Chapter 337

“Hahaha~”

“…….”

I swirled the brandy in the crystal glass and stared at Elias’s foolish expression. Even though we were already on the train heading to Baden, he was still wearing the navy beret and cotton gloves he had put on earlier. Considering how much he usually hated anything bothersome, the reason he had not tossed everything aside despite finally having the chance was obvious. He looked like a child barely holding himself back from bolting out the door at any moment. Elias, of course, could not stay still, constantly crossing his legs and leaning about while continuously pouring alcohol down his throat.

“This is great. Luka is drinking with me~”

“As if there was ever a time I did not. I am the one who always goes along with your rhythm.”

Listening only to Elias, it was easy to misunderstand. I had felt it once already in the hospital room, and since I was tired and did not bother correcting him then, he was spreading false information again. It was not as though I was obligated to drink with Elias, yet I glanced around uneasily, worried that a misunderstanding might arise. Fortunately, none of the friends on the train were paying any attention to us.

“I mean, I am just saying, just saying. Earlier you said you had something to do and would come later, so I thought I would not get to drink with you.”

“Luckily, the conversation ended early.”

“What were you doing? Did you talk to that senior again?”

“No, not that side.”

At my answer, Elias nodded appropriately. He drained the remaining alcohol and began eyeing the drink in my glass. I ordered another of what I was having and handed it to Elias, then carefully opened my mouth.

“So, Eli.”

“Yeah?”

“…Is there anything uncomfortable?”

“Luka, are you uncomfortable?!”

“No, you. I am peaceful right now.”

Elias stared at me quietly, then shook his head.

“Me too. Oh yeah~”

I closed my eyes as I watched him flail his arms.

‘…What do kids even like.’

I had definitely gone through that age myself. No, even if I calculated my age back in the twenty-first century, the gap was not that enormous. The things people this age liked and my own preferences would not be worlds apart. They were not the same, but close enough that I could imitate them without it feeling unnatural. And yet, nothing came to mind. What should I do? What on earth should I do to earn his favor?

“Eli. Is there anything you want to eat?”

“We are going to eat at Yulia’s place once we get there, though?”

“That is true…. Then something you want?”

“Something I want?! I…!”

“Ah, something we can get today.”

Elias thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Nope! Just having fun today is enough.”

“I see….”

In the end, I had no choice but to pick this.

“AAH! It hurts. AAAAAH!”

“Ah.”

I loosened my strength appropriately and patted his back. Only then did Elias relax his body. Massaging someone like this reminded me of the days when I did filial piety massages for school evaluations. I was oddly grateful to the system for reviving a memory over ten years old.

“That feels nice~ But it feels like the alcohol is coming back up.”

“…….”

I stopped, stood him up, and sent him to the restroom. I could hear Elias gagging.

‘This is not it.’

I was not his parent, and something like this would not help with a friend’s favorability. Honestly, even parents would probably not be that impressed. Yes. This was not it after all. Trying to deal with a favorability mission while handling major events made my thinking grind to a halt.

‘How do I earn Elias’s favor?’

It was a problem. By now, the train had already passed Württemberg and crossed into the Baden border. Since we had departed from Bavaria, it had not taken that long to reach Baden.

They were telling me to raise the favorability of someone who was obviously going to be expensive. I had not checked his favorability yet. First, I did not want to look at my friends’ feelings as mere numbers, and second, even if I did check, nothing would change anyway. Whether his favorability was -10, +8, or +9, the fact that I needed to raise it by 1 point would not change, so what could I do….

‘…It is probably above 7 anyway.’

At this point, it was clear that the difficulty was absurd. While I was sitting and playing chess with Elias like that, at some point the train came to a stop. Before I could even check outside the window, Elias sprang up like a coiled spring and shouted,

“ARRIVED!!!”

‘My eardrums are going to burst.’

Thinking that, I grabbed Elias’s luggage. Elias, who had grabbed at empty air, looked at his own hand and then stared at me with a flustered expression. I spoke with the most proper smile I could manage.

“I will carry it. Let’s go.”

“Huh~? No way! Luka should rest~”

“Rest from what. I have rested plenty.”

As I said that, I neatly fixed Elias’s crooked jacket. Elias stared at me intently, then said,

“You are kind today, Luka~”

“Today? I am always kind.”

“Hahaha!”

“…….”

Why are you laughing? I ignored his laughter and turned around. Carrying Elias’s luggage as well, I got off the train, and Tsheringen, who had already disembarked from another car and was waiting, recognized me and greeted me. As I approached with a smile, she spoke brightly.

“It is our first time coming to Baden together.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the invitation.”

“Oh, if anything, I should be the one thanking you. I hope the time you spend in Baden will be enjoyable for you.”

At that moment, Elias cut in from the side.

“What about me~?”

