Narrator POV
Scale Atelier, Vestir Branch.
Using the teleport gate of the Scale Atelier, an individual has arrived in the city of Vestir.
A man emerged from the transfer gate.
He is wearing a plain white shirt, and plain grayish pants, and has messy black hair.
He also wears a silver ear clip accessory dangling on his left ear.
There were dark circles under his eyes making him look tired.
He seemed to be in his early 20s
His unshaven facial hair makes him look a bit older.
By the looks of it, it had been a while since he last shaved his beard.
At one glance one may think that this person was a commoner.
He walked as if he was dragging himself.
It was as if he bears an invisible dead weight on his back making him slouch as he walks...
You may even think of this person as a guy with no "enthusiasm" or "liveliness".
If there were a word to describe him, it would be... "Sloppy" and "Unmotivated".
Despite having this unpresentable appearance, everyone in the Atelier knew who he was.
The staff of the Scale Atelier gave him respect as he walked out of the hallway of the building.
"Welcome, sir."
One of the employees of the Atelier welcomed him.
It was the manager of this branch of the Scale Atelier.
"Ah... yeah... yes..." <Sloopy dude>
The man replied with a voice that seems to convey his feeling of boredom and unwillingness.
The manager did not think of this person as rude or anything.
He even thought that it was his honor to exchange a few words with him.
A verbal reply from him was all he needed, this made him feel enough joy.
After all, It's not every day for someone of his stature to exchange words with this man.
After all, this sloppy-looking dude is the "Strongest Adventurer" in the world.
Yes, this man is the man who stands above all those people who calls themselves "Adventurer".
He is also the fastest person to reach the rank "S" in the history of the Adventurer's Guild.
He is even the only person closest to the legendary "SS" Rank.
He is the youngest member of the guild master's round table which is only exclusive to Guild Masters who are managing key locations in this world.
This man is the guild master of the most important city on the planet, the Artesia Empire's Capital City.
This person is Guild Master Svencity.
For the manager of Scale Atelier, it was a huge honor for him to receive a simple reply from him.
For someone who makes a living by serving and supporting adventurers, the existence of Guild Master Svencity is comparable to seeing an Idol.
In the first place, the employees of the Atelier already knew the personality of this person.
It was well known that Guild Master Svencity has this j of personality.
Svencity came here to Riles for one purpose.
He needs to attend the Noble Summit that will be held later today.
A few days ago, the members of the Guild Master's Round table gathered to discuss matters happening in this world.
After some talks, Svencity ended up receiving the task of looking over the matters happening in Riles.
This is all thanks to the persuasions of his fellow Guild Masters from the Guild Master's Roundtable.
At the end of that meeting, Svencity was forced to look over the situation in Riles as requested by Vestir's guild master.
Thus, Svencity was assigned to help and assist the guild master of Vestir to tend to the matters happening in Vestir.
Svencity only wanted to attend the summit to announce his presence.
To show to the people that "He" is in Riles.
With his presence, the adventurer's guild expects to ease the situation in Riles.
Svencity's presence alone will be enough to dissuade those people who wanted to make trouble in the country.
With his presence alone, the threat that the Empire of Ecclesia possesses seemed to fade to none.
It was no secret that if Svencity wanted it, he could even wage war with the Ecclesia Empire all by himself.
He can wreak havoc and cripple the opposing Empire all by himself.
He may not come out victorious but he's capable of incapacitating much of the military power of the Empire of Ecclesia alone.
His title as the "Strongest Adventurer" is not just for show.
6 years ago.
The Demon Lord led his army to conquer the land.
They marched toward the direction of the Artesia Empire coming from the west.
To stop the demon lord's army, each country in the continent sent forces to intercept the marching army.
The Elves of the Great Forest of Giah.
The Dwarves of the Kingdom of Marchial,
The Salamanders of the Kingdom of Claren,
The Beastmen of the Kingdom of Triana,
The Fishpeople of the Kingdom of Pheono,
The Half-bloods of the Kingdom of Riles and;
The Dragonute of the Kingdom of Marizen.
All sent elite adventurers and soldiers to deal with the demon lord's army.
During this time, Artesia Empire had yet to summon Heroes from the other world.
This world had no one to rely on.
No one in this world had the Job Class "Hero".
Without that, humanity did not stand a chance against the "Demon Lord".
A great battle erupted at the border of the Empire and the cursed land west of the Great Giah Forest.
