Year 1399 of the Imperial calendar - Shouyo continent - Ballroom of the Royal Castle
(Ifrit POV)
It worked perfectly.
The new skill that I developed after getting a new understanding of the system, The Wave of Interference.
We infiltrated a noble party that even included the Isekai hero, but no mission alert was delivered.
"May I take this dance, beautiful lady?" Noble A
"I am busy"
The max range is about one kilometer, it is invisible to the eye, and I can maintain it for hours.
"Your beauty is dazzling, May I have this dance?" Noble B
"No"
The only defect is that it is weak to the intervention of the Isekai hero.
At the end of that hunting event, the Saintess used her fake holy powers to eliminate the supposed dark beings, and in the process, the Wave of Interference broke for a moment.
"The saintess is prettier, but you will do" Noble C
It was a good thing that nobody was looking at us when that happened.
"Fuck off"
Can't you see that I'm not interested? I'm barely holding back here.
"How dare you...!" Noble C
"You've had enough drinks for the night, sir" Alastor
He grabs him from the back of his head with one hand and the noble falls asleep.
"zzz" Noble C
He takes the hindrance and sits it on a table next to two more sleeping men.
"Only three of nine, I guess you are doing your best" Alastor
{Our objective is to look for an opening, nothing else}
I can barely feel spiritual power coming from the queen's chambers, we need to enter that place while the Isekai Hero gets distracted by whatever happens today.
[If we fill all the tables with sleeping men, even the Saintess will realize that something is wrong]
{...I guess that is true}
[Come on Ifrit, you are the best-looking lady here, it will be a shame if you don't dance]
{If I dance with someone here and they compare me to the Saintess, you will not have time to save them}
[Jijij, that has an easy solution]
He stands in front of me and offers me his right hand.
"Dance with me?" Alastor
Is he serious?
"..." Alastor
He just smiles at me, waiting for my answer.
"Okay"
I take the white-gloved hand with my right hand.
At least this should leave the pests away.
"Wow, it worked" Alastor
It seems he wasn't expecting me to accept.
"Are we going?"
"Of course!" Alastor
He happily leads me to the center of the Ballroom.
*♪♪♪*
The sound of guitars, saxophones, pianos, violins, and flutes fills the room as we interlock our hands.
{Do you know how to dance?}
[Yes, my master told me that I would need it someday]
He places his right hand on the left side of my waist.
[Do you?]
{I don't, but it seems rather simple}
I place my left hand on his right shoulder and we begin to move to the rhythm of the music.
*♪♪♪*
These movements are nothing special.
[As expected of my partner]
{Know your place, butler, call me lady}
A little joke... I guess having some advantage over the Isekai Hero has put me in a good mood.
[Jijiji]
"Yes, my lady" Alastor
Through the contract, I can feel a strange feeling surging inside of him.
Is he that happy about dancing?
......
...
The music stops abruptly and everyone gets ready to receive the king.
{This is it, this must be our opportunity}
[I am rea...dy]
He gets distracted by something at his side.
{What is it? focus, we only have one chance at this}
[It is nothing, I just didn't expect the royalty here to be tolerant enough to accept a beast man here]
A Beastman? here?
{Of course they aren't}
I see a brown fur dog Beastman child being camouflaged by some light magic.
{That symbol on his clothes, that is... the Graupel}
A voice from the past haunts me.
(Fri, isn't it sad that the villainess always dies in these stories?) Megu
The saintess now resides in the royal castle, if we pass up this chance to infiltrate and she becomes stronger, we may not get another one.
(Fri, let both of us promise that if we found a villainess in the future we will help her) Megu
"Ifrit?" Alastor
DAMN IT!
"The king is arriving!" Announcer
(Suigintou Arnestianne Graupel POV)
As I enter the Ballroom with my brother at my side, I can see the Saintess' followers fighting for who is going to dance with her.
"The dignity of the four dukedoms has really fallen"
Each one of these men is the heir of each duchy, and all of them already have fiancées, but not even that stopped them from wagging their tails to the pink-haired girl.
"Sis, let eat!" Shinku Barasuishou Graupel
I hope that at least my brother doesn't grow to be like them.
"I am fine, but I accompany you to the buffet"
It is not like I have something else to do here.
"Yay!" Shinku Barasuishou Graupel
While walking around the people, I see Ifrit Atisse Aelius dancing.
"His butler?"
Not every day a lady dances with his butler at a party, that is the same as saying that he is better than everyone else here.
...That is a good insult toward them, maybe I should get one.
"Even now, you are very handsome" ???
What was that?
"Sis..." Shinku Barasuishou Graupel
He hides behind me.
Did someone just flirt with my 11-year-old brother?!
"Oh no! Did I speak out loud?" Pink haired girl
I always thought she was disgusting, but not to this extent.
"Get away from my brother"
I am about to break my fan to her face.
"It is a misunderstanding, I am talking of the him after the ending" Saintess
Disgusting, extremely disgusting, I can't even believe We are breathing the same air.
"The king is arriving!" Announcer
I must not show my emotions.
"Shinku, let's go receive the king"
"Yes, sis" Shinku Barasuishou Graupel
As we give her our back...
"We will live together soon" Saintess
Should I call the guards? this woman is a dangerous degenerate, but she is the chosen one of the Isekai Church, no one will believe me over her.
"The king is entering!" Announcer
The doors open and together with the king four guards enter the ball and surround me.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
An older version of the prince with the golden crown of the kingdom and a red cape enters the ball exercising his maximum authority in the territory to speak aloud.
"Suigintou Arnestianne Graupel" King
The king is angry at me, why?
"You and your family are accused of bringing a dirty Beastman into the holy four dukedoms" King
A Beastman?
"We never did so!"
Wearing a blue robe with the Isekai Church symbol on both shoulders and a golden belt, the pope of the Isekai Church, enters after the king.
"You did, and you just brought the proof yourself" Ferdinand
A sinister grin forms on his face.
"On your knees, beast" Ferdinand
The guards forcefully throw Shinku to the ground.
"I am... sorry, sis" Shinku Barasuishou Graupel?
The Isekai pope drops some holy water on him, and all human appearance disappears from my brother.
"A dirty dog Beastman!" Noble A
"How dare the Graupel house do that!" Noble B
He is... not human?
"Your family has sinned against the noble society and that must be punished" King
I see...
Our family was deceived, they used the adoption to destroy us.
"Is there something you want to say to defend yourself?" King
I... don't.
There is nothing I can do to change the fact that Shinku was admitted into our family.
"It is a shame, but from now on, all members of the graupel family must..." King
*Shiing*
A blinding light, just like the one that stopped the demon, shines strongly.
"What?!" King
"This?" Ferdinand
"God has shown pity through the Saintess!" Female voice
That voice...
"Eh? this wasn't in the plot" Saintess
"The Saintess herself said that this must not happen!" Male voice
Those two...
"If the Chosen of God says so..." King
"King, this must be kind of misunderstanding" Ferdinand
I am safe?
"Then I will give the graupel house a chance..."
No, that smile on the king's face, his hatred for my family will not let this opportunity go.
"The next winner of the Mystical Rose Tournament will be granted a forgiveness certificate, I will postpone my judgment until then" King
"Good call, your highness" Ferdinand
A fighting tournament to a house of finance, how is this different from a direct sentence?
"Sis, I am sorry" Shinku
It's the first time I see a sad face on him...
"Wait for me, Shinku"
I will do something about this.
