We live at the foothills of Dragon Peak.
Tea Party
“Elnea, this is an invitation for you.”
Shortly after the new year, when school reopened, Listea handed me a letter, saying, “This is an invitation.”
“An invitation?”
I took the envelope, which contained an invitation, from Listea and looked for the addressee.
But no address was written, and on the back of the envelope, a familiar crest was pressed into the sealing wax.
It was a crest with two facing dragons whose tails intertwined overhead, wrapped around a single sword.
“It’s the Royal Family’s crest.”
I have absolutely no memory of being invited by the King.
I had met him only once last year regarding the matter of the magic sword user, but I hadn’t heard from him since. Therefore, I couldn’t imagine being invited again for that incident.
I couldn’t understand the meaning of the invitation and directed a questioning gaze toward Listea.
“I haven’t heard the details either. However, there’s someone who knows you for some reason. That person wants to meet you, and it seems you’ve been invited,” he said.
“Who is that person?”
“Who knows, I don’t.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I really don’t know. I was just asked by the King to give you this invitation to a tea party.”
Listea looked helpless and troubled.
Is there someone among the important people who knows me? How did they find out? What do they know about me to be interested? And who could that person possibly be?
I tilted my head and opened the invitation I received from Listea.
Inside the envelope were two pieces of paper.
One was the invitation to the tea party, and the other had the date, time, and location written on it.
“There’s no sender’s name either,” I said.
“That’s true. Well, I’ll be attending, so we’ll find out who invited you when we get there,” Listea said, peering at the invitation I had opened.
“Are you going too, Listea?”
“Yes, I’m not the only one. It’s a large-scale tea party attended by Slaton and others, nobles, and royal knights from this country and the Yorttenitos Kingdom.”
“Oh, I see. I thought it was a small, private tea party like last time and got nervous.”
“Hahaha, that’s right, that did happen. But this time, many people are attending, so there’s no need to be nervous. From what I’ve heard, it seems adventurers and merchants will also be participating, along with you.”
“Hmm, hmm, hmm, I wonder what the purpose of this tea party is?”
A tea party hosted by the King that can be attended by many commoners?
I, who am not at all knowledgeable about royal politics, couldn’t understand the purpose of the tea party.
“It’s probably related to the Wyvern hunt scheduled for this year.”
Why am I invited to a tea party related to the Wyvern hunt?
It makes sense that the royal knights of the Armēdo Kingdom and the Yorttenitos Kingdom are invited. They will be the main participants in the Wyvern hunt, so it might be a chance for them to meet.
It also makes sense for the merchants. The Wyvern hunt will involve many people, so funds and supplies will be necessary. They probably invite merchants to facilitate that.
As for adventurers, like the royal knights, they must be inviting excellent adventurers who are likely to participate in the Wyvern hunt.
Then, why was I invited?
Is there someone among the country’s important figures who knows me?
I have absolutely no idea.
Perhaps someone has noticed my involvement in the matters within the Dragon Forest?
But I don’t understand how that would lead to an invitation to a tea party.
Moreover, the matters of the Dragon Forest and my own self are secrets that I haven’t even told Listea.
I can’t imagine anyone else noticing them.
So, why was I invited?
What about me interested the person who invited me to the tea party?
No, it couldn’t be.
Could it be that someone from the Yorttenitos Kingdom invited me?
Last time, I was made to feel quite unpleasant by Grave, the First Prince of the Yorttenitos Kingdom and the captain of the Wyvern Knight Order.
I understand it’s natural. Even though he fell to becoming a magic sword user, it must have been galling that one of his country’s royal knights was defeated by someone like me.
I might be hated by the soldiers of the Yorttenitos Kingdom.
So, they might be inviting me to the tea party to look down on me, just like Grave.
Ugh, that unpleasant memory made my face pale.
“What’s wrong, are you having stomach pains?”
“No, I just remembered something unpleasant from last time…”
“Ah…”
Listea seemed to realize it immediately and had a complicated expression.
“Certainly, Grave is here this time as well. But the person interested in you is from the Armēdo Kingdom’s side, so don’t worry about it.”
“Wh-what? That Prince is here again?”
I sank into despair.
I don’t want to go…
“Umm, well. I’m just a commoner and don’t have any splendid clothes to attend a tea party, so maybe I should skip this one?”
“Hehehe, you’re going to refuse the King’s invitation, aren’t you? I think that takes more courage than attending a tea party in casual clothes.”
“Urk!”
At Listea’s remark, my face twitched.
“I’ll give you some of mine. The hems will be different, but it’ll be faster to adjust what I have than to get new ones made now.”
“Wh-what, that’s too much.”
I don’t think Listea’s formal wear would suit me at all.
Even with the hem adjusted, I can easily imagine it not fitting me.
“There’s no other way, is there? You’ll have to make do with mine for now. If necessary, I’ll go with you to get some tailored next time.”
