The Annals of the Flame kingdom (LN) Chapter 1 Part2

I would like to clear this up, this version of Flame is the LN not the WN. NU put our uploads under the WN but that’s fixed now.

Enjoy!!! xD

「… At the very least, I'm just a 『 Normal』 bank employee.」

Lotte glared, quite rudely, at the youth who casually stepped out of the magic circle. Frankly speaking, the very idea of 「 summoning heroes from another world

was so far-fetched that he not only didn't believe it at all, he only went along with this plan half-heartedly, as if watching over some children play house. However, in reality … The summoning succeeded. He could only watch as the event unfolded in front of him.

「… Are you the … hero?」

「… I'm truly sorry, but I'm just a normal powerless person. Ah, pardon me … may I know your name?」

「Hmm? Oh … ahhh … Pardon me. I am the fifty-fourth ruler of the Flame Kingdom, Elizabeth ・Aurenfert ・Flame. Our guest from another world, please treat us kindly.」

Liz slightly lifted the edges of her skirt, and politely performed a curtsy. Seeing this, Kouta also lowered his head in a polite bow.

「Thank you for your thoughtfulness. As I have mentioned before, my name is Matsus.h.i.+ro Kouta, currently working at the bank … hmm … A salary man.」

「That 『salary man』 that you mentioned … what sort of t.i.tle is that?」

「It's not a t.i.tle, it's more of a profession … hmm, not really … It's more of a 『form of address』.」

「Is it a special given form of address like what would be given to a master swordsman?」

「No.」

「Do you have the ability to use magic?」

「No, I do not.」

「Deciphered ancient texts, and gained knowledge equal to that of a saint's …」

「I do not have such abilities.」

「Or … being able to communicate with the G.o.ds, or something like that?」

「I would be in trouble if I could do so. The 『salary man』 that I mentioned, it means a person that works to get wages. In j.a.pan … err … my hometown, the majority of people are 『salary men』. If you think of them as 『fishmongers』 or 『vegetable vendors』… that wouldn't be too far from the truth, I think.」

「Then isn't that a very normal form of address?」

「Yes. As I said in my introduction before — I am just a 『normal』 banker.」

Kouta shrugged his shoulders.

「Even though you have brought me here, I am sorry that I can't meet your expectations. However, seeing how you have troubled yourselves to bring me here, you must have encountered some serious problems …」

Kouta who was looking downwards and giving off the feeling of 「I am really sorry I can't provide any help」, and Liz whose face was filled with nervousness and fear …  that was the scene Lotte observed.  Oh no, thing are going downhill quickly — was what Lotte thought in his head.

「… Anyway, your highness. I have a question purely out of curiosity … What happened here? Let's see, maybe a Demon Lord?」

「Wah! Uh, uhuhh! That's … that's not it …」

「If it's not a Demon Lord … then a dragon? Or even invaders from outer s.p.a.ce perhaps? … Either way, it must have been quite a scary opponent, right?」

「Uhh, that's … Should we describe it as scary or …」

Seeing Liz's panicked look — Lotte understood that his previous a.s.sumption was spot on, and sighed heavily. Being spot on about bad premonitions, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

「Your name was Matsus.h.i.+ro?」

In order to aid the queen, Lotte decided to interrupt the conversation. Even though the old man who had been spectating from the start suddenly interrupted the conversation, Kouta did not appear surprised, but instead lowered his head politely.

「That is correct, my name is Matsus.h.i.+ro Kouta. May I ask your esteemed name?」

(T/N he's being more polite to the prime minister than to the queen. Brave guy.)

「Sorry for being discourteous. I am my country's — the Flame Kingdom's prime minister, Lotte, Lotte・Baumgarten. Please treat us well.」

「The Flame Kingdom? I'm sorry, I have never heard of such a country before.」

「Is that so? Pardon me, because there is no one on this Orkena continent that does not know the name 『Flame Kingdom』 … If that's the case, then you may indeed come from 『another world』.」

Lotte scrutinized Kouta, and at the same time entered a long thought. Any person born on Olkena, as long as it is not an immature child, will know the names of the seven countries on that continent.

The country founded 300 years ago by a relative of the king of the Flame Kingdom, and not once invaded by other countries, 「the Country of Iron Walls」

— the Kingdom of Rarkia   (T/N there are indeed 2 Rarkia's. the capital Rarkia that's in Flame and the Kingdom of Rarkia above Flame.)

The land of rich and fertile soil, whose citizens will not die of hunger even during poor harvests, 「the Country of Fertility and Abundance」

— the Kingdom of Westlia

The country with the 「3 Great Ports」Kato, Armessa and Sorbania, with flouris.h.i.+ng trade and an abundant capital, 「the Country of Commerce」

— the Kingdom of Sorbania

The country that discarded monarchy, and upheld a consultation system of consuls chosen from all over the country, 「the Free Country」

— the Rhime Alliance of City States

The country where 「court ranks can be bought」and 「a single night can destroy a man's life,  the land full of pleasure and desire,  「the Country of l.u.s.t and Greed」

— the Pa.r.s.ena Dukedom

The country that has never invaded others without reason, even though they possess the strongest knights, the merciless country of the Olkena continent, 「the Country of Treasures」

— the Kingdom of Laurent

And —

「… Your highness, how long do you plan to keep on apologizing?」

「— I'm really, really, really sorry!

Hailed as the 「The True Successor of the Flame Empire, 「the Origin of the Countries of

the Olkena Continent」and 「the Millennium Kingdom」, 「the Country of History and Culture」

—   the Kingdom of Flame.  (T/N holy s.h.i.+et that's a lot of names)

The young ruler of this country, Elizabeth・Aurenfert・Flame — Liz, keeps apologizing to the young man from another world who was summoned 「for no special reason」, as if saying 「this is not enough」.