“You come here often, Elias.”

“I guess I should come less often so you realize how precious I am.”

I looked around. The other four, aside from us, seemed to have already boarded the carriage heading for the palace. We boarded the carriage guided by Tsheringen and her chief attendant, heading for Karlsruhe Palace, the palace of Baden. As when we went to Anhalt, I could see numerous servants standing there. I exchanged brief greetings with the Baden nobles employed by the royal palace and entered the castle’s reception hall to meet the Grand Duke of Baden.

“Her Highness Duke Wilhelmina Tsheringen is entering!”

As soon as the servant’s announcement ended, the doors opened and the Grand Duke entered the reception hall. Tsheringen first set down her glass and stepped forward to speak.

“I greet you, Your Highness.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you again. I am glad to see you in good health. I am especially grateful that Sir Askanian and Sir Wittelsbach are present here.”

With a gentle expression, the Grand Duke greeted Tsheringen, then gave us, who had approached behind her, a smiling glance. She gestured to our friends and spoke to me first.

“Sir Askanian. We have met once or twice before, have we not? As always, I have heard much about you.”

We had met, but it had always been brief. This was the first time we were properly facing each other.

“You must have suffered greatly from being caught up in this incident. I am relieved that you destroyed Pleroma’s Brandenburg Archdiocese and returned safely. The Grand Duke’s heir has spoken of you often since before. I was already aware, but I am pleased to have confirmed your competence once more through this incident.”

At those words, my eyes met Tsheringen’s. She smiled at me. I returned the expression and continued with a courteous response. After briefly greeting the seven of us, the Grand Duke moved to the dining area and opened the meal with these words.

“I know that the time permitted to you is limited given the unstable situation. Though it is short, I hope you can calm and restore both body and mind here.”

The remark about limited time was true. The incident in which only members of ruling families had been attacked by Pleroma had provoked the government and the Imperial Family. The four who had been dragged to the Brandenburg Archdiocese that day were victims of the incident, so they were given a bit of leeway to recover, but even that would end the morning after tomorrow, when they had to return. In other words, we could only rest until tomorrow. There were countless things to think about after that, but for now, I needed to focus on Elias’s favorability.

At the dining table, Elias cleared his plate far faster than anyone else. At an appropriate moment, I slid a glass of water toward him and said,

“You eat well.”

Ulrike, who was seated to my right, said with an awkward expression,

“I have been watching since the train, and today Lukas really looks like Elias’s parent.”

“Nice~”

“Is that nice….”

At my half-laughing remark, Narce, for some reason, just chuckled and stuffed meat into her mouth, while Leo looked at us strangely like Ulrike did. More precisely, he was alternating his gaze between the two of us with eyes that said, what wind suddenly blew that you are doing things you normally do not. Heike was simply observing intently. I cut some bread, spread cheese on it, and held it out to Elias. Elias snatched it up as if he were about to eat my fork as well. When I handed him a handkerchief, he gave me a look of thanks and casually wiped his mouth. At that moment, my core tingled.

“…!”

I bit down hard on my lip and tensed my body. Thanks to that, at least, an unfortunate incident of drawing attention did not occur.

‘This is really….’

If he had been sitting right in front of me, I would have kicked Leo’s shin, but I could not. And striking his core in return was not an option either, since it was clearly meant as a reminder to maintain decorum in front of elders. Even I thought I had overdone it due to the tight limit of twenty-four hours. As I accepted Leo’s point and was about to focus on eating my own meal, Elias spoke quietly.

“Who wants to play a board game before going to the spa after dinner.”

“…….”

You are saying this here?

Even for someone as obsessed with completing suggestions as I was, that was a statement that made a bit of cold sweat break out. I reflexively checked the Grand Duke’s face. However, no one was shocked by Elias’s nonsense. Only then did I recall that the Tsheringen family had watched him for a long time and must have long since developed immunity to his nonsense. At the mention of a board game, Narce laughed and shook her shoulders.

“Ugh…. I will sit this one out.”

“Why?”

“I have studied strategy games so much that I do not want to see anything similar anymore~”

“What about Leo? Yulia?”

“It is fine, Elias. I will pass.”

“Me too. Let’s do it next time.”

“Your Highness?”

“I will also decline.”

“…….”

Treating another country’s ruler like a friend’s parent…. Well, it was accurate, but still strange. The Grand Duke began explaining why he could not play a board game, talking about matters he had to deal with soon, and Leo listened attentively before asking,

“I see. So you have no plans to expand armaments within this month.”

‘Yes, that is normal conversation. Why did a board game suddenly come up.’

“That is now a matter for the Senate to decide, but fortunately the Senate is also negative on that proposal. It would be better to use that budget to support the Vatican. However, since Prussia, the leader of the German Empire, is Protestant and has a history of strongly persecuting Catholicism, it is difficult to know how effective our policy of fellowship under the banner of Germany will be.”

