I Was Caught up in a Hero Summoning, but That World Is at Peace - Chapter 2331: Intermission: Preparing for the Promised Tea Party

In one of the rooms of Hamilton Marquisdom in Archlesia Empire, a room whose frequency of use had recently increased for important discussions, were Eris and the Hamilton Marquis couple, with a large number of documents placed on the table.

[We’ve narrowed the candidates down to some extent, but once you include the investigation materials and such, it’s enormous.]

[Ahh, but we absolutely cannot afford any oversight in this matter. The Hamilton Marquisdom has mobilized all its resources to thoroughly go over the information. Given that, this amount of material is unavoidable.]

Marquis Hamilton gave a grave nod, taking one sheet from the stack of documents on the desk. Listed there were the names of every noble in Archlesia Empire, not only the heads of houses, but also heirs, other children, and even those only recently born, as many names as could be recorded, with several of them marked.

[……Then, let’s carry out the final selection of the young ladies and gentlemen from noble houses to be invited to the tea party planned for Kaito-sama.]

[I’d be more at ease if we could choose purely based on character, but we also have to thoroughly check their backgrounds since we don’t know who might be backing them.]

[Given the horizontal and vertical connections in noble society, there will inevitably be requests that are hard to refuse. We should examine even the small possibilities.]

At those words, the Hamilton Marquis couple also wore serious expressions as they scrutinized the documents. Yes, what they were now doing was the final selection of guests to be invited to the tea party promised to Kaito some time ago.

Enough days had passed since the initial promise that they wanted to move to the stage of sending invitations, but given the situation, the participants had to be chosen carefully.

From the start, they had decided to exclude heads of noble houses, planning to invite only a small number of heirs and heiresses, but because of Kaito’s tremendous influence, there was a need to counter nobles who would try various means to take advantage of it.

[Father, what shall we do about attendants?]

[……We can’t exactly refuse them, but if we allow them just as we usually do, some will surely take advantage of it.]

In the context of a noble’s tea party, an “attendant” essentially means a bodyguard. Rather than waiting outside in a carriage or the like, this refers to a bodyguard who waits inside the tea party venue, and is described as an “a person who accompanies the attendee”.

The reason is simple: calling them a “guard” would cause friction and give the impression that one does not trust the noble who issued the invitation or the security of the venue, so the term “attendant” is used instead.

[If we prohibit attendants, there will be nobles who complain, asking what we would do if something happened. It’s absurd, especially when they’re not even the ones invited to the tea party……]

[Well, noble society is built on mutual checks and balances. There are those tiresome people who only think of making trouble, but such checks are also part of what keeps the balance. In any case, we should take precautions against any points that could become unnecessary weaknesses.]

If attendants were allowed without any restrictions, as in an ordinary tea party, there would be the possibility of nobles being brought along as “attendants”.

While in most cases the attendant would indeed be a bodyguard, there is no explicit rule that they must be a bodyguard, which means this loophole could be exploited.

[……Would it be best to limit attendants to non-nobles?]

[I suppose so. It would be unusual, but that way, it wouldn’t look like we were banning guards outright. Some will still complain, but it will be easier to answer them.]

[Even if it’s a misunderstanding, there is a perception that Kaito-sama dislikes nobles, so those who receive the invitation might be more willing to accept it.]

It was decided to add the line proposed by the Marchioness Hamilton, that attendants be limited to non-nobles, to the invitations, and the discussion then moved on to what could be called the main topic: choosing whom to invite.

[……When inviting young ladies, we should exclude those who might harbor ulterior motives. Would it be ideal to choose those who are already engaged?]

[However, in that case, wouldn’t there be a possibility of trouble if Kaito-sama were to take an interest in one of the young ladies?]

[Hmmm…… Given Kaito-sama’s personality, I think it’s extremely unlikely he would desire a noble lady as a mistress.]

[I see. In that regard, Eris, who has direct dealings with Kaito-sama, would understand his thinking better, so please disregard my previous statement.]

After confirming that Marchioness Hamilton nodded in agreement at Eris’s words, Marquis Hamilton also spoke.

[Are there any promising young men?]

[Well…… among those close in age to Kaito-sama, many have already inherited their titles or hold positions at the Imperial Castle, and aside from that, there are hardly any who have ties to the Hamilton Marquisdom and whom I can judge to be without character issues. Father, do you have any candidates?]

[No. If we exclude heads of noble houses as well as those who are not heads but hold some position as nobles, there are indeed few candidates. There are some who seem to have no character problems, but they belong to different factions…… Even if this is, in the end, a tea party hosted by you personally, Eris, inviting them would be difficult…… Depending on the situation, it could be taken as trying to entice them to switch factions with a tea party with Miyama Kaito as bait.]

[I see…… In that case, it seems we really will be focusing on young ladies.]

This tea party was, at least in name, unrelated to noble connections, a tea party Eris would hold with friends she had personal ties to…… so there were restrictions on whom she could invite.

Within those limits, she had to choose people who would likely get along with Kaito and had no personality issues, while also preparing for interference from other nobles, making the task quite difficult.

Just like that, for a while, the three members of the Hamilton Marquisdom continued their serious discussion, deciding on the guests for the tea party.

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<Afterword>

Stomachache Devil : [Now, just a pinch of a body blow to the stomach……]

Serious-senpai : [Oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi oi, we’re talking about a young lady who got beaten to a pulp at the birthday party and then took a stomachache right after the party, yeah? And now you want to go for another follow-up punch to the stomach? Isn’t she just way too pitiful?]

Stomachache Devil : [All that’s happening is the episode where she invites someone to the tea party she had promised long ago. She just has to invite and treat her guests normally.]

Serious-senpai : [Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah, just treat her normally, you say…… You’ve got a visible landmine, no, a visible napalm bomb called “attendant” sitting right there. Plus, Eris has been taking stomachaches nonstop since her introduction. She’s way too pitiful, she deserves some mercy, right? And it’s not just this matter, there’s still the event where she’s going to visit Kaito’s home in the future. The stomachache Eris is going to go through from here on is unimaginable!!!]

Stomachache Devil : [If her stomach is pitiful, why so punchable?]

Serious-senpai : [That’s why I like you.]

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