Chapter 299: 298 ‘Bump against reality if you disagree.

“Adventurer Shane is about to be granted a title and become an Honorary Viscount.”

Such news gradually spread throughout the Royal Capital and was learned one by one by the nobles and the commoners.

“Is he starting off as a viscount?”

“Wow, that’s impressive.”

“Although there are many cases of adventurers being granted nobility for their great service, it has been a long time since someone was initially granted the rank of viscount, hasn’t it?”

“Normally, they should start at the lowest rank of baron.”

“Yes.”

The people of the Royal Capital were buzzing with excitement over this news.

Ordinarily, such a granting of nobility wouldn’t spread so quickly and garner this much attention.

As mentioned above, there are many instances of adventurers being granted nobility for their great service, and several barons had already been granted this year alone, so the people of the Royal Capital were accustomed to hearing about nobility being granted.

In such cases, notable stories of ennoblement becoming the talk of the town had not occurred for a long time.

Yet, the news of Shane’s impending ennoblement spread quickly and became a topic of discussion among many, seeping into every street and alley of the Royal Capital.

There were several reasons for this.

Firstly, being granted the rank of viscount right from the start was indeed rare.

Additionally, Shane himself had recently become a prominent figure in the Royal Capital, able to tame Artlu’s Black Dragon, expose the conspiracy of the Galuo Li Family, break the evil magic ceremony in Artlu Canyon, and nearly obliterate the Kingdom Knights–all such deeds added to his aura and continued to draw keen interest.

Moreover, Shane had previously defeated the Old Demon Clan Faction led by Beddo, which endeared him to the citizens of the Royal Capital who had suffered a devastating blow from this faction ten years ago.

Furthermore, the Kingdom was intentionally publicizing this affair, making sure that the nobles and even neighboring countries knew Shane belonged to them, dissuading them from harboring inappropriate thoughts, which stirred up much noise regarding Shane’s ennoblement.

Unfortunately, in contrast to the commoners, many nobles were annoyed by this matter.

“It must be because he got close to Princess Luoqi and Lusi that he was granted the rank of viscount right from the start.”

“It’s just a viscount; why does it garner so much discussion?”

“I think we need to find an opportunity to properly teach him what it means to be a noble.”

“Exactly.”

These nobles grumbled jealously, fervently discussing it amongst themselves, yet none dared to actually confront him.

It was clear that it was mere bravado.

After all, they did not believe their families were stronger than the Kingdom Knights, nor did they think they could bother a Black Dragon renowned for four hundred years.

However, because of this, they felt even more bitter.

They knew very well that with Shane’s prowess, coupled with the favor of the Princess, he might climb even higher in status.

Perhaps, it wouldn’t be long before they would lose their last pride: their lineage.

By that time, not only would they no longer dare provoke this former Adventurer, but the Princess might also marry someone of such elevated status.

This was certainly something many nobles did not want to see.

Given this, the noble circles stirred up a storm over Shane’s impending ennoblement.

For an Honorary Viscount to attract such attention was perhaps unprecedented.

Many people discerned something from this trend and began reflecting on their own.

Shane naturally did not know what others were thinking.

And he did not bother to care.

If you asked him about this phenomenon, he had only one response:

“Stop blustering; face reality if you dare.”

When Shane threw out this retort, Luoqi, Vivian, and others were quite speechless.

“Who dares to confront you?”

“Those nobles wouldn’t be so foolish; what they would use is not strength but the political power of the Kingdom.”

Luoqi and Vivian had expressed this to Shane before.

But Shane did not care.

If someone truly provoked him, he wouldn’t waste words; he would just kick them directly.

Especially with Luoqi having his back, Shane was not only unafraid but also felt his soles itching recently, almost craving a few physical confrontations for relief.

In fact, because of this, Shane became the talk of the town for the next few days.

The reason was none other than the appearance of a few who came seeking a kick.

This led several noble families to fervently denounce Shane, hoping the Hope Kingdom would uphold justice for them.

But alas, after a few days of uproar and seeing Shane still freely visiting the Royal Palace daily, those nobles realized they could no longer provoke this man and bitterly resigned themselves to quieting down.

Shane didn’t concern himself with the outside noise; if someone came looking for trouble, he’d kick them; if no one bothered him, he’d immerse himself in the Magic Library beneath the Royal Palace to continue his diligent study of Celestial Magic and Grant Magic.

