On the afternoon of the third day of their arrival, in the garden of the mansion, Yui was absorbed in reading at the same time savoring the taste of coffee with an elegant demeanor.
“Where everything does nothing, such is life”
Yui muttered, stretching his body. In the Duke Rhine’s residence, there is an area of the garden grand enough to accommodate the usual nobility. Yui was usually spending his summer afternoon at peace in a shade of the mentioned garden. However, such a peaceful, or you might say lazy everyday life has been erased by a sudden visitor.
“This is terrible, Sir Yui!”
After searching around the house, he finally found his senior, who had brought a table and chair in the garden while relaxing as he is. Eins rushed to him in a panic.
“What’s wrong, Eins? Panicking at a time like this, you’re going to ruin this wonderful day. Calm down”
“Sir Yui, now is not the time for that! Here, please read this letter”
“you mean this? Okay”
As soon as Yui received the letter from Eins, he opened it up and read the contents right away. Then, his face gradually changed its color and immediately loses his composure.
“Eins, is this a joke or something? The way it was written, it seems that King Orado wants to see me……”
"Nope, It’s not a joke, King Orado, really wants to see you, sir”
“you're kidding, right? I am not even an aristocrat. Aside from listening to his speech in the New Year's event, I have not even heard the king’s voice."
“that’s because Sir Yui had always made your work as an excuse, and skipped the king's address in the all-out military assembly...... "
“……that is……certainly right, but…”
Yui instinctively looked down and shook his head.
“Anyway, there is a message from Sir Ahmad. “For tomorrow’s meeting, ask Eins for the official uniform for the fourth ranks, and hit by the manor of the royal palace at once.” Usually when being promoted to fourth rank, the uniform should have been tailored according to Sir Yui’s body size, but it will not make it in time tomorrow, so we will put up with the remaining ones available in this case. Anyway, the carriage is already waiting outside, so please follow my lead"
“Why is this happening to me? Meeting his majesty the king, this should only be done with such great personages! Not me who was demoted from not working!”
“But now you have just came back from relegation, sir. Please put an end to it already. There is not much time until tomorrow, so please hurry. By the way, after purchasing your clothes, please remove the thoughts about sleeping today because we will be making rehearsals and training about manners in the royal castle”
After saying those things, Eins left the place in a hurry, leaving Yui who could only look at the heavens in spite.
***
On the next day, wearing a formal military clothes that he was not accustomed to, Yui stood in front of the door of the audience room of the royal castle.
When the name is called from the inside of the audience room, reply, wait on the spot, and when the door opens, step with the right foot, walk to the center of the room, kneel on one knee and lower the head, then wait for the call.
From yesterday he was made to practice this series of actions over and over again. Including other manners, Eins' training does not allow any compromise, he told me the fact that he being the son of Jenard will not compromise on his duties.
“Fourth rank Yui Ystats”
“Yes”
Yui remembered last night's training and waited on the spot. When the door in front of his eyes was opened the red carpet heading to the king was revealed before his eyes. And behind that carpet, the image of King Orado and Princess Elise beside him can be seen, accompanied by several guards in the perimeter.
Yui gently cast down his eyes, walked so as not to make noise, knelt on one knee following the ritual, then waited for the king's call.
“Raise your head. Yui Ystats”
Yui, to that call, looked up. From there, a man at the prime of his life, accompanied with a vibrant aura, is now staring at him.
"So you are that fourth rank Yui Ystats. Hmm, unlike the rumors from the military, I see seriousness in your face"
I do not know what kind of rumor those are, but they are not certainly good ones, Yui thought, as he expressed a bitter smile in his heart.
"Well, no matter what the rumors say, it doesn’t matter. For saving my daughter, this Orado wish to express our gratitude from our hearts."
“Your words are wasted upon me”
Yui once again lowered his head to the words of Orado for the first time.
"Hoho, you do not have to be so modest. Now then, Ystats. I am thinking, though you have your work. I would like you to take my Elise and babysit her for a little while"
“Babysit?”
As soon as he heard the Orado’s remarks, Yui suffered a shock as if he had been dropped a hammer down to the head he was lowering, and unexpectedly raised his face by reflex.
