Nothing beats stress that a meal outside the house. Especially, when you're eating your comfort food like burger and pizza, and then flush them all down with coke which hits the spot.

***

It's been two days since my arrival here in the Royal Capital, and not only that, it's also been two days of endless visitations of prestigious noblemen and women that are trying to get my favor.

It's not a bad thing, but it's damn tiring.

Most of them didn't interest me since I already own things like mansions, businesses and the sort. But not just those, they also try to set me up for marriage interviews, again. Using the Goldenbloom and Balerishk names as defense, they back out immediately without a second thought.

It's great and all, but Cherry's dad and Matt's old man sure are feared people. I wonder why. Maybe I can get to hear stories about them here.

However, some of the people that visited me were really interesting like the tailor from the first day. He brought with him two maids and took my sizes. He really insisted on tailoring my uniform for my position as an Envoy. I know it's a kind of advertising his product, but he looked honestly desperate in saving his business.

Of course, I approved of his request. I believed I could trust him on my uniform since his clothes looked well. I wanted to also help him financially, but he denied it because he wants to earn it himself. His pride really impressed me.

Anyway, today is the last day of this meeting season. I'll be able to rest my face from the almost never ending smiling.

Currently, I'm having a meeting with a man named Selvic. He's not a noble, but he’s a popular adventurer in the Labyrinth City, or so they say. If you're curious as to why I'm talking with him, the answer is obvious: My power.

“There are many things you can gain from the Labyrinth inside Gregudria, High quality Magic Cores, materials from rare monsters, rare minerals such as Mithril, and sometimes, treasures that are hidden inside.”

“If I may be blunt, such things are useless to me. Although magic cores make most of my businesses run, using them directly is useless. I know what you want, you just want my power. Why is that?”

Meeting a lot of people means learning how to read expressions. I've met enough people to fathom whether they're hiding something from me or not.

This guy's been offering me things that are not something he owns. We've been talking for the last 30 minutes and I've never heard him talk about properties and such, just him chasing his dreams with his party of other adventurers.

And because I became too blunt, his smiling expression cracked. But he doesn’t look like he'll give up.

“B-b-but, doesn't it sound great to defeat a floor boss with your power?”

“There are many things worse than a Floor Boss you're talking about, and most of them are my enemy. For me, that floor boss you're talking about is a waste of time. And first of all, I have no plans in going to Gregudria.”

“What about fame? Your name will be heard from many places if-“

“I already have everything I want, fame included. If you think that I'm being a coward in not wanting to join you, I'll take that as an insult.”

This guy looks like he wouldn't leave no matter what unless I approve. It's pretty annoying, so I'm just going to give him something to make him shut his mouth for good.

When I snap my fingers, an object suddenly appears from thin air and drops on the table in between us. This object is something that came from Viola, a dragon horn.

“That horn is of a dragon I just defeated. Take it and leave.”

When I mentioned the name dragon, he fell quiet. He looks like he couldn't process what I just said.

“W-what do I do with it?”

“Well, dragon horns are said to be rare items and considered to be treasures in other kingdoms. You can trade it for a good amount of money and use it to buy good equipment for you and your party.”

*Thud*

All of a sudden, I could hear a loud thud on the door. I thought that someone was trying to break in, but when I heard a cry, I jumped from my seat and rushed to the door. Selvic wanted to say something, but I ignore him because this is way more important.

When I open it, I saw Marie holding her head while crying a lot on the floor. It seems she hit her forehead on the door when she tripped.

“Oh, nobody saw you, don't cry.”

I immediately pick her up from the floor and embraced her. She buries her face on my shoulder and cried even more.

I caress her back lightly and making light hops to make her feel better. She'll get tired eventually and fall asleep after this.

Looking at the hallway, it seems that she escaped Jane again and ran here. I'm amazed she didn't get lost from the number of corners inside the ship has.

“Well anyway, I kindly ask for you to leave now, Sir Selvic. It was nice meeting you, but please, do not bother asking me to join your adventuring party.”

As I carry Marie on my arm, I gave him a stern expression as I say my parting words.

It seems that he finally understood what I want. He takes the horn and bows to me. Good or not, I must leave an impression as the superior one.

“My apologies for wasting your time, Sir Chardelier. I will not bother you with such intentions next time, but I'd be pleased to be acquainted with you, the Celestial Magus.”

“Then we're good.”

After raising his head, he starts walking towards the door.

However, he got bumped to by Lapis who just entered the room.

“What in the…”

I thought that he would get really angry, but when he saw Lapis' cold gaze, he fell quiet and froze. I know that feeling.

