Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero’s Friend - Chapter 16

“…That’s why, can you meet my daughter once, Mazell-kun?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Viscount Ungar. But from what I know, your daughter is only three years old, right?”

“If given a chance in the future, I will surely meet her, Viscount.”

Mazell’s face immediately stiffened when I said that viscount’s daughter was only three years old. He must be having a hard time preventing himself from giving a straight refusal, so he was desperately giving me the signal to help him escape his current situation.

Well, such situations have been happening again and again since Marquis Norporth left. Really. It’s fine if those nobles asked Mazell to meet someone his age, but why do they also ask him to meet a grandma above 50 and a girl below 10? They must have thought of Mazell, the man with [Hero] skill that defeated a devil, as a delicious prey.

As for me, I did get some ‘meeting’ offers, but the amount is nothing compared to Mazell’s. Is it because… he’s more handsome than me?

Come to think of it, I didn’t remember that this kind of scene existed in the game.

Considering the game itself had little mention of nobles, I guess that’s expected. Plus, originally, the Crown Prince is supposed to die in that battle. After the Crown Prince died, most nobles probably went to the frontline themselves and ended up as corpses. It makes sense that none of the nobles will be relaxed enough to ‘offer’ their relative to the hero.

This is also not a good time to relax actually. Not that anyone knows.

“Thanks for earlier.”

“If you’re grateful, treat me to lunch later.”

“I will even include breakfast and dinner. Sigh…”

Mazell said with a rare extremely tired voice. I’m also tired. Those nobles keep coming like waves, and I need to talk nonstop to entertain them in the meantime. My throat, which had just healed a few days ago, began to hurt again.

At least, I’m glad that I learned this world’s noble etiquette in advance. You don’t know what’s going to be useful, eh.

“But those waves of people are really something, aren’t they?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be used to it? Mr. Popular student?”

That’s right. Mazell is also pretty popular in the academy. I hate to admit it, but he has both the face and the personality. He’s also quite a gentleman to the woman.

Thinking about the academy reminded me of something. Some of the noble ladies who attend the academy can only form relationships with other nobles. In that group of ladies, sometimes I saw them enchanted by him while saying, “If only he’s a noble…”

Then they will continue to say, “A noble lady can’t have free love!” to themselves. I pitied them. It’s not like my pity will make them approach me instead, though.

…Why am I even thinking about this? Anyway, even without being a hero, Mazell is already a ‘valuable item’ and his value will only continue to increase in the future.

That ‘value increase’ depends on his accomplishment in the future battle with demons, though.

Now that this kind of marriage market… ahem… I mean a banquet event that originally didn’t happen in the game had happened, I don’t think I can rely too much on my game story knowledge anymore.

“I apologize for interrupting your conversation.”

“Ah, no…”

“Ah, there is no need to apologize. But, do you need something from us?”

When I looked in the direction of the familiar voice, I froze. 

Mazell didn’t know. That’s why he can ask something like that. As for me, I’m currently trying my best to calm myself. She gave me a curtsy, and when I tried to bow to her, she raised her hand to stop me and smiled.

“There’s no need to be that stiff, Viscount Zeavert. Please be at ease.”

You sure said it like it’s the easiest thing to do, ma’am. Wait, she isn’t supposed to be in the palace now.

Let’s put off that question and calm my beating heart first. The impact of seeing a girl who is the hot topic, even if she’s just a game character in real life, is quite something.

Her beautiful blond hair swayed earlier when she gave us a curtsy. My mind finally catches up to me, and I remember that this was the first time I saw a curtsy, and hers was truly elegant. Is this perhaps a ‘captivating movement’ often said in a novel?

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Laura Louise Weinzierl. May I have a little bit of both of your time?”

Here comes the game’s main heroine.

?

“Isn’t she really beautiful?”

“She is, and all other royals have a good appearance too. Who knows, maybe good appearance is one of the conditions to become a royal?”

As we were following Her Highness, Mazell asked me in a low voice, so I answered him. It’s not like I can talk about how DNA affects a person’s appearance here, so I just left it with that answer.

I can tell how Mazell treated her with quite a bit of respect despite her being a young woman. It’s probably because of this noble dignity that she carried herself with. This is something that I only feel when I actually meet her in person.

Anyway, despite my earlier answer, I also think Mazell didn’t lose to the royals in terms of his appearance. I’m not jealous. No. It makes me think again how different he, the main character, and I, the supporting character, are.

What? I’m just a mob, not even a supporting character? Mind your own business!

Well, rather than thinking about supporting characters whatnot, I’m more curious about where she will bring us to.

“Please follow me inside.”

She said as she passed the guard and entered another hallway separated by a huge double door. I’ve realized it before, but her every little movement carried an elegance, as expected of a real princess.

Also, I never realized when I read those reincarnated-into-a-game stories that hearing a real person talking with the voice of a voice actress is kind of strange, especially since I know other characters voiced by the same voice actress.

It’s a shame that I can’t hear Laura’s playful voice, unlike in the game.

I stopped thinking of her voice and observed my surroundings. We seem to keep going deeper into the palace. I remember this area. You could only enter this area in the game after the demons half-destroyed it.

Then, is the reason I can’t enter this area before the demons’ attack because of the earlier guards? I don’t know if those guards existed in the game, though.

As I was thinking about the game, we arrived at a courtyard decorated with a sculptured fountain. There are also roses blooming in the courtyard. Even I, who have little to no artistic sense, think that the courtyard is quite beautiful.

We walked to a gazebo near the fountain. Wait, isn’t a gazebo only supposed to exist starting from the 19th century? Why is it here, in a medieval world? Whatever. Game logic, let’s ignore it. I mean, even the difference between a castle and a palace in the game is pretty blurry, so adding a supposed nonexisting thing isn’t a big deal.

What I should pay attention to more than the gazebo is the man sitting inside while enjoying tea. I know him.

“Welcome, Viscount Welner von Zeavert, Mazell Hearthing. Thank you for coming this far.”

Of course, I know him. It’s the Crown Prince. Why is he here?