“Well, Elise is alright but is somewhat lacking in composure for her age. And for that, I will be entrusting a unit to you to calm her foundation”
“Lacking in composure? Isn’t this too much of an exaggeration, father?”
“Fool! Where can you find a ‘calm’ daughter crashing to rural territories of the kingdom and getting kidnapped? With your position in the future, think about yourself and your surroundings more, and exert more self-restraint!"
As if not minding Orado's fit of anger, Elise just faced the other way. Seeing the reaction of Elise, Orado sighed once, then turned toward Yui and spoke.
“Ystats, you see, if this continues, this child wont properly grow up to be an adult. Though you have saved my daughter the other day, this time I will be asking you another favor again, and for that, I apologize. Could you watch over this child?”
Yui wanted to blurt an instantaneous refusal to that request with full power. However, denying a request from the king in itself is tantamount to the danger of letting loose that reckless princess equivalent to several headaches. So, eventually Yui replied, as if giving up.
“It’s an honor to receive your order. However, though I have personally protected her highness from harm as her escort, is it really alright to leave the protection of the princess to us, regarding the recent events that have occurred?”
“Very well, now that you said it. This child, along with her bodyguards, I will leave it under your discretion. So in this case, a completely new unit will probably be established for Elise. So I guess you’ll be an Elite Guard Corps?”
“Elite Guard Corps?”
The establishment of a new unit which is the Elite Guard Corps. Moreover, according to Orado’s speech, it will be an organization independent to the Royal Guards – Yui could only ask, astonished. If asked why, in the recent years the structure of the military organization has been set in stone, and in order to adapt to the times, there are cases where the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense such as the Royal Guards and the like were transferred to the Ministry of Magic in order to increase its sphere of influence. Still, other than those mentioned, there was not a single military organization created for over the past 100 years in the Claris Kingdom.
“Yes, an Elite Guard Corps. And you will be its commanding officer. Your promotion to fourth rank is related to this, as it is required to be of fourth rank and above to be a commanding officer. About the staff and budget, it is necessary to pack things needed by the military and the royal family, but it would be easier if you consult it with this child before making decisions”
Negotiating the budget to securing personnel aside, Yui, worried by the weight of the situation and thinking what kind of being will he be seen as by other departments, could only grimace over the headache in his skull.
“Well then, Including being the escort of Elise, I hope that it will become a powerful force in the future”
As if he wasn’t aware, or maybe, didn’t care about Yui’s conflicting thoughts about this matter at all, King Orado stood up, and accompanied by the guards, left the audience room with a smile after saying so, leaving only Yui and Elise on the spot.
Yui remained in that kneeling position, not moving as if he was stuck in place. Elise, as soon as the ‘nuisance’ disappeared, approached Yui with a full smile on her face.
“fufufu, surprised?”
“Rather than being surprised, I thought my waist would come off. Why bother to create a new unit? If anything else, shouldn’t you be improving or handling the Royal Guards more effectively than before?”
Yui, even though it’s too late to salvage the situation upon himself, still tried to push the work to the Royal Guards.
“That’s because it’s useless. My Royal Guards are after all, just – guards, or should I say, fighters? There are no such things as a commanding officer class among them after all. With that, they have no authority, unlike you who can respond to the situation correspondingly like you did last time. To me, a simple bodyguard is not necessary anymore. They won’t be able to do the things I want them to do”
“In other words, you wanted something close to a private unit, or something like that? But even with His Majesty's wishes, wouldn’t this idea be considerably opposed by the Royal Guards?”
“Well, somewhat. However, with the case of the Royal Guards the last time, who have failed in their efforts in protecting me, they won’t have the right to resist strongly to this, don’t you think? Though everything won’t be done without father’s permission”
Elise spoke as she gave a pleasant smile towards Yui. Without hiding the grudge on his face, he was curious about how did she acquired the king’s permission?
“You’re thinking how did I acquire such permission, right?”
“Well, you see, I think he took the matters on that previous incident seriously. So with that, I had gained permission to organize an exclusive unit under my direct command, but on one condition”
“And that condition is?”
When Yui asked Elise on what conditions the king had issued upon her, traces of disappointment was floated on her face.
