55 – Paving Stone for Divine Move (1)

The bards say the following about the wealth of Elysium, the capital of Elaine, the richest empire on the continent of Europia where we live.

The walls of the capital caress the sky, the roads inside are paved with bricks, and the residents are tired of meat and beer… It must be the closest thing to heaven on earth.

When I heard this song at a banquet often held in the county of Nantes, I thought it was an exaggerated literary expression peculiar to a bard…

The scene inside the castle now spread out in front of my eyes boasted richness befitting such expressions.

As a rule of thumb, the walls of the city, which were built with large square stones, seemed to exceed 15 meters.

Also, the people inside the castle, even if they were slaves, were not wearing torn clothes, even if they were a little worn out.

In other territories, citizens of the middle class or higher wear decent clothes…

When I, Ella, and Balt were overwhelmed by the richness of the royal capital for the first time and were unable to say anything, the young ladies who passed by said in low voices with fans covering their mouths.

“It must be a nobleman who came from the countryside for the first time.”

“It must have been too flashy for an aristocrat in a secluded corner. Well, even if they are the same nobles, they are not all the same nobles.”

“Still, I guess he’s not a poor aristocrat. The knights as well as the maids are wearing silk maid uniforms.”

“Well, you must be a country boy. Now, hurry up, Reintra-sama.”

Seeing that they don’t bring servants, those girls must be at most the daughters of a knight’s family…

Even such girls walk around in dresses lavished with silk and frills, just like the nobility living in the capital of the empire.

In our county of Nantes, usually baronesses and their daughters wear clothes like that…

Ella looked at me and said in a pouting voice, perhaps dissatisfied with observing women dressed in such extravagant clothes in a daze for a while.

“Does the owner also like gorgeous women like that? If the master wants it, Ella will also learn how to make up.”

Nonsense, no matter how many of those women put on all kinds of makeup and wore fancy silk dresses, they were worse than Ella in rags.

As evidence of that, if you look around now, you’re seeing ‘Ella’ instead of the women from the two knight families that just passed by?

I said as I stroked Ella’s hair to prevent her from being smeared with makeup like those women.

“No, Ella. It’s hard to see someone dressed like that in the Baron’s territory, so I stopped staring at her for a long time.”

Ella listened to my explanation and answered in a slightly forlorn voice.

“okay. Master… Ella is not as flashy as those people…”

So, to help her cheer up, I gently put two fingers on Ella’s chin, lifted her chin, like Casanova in the drama, and said:

“Ella is prettier than those girls. And after the funeral, I’ll buy Ella a pretty dress like that too. Next time we go out to play outside Kreutel Castle, let’s wear it.”

When she heard me, she said with tears in her eyes and a happy smile.

“Yes, Master!”

“After the funeral, let’s pick out clothes with me. Ella is cute, so I’m sure a dress like that will suit her well.”

**

The imperial castle, made of bricks and lime, was as tall as modern low-rise apartments, and it was so wide that Gyeongbokgung was not envious, but…

After entering the imperial castle, there was no time to leisurely look around the castle wall like before.

because….

“The fat man over there wearing a coat with gold buttons is the Viscount Brandel’s Court. Go ahead and say hello.”

As soon as I entered the castle like this, I had to greet those higher than me.

“Hello, Viscount Brandel. I am Ciel von Kreuttel, lord of Baron Creutel. I live in a secluded place and have never been to the ecliptic.”

Viscount Blandel, dressed like a 16th-century European aristocrat with a red velvet robe embroidered with gold thread and frills, replied as if he was annoyed at me.

“Are you the new Baron Creutel? Your father was a good man… a dignified and wonderful man… I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

Usually, the inheritance of a title is usually achieved through the death of the ‘father who had the title’, so what the nobleman said was not very wrong.

However, no matter how much, I asked the first person I saw, ‘Did you search for your father? So, you inherited the new title?’ Wouldn’t it be an empty-headed act to ask?

Even if he passed away, it’s Padrip, and if he didn’t, it would sound like ‘I hope you find your father quickly’.

So usually in this case, ‘You are the new heir to the title, Baron Creutel. How is your father?’ It’s common to ask…

To say that such an idiot is a court viscount, that’s why after His Majesty is searched for, he becomes Elaine…

“When my lord, His Excellency the Count of Nantes, changed generations, my father passed on the title to me as his guardian.”

Hearing that, Brandel said in a panicked voice, as if he had noticed his mistake only then.

