The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 5
It has already been 2 years since I started living in this world.
Changes were coming for me as I turned 14 years old.
The biggest change was physical.
My height, which was around 160cm, rapidly grew to nearly 180cm, and my frame had settled in.
My appearance had also become almost identical to that of the Ars from the game I knew.
A gentle-looking blond young man.
Even in this world, such an appearance wasn’t common, so whenever I went on inspections to my territory or to Legram where the academy was located, I felt quite awkward with eyes glued on me from here and there.
I wasn’t thick-skinned enough to enjoy that kind of attention.
And then, something inevitably happened amid all this.
One morning, my father spoke to me.
“Ars, a marriage proposal has come in for you.”
The dining table fell silent for a moment.
“A marriage proposal?!”
The first to react was my eldest brother, Max.
For nobles, it’s common for fiancés to be decided around ages 13-15, but this is limited to powerful noble families.
It was unheard of for a baron’s family like ours on the frontier to receive such proposals.
Despite turning 28 this year, Max didn’t have a suitable marriage“ proposal.
So it was natural for him to jump when a proposal came for me.
“Who is it? Which family proposed to Ars?”
“The Count Ezebain family.”
“Isn’t that the family I had proposed to? Father, isn’t this a mistake? You must have mixed up the proposal meant for me!”
“No, they specifically named Ars. It seems they saw him directly in Legram.”
To propose just from seeing me once.
As I blankly tried to follow the conversation, my mother asked my father instead.[1]
“But dear, as Max said, that’s strange. If it’s the unmarried daughter of the Count Ezebain family, it should be Miss Jenison, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Miss Jenison is 26 years old this year. That’s why Max, being around her age, had proposed to her.”
When I heard it, it did seem strange.
“I’m not mistaken. They said not to worry about the age difference, so they did call out Ars.”
Silence fell over the dining table again. Even my father seemed perplexed.
Their intention was obvious.
They wanted to marry off their daughter who was past marriageable age somehow. In the process, the daughter was charmed by me, and finding my appearance appealing too, they thought to use me in high society after marrying me. Having a much younger spouse is considered a kind of status symbol in high society.
“I wanted to refuse outright, but I had to consider their feelings too.”
The other party was from a more powerful noble family than us, so it was risky to simply reject them.
“So Ars, how about taking a lesson?”
“You mean a groom lesson?”
“No, not that. How about taking a butler lesson?”
“A butler lesson…?”
“I don’t mean for you to actually become a butler. Just take the lesson.”
In that case, the marriage proposal would automatically be nullified.
No matter how overaged the woman, a noble’s daughter couldn’t proceed with a proposal to a child taking butler lessons without losing face.
“Where would this be?”
“The Saleon duchy, they say. The secondary academy you’ll attend from this year is there too, so you can stay over without issue. If you really don’t want to, you don’t have to go, but…”
“No, I’ll go.”
“That’s a good thought. But don’t worry too much. This could be a good opportunity. You can study at the Saleon duchy. There may be more books you like there than here.”
The unintentionally decided butler lessons.
‘I wonder if the Ars from the game also took butler lessons?’
Since the game didn’t cover Ars’s childhood, I didn’t know if this was following the story’s flow or not.
***
Grancel, the third city of Caleria and known as the Silver City.
My father who came with me explained the city like that and warned me. “I’m just saying this out of concern for the elderly. Don’t do anything that might offend the elders. We’re just lowly nobles who came to ask for help.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Good. Let’s go then.”
My father’s footsteps were also stiff, as if he was quite tense.
The Saleon mansion was such a grand mansion that it was embarrassing to compare it to our mansion.
The size of the private training grounds alone was enough to make me gasp, and even the annex where I was to stay was much bigger than our mansion.
After walking for a while, we arrived at the spacious reception room where we could meet Duke Altior Saleon.
He was an old man with a slender build and sharp eyes. According to my father, he was a renowned general on the continent in his active days.
“It is my first time greeting you. I am Ars Chasing Elaine. I have been eagerly awaiting to meet you, Lord Saleon.”
I could not take my eyes off Altior’s every move and gesture.
‘This old man. He’s amazing.’
Despite his old age, his fighting spirit could not be concealed. Having started learning martial arts recently, I could sense it.
This old man is strong.
“Oho.”
Altior narrowed his eyes, seeming amused.
“I’ve never seen you before. You’re a young man who can’t take his eyes off me instead of my granddaughter.”
“Huh? Ah…”
Only then did the girl sitting next to Altior come into my view.
From my perspective, there was no other impression.
“Introduce yourself. If you truly become a butler, you will be attending to this child. It would be better to score some points in advance. Hahaha!”
I had no intention of becoming a butler, but well, I should introduce myself.
“I am Ars Chasing Elaine.”
“I’m Erina Egell Saleon. Just call me Erina.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lady Erina. I look forward to working with you.”
