Chapter 21 - Audience with the King The s.p.a.ce between the throne and the door was narrower than I"d thought.
I was a little surprised because I"d thought that I would be guided to a s.p.a.cious hall.
I looked around the not-too-wide-room, and saw around ten people who looked like aristocrats.
The throne was placed in the centre at the back of the room, and His Majesty the King was sitting on it.
Was that the Prime Minister next to His Majesty?
An older man with slick dark blue hair and a stern face stood next to his Majesty.
The Captain, who accompanied me from behind, entered the door from the side and went to stand with the other aristocrats.
Our eyes met for a moment.
His eyes were smiling as if telling me it was okay.
For now, I walked up to the centre of the room like the Civil Official had told me to do.
When I stopped, I heard the sound of the door closing behind me.
From here on there was no script.
The Civil Official only told me what to do until here.
I felt nervous from the subtle tense atmosphere.
After several minutes, the King stood up from his throne and the tension increased.
The King got off the platform, where the throne was placed, and walked towards me until he stopped a few steps away.
"First of all, I would like to apologise for suddenly summoning you from your country, and for my son"s rudeness."
His Majesty bowed deeply after speaking.
The people around me also turned towards me and bowed.
Wait a minute.
What"s with this setting?!
I was breaking out in cold sweat inside yet no one moved, not even His Majesty.
Let"s leave aside things like forgiving or not forgiving for now. You should raise your head first, shouldn"t you?
"Please raise your head."
I said, holding back my quivering voice, and everyone raised their heads.
The tension in the room slightly loosened.
I guess this was the formal apology he told me about before, but it was intense for common people, so I would like him to stop doing this in the future.
I thought that it was over with this, but it wasn"t.
"Sei-dono, you have accomplished various achievements since coming here to this Kingdom. I want to give you a reward on top of the apology. Is there anything you want?"
"A reward?"
Even if he suddenly asked me, I couldn"t think of something on the spot.
I thought it would be over with just the apology.
A reward, a reward, huh……
Oh yeah, he asked me this before too.
But I didn"t really need anything.
Could I say that I didn"t need anything, in this kind of place?
I glanced at the Captain and I saw him knit his eyebrows a little.
It wasn"t just the Captain, the people around him were also doing the same.
It felt like they were breathlessly watching me.
"You can ask for rank or territory. You can have anything you want as long as we can provide it."
"Well, that is a little……"
The Prime Minister (?) suggested, probably due to my silence.
I was worried, but if I had paid attention, I would have noticed that the relaxed aura had become tense again. Both the Prime Minister (a.s.sumed) and His Majesty looked grave.
Things such as rank or territory might have been common rewards here, but I didn"t need such things.
Having things beyond my reach would probably restrict my actions.
Having such things would make it hard for me to get out of this Kingdom if something happened.
I didn"t think I could throw them away, either, if I wanted to leave the kingdom.
I thought and tried to refuse in a roundabout way and the Prime Minister frowned deeper.
I wondered what would happen if I said that I didn"t need anything.
I wanted to try saying it out loud, but I wavered when I saw how the people around me looked.
Judging from His Majesty"s words, the purpose of this audience was the apology.
He might have been trying to understand my true intentions by seeing if I would accept the reward or not.
Honestly, so many things had been running through my mind when I was first summoned; but six months had pa.s.sed since then, and I wasn"t as angry as I had been.
Did I feel better from working hard and doing what I liked at the Research Inst.i.tute?
Or was it the fact that being angry took so much energy that it was difficult to continue being angry?
If I had to spend energy on something, I"d rather spend it on consolidating my position.
I might have also been moved by the kindness of the Researchers, Knights and people around me.
I wanted to leave this Kingdom at first, but I didn"t feel the need to do so anymore.
I packed and prepared to leave as soon as possible in case something happened.
There was also that but even if they apologise now, it didn"t feel like much of an apology.
Yup.
I wanted to tell them that I didn"t need anything, but if I did, they"d probably put on this farce again.
That would be troublesome.
I wanted to receive something and put an end to this.
A reward that wouldn"t be troublesome. Was there anything like that?
I thought for a little and then it hit me. I told them:
"I can have anything I want, isn"t that right?"
"Yes."
"Then…… Is it alright if I receive permission to read books from the prohibited section?"
Was my request unexpected? His Majesty slightly widened his eyes.
It wouldn"t get in my way, so that"s what I wanted the most.
I"d been searching for a while now to find if I could make potions that were higher than Advanced Potions, but my search had come up fruitless.
I"d finished reading all the related books in the library, and I couldn"t think of any other way than to read the prohibited books.
A mere researcher, however, did not have the permission to read the prohibited books, so I gave up halfway.
But a reward was suddenly brought up at this place.
I should make use of it, shouldn"t I?
"I also want to learn about magic, so could I get a magic instructor?"
I somehow thought that it would be alright to ask for one more thing, so I added it on.
Thanks to my magic skills, I could also use magic.
It felt like I was missing out a lot of things just by self-studying from books.
Magic didn"t exist in my original world, so if possible I wanted the opportunity to learn from a proper instructor.
Being able to use magic in this world was advantageous for supporting oneself.
"Okay. I will make the preparations."
As a result, my request was accepted.
It seemed that my request was unexpected.
Adjustments needed to be made, and I would receive my rewards as soon as they were ready.
Translator: Blushy