“Lapis, bow to apologize.”

Without delay, Lapis lowers her head as an apology. After that, she rushes towards me and looks at Marie.

“T-then I'll take my leave.”

After gaining back his senses, he bows again and leaves.

I look at Lapis and pat her head. She likes getting patted so much she leans on the part when I pat her head. She really is like a cat.

“So where's Jane?”

When I asked her, she points out the door immediately without saying anything. Well, it's not like I don't understand her.

“Lost in the ship again huh… This is the 4th time already.”

It took a while to look for Jane in the ship, and when we found her, she was in the stock room looking for Marie. Apparently, they we're playing hide-and-seek. But her panicked expression when we found her tells me otherwise.

***

“I'm really sorry, sir! I didn't mean to lose Marie in the ship again.”

“Stop apologizing and eat already. It's not a good manner to keep on talking before meal.”

We're currently eating outside the top deck. Not because I like it, but because Eric came here personally to cook for us, live.

Letting him enter the kitchen of the ship is dangerous since it's not too far from the engine room. There are many confidential things inside the ship and one would need clearance to enter some halls and room.

Jane, Lapis, and Marie are under my name so they're allowed as long they’re with me. But I think that every one of the crew trusts them already that they don't mind wherever they go, especially Marie.

Back to the present, Jane is sitting beside me while crying while on the side is Marie pulling and eating some French Fries from the plate in front of her.

Our menu is something I terribly missed from earth. Good thing Eric was able to recreate them with this world's ingredients after his long years of staying here.

And of course, the food is the Classic Pounder Burger with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, cheese, mayo, and ketchup squeezed by buns with sesame seed on top. Not only that, the French Fries Marie's eating are made from fresh potato. But since Marie still has a sensitive palate, he didn't put salt on her share.

We have classic Nachos too. There's a melted cheese dip for it, but Marie hates cheese for some reason and refuses to eat it.

There's also spaghetti that has delicious meatballs in it. I don't like spaghetti that much, but it has it's earthly charm.

And lastly, the thing I'm in love with the most, Cola!

I didn't know how he recreated it, but it tastes like Coke! Every time I sip, I can't help but shred a tear from every sizzle it makes in my mouth. I'm remembering how much I loved it.

“You really love coke to the point of crying huh.”

“Yes! It's been a while.”

Eric puts more burger on the table while laughing at me. Well, it really has been a long while since I have my comfort foods.

On the other hand, Jane looks at me with a troubled expression. She's not going to eat?

“What's the problem, Jane?”

“Etiquette, sir. You've been eating the burger with your hands only.”

Both I and Eric froze for a moment when she said that. After a few moments, we burst into laughter since we found her reaction funny.

“Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you. Eating burger with just hands is normal. Besides, no one else is here other than us. Even Lapis is eating Nachos with her fingers dirtied with cheese.”

I point Lapis who's busy eating the cheesy web. Ever her mouth is dirtier than Marie's because of it. It's really unexpected to see her liking cheese.

“B-but! Eating by hands is dirty. Didn't you say that before?”

“Did I say that? Well, this one's an exception. Just ignore the minor details and eat.”

“You really had everyone in your household learn a proper etiquette including the maid. That's pretty impressive, Key.”

“Thank you for the compliment, Eric. Also, thanks for this amazing meal. It would've been perfect if we had chocolate ice-cream too.”

Eric crosses his arms while making a complicated expression.

“Chocolate huh. I haven’t tasted one since I've come here. I don't think it exists here though.”

He didn't know? Well, that's to be expected. Cocoa isn't that popular here from the start so inventing chocolate is not that possible.”

“Actually, I have supplies of cocoa back at Dalseriev. I know pastry and confectionery so I also know how to make chocolate bars, cakes, and the sort.”

“Are you serious!? I've been searching for that thing for years! Where did you get it?”

“I received it from Jane's village outside the duchy capital after I saved it from a turf war between beasts. The cocoa didn't came from there though, it originated from the southern part of the continent or so they said.”

He got thrilled when I said something about the chocolate, but when I mentioned where it came from, his face became filled with disappointment. I can understand since traveling is dangerous in this world.

Maybe I should create my own means of transportation of goods. I'll make plans about it tonight.

“Well, if you like, I could give you some of my supply. It would take a month for it to arrive here in the Royal Capital.”

“Really? I'd be happy to receive them!”

“I'll write the papers the next day after for the formality.”

“So it's a formal gift huh. I didn't expect that.”

