Class is interrupted

“I have been living quite far from the capital, so we don’t often hear about the S ranks.” Miranda says. “I'd like to know who they are and what they can do?”

“Certainly,” Kiara replies. “There are 11 in total. 2 in the dwarven kingdom, 2 more in the kingdom of the elves and another 2 for the beast-kind. The dark elves used to have 2 several years ago, but now they only have 1. Our kingdom has had 3 S ranks for a very long time, but one of them is about to retire, so we were at risk of dropping to 2. Then, about half a year ago, a fourth one showed up.”

When Kiara starts talking about the 4th human S rank I start involuntarily frowning. She’s talking about Kase.

“When it comes to the human S ranks, I probably should start with the most oldest and most famous one.” Kiara continues. “Aelbrecht the Taciturn, often referred to as ‘the lich lord’, because he is an undead wizard. He …”

Then the door opens and a maid comes into the room, causing Kiara to be interrupted.

“My apologies, miss. But you are being summoned to the great hall.” The maid said.

“Sorry, Miranda. But it appears a rundown of the S ranks is going to have to wait.” Kiara apologizes as she stands up.

We then got up as well and all followed Kiara through the castle. The halls are long and they all look similar. I would totally get lost if I had to walk down here all by myself.

Eventually we arrive at a large door. Harold is already waiting for us there together with one of the other two groups and their mentors, the redhaired guy. Shortly after, the dark elf mentor and her group arrive as well. Once everyone is here, Harold informs us why we are here.

“Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had an interesting orientation.” He says with a smile. “Now, behind this door is the queen who will give you a few words. So, take care to behave.”

After that, the guards open the door and we follow Harold inside. We enter a great hall which has a red carpet in the center. One that leads all the way to a stone dais. On it are two thrones. One large wooden throne, with golden decorations and on it sits a mature woman. To its left is a slightly smaller throne, decorated with silver and on it sits a girl of about my age. Are those the queen and the princess? Probably, because on the mature woman’s right is a tall guy with black hair and armor. That must be her personal body guard. In fact, I heard that one of the S ranks serves as the queen’s body guard. They call him Zhoron, the spear dragon.

“I can’t believe it. I’m going to see the queen.” I hear someone whisper.

“Wow, look at those thrones.” Another whispers.

“Oh my god, it’s the princess.” I hear coming from Wendy.

As we near the thrones, I notice that on both my left and right there are tall white pillars. Probably just meant to support the roof. But they are placed in such a way that they seem part of the décor. It certainly helps when each pillar has a statue facing the red carpet attached to it. Each of these statues also holds an oil lamp. The finishing touch, which makes this truly feel like a throne room, is that there is a guard at every pillar.

When Harold reaches the front of the dais he stops. Kiara and the other two mentors stop just behind him. Us new adventurers then stop as well.

“You are in the presence of Queen Zara and Princess Kathleen!” The royal announcer yells. “Be silent, all. As her majesty, the queen, has a few words to say!”

Some in the group then perform what seems to be a greeting. They bring their right fist to the left of their chest and their left hand behind their waist. Then they bow their head a little. I decide to copy them. I then see Ryul do the same.

“Welcome to Riledo.” The queen says with a loud and regal voice. “I welcome you all to my palace. I hope you feel comfortable.”

“It is an honor to meet you again, my lady.” A blonde guy from amongst us says. It is the guy who earlier refused to join our group because of Leona.

The queen first stares at him a bit, seemingly annoyed that he interrupted her. “I think I know you.” The queen then says. “You are the son of Marquis Levine, right?”

“My name is Gerald. It is an honor that you remember me.” The blonde guy replies.

The only people with high status that I know are Mr. Enzo and Kase, so I already don’t think fondly of the higher classes. This guy’s previous behavior didn’t help either. I sure hope the queen and the princess are better than them.

The queen turns her attention back to the group and continues. "Everyone who has been summoned here, will be the strength of Riledo in the future. Each of you comes from places both far and near. I see people of different races and social status. Each of you has different dreams and goals, but there is only one thing I ask you all to have in common – your loyalty to Riledo.”

That’s right. We all are here to keep the kingdom safe. Especially the capital. Sigh … even Kase has this mission now.

“To ensure the well-being of new high-ranking adventurers like yourselves, you will remain in this castle as my guests. It will be for but a month, but I hope you can make the most of it. So, let us celebrate with a banquet in your honor.”

The queen then turns to the princess and says, “Kathleen, why don’t you give a few words?”

“Ahh.” The princess gasped, seemingly surprised that she has to address us. Did she not expect this?

The princess stands up and nervously says, “Uhm … W-welcome to Riledo …”

Her voice is shriller than her mother’s. She seems at a loss of words after that, though. Then her face turns red and she starts to tremble. Does she have stage fright? In a way, her nervousness makes me feel at ease. Even princesses are just people, just like everyone else. At least Kathleen seems to lack arrogance. She makes me feel like I was just unlucky enough to come across the bad nobles first.

“She’s so cute.” I her Ryul whisper.

“P-p-please, d-do your best!” Then princess says, practically screaming and immediately sits back on her throne while lowering her head.

The queen stared at her daughter for a few seconds, then directed her attention to the group again. “Enjoy the feast!”

The group greets the royals the same way as before and I copy them. The queen and princess then exit through a door on their right, followed by the tall guy and some guards.

Harold guides us through the castle again, towards the same large room we first gathered in. The one where we were separated into teams. The snacks have been cleared off the tables and instead there are large trays of food, together with a large amount of plates. While it is true that I have seen more food during the festival back home, the food here is presented so beautifully. I bet if Oliver was here, he would want to study everything before eating it.

The lot of us take place at the tables and dig in. Though we do tend to stick to the groups that we were assigned to earlier. I guess it is only natural that we wish to stay close to the people we know best.

Wendy is the first to shovel food on her plate and start eating. Looks like she is really hungry. During the meal, we all start talking about our skills. Shalia offers Leona some basic advice on mana control. Leona accepts the offer and listens, though they get interrupted when Leona reaches for a glass and shatters it by grabbing it. She's not the only one. There are several other new adventurers at other tables who shatter their glasses as well.

Miranda is a bit hesitant to eat, as most of the meat and vegetables are different from what she is used to. She tries to ask Wendy which ones are good, but despite her fascination for food, Wendy is unable to give her any advice. To make up for it, Wendy first tries something, then describes to Miranda what it tastes like. Then there are Ryul and me. My new elven friend is apparently smitten with princess Kathleen. He just can’t stop talking about her. I don’t blame him. Kathleen was very pretty and cute as well.

After a while a group of musicians starts to play songs for us. Some guys from the other groups come over and ask Shalia for a dance, but she rejects all of them. I guess it isn't easy, being beautiful.

We start walking about and conversate some more. It is at this moment that I notice Harold talking to a bald man. That’s odd, he was not one of us new adventurers and he was also not one of the mentors. I focus my hearing on them and it is hard to hear with all the other people talking to each other, but I can make out some things.

“There are less than last time. And there’s …” The bald man tells Harold.

“… are not common. You should not … at every ritual.” Harold replies.

“But if the rumors are true, we’ll be in trouble if …”

Trouble? Is something going on?

“… are no S ranks this time. But the quality of these adventurers is quite good.”

“Someone who caught your attention?”

“There is indeed someone. Though I prefer to first inform the queen about …”

Suddenly I get startled by a hand on my shoulder accompanied with my name being spoken.