The day after Rufus first mentioned the party, Yuto was summoned to his study.

“Yuto. Are you familiar with the etiquette required at a party?”

Rufus asked politely. Since the background Yuto had disclosed was that of an adventurer from the slums, the suggestion was perfectly reasonable.

Of course, Rufus certainly did not believe Yuto was merely a pauper, and Yuto was aware of that as well. He answered with a faint smile.

“I know a little.”

“A little... Hmm. A little will not be enough. As I said yesterday, I intend to make your birthday party a very grand affair.”

Rufus smiled mischievously. The guests would include not only Merchant City’s leading figures, but foreign nobles with ties to House Marigold as well. If Yuto, the guest of honor at such a grand party, displayed less than exemplary manners, the mockery would not stop with him. It would extend to Marigold.

“Then I suppose I ought to learn proper etiquette.”

“Haha. I thought you might say that, so I have already invited a tutor. If... there is nothing left to teach you, however, the tutor will have to withdraw.”

“I cannot say I am entirely confident that my manners are correct, either. Since you have already sent for a tutor, I shall meet them.”

Yuto answered with a smile just as mischievous as Rufus’s.

“If my manners turn out to require no further instruction, might I ask a small favor?”

“Hmm? Hahaha! Yuto, you are welcome to ask favors of me at any time. There is no need to make a wager like this.”

“I appreciate that, sir, but I already feel you have treated me far more generously than I deserve.”

“Haha... As someone who owes you his life, I feel I have done nowhere near enough. But if making a wager makes it easier for you to ask, I shall respect that. Well, what favor did you have in mind?”

“I would like to use the knights’ training room.”

Rufus let out a quiet exclamation at the request.

“And here I was wondering what you would ask for... That is hardly something you need to ask of me. You are free to use the estate’s facilities as you please.”

He fell silent for a moment, then smiled bitterly.

“You would probably find it uncomfortable to have others watching you train. You are not a knight of Marigold, after all. So... use Cayenne’s private training room.”

Even if he had attempted the heinous act of poisoning his own father, Cayenne was still Rufus’s son. Rufus could not help feeling bitter whenever he spoke of him.

“I had it built for him when he was young, but he barely used it. It is as good as new. At last, it will serve its intended purpose.”

“Are you certain I may use it?”

“Of course. The person it was meant for is no longer in this world...”

Rufus let out a brief sigh.

“It has everything you should need for training, but if you require anything else, do not hesitate to ask.”

“I will not be using it just yet. First, I ought to meet the etiquette tutor.”

“Haha. Still determined to make this a wager?”

Rufus’s expression changed at Yuto’s reply. Smiling, he propped his chin on his hand.

“The tutor I invited is a rather exacting fellow who specializes in teaching the children of Merchant City’s nobility. I told him beforehand that you came from the slums and asked him to be gentle... But now that this is a wager, I shall have to speak to him again. I will tell him to examine you most rigorously and thoroughly.”

Despite the teasing in his words, Yuto merely smiled.

A servant guided Yuto to a room where a stern-looking old man sat waiting. Adjusting his gold-rimmed spectacles, the man scrutinized Yuto from head to toe as he entered.

“The head of the house has told me about you. I understand you have led an uncivilized life.”

His voice was dry and stiff, his gaze sharp. Yet he faltered as he watched Yuto take his seat. Every movement the boy made held a fluid ease without unnecessary tension, and a peculiar dignity that showed consideration for others without ever lowering himself.

“Ahem... Well, let us begin with the basics. First, the proper etiquette when seated opposite another person, and how to drink tea...”

Such manners were all the more difficult because they were so commonplace. Rather than being deliberately learned, they became ingrained through the environment one inhabited from birth.

For that very reason, they were as familiar as daily life to Yuto. He acted before the old man could offer any instruction or correction.

The curve of his fingers as he lifted the teacup. The level of his gaze as he looked at the man opposite him. Even the faint sound of the cup as he set it down was perfectly controlled.

“Hmm...!”

His movements could have served as a textbook demonstration of etiquette. Quietly impressed, the old man asked Yuto to demonstrate various formalities again and again. Yuto performed each one flawlessly, without a wasted movement.

“Well, well...”

After an hour, the old man gave a hollow chuckle, seeming at a loss. He stood and bowed deeply to Yuto.

“You have no need of instruction from me. I fear staying any longer would only waste the head of the house’s gold.”

The old man offered a courteous farewell and left. Before long, Rufus entered the room with a bemused smile.

“I suppose I should have expected this...”

“Whatever do you mean?”

At Yuto’s innocently smiling question, Rufus shrugged and shook his head.

“Nothing at all. You have won the wager. And saved me some gold, too.”

“The tutor’s instruction was excellent.”

“Haha... He said he was the one who learned something.”

Rufus took a small key from inside his clothes and handed it to Yuto.

“Cayenne’s training hall is in the annex behind the main house. I hope you will put it to good use.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Yuto bowed to Rufus and rose from his seat. More than his birthday party in two months, it was his enrollment at Maria Academy next year, where he would encounter Shiro, that put him on guard.

‘I need to train as much as I can in the time I have left.’

He had yet to thoroughly test the new skills he had gained upon changing his class to Void Born. He intended to become as familiar with them as possible before entering the academy.

‘Once I get used to the skills, I should explore the dungeons near Merchant City and level up, too.’

Leveling up required not only combat experience, but also the crystals dropped by dungeon beasts. So far, Yuto had absorbed all the crystals he collected in dungeons as experience, save those he needed to cover his living expenses.

