Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage
Chapter 66 - 66: Relationships

"Just twenty years ago, a pair of adventurers successfully defeated the Dungeon Guardian of the Imperial Dungeon after the first emperor. The current emperor granted them the titles of Baronet as their rewards for their deeds."

"Ah. The duo of the Sword Saint and the Sage…"

Michael blurted out the titles of their main body's parents. Claire Raeven and Mylene Lavender, their maiden names at the time, were the second ones to conquer the Imperial Dungeon. No one has been able to reach the 70th Floor since then.

"Ah." Eisherz realized they had lost track of their conversation and decided to change the topic. "There's something I wanted to ask if it's fine with you."

"Go ahead."

"What is your relationship between the two?" Curious, the noblewoman tilted her head upon asking a person a question.

Michael and the girls looked at each other and shook their heads up and down, indicating their response to Eisherz's inquiry. Michael glanced at the other two besides the lady before fixing his eyes on the amber gleam.

"…Well, Gabrielle and Uriel are, more or less, my comrades and friends." Michael answered with subtlety on his face, making it noticeably difficult to discern whether he's telling the truth or not.

"Just friends? Not your lovers?" Agnostic, Eisherz asked again to clear her doubts.

"The truth is, they are not my lovers. In fact, they are…" Michael averted his eyes suddenly, "my sister's…"

"…"

After denying Eisherz's claim, Michael reluctantly dropped a bombshell. The impact rendered the front row speechless. The blast of the explosion even broke Estella's stone-faced expressionlessness.

Having seen their mixed reactions, Lucy tried to break the ice. "What my brother said was true." Then Lucy put her hands on Gabrielle's lap. "Gabrielle and Uriel are indeed my lovers."

"They're right, Lady Eisherz. Lucy is my lover, along with Uriel."

"Indeed. We love Lucy."

The girls themselves confirmed the case. Hearing that, the noble side eventually gets over their shock.

"…Well… I've heard about same-sex relationships before. But it's quite surprising seeing it personally, moreover, a polygamous one." Eisherz let out a sigh to metaphorically exhaust her inner shock. "Even though we just discussed dungeons, I completely forgot that the Sword Saint and the Sage were both women and got married. I heard they even have children with the power of a Skill."

(And one of their children is the SirBoss himself.)

Words of bisexual marriage are known in this world, albeit rare. A queer couple is already a rare sight; a throuple or more is even rarer.

"So Michael…" Since Michael said he's not the girls' lover, Eisherz wanted to confirm something.

"Is this what you think, Lady Eisherz? I have never been in a relationship once." Yet, Michael just answered remorselessly.

"Even though you are so strong? And surrounded by these gorgeous women?"

"Me and my sister have known Gabrielle and Uriel since childhood. I see them and treat them like my sisters. Besides, I have preferences."

"So, Michael… have I met the standards of your ideal woman?"

"Hmm?"

"Milady! What are you saying!"

"Milady! A proper lady shouldn't say that kind of thing!"

Van and Estella went on an uproar when they heard the words come out of the lady they serve. Eisherz, on the other hand, blurted it out with a simple smile.

"Geez, I'm just kidding." Eisherz raised her hands, calming the two. "Having their team on our side is essentially beneficial for us."

"Well, you're not wrong about that…"

"Their current strength alone is more than enough to defeat a large group of bandits. If they train enough and get stronger, they might be granted knighthood in just a short time."

A noble household should have strong and powerful military prowess in order to protect and defend their own jurisdiction. That's the reason they are eager to gather as much force as possible.

Recruitment of retired veteran adventurers is a staple within the aristocracy. On average, human adventurers would stop adventuring when they hit their fifties, when they passed their prime. But that means they were able to serve for a very short time.

When a noble heard of some uprising adventurers, they hastily offered them a job serving a noble. It's up to the adventurers whether they will accept the offer or not.