“I’m sorry, please forgive me. Yes, Baron Creutel. This will be your first time on the royal road, so if you need a little help, call me. On Brendel’s honor, I swear to give you a little help. Instead, this case…”

Let’s see, if you are a court viscount, you directly manage the lodging assignments and protocols of the highest ranking nobles, such as the ‘immediate royal family and dukes’ who participate in the funeral…

I guess I can ask you to schedule a meeting with ‘His Highness the Duke’, whom I need to meet right away.

The ducal family that rules the duchy next to the county of Nantes is definitely…

“Actually, I’d like to meet His Highness, the Duke of Brussels, on this occasion. Can I ask you a favor?”

“Okay, instead of…”

“Don’t worry. I am just happy to have had the good fortune to meet the renowned Viscount Brandel today.”

Hearing that, Brandel nodded in satisfaction and said,

“His Highness, the Duke, hasn’t seen anyone for three days because of the funeral service for His Majesty the Emperor. So, as usual, a baron like you is someone I can’t meet even if I want to, but… I’ll work hard and arrange an audience so that I can have an audience with you within a week. When the date and time are set, I will send my servant to inform you.”

“Thank you, Your Excellency.”

In order to meet the duke, I thought of holding a variety of banquets with ‘modern cuisine’, which is common when reincarnated in another world, to gather interest, and then cook myself when the duke is interested…

There is no need for that at all.

Then, approximately until the funeral is over, the remaining period is… 2 weeks.

During this time, how can I lay the foundation for the success of my scheme?

**

For five days in the royal castle, I spent a hectic time attending various funeral ceremonies and banquets.

For almost four days, I stuck to the back of the Count of Nantes, saying hello like a greeting machine.

Like this.

“Ah, I am Baron Creutel, newly inherited title.”

“is it? I am Gran von Seitel, Lord of the Baron Seitel. Heh heh, you look so handsome. Do you enjoy drinking with women?”

“Because I haven’t gotten married yet…”

“No, no! Talented people like you!”

“But soon, His Excellency Countess of Nantes’ daughter, Alice, is going to get married as soon as she comes of age… hahahaha.”

On the rest of the day, ‘worship in honor of the death of His Majesty’ was held all day long.

I sat on a long bench in the church all day and endured the sermons of the cardinal spraying sleeping pills with all my heart.

When I was in college, there were more sleepy sermons than a sleep-inducing lecture by a professor with one year left of retirement age. As expected, the world is wide and there are many great people.

By the way, how the heck did the nobles of the highest rank, dukes and above, hold on to the fact that they had already held such services twice more?

That’s why I even thought it was a duke.

Oh, by the way, His Excellency the Count of Nantes, who sits in the higher seat than me, was already sleeping quietly with his eyes closed as the sermon lasted for more than three hours.

It will soon spread by word of mouth. A disloyal nobleman who fell asleep during a sermon at a service honoring the death of His Majesty the Emperor.

However, I am not obligated to attend any banquets until a week later, when the emperor’s memorial service is held, where the emperor is finally declared ‘completely dead’.

So, just as I was about to take a break in the capital for the time being, Ella came into the room where I was resting and said,

“Master, a hunter is suddenly insisting on paying for the wild boar that His Excellency Baron Creutel ordered. Shall I tell Balt-nim and kick him out?”

The informant has finally arrived. By the way, wild boar meat is a novel idea.

I handed a gold coin to Ella and said,

“No, Ella. Calculate with this, let the hunter in here. That wild boar tells me to share with the soldiers who followed me. Do you want to eat Ella too?”

Ella shook her head and said.

“Ella doesn’t like wild boar meat… the meat is too tough and tasteless.”

Then I quietly left my room.

Shortly thereafter, a ‘white-skinned’ fake hunter came in, wearing boar-skin leather armor and a hunter’s cap, like hunters would wear.

“Did Viscount Brandel send you?”

“Yes, it is. And this is a letter from the Viscount to deliver to Baron Creutel. Read it.”

After that, the fake hunter handed me a letter.

The letter read:

[On the evening of the third day, enter the 4th room of the Confession of Elysium Cathedral dressed as a ‘priest’. Then, His Highness the Duke will come to you in the name of confession. I hope I can forget the bad things with you with this.]

I thought he was an idiot, but was it just a skit caused by the court nobles’ indifference to the provinces?

Even the ‘king’ cannot enter the place where the confession is held, so the secret is well protected…

If I go in disguised as a priest, I’ll be able to finish it without even telling you that the duke and I met.

I threw ‘a few gold coins’ to the fake hunter who gave me good information and said.

“Okay, take this. Burn this letter.”

The informant burned the letter I handed over to the candle in front of me, then took the gold coin and quietly left the room.

If it was really normal, I would have had to spend a lot of money to have a banquet even at this time, but to have the opportunity to meet the duke so easily.

Is the universe helping me at this point?