After that day, I was made to attend various parties.

Unsurprisingly, it was depressing.

There was a certain number of aristocrats who considered living in their villa based in the capital while leaving the management of their domain to be part of their status, and they appeared to hold parties with such fellow aristocrats on a daily basis.

I cursed them in my mind for making me go through all that hassle.

[You’re so popular, Lugh-chan. You’ve received tons of marriage proposals in just a few days.] (Esri)

[Mom, I’m tired right now, so please stop with that.] (Lugh)

The fact that I was dispatched to the countryside in place of the hero was just an excuse to have the hero stay in the capital, and I was effectively treated as a discarded pawn.

However, there were many people who took the metropolitan government’s announcement at face value, and I got marriage offers wherever I went.

[Dia-chan got a lot of them too.] (Esri)

[Hard pass, I don’t even want to look at them. I’m sick of them too.] (Dia)

Since she had been turning down a bunch of offers like these ones since her time in Viekone, Dia was even more reluctant to participate in marriage interviews than I was.

[Fufufu! Aren’t you glad that Dia-chan wasn’t interested at all? At that time, you were making quite the incredible face.] (Esri)

[I was happy too. That you got jealous for me.] (Dia)

The ‘time’ they were referring to was back when Duke Gephis brought up the idea of marrying Dia and Naoise during our dinner with him.

I had been trained to conceal my emotions, but I carelessly slipped up.

[…It just happened. Don’t tease me too much about it.] (Lugh)

[You’re so adorable today, Lugh.] (Dia)

I was sitting on my bed, and Dia hugged me from behind.

Tarte was enviously watching us.

Even though I didn’t mind if she wanted to do the same.

[At last, there are only two more to go. It was about time.] (Lugh)

We’ve been attending parties ever since we arrived from the royal capital, but now we were finally seeing the end of the tunnel.

Today was the long-awaited day of the medal awarding ceremony, and once we were done with the ensuing party, we would be able to return to Tuatha Dé.

Although we had only been here for a few days, I couldn’t help but miss my homeland.

[This is a big day for you, Lugh-chan. So you have to dress up properly.] (Esri)

[Ah, let me help you with that. Ta-Dah, a makeup set! Even a man can look more handsome with some light make-up.] (Dia)

[Um… I will also try to help in any way I can.] (Tarte)

I was a bit freaked out by the three of them closing in on me.

The sight made my father chuckle a little.

[…Dad, do you enjoy seeing me in trouble?] (Lugh)

[No, I was just thinking that although you’ve been oddly mature since your early childhood and have no openings, you always lose your edge in front of those three.] (Cian)

[Aren’t you the same as well with Mom?] (Lugh)

[You might have a point. Perhaps the men of Tuatha Dé are destined to be dominated by their wives.] (Cian)

I’d be damned if I was going to end up like that.

After all, as a man, I wanted to take the lead.

…Although I thought that way, in the end, I couldn’t win against the women’s mysterious power, and I let them do as they pleased with me.

At least, my only solace was that the end result wasn’t too bad.

_______________________________________

The ceremony was set to be held in an audience room in the castle.

The participants were guided in first, and Epona and I, who were the main actors, were guided in later.

Since morning, carriages had been entering the castle one after the other.

Many of them were from foreign countries.

Since it was a ceremony to honor the achievements of subjugating the demons, this wasn’t a matter foreign to other countries either.

Dia had carefully applied make-up to change her facial appearance.

Because there were going to be some visitors from Viekone.

I was called out while I was staying in the waiting room and taken to the door of the audience room.

Epona was already there.

As befits a hero, she was wearing cool and dignified men’s clothing of blue and white.

[Hello. Did you enjoy your stay here?] (Epona)

[Honestly, I was tired of attending parties again and again. How can you stand this kind of life?] (Lugh)

[Ahaha, I’m used to it. So how’s the power I lent you?] (Epona)

[I’m getting the hang of it. At first, I was a bit confused by this overwhelming power, but I’ve learned to master it.] (Lugh)

No matter how strong your power was, it was meaningless if you couldn’t control it.

My physical abilities suddenly skyrocketed, so I had a hard time getting used to fighting in a new speed range.

[Glad to hear that. Then I’m sure you can even beat demons.] (Epona)

[Yeah. The way I am now, I could even solo a singular demon.] (Lugh)

…Even before I received her power, fighting army-type demons would’ve been no problem, but lone-type demons would’ve been difficult to deal with.

Army-type demon was the kind of demons that, like the orc of that day, could mass-produce underlings and have them crush everything as a mob.

An army of over a thousand of them was troublesome, but conversely, those demon didn’t pack a punch. On the other hand, singular-type demons couldn’t create monsters, but they were extremely strong.

There was no doubt that both types posed significant threats.

[Lord hero, Lord Lugh, please come this way.] (Servant)

When a servant called us, we followed him and were made to wait in front of a door.

Ready or not, the door opened.

A red carpet stretched up to the throne, and the attendees lined up on both sides.

I was surprised to see a face I didn’t expect among the crowd. That face was Maha’s. They seemed to have invited influential merchants as well in order to make it a grand ceremony.

And apparently, Maha deliberately kept quiet about it as she stuck out her tongue.

[Honestly, I can’t believe her…] (Lugh)

We walked on the red carpet laid out in the center of the room.