“…”
She looked at me as if evaluating me. Her gaze was filled with blatant disdain.
‘Come to think of it, my father did mention this.’
Among those who come to take the butler lessons, there are many with other motives besides me.
To put it bluntly, there were noble sons who volunteered for the butler lessons in an attempt to win over the duke family’s young lady.
If they succeeded and really formed a connection, that would be the best outcome. Even if they failed, they could at least get acquainted with the duke family’s young lady and build connections in high society.
Either way, it was not a losing situation.
That’s why not only noble sons with low succession ranks like me, but also those with higher ranks came to take the butler lessons.
If this girl knew about such intentions, it was only natural for her to look at me with disdain.
***
This time, living at the Saleon Duke’s household was okay for me.
Putting aside the butler lessons, I will be able to commute to the middle academy just 5 minutes away from the Saleon Duke’s residence where I was living.
If I had come by carriage from our territory, it would have taken 2 hours, so being able to walk to school was a blessing.
‘The butler lessons are boring, but… The merit of being able to commute is far greater.’
Moreover, since this place Grancel is a big city, there were many entertainment options.
Right now, I was prohibited from going out due to the butler lessons, but after the prohibition was lifted, I was thinking of taking a look around Grancel.
“–Elaine. Ars Elaine! Are you listening?”
“…Ah. Yes. I’m listening.”
The academy teacher sighs through his nose and says, “I know you’ve just entered the middle academy and it’s unfamiliar, but please focus.”
“My apologies if I gave that impression. But I was listening to the lesson properly.”
“Is that so? Then as proof, could you explain the war that led to the Turrling Trade Agreements?”
“You mean the Joak War? It was the war that the Fesillion Kingdom and the Erebonian Empire waged in Joak in 721. In this war, the Erebonian Empire was greatly defeated. As a result, Turrling, which had been subordinate to Erebonia, started an independence movement and concluded extensive agreements with other Kindoms. That’s the Turrling Trade Agreements.”
“Wrong.”
The academy teacher firmly put a nail in it and gestured to someone else.
“Miss Saleon. Could you please explain instead?”
“Yes.”
The girl who was called on lightly corrected me.
“The Joak War broke out in 724. Furthermore, Turrling didn’t make the trade agreements for the sake of independence, but rather for a gradual national integration with the Fesillion Empire.”
“Correct. Everyone, please give a round of applause to Miss Saleon.”
Clap clap clap! Murmuring arose from here and there. As expected of a Grancel lady. Saleon’s treasure, and so on.
Well, that’s none of my business.
I just decided to correct the mistaken facts.
“May I ask something?”
“What is it, Elaine? There’s no need to worry about the wrong answer. Even though it was wrong, it was still a very good answer. You may sit down.”
“No, it’s not me who’s wrong, but her over there. Seeing her speak so confidently… It does make me a bit sorry… But wrong is wrong. The Joak War did break out in 721.”
The academy teacher frowned.
“What are you saying? According to Miss Saleon, the Joak War occurred in 724. The war that took place in 721 was the Decan Plains War.”
“Yes, and the Decan Plains were part of Joak at that time. The redivision of administrative regions was implemented when the Fesillion Empire was established in 729. So strictly speaking, the Joak War did start in 721, didn’t it?”
“Uh…”
Now it was the teacher who was flustered.
Being an economics teacher, he didn’t know the details well.
“Moreover, from the circumstances afterward, we can see that Turrling wanted independence. After the trade agreements, they organized an independent army and engaged in battles with Fesillion forces, and in that process, Dellton and Erebonia also raised military forces as if forming a united front to attack Fesillion. It was clearly not the actions of a side that wanted integration. Fesillion, the ultimate victor, wrote in their history books that Turrling’s independence army was Erebonia’s puppet force, but the truth is different. The circumstances afterward show that, and above all, the history books of other countries consistently describe Turrling as wanting independence.”
“That’s…”
“You may think so. You probably only referred to the mainstream Fesillion history books.”
“Tsk, I’ll check with the history teacher later. For now, please take your seat.”
“Hmm.”
The murmuring arose again.
Who is that guy? Isn’t it natural for a student? He just happened to know that part in detail, and so on. Compared to the girl who was receiving only praise, I received rather harsh evaluations.
And the girl who had presented could only stand there dumbfounded, at a complete loss.
The academy teacher summarized the situation in her place.
“My apologies. It seems I was negligent in researching the materials. Miss Saleon, you may also take your seat.”
“…Yes.”
The girl bit her lower lip and briefly glared at me.
The other students’ gazes were also fixed on me, but so what.
I was planning my outing while lazily listening to the boring lesson with one ear.
Footnotes:
1] Where on Earth did she come from?
Real deal lore man
I thought he wasn’t trying to showoff and be lowkey.
Is it just me that character descriptions are often forgotten? Even the protagonist’s mother was introduced after a 2 year time skip