Ruler Vol 2 Chapter 1
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Author: Anit666
【Sam’s POV】
“Samuel Hayden, Jack Hargreave and Chloe Evans. The Demon Army invaded along with two of the four commandments, who alone are considered as a national crisis. And despite the dangers to your own life, you jumped into the fray in order to repel the demons and save this city. Therefore, in the name of the Holy Kingdom, we hereby confer you the medal of First Order to express our gratitude!” (Riktor)
Declared Riktor Von Vetto, the current king of this country. The throne room was filled with thunderous applause after that. What a pain.
What’s with this weird situation anyway? We are currently being rewarded for beating back the Demon Army that had invaded the royal castle yesterday. But did they really need to do it in such an extravagant way? They could’ve just sent the medals to our room.
I’m in this because of that damned Liera.
Last night, I had manipulated Shiggurath and had done some dirty work to lay the foundations for my future plans. It was already morning when I finished. Just when I was ready to dive in my bed and read a book, I heard a knock on my door.
I thought that it was probably Jack, who had come to give his report after completing the errands I gave to him. So I opened the door. But the one who stood in front of me was Liera.
“Hey Sam. His majesty is going to conduct an investiture ceremony and confer you a medal for your bravery that you showed yesterday. So get ready-” (Liera)
“No thanks.” (Sam)
I replied curtly and tried to slam the door shut. But Liera, who was faster and more powerful than I had expected, caught the door, pushed me in, and entered the room without permission. She looked at Shiggurath sleeping on my sofa, and spoke with a sly grin.
“My my, it’s been only a day since we allowed you to leave the castle, but you’re already having some fun, huh.” (Liera)
As expected, she misunderstood the reason for Shiggurath’s presence in my room. But I couldn’t tell her the real reason either. So I tried to get out of that awkward situation by making excuses.
“It’s not what you think. We were just talking about our abilities and limitations in order to improve our-” (Sam)
“Yeah yeah yeah whatever. It doesn’t matter. What I’m saying is, get ready for the ceremony. I’ll send the maids who’ll dress you up.” (Liera)
“I’m pretty sure that I can do that on my own. In fact, do we really need a ceremony? Couldn’t you just deliver the medal to my room?” (Sam)
“Of course it’s needed. It’s already public news that the royal castle was attacked by the Demon Army, and that it was repelled successfully. It’s much more of a serious situation than you might think. Therefore, it’s necessary to announce exactly who repelled the demons in order to quell the unrest in people’s hearts. This also means that the Holy Kingdom will be officially declaring that the Heroes have been summoned.” (Liera)
Damn it! Can’t I read in peace?
“Good grief……. fine. However, there’s no need to send any maids. Just send me the dress I have to wear for the ceremony. I’ll wear it by myself.” (Sam)
“Understood.” (Liera)
She exited the room after saying that. Shortly, a maid delivered to me the dress I was required to wear for the ceremony. Contrary to my expectations, it was a two-piece suit. The jacket and trousers were pure white, while the shirt was jet black. The tie was golden, while the belt was also white with a golden buckle.
Why are there suits in this world anyway? Or so I thought, but was later provided an answer by Liera. It’s because of one of the previous Heroes. He liked suits, so he introduced them in this world. The suits then got popular, and are still worn by people for special occasions.
I woke Shiggurath and drove her out of the room. I hurriedly took a bath, and wore the suit, keeping the tie loose. Despite my misgivings., I looked decent enough in my suit.
A short time later, Alicia came to my room.
“Good morning, Sam. You look wonderful in that suit.” (Alicia)
“Do I? Thanks. You also look gorgeous. Looks like the people at the award ceremony won’t be able to pay attention to me as their eyes would be locked on you. That’s good.” (Sam)
I tried mildly flirting with her.
“Fufufufu, you’re exaggerating Sam. Anyway, shall we go?” (Alicia)
She didn’t show any reaction though. Was it because of my average looks?
“Yes.” (Sam)
We exited the room and headed towards the waiting room. Jack and Chloe were already waiting for me there.
Chloe was wearing a crimson one-piece dress, which emphasised her slender waist and large chest. She also had a necklace around her neck. She was looking so gorgeous that my heart skipped a beat. But I quickly regained composure.
On the other hand, Jack was wearing a three-piece suit. The vest, jacket and trousers were black, with stunning silver embroidery on them. His shirt was white in colour. He also looked quite handsome.
