The Annals of the Flame kingdom Chapter 1

A few hours before Kota was summoned

“………huh…..”

A small sound escaped from the young Queen Elisabeth Flame’s mouth.

The King’s palace of the Flame Kingdom was a place of historical importance and was a place traditionally used by the successive Kings as their ruling centre. The young Queen who sat on the throne gave off a graceful atmosphere but showed a playful and relaxed demure .

The Kingdom Chancellor Lotte who was reading the report involuntarily raised his eyebrows.

“…… Your Majesty”

“……please excuse me. Lotte, continue reading the report.”

“Yes,your majesty.”replied Lotte mechanically.

“…… So about the  report. Yesterday, the Imperial City Commercial Federation came with a pet.i.tion.”

“Pet.i.tion?”

“Yes your majesty,…… In short they want a tax cut,or something like a tax-exempt charter” .

“I reject it”

“…… Your Majesty”

“That’s not possible. Last year we gave them a tax relief in the same way. No more tax cuts or it will cause the downfall of the nation itself.”

“It is as you say, but ……”

“First, for the Commercial Federation they have a great deal of support. More than the  Federations of another places. Tariff preferential treatment, escorting the Federation members to other countries … Even the use of emba.s.sy rights .”

“Which kingdom  in addition to our  Kingdom gives such rights?”

“If we keep on giving such rights to them, then they would ask for more ,which donkey will ask for carrots when it tasted soft rice”.

“…… Your Majesty”

“Just kidding”

Saying that,the young Queen  gave a deep sigh while staring out from the window,the Kingdom Chancellor Lotte who served the kingdom as the Prime Minister from the predecessor Kings time ,sighed inwardly. In fact, the words of the Queen were also the words he wanted to say.

“About the Commercial Federation, please  act as per your discretion  .”

“I understand …. Let us pray that they can be convinced.”

The prime minister could only say”Let us pray “. He had no other effective means, snorting Lotte turns to the next report in his hand.

“The following is from …… the western border army ,Commander-in-Chief.”

“What is it now …?”

“Insufficient number of soldiers. There are some enemy movements along the border”

“…… So increasing the number,huh, Although the enemy is likely to stimulate the West border side ……”

“Let’s send half of the imperial Guards.”

“Half!,but your highness, if we do that then the security of the capital…..”

“Anyways,if we lose at the West border ,it is a straight march to the capital , Let’s go to work. Lets send the reinforcements as soon as possible. ”

Lotte complied with Elisabeth’s orders and was thinking  about how much his little Liz had grown up. Before Elisabeth ascended the throne, Elisabeth was called  Liz by the people close to her. This showed how close they were,and Liz’s age was the same as his granddaughter and he would always think of her as a small girl no matter how much she has grown.

“I can say so. Well, next on the agenda,  ……”

Turning the page, Lotte was uncomfortable at the moment when the words jumped into his eyes. Liz on the other hand had a puzzled expression.

“……What happened?”

“……this  is from the kingdom Faculty. They successfully decoded an ancient hero summoning book.”

“Hero …summoning ……?”

After Lotte gave the report, Liz directs an uronic glance.

“……is there such things in our country? I am new to it.”

“…… It is a c.o.c.k-and-bull story. Hero  summons ,that’s a fairy tale story.”

“….. magic itself is a fairy tale, maybe there is a hero?……”

Placing his  hand on his forehead, Lotte shook his head from side to side .

“…… The Kingdom of Academic Council is excellent, but this theory is a bit far-fetched.”

“It is not a story “,said  the person of the Faculty,”Your Majesty ,we have come to request your presence during the summoning ceremony”.

“We from the council do not expect gold,honour or any social status ,your majesty we just wish for your presence during the ceremony”.

“Well there is no harm in attending, Lotte please take care of the arrangements “said the Queen.

“Yes,your majesty”, replied Lotte. He did not have much expectations from the ceremony but saw that this was an oppurtunity for the Queen to decompress and agreed to this idea.

But how could he have predicted what was going to happen.

◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆
“…… At least, I was a normal bank employee”.
Seeing the young man who stepped out of magic circle Lotte was staring wide-eyed and could not utter a single word. He did expect the summoning to succeed and thought of it as a way for Queen to relax but the result was most unexpected.

“Am I brave?… brave like …, I don’t know either …”

“Sorry …… . I am nothing much of the force you expected, I am an ordinary human. If it isn’t rude,may i know your name?”

“What? … Oh, oh. This was rude of me. I am  Flame kingdom’s fifty-second generation King, my name is  Elisabeth Flame.”

She picked the hem of the skirt  and bowed her head, giving an elegant bow.

“Thank you very much. But Let me give a self-introduction, my name is Matsus.h.i.+ro Kota. I worked in a bank …… Well, it is basically a salaryman”

“Salaryman …… what kind of t.i.tle is that?”

“It is not in the t.i.tle. But a Profession …… ”

“For example like  Toka is a special name given to those who excelled in sword?”

“No”

“Can you use magic?”

“No”

“Ability to unlock the ancient mystery, … Or the intelligence of a wise man.”

“I do not have both.”

“Something like communicating with… G.o.ds .”

No, I am just a  Salaryman , in other words it is the generic name of the employees in j.a.pan …… let me see, the majority of human beings in my country come under this “salaryman”or”fishmonger” .

“Then ……It is not a normal name!”

“Yeah. I did introduce myself as a ‘normal’ bank employee “.

Kota  shrugged, continuing with his words.

“While I was in ……  troubled for being summoned,but as I am ,I cannot be of much use. But I think that if there is a circ.u.mstance you need help with I will try to help at my best level.”

Elisabeth lowered her head with a blush creeping on her face and said to Kota “I’m sorry, as you stand there are not many  roles you can help with ” .

The blus.h.i.+ng figure of Elisabeth  entered the line of sight of Lotte.