With the leadership of Svencity and the contribution of many exemptional adventurers and soldiers coming from the Empire, Marchial, Alliance, and Elven countries, the lives sacrificed in this battle were minimized.
The demon lord and his army were forced to retreat as they were not expecting such resistance from those countries.
The main reason for this was the existence of the Guild Master Svencity.
The Demon Lord did not expect an individual who is as powerful as him.
It was told that Svencity and the Demon Lord fought on the battlefield.
While Svencity was fighting the demon lord, his ally managed to push back the demon lord's army.
The demon lord was too strong, no one other than Svencity could have managed to buy them time.
Svencity managed to survive, and come back alive after buying time for their army to suppress the demon lord's army, thus forcing them to retreat.
In that battle, Svencity risked his life and almost died fighting the demon lord all by himself.
His heroics cemented his name in history.
He was named the "Pseudo Hero" of this generation.
In a way, his existence was like a beacon of hope for the people who fear the demon lord.
Unfortunately, Svencity did not have the Job Class "Hero" so in the end even though he could fight the demon lord, he will never be able to defeat him.
Such an individual is joining the Nobles Summit in Riles today.
People may look at him as the "Pseudo Hero" but unfortunately, Svencity has a personality that did not suit a Hero.
With all that being said, he is not the type of person who works too hard.
He is a relaxed and easy-going person.
His personality reminds one of an "adventurer".
Free-spirited and had a unique personality.
That is Guild Master Svencity.
Due to this personality of his, he will be attending the "Noble's Summit" with minimum prior knowledge about what was happening in the country.
In all honesty, he's not even aware of the fact that there was a recent assassination attempt on the saint, who is currently missing.
This is not because the information did not manage to reach him.
There was a detailed report sent to him 2 days before this meeting.
He simply refused to go over the reports, thus failing to have an idea about the situation.
As was said before, Svencity is a free-spirited soul.
He does everything at his own pace.
He does not care what others think about him
He just does what he wants.
Because of his abilities, he somehow manages to deal with anything thrown at him.
He deals with things as it happens.
Like how he's been doing up until now.
Svencity is the type of person who relaxes for several days and found himself with a pile of work.
He would then finish all that work in one go.
Knowing that he will be dealing with the matters happening in Riles.
Svencity knew that he would become busy after he arrives in Riles. Svencity decided to take his mind away from all "Work" related activities.
Thus, for the past few days, he had been playing around.
This leads to him being clueless about the situation.
Svencity thought.
[All of that information would be revealed during the summit anyway, I'll just deal with it by then.]
You can call him irresponsible and lazy by not even sparing a second to read the reports but no one could deny that he managed to lead the adventurers guild of the Empire's capital with this relaxed attitude.
A lot of people are bothered by his attitude but unfortunately, he had the skills and abilities to somehow pull this off.
Also, keep in mind that Svencity is here not because he wanted to.
He's only doing this for the sake of doing it.
His heart is not focused on this matter.
He came alone and left the Scale Atelier building like any ordinary person.
He did not even bother to make himself presentable.
To those people who never saw the face of Guild Master Svencity, they would never recognize him.
With his unassuming attire and sense of presence, no one would think that this person was one of the most important people in Riles at the moment.
Even with the presence of all the nobles gathering from all over the world, the most influential person among them is this unassuming fellow.
Svencity came out of the Scale Atelier Building like it was nothing.
He walked and even asked for directions from some people walking at the plaza.
Of course, those people he asked did not even know that they are talking with the one and only, "Guild Master Svencity".
They just thought of him as a random guy asking for directions or some passing adventurer who wanted to know the venue of the Noble's Summit.
He walked on the road leading to the venue of the Summit.
At some point, several others came walking right next to him like it was natural.
Svencity did not pay them a mind.
It was because... those people are people whom he met before.
People who have fought on the same battlefield he had fought on.
In other words, these people are individuals who are incredibly powerful in their rights.
S-ranked Adventurers and Top Elites Soldiers walked with him.
These are all people who fought on the same battlefield with Svencity before.
5 people gathered, 3 men and 2 women.
They phased themselves to be able to walk right next to each other.
"Sven-san, you came."
One of the six people spoke.
It was an extremely good-looking man with white hair and red eyes.
What's unique about this guy was that he was not human as he has rabbit-like ears protruding atop his head.
He was wearing dignified formal-looking clothes reminiscent of a high-ranking soldier.
Numerous medals and badges are hanging all over his upper garments.
