It's Not Like I Want to Play the Role of a Misunderstood, Good-for-Nothing Prince in a Villainess Story! - Chapter 83: Eating at the Knight Order Cafeteria

A day off.

I came to the Royal Capital Knight Order’s facility headquarters for the first time in a while.

It was to use the cafeteria, which I had promised Beldiha before.

The Knight Order’s cafeteria was quite spacious, partly because there were many knights.

It was a stone building with torches here and there, and although it was a bit old, it was cleaned properly so there isn’t a speck of dust.

For the time being, while drinking the water that was prepared, I was talking to knights I didn’t usually talk to, when some familiar faces arrived.

“Oh my, oh my? A rare person is in the cafeteria. But why… Garim.”

“Hmph. It’s just as we expected. You got suspended again, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean ‘as expected’, I didn’t.”

Debut and Garim came to my table while grinning.

They brought chairs from the next table and sat with me.

“Hmph. Even so, why are you here?”

“Do you have some business?”

“Didn’t I tell you two before?”

When I explained, including the fact that I got permission to use the cafeteria in exchange for listening to Beldiha’s request, and also about the dungeon, they finally accepted it.

“Hmph. So the raid on that noble’s mansion was decided…”

“It finally makes sense.”

“…I thought I explained it to you guys before heading to the mansion, though. Or rather, conversely, what reason did you think I took you along for? I even said cut them down if they resist, and you guys answered immediately that you understood.”

The two looked at each other’s faces and then.

“Well, if Zeke-sama says so, we will say ‘Yes’ to any order.”

“Hmph. We were talking about it after we got back, Debut and I. That Zeke-sama is impressive to launch a raid just because he was pissed off.”

“Right?” “Yeah.”

“……”

Did they think I would launch a raid just because I was pissed off?

What did they think I was?

“Good grief, Prince Zeke. There is no way they were listening to what you said.”

The one who walked over with an exasperated voice was Tarsen.

“Is it always like this?”

“Yes, even regarding operations, if you talk for more than 10 minutes, they forget the contents.”

The two strongly objected to Tarsen’s words.

“Hmph. It troubles us if you underestimate us.”

“That’s right, we have our swordsmanship skills…!”

That wasn’t a defense of any kind, nor was it an excuse.

“Even so, Zeke-sama makes decisions quickly to crush someone when Lady Misty is involved.”

“Hmph. But I think this is good. Because he usually has a bit of a soft spot.”

“Hey hey Garim, that is also one of Zeke-sama’s good points.”

“Hmph. However, as one who will become King in the future, sometimes cruel decisions are also…”

“You guys sure are talkative when it comes to Prince Zeke.”

While they were making a racket leaving me out of it, one of the members I met for the first time today raised his hand.

“Um, what kind of person is Lady Misty?”

The Knight Order had many people, and there were guys who didn’t know Misty.

In the first place, although they were called the Royal Capital Knight Order, many were usually outside the Royal Capital.

The Claudia family was a Marquis house, but it was natural that they wouldn’t know the young lady, let alone the head of the house.

“Hmph. She is a Marquis’s daughter and Zeke-sama’s fiancée.”

“She is beautiful and has a good personality. She’s almost too good for Zeke-sama.”

“That’s right…”

I remembered and slumped my shoulders.

“Mu?”

“What is wrong?”

“It seems I’m going to be dumped by Misty in the future.”

She was always 2nd place in studies and was making an effort to become 1st, and furthermore, she had raised her magic skill considerably and was probably more amazing than me.

“This is bad if things stay like this.”

“Haa… I think it will be fine though.”

“Hmph. Debut, can’t something be done about Zeke-sama being weak-kneed only towards this Lady Misty?”

“It can’t be helped, right? Regarding this, hasn’t it been like this since childhood?”

“That’s true.”

“Or rather, surely Lady Misty will become even more beautiful in the future.”

“Hmph. That goes without saying.”

My heart ached listening to that conversation.

My reputation as a useless prince was improving, but there was also the matter of the transfer students.

If I were to fall from the position of the next King, would Misty be disillusioned?

Well, I didn’t think Misty was the kind of person to do that though.

“Garim, you should make remarks that read the room a bit more.”

“Hmph. This is… oh? Zeke-sama, it seems the food is ready. Let’s eat immediately.”

“T-That’s right. If you fill your stomach, you can become positive.”

“Well, I guess so.”

I smacked my lips at the food being brought in.

