After a new baron had become appointed, years of peace and prosperity followed for the common man of the Avila's territory.
So, much so that the noble's association that the past lord once neglected has now became the talk of the officials, because finally for the longest time, their territory will not become a laughingstock of the other nobles.
Because one of the obligations as a part of that association is to attend a meeting annually, partaken only by the lord of each territory in the kingdom of humanity, and that is also supervised by one of the royals most trusted aide to talk about the news and matters of their own nations.
And for the past thirty years during the reign of the notorious late baron, they had not been able to participate in the meeting.
Chatter! Chatter! Chatter!
"Then as discussed, this is what we'll do" As the newly appointed baron stacked the documents at his table.
"As you wish my lord" As the butler bowed and started to make his way out, which then prompted Simon to enter the room.
Creek!
"Simon, you'll be my personal guard at noble's association meeting this time" The baron announced all of sudden, leaving Simon in shock
"M-Me?!" Simon replied not knowing what to do, as he had no experience socializing with other higher ups other than the baron, which most of the time even just treats him as a friend, plus he was not even taught the basic etiquettes.
"Yes you, but don't worry, I won't rush you, there is still two weeks left before the event, so you have time to practice and prepare" The baron explained nonchalantly.
Meanwhile Simon was losing his mind, but he was taught keep his composure and not express such an unsightly thing in front of his lord, 'Are you serious, you're only giving me two weeks?!!!'
"And you, you'll be the one taking care of this territory while we are gone" As the baron looked at the butler.
Of course, the baron answered with dignity and respect, "You can count on me my lord"
The butler then finally left the room, and moments later was followed by Simon who had decided to stick to the butler, to ask him for the favor of teaching him.
However, the butler did not do it for free and asked for a proper compensation, as the butler believed in the principle of nothing is ever free in this world.
So, for the next two weeks, seeing as Simon -probably can't afford him as a teacher, the butler assigned arduous tasks to Simon.
And it had turned to the most hectic and tiring phase of Simon's life, even harder than the training that he had experienced in the barracks.
...
The anticipated day has finally arrived, Simon had prepared all of the essentials, from the food rations, water, extra money, and other stuffs, he even prepared extra bags in case he needed it.
"What the hell are you bringing?" The baron asked, confused
But he just figured out what had happened based on Simon's reaction, so instead he just answered his own question, "I guess our dear butler didn't inform you, we're not travelling by horse the royals are strict on the location of the meeting place, so instead we're using a teleportation scroll to travel there"
In turn Simon's face quickly turned from shock to embarrassment.
"Leave the food rations and water, but bring the bags and the extra money, and the rest are probably useless so leave that too" the baron commanded.
They both then prepared their minds, as both of them are on the low side when it comes to the mana accumulated, which meant that being forcefully teleported to such a faraway place, would cause an imbalance in their body, thus causing puking or dizziness.
So, as to not embarrass themselves they held each other's hands tightly, but they still had their socks and clothes on, so no homo.
The baron then took out the one of the parchments from the glass sealed jar at the table.
After opening it, inside it revealed different ancient, patterned runes that were written in the language only passed down to those of royal descent, which probably contained information about the coordinates on the location of the place that they were going to be teleported to.
The baron then teared the piece of parchment on his hand.
RIP!
And instantly, a magic circle appeared beneath them, where it then shrank to the size just enough to encircle both of them.
Then a sharp sound ringed into their heads, like an untrained violinist tried to play a song, it irritated their senses, causing them to close their eyes and cover their ears with their hands.
Screeeeeeech!!
After which, when the screeching stopped, and they opened their eyes, they were already in a black room with indistinguishable objects around it.
Then just as their eyes was about to finish adjusting to the dark, several men clad in sturdy clothing looking like knights escorted them to the only narrow passage in front of them.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
At this moment, this is when Simon realized why they used a teleportation scroll instead of travelling by horse, it all started to make sense, from the usage of the language where only the royals can understand to the unknown dark room with only one passageway, it is so that the attendees will have no idea on where the place that they teleported to is, the royals does indeed keep a tight guard on the security of this place.
Furthermore, although Simon had never of this and while it may sound farfetched, there were rumors circling around the nobles that the place where their annual meeting is held is directly inside the castle of the royals, however the only proof that they had supporting this theory is the fact that the royals keep a tight guard on the location of this place, meaning they don't want it to be exposed.
But the fact that the nobles, even down to the highest ranked ones does not have a single clue on where this place is located, shows just how large the disparity of power and authority between the royals and the nobles are.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
Tap! Tap!
Tap!
...
As Simon and the baron came out of the cramped passageway that almost looked like an abandoned tunnelway, they were greeted by a mob of people who wore luxurious clothes and ornaments alongside with what seems to be their personal knights like Simon.
Even at first glance, the reason for bringing their best knights and wearing such attires is to flaunt them, they were sizing each other up to see which ones they should suck up to or continue doing so, which one should they make a connection with, and which one should they sever their connections with.
So, how did our main character's side did?
Well, by the way that Simon and his baron presented their selves, it was lacking to say the least, because even if their territory was already starting to see some hope, their economy was still struggling as it is being rebuilt, so they can't afford to be too fancy.
In addition to that, Simon's strength as a knight is a little bit tricky to detect, as his strength lies somewhere else other than just the raw physique that the other nobles look at first when judging their peers, thus almost all of them thought that Simon was inadequate for this event.
Therefore, the nobles just avoided them instead of the other option of taking advantage of them while they were weak, they did now want to get involved with them as there is one person that they fear in their territory.
Murmur! Murmur! Murmur!
After a little more banter, they finally arrived at a gigantic door, their actual destination, which they arrived from after walking into a spacious corridor, that finally looked like at the very least befitting of the royals.
The two strong looking knights then opened the door for them.
Creek! Creek!
Inside were multiple red leathered chairs arranged in a way forming a semi-circle that is ascending outwards, and the ones seated down at the front are the highest-ranking nobles while the lowest are seated at the top.
The discussion then proceeded smoothly, there was no concerns to be raised, so the meeting ended briefly.
On the other hand, Simon could not even be bothered to listen, as the words that they spoke of was too much for him, so he almost fell asleep in the middle of it.
After the meeting the distant relative of the royals who led this meeting, invited them to join her on the feast that she had prepared, it was party for another successful year of running and managing the territories outside the capital of the kingdom.
...