8 Chapter 8: A meeting with Angelica

"So, what is the reason for your visit, Leon Alpenwind?"

Angelica' sitting on the head chair of the meeting table asked me as she was served tea by one of her lacke—classmates.

Currently, I was sitting on her right side, along with a fidgety Olivia by my side.

'She's too nervous.'

I mentally sighed as I replied, making sure my tone was in check.

"Two things actually. First to help my friend here with a due greeting."

I pointed to Olivia who jolted in surprise at my sudden actions.

"E-Eh?"

Angelica looked at the ex-protagonist with general disinterest.

"Oh? And why is that? She could do so herself, no? I don't see why you, a newly rising Baron, would do so for a commoner."

I chuckled at her expected words.

"Yes, but Olivia here is my friend. And she's been in a bit of a troubled situation here at the academy due to her expected lack of social understanding of nobility."

My words caused her to raise an eyebrow. I continued.

"You see, due to her humble background, she's not very well-educated in the ways of nobility. And this may have caused some sort of a misunderstanding with some of your acquaintances. She's been facing some… unsavory incidents due to that. So, as her friend, I decided to fix this sooner rather than later. Because I don't believe she's done any harm to anyone or been intentionally rude to you. And if things can be fixed with a simple polite conversation, I believe there's no harm in trying."

Angelica took in my words and then gave a glance at Olivia, causing the already timid girl to shrink back further.

"I see. She's the honor student Olivia, correct?"

She asked, her gaze still lingering on Olivia.

"Yes, she's been given admission to the Noble Academy due to her rare natural talent in magic. I can attest to her skills just from what little I've seen."

"Oh?"

My words seemed to cause her to shift her gaze to me.

"So, you're saying she's good enough to catch even your eye?"

"Pardon?"

I asked, not sure what she meant there.

"Nothing, don't mind me."

But rather than clearing my doubts, she changed the topic.

"Anyway, I'll see about her treatment. I can't make an express promise, but she'll not face unnecessary troubles from people under me."

She looked at the girls standing beside her, and they nodded as if understanding the meaning of her gaze. Probably something along the lines of 'don't trouble her unnecessarily in the future.'

"Thank you."

"Uhm, t-thank you."

I and Olivia thanked her and then I continued.

"Other than that, my second reason was this."

I pulled a small poster from my pocket and handed it over to one of her lackeys.

She took it and gave it to Angelica.

Don't ask me why this middleman approach was needed when Angelica was sitting within arm's distance of me. Like I previously said, strange etiquette and shit.

She looked at the poster with mild curiosity which she didn't show on her face.

"This is…?"

She looked back at me with barely displayed confusion. I started speaking my already prepared sales speech.

"You see, I recently got a new island to my name and decided to make it into a sort of recreational area. It's unlike anything this world has ever seen since it's based on technology from the ancient era. That is to say, it uses lost items and lost technology, thus making the rides new and unique. There are also other attractions such as…"

And so I explained to her about things I(Eris) had built, mostly a mixture of an amusement park that'll put Disneyland to shame, exotic flower gardens, high-grade Onsens that the Japanese will kill for, and modern 5-star grade hotels with top-tier facilities, etc. My amusement park was based on some of the models stored in Eris's database by one of her creators.

And all of this would come at a fairly reasonable price. At least, for the first few weeks where I'll be mostly trying to get more and more people to experience it. I even had private ships prepared and registered to pick them up from their damn homes. That one was a pain in the ass to do.

"It's almost done and I was hoping that you and your family will give it a try. This is the first of many invitations I'll be distributing to other members of the nobility. I will be honored if you would kindly consider. It is specially made for youngsters, but there are plenty of attractions even for adults as you can see on the poster. I can guarantee that much."

I don't really like bowing down to others, but I had to do it this time. I couldn't wait to gain all the connections from this seemingly harmless action.

They won't know what hit them. Once they experience the pleasures of the modern-day Earth, they won't able to resist coming back. I made sure it was that good of an experience. Took me many a night of planning with Eris. Though, I will be honest and say that Eris did most of the hard work.

And with that, I finally pulled out a black envelope and handed it to the same lackey who dutifully did her hard job of literally passing it to Angelica.

The expression on her face was an interesting one, though. Even Angelica seemed to be slightly affected by it.

And why wouldn't they be?

The envelope, which was basically a letter of invitation and a 'Ticket' for VIPs, was decorated with pure gold details and high-quality gems. Furthermore, the envelope was magical. Only those who received this envelope or the ones they chose would be able to use it.

I made sure to explain that little feature to them.

It was just one of the security measures I had in place.

It only took her a brief pause to compose herself together, as aspected of a girl of her stature, and then she replied.

"Very well. Your endeavor is certainly intriguing. I can't make any promises since I do not know my family's current work schedule, but I'll be letting them know of this. I am quite interested in this 'amusement' park of yours. I might give it a visit in the future."

"Of course. You are welcome at any time. That card is a special Ticket that can be used whenever. I only have 20 of these tickets with me, including the one in your hands."

"I see."