All those people in this room focusing their eyes on us was embarrassing.

Once in front of the throne, we took a knee and bowed our heads.

…A king could perceive people’s good nature and weaknesses.

In fact, I believe that’s exactly how this one was.

[Hero Epona. Raise your head.] (King)

[Yes, Your Majesty.] (Epona)

Epona stood up.

[You have done well defeating a demon during the last battle. This was an achievement worthy of a hero. You deserve a reward.] (King)

After that, the king announced out loud the nature of the reward. You could say that it was one heck of a big deal. And when he declared that it would be sent to her parent’s house, Epona had a complicated look on her face, but she quickly returned to normal and expressed her gratitude.

[Next, Lugh Tuatha Dé. I applaud you for finding the demon and leading the hero to it in the midst of that chaos. Not only that, but you defeated more monsters than anyone else, including the hero himself, and drove the demon race to the brink of extinction. Although you are not a hero, your strength and accomplishments are on par with those of an actual hero. This marks the birth of a young champion. This is the gospel from God!] (King)

The crowd was getting even more excited than when it was Epona’s turn.

A low-ranking noble boy who isn’t the hero is acclaimed as a champion… That’s the sort of tale that leads to social success.

…Although I didn’t wish for that.

[Lugh Tuatha Dé, you shall be granted the title of Holy Knight. And you shall receive the same level of authority as the hero.] (King)

[I happily thank you, Your Majesty.] (Lugh)

Holy Knight. This was a bit of an awkward name.

And having the same level of authority as the hero was frightening.

I could take almost all the reckless decisions I wanted.

The hero’s authority was a lot to take in.

[Come over here.] (King)

I obeyed the king’s words and walked right up to him, where I was presented with a necklace by His Majesty himself.

A pocket watch with a sword engraved on it. This would be the proof of my status as a Holy Knight.

[Lugh Tuatha Dé, I expect that you will live up to your name as a Holy Knight. Show us how you vanquish the demons!] (King)

[I shall do everything in my power to meet your expectations, Your Majesty.] (Lugh)

A few people clapped, and the sound of their applause spread and echoed throughout the room.

At first glance, this would seem like a touching scene, but in reality, they were practically telling me to die because I would be sent to fight demons, which could only be killed by the hero.

For the time being, I was trying to find a way to kill demons, but they couldn’t possibly know about it.

Thinking that way was giving me a headache.

The rest of the day happened mechanically, then everybody moved from the venue to the dancing hall for a big party.

Music was playing, and many people were dancing to it.

By the way, I was surrounded early on and received a lot of questions.

I tried to keep my replies simple so that I wouldn’t end up making any strange commitments.

I didn’t even have enough time to eat.

Eventually, I was finally able to catch a break. Just then, the music changed.

Numerous noble ladies came up to me, saying that this was the perfect timing to invite me to dance.

…I didn’t want to get caught in that.

Just as this thought ran through my mind, someone took my hand.

[Would you like to dance with me?] (Maha)

[With pleasure, Vice-President of Orna.] (Lugh)

The one who took my hand was Maha.

I was grateful for that as I felt more at ease with her than with a noble lady whose face I didn’t know well.

We danced to the music.

I learned how to dance in order to infiltrate such places someday, and before she was orphaned, Maha was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and received the education of a gifted child, and she had had a lot of experience in this kind of thing since she was acting as CEO of Orna in my stead.

[Sir Holy Knight, you seem tired.] (Maha)

She was probably calling Sir Holy Knight instead of Lugh-niisan because we were in public.

Illig Balor and Lugh Tuatha Dé were two different people, and this was the first meeting between Maha and Lugh.

[Pretty much. I guess I wasn’t made for this kind of place, after all.] (Lugh)

[I don’t think so. This is a world of vanity and illusion where you can dance adequately.] (Maha)

[What I can do and what I want to do are two different things.] (Lugh)

[By the way, how do I look?] (Maha)

[Like you’re enjoying the dance. If it’s with you, then I guess this kind of thing isn’t so bad.] (Lugh)

Maha was beautiful today.

She was wearing a mature blue dress and was oozing with sex appeal. The kind that Tarte and Dia didn’t have.

[Fufu, I’m so glad. I predict that… good news will arrive soon enough.] (Maha)

[That’s good to hear.] (Lugh)

She was probably referring to what I asked her for.

It was something I had been trying to get for a long time, using the information network of the Balor Company.

The music became more intense as it reached its hook.

We kept dancing to it.

Maha giggled. I felt as if this was clearing away the frustration I accumulated since coming to the royal capital.

It was no coincidence that we were dancing like this, and she invited me before anyone else did because she cared about me.

I wanted to respond to that feeling.

I used a special directional vocalization method to avoid being overheard by others.

[Maha, when I get back from the capital, I’ll go to Milteu. I have some business to attend to over there.] (Lugh)

[You’re busy. As usual.] (Maha)

[You could say. Once I’m done, let’s go on a date for a day.] (Lugh)

[With pleasure. I’ll dress up as best as I can. Then I’ll make theater and restaurant reservations. And then…] (Maha)

Maha read out her plans for the date one by one.

Looks like things were going to get busy.

But I didn’t hate it.

I was usually the escort, but being escorted wasn’t so bad once in a while.