Isekai Nonbiri Nouka Chapter 1084: An Invitation from Count Godrake

● Character Refresher

Lady Foka: A capable young noblelady who noticed the trap in the archive museum and tried to escape, only to be pursued and captured.

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My name is Mikel.

I am the son of Fushu, the High Priest of the Korin Religion, and I live in Raywhite Kingdom.

At the moment, I am acting as Alfred-kun’s guide.

A lookout?

No, that’s not it.

Alfred-kun is my friend.

I would never keep watch over a friend.

A bodyguard?

No way, no way.

Alfred-kun is overwhelmingly stronger than I am.

If I had to describe my role, I suppose I’m the one who decides where to send the people he defeats.

Ah, I’m sorry if you were expecting something more, but I have absolutely no power to stop Alfred-kun.

Not even the slightest bit.

Please don’t ask the impossible of me.

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Now then, although I have no power to stop Alfred-kun, someone who does have that power has arrived.

A man dressed in black whom Alfred-kun brought from his village.

His name is Fuuma Kato.

Apparently, he is Alfred-kun’s bodyguard.

He doesn’t talk much and only speaks in simple words, but he has stopped Alfred-kun whenever he was about to do something dangerous.

Alfred-kun doesn’t strongly resist Kato-san, either.

He usually stays behind Alfred-kun and doesn’t do anything unnecessary.

He doesn’t say anything unnecessary, either.

He only acts when Alfred-kun needs to be stopped.

His judgment is perfectly normal.

He’s a very sensible person.

He’s so sensible that I can overlook the fact that he rides a strange vehicle that moves faster than a horse, even indoors.

……

It’s fine. I can overlook it.

Just because he’s riding a vehicle doesn’t mean he’s caused trouble for anyone.

Manners?

He properly bowed and greeted the kings.

He just didn’t get off his vehicle.

The kings laughed and let it pass, so it’s fine.

……

It’s true that my mother was standing behind Kato-san.

But she wasn’t trying to intimidate the kings. Her smile meant, 「If you get into a dispute with Kato-san, the entire faction of the Corin Religion led by my mother will side with him, so make absolutely sure you don’t cause any trouble. I’m completely serious.」

There’s nothing scary about that.

Yes, nothing scary at all.

She’s simply prepared to see things through.

I do think the soldiers who were so frightened that they forgot their duty to guard the kings and ran away have a problem, but that’s something for the kings to discuss. It’s not my place to say anything.

Oh, if you’re planning to dismiss the soldiers who ran away, I’d appreciate it if you let me know. The Corin Religion would like to hire them.

No, no, I’m just helping them find new jobs.

You can never have too much fighting strength.

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Kato-san is always riding that strange vehicle.

Apparently, it’s called a motorcycle.

He can stick to walls and ceilings and move around on them.

Amazing.

And food and drinks come out of that motorcycle, too.

Convenient.

But it turns out he can get off the motorcycle as well.

Of course he can.

After getting off his motorcycle, Kato-san launched a flying knee strike straight into the face of the nobleman who had made an unreasonable demand of Alfred-kun.

……

Perhaps saying he launched a strike is a little too harsh.

Let’s say he graciously delivered a flying knee strike to the nobleman’s face.

Yes.

Then he proceeded to beat down the guards who tried to protect the fallen nobleman, striking them at a speed too fast for the eye to follow.

Alfred-kun praised Kato-san for being able to hold back so well.

…………….

I see.

I think I’ll avoid asking what would happen if he failed to hold back.

Yeah.

Ah, running over the fallen guards and nobleman with the motorcycle would be a bit too much…..

I’d appreciate it if he could just tie them up and drag them away instead.

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I left the nobleman who had made unreasonable demands of Alfred-kun to my mother, then continued guiding Alfred-kun as usual.

Kato-san doesn’t offer his opinions.

However, before Alfred-kun decides what to do, he checks with Kato-san.

The way he does this is so natural that I wonder if Kato-san actually holds a higher position in their village.

But Alfred-kun is the village chief’s son.

And I’ve heard that Kato-san isn’t the village chief.

Could they be in a teacher-student relationship?

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Today’s destination for Alfred-kun is a tea party at Count Godrake’s estate.

Count Godrake is one of Raywhite Kingdom’s most influential figures.

He is also the father of Lady Foka, who has been working alongside the princes at the archive museum.

That father had suddenly sent Alfred-kun an invitation.

Even though they weren’t acquainted at all.

According to noble etiquette, they should meet somewhere else first, get to know each other, and build a friendly relationship before extending an invitation.

That is the proper procedure and the polite thing to do.

Failing to follow these steps is only acceptable when the other party is vastly superior in status or when they are treating you like a commoner.

In other words, the invitation essentially meant, 「I have something to discuss with you, so come here.」

That was rude.

Obviously rude.

Alfred-kun is indeed a commoner.

But he is a guest of the Corin Religion.

And not just any guest.

He is a guest entrusted to us by someone important.

Furthermore, the kings have acknowledged this arrangement.

In other words, Alfred-kun is a state guest.

So treating him this way is unacceptable.

It’s no different from what that other nobleman who made unreasonable demands did.

I was about to gather the Corin Religion’s forces and storm the place… excuse me, go there to discuss the matter.

Just before I did, Lady Foka apologized for the rude invitation.

At the same time, she explained that Count Godrake had an urgent matter he needed to discuss with Alfred-kun, which was why he had to invite him this way.

Furthermore, according to Lady Foka, her father had originally intended to follow the proper procedure by attending a party that Alfred-kun would be at, making his acquaintance there, and then extending the invitation. However, Alfred-kun hadn’t been attending parties lately.

It’s true that he hasn’t been attending.

Even when he does go, he leaves almost immediately.

I could understand that following the proper procedure would be difficult.

However, that doesn’t justify making such a rude invitation.

For example, he could ask a noble who knows Alfred-kun to act as an intermediary and arrange the invitation… No, that wouldn’t work.

There aren’t any nobles close enough to Alfred-kun to act as an intermediary.

After all, arranging an invitation isn’t simply a matter of passing it along and being done with it.

If any trouble occurs at the gathering, the intermediary is responsible for handling it.

You have to know both parties reasonably well to act as an intermediary.

The people who know Alfred-kun well enough to do that would be members of the Corin Religion or the princes.

However, whichever of them Count Godrake asked, they would want to know the details of why he wanted to meet Alfred-kun.

If Count Godrake’s business were something he could discuss openly, he could simply send a letter instead of arranging an invitation…

So it must be a somewhat confidential matter.

With that in mind, asking someone to arrange the invitation would be difficult.

The only ones left would be the noblewomen who knew Alfred-kun, including Lady Foka.

But having one of them invite him would be even more impossible.

It would turn into a marriage meeting.

Alfred-kun completely refuses to participate in marriage meetings.

Because he already has someone he intends to marry.

He doesn’t do anything that might give someone false hope.

Even if he were invited, Alfred-kun probably wouldn’t go.

So Count Godrake had resorted to the rude approach of inviting him directly.

Hmm.

I put my plan to go there and discuss the matter on hold, but left the decision of whether to accept the invitation to Alfred-kun himself.

Alfred-kun accepted the invitation to the tea party, saying that if Count Godrake had something to discuss, he would go.

Of course, I would accompany him.

And so would Kato-san.

But why a tea party?

If Count Godrake himself was inviting Alfred-kun, a man, shouldn’t he have invited him to something like a hunting party instead?

Perhaps a tea party was better because it would allow them to sit down and talk calmly about the matter.

I have no idea.