“that, I won’t be commanding the troops directly”
“And so……”
“you have been chosen, Yui Ystats. You have solved the incident the other day, better than I did. I was so lost in the confusion and could only do nothing. Therefore, I thought of entrusting it to you, my ideals”
“And your ideals are?”
“Making the people in this country, both the nobles and the people, make everyone happy. I will change this country, which has been frozen in the times”
Yui, amidst of wanting to throw up from these high-sounding words, wasn’t able to dislike the princess who talked about her dreams for some reason.
“Your Highness heard the rumors around me, right?”
“Yes, about the hero Yui Ystats who rescued the princess, it was a hot topic even in the castle outskirts, didn’t you know?”
“Not that. The one where I was treated like a troublemaker inside the military…”
“I was kidding. Yui Ystats, “The Deadbeat of the Royal Capital” and “Carlin’s Daylight Lantern”. Relax, I’m not going to treat you as some pushover. Well, if you want to be at ease, you may choose subordinates you think are better than you. Regarding the staffing and organizing, I will entrust it to you, while I will do the negotiatiing regarding the equipment and our budget, so if you want something, just tell me, okay?”
The princess said that she would be in charge if the negotiations and connections, which is quite in fact, a hassle for me. Of course, for her who is not an expert yet in any field, what she can really do is limited, but still, the existence of Elise, which is the second strongest card after the king, will definitely be an ace in her negotiations. Well, I shouldn’t think about the grudge of the other party afterwards.
“Something……then, about recruiting personnel, other than several military officers and non-commissioned officers, I would also like to request to bring my former subordinates from Carlin. Will it be alright to you?”
“I don’t mind. I also owe those people too. And so, who will be those officers?”
“If it’s possible, I would like to pull out one from each Ministry in the Army. Can you do it?”
“A total of three people, I see. So, whom should I invite?”
To Elise’ words, Yui hesitated no longer, and told the names of the three people in his head.
“Then may I request these three people whom I trust the most. Eins Von Rhine from the Ministry of Tactics, Lute Hannemburg from the Ministry of Magic, and Alex Hughes from the Ministry of Defense”
On the afternoon of the third day of their arrival, in the garden of the mansion, Yui was absorbed in reading at the same time savoring the taste of coffee with an elegant demeanor.
“Where everything does nothing, such is life”
Yui muttered, stretching his body. In the Duke Rhine’s residence, there is an area of the garden grand enough to accommodate the usual nobility. Yui was usually spending his summer afternoon at peace in a shade of the mentioned garden. However, such a peaceful, or you might say lazy everyday life has been erased by a sudden visitor.
“This is terrible, Sir Yui!”
After searching around the house, he finally found his senior, who had brought a table and chair in the garden while relaxing as he is. Eins rushed to him in a panic.
“What’s wrong, Eins? Panicking at a time like this, you’re going to ruin this wonderful day. Calm down”
“Sir Yui, now is not the time for that! Here, please read this letter”
“you mean this? Okay”
As soon as Yui received the letter from Eins, he opened it up and read the contents right away. Then, his face gradually changed its color and immediately loses his composure.
“Eins, is this a joke or something? The way it was written, it seems that King Orado wants to see me……”
"Nope, It’s not a joke, King Orado, really wants to see you, sir”
“you're kidding, right? I am not even an aristocrat. Aside from listening to his speech in the New Year's event, I have not even heard the king’s voice."
“that’s because Sir Yui had always made your work as an excuse, and skipped the king's address in the all-out military assembly...... "
“……that is……certainly right, but…”
Yui instinctively looked down and shook his head.
“Anyway, there is a message from Sir Ahmad. “For tomorrow’s meeting, ask Eins for the official uniform for the fourth ranks, and hit by the manor of the royal palace at once.” Usually when being promoted to fourth rank, the uniform should have been tailored according to Sir Yui’s body size, but it will not make it in time tomorrow, so we will put up with the remaining ones available in this case. Anyway, the carriage is already waiting outside, so please follow my lead"
“Why is this happening to me? Meeting his majesty the king, this should only be done with such great personages! Not me who was demoted from not working!”
