“Ernea, here’s an invitation for you.”
Ristia says that to me soon after school resumes for the new year and hands me a letter.

“An invitation?”
I accept the envelop with the letter inside of it from Risita.

Curious to who it’s from, I search for the sender’s name, except there is none. What I do see on the back of the envelop is a crest stamped onto the sealing wax.

A crest where two dragons are facing each other. Their tails reach up over their heads and cross where they then coil around a sword.

This is the crest of the royal family.

An invitation from the king, I don’t have the slightest memory of that ever happening before. I met him once last year because of the demon sword incident, but I haven’t heard anything else about that afterwards. That’s why I don’t think this invitation is related to that.

I don’t understand the meaning behind the invitation, so I send a questioning stare to Ristia.

“I haven’t heard the details either. Although, I don’t know why, there is someone who knows you. That person wants to meet you, so you are being invited.”
“Who is that person?”
“Well, no idea.”
“What kinda answer is that?”
“I seriously don’t know. I was only told to hand you the invitation to the tea party by the king.”

Ristia also looks to be troubled.

I wonder if there is someone who knows me among this country’s big shots? Why would someone know about me? What does that person know about me and why the interest in me? And as for that person, who the heck is it?

I open the seal of the envelop Ristia gave me while tilting my head. There are two sheets of paper inside. One is an invitation to the tea party and the other has the date, time, and place written on it.

“The sender isn’t written here either.”
“Seriously? Well, I’ll be going too, and if you go, you’ll be able to find out who the sender is.”

Ristia says that while peeking at the envelope I opened.

“Ristia is also going?”
“Yeah, and not just me. Slatton and the others along with the aristocracy, this kingdom’s knights, and the knights of the Kingdom of Jortenitost will be attending. This will be a large-scale tea party.
“Ah, so it’s like that? I was getting nervous thinking it was going to be a small gathering of family members like last time.”
“Hahaha, now that you mention it, that did happen. This time, there will be a great number of people attending. Nothing to be nervous about. From what I’ve heard, it seems like adventurers and merchants will also be there.”
“Mumumu, if it’s going to be like that, then what’s the point of this tea party?”

A tea party hosted by the king-sama where a great number of normal people can attend? I, someone completely ignorant to the rules of the royal family, can’t figure out the meaning behind this tea party.

“I think it might have something to do with the hunt for the flying dragons taking place this year.”

Why am I being invited to a tea party being held for the hunt for the flying dragons. I can understand the knight-sama of the Armand kingdom and the Kingdom of Jortenitost being invited. They are the stars of the hunt for flying dragons. This is probably a chance for them to meet each other.

I can understand the merchants too. As a lot of people will be participating in the hunt for flying dragons, capital and materials are necessary. If merchants attend, they will be able to lend money. The adventurers are the same as this kingdom’s knight-sama. I have no doubt that outstanding adventurers will be taking part in the hunt for the flying dragons.

So, why was I invited?
Is the person who knows me a distinguished person of this country? I seriously have no idea.

Maybe it is someone who realized my doing this and that in the Dragon’s Forest. But, I don’t see what that has to do with being invited to a tea party. I keep my connection with the Dragon’s Forest so secret, I haven’t even told Ristia about it. I doubt anyone else could have figured it out.

Then, why am I being invited? Just what reason does the person who invited me to the tea party have to be interested in me?

N- no way.

Could the person who invited me be from the Kingdom of Jortenitost?

Last time, I had an extremely terrible interaction with Grave-sama, the first prince of the Kingdom of Jortenitost and commander of their Chivalric Order of the Flying Dragons. I realize his reaction wasn’t unreasonable. Even if they were possessed by demon swords, they were still knights of his kingdom I defeated. I must have touched a nerve.

I might be hated by the Kingdom of Jortenitost’s military-san. I’m not being invited to the tea party so Grave-sama can look down on me, right?

Uuugh, my complexion pales at the unpleasant thought.

“What’s wrong, a stomachache?”
“No, I just remembered something unpleasant from last time.”
“Oh…”

Ristia’s expression twists as he also immediately remembers.

“Grave-sama will certainly be attending this tea party too. However, I said the person interested in you is from the Armand Kingdom. So, don’t worry about him.”
“Eeeh, that prince-sama is coming too?”

I instantly get depressed.

I don’t want to go…

“Eetto, hey. As someone from lower mid-class, I don’t have any clothes fitting for attending tea parties. Maybe I shouldn’t go this time.”
“Ehehe, refusing an invitation from our king-sama. I’d say that takes more guts than attending the tea party in normal clothes.”
“Ugh.”

My face flinches when Ristia points that out. “You can use my clothes. The size will be off but adjusting something for your height is faster than getting a new one made.”
“Eeeh, that won’t work.”

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T/N: Next up, the tea party where Ernea can meet all the important people of both countries.

<77.2 The Chivalric Order of Flying Dragons’ Return
78.2 The Tea Party>