My name is Akatosh,

I'm not responsible for this, well, never.

—4E, 201, Moon of the Fire, 2nd, 11:37 a.m.

Esgael Snowhoof hates banquets very much.

Although it is literally a party where you can eat and drink at will, in fact, those "big people" will always have all kinds of strange topics to discuss, and talk for half an hour about how this glass of wine is made with a honey wine that can be drunk in a sip.

And if you completely ignore the atmosphere of their conversation and deal with the tender deer steaks, fried beef, grilled salmon, large goat cheese, grilled green onions, croissants on the long table......

"It's not going to stop yet! My stupid brother! "Smack!"

…… will be beaten.

Esgael ate the bread in his mouth in a few bites, touched his beaten head and turned to his brother beside him.

Ammid Snowhoof, the eldest son of the Snowhoof family, although he is not as tall as him, his body is not as strong as him, and he always wears ugly old steel armor, but he is very good at two-handed hammers, and when defending, five or six people cannot get close, and when he attacks, he is amazingly destructive, but he can freely send and receive the other party's life, and it is because of this that he was chosen by the lord of Rift Valley City, "Buffalo the Liberal", as the captain of the guard.

"At the lord's banquet, you can't be a little restrained?" Ammid gritted his teeth and whispered to him, "Is there a lack of food for you at home?" ”

"Can't eat it again?" Esgael pouted, this banquet was really the kind he hated.

"Nope! Yes! Eat! Ammid said word for word, then raised his hand and knocked on Esgael's head again.

"Xiao An, you're enough." A gentle but firm female voice rang out, and a hand grabbed Ammid's arm, which he wanted to knock a few more times.

Although the small hand should not be able to stop Ammid's strong arm from the outside, the brother froze completely, and Esgael smiled.

"Sister Lily...... He ate indiscriminately at the city lord's banquet again......" Ammid said with a bitter face: "Father asked me to stop him." ”

"Then you can't hit him on the head, Xiao Ai is not smart in the first place, and it would be really stupid to hit him again." A mild-mannered woman with short blond hair in a goose-yellow priestly robe pulled Anmid's hand away and rubbed the beaten part of Esgael's head.

Lilith Snowhoof, the eldest daughter of the Snowhoof family and a former healer of Uffric's army, has saved countless mortals who have been seriously wounded and dying, from Imperial soldiers to Stormcloak, and returns to her home in Rift Valley after the two sides finally switched from a massive assault to a tug-of-war near the border.

"That's right, that's right." Esgail bent down to make it easier for her sister to touch her head, and at the same time made a smug face to her brother.

"Hmph, you just get used to him!" Ammid snorted and turned to leave.

But did my father see me? Esgael turned his head to find that the father of the three siblings, Ulwulf Snowhoof, was discussing something with the lord lady at the other end of the banquet table, and did not look at it at all.

"Xiao Ai." Lilith stopped touching her head and tapped lightly.

"Sister?" Esgael withdrew his gaze and blinked in confusion.

"Normally, it doesn't matter how you eat, but this is not the lord's 'Mist Veil Tower', and it's not an ordinary banquet," Lilith pointed to the crowd on the other side of the banquet table, "Today the lord is going to confer the title of baron on an adventurer, so it's better not to attract too much attention." ”

"Baron?" Esgael followed her sister's finger and looked, although most of the people present couldn't name or be familiar with it, but the guy who was sandwiched between the lord's two sons and had an embarrassed face should be the adventurer who was about to be knighted.

Harald and Serund, the two sons of the lord lady, are very "unlearned", yes, that's the word, one likes to wear flashy armor and fight guards with a long sword that can only be used as an ornament, and the other is keen to hire adventurers to carry out some wanted and bounty issued by the lord and take credit for his own credit.

It may be because they really can't help them up, the old lord did not hand over the position of the city lord of Rift Valley City to any of them before he died, but to his wife, let her decide who the successor is, presumably the lord lady has her own standards for the qualifications to become the city lord, but it is impossible for the two parties to know, and winning over the new baron is only part of their efforts, but in Esgael's opinion, as long as they don't really knock down a guard or complete a bounty on their own, Any opportunistic behavior is pointless.

"If you must eat, take them to the corner and don't let your father see them." Lilith patted Esgael on the back, handed him a large plate, and turned away, where the court mage Veranria, who was not very good-headed, was waiting for her.

Priests and magicians...... How the hell did they become friends? As she pondered, Esgael decided to listen to her sister and put what she wanted to eat on her plate and take it away.