“But now you have just came back from relegation, sir. Please put an end to it already. There is not much time until tomorrow, so please hurry. By the way, after purchasing your clothes, please remove the thoughts about sleeping today because we will be making rehearsals and training about manners in the royal castle”
After saying those things, Eins left the place in a hurry, leaving Yui who could only look at the heavens in spite.
***
On the next day, wearing a formal military clothes that he was not accustomed to, Yui stood in front of the door of the audience room of the royal castle.
When the name is called from the inside of the audience room, reply, wait on the spot, and when the door opens, step with the right foot, walk to the center of the room, kneel on one knee and lower the head, then wait for the call.
From yesterday he was made to practice this series of actions over and over again. Including other manners, Eins' training does not allow any compromise, he told me the fact that he being the son of Jenard will not compromise on his duties.
“Fourth rank Yui Ystats”
“Yes”
Yui remembered last night's training and waited on the spot. When the door in front of his eyes was opened the red carpet heading to the king was revealed before his eyes. And behind that carpet, the image of King Orado and Princess Elise beside him can be seen, accompanied by several guards in the perimeter.
Yui gently cast down his eyes, walked so as not to make noise, knelt on one knee following the ritual, then waited for the king's call.
“Raise your head. Yui Ystats”
Yui, to that call, looked up. From there, a man at the prime of his life, accompanied with a vibrant aura, is now staring at him.
"So you are that fourth rank Yui Ystats. Hmm, unlike the rumors from the military, I see seriousness in your face"
I do not know what kind of rumor those are, but they are not certainly good ones, Yui thought, as he expressed a bitter smile in his heart.
"Well, no matter what the rumors say, it doesn’t matter. For saving my daughter, this Orado wish to express our gratitude from our hearts."
“Your words are wasted upon me”
Yui once again lowered his head to the words of Orado for the first time.
"Hoho, you do not have to be so modest. Now then, Ystats. I am thinking, though you have your work. I would like you to take my Elise and babysit her for a little while"
“Babysit?”
As soon as he heard the Orado’s remarks, Yui suffered a shock as if he had been dropped a hammer down to the head he was lowering, and unexpectedly raised his face by reflex.
“Well, Elise is alright but is somewhat lacking in composure for her age. And for that, I will be entrusting a unit to you to calm her foundation”
“Lacking in composure? Isn’t this too much of an exaggeration, father?”
“Fool! Where can you find a ‘calm’ daughter crashing to rural territories of the kingdom and getting kidnapped? With your position in the future, think about yourself and your surroundings more, and exert more self-restraint!"
As if not minding Orado's fit of anger, Elise just faced the other way. Seeing the reaction of Elise, Orado sighed once, then turned toward Yui and spoke.
“Ystats, you see, if this continues, this child wont properly grow up to be an adult. Though you have saved my daughter the other day, this time I will be asking you another favor again, and for that, I apologize. Could you watch over this child?”
Yui wanted to blurt an instantaneous refusal to that request with full power. However, denying a request from the king in itself is tantamount to the danger of letting loose that reckless princess equivalent to several headaches. So, eventually Yui replied, as if giving up.
“It’s an honor to receive your order. However, though I have personally protected her highness from harm as her escort, is it really alright to leave the protection of the princess to us, regarding the recent events that have occurred?”
“Very well, now that you said it. This child, along with her bodyguards, I will leave it under your discretion. So in this case, a completely new unit will probably be established for Elise. So I guess you’ll be an Elite Guard Corps?”
“Elite Guard Corps?”
The establishment of a new unit which is the Elite Guard Corps. Moreover, according to Orado’s speech, it will be an organization independent to the Royal Guards – Yui could only ask, astonished. If asked why, in the recent years the structure of the military organization has been set in stone, and in order to adapt to the times, there are cases where the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense such as the Royal Guards and the like were transferred to the Ministry of Magic in order to increase its sphere of influence. Still, other than those mentioned, there was not a single military organization created for over the past 100 years in the Claris Kingdom.
“Yes, an Elite Guard Corps. And you will be its commanding officer. Your promotion to fourth rank is related to this, as it is required to be of fourth rank and above to be a commanding officer. About the staff and budget, it is necessary to pack things needed by the military and the royal family, but it would be easier if you consult it with this child before making decisions”
Negotiating the budget to securing personnel aside, Yui, worried by the weight of the situation and thinking what kind of being will he be seen as by other departments, could only grimace over the headache in his skull.
