LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 211
Chapter 211. The Freeman And His Majesty The King
That day, Cherina was fired up.
A bold, flaming red dress with a daringly open chest.
Her makeup was flawless.
Truly, it was a woman’s battle attire.
Normally, she would be in easy-to-move leather armor, so why was she dressed like this…?
“Raise your head!”
This was the audience chamber deep within Lakelel Castle.
The spacious, white stone room was lined with elite soldiers along the pillars on both sides.
By no means was this a situation where a mere merchant with no proper appointment would be welcomed.
“Is this the power of the Church…?”
I muttered to myself.
As expected of the introduction from the highest authority of one of the world’s top three religions, with its headquarters here. To have an audience with the King the very next day—even someone as clueless as me about this world’s affairs could tell this was abnormal.
When I raised my head, I saw His Majesty the King, looking bored, propping his elbow on an unnecessarily large chair.
He was a middle-aged man, but his gaze was sharp.
“Are you the ones Damagreus spoke of?”
Despite using the plural, the King’s gaze was fixed solely on me. Well, there’s been talk about me being an Apostle and all.
I don’t see myself that way, but… I did hear Goddess’s voice, receive a letter, and even gain special abilities. Even if I denied it, no one would believe me.
“I am Cherina Veliero. On this occasion, I am honored to have an audience with Your Majesty…”
For a while, Cherina continued with her formal greetings as planned.
The conversation proceeded according to the script for some time.
“…Therefore, we humbly request permission to establish a Shift Room.”
After finishing the tedious formalities, Cherina finally brought up the main topic.
According to her predictions, with the Pope’s recommendation, the permission would likely be granted, but of course, the expenses would fall on the economically free city-state of Tessa.
Furthermore, she anticipated that it would take at least a few years before construction could begin due to the waiting list.
I could almost see the wry smile of Brow Soar, who handles all of Tessa’s political affairs.
“…Actually, before Damagreus, an envoy from the Kazmus Church came.”
The King spoke with a sigh.
Wait, wasn’t that before we met the Pope of the Aigas Church?
“They said that if a request to establish a Shift Room came from a country in the western frontier, they wanted us to give it preferential treatment. The Kazmus Church, which rarely makes requests, asked for this.”
What does that mean?
“They didn’t say anything about the reason, but I owe the Kazmus Church a favor. And now you’ve come… Who exactly are you?”
Another difficult question…
“Well, never mind. I’ll grant you permission to establish the Shift Room. The Lakelel side will cover the costs. The priests from the Kazmus Church are already on standby for the construction. The location has also been secured. All that’s left is to finalize the details with the Kazmus Church.”
Wait, wait, wait. What’s going on?
This is way off from Cherina’s predictions.
“The audience is over! Both of you may leave!”
With no room for argument, we were promptly dismissed.
Back in the waiting room, Cherina and I exchanged glances.
“What’s going on?”
“If you don’t know, how would I?”
“Well, maybe you coincidentally saved the King’s life before meeting me…”
“You… you’re not even convincing yourself.”
“True. Perhaps it’s because they considered you, Akira-sama, as an Apostle?”
“Hmm. That’s likely, but his attitude doesn’t quite match.”
If anything, it feels more like they considered the Aigas Church, which firmly believes I’m an Apostle…
That makes more sense.
“I see. His Majesty doesn’t believe the whole Apostle thing.”
“Yeah, from the King’s perspective, a mere merchant claiming to be an Apostle is just suspicious.”
“Indeed, if you were truly an Apostle, they’d probably make a big deal out of it.”
“Probably.”
As we were having this aimless conversation, there was a knock on the waiting room door.
“Come in.”
“Pardon me.”
A man in priestly robes entered, but his attire was quite different from what we’d seen before.
“Nice to meet you. I am Toki Jinka of the Kazmus Church. Thanks to His Majesty’s consideration, we have been provided with time and space. Are you Lord Akira?”
His white, easy-to-move priestly robes had a black circle dyed on the chest.
That must be the symbol of the Kazmus Church.
“Yeah, I’m Akira. Seems like I owe you guys a lot this time.”
“Not at all. If we can be of service to an Apostle, it is an unexpected joy.”
Apostle again…
“So, will you be handling the negotiations with the city-state of Tessa?”
“No, that’s Cherina’s area.”
“Understood. Shall we proceed with the formalities then?”
“Yes, please.”
After that, the two of them spent the rest of the afternoon discussing the details.
I was bored just listening, but I couldn’t leave, so I silently stayed. Well, I’ve been through worse during my salaryman days.
The gist of it was that a specialized team from Tessa would arrive within a few months to handle the Shift Room’s establishment, but the Lakelel side would start construction in the meantime.
It seems they plan to set up a diplomatic facility for Tessa as well.
Additionally, they’ll establish a branch of the Veliero Trading Company to streamline economic and information management.
Originally, it was thought that getting the Shift Room’s permission would be a miracle by the time the personnel arrived, so the gap between the initial and follow-up teams was unexpected.
Though, it would be more problematic to have the griffin Cookle and the carriage group arrive together.
“Lord Akira, what are your plans from here on?”
“We’re done in Lakelel. I’d like to head to the Green Garden Court as soon as possible…”
Before I could ask what Cherina would do, she answered.
“Then, I’ll find someone to take over by tomorrow, so could you wait until the main team from Tessa arrives?”
“That’s fine with us. The Shift Room might even be completed before they arrive.”
“That’s…”
“No, no, I’m not being sarcastic. We have no issues. We can adjust our schedule to yours.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Cherina, finding a replacement won’t be that easy, right?”
“Well, there is one possibility. So, where should we go from tomorrow onwards?”
“If you come to the Shift Room’s construction site, we’ll be there.”
“Understood. I’ll try to visit by tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
With that, we left the castle, and just like yesterday, it was dusk.
“So, what’s this possibility you mentioned?”
“One of the Veliero trading caravans should be staying here around this time. The caravan leader is someone I know, so I’ll ask him to stay.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Wheat is just entering harvest season, so they should be staying until the purchases are complete. Let’s ask around at the carriage inns.”
“Got it. Do you know where they are?”
“Vaguely. Let’s ask around as we go.”
As we headed towards the main street to ask about the carriage inns, something happened in an alley along the way.
“Whoooaaa! Get outta the way!!”
A man who looked like a thief was running towards us, clutching a bag.
And chasing him was a rather flashy old man.
It was clearly a case of theft or pickpocketing.
“You! Move!”
The thief shouted at me.
Ah, I see. I’m standing right in the middle of a narrow alley.
I pretended to move aside along the wall… and tripped him.
With my full power, it must have felt like he slammed his shin into a concrete wall.
“Gwaaaaaah!!”
He rolled on the ground about ten times from his own momentum and then lay still, like he’d been pinned by Benkei.
He must have been in too much pain to even scream.
The flashy old man, dressed in a bright green outfit with a matching green feathered hat, retrieved the bag and gave the thief a kick.
Then he turned to me.
“You saved me, brother!”
I don’t remember having a brother like you.
The annoying old man hugged me.
Please stop…
This reeks of trouble, seriously…