Chapter 77: For Your Service to the Empire
MARIUS
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the annual Somerfest of Hoffberg," said the District Councilor, a man who was on the slightly young side for such an administrative position, perhaps in his mid-thirties. Probably quite a capable man, then.
"As per tradition, and as the summer that has been exceptionally hot draws near its end, it is time for you to enjoy the fruits of the hard work you have been putting in and reap the rewards of your labor," the District Councilor continued, but was interrupted by someone jokingly shouting out from the audience,
"But we have no work!"
This was followed by good-natured laughter.
"Ahem—I am fully aware that there are those who don’t hold a steady job, but trust me, we are doing our best to make this district lively. We have many District Office-led projects planned for the next year that will create new jobs."
"So we live on snow and ice during winter?" someone from the audience heckled again, earning a round of laughter.
"Haha, ladies and gentlemen. Those are all legitimate concerns, which shall be addressed seriously. But for now—for today, let’s all forget about yesterday and tomorrow, and enjoy what is in front of us here and now!"
People applauded and cheered.
I looked to my side to see Isabelle, who stood between me and Skylark, sigh.
"Life must be hard for the residents here," she whispered.
"At least today’s festival should lift everyone’s spirits," Beatrice, standing to my right, added optimistically.
Skylark and Dorian, meanwhile, remained quiet.
That bothered me.
I was angry with Dorian for giving me an obvious lie—for whatever reason—that I had no option but to accept, and I was... unhappy with Skylark because he didn’t tell me the truth either, while keeping the secret with Dorian.
I couldn’t understand why they were doing this, and Skylark seemed rather downcast as well, although he was visibly happier during the brief encounter with Falken earlier.
After the speech was over and a bell signaling the start of the festival was rung, the crowd became hectic, everyone moving in different directions to check out the stalls and event tents all set up in the district square. The afternoon was particularly hot, and a long queue formed immediately at the stall that sold fresh fruit juice and beer. There was also a line forming to enter a tent where a band’s performance was to start soon.
Luckily, we were given an hour of free time as other groups were assigned patrol duties this time, and we had permission to check out the festival activities ourselves.
"So—where do you guys want to go?" I asked my group.
"Maybe we could get some drinks first. It’s really hot today," Beatrice said.
"I’d like to see the handicraft stall. A traveling salesman is selling goods from various regions of the Empire," Isabelle said this time.
"Tsk, I don’t even know why I have to be here when it was clearly said we’d have ’free’ time," Dorian complained.
Then we all looked at Skylark, who remained quiet, looking down at the ground.
"Leo?" Isabelle tried to get him to answer, which startled him as if he hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t know what we were talking about.
"What would you like to do first?" Beatrice asked him.
"Er... anything is fine," Skylark said.
"But you love festivals, Leo—I’m sure you have things you want to see and do," Isabelle said with an inviting smile.
"I suppose..."
"Just say it already. Preferably somewhere inside," Dorian pushed for an answer.
"Hm, that’s a good idea, actually. Maybe some event tents would be good to avoid the heat for a while," Beatrice added.
"There are three event tents—music, circus, and a play. Which one would you like?" Isabelle asked again.
"They have a circus?" Skylark’s face finally got a little brighter.
"Yeah!" Isabelle said, seemingly happy that Skylark was getting a little bit of his enthusiasm back.
"I—would be happy to see a circus, but..."
We then waited for him to continue.
"We didn’t ask Mario what he wants..." Skylark said without looking at me.
"Oh, true! What would you like to do, Marius?" Beatrice asked me.
"Maybe the circus, if everyone is okay with it. It’s only because I have never watched a circus before."
"Circus it is, then," Isabelle concluded, grinning.
We then walked over to the tent, where a ridiculously dressed man with face paint was selling tickets.
"A ticket for two Kronen! Buy it now before we run out! The show’s starting in twenty minutes!" he shouted, with a stack of paper tickets in one hand while holding a sign that read "The Grand Salvani Company of the Southern Coast."
"Oh, look, Leo. They come from the South," Isabelle said, tapping Skylark on the shoulder and pointing at the sign.
"Oh, wow." Skylark looked at the sign, and a hint of a smile finally emerged on his face.
"Have you ever heard of them before?" Beatrice asked.
"Actually, yes! They never came to our village, but they are a well-known traveling circus in the region. Who would have thought I’d see them in the capital!"
The excitement was growing in his voice.
Firmly convinced that the circus was the right choice now, I went over to the funny man and handed over a ten-Kronen note.
"Five tickets, please," I said.
"Woo~ Royal Knights?" he said while counting the tickets.
"We are training to be," Isabelle said as she came up next to me, then continued, "Marius—you didn’t have to. We all got our expenses. We should all buy our own tickets."
"It’s fine. Maybe you can buy the drinks, then," I said.
It was just what I thought was a friendly gesture. Isabelle seemed a little taken aback, but soon accepted.
"I will do that, then. Thank you."
Once I got the five tickets, we lined up. A large man—almost the same height as Dimitri or even taller, but a lot broader and bigger, although not necessarily muscular—saw us, then waved at us to come over. Beatrice went over to see what he wanted, then I saw them talk for a bit, Beatrice laughing and smiling, before she gestured for us to come over too.
When we got to the front where the large man was, Beatrice explained,
"This gentleman has kindly offered to let us enter first."
"We don’t need to queue?" Isabelle asked.
"Yeah!" Beatrice enthused.
"Why not...?" Skylark asked.
"For your service to the Empire, young ladies and gentlemen," the large man said in a deep, low, theatrical voice.
"That’s very nice, but I feel a little bad for all those people waiting..." Isabelle said, a little hesitant to accept the offer.
"Please, this is the least we can do for people like you who serve the Empire," the man said.
We all looked at each other, then Dorian just walked into the tent first without a word.
"Thank you so much, then!" Beatrice followed him. Skylark and Isabelle bowed their heads to the man and went in as well.
"Thank you very much, Sir," I said to him before I went in.
"Our pleasure," the man said.
So people do respect and like the Royal Knights.
Falken was right.
We should not disappoint them.