“Ugh, I really don’t want to be invited to places where nobles gather. I’m afraid my heart will go haywire from nervousness. Besides, my family doesn’t have the luxury to have clothes tailored for such occasions.”
“In that case, you’ll just have to make do with my hand-me-downs.”
“Ugh…”
How did it come to this?
I find myself resenting whoever invited me to the tea party.
It’s cruel to summon me without revealing who they are or their specific purpose.
Although I was not enthusiastic, I had no choice but to agree to attend the tea party, as I couldn’t refuse.
The tea party is scheduled for the next holiday.
Later, on the day of the tea party, I informed Sleigsta (Old Man) that I couldn’t go to the Moss Garden. Then, before the actual tea party, I was invited to Listea’s residence at his request.
I had assumed Listea was still living in the royal castle, but that was not the case.
Well, I was half right.
It seems that around the fall of last year, Listea received a mansion from the King where he would live with his future wives, and he had moved from the castle to live there.
To be given such a luxurious house by the King, he truly is the hero Listea!
When I said that, he corrected me, saying that since his legal wife is Princess Cerise, it was actually given to her.
The mansion already had many servants attending to it and was adorned with luxurious decorations and a beautiful garden.
I was welcomed by Cerise and Slaton and others, and entered the mansion.
The purpose of my visit was to receive clothes for the tea party from Listea and have the hem lengths adjusted.
In the room I was guided to, while Listea and the others were making their selections, I was made to try on various outfits like a dress-up doll.
Slaton laughed every time I changed.
“They don’t suit me, do they?”
“I can’t help it. I don’t have the elegance to pull off formal wear.”
“I’m just a commoner.”
Listea and the servants who were helping me change were seriously attending to me, but the hero’s cheerful companions, including Cerise, were giggling amongst themselves.
“This is awful. Not only Slaton, but Cerise and the others are laughing at me too.”
While I grew increasingly despondent with each change of clothes, the selection process dragged on for half a day.
At one point, I seriously began to wonder if I was being toyed with like a dress-up doll. Then, finally, Listea settled on some clothes.
Umm, Listea, how many clothes do you actually own?
I must have tried on at least a hundred outfits.
The sheer number of clothes reflected the richness of their lifestyle, and I was greatly shocked by the difference from my own usual life.
Once the clothes were decided, the servants began to fold up the hems and adjust the measurements to fit me.
Since my height is considerably shorter than Listea’s, I assumed a significant amount of hem would need to be cut.
I felt sad about my short stature.
“You’ve worked hard, Elnea-kun,” Cerise said, bringing me a drink.
“I’m exhausted,” I said, slumping my shoulders as I accepted the drink.
I was truly exhausted.
More tired than after training.
If only I had just stayed and trained at the Moss Garden instead of attending this tea party.
I’m going to resent them.
I’m going to resent the mysterious person who invited me to the tea party.
When I meet that person at the tea party, I’m going to complain a lot.
If I don’t, it won’t be worth it.
I found a new goal for the tea party and began to feel motivated, albeit for a different reason.
“Elnea-cchi, you’ve worked hard. I thought the last outfit suited you too,” said Naimi, appearing.
She playfully teased me as I was exhausted, flitting around like a squirrel.
She would come to me, then go to Listea, darting about, her movements incredibly cute.
Naimi must be the “healer” of the hero’s party.
Among Listea’s wives, who prefer cute types, Naimi was particularly adorable, like a small animal.
“I’ll be attending the tea party too! I have high expectations for you on the day, Elnea-cchi!”
“What are you expecting?”
“I’m expecting you to make some foolish mistakes!”
“N-no! I’m expecting your cool appearance!”
“Lies! You were laughing a moment ago too.”
Naimi protested with her hands up at Slaton’s harsh words.
“Slaton, don’t say such mean things.”
“Ow! Don’t hit me!”
And then Slaton received a fist from Creacio.
“This is too lenient! Creacio, hit him harder.”
I also wanted to hit Slaton, but I was too tired to move.
“That must have been tough. You’ve worked hard. But now you’ll be ready for the tea party,” Listea said.
“I never imagined choosing clothes would be this difficult.”
“Hahaha, Elnea, you’re still lucky. For the women, choosing clothes can take up an entire day.”
“That’s right. It’s difficult to coordinate so that our outfits don’t clash in terms of color and so forth,” said Cerise.
“Hehehele, that sounds difficult.”
Cerise and the others must also own a lot of clothes. It must be tough to choose outfits while making sure they don’t overlap with others.
Having just experienced being a dress-up doll, I now understood the struggles of the women firsthand.
“We’ll finish the clothes here. On the day, you’ll stop by here first, change, and then we’ll all go to the venue together.”
“Okay, it’s reassuring that we can all go together. I’ll be counting on you on the day.”
After a brief discussion about the day of the event, I headed home.
