The throne room was narrower than I had expected.
I had assumed I’d be led into a vast, sprawling hall, so I was a little surprised.
As I looked around the not-so-spacious room, I saw about a dozen people standing, likely nobles.
At the back of the room, in the center, was the throne, where His Majesty the King sat.
Standing beside him was perhaps the prime minister?
A stern-faced older man with dark navy hair slicked back stood there.
The captain, who had been accompanying me from behind, moved toward the nobles as we entered the room from my side.
For a moment, our eyes met.
His gaze alone smiled, as if to say everything would be fine.
For now, I proceeded to the center of the room, just as the civil official had instructed me earlier.
When I stopped, I heard the sound of the doors closing behind me.
From here on, there was no script.
The civil official’s instructions had only covered up to this point.
The subtly tense atmosphere made me nervous.
After a few beats, His Majesty rose from the throne, and the air grew even heavier.
He stepped down from the raised platform where the throne sat and approached, stopping a few steps in front of me.
“First, I must apologize for summoning you to our kingdom so suddenly and for my son’s rudeness.”
After speaking, His Majesty bowed deeply.
In unison, everyone around me bowed toward me as well.
Wait a second.
How am I supposed to handle this!?
Internally, I was drenched in cold sweat, but with His Majesty leading the way, no one so much as twitched.
Whether I forgive them or not aside, the first step is to get them to raise their heads, right?
“Please raise your heads.”
Suppressing the tremble in my voice, I said this, and everyone lifted their heads.
The tense atmosphere from moments ago eased just a little.
It was probably an official apology I’d heard about before, but this kind of thing is tough on a commoner like me, so I’d prefer they refrain from it in the future.
I thought that would be the end of it, but there was more.
“Since arriving here, Sei-dono has achieved numerous accomplishments up to today. As part of our apology, we’d like to offer you a reward. Is there anything you might desire?”
“A reward?”
Even when asked so suddenly, I couldn’t come up with anything on the spot.
I’d thought an apology would be enough.
A reward, huh…
Come to think of it, they’d asked me about this before, hadn’t they?
But I don’t really need anything in particular.
Would it be okay to just say I don’t want anything?
I glanced at the captain with just my eyes and noticed a slight crease forming between his brows.
Not just him, but the people around him too.
It felt like they were all holding their breath, watching me closely.
“Whether it’s a title, land, or anything we can provide, it’s all fine.”
“Uh, well, that kind of thing is a bit…”
Perhaps because I’d stayed silent, the prime minister (?) made a suggestion.
I was just mulling it over, but before I knew it, the atmosphere that had relaxed tightened again, and both the prime minister (provisional) and His Majesty wore troubled expressions.
Titles or land might be standard rewards here, but they’re unnecessary for me.
Not only can I not handle them, but I also feel like accepting such things would restrict my freedom.
If I had those, it’d be harder to leave this country if something happened.
Taking them and then casually discarding them to leave later doesn’t sit right with me either.
As I considered this and vaguely declined, the crease in the prime minister’s brow deepened even further.
What would happen if I said I didn’t want anything?
I kind of want to find out, but judging by the mood around me, I hesitated to say it.
Based on His Majesty’s initial words, the purpose of this audience seems to be an apology.
They might be gauging my feelings depending on whether I accept or reject this reward.
Honestly, when I was first summoned here, I was pretty upset about a lot of things, but after more than six months, that anger doesn’t boil up like it used to.
Spending my days at the research institute, doing what I love and focusing on my studies, it started to feel less important.
Getting angry takes a lot of energy, and sustaining it is hard, I guess.
I wanted to use that energy to solidify my footing here instead.
The researchers, the knights, and the people around me are mostly good folks, and I might’ve been won over by them a bit.
At first, I wanted to leave this country as soon as possible, but now it’s not such a pressing need.
I figured I’d just prepare enough to leave quickly if something came up.
Because of that, even with this apology now, I don’t feel much about it.
Hmm.
I’d love to say I don’t need anything, but if I do, it seems like this whole farce might drag on again.
That’d be a hassle.
I’d rather accept something and put an end to this now.
What’s a reward that wouldn’t get in my way? Is there anything good?
After thinking for a bit, something came to mind, so I spoke up.
“Anything is fine for a reward, right?”
“Yes.”
“Well then… Could I have permission to access the forbidden library?”
Perhaps my request was unexpected, because His Majesty’s eyes widened slightly.
But it’s something that won’t be a burden, and it’s what I want most right now.
I’d been researching whether I could make potions beyond the advanced HP potion rank, but lately, I’d hit a wall.
I’d read through most of the related books in the palace library, and the only thing left I could think of was reading the books in the forbidden library.
I’d half given up, figuring a mere researcher like me would never get permission to access it.
Then this reward talk came out of nowhere.
There’s no way I wouldn’t take advantage of it.
“And since I’d like to learn more about magic, could I also have a tutor assigned to me?”
I added that on a whim, feeling like one more request might be okay.
Thanks to my magic skills, I can use magic too.
But since I’d only studied it on my own from library books, there were probably a lot of gaps in my knowledge.
Magic didn’t exist in my original world, so I’d really wanted a proper chance to learn it from a tutor.
Being able to use magic in this world seems like it’d be an advantage for standing on my own.
“Understood. We’ll arrange it.”
In the end, my requests were accepted.
They seemed unexpected, though.
It’ll take a little time to prepare, so I’ll receive those rewards once everything’s ready.