Today it was soup with bread, vegetables, and dried meat.

“It’s pretty delicious.”

“Right? The cook is quite excellent.”

“That’s right, it seems he studied cooking on his own. The menu isn’t extensive, but the seasoning is solid. He seems to be close with merchants who procure seasonings from the west.”

“I see. Not bad.”

It wasn’t up to the Royal Palace level, but this seasoning was to my liking.

However, just bread and soup, huh?

“Hey Tarsen, if we add books related to cooking and a little budget, would the number of dishes increase?”

“Eh, I won’t know unless I ask the cook about that but… will you increase the budget for us?”

“You guys usually listen to my requests, after all. I’ll try asking just in case; I can’t promise though.”

“Is that true? That helps. Since there are inevitably many people, food expenses pile up.”

“As expected of Zeke-sama! Thank you very much.”

“Hmph. So the food will increase?”

“It’s not confirmed, okay? I’m not the one deciding the budget, and it’s impossible if His Majesty doesn’t nod his head.”

“Oh, I thought it was awfully lively, turns out it’s the Prince. If you’re using the cafeteria, give me a shout, let me join too.”

When Beldiha arrived, he moved one of the members sitting next to me and went out of his way to sit next to me.

“Hoh, you don’t have confidence, huh.”

He gulped down a bottle of alcohol and then hiccupped.

“What do you think, Beldiha?”

“Hah? The answer to something like that is already decided, isn’t it?”

Eh? It was decided?

“Since the only place you’re winning is swordsmanship, you should polish that.”

Swordsmanship, huh? Certainly, if it was swordsmanship, I wouldn’t lose to Misty.

In the first place, Misty didn’t use a sword.

Beldiha looked at me as if glaring with steady eyes.

“I won’t call myself a teacher, but I don’t mind teaching you the sword sometime.”

“……”

I had Rubert as a teacher. But Rubert wouldn’t be able to come back for a while, and originally Garim and Debut were coming as my practice partners anyway, so was it an option?

“…You’re right, I’ll ask you sometime.”

“Hah, is that so… ah?”

When I said that, Beldiha looked at my face, perhaps because it was an unexpected answer.

“Oi oi, you’re quite enthusiastic, aren’t you. Looks like you’ll be worth training.”

“Worth training?”

Huh? Isn’t teaching the sword different from training hard?

“Listen here, you write it as ‘train hard’ and read it as ‘teach’. Now now, shut up and obey.”

“That’s totally different!?”

I retorted, but Beldiha laughed heartily and roughly patted my head.

Well, he didn’t seem like he’d listen even if I said something, so let’s leave it be.

“Come to think of it, is someone coming from the Papal Territory?”

“Eh, how do you know?”

“It’s a topic in town that students are coming from over there.”

“I heard that too. People from the church were saying it.”

People who heard the story were appearing here and there.

Are they leaking it from the church side?

Well, maybe it wasn’t something to hide.

“Now that you mention it, I heard a Divine Child is coming.”

“Divine Child?”

“Yeah, the grandchild of the current Pope, with the epithet ‘Divine Child Blessed by the World’.”

What was that cool epithet!

The epithet I had was ‘Good-for-nothing Prince hated throughout the Royal Palace’ though?

No, I’d already redeemed myself, you know! But isn’t the disparity terrible!?

“That’s a super cool epithet, but what kind of person are they?”

When I asked, everyone looked at each other.

“Umm, I heard swords don’t work on them because they are protected by God.”

“I heard they are loved by everyone.”

“I heard they’re an excellent guy.”

“I heard magic also avoids them.”

Eh? If all of that was true, wasn’t that dangerous?

“Does that mean even Beldiha can’t cut them?”

“You idiot, I haven’t tried yet.”

“You don’t have to try!”

If by any chance you cut them, that would be a problem in itself!

Or so I thought, but Beldiha’s face looked somewhat strange.

Wrinkles were gathering between his eyebrows, and he was narrowing his eyes while twisting his mouth.

“Beldiha?”

“…No well, I met that person just once about 10 years ago.”

“Heeh, how was it?”

“Somehow, I think I could do it if I tried but… I strangely didn’t feel like I could cut them. …Muu, it’s somewhat hard to put into words but…”

It was a somewhat inarticulate way of speaking, unlike the usually aggressive Beldiha.

‘Divine Child Blessed by the World’, huh.

“I wonder what kind of person they are.”