At the same time, a fishkin Lady was standing right behind him and showed Svencity a respectful nod.
Like the man she wears dignified-looking military clothes, the only striking difference with the man was that she was wearing a skirt.
Looking at them and Svencity right next to each other looked odd.
Svencity looked as if he did not belong walking with them.
When Svencity looked at the source of the voice to confirm who it was.
"Ah... Isn't this General Koccur, It's nice to see you..." <GM Svencity>
"Yeah, It's been the last time we met was 9 years ago when we fought with the Demon Lord's army." <Koccur>
"Ah... It's been that long... Damn..." <GM Svencity>
Svencity saw several familiar faces.
All of them are people who fought on the same battlefield before.
People whom he met years ago when he was still active as an adventurer.
A nostalgic feeling swept his heart and made him smile.
Unlike in the past, they are not going to a dangerous dungeon.
Nor are they going to face a dangerous mission.
This time around they are all here to attend a bothersome gathering of the high and mighty individuals.
People who might not even have the ability to fight with their own two hands.
People who only have fake power call "money" or "influence" while calling themselves powerful.
In simple words, it was the "self-important nobles".
Svencity and company have stopped opposite a gate.
There were lots of people on the other side.
Guys dressed in impressive-looking clothes.
People who are being escorted by tough-looking guards.
They looked at their peers as if they were not even worth their time.
They are carrying themselves with particular pride with their faces up high.
People wear clothes and accessories that common folk would not be able to purchase even if they work hard their whole lives.
But... in the eyes of the most powerful adventurer, they are just pretentious individuals who have fake "power".
Of course, not all of them are incompetent.
Svencity knows these as he is acquainted with some Nobles who are true "NOBLE".
Unfortunately, the majority of the nobles here are not.
Svencity prayed.
[I hope those who attend today are those nobles and important people who can actually "THINK".]
-sigh-
[I want to go to bed and rest]
He thought as he took a step forward to enter the venue of the Summit.
In front of the castle located at the center of Noble's residential Area in the City of Riles stand a Castle.
This castle is the home of the most important person here in the country of Riles.
The Demon Castle.
The home of the current King of Riles.
This is also the place where the Noble Summit will be held.
Many nobles, adventurers, and many influential people are already within the vicinity.
For some weird reason, people are trying to check out each other.
Each of them is trying to identify the faces of the people who are attending this Summit.
Normally only nobles and important individuals within the country of Riles are to attend this yearly gathering.
Normally... Only a few novels and people from other countries visit this summit.
BUT...
This time around, Nobles, adventurers, and Important individuals coming from the surrounding nations will be attending this gathering.
Important people coming from Pheono, Triana, Marizen, Claren, Marchial, Giah-Elven Forest, and the Artesia Empire will be attending.
Since not all of these important people have met in person before they are trying to take note of the unfamiliar faces of the people going inside.
Lots of those curious individuals are carefully looking at the faces entering the place.
Their purpose is to meet new acquaintances or even make friends.
They are all dressed beautifully just to impress one another while showing off their riches with all the clothes and accessories they wore.
They saw this gathering as another opportunity.
At the gate...
"Halt"
A guard stopped Svencity to take another step forward.
He did think that he was walking with the other individual walking right behind him.
Understandably since Svencity's attire is like that of a commoner or a low-ranking adventurer.
For this reason, the guard immediately stopped Svencity in his tracks.
"We can't allow uninvited guests to enter this vicinity. Turn around and go back."
The guard said with a mean face painted on his face.
He was looking at Svencity as if he was a person not worthy of this gathering of the high and mighty.
The unpresumptuous appearance of Sven became a reason for the guard to think that he was not worthy of entering the entrance of the castle's vicinity.
"..." <GM Svencity>
Svencity did not reply right away.
He was not even offended even for a little bit or anything.
He was even happy.
After a short pause and thought.
Svencity opened his mouth.
He scratched the back of his head.
He looked like someone who just made a mistake and was looking apologetic for doing so.
"Oh, is that so? Sorry, Sorry, I will go back now..." <GM Svencity>
He said with a problematic smile.
It was similar to the smile of someone who accidentally made a mistake and was eager to apologize for what they have accidentally done.
Svencity bowed his head and turned around without a word.
There was a big smile of satisfaction on his face as he went away opposite the gate.
He happily and obediently walked away.
But...
Someone places his hand over his shoulder in an attempt of stopping Svencity from leaving.