“Well then, Including being the escort of Elise, I hope that it will become a powerful force in the future”
As if he wasn’t aware, or maybe, didn’t care about Yui’s conflicting thoughts about this matter at all, King Orado stood up, and accompanied by the guards, left the audience room with a smile after saying so, leaving only Yui and Elise on the spot.
Yui remained in that kneeling position, not moving as if he was stuck in place. Elise, as soon as the ‘nuisance’ disappeared, approached Yui with a full smile on her face.
“fufufu, surprised?”
“Rather than being surprised, I thought my waist would come off. Why bother to create a new unit? If anything else, shouldn’t you be improving or handling the Royal Guards more effectively than before?”
Yui, even though it’s too late to salvage the situation upon himself, still tried to push the work to the Royal Guards.
“That’s because it’s useless. My Royal Guards are after all, just – guards, or should I say, fighters? There are no such things as a commanding officer class among them after all. With that, they have no authority, unlike you who can respond to the situation correspondingly like you did last time. To me, a simple bodyguard is not necessary anymore. They won’t be able to do the things I want them to do”
“In other words, you wanted something close to a private unit, or something like that? But even with His Majesty's wishes, wouldn’t this idea be considerably opposed by the Royal Guards?”
“Well, somewhat. However, with the case of the Royal Guards the last time, who have failed in their efforts in protecting me, they won’t have the right to resist strongly to this, don’t you think? Though everything won’t be done without father’s permission”
Elise spoke as she gave a pleasant smile towards Yui. Without hiding the grudge on his face, he was curious about how did she acquired the king’s permission?
“You’re thinking how did I acquire such permission, right?”
“Well, you see, I think he took the matters on that previous incident seriously. So with that, I had gained permission to organize an exclusive unit under my direct command, but on one condition”
“And that condition is?”
When Yui asked Elise on what conditions the king had issued upon her, traces of disappointment was floated on her face.
“that, I won’t be commanding the troops directly”
“And so……”
“you have been chosen, Yui Ystats. You have solved the incident the other day, better than I did. I was so lost in the confusion and could only do nothing. Therefore, I thought of entrusting it to you, my ideals”
“And your ideals are?”
“Making the people in this country, both the nobles and the people, make everyone happy. I will change this country, which has been frozen in the times”
Yui, amidst of wanting to throw up from these high-sounding words, wasn’t able to dislike the princess who talked about her dreams for some reason.
“Your Highness heard the rumors around me, right?”
“Yes, about the hero Yui Ystats who rescued the princess, it was a hot topic even in the castle outskirts, didn’t you know?”
“Not that. The one where I was treated like a troublemaker inside the military…”
“I was kidding. Yui Ystats, “The Deadbeat of the Royal Capital” and “Carlin’s Daylight Lantern”. Relax, I’m not going to treat you as some pushover. Well, if you want to be at ease, you may choose subordinates you think are better than you. Regarding the staffing and organizing, I will entrust it to you, while I will do the negotiatiing regarding the equipment and our budget, so if you want something, just tell me, okay?”
The princess said that she would be in charge if the negotiations and connections, which is quite in fact, a hassle for me. Of course, for her who is not an expert yet in any field, what she can really do is limited, but still, the existence of Elise, which is the second strongest card after the king, will definitely be an ace in her negotiations. Well, I shouldn’t think about the grudge of the other party afterwards.
“Something……then, about recruiting personnel, other than several military officers and non-commissioned officers, I would also like to request to bring my former subordinates from Carlin. Will it be alright to you?”
“I don’t mind. I also owe those people too. And so, who will be those officers?”
“If it’s possible, I would like to pull out one from each Ministry in the Army. Can you do it?”
“A total of three people, I see. So, whom should I invite?”
To Elise’ words, Yui hesitated no longer, and told the names of the three people in his head.
“Then may I request these three people whom I trust the most. Eins Von Rhine from the Ministry of Tactics, Lute Hannemburg from the Ministry of Magic, and Alex Hughes from the Ministry of Defense”
