Chapter 242
Creta’s Royalty
Thus, I wasn’t wearing the knight uniform, but rather the formal suit I wore during my first audience with Tristan-sama . Naturally, Allen and Elena were dressed up too .
“Your Majesty Maynard, we have kept you waiting . ”
“No worries . You are on time . ”
I thought we would be taken to the audience hall, but this seemed like a normal parlor . Oh, even though I say normal, it’s still a parlor within the castle, so it was quite gorgeous-looking .
There were already a few people inside the room, the man in the middle replied to Austin-sama, so he must be the King of Creta .
Creta’s king——Maynard-sama, appears to be of the same generation as Tristan-sama, he had olive-brown hair and eyes . He was solidly built——a muscular macho man . Anyhow, he was big . Even though he was sitting, I felt that his line of sight was matching the line of sight of me, who was standing .
“Austin-dono, is that the rumored one?”
“Yes, he’s the creator of the instant soup I have told you about yesterday . The adventurer Takumi and his siblings . Takumi, this is the King of Creta, His Majesty Maynard . ”
“I am Takumi . It’s an honor to meet you, Your Majesty . ”
“You can call me Maynard . I will be calling you Takumi too, after all . I’ve heard about this from Austin-dono, but you’ve made something incredible, Takumi!”
Maynard-sama seemed to be a cheerful person .
What’s more, he was quite friendly, someone who didn’t care about etiquette too much… I think?
“That thing is really amazing! Cooking soup that easily is revolutionary! It should be circulating the market as soon as possible! Also, thanks for bringing it to our land!”
Maynard-sama approached us and clapped cheerfully on my shoulder .
… However, looking at him up close, he looks even bigger~
“Erm, can I take it as a positive reply?”
“Of course . Only a fool would decline getting rights of manufacturing and sales of that thing . I would be troubled if your terms are too rash, but I will happily accommodate you to some extent!”
Apparently, he is likely to sign the contract with us even if the terms are more favorable to us .
“Father, calm down a little . It’s rude of you to leave the guests standing . ”
“Oh, right! Sorry about that, Austin-dono, Takumi . Sit down please . ”
“Thank you very much, Your Majesty . ”
It was a young man about the same age as me who rebuked Maynard-sama . He addressed Maynard-sama as “Father”, so he must be a prince, no?
“I apologize for the delayed greetings . I’m Takumi . It’s a pleasure to meet you . ”
Guided to our seats, I sat next to Austin-sama . Of course, Allen and Elena as well .
When I took a seat, I introduced myself again .
“My name is Rain, the Second Prince of Creta . I apologize for my Father . He has a tendency to get wild easily, but I can guarantee his good character as his son, so please be patient with him . ”
Rain-sama’s hair and eyes were the same olive-brown as Maynard-sama, but the impression he gave off wasn’t similar whatsoever . Both in physique and personality .
“Nono, I’m an adventurer and a simple commoner, so… you don’t have to stoop down to my status . ”
“A simple commoner? That wouldn’t be true . A simple commoner wouldn’t get acquainted with a royalty who would bring them to a foreign country to form a contract . ”
“……”
Ehh~ No, I know that I am a little out of the ordinary, okay? But, I wonder if I am so much out of the ordinary by meeting a royalty like this? N~ acting like the common people is difficult~
Rather, Austin-sama turned his gaze away and his body was trembling . He’s definitely laughing .
“… Austin-sama . ”
“S, sorry . But, you know Takumi, it’s about time you realize you aren’t normal . ”
“I might be considered normal if I keep talking about it~… can’t I?”
“No, that’s impossible . In the first place, commoners can’t be acquainted with the royalty of three countries . ”
“… I thought so~”
Guardia, Argo, Creta . The course of events made me get to know the kings and princes of all these countries~ Huh? But, I have yet to see a genuine princess, right~
“It looks like he’s not unaware of it . ”
“Yeah . That’s Takumi for you . He occasionally feigns ignorance, but he’s an honest lad . ”
I am not feigning ignorance, though~
“Well then, let’s get down the business, Your Majesty Maynard, Rain-dono . These are the terms of the instant soup contract . Please take a look . ”
Austin-sama received the documents from a servant and handed them to Maynard-sama and Rain-sama .
“Now this is… you are intending to sell it quite cheap . ”
“It’s a price anyone can afford . That was Takumi’s wish . ”
“Even though you could make money if you put your mind on it, but you have disregarded your own profits . That’s not something others could do so easily . However, it would be certainly for the better of the country to spread the soup as much as possible . ”
“Umu, I have no doubts that the knights, merchants, and adventurers will have a much easier time thanks to this soup! I wish this was around when I was active!”
“N?”
When Maynard-sama was active? Erm, you are still in the power of the king, so you are still active, no?
“My Father was apparently wandering around as an adventurer when he was young . ”
“Umu . I climbed up to A-rank, but I, unfortunately, wasn’t able to reach the S-rank . ”
“Ohh!”
Since he climbed up to A-rank, it means he wasn’t playing around but took it seriously!
Or rather, there really are adventurers among the royalty, huh!
“I heard you are already A-rank . You are still young, so I’m sure you will reach the S-rank soon!”
“Err… I wonder about that . I don’t have much of actual experience, after all . ”
“You certainly need more than simple combat skills the higher rank you climb . However, what is needed to raise from A to S is pure strength . ”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, do your best . ”
It’s difficult to reply with “Yes” especially for me who is not really aiming to be the top adventurer .
“”Will do my best~””
The children responded cheerfully instead of me who was struggling to answer .
Well, it’s okay since everyone was smiling .