The Pride Of Noble [Part 1]

“Lord Al . I am very sorry, but could you please postpone my meeting with the my Lord?”

Conrad came to visit Al just after noon today, yesterday, after he had arranged a meeting with him. He came all the way to the guild.

“That’s fine, but how is Cerian’s health?”

“No, there is no change in His physical condition. But rather, he is feeling a little better. As a matter of fact, after my appointment with Lord Al yesterday, I received a call from the Master of the House in the middle of the night. The so-called old noble family, which is a distant bloodline, had an incident, and due to that, I was scheduled to be there. I should have given priority to Lord Al, who already has a prior engagement. …… I am truly sorry.”

Conrad bowed his head in apology again.

“Incident? Is this about the Courtenay family?”

“Ah! Did you already know this, Lord AL? It would be disrespectful to his household to say that …… And it’s too early to talk about it. But The Counts of Gorton and Courtenay, whom I serve, are originally one family. They are distant blood relatives. Of course, there have been bloodsheds between the families in the past, but now that the current head of the family is in such a situation, we cannot do nothing. Count Gorton, the father of master Cerian and the head of the family, has returned from his inspection tour of the frontier villages. Perhaps we will offer support to the surviving family …… Countess Courtenay and her eldest son, who is the heir, and so on. And Master Cerian has had to make a lot of adjustments accordingly.”

From Al’s point of view, what is such a naive thing to do between enemies. But the capital’s noble families are not enemies by any means. At least not in the way that Al thinks they are.

It is an everyday occurrence for conflicts of interest to escalate into intrigue, dark feuds, and sometimes even murder. The aristocracy returns to its basic principle of the powerful supporting the powerless. This is limited to aristocratic families. ……

Although the details have not yet been made public, Count Courtenay did everything in his power to repel the assailants to death. Regrettably, he ran out of strength, but in the process he fought off some of the assailants, and to his last breath he fought and died defending the servants of the powerless commoners. Unfortunately, the servants he tried to protect ended up following in his footsteps. ……

It is the pride of nobility.

Those who have shown their pride of nobility with their lives should be praised. Such a culture has been handed down from generation to generation in the capital’s aristocratic families.

It is a different form from the frontier aristocratic families who risk their lives every day in battle against demons. But it is also the way of the aristocrats of the McBrine Kingdom.

“I am a countryman from the frontier so forgive my ignorance, but I certainly feel the pride of being a nobleman in the Count Courtenay’s dispersal. However, I think that the Count Courtenay is also highly suspected of being responsible for the witchcraft that was practiced on Lord Ceriane. And yet the Count Gorton is willing to support his house?”

Conrad smiles at Al’s frank question.

“Lord Al. I am sure that frontier aristocrats have their own pride in being frontier aristocrats. …… This is precisely the kind of thing that the nobles of the capital are proud of.

The nobles of the capital will not do anything to avoid the hands of those who seek their help because of past grudges. The reverse is also true. Even if someone says they don’t need help, they will continue to offer their hand when they are in a tight spot. …… At least, that is the case for the Gorton family I serve for.

Except for the result of a conspiracy or a dark struggle,…… in case of an accident, an attack by a foreign enemy, or a disaster. Incidentally, if this was the result of a dark struggle with another family, then the Gorton family also would have taken advantage of the situation and with a smile on their faces, put the stop to the Courtenay family!”

Conrad talks about the pride of being a capital aristocrat. Mutual assistance among nobles. The rules of the nobility of the capital. They have inherited and upheld them from generation to generation. Al, an outsider, cannot intervene just because he does not understand them.

“Conrad. My apologies. It was not something I should have said. The pride of the noble families of the city. I have certainly heard it. I cannot understand all of it, but I will keep Lord Conrad’s words in my heart.”

Al takes a deep aristocratic bow.

I feel some shame. Al did not know. That’s all.

(The city aristocracy, huh? There are indeed a lot of feckless and corrupt people. But there are also some battlefield customs among the city’s aristocracy. You mean they follow the norm. Well, just as they don’t know the basics of fighting in the Great Forest, I will never understand the rules of the capital aristocracy.)

It is rotten. Feckless. That is also true of some of the city’s aristocracy. But that’s not all.

If he gets involved with a corrupt member of a noble family who harms the people, Al will not hesitate to deal with him. There is no difference. But I have learned a little bit about their culture.

“Once again I apologize for have disrespected our prior commitment to you, Lord Al. I will set up a place to apologize again with the Lord. Please forgive me for this visit …”

Conrad also deeply thanked Al and left.