"Oi," 5 people said in unison.
"Where do you think you're going?" <Koccur>
The good-looking Rabbit-kin Beastman asked Svencity as he tried to walk away.
"Where? Home of course?" <GM Svencity>
Replied Svencity as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
"Are you seriously telling us that?" <Koccur>
"Of course I am serious? Like the guard ordered, I'm going back home." <GM Svencity>
"Oi, oi, are you serious? Are you going to use that as a reason to turn back now?" <Koccur>
"Why not... I'm just following the rules. I am a good citizen and so I shall follow the authorities. That is why I will now go home." <GM Svencity>
He replied while being uncharacteristically enthusiastic.
It feels as if there was no hole in his reasoning.
It feels that he was just really doing what the guard told him.
But the guy knew that the purpose Svencity wanted to go was because he did not want to get bothered with dealing with the nobles in this gathering.
No, he probably wanted to go home and leave the matters happening in Riles to the hands of others right now.
"Aa~ here we go again." <Fish-kin >
"Haha... This is so ~ him. He never changed." <Happy Demon-Kin>
"You don't say." <Dwarf Old Man>
A certain Fish-kin, demon-kin, and a dwarf commented on the scene happening right in front of their eyes.
The Rabbit beastmen who stopped Svencity spun him back in place, facing the inside of the gate.
Svencity was trying to stop him from pushing him into the venue.
"Ehhh~" <GM Svencity>
He voiced with a disappointed look on his face.
The Rabbit-kin tried to push Svencity toward the gate but he refuse to take a step forward.
In a way, he looked like a kid being forced to move forward.
"Oi, you! Tell this guy not to go home." <Koccur>
Koccur commanded.
The guard looked troubled.
His job was to not allow any uninvited guests to enter the vicinity of this mansion.
As there is some issue with the security of the place, especially since there are threats to the life of the people inside.
He could not just let someone unknown person get inside.
Unlike the guy he chased away, the one asking him to let the guy in was a guest.
He knew this person as one of the generals serving in the country.
He is now troubled.
A woman went close to the guard while showing her invitation and whispered into his ears.
It was an elf who wear a green dress with a "witch-like" motif outfit.
Hearing what the woman has to say, his eyes went wide realizing that he had made a grave mistake.
He must have realized the identity of the sloppy dude he just chase away from here.
"Ff-f-fo-forgive my insolence! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to deduce your identity. I am very sorry!" <Guard>
The guard apologized while prostrating himself on the ground.
He knew that he messed up.
"To think that I ended up being rude in front of the great Svenc--" <Guard>
"Aaa~ stop... I don't like seeing people doing that in front of me." <GM Svencity>
Svencity tried to pacify the guard whose face was all pale.
"I am very sorry! please, please forgive me. Please spare my life." <Guard>
Svencity waved his hand and lightly shrugged about what just happened.
The guard kept on bowing at Svencity repeatedly.
For Svencity, this reaction of the guard was more problematic than his being rude.
He place his hands over the guard's shoulder and asked him to stop.
"Leira-san... you did not have to do that..." <GM Svencity>
Svencity said toward the Elf-lady.
"Fufu, if I did not do that you will try to escape again... Sven-san.." <Elf-lady/ Leira1 ^.^ ... Chapter 42?>
The elf went toward the guard and tried to ease his worries.
"You are just doing your job, don't think about it too much. No, actually be proud of it, I will inform your master that you are doing a good job". <Leira>
With a bright smile, the guard's face lightens up.
"T-t-t-thank you very much! Uhm... forgive me but... are you perhaps Leira, the Witch of the World Tree?" <Guard>
"Oh... you know me?" <Leira>
"Oh! So it is you! I am honored to be in your presence Leira-sama! I truly respect you and your work." <Guard>
The guard praised and thanked the Elf named Leira.
He then lowered his head toward Svencity too.
"Stop that... You were just doing your job, don't think about it... kay?" <Svencity>
Said Svencity in a calming tone.
With that, the guard relaxed and stood tall.
He showed Svencity a salute and stood proud.
The good thing about Svencity's free-spirited and sloppy nature is that people around him could easily feel at ease in his presence.
Compared to the other top Adventurers who emit some kind of aura that naturally intimidate others just by their presence.
Svencity, despite being acknowledged as "The Strongest Adventurer" did not have an intimidating presence.
Svencity's presence somehow gives other people a sense of "ease" instead.
