Chapter 51

It was a lazy afternoon in the study.

Together with Don, I proceeded to handle the government affairs one after another.

I had become quite accustomed to it recently, and with the summaries provided by the prime ministers, I could now understand most of them, which improved my efficiency.

However, I had to avoid making mistakes due to the routine, so I tightened my focus and got to work on the government affairs.

At that moment, Lawrence visited.

Lawrence, who entered the room, elegantly knelt on one knee in front of me.

"You're here. I have a few things I want to hear your opinion on, Don."

"Understood."

Don nodded and was about to fetch the documents he had set aside in the corner of the study.

In fact, I had selected a wide range of government affairs to test how capable Lawrence really was.

I was about to ask for his handling of them, but Lawrence bowed even deeper.

"Before that, Your Highness, there is one request I would like to make."

"What is it?"

"I would like to persuade someone and introduce them to Your Highness."

"Alright, go ahead."

"………………"

Lawrence, who raised his head, remained kneeling with a stunned expression.

"What's wrong, why the strange face?"

"I, I apologize. You haven't even heard who the person is, and yet you so readily agreed. I'm surprised."

"Is that all?"

I chuckled.

"I trust you. Besides,"

"Besides?"

"People are treasures. If a man like you wants to introduce someone, they can't be wrong."

"……"

Lawrence became even more stunned and speechless.

After being frozen for about a minute, he regained his composure with a deep breath.

"Your Highness is truly remarkable. I feel ashamed of my past self for ever refusing to serve you."

"That's in the past."

"Understood. I'm not sure if I can persuade them, but they will definitely be of use to Your Highness's rule."

"Hmm?"

I had intended to leave it to Lawrence, but his words piqued my interest.

I stopped what I was doing and looked straight at Lawrence.

"Absolutely?"

"Yes. They are two people more excellent than me."

"I see."

I nodded and stood up.

Turning to Don,

"I'll be away for a while, leave the rest to you."

"As you wish."

"Your Highness?"

Don nodded, while Lawrence looked even more confused.

"Guide me."

"Eh?"

"You spoke so highly of them. It would be a matter of courtesy for me to go and meet them."

"……You really are remarkable……"

Lawrence smiled wryly and looked down a bit.

☆

We rode out of the state capital Nishir on horseback and headed south.

The road was well-paved, but as the city disappeared from view, we entered a deserted suburban area.

Lawrence rode alongside me on his horse.

"So, what are the names of the people you want to introduce?"

"Understood. Their names are Leon and Cress."

"Leon…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing."

It was a familiar name, but I shook my head and dismissed it as a coincidence.

"What are they like?"

"I used to attend a private school called Water Mirror. It teaches practical knowledge that can be applied to the world."

"Hmm."

"Leon and Cress both graduated in three months. They were so outstanding that they stopped learning and started teaching other students by the end."

"Wow, that's impressive."

The more capable they were, the more I wanted to meet them and bring them into my service.

People are treasures, and if I could secure these two, my own abilities would surely improve.

I continued to listen to Lawrence's stories about the two.

Cress had a relatively gentle personality and often returned to the Mirror School to teach, while Leon was quick-tempered and left the school after getting into a fight with other students.

They were a stark contrast in personality.

"They get along well, though. They always act together and currently live in the same remote mountain."

"I see."

I had a good understanding of Leon and Cress.

We continued riding.

Suddenly, I saw dust rising on the road ahead.

Straining my eyes, I saw a man being chased by something.

It was a tiger, twice the size of a normal one, with a body covered in white fur.

"Leon!?"

"Eh?"

I turned to see Lawrence looking surprised.

"Is that the Leon you were talking about?"

"There's no mistake! He must have done something strange again…"

Lawrence's tone was anxious, but not surprised.

It seemed that such incidents were a regular occurrence for Leon.

I wasn't particularly surprised either, having heard that he had left the school after a big fight with other students.

"Aah!"

Lawrence's anxiety grew.

The distance between the tiger and Leon was gradually closing.

At this rate, the tiger would catch up in less than ten seconds.

"We have to help him!"

"Leave it to me."

I stood up, kicked the horse's back, and leaped off.

With all abilities at SSS, I judged that it would be faster to go on foot than on horseback.

And it was.

In an instant, I closed the distance and positioned myself between Leon and the tiger.

The tiger roared and pounced.

The massive tiger completely blocked out the sunlight, making it as dark as night in front of me.

I thrust my fist forward at the giant body.

I lightly clenched my fist and swung it at the tiger's forehead.

Crack.

The sound of the skull shattering and the neck bone breaking echoed through my body.

The tiger, killed with a single blow, collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

Hmm, what a fine pelt.

I should take it and present it to His Majesty.

As I was thinking this, a voice came from behind.

"Whoa, you took it down in one hit. You're pretty impressive—wait a minute."

"Hmm? You are…"

The man seemed surprised, and I was also surprised when I turned to look at him.

I recognized his face.

It was Leon, the man who had come to the mansion disguised as a beggar a while ago.

He seemed to recognize me as Noah and gave an awkward smile.

Lawrence, who rode up to my horse, tilted his head in confusion at our reactions.

☆

Guided by Leon, we entered the mountain where he lived.

In a small mountain, about a few hundred meters across, two small huts stood quietly.

In one of them, I, Lawrence, and the owner, Leon, sat facing each other.