"Mr. Snowhoof," Lord Keeper Annuel, a dark elf stopped Esgael, "If I were you, I'd pay attention to the capacity of the plate, as well as the height." ”

"Huh?" Esgael turned around and found that the food on his plate was piled up and looked crumbling, and many of the nobles attending the banquet had avoided him.

"It's not full yet, but thank you for the reminder." Esgael nodded, turned around with a plate standing on a "tower", and caused a small exclamation again.

He had intended to return to the corner where he had been, but it was occupied by Marven Blackbrambles and Louis Turas, a traveling merchant, who had been forbidden by his brother and sister and father, who seemed to be discussing something.

Needless to say, the Black Thorn Family had to refer to their opinions even when issuing orders, and that merchant seemed to be doing a truly illegal business, and Scuma was nothing compared to it.

Esgael hesitated for a moment, then turned and walked to the balcony on the side of the ballroom, picking up a number of exclamations and gasps along the way.

——12:01——

"Ladies and Gentlemen~ Ladies and gentlemen~ we invite you here today to celebrate the birth of a new Baron of the Rift-" Lord Leila's voice came from inside the banquet hall.

The "villa" is not soundproof at all, and Esgail nibbles on bread and meatloaf while watching the many fishing boats on the lake.

It used to be a warehouse of materials for Black Thorn Mead, and because most of the ingredients were honey transported by water, it was named "Sweet Bay" by the residents just by passing by the door because of the water vapor, so it was named "Sweet Bay" by the residents, and Esgail tried to sneak in to get some honey to eat, but failed.

After this warehouse was out of use, it was converted into a lakeside villa, but the lord didn't know if it was to create a gimmick or didn't bother to name it, so he directly named it "Sweet Bay Villa", and it was sold for 20,000 gold coins, well, it has not been sold so far.

"As a result of my exploits in destroying Skuma's den, I, in my capacity as Lord of the City, have declared Mr. Larry the new Baron of Rift City and have earned the right to purchase this gorgeous villa—" Lady Lyra's voice continued.

It is completely impossible to build a stronghold in the valley near the city without the cooperation of the nobles in the city, but the lord lady seems to have no intention of closing the case after catching a few small shrimps, and the big nobles who support it now have to grit their teeth and congratulate them.

Hey? Could this be the political wisdom that my father used to say?

Esgael turned to go into the hall to take a closer look, but he seemed to hit something, and with a shake of his hand, he threw the rest of the food along with the plate.

Whoosh Whoosh –

The tray moved quickly, catching and floating in the air all the food that should have landed on the ground.

"This plate is amazing." Esgael exclaimed.

“…… Has anyone ever said you're stupid? The girl's voice, which sounded uncharacteristic, rang out, as a petite girl in a white dress and a black scarf that almost covered half of her face appeared in front of him, holding the plate with one hand.

"My father and older siblings often said that, but there were very few outsiders." Esgail nodded, reaching for the plate.

“…… I guess too. The girl looked at him with dark eyes, and returned the plate and food, but took one of the doughnuts from the food pile and bit it into her mouth.

"Hmm......" Esgail saw himself in the girl's eyes, more than two meters tall, tanned skin, unkempt long black hair, and a very vicious appearance and a huge machete on his back, if it was not an acquaintance, no one would dare to speak disrespectfully to such a terrible big man.

The little girl looked at him with curiosity and no fear, no, now is not the time to be in a daze, she has to say something.

"Sweet Cove Villa is a symbol of the Baron's status, and it sells for just fifteen thousand gold septins—" The lady of the lord in the house was still selling.

"You've been eating the stuff on your plate since just now, haven't you?" Esgael's mind suddenly became flexible, and he asked as he stared at the girl, then saw her movements freeze visibly.

“…… Did you get it for me? The girl tilted her head: "Thank you." ”

No, if it weren't for her help, this batch of food would have fallen to the ground and could not be eaten, and it was normal for her to take a few, but in any case, she couldn't end the conversation there, Esgael thought as quickly as she hadn't done before.

"Since you've been invited to eat, then we can be considered friends, right? And friends should exchange names, shouldn't they," Esgail said, "My name is Esgael Snowhoof, the second son of the Snowhoof family in Rift City. ”

“…… My name is Amir," the girl winked, "a member of the Thieves' Guild under the Rat Path." ”

"Ugh." Esgael was stuck, the relationship between those nobles that his sister had forced him to remember was meaningless at the moment, even if he could tie the Snowhoof family and the Black Thorn family after three or four connections, but how could he relate to a "rat" in the sewers?

After the girl took a few more desserts and turned to disappear, there was only one sentence left in Esgael's head.

- How could there be such a cute mouse?