Svencity gave the guard a thumbs up and praised him for doing his job.
The guard gazed at Svencity in awe.
He was very moved by the fact that the strongest adventurer acknowledges his work.
Later...
Svencity and the 5 people with him entered the mansion's vicinity.
But as a result of the thing that happened at the entrance, the nobles and another guest inside the mansion took notice of their presence.
Svencity together with 5 other individuals walked side by side.
All the nobles and other important guests could only watch their backs as they walked away.
As the 6 people walked to the venue of the "Noble's Summit".
Some nobles and other important figures within the vicinity recognized the faces of those people around Svencity.
They started to gossip.
"Hey isn't that person..." <Noble A>
"Koccur, he's the general in charge of the borders in the southern part of Riles." <Noble B>
"That means..." <Noble A>
"yeah, he has the most crucial information concerning the current state of Riles." <Noble B>
"If that person is the general, does that Fish-kin beside him Cyraenan?" <Noble A>
"I suppose so?" <Noble B>
There are some Guild Masters of small cities in Riles who also joined this year's Summit.
They immediately recognize the face of some of the people walking beside Svencity.
"Hey... isn't those four..." <Random GM A>
"Witch of the World Tree, Leira. Mountain breaker, Hasear. The guild Master of Vestir, Irkarus." <Random GM B>
"I don't know the sloppy guy with them..." <Random GM C>
"Sloppy? Hey, don't you think that sloppy dude is the Guild master of the Artesia Empire capital?" <Random GM A>
"You mean... "that" person?" <Random GM C>
"Right, Black hair, Silver clip ear accessory, sloppy disposition. Yeah, it all fits the description of that person." <Random GM B>
"Oh... this is the first time I saw him in person. Haha, that description of him was not an exaggeration. He looks like a normal-looking guy. He doesn't look anything special." <Random GM A>
People are gossiping with each other.
Upon seeing the imposing figure of the 6 people right next to each other, they could not help but notice them
They gave off such an overwhelming presence that none was able to ignore them.
These 6 people possess power beyond imagination.
If the 6 of them decided to rampage here, none of them will be able to stop them.
Time flew by and the gathering started.
At first, there was a banquet gathering all of the guests inside a large hall inside of the mansion.
The hall was wide and was able to accommodate all of the guests for the day.
There was a total of about 300 people in the hall.
Thus the hall was quite crowded as there are more participants compared to the past "Noble's Summits".
-Clang- -Clang- -Clang- -Clang-
One of the people in the room started ringing his cup by drumming a spoon against it.
The person was wearing an attire that would remind you of a "King".
He was wearing a glorious crown and wear some kind of noble outfit fitting of a king...
This person is the king of Riles.
His name is Vine.
By making a noise with the cup and spoon in his hands he was able to get the attention of the participant of this gathering.
"Thank you all for attending this year's "Noble Summit". I hope you are having a great time..." <Vine>
The king answered with silence.
The king knew that the participant of this gathering are interested in the current situation of Riles.
This gathering is meant to discuss the current state of affairs in the country.
They wanted to have a clear picture of what was happening in this country.
This is why merchants, Adventurers, Nobles, and important figures who are deeply related to Riles wanted to know the state of the country.
The situation here in Riles will greatly affect their future as most of their activities, livelihoods, riches, possession, and opportunities can be affected by the impending war.
A war with the Ecclesia Empire would end up destroying all they possess.
It may end up erasing the possibilities and opportunities of dealing with this country.
It will affect the lives of the people in this country.
The nobles and the important people need to know what to do in the future, they have to know what's going to happen next.
They needed to have a clear view of the situation and decide what to do next.
The king knew all this and he will answer all of the questions they have in their mind using this gathering.
"From here on we will now discuss the state of things here in Riles. I know you are all worried. I can understand why you feel this way because am I worried as well. I too don't have a clear view of what is happening in this country. To help us understand I will have to call General Koccur to give clear reports and understanding about the matters with the Ecclesia Empire."
He called Koccor to go forward and report what he knows to the crowd.
Vine is a demon-kin who ruled Riles for more than 5 decades.
He is by no means powerful, his fighting ability is only comparable to that of a B-rank adventurer.
Despite not having been blessed with exemptional fighting capability, Vine's ability to lead people as a king is quite remarkable.
He had led Riles skillfully for more than 50 years.
In his time as the king, this is the 1st time that things went out of his grasp.
Thanks for the chapter.