Akeru's poker face almost broke when he heard the number.
'Don't show it, don't show it. I know nothing unusual about the number 69,' Akeru calmly chanted inside his mind and hoped that nothing was shown on his face.
However, his wish seemed unlikely to be fulfilled as he noticed an amused smile on the Wizard King's face.
'He knows!'
"About your promotion, though you are inexperienced, you will still be appointed as a Grand Magic Knight. You have cultivated a pretty good arsenal of magic till now, and I am anticipating what you will develop next. I would advise you to focus on your core spells."
'Does he mean that I should focus more on "Bystander's Magic"? That's easier said than done. It's too complicated to invest my time in now. I would probably do it after I am done with the high yield and other important gains I could get.'
Cheers soon erupted in the hall.
Akeru didn't get the option to create a new squad as he was too inexperienced for it, though even if he had been eligible, he wouldn't have chosen it.
The Wizard King then said a bit about the main occasion of today's banquet being the emergence of two Grand Magic Knights in our kingdom.
His speech was quite brief.
The ceremony ended, marking the beginning of the banquet.
'I wonder why Rill's name was not announced. His achievements should be comparable to mine if not higher. I guess it's probably due to his status of being a Captain. Aqua Deer would be climbing in the ranking, though the other squads won't be pushovers either. Everyone who went to the border has accumulated a lot of achievements, seeing how many people present today were from there.'
He took a drink from a nearby table and took a sip.
It was a fruit juice, yet to Akeru, it felt like he was drinking some kind of elixir.
His mind blanked for a moment before he regained his senses.
'What the fuck is this? Why haven't I drunk this before? Is my Royal status a joke?' Akeru was truly baffled by the anomaly of not coming in contact with this drink until now.
'Now that I look around, this banquet is truly blown out. I could even dare to claim that it is comparable to the banquets held by royals. Is this where the tax money goes?'
Akeru thought back to the 30 per cent cut in the mission pay he received in the name of tax.
'Now that I am a Grand Magic Knight officially, taxes would increase... won't they?' Akeru grimaced as he realized the severity of his situation.
The pay was given mostly in accordance with the mission one takes.
There was no standard payment for anybody other than captains.
Akeru had found himself to be a Grand Magic Knight without any squad he would lead, which means that not only would he not get any standard fee, but also the taxes for each mission he would have to pay would increase.
Well, such positions like Akeru's and, by extension, Langris's too were rare.
This, along with the fact that most knights are nobles, made it such that nobody had raised an issue about this case.
Akeru spotted his subordinates and decided to walk towards them.
On his way, he heard somebody mentioning how Black Bulls would be out of black stars, making him sweat drop at that fact.
'Well, it ain't wrong.'
"Yo!"
"Congratulations boss!"
"Congrats boss!"
"Congrats boss!"
Akeru was momentarily caught off-guard by their expressions.
He almost thought that they were the ones who were promoted to Grand Magic Knights.
"Jeez, thanks, guys. You are going to make me blush with those expressions," Akeru joked to hide what he was feeling from seeing their expressions.
It only confused the other three.
Akeru quickly changed the topic, not waiting for them to ask him to explain his joke.
Explaining a joke is just an embarrassment to not only yourself but the joke too.
"Anyway, congrats on your new position Ren. I wasn't really expecting this development, but in hindsight, you might be the perfect person to deal with every troublesome issue that comes with that position."
"Thanks... I guess?" Ren didn't know if Akeru was praising him or not.
"Congratulations Kaiser for the promotion. If somebody asked me a month ago whether you were ready for the promotion, I would have said no. However, the current you is certainly capable of this position in more than one way."
"Thanks, boss."
Akeru then turned to Erza who looked at him... who looked at him with an expectant gaze.
"Congratulations..." Akeru purposely paused and clearly enjoyed the tension that appeared on Erza's face.
"on getting your name called!" Akeru finished his statement with a grin on his face.
Erza's expression turned into one of utter confusion followed by slight anger and embarrassment.
"Wait, what?"
"Hehe, I am just messing with you. Don't get discouraged about not getting a promotion. Though you are meters away—ahem, I mean kilometres away from the Grand Magic Knight position—"
Akeru clearly enjoyed the annoyed look on Erza's face when he said the last statement.
"You are almost ready if not for the Vice-Captain position. Blue Rose hasn't had a Vice-Captain for a while now, why don't you apply?"
Erza was the only one among the three who didn't have any change in her rank in the Star award ceremony.
She had been promoted to First Class Senior Knight around the time during the mission in the Diamond Kingdom as she was eligible before going on the mission, but the paperwork took a while.
It's not necessary to be promoted during a Star Award Ceremony only. When missions like the Border One or going into the Diamond Kingdom, where the time limit was indefinite, were involved, it's quite common to have people promoted during the mission itself.
Such privileges are given to captains—like Rill who was the one who promoted her.
"I guess I will try," Erza shrugged.
She didn't really care about being a Vice-Captain or not.
What she cares about is whether that position would help her get a good fight or not.
"If you guys need help, you know who to look for."
They talked a bit before Akeru left.
"It's been a while, hasn't it? You still seem to be as good as I remember you in my memories, my rival!"
Leopold's enthusiasm brought a smile to Akeru's face.
"Stop being so dramatic, you seem to be as obnoxious if not more since the last time I saw you."
"Obnoxious? Me!?" Leopold gasped. "That's quite a harsh comment."
"Heh, that's actually light. If somebody else was in my shoes, they would have called you a menace by now... I wonder if I could file a domestic abuse complaint against you." Akeru's grin grew wider with each word he spoke until it reached his entire face.
"Domestic abuse? Who is abusing whom?" A new voice interrupted their conversation causing the duo to turn toward the newcomer.
"What's with that smile? You look creepy." Akeru's grin disappeared after hearing Mimosa's words.
"Uh..." Akeru tried mustering up some words to defend himself but realized he did not have any comeback.
"Now, now, that expression wasn't creepy per se, you are overreacting," Leopold, being the one who can read the room, tried to diffuse the situation.
"Heck, I would even say it was cute."
"..."
"..."
"Well, I would have liked it better if a girl said that about me, but I can't disagree with you. I am cute after all." Akeru smiled... normally this time.
"..." Leopold was rendered speechless by Akeru's words. 'I was just trying to be polite... you didn't have to take it seriously.' The unspoken words echoed in Leopold's head.
Mimosa's eyes narrowed as she looked at Akeru.
"You sound a lot like my brother... I hope you haven't been interacting with him recently, right?"
Before Akeru could reply, a commotion could be heard throughout the hall.
"You seem to have grown more brazen after you joined those group of misfits. As your brother, I must educate you about your position again."
Solid, Nebra, and Noelle were in a conflict.
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A/N - What do you think about the conversation guys? Does it come off as weird in the past chapters you have seen along with this one? Give me some feedback on some points if you don't mind.
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