「Umm …」

Kouta, looking at the girl who kept apologizing to him, had an expression of not knowing what to do. However, that is to be expected. After all, she did give an explanation along the words of 「Because we did not expect it to work, so we tried to do it. But it worked. Aha!」, what should he do now?

「Umm … Your highness, please lift your head up first. Seeing a budding flower and exceptional beauty like yourself apologizing, it terrifies me instead. Please stop doing this.」

Seeing Kouta lowering his head, Liz immediately lifted up her head. Pink flushes began to dye her cheeks, probably as a response to the phrases 「budding flower」 and 「exceptional beauty」  — the time lag between the two actions was long enough that Lotte had managed to catch Liz's reaction, and replied in her behalf.

「Please accept my apology as well, Matsus.h.i.+ro-sama. We truly have caused you a lot of trouble.」

(T/N I'm gonna start using j.a.panese honorifics cos changing that into English is way to hard and confusing)

「Ah, no … Umm, well, there is no need to add the honorific 『-sama』, I am not used to other people calling me that.」

「Then, Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono.」

「That's … If possible, please omit the honorifics altogether, calling me Matsus.h.i.+ro is fine.」

「We can't do that, because this situation is due to our negligence ….」

「… I understand. But 『-dono』 is still rejected. At least explain to me the current situation first.」

Kouta felt that continuing on debating would be fruitless, and turned towards Liz, with all five fingers outstretched.

「Firstly, this world is not under the threat of a 『Demon Lord』 or something similar.」

One.

「Yes.」

「Even so, you still carried on with the 『Hero Summoning Ritual』, just to satisfy your curiosity.」

Two.

「… … Yes.

「And with no imminent threat to resolve, you have no idea what to do with me.」

Three.

「… … … … Yes.」

「And there's no way to just say 『That's it. Goodbye.』 and send me back.」

Four.

「… … … … … … … Yes.」

「Even if you pour all your effort into finding a way, due to the ancient texts being too old, the chances of finding an answer are near zero. In other words, there's no way back.」

Five.

The five outstretched fingers curled up into a fist.

「… … … … … … Uwuuu … …」

「… … Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono, Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono. I fully understand that this is our fault … and even now I have to ask you to stop any action that may break our Queen's spirit?」

Kouta quickly glanced towards Liz.

「… … uwuu … … I'm sorry … … uwuu uwuu … … … …」

There was a young girl with tears running down her cheeks, mixing with the snot from her nose — but that was not the point here.

「… Ah, I'm … I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to scold you! I was just a.n.a.lyzing this situation!」

「… Your highness … It's Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono who should be crying right now.」

Lotte helplessly -truly helplessly- looked at the sighing Kouta. Regret, repentance and reflection were all necessary, but what we need right now is to look forward … Lotte himself understood, bringing someone to an unfamiliar place without permission, it indeed was too much.

「… I did say that Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono should be the one crying, but Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono, if you have anything you want to say, please do so. We would not punish you under the pretext of 『being rude to the Queen』.  」

Normally, anyone would be upset if they are abruptly thrown into an unknown place, even before including 「there's nothing going on, but we still called you over. Even if it's the 「gentle」Lotte, there's no saying that he wouldn't get angry. Even so…

「It's ok … There's nothing to be angry about.」

That's the problem. He's not a great saint, and yet he did not even complain, that's a bit unsettling.

「… … That may be so, but you are suddenly 『summoned』? Even though we're the ones that have summoned you, even I myself think that you should be somewhat angry?」

Hearing Lotte's reply, Kouta thought for a while, and smiled.

 「I still remember what one of my superiors said to me before.」

「… … Please continue.」

「『Use your surroundings to your advantage, and strive for the best results』. If getting angry would make the situation better, then I would have expressed all my dissatisfactions complaints and hatred … Since doing so won't make things better, it would just be a waste of time.」

「… … That's not wrong …」

— Is that it? Lotte's own plentiful experience told him that people do not reach conclusions that easily.

「Is this the difference in world views?」

In the Flame Kingdom that favors blood lineage, Lotte … Lotte Baumgarten is the first prime minister to be of commoner birth. No matter how exceptional he was, he was ignored just for being a commoner. 『Use your surroundings to your advantage, and strive for the best results』. He has a point. But even so … if that was enough to grant him happiness, then the Lotte with the status of 「the first prime minister of Flame of commoner origin and the t.i.tle of being「the one with the highest authority on all the Kingdoms affairs, would not have existed.

「Indeed, it is a matter of differences in world views, for better or worse.」

「Now that I think about it, aren't I rather lucky?」

「… … Lucky?」

「Being modest, sports truly aren't my strong point. I have never fought anyone before, nor can I can lead others. If someone said 『Oh hero, please defeat the Demon Lord! 』, I would have just ran away. If you compare these 2 situations, wouldn't this be better?」

As Kouta said so, a bright friendly smile appeared on his face. Listening to all that, Lotte silently thought to himself — this person is way too abnormal.

「… … You could think of it like that. Although this may not be the best situation to be in.」

「Others often say that I 『give in often』, both the good way and the bad way.」

『Give in often』, huh.  I see … I don't understand, but I am convinced. This person may be weird … but he is no idiot.

「… … Anyway, Matsus.h.i.+ro-dono. Can I discuss something with you?」

If this person is not an idiot … … perhaps he is a 「gentle」 and 「tactful 」person like his appearance suggests.

「A discussion, is it? Un, go ahead.」

Lotte nodded, satisfied at his reply.

「Could you … … leave the royal palace?」

Would he accept such a request too?

* The next part id quite long (longer than this, i think) so please bear with the cliffhanger xD