Rebirth in a Ruined Nation! The Life of a New Strategist Starting From Now - Chapter 133

The Royal Ceremony (2) – the Obnoxious Noble, the Prince,  and Me

It was the one day before our departure for the royal ceremony.

The sight of us, 4000 soldiers, lined up perfectly as we gazed at the King and his son must be quite spectacular from the podium.

We were currently at a large hall located in the palace. This hall was commonly used for ceremonies related to soldiers’ departure. From atop the platform, King Zeurasia looked over at us and cleared his throat.

“I am pleased that everyone has gathered here for my son, Zealand’s royal ceremony. We will depart tomorrow! Today we have prepared a small feast! Eat well today and rest well tonight to be ready for tomorrow!”

To greet the King, everyone raised their swords high and stomped their foot twice causing the sounds of footsteps to echo throughout the room. The King descended the platform with satisfaction and the banquet began.

Thought it was a banquet because we were going to leave tomorrow morning, the majority of the soldiers were only eating and not drinking which in turn caused the food to disappear from the table at an alarming rate.

The sight of food being brought out one after another and then disappearing in a flash was just like a war. The appetite of 4000 soldiers was not a joke.

“Roa-dono! Rufa-dono!”

As I was absentmindedly observing this war-like banquet, someone called me and Rufa.

It was Prince Zeland. Dressed in banquet attire, he came to us after weaving through the crowd.

“Is it fine for you to be here, Prince Zeland?”

“It’s fine. I only have to act formal in front of many people after the ceremony. For today, Lord Father told me to do as I please,” As he answered me, Prince Zeland kept stealing glances at Rufa.

Today Rufa was wearing a dress she borrowed from Lapilia-sama. It made her look like a beautiful princess from a foreign land.

By the way, Rufa and Diku didn’t participate in this mission so normally, they couldn’t attend today’s banquet. But because of Prince Zeland’s request, they were both specially invited to the banquet.

Rufa herself was busy chewing on meat and didn’t pay much attention to Prince Zeland.

Despite that, Prince Zeland looked satisfied so well, I guess all is good.

As I was chatting with Prince Zeland, someone’s voice interrupted us.

“My, my, Prince Zeland. It has been a while.”

I turned to the source of the voice. It was a man with a very strange hairstyle with his bangs curled and pinned down around his forehead.

Ah, Dentacruz Belosa. Duke Senburia’s son and one of the 9th Division’s captains. I heard he was entrusted with the command of the 9th Division’s knights who would be participating in the ceremony.

How annoying. Prince Zeland who had a bad experience with Duke Senburia immediately hid behind me.

“My, a prince, yet couldn’t even give a proper greeting. It seems the rumors are true..oops, pardon my rudeness.”

He said while showing a scornful smile to Prince Zeland. He was being way too rude to the Prince.

“Hey, you.”

When I tried to stop Dentacruz, he turned to me and made a very annoyed expression.

“You are? Which family do you belong to?”

“I’m not a noble. I’m Roa, a Brigade Commander from the 10th Division.”

“Not a noble, you say? Then why are you acting like that in front of me, a member of the Belosa family? Insolent! I’ll cut you down!”

Dentacruz’s yelling brought the attention of the surrounding soldiers. Dentacruz pointed at me and continued, “Since this is a good opportunity, I’ll make it clear. I, Dencatruz, will be in charge of this mission. You, Roa, only need to obey me. Otherwise…you understand, right?”

“Otherwise what?”

“Otherwise you will have no future! To think you even need me to explain this, what a fool.”

Whoah. It’s quite refreshing to see someone threatening me so openly. If only he didn’t act so idiotic, people might even mistake him for being an actual bigshot.

“There’s no way I can leave the mission to someone who doesn’t seem to have a real ability. Besides, I think it’s a bit too much for someone who has no manner toward a Prince to lead the mission.”

“Insolent!!”

When I showed no fear or even regard despite his Belosa family name, Dentacruz yelled with his eyes wide in surprise. Then, he seemed to think for a bit before saying, “…Maybe you’re a country bumpkin who never heard of the Belosa name?”

To be honest, he was half right. I learned about the existence of the Belosa family only recently. I had no interest in noble houses that had little to nothing to do with the Knight Order or war.

Plus, there’s no way I would feel anything when he threatened my future when this country’s future itself was at risk. What’s more, with the destruction approaching fast, I had no time to deal with stupid nobles.

Ah, right, Rays-sama said that if people of the Belosa family tried to do anything, he allowed me to crush them.

Rays-sama’s permission was the same thing as the King’s permission, so should I just play with him?

With that in mind, I turned to Dentacruz who had a disgusted expression, and smiled.

“Of course, I know about the Belosa family. Aren’t they the declining noble family who just recently had all tutors they sent to the Princes replaced?”

People around us began to whisper and I could sense they were holding their breath as we exchanged conversation.

“…What…did you just said…?” With a pale face, Dencantruz asked with a low voice.

“Oops, did I make a mistake? I thought for sure that the family who begged the King for a chance to make up for their failure was the Belosa family…hmm…maybe it was some other family…”

“YOU…!!” Dentacruz placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Wickharlt, who had come to my side while I was talking with Dentacruz also put his hand on his sword.

“My, won’t your position worsen if you draw your sword?” Dentacruz’s expression turned purple after hearing my words.

“What’s happening here?”

Likely because of the commotion, King Zeurasia accompanied by Rays-sama and Lapilia-sama came to us.

“…It’s nothing,” said Dentacruz. Then, he glared at me before walking away.

I do think I might have gone a bit too far.

But seeing how relieved Prince Zeland’s expression was, I guess it’s fine.