-Chapter 1-
-Meeting the Ancestors in the Jewel Arc-
Staying in an inn of a lodging town, I abided the voices streaming into my head, and left the room.
I looked around and found a chair in the hall.
So I sat there and decided to waste some time.
(Somehow, I’ve been getting terribly tired lately.)
I lost to my sister Celes, and was driven out of my home, the Walt House. Even now, I’m being saved by my former fiancé Novem.
(I’m really sleepy…)
So sitting in the creaking misshapen wooden chair, I closed my eyes.
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『Wake up, ‘ya bastard!』
“Eh, w… what?”
I heard an angry voice, so I opened my eyes, and looked around.
In front of me was a large circular table, with a round blue stone embedded in the center. Around it were fourteen chairs that gave off a similar feel, and there, various men and women sat side by side.
Only my seat was alone, without another stationed beside.
Across from me, with a beast’s fur covering his head, a man who looked like a barbarian from all angles was glaring at me.
『Just look at those dead fish eyes on your face! And now, that frail physique and mopesome temperament… and you call yourself a man of the Walt House!? Listen here, the Walt House’s selling point is the wildness of… OOF!』
The man in his thirties who had begun to yell was shut up by the fist of a woman in her later twenties.
Those around looked at the beaten man with indescribable emotion.
Holding his head, he turned to the woman.
『U-um, you know, that was just to give my poor descendant some motivation, and it’s not like I’m actually angry or anything… I’m not, so…』
With her curling hair done up in a ponytail, the woman lifted the man up by the collar, and shut him up with a strong blow to the body.
(… Eh? What’s all this?)
There, the woman sitting adjacent to me stood, and embraced me.
『You’ve grown so big… Lyle, do you remember me?』
Taking in the woman’s features, I was surprised. Because she resembled my grandmother enough to warrant such surprise. But her age was somewhere in her later twenties.
And my grandmother had long passed.
“Yes, but… that’s…”
When I fidgeted around, the ponytailed woman looked at me, and laughed.
『Hahaha, you’re quite a cute one. I never thought my descendent would turn out to be such a cool man. I’m surprised this man’s House managed to pop out a boy like you.』
My grandmother clinging to me glared at the other woman.
『… Hey wait a minute. It’s my blood that Lyle carries. Meaning he legitimately carries the blood of royalty. You say it as if you’re so high and mighty, but what do the knight couple have to say for themselves?』
A vein popped up on the ponytailed woman’s forehead as she refuted
『Ah? How cheeky for one so younger than me. In the first place, if I wasn’t here, then none of those here would have ever gathered. You understand that, right? Look, you say something too.』
The ponytailed woman turned the conversation to the couple-like people to her side. Looking closely, it looks like all the pairs were spouses.
A man in hunter attire…
『No, um… mom, how about we calm down a little. See, our descendent Lyle over there looks quite troubled.』
But his woman was different.
『I’ve been wanting to say this for quite some time, but…』
Touching her straight and long emerald hair, the woman beside the hunter spoke.
『… Dear mother in law, your soup was definitely too strongly seasoned.』
…. Um, what’s this all about?
On top of being completely irrelevant to the topic at hand, the emerald-haired woman looked quite relieved after the words had left her mouth.
The hunter man tried to follow up.
『Oy, that’s a bit off. No one was asking about that, right!?』
『So what!? I never got to say it up to the end, so let me have my moments! Saying it was the taste of the Walt House, and never calling her out on how terrible it was is your fault, you know!』
The ponytailed woman snapped her fingers as she glared at the hunter, and the woman to his side.
『Hmm… so that’s what you thought? How sad. Now Crassel how about you tell that woman who passes water for soup the truth?』
It appears that the ponytailed woman was the hunter’s mother. Appearance-wise, the hunter-dressed man looked a little older, so it was a peculiar sight.
My grandmother clinging to me offered an explanation.
『It must have been hard for you, Lyle. But don’t worry. Everyone here is an ancestor of the Walt House… I doubt they’ll be much use, honestly, but they have Skills, so I’m sure you’ll find a use for them.』
A younger form of my grandfather stood, and spoke to grandmother.
『O-oy! You shouldn’t be telling him things like that! Of the members of history, there are plenty who’ve excelled in military service. Come to think of it…』
The one to assert their opinion to my grandmother was a woman sitting beside a man who looked quite unconcerned with the situation.
Standing up besides the man of smaller build, she looked towards us.
『You call yourself royalty, but you’re the cause of all this, aren’t you? Are you listening, Lyle-kun? The Jewel that woman brought with her when she married in is the cause of all of this.』
The unconcerned man gave a slight nod.
『… Right. And wait, what’s this about royalty?』
Unable to understand anything, I looked around.
(Um, you’ve lost me.)
An aloof man came in-between the ponytailed woman and the emerald haired one.
『Grandmother, mother, how about we leave it at that? Alright? A request from me.』
Hearing that, the two of them reluctantly stood down. The man’s wife…
『You always just play everything off like that… you really have a knack for it. Even when Max went through so much troubles because of you. Right, Max? You got that strong-willed shorty as your bride, and Fredricks went astray…』
A man wearing glasses broke into a cold sweat as he looked around nervously. A woman of small build slammed both her hands on the table, and stood.