I now understood why students of our school called him the lady-killer. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t envious of him. Go explode, damned Riajuu!
“Please wait here for a while.” (Alicia)
She exited the room after saying that.
We were soon called to the throne room. The moment we three entered it, someone announced in a very large voice.
“The brave Heroes who rescued our kingdom, have arrived!”
A commotion spread among the guests attending the ceremony, probably due to the term ‘Heroes’.
We walked up to the throne, and knelt, as we were instructed beforehand.
“The king of the Holy Kingdom, His Majesty Riktor Von Vetto is entering!”
The king entered the throne room, and everyone present in the room knelt. He sat upon his throne, and spoke.
“Please be at ease everyone.” (Riktor)
Everyone stood up. But we kept kneeling, as we were taught.
After that he declared that were the ones who forced the demons back, and conferred us our medals.
He then ordered us to stand at ease, and also stood up from the throne. Looks like it’s time to declare that we are the Heroes.
Riktor stood beside us, and spoke in a clear yet loud tone.
“Everyone present, hear this. These three are the Heroes that’ve been summoned in response to the threat of the Demon King. They are out hope for the future!” (Riktor)
The surroundings got noisy, which was shortly followed by cheering and applause which shook the entire throne room. Seems like we Heroes are much more revered than I’d expected.
But their admiration is misplaced. I’m no Hero. And Jack is definitely not one. I’m just doing what I want to do. The salvation of people is nothing more than a side-effect of that. I don’t know about how Chloe feels about this whole situation, but she’s unfortunately too weak to make a considerable difference.
Well, the news about our summoning would soon be announced to the general public. This would end the peaceful life that I’ve till now been living in this world.
No wait, I’ve never lived peacefully, have I? Good grief.
“Then, with this, we announce the end of the medal ceremony.” (Riktor)
Good. Time to go back to my room and plan my next move-
“After this, there will be a party in the hall of the Royal Castle. Everyone is welcome to participate.” (Riktor)
Damn you, Riktor! If this is a royal party, then there are bound to be nobles attending it. And I’m sure that there would be some shitty nobles who’ll approach us and try to use us.
I thought of secretly slipping back to my room, but before I knew it, Liera was standing behind me. She then caught my arm, and dragged me and Jack to the hall. As expected, Jack had the same thoughts as me.
And as I expected, most of the people attending the party belonged to royalty. Many of the nobles tried to suck up to me and gain my favour. They were probably attracted by the power that a Hero possesses, and thought they could manipulate me. And to do that, they also tried to introduce their daughters to me as a potential marriage candidate. Although all of them were exceptionally beautiful, I had no interest in them so I respectfully declined by saying that I already had a fiancé.
After knowing that, they changed their targets to Jack. There were also people who tried to introduce their sons to Chloe. Yepp, that’s why I didn’t want to attend this party.
Since the party was extremely boring for someone like me, I was quietly sipping my wine while standing by the wall.
“So here you are. We were looking for you everywhere.” (Shiggurath)
And the ones who joined me were Cornellia and Shiggurath. Well, Cornellia is also royalty of another country, while Shiggurath is my comrade, so it’s only natural that they would also be attending this party.
Shiggurath was wearing a black one-piece dress, while Cornellia was wearing a white gown with golden embroidery. Both of them looked breathtakingly gorgeous. Why are there so many beautiful women in this world anyway?
“Good morning Sam. I can see that you’re not really enjoying this party, are you?” (Cornellia)
Was my boredom that apparent?
“I won’t deny that statement. What about you? Are you enjoying this?” (Sam)
“I would be lying if I were to say yes.” (Cornellia)
She’s also bored, huh.
“So Sam, when should we start your training?” (Cornellia)
“Training?” (Sam)
“Didn’t we have a deal where I would teach you that healing magic in exchange of your help? (Cornellia)
Huh? But I thought that her debt was paid when she agreed to come with me when the castle when it was invaded. Well, if she’s so eager to teach me that magic, then it would be incredibly rude to refuse her.
“How about starting this afternoon?” (Sam)
“That would be perfect.” (Cornellia)
“Good. Then I’ll ask Liera to arrange for a place where you can teach me. What will you do Shiggurath?” (Sam)
“Hmm… since I have nothing else to do, I’ll stay with you and watch over your training. I’m also interested in Cornellia’s healing magic anyway.” (Shiggurath)
“Understood.” (Sam)
Time to take the next step towards victory.
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