"Thanks a lot. If you guys hadn't come, I'd be in that tiger's stomach right now."

"Why were you being chased by that tiger?"

"That's a White Saber Tiger. There's a theory that if you give a human baby its milk, they'll develop an incredible immune system and won't get sick at all."

"I've heard of that."

It was a rumor, but I had heard that children raised by white tigers grew up much larger, stronger, and healthier than ordinary children.

"So, I was curious about the milk and went to milk a cub when I heard one was born… and here I am."

"Of course you are!"

Lawrence shouted.

"Approaching a fierce animal while it's raising its young is a death wish!"

"Don't get mad. I managed to get a little, though. Want to try it with me?"

"You're unbelievable!"

I held back the agitated Lawrence and spoke to Leon.

"You're Leon, right?"

"Yeah."

"Lawrence recommended you. Along with Cress."

"Lawrence did?"

Leon looked surprised and turned to Lawrence.

"Have you finally given up on Pascal?"

"……"

Lawrence smiled wryly and didn't answer.

The way Leon referred to Pascal and Lawrence's lack of response suggested that they had had similar conversations among friends as we had.

Lawrence, still looking uncomfortable, eventually answered.

"I'm serving His Highness now."

"Wow…"

Leon looked at me.

"To be able to persuade the stubborn Lawrence, you must be something. And the Colonia thing, you're quite a man."

"Colonia?"

"Yeah, you sent three subordinates, right? Thanks to that, the reconstruction is going well."

"I see."

I had heard reports from Howard and the others, but it seemed that the reconstruction was indeed progressing well from an outside perspective.

"Alright, if that's the case, I'll serve you. And I'll take care of Cress too."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I was already planning to, and if I hear that you're the one who softened Lawrence's thick head, Cress won't object."

"I see."

"Count on me—Your Highness."

His tone was casual, but Leon's eyes, just before he bowed with his hands on his knees, were extremely serious.

☆

A few days later, while I was handling government affairs in the study, Cruise came again.

As before, he came as an imperial envoy, and I knelt on one knee and bowed in front of him.

Don also knelt beside me.

Cruise recited the imperial command.

His Majesty's health had fully recovered, and he was returning to the capital from the summer retreat.

Accordingly, I was to be relieved of my duties as Prime Minister.

Instantly, the status in the corner of my vision changed.

――――――――――――

Name: Noah Ararat

Minister of Justice

Gender: Male

Level: 10/∞

HP D+E Fire E+A

MP E+E Water D+S

Strength D+A Wind E+F

Stamina E+E Earth E+D

Intelligence E+D Light E+C

Spirit E+D Darkness E+F

Speed F+E

Dexterity E+D

Luck E+D

――――――――――――

All the SSS ratings for the entire empire were gone, reverting to what they were before.

However, they were slightly higher than before, with a few Ds, likely due to the addition of Lawrence, Leon, and Cress to my service.

While looking at this, I was thinking about how to improve my abilities in the future when—

"This time, you have handled the government affairs well. As a reward, I grant you Apophis and add Ararat to your fief."

"Amazing…"

Don, who was supposed to be listening silently, was so surprised that he couldn't help but speak out.

I was also surprised.

The fief, Ararat.

Now, it was a barren land that produced nothing, but it was a symbolic land where the Ararat family first rose up.

It was understandable that Don would be so impressed.

On the other hand, I remained relatively calm.

This was because the moment Cruise announced the imperial command, my status had improved again.

――――――――――――

Name: Noah Ararat

Minister of Justice

Gender: Male

Level: 10/∞

HP D+E Fire E+A

MP E+E Water D+S

Strength D+A Wind E+F

Stamina E+E Earth E+D

Intelligence E+D Light E+C

Spirit E+D Darkness E+F

Speed F+E

Dexterity E+D

Luck E+D

――――――――――――

The "+" for Strength had risen to A, and the "+" for Earth had risen to D.

Two improvements.

The land of Ararat was not much now.

Considering that when I received Almeria as a fief, my Water rating had improved, and the actual situation in Almeria, it was unlikely that the land of Ararat would improve by two points.

Therefore—

I looked up to see a person Lawrence had brought, carrying a treasure chest.

He placed the treasure chest in front of me and opened it.

Inside was a staff with a snake motif.

This was—Apophis.

I reached out and touched Apophis.

Resonance.

Leviathan.

Bahamut.

Fuwawa.

Behemoth.

And Apophis.

The five bodies resonated simultaneously, making a sound.

I was surprised by this, but neither Cruise nor Don showed any reaction.

Only I could sense it.

But now I understood.

Apophis was the same kind of existence as Leviathan and the others.

Therefore, it was an invaluable treasure.

I bowed and said to Cruise, who represented His Majesty,

"Thank you for this great honor."

☆

That night, I had a strange dream.

In the dream, five mysterious beings were talking about something.

"To control five of us, and without any trouble."

"It's unprecedented. What an incredible man."

"With this, perhaps—"

"Yes, it might be possible to accept all of us."

"And to awaken the box ship sleeping in the land of Ararat, to become such an existence."

"If the box ship awakens, everyone, including the people on the ground, can go to paradise. I have high hopes."

"Yes, I have high hopes."

"Let's have high hopes."

"For our master, who possesses infinite potential—"

"Let's have high hopes."