He could ask Rufus to supply him with crystals, but crystals obtained that way could not be used to level up. Two years of experience had taught him that much. He could only raise his level with crystals earned through his own effort and hunting.

“Elun! I told you, you need to straighten your back a little more!”

On his way to the training room, Yuto stopped short at the sound of Levian’s voice carrying through a door. Unable to help chuckling, he opened it.

The sight that greeted him was so peculiar it bordered on surreal. In front of an elegantly laid tea table, Levian stood gripping Elun’s shoulders, her face flushed.

“Elun! I told you earlier, didn’t I? When you lift your teacup, don’t stick your little finger up so far, and let your gaze follow the rim gently!”

“Inefficient.”

Elun endured Levian’s adjustments with an expression of profound annoyance. She wore a navy silk dress that had arrived at the estate yesterday, but despite the elegance of her clothing, her seated posture was rigid and sharp.

“Why must I bend my arm at a prescribed angle? I see no reason to burden the act of consuming liquid with such needless flourishes. Does one not drink because one is thirsty?”

“Efficiency has nothing to do with social etiquette! If you want to stand beside Yuto and be treated as an honored guest of Marigold, you must show at least a little refinement!”

“I have no intention of being treated as some honored guest of Marigold. I exist solely as Yuto’s collaborator.”

“No... No! Collaborator or otherwise, if that is how you want to be seen, you need the appropriate refinement...”

Levian was pleading in a voice on the verge of tears when she noticed the open door and whipped her head around. Her eyes met Yuto’s as he peered inside.

“Y-Yuto! Please say something to Elun. Even if she cannot be perfect, she ought to at least look as though she has prepared!”

“She’ll do well if she tries,” Yuto replied with a smile. “Won’t you, Elun?”

“Hmph...”

Elun snorted in displeasure.

“Yuto. Do you, too, consider these unnecessary, inefficient acts important?”

“It’s an occasion where other people’s opinions matter.”

“I see no meaning in being judged by people who have nothing to do with me.”

“Even those judgments can be put to use.”

“Hmph...”

At Yuto’s quiet reply, Elun picked up her teacup. Her hand performed the movements Levian had been so diligently teaching her with near perfection.

“Will this suffice?”

“Ahhh!”

Levian cried out at Elun’s question. Genuinely moved, she swept Elun’s small frame into a tight embrace.

“You can do it so well! Why have you been behaving like that all this time?”

“I simply felt no need to do so. And you, do not presume to lay your hands on me as you please.”

“Your tone... We must work on your tone as well. At the very least, you must not speak that way at the party.”

“I would be better off shutting my mouth and pretending I cannot speak.”

Grumbling, Elun pushed Levian away.

SLURP...

Beside them, Flokiro held a teacup with an air of great solemnity. Supporting the saucer with his characteristically short forepaws, he sat with his back perfectly straight, savoring the tea one sip at a time. Comical as the sight was, his manners were so flawless that even the demanding etiquette tutor who had tested Yuto earlier would have applauded.

Naturally so. Flokiro, too, was an Evomon who had once lived in Belkain’s royal palace. Such etiquette had been part of his daily life as well.

“Oh, Yuto, you’re here? It’s been so long since I’ve done this. It brings back memories.”

“Shh.”

“Oops.”

Yuto pressed a finger to his lips, and Flokiro nodded with an awkward smile. Levian knew they had ties to Belkain’s royal family, but it was not something they should discuss openly.

“Yuto! Flokiro’s manners are so perfect that I have nothing left to teach him. But Elun... Elun still has a great deal to learn.”

“I’ll leave her in your hands.”

Yuto dipped his head at Levian’s lament. He thought it would be better to have her take charge of Elun than to assign another etiquette tutor.

‘Elun understands why we need Levian, after all.’

Of course, Elun had not accepted the necessity of etiquette, nor did she consider herself Levian’s pupil. Perhaps that was why she furrowed her brow and snapped at Yuto.

“Yuto. Get this woman away from me. If I must endure two months of this torment for your birthday party, I would rather lock myself in my room that day and refuse to come out.”

“The head of the house is planning a grand party. Don’t you think you need that sort of experience, too?”

“...”

“If you learn quickly, you won’t have to take lessons every day for two months. And try to use this opportunity to get along with Levian.”

“Why should I get along with this woman?”

As Elun muttered in bewilderment, Levian gave an incredulous laugh.

“My name is Levian Marigold. Do not call me ‘this woman.’”

As Levian began to lecture her, Elun quietly closed her eyes and plugged her ears. Yuto chuckled at the sight, then beckoned to Flokiro.

“Since Flokiro doesn’t need any more etiquette lessons, I’ll take him with me.”

“Where are we going?”

Flokiro hopped down from his chair, his eyes bright.

“The head of the house has given us a training room. Let’s get some exercise for a change, partner.”

“Sounds good!”

Flokiro hurried over to Yuto. Elun tried to rise as well, but Levian immediately pressed her back down by the shoulders.

“If you want to leave, you must first master all of today’s lessons.”

“Yuto. This woman...”

Yuto shut the door without waiting for Elun to finish.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Following Yuto down the corridor, Flokiro kept casting worried glances behind him.

“She’ll be along soon enough. She’s good when she tries.”

Yuto grinned and stroked Flokiro’s head.

“If she gets angry, we can buy her dessert like last time. How about cake?”

“What about me?”

“Of course you can have some, too.”

“Hooray!”

Flokiro raised his little fists and cheered.