『Oh shut it! I did my best as daughter of a viscount! What’s all this!? What do you mean my Fredricks went astray!?』
The unconcerned man tried to keep up his indifferent air as he fidgeted.
『M-mama, I’m begging you, please stop. Oy, dad!』
He seemed tough on his father, but the glasses-wearing man…
『What are you expecting me to do!? I don’t think I can go against either of them. How about you act like father, and try calming everyone down!?』
『Don’t screw with me, damn old man!』
When they started fighting, the woman of short build also started grappling with the belligerent one.
With a large body, a man who gave off a wild impression at a glance looked at me.
But he was trying to shrink that large body of his, as he remained conscious of the woman sitting to her side.
The pretty woman of blond hair and blue eyes gave off a bit of a cold impression in her dress.
『You sure are loud. Good grief, this is why I hate far out country-side nobles.』
『No, you also lived there, right? Saying it like that is…』
When the wild-ish man said that, the woman glared at him.
『Oh shut it, you liar! What do you mean you fell head over heels for me!? Surrounded by other women… in the first place, getting women just because father in law told you to… you’ve got no individuality, you know!』
The wild man looked towards the man of small build for help.
『… No, I said it was fine to get mistresses, but that’s only if you think there’ll be a problem with succession. I never told you to push yourself and get a number, did I?』
When the wild-ish man hung his head, my grandfather spoke to the woman.
『Mother, can we leave it there? Lyle’s watching.』
She looked at me.
I straitened my back in tension.
『Oh, looking at you up close, you really are cute. I’m sure you’ll make women cry in a different way than that man. Hey, listen Lyle… make sure you don’t turn out like him, alright?』
Being looked at with such lightless eyes, I ended up nodding several times.
My grandmother clinging to me spoke.
『More importantly Lyle, it’s about Novem, but…』
“Eh? Yes?”
『That girl’s quite shady, don’t you think? It’s you know… my intuition is whispering to me.』
“Um, but you see. She did choose to go along with me. And I haven’t even decided what to do from here on, so I don’t think…”
『Oh no worries there!』
My grandmother separated from me, and spread her arms.
『There are fourteen gathered here! With their Skills and stages put together, you’ve got 【Fourty Two Skills】 for the picking! While we’re at it, want to try taking the country? I hate the current royal line, so I’ll support you with all I’ve got. Right, dear?』
When my grandmother looked at him, my grandfather averted his eyes.
『Y-yeah… I’m sure a country or two is simple enough… but what about this country’s history, or just cause or…』
He began mumbling in a quiet voice. My grandmother put her hand to her back, and I’m not sure where she produced it from, but she took out her favorite folding fan.
『What is it? With all the men of the Walt House gathered here, you can’t even take a single country? What a letdown. All the history of the House sung of as Bahnseim’s strongest, and that’s all you’ve got.』
Holding his stomach, the barbarian man stood.
『Wai- wait a second. Look here, right now, that boy doesn’t have a single soldier, so how do you plan on going about taking a country?』
When he stated something surprising logical, the men displayed off their lack of motivation.
『Right. I don’t want to agree with my dad, but picking a fight with a country is a bit…』
『Ah, I’m good at making money, you know.』
『No, I’m sorry, so please forgive me.』
『My position was councilor to that very royal line, though.』
One of them was earnestly apologizing to his wife. The others didn’t seem interested in toppling the reigning power. But the wives of the female camp had differing opinions.
They were all for it.
『Oh, nice! My blood shall take down the royal line of Bahnseim, and become kings… I’m on board!』
『We got from knight to count, so a little leap to king isn’t bad. And wait, that royal line can go to hell already. My husband’s death was definitely that bastard’s fault… Introduced a wife and so what? Pushing all the trouble on us after that…』
『How much do you think my husband suffered… I won’t forgive Celes for making all his efforts be for nothing! And I’ve not a shred of loyalty for the royalty that abandoned all its provincial nobles! Dear, let’s do it.』
『There are houses we have good enough relations with. There are plenty of nobles with dissatisfactions against the royalty. It’s fine, we will give you the throne, Lyle.』
No, rather than wanting to get anything like that…
“U-um… I couldn’t even win against Celes…”
The Barbarian-styled man.
『That’s why you’re no goo… Bherah!』
After the pony tailed woman sent him flying to shut him up, the other woman began negotiations with their husbands.
Pleading, and occasionally threatening, and with sticking cynicism, they received the permission of the men.
And all I could do was watch it go on…
My grandmother spoke.
『Now, Lyle… let’s start our regime.』
“U-um…”
After it went on that far, I started to hear Novem’s voice.
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“Lyle-sama, you’ll catch a cold if you sleep in a place like this.”
Having washed her hair and wiped down her body, Novem looked at me with ample worry.
My eyes were teary, as I held her body to my own.
“W-what could be the matter, Lyle-sama!?”
As she panicked, I spoke.
“What should I do, Novem… it seems I’m going to be overthrowing the government.”
“… Huh?”
Even Novem was struck dumbfound by my words.