After putting some burgers on the table, he goes back to the grilling station.

While I was enjoying my meal, I suddenly hear someone running up to the deck. Judging by the heavy steps and iron hitting iron noise, it's probably a messenger.

I notice that he stopped behind me. I thought that he was going to say something immediately, but he dropped on his knees instead while gasping for air.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-yes, Master Chardelier! I'm…. I'm just a little tired.”

Rather than tired, you're completely exhausted. Why did he ran anyway?

He looks younger than me. Not only that, he seems like a push-over. Maybe it's the reason why he's a messenger.

“What seems to be the problem? You look like you're in a hurry.”

“I-I was told to not anger you by coming late. I’m new at this job so I don't-“

“Show some respect to Sir Key by closing that mouth of yours. Can't you see we're in the middle of a meal here?”

All of a sudden, Eric comes while wearing an angry expression. Well, I can't really blame him. The messenger is running his mouth instead of doing his job. But I would’ve preferred if he came later though.

“I'm sorry!”

The knight lowered his head even more while letting out a shriek. I'll save this guy.

“Come on, Eric. Give him some slack. Didn't he say he's new?”

“Even so, he—”

“HEY! The patty's burning!”

When I pointed that out, he immediately turns to the grill station and rushes to save the food. Of course, it wasn't an accident. I used fire magic and burned it.

“Jane, give him a glass of water.”

Jane followed my request and took a glass of water and handed it to the exhausted messenger.

He's so thirsty that after he emptied the glass, he shamelessly asked for another one. Well, I'm not that merciless.

Then all of a sudden, Marie comes down from her seat with a handful of French Fries. After that, she walks to the knight and then offered him one.

“Fry~?”

“Huh?”

Leaving aside Marie's music note-like voice, the messenger didn't understand her kind gesture.

“She's giving you some treat. It seems my daughter is fond of you.”

“I-is that so? Then, thank you for the offer.”

When he was about to take the French Fry, Marie pulls away her hands. Then she makes a gesture of opening her mouth. We all understood that she want to feed him herself, Jane giggled, the messenger became embarrassed, and I… felt a sharp pain in my chest.

After the messenger got fed by Marie, Marie then runs back to her seat and continues eating happily. Well, it's cute and all, but that scene damaged my heart.

“Who sent you?”

“Y-yes sir!”

Oops, I accidentally raised my voice there. I scared messenger and startled Jane, and Lapis.

“I'm a messenger from the Vellant Household. I was sent to inform you of the meeting this afternoon will be forwarded this evening. That is all.”

“All this trouble for a single line? What the heck!”

“I see you're still not used to this thing huh.”

Like Eric said, I'm not used to this kind of system. Making one man run through the royal capital just for a short message is too stupid. I'll make something similar to a phone later to remove this troublesome thing.

But Vellant huh… I feel like I've heard that name before.

“Then give him my regards and thanks. But before that, take a short rest and have a meal with us.”

Immediately, Jane goes to a nearby chair take it to our table and then she puts it in between Marie and Lapis. Since the messenger looks like he still hasn't understood why, I teleported him to the seat without any warning.

“What the….”

“Don't be too surprised. We're just going to have a lunch.”

With another snap of my fingers, the arm guards of his armor immediately disappear and get teleported to a pile of ropes.

Unexpectedly, his hands are clean, but full of scars. Maybe it's to be expected of knights. They train hard everyday after all.

“What's your name?”

He doesn't look like he's going to talk so I initiated it.

“My name is Porfus Vellant. I got adopted by Marquis Vellant so now I carry his name.”

For a pushover like him to get adopted. I can already smell something fishy, and it's not related to me.

“Marquis Vellant, what kind of master is he?”

“Well he's a kind person, but is very scary to anger.”

“Fry?”

While we're talking, Marie keeps passing him some fries. Cute, but a bit annoying. Leaving that aside, he doesn't talk a lot about him. I need to dig deeper.

My reason for this is that, this Marquis Vellant is probably one of the Representatives of the Fulsheri Alliance. There's a list of the members actually, but I made a blunder and lost it. There's no duplicate too.

Now I have to know how many they are without asking directly. Being too direct would affect their opinion of me and the chances of me being a target of assassination would increase again. Though they probably wouldn’t do any immediate actions, but the possibility is not zero.

“I have some treasures with me from Berigious, but I don't know what he likes. I want to know about his likes and dislikes. I'd be glad if you also know about the other representatives too. Of course, I would give you a reward for it.”

I've got tons of prototype magical weaponry with me right now. Giving them away means less trash to deal with.