During this time, Luoqi brought Shane several pieces of news.

“Your ennoblement ceremony will take place at the end of this month.”

When the time came, Shane needed to go to the Audience Hall again, where he would receive his title from His Majesty the King.

“After the granting of the title is finished, according to custom, you must hold a noble banquet at your residence, so you need to find servants and a chef before the end of the month, tidy up your residence well, and prepare for this banquet without losing face.”

Luoqi suggested that Shane could write his own invitations, inviting others to the banquet, or not write any at all, but whether others would attend would depend entirely on how well-known he was, how extensive his social connections were, and whether others would give him face.

It was said that the banquet was a way to showcase one’s strength as a noble; the more people that participated, the more capable one appeared to be, and the higher the status of the attendees, the more it demonstrated one’s capacity as a noble.

This was equivalent to telling others about one’s social connections, how many people stood by his side, and whether one had the strength to host an advanced banquet.

“Generally speaking, banquets held by newly titled individuals are quite cold, with few nobles attending and mostly just a gathering of close friends and relatives. For a viscount, traditionally, not many would attend his ennoblement banquet either, but you don’t need to worry about this.”

Luoqi said this to Shane into a meaningful tone, causing Shane to twitch his mouth corner.

“This trouble-loving Princess won’t be planning to come, will she?”

If that were the case, Shane could already imagine what a blast his ennoblement banquet would be.

Getting someone from the Royal Family to attend such an event was nearly impossible unless one was a marquis or higher.

And Princess Luoqi was even more special; to this date, she had never attended any noble’s ennoblement banquet, and seldom even the ceremonies.

If this girl attended, Shane’s banquet would explode completely unless the Kingdom was intentionally suppressing it.

“Forget it, I’m not into dealing with such troublesome things.”

Shane completely pushed these matters aside.

This wasn’t the kind of thing Shane liked to do.

Had it been anyone else in the past, Shane would probably have gone on strike immediately.

But now…

“This will be an impeccable banquet.”

Lasha said these calm yet imposing words to Shane and then vanished.

Looking at Lasha like this, Shane felt both reassured and scared.

“…I have a feeling this maid will do something that will shock everyone.”

Shane felt like he could already see the grand scene of the banquet on the day.

Thus, he handed over all the preparations for the banquet to Lasha and continued to bury himself in the library as usual, not caring about anything else.

Being such a hands-off manager was an extraordinary state of being.

In short, for big decisions, he would consult Luoqi, and for the smaller ones, Lasha, making Shane’s daily life quite comfortable.

Meanwhile, Vivian, Tielle, Lu Muya, and Merica were discussing their future plans, and they were still helping Lu Muya figure things out.

Ai Yi also knew about Shane’s impending nobility but didn’t make any comments.

Ai Yi was just seriously considering something.

“Otherwise, I might as well attend too, using my real identity.”

Ai Yi had mentioned this to Shane.

“No way, boss!”

Shane vehemently stopped her.

It was a joke; if this girl attended his banquet using her real identity, it would probably blow the whole Human Realm up.

“I’m just here to support you, warning those restless ants not to mess with my people.”

Ai Yi expressed her discontent.

“…When did I become your person?”

Shane wanted to catch this girl and spank her.

Though being covered by a big boss certainly felt awesome, this was a bit too much; Shane himself was nervous, and just thinking about the consequences made his head cool, only to stop her.

After much persuasion, Shane finally stopped this girl, leaving her to go and find You Lin with a sulky expression.

During this time, Ai Yi was always like this; whenever she had the time, she would go find You Lin; what they were up to was quite suspicious.

“I hope the residence Hope Kingdom has found for me is big enough.”

Shane was even thinking of bringing You Lin over.

It was said that ever since Dragon Sister stayed in the Riding Beast Shed in the North District, there hadn’t been a single day of peace.

All the demons, including the flying dragons, trembling every day under the same roof, failing to eat well or sleep well, were almost on the verge of rioting.

Those responsible for feeding the demons also claimed they dared not come close to You Lin; approaching her would result in being terrified by her roar, all serving her like tyrants.

So, Shane had already considered bringing You Lin over to stay with him.

If the place the Kingdom found for Shane was big enough, he planned to build a dragon house specifically for You Lin’s residence.

But…

“Is my storage of gold coins sufficient?”

Having received ten thousand gold coins, Shane felt that this sum of money might not last long.

And thus, the days went by, one after another.