the other children and proclaim herself a dungeon knight.
"Please be good to me in the future, guys! Let's protect the dungeon city together!"
"Princess, thank you!"
"Just call me Serena!" She was accepted without any reluctance.
"You're so pretty!"
"Sister's hair is such a pretty colour!"
"Yes, I'll always listen to those words!" Serena got along rather well with the children; it was just Arisha and Belois, who stood firm against her, that she had difficulties with
"You guys, please also take care of me!"
"… Yes, thank you."
"I'm older than you." However, despite their cold tones and gazes, Serena still was smiling.
"I don't know any other girls my age, so I'm happy to have two new friends like this! Besides, both of you are super pretty!"
"…Ah."
"Ha." The two seemed unfazed as Belois remained expressionless, and Arisha actually seemed to be angry now.
"I won't avoid a fight. It'll be fun in the future."
"The same is true of me. Interesting…it'll be fun."
"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about, but I'll take care of you too!" Evan decided to pretend not to hear anything the three were saying. Shine, who was watching from behind, simply shook his head.
***
In the end, Evan didn't have to prepare any excuses for Serena's joining. It was known that the first princess of the Silk Line kingdom came to dungeon city and joined the knights, and it quickly became a hot topic…
'Evan D. Sherden, who declared that he would only live the life of the dungeon city's defender, suggested she join the knights as a condition for their engagement.'
That ridiculous rumour had spread in an instant.
"No, some crazy guy made his fiancée into a knight!"
"Master…"
"I'm not engaged!"
Belois remained calm next to Evan, who was screaming at Shine's words.
"There are also rumours that the dungeon knights are your harem, and if you join you can become a concubine. There is also a rumour that you love men and women equally and…"
"Ahhhhhh!" Evan rolled around on the floor with a terrible scream. What if those terrible rumours made even more women, and men, target him in the future? So many death flags awaited him.
"So, in fact, after those rumours spread, the number of people who want to join has increased…"
"That's right! But no!" Evan threw away the piles of documents Raihan gave him, several of which were profiles of young girls from noble families. He never attended the nobles' social parties, so a few just wanted to see him at least once.
Damn it. The dungeon knights don't need to be highly evaluated, but this nonsense isn't good…'
"Through this, how about revealing the abilities of Miss Arisha and Her Majesty to some extent? If you do that, at least some of the applications will
stop."
"Then there will be more unnecessary attention to Arisha and Serena. And, in the end, if the dungeon knights get attention…well, we just have to turn it around."
"Young master, that means…"
"Yes." Evan nodded as he looked at the letters piling up on his desk.
"I've been avoiding parties so far. Before even odder rumours spread, I'll have to come to some sort of arrangement." It was now inevitable. The best option now was for him to reveal his presence in front of the public. He sighed as he saw the piles of letters and party invitations, but one on top caught his eye.
"Hm?"
"Oh, that's one that arrived today." Evan listened to Shine as he examined the letter. It was an unusually colourful letter, with a name that Evan recognized. It was a Silk Line nobleman.
'At this timing…?' He double-checked the name of the sender before picking it up.
"Is this the party I am destined to attend?"
"I heard it was sent by someone from the higher-ups."
"Huh. It's one I must go to. Well done."
"Yes." At Evan's words, Shine and Belois's ears wiggled.
"It's the moment I've been waiting for. I will show off my butler skills."
"No, I don't need most of those. You just need to make sure the food and drink there is free of poison."
"If they did, it couldn't be worse than the poisonous tea you drink."
"Oh, that's nonsense. It's a mixture of poison and medicine, so it's not dangerous." Evan grinned as he sipped at the tea, which had black smoke rising off it. A drop from the teacup fell and began to melt the corner of the table. Raihan, who was waiting quietly behind him, used purification magic to nullify it.
"Party…"
"There's nothing to be nervous about, Lua."
"Yes, I understand." Belois nodded softly at his words, but inwardly she was on high alert. Social parties were where all sorts of beautiful women flocked. She had to save Evan from them.
That was how his first party was decided on. It was hosted by the only duke on the Silk Line