He seems to be surprised of my goal. He looks down and thinks about it deeply. But I won't give him time to think properly.

“Before that, please try eating the hamburger made by Sir Eric. I guarantee they're better than the fries Marie is giving you.”

Well… that's the second reason.

He takes the burger on the plate. He takes a few seconds trying to scan the ingredients like looking for some kind of poison or something. But when he takes the first bite, his eyes grew in surprise as if he found something great.

“Wow! This is so good!”

After saying that, he chomps down the burger really fast like someone's going to steal it. Is this even normal? Well, it's good that he's enjoying it.

“So, what kind of things does Marquis Vellant like?”

Before he answers my question, he pushes down the food down his throat with coke.

“Well, he likes buying a lot of things. Others say he's an eccentric person, but I remember him saying that unknown things worth more than gold.”

Eccentric huh… It's better than I expected.

“So then, why did he made you rush?”

“Well, he probably didn't want to be on your bad side. After that incident in the sky, nobody wants to anger the Celestial Magus.”

“Is it the same with the others?”

“I'm sorry. I don't know about the other two earls.”

Well, that was easy.

“Then, since you've come all the way here just to give me this message, I want you to follow me.”

I stood up from my seat while patting Marie's head. Jane wanted to stand too, but I raised my hand to stop her.

After he stood up, we distance ourselves from the dining table.

“Spread your arms.”

“Y-yes sir!”

What I'm going to do with him is something similar to making illusions. However, I'm not making illusions. I did this once with Lapis, but it was a dress so I think it doesn’t actually count. Porfus here, well, is a good Guinea pig.

Since he already is wearing armor, I'll use it by changing it from inside out.

“>”

“Holy!”

A magic circle appears below and above Porfus. At the same time, it restricts him of his movements. Moving during the process could be dangerous.

Customize Field is a magic template. It's like a drawing board for my other magic that is for customization. It was something I came up when I was working with the Sentinels. Making each part was annoying so I needed something to remove that inconvenience.

“There are some impurities with the armor. >”

The armor then splits up equally to many parts.

“>, >, >, >, >, >”

Since I already had an image in mind, I materialize it using just his armor. From being just a simple foot soldier armor, it became a Magic Armor capable of repulsing many kinds of attack. Since it doesn't have any direct source of mana, it's just a self-sustaining magic device with low magical output. It's not going to run out of juice, but it's not that juicy too.

After I cancel out the magic, Porfus became able to move again. His face is still full of disbelief and shock.

“I thought I was going to die…”

Is he really scared of me to that level?

“I'm not done yet. For the finishing touches, what is your weapon of choice?”

I ignored his reaction and asked him since he wouldn't stop looking at his new armor.

“Weapon? Uhm.. I'm only good with a bow.”

“Then a bow it is then.”

Here's the thing. During my stay in Berigious, I have made a lot of progress with my knowledge of magic. I can almost do anything I want because of it too. That includes making a warehouse that has a special function that allows me to take from it even without going there myself. In short, it's a > magic. I can take things from there where ever I am, but I can't do the reverse.

The warehouse is just outside my mansion so it's guarded tightly. There are also a dozen unarmored [Sentinel Cores] ready for deployment guarding both buildings 24/7 so I can rest at ease.

I search through my memory where I put the bows I made in Berigious. After I confirmed it, I invoke > and teleported a bow on my hand.

“Where did this come from?”

“Thin Air.”

I give him a two meter great bow made of Chani, a type of wood soaked in chemicals using alchemy. It has a magic conducting property so it can also be used like a wand. That said, the bow is a Magic Bow. It can fire both Physical Arrows and magical ones or even both.

I tried it, but I suck at using bows so I missed my targets.

“This is a magic bow, use it with care.”

After receiving it, he drops on one knee and lowered his head.

“Thank you for the gifts, Celestial Magus! I shall forever remember this kindness!”

“Wow, you really went all out for the young one huh.”

Eric seems impressed with what I did.

“Well, this is just a minor thing.”

“So you can even make something better than this?”

“It'll take a lot of practice, but yes I can. Anyhow, let's continue our lunch.”

After the meal, I gave Porfus my gift to Marquis Vellant. And since I have given Porfus a treat, he happily goes back to their household.

I may be meddling too much, but I feel like Porfus is the Marquis' son outside. Making it look like I'm good with him will make him look better in the Marquis’ eyes. It's not like I don't like the guy, but since Marie treated him kindly. He's probably a good man.

I wish this doesn't affect the future though.