He would not know that there was a Vatican cardinal disguised as a seminary student right beside him. Narce pretended not to hear the Grand Duke of Baden’s words and drank her wine. When her eyes met mine, she smiled. While Yulia Tsheringen joined in and the three of them continued a serious conversation, Elias turned to me with eyes like he was searching for prey.

“What about you, Luka?”

“…….”

***

What choice did I have?

I took a black chip and placed it in front of me, thinking. I was playing the game as he wanted. And, as expected… the suggestion completion window did not appear.

‘This will not work.’

This was a game we played all the time. I pushed the chip over with my finger, knocking it down, and said,

“Eli, how about we go back to the banquet hall and play billiards or something….”

“Let’s go out!”

Fortunately, Elias felt the same way. I quickly stood up and dragged him outside. Elias grinned.

“Haha, Luka is really playing with me well today~? Usually around now you go hang out with Narce or Yulia.”

I smacked my lips, feeling a pang.

“…Hmm, was that so. It probably was not intentional.”

Elias was already no longer interested in my words. He did not seem to take them to heart. Instead, he arrived at a massive hall with a small orchestra and tilted his head as he looked at the empty center.

“The first floor is completely empty. If Old Humans were around, people would be dancing here. You know, that thing we learned as general education at school.”

“Want to try?”

“Yeah!”

I had said it without much thought, but the answer was incredibly bright. I almost had a moment of existential clarity upon realizing that I had never danced with someone this clueless before, but it was fine. Right now, I had five points on the line, and… even if I did not, if Elias enjoyed himself, it was not such a bad thing anyway.

“Which step are you used to?”

“I do not really know that either. I only know how to do it like this.”

Elias stepped and lifted his hand near his head. Seeing that he did not turn in a circle, I understood what he had learned and took the opposite step.

A few minutes later, after trying it once, Elias seemed to realize it was nothing special. With a refreshed expression, he proudly climbed the stairs to the upper floor. Then, out of nowhere, he started talking.

“I actually do not like the banquet hall.”

“…….”

I nodded. He did not like being there, nor did he like doing anything there. Having read his novel, I knew the reason. Leo would know as well. Elias, who had been going ahead, suddenly turned his head. A bright smile spread across his face.

“But today is fun~ As expected, everything is fun when I am with you, Luka.”

“That is a relief. I feel the same.”

Even after eight hours since our departure, the favorability window still had not appeared. I had no intention of fishing for it, but feeling a slight sense of unease, I muttered without thinking.

“Why is that? Is it because I feel more comfortable since I am in the same situation as you?”

At those words, Elias paused, then nodded.

“That was true. But now, rather than that….”

As he was speaking, Elias grabbed the railing and turned his body again. Then he spotted someone and shouted,

“Ah! It is Heike. Luka, you are not tired, right? We are going to drink at the hot spring later, so save your health for now. I am going to have a drink with Heike.”

“What? Wait, Eli!”

Elias sprinted up the stairs, only a few steps away from the second floor. I was not even going to dip a toe into the hot spring. More importantly, I could not lose Elias now. As I hurried after him, Leo, who had been talking with Tsheringen on the second floor, noticed me and grabbed me with a flat expression.

“Ah, perfect timing. Lukas.”

“What. Make it quick.”

“There is something I should tell you in advance regarding the new unit being formed by the command. You remember the exam, but this time you and I….”

My gaze was fixed past Leo’s arm. I could see Elias, who had taken the paper Heike handed him, about to snap his fingers. He was planning to warp.

“Wait, later. Eli!”

“What? Lukas!”

Leo called out to me, unusually flustered. The moment he grabbed my arm tightly, I sent magic power through his arm to shake him off and ran toward Elias.

“Hah.”

From behind me came a cold sigh, as if he was dumbfounded. Sorry, but I could not listen to that right now. Elias was about to go off with Heike. I rushed at them, gave Heike, who was next to Elias, an apologetic look, and grabbed Elias, pulling him into the corridor connected to the hall.

“Whoa~ Luka, what is going on? You are really looking for me today?”

“What do you mean, what is going on.”

I caught my breath and tried to speak as cleanly as possible. It was not like I never played with Elias enough to hear something like this. Maybe today’s suggestion had been asking me to spend the entire day playing with Elias. I pulled him to a place where no other nobles were in sight and spoke quietly.

“Actually.”

He smiled faintly and grabbed my cheek.

“Oh? Actually~?”

“I want to play only with you today.”

“…….”

What am I even saying…. I am saying something not even an elementary schooler would say. Maybe this would earn me some favorability with Elias. Thinking, whatever happens, happens, I let out a deep sigh. Elias, who had widened his eyes, then broke into a grin.

“An opportunity.”

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