'Distinguished Guest'

Omi Town's main source of income came from hosting passing merchant caravans. Seeing that Nalant's Porter Family was quite formidable, Omi intended to cultivate ties with him, hoping Nalant would become a frequent visitor to the Omi Barony in the future.

Naturally, Nalant could not have wished for more. He immediately accepted with a grateful expression.

Afterward, Nalant took only several Daughters of Luck with him as he followed Duke toward the castle.

The castle stood seven or eight hundred meters outside the town, and they soon arrived before it.

It was a castle built on flat ground, surrounded by a moat over twenty meters wide. Its style and scale were virtually identical to those of the Onyx Principality, since the two sides had belonged to the same principality a century ago.

"Uncle Chell, I'm back! Open the gates quickly. This is Sir Harry of the Porter Family, and he'll be having lunch at the castle today!" Upon arriving beneath the castle, Nalant did not find the gates standing open as he had imagined.

At that moment, the castle gates were tightly shut. More than a dozen guards stood watch atop the walls under the command of a Bronze Knight.

"Very well, Young Master Duke. Please wait a moment!" The Title Knight above—Uncle Chell, as Duke called him—sized up Nalant's group several times. Seeing that he had only brought a few girls with him, he ultimately chose to let them pass.

As the drawbridge lowered and the castle gates opened, Nalant entered the baronial castle without incident.

His timing was rather fortuitous. The moment he entered the castle, the steward came to report that lunch was ready.

Then, led by Duke, Nalant went straight to the dining table. He brought only Lilia, his personal maid, into the dining hall to