That seemed to make her interested more.

Good.

'Seems like it'll work out.'

I told her a few more details about the park and we chatted about other things before I excused myself. Olivia, for her part, mostly stayed silent, listening to our conversation.

At least, by the end of it, she wasn't that nervous.

…

"Phew. That was… nerve-wracking."

I chuckled a little at Olivia's reaction. She looked like she had just come out of a battlefield.

"Get used to it. You'll likely be in similar situations like this. Given your performance, you're bound to garner the attention of nobles. They might want to get acquainted with a future talented mage."

'Though, I bet a lot of them will try to rope her into their service. Might have to keep an eye out for such events.'

"Awawa… that sounds… complicated. I'm not ready for that yet."

"Haha, don't worry. I'll help you out if you need me. You still have time to learn and grow."

That seemed to calm the girl a bit, though she was still on edge.

"Hmm, by the way, I should have told you about this much sooner, but would to like to come to my amusement park?"

"Eh? Can I?"

She asked, surprised.

'Wait, did she actually think I won't allow her in there? What the hell?!'

"Of course, you can! In fact, I was planning to take you with me a day or two before the grand opening. I was going to test the facility and we could have some fun. Imagine having an entire amusement park all to yourself! That'll be awesome."

"Waaa~ sounds amazing!"

She beamed, looking in the distance with a thoughtful face.

"But, what exactly is an amusement park? I don't know anything about it."

I swear I must have hit a pebble or slipped on a banana peel at that exact moment. I refuse to accept it was the cliché anime moment or a mistake of my own that I almost fell.

'The heck!'

It took me a brief moment to compose myself.

"Haa… alright, let me tell you about it."

And so, I began explaining to her about the mystical and fantastical things called rides.

By the end of the explanation, she was genuinely intrigued and beaming like a child.

Yup, I was definitely taking her to the amusement park, if only to see her innocent reactions.

***

[Angelica's POV]

Angelica sat on a sofa as she stared at the marvel in her hand.

'It's… so incredibly detailed and realistic. This poster must be costly. And then there's this.'

She looked at the opened black envelope and the black card inside it.

It was not an exaggeration to say they were of very high quality.

"An amusement park… what an intriguing name. And the high-quality images of it in here make it seem so very intriguing."

She had only said it as a formality at the time, but she was genuinely considering going to this place Baron Leon Alpenwind seemed to be developing.

'How much did this entire project cost?'

If the poster were to be believed, this was going to be an enormous project.

The large and complex structures and the strange buildings seemed quite posh.

'How rich and wise is the famed prodigious for coming up with this idea? How come I haven't heard of it before. Surely, such a thing would be talked about among the nobility… how did he manage to do it?'

From what she knew about him, Leon Alpenwind was a youngster with an enormous talent as a monster hunter. His adventuring tales started spreading a year ago when he discovered an inhabited island and a treasure buried on it.

It was what most, if not all, people in the Adventurer profession longed to do. But he actually did it. At such a young age too.

And it wasn't a one-time achievement either. He repeated similar feats again and again.

'No wonder he was evaluated so highly. Even the royal family is closely watching his life.'

Honestly, it was a surprise he was still an independent knight. Furthermore, it was an equal surprise that he was actually a knight of the Kingdom at such a young age.

'Leon Alpenwind. Perhaps I should make some effort to get acquainted with him.'

While Angelica, as the daughter of the prestigious house of Duke Redgrave was much above his rank, he was still famous enough to make her feel the need to do so. Especially after she got this poster and invitation to his personal project.

She didn't fully understand what this place was, but from what she did understand from his explanation and seeing the images in the poster, she had a nibbling feeling that this would cause an uproar.

People in high society, especially the nobles, loved new and unique things. And this was, in her opinion, more than just alluring.

'Perhaps I should see if Baron Alpenwind is in need of sponsorship. It won't be too bad of an idea to invest in a project with this much potential. Actually, I will do that after I give this place a visit. I need to see this in person.'

It was certainly intriguing. She was sure others would feel the same emotion, if not more strongly.

From the date mentioned on the poster, it would open in a month and a half. Plenty of time to plan the trip.

She wrapped the poster and sealed back the envelope and pulled a sheet of paper and a quill to write a letter to her father explaining it and expressing her own thoughts on the matter.

She called one of her followers and told her to deliver this letter to her house's personal express mail service.

Once that was done, she remembered something else.

'What relation does he have with that honor student, I wonder. For him to personally help a commoner. Even if she's said to be talented…'

"Greta."

She called, still in thought.

"Yes, my lady."

One of her followers replied politely.

"Find out what you can about Leon Alpenwind and that Olivia girl he came with."

It was just a hunch, but she felt her instincts telling her to investigate the matter.

Today was a surprise.

She didn't expect a visit from the so-called prodigious adventurer and she certainly didn't expect this invitation to the 'Amusement Park' as he called it.

'What an interesting fellow.'

This turned out to be a good distraction from the recent events that had been bothering her so much. Especially the arrival of that new girl in His Highness's life.

[End of Angelica's POV]

***