The Absolute Godspeed of Infinite Worlds

Chapter 557 - 557

Several days had passed since then.Eiji visited the palace daily.

Iris would sneak out to meet him every day as well, and their relationship grew closer at rocket-like speed.

That said, Eiji was of course not a lolicon.

He simply found Iris adorable, treating her like a younger sister—similar to how he viewed Souji in the Type-Moon world.

Iris held strong affection for him, though calling it romantic would be an exaggeration. It was closer to admiration or attachment, as she cherished the time spent with Eiji.

However, without fail, Claire would always interfere.

That woman could precisely grasp Iris's thoughts, easily locate their meeting spots, then storm over furiously to disrupt them.

Somehow, it felt like getting caught during a secret rendezvous—quite an odd sensation.

"An honor indeed! I never expected Mr. Nangou to grace us with his presence. This humble abode is truly illuminated!"

In one of the capital's most prestigious mansions, a middle-aged nobleman greeted Eiji with a smile.

"Please, come in! May I ask what brings you here today, Mr. Nangou?"

"Actually, it concerns your daughter."

Without ceremony, Eiji entered the mansion at his host's invitation.

"I believe there's something unusual about your daughter, Duke Symphonia."

"Which daughter?"

"The eldest."

"Claire? What about her?"

"I suspect she has ulterior motives toward the princess!"

Eiji declared with utmost seriousness.

The abrupt accusation made Duke Symphonia spit out his tea.

"T-That's no joking matter, Mr. Nangou! Our Symphonia family has always remained loyal to the royal family—"

"What I mean is, her feelings for Iris transcend the ordinary master-servant relationship. You understand what I'm implying, right?"

"Oh, that's a relief—wait, no! That's absolutely not a relief!"

Duke Symphonia initially relaxed before gasping in realization.

"Is... is this truly the case?"

His smile grew strained.

"My credibility is impeccable—I never lie!"

Eiji thumped his chest with conviction.

The Duke felt uneasy.

His eldest daughter Claire did reside permanently in the palace, living daily with Princess Iris. Whenever summoned home to visit her parents, she seemed reluctant, as though the palace were paradise itself.

Could it be true?

"What should we do?"

The sheer impact left Duke Symphonia momentarily at a loss.

"My suggestion: recall her immediately and arrange a marriage meeting!"

Seizing the opportunity, Eiji began dispensing terrible advice.

"Introducing a man into her life will surely correct her wayward thoughts. This way, we can halt such treasonous inclinations!"

"Brilliant! Now that I think about it, Claire is already of marriageable age—most sixteen-year-old girls are wed by now!"

Duke Symphonia felt sudden enlightenment.

"However, Claire is my eldest daughter. In the entire Belzerg Kingdom, only the royal family and the Dustiness clan are considered suitable matches. But the Dustiness family only has one daughter in this generation, which leaves Prince Justice as the only appropriate candidate... By the way, Mr. Nangou, what do you think of my daughter?"

"...Huh?"

"You see, my daughter comes from a noble family, and you're a candidate for the Hero position. You're well-matched in status and age—it's practically a match made in heaven!"

Duke Symphonia grinned from ear to ear.

Eiji's reputation had already spread throughout the royal capital in just a few days.

His battle in the snowy plains, where he annihilated the Demon Lord Army's monsters, became his ticket to fame among the capital's nobility.

Now, every noble in the capital knew of him—a Hero candidate with strength surpassing other reincarnators. Many nobles were scrambling to build connections with him, hoping to marry their daughters off to him.

Or rather, hoping to secure the bloodline of a Hero candidate for their families.

This was why so many nobles had approached Eiji at the banquet, trying to promote their daughters to him.

Oh, and not just daughters—some even offered their wives.

It seemed they had completely abandoned dignity in pursuit of the Hero's bloodline.

Under normal circumstances, most reincarnators would thrive in such an environment. Someone like Kazuma Satou was truly an outlier among outliers.

"Well, I'm not really interested in your daughter..."

Eiji forced an awkward smile, trying to deflect.

"Don't worry, feelings can be cultivated! If you agree, my Symphonia family will fully support you in defeating the Demon King. We could even have your child with Claire inherit the family headship!"

Duke Symphonia beamed with enthusiasm.

About ten minutes later...

Eiji fled the Symphonia residence as if escaping for his life.

"Terrifying!"

Walking through the capital's streets, Eiji sighed deeply.

He had only come to lodge a complaint, hoping to annoy Claire a bit—and maybe investigate whether the mansion housed any divine relics. He never expected a duke, one of the kingdom's highest-ranking nobles, to be so aggressively enthusiastic about matchmaking. It was more than he could handle.

No wonder arranged marriages were so universally disliked.

"Still, it seems the Symphonia residence has some good stuff!"

Eiji quickly regained his composure and snapped his fingers cheerfully.

While wandering through the mansion, he had indeed sensed the presence of a divine relic.

He just hoped it wouldn't be another completely unusable one.

Over these past days, he'd visited many noble residences. The capital truly lived up to its name—the number of divine relics far exceeded his expectations. After all, over the years, many reincarnators must have married into noble families here.

The goddess responsible for reincarnation must have been out of her mind, sending so many game-breaking items to this world without any thought of retrieving them.

Yes, we're talking about Aqua!

Of course, from Eiji's perspective, he should probably be grateful for her thoughtless actions.

But every one of these divine relics required a bonding process like Gram to unleash their power—and so far, Eiji hadn't gained recognition from a single one!

Divine artifacts themselves have no souls. The recognition ritual is merely a pre-programmed procedure—perhaps a deity could forcibly alter it, but Eiji couldn't, and charm was useless.

Thanks to this, after so many days, he hadn't obtained a single useful divine artifact.

"Hey, did you hear? Last night, Count Gord's house was robbed! Some treasure was stolen, and the count was furious!"

People on the street were gossiping about the latest city rumors.

Count Gord?

Wasn't that the noble house he had visited just a few days ago?

There had been a divine artifact there too, but since it was completely useless to him, he hadn't taken it.

Eiji stroked his chin, deep in thought.

Could it be that the stolen item was the divine artifact?

"Whatever, it's none of my business. Tonight's target is the Senfonia household!"