The Villain's Retirement-Chapter 38: Banquet (3)

"—The Duke and Duchess has arrived!"

Lantern light spilled inward, banners shifting as a man in his forties with blond hair and a composed warm smile entered the hall and walked onto the dais. It was the Duke of Jian: Reynard von Jian!

Walking beside him was the Duchess of Jian. She looked equally composed, and had a nice warm smile on her face. When they reached the dais, they turned around. Then the Duke raised his arm as to hint on silence and address everyone.

"Thank you all for attending," Duke Reynard started. "Today’s gathering is not only to celebrate the liberation of the City of Salience from the Demon Lord’s grasp..."

He paused.

"...but also to honor another one of us. A young man who had risked his life to defeat that Demon Lord who had possessed my younger brother."

The hall fell silent.

"Thanks to him, my brother was freed, and the countless lives lost to the Demon Lord were avenged."

He turned slightly, his gaze remaining on Ard.

"Baron, Lord Ard De Salience."

As a wave of eyes remained on him, the Duke continued.

"I would like to inform everyone that thanks to this young man, not only did he avenge my brother and his family, a lot of my subordinates had survived. Thus, I will be Lord Salience’s official patron as well and will do its utmost to support him in his new territory. From this day onward, I ask that you treat him as you would our own kin."

The duke stopped with a smile.

"Now then, please enjoy the banquet."

The moment the Duke lowered his hand, the tension snapped. Whispers erupted like sparks in dry grass and more eyes fell on Ard.

"How much support is this random guy getting?" Viscount Ratsworth said.

"To think the Duke would give a random commoner so much shine." One on his side murmured.

"Aren’t too many people defeating demon lords nowadays? Also, governing a territory is another matter entirely, isn’t it?"

"Isn’t Salience estate basically worthless too? That isn’t even a border territory. It’s just an infested mountain full of beasts."

"He’s a commoner too. What does he even know about running an estate?"

"To say to treat him as kin is too much," someone whispered. "Unbelievable. Some families wait generations for such favor. Did the king really agree to this?"

Then on their table, Ard sighed.

Across the hall, calculations were already being made.

And at the center of it all was him. Like him, he had understood the weight of such simple words.

The Duke now finally sighed in relief. Now,

When he had first received the news about what happened in Salience, everything almost came falling apart. Political pressure and sanctions came from everywhere. But that all changed when Ard arrived in the duchy.

According to his knights, Ard did saved them all.

However, when Sileuss arrived, he had taken him with him. Due to this, thing just became messier. A controversy among the different factions not only in the Duchy, but in the entire kingdom, on who should take the barony also arose before the King.

After all, all the land in the kingdom is theoretically the property of the king. And to show favor to his most loyal subjects the king can give away parts of his kingdom. At that time, the Duke did not care anymore. It was his younger brother’s territory. He also had things to look after in his own territory and the damage in their reputation, especially with the Church.

However, there should be a reward for the selfless act of the unknown warrior who risked his life. By doing this, the narrative could also shift.

A memory surfaced from just days ago, when Ard first arrived at the Duchy. The next day, he was in a meeting .

While he was sitting in his study, magic holograms of noble figures were seated around a long table. Then on the far end was a haggard older man with white hair in his fifties. Representatives and vassals argued heatedly.

"Your Majesty," Duke Reynard then said softly, "if I may propose a solution. The hero of Salience has just arrived in our Duchy."

"Ho?" The old man raised his brow and mused. Everyone was shocked by the sudden revelation which they heard for the first time.

"Yes, your majesty. Apparently, he had been with the Kingdom’s Archmage Sileuss all this time, and had been in his mountain. He even received one of his treasures. I propose we grant him the barony. What say you?"

The other nobles hissed.

"Sileus, huh?" the king then muttered and seemed to have lightened up, "This man must be very interesting then."

"Yes, Your Majesty. He is fairly young too." Reynard immediately said, "I believe you may confirm with Lord Sileuss yourself."

The king chuckled loudly. "I shall. I am planning to visit him now."

"Then?" Reynard’s eyes narrowed in implication and clenched his fist.

As if he had received the best news for a long time, the king laughed again.

"Proceed with the promotion."

Back to the present, the Duke’s composed eyes scanned everyone’s face before landing on Ard who had met his eyes.

’I apologize, young man, but please don’t hate me for this.’ Reynard thought, smiling on Ard, as he had just dumped the baggage on him, ’In return, I will truly give you my support and wish for your success.’

At what he had just heard, Ard almost rolled his eyes in return.

’This human...’ He muttered to himself.

He then remembered his words last time he’d seen him.

’Attend the banquet even if you do not want to. The nobles want to meet the man who killed a demon lord and the newest baron. Do not miss it. Your absence would be... noticed. It would also be good to let them get to know you.’

That was clearly laid with an ulterior motive.

First, promoting him to nobility and giving him a territory and now publicly declaring him as his patron. This was not just gratitude. It was a scheme. Just like many were thinking, it was a strategy to shift attention away from his brother’s disgrace and onto someone else.

’He looks like a kind man, but he is decisive and he had planned this to happen.’

Then moments later, the crowd suddenly parted.

It wasn’t a forceful push, but a natural yielding, like water before a prow. Duke Reynard von Jian approached, his wife, the Duchess, trailing slightly behind him with a grace that made the other noblewomen look like stiff dolls.

"Your Grace," Gary stood up and spoke, bowing respectfully.

"You look well," Reynard said mildly.

"Not too much." Gary then said, and even seemed tense.

"I trust you’re not causing trouble?"

"Surely not."

Ard, on the other hand, had mimicked Gary’s gesture and had now straightened looking at the Duke eye to eye.

’—?’

Reynard paused.

Earlier, Reynard was observing him and he didn’t seem scared or nervous or even annoyed despite being the focus of so many gazes or being put on the spot. His demeanor remained the same as when he first met him.

’No matter what I do, I can’t seem to read this young man,’ Duke Reynard thought, as an unexpected tension tightened in his chest.