Witnessing the strengths of Michael's team, Eisherz desirously wanted to take their team under their wing. Taking advantage of Michael's bachelorhood, Eisherz attempted to fit herself into his standards. But his reaction was too hard to grasp, so she couldn't perceive it.

In the group's eyes, or rather, Raphael's, Eisherz is indeed a beautiful and attractive woman. Though not as much as his family, Eisherz is still acceptable.

He doesn't know her yet, so he will treat her neutrally for now. Michael's profile was a common birth. Fantasizing a noblewoman is too prudent for the likes of him.

◆◇◆

Their chitchat continued for more than an hour as the terrain on which the wheels of their carriage traveled changed. As they reached the distance of ten kilometers from the city gate, the road seemed to be hardened and compacted.

Although not brick or stone paved, the Imperial government financially managed to hire earth mages to apply Soil Compaction and Soil Reinforcement to the road. Even a dry road is still better than a delayed arrival.

As they traveled, a few monsters frequently popped up on the highway. Since they are almost at the capital, the monsters' strengths are weaker than before, and the accompanying knights alone are enough to subjugate them.

Not even a half-hour had passed before the wheels finally rolled freely over the brick road. The highway is five kilometers from the capital, solidified by Roman brick pavement.

The patrolling guards are now more often inspecting their carriage first before proceeding further. They had to pass other carriages that were leaving or entering the Imperial Capital.

Be it a merchant's, passengers', or personal vehicle, all of them are using the same road.

Various types of people were walking along the road. Adventurers who are leaving for Vagoth Forest to fulfill a quest and coming back to the capital to claim their rewards.

Peddlers with heavy luggage on their backs containing their goods to be sold town to town. Wagoned villagers to sell their newly harvested spring crops to the prosperous city of Jeffer.

The Warhorses clicked their hooves as they walked the paved road. As they moved further, more and more people and vehicles made use of the wide highway. Not long before they saw the walls skirting the whole Imperial Capital.

"It seems like it's about time for us to separate."

"Seems so." Not only Michael, but all the people inside the carriage felt the same.

Just as the noblewoman said, it's just a few hundred meters away from the city's south gate. Meaning that the moment for them to separate is about to come.

Although they are about to enter the capital, their paths will diverge as they do so. Eisherz will go to their estate first before coming to the academy, while Michael and the others will start their way to the Adventurers' Guild.

When they reached the gate, the convoy went in another direction instead of following the impending long line of vehicles to the checkpoint. The impatient coachmen of parked carriages and wagons just stared at the splendid magic carriage as it entered the unoccupied gate for VIPs.

That makes sense because it bears the crest of an earl.

"Your identification, please." The bored tollman ordered tediously at the full-plated coachman of the front carriage.

"Now then, you all have your IDs, right?"

"Of course, Lady Eisherz. We cannot cross nations without that. Our cards are outdated, so we need to renew our cards." They put a hand in their pockets and revealed some shining, quadrilateral iron cards.

"Is that so? So you really neglect taking quests just to improve yourselves."

"That's right."

The cards they are holding look real, but they are actually fake. Raphael created exact replicas of the Adventurers' Guild cards using Alchemy.

Since it were iron, the material for lowest-ranking adventurers, they will encounter no problems renewing it. But it's actually registration instead of renewal since they never got registered in the first place.

They handed their cards, including Eisherz's, to the coachman, who then passed them to the inspector to confirm their identities. Nobles are not exempt from identifying themselves, so Eisherz did too.

"You can enter the city now."

After the tollman confirmed their identities, they paid the toll fee and ultimately entered the capital. The convoy halted a few meters from the gate, then the door of the rear car opened before the four figures exited it.

"It may be a short meeting but full of memories. As a promise, I'll make sure to keep your identities hidden." Eisherz said, still at the carriage. "Thank you again for saving our lives. I hope we'll meet soon. Farewell."

"Farewell, Lady Eisherz."

The door closed, and the convoy moved again. Michael, Lucy, Gabrielle, and Uriel waved their hands several times as the carriages blended into the traffic.