That attitude wasn't right.
The nobles, who valued their reputations, felt that it was nothing short of arrogance for this nameless peasant to behave so before the King, whose position was above their own.
Whispers began to circulate that Momon was snubbing the King.
There were also those who were outraged that a mere adventurer could be so disrespectful.
A portion of the nobles went on to say that Momon had made a mistake by not dealing the final blow to Jaldabaoth, and letting him flee instead, but since Momon had the backing of Raeven, they kept their mouths shut.
"Momon-san was in my employ, so if you challenge him, you challenge me," Raeven had said, in menacing tones.
And Momon himself had added, "I simply accepted a request as an adventurer, and completed it. It is nothing worthy of a king's personal attention, and to be honest, every adventurer who took part in this battle should receive accolades as well." That had appeased the nobles, and the whispers died down.
But the flames had not been extinguished yet. Some raised their voices to criticize Momon, for the nobles felt they had been insulted.
Evileye recalled what Lakyus, a noble herself, had said to her.
Without Momon, the disturbance in the capital would not have been resolved, and it would not be difficult to imagine the scale of the damage that would have been caused. However, the only ones who had come to see Momon off were the members of Blue Rose and Marquis Raeven, because Momon was in a difficult position.
During this incident, the ones who had received high praise were the adventurers, the King, the second prince, and Marquis Raeven. Meanwhile, public opinion of the nobles was less positive.
Of course, the nobles begged to differ. The capital was under the direct jurisdiction of the king, and as land-owners themselves, while it would have made sense to send troops to assist the capital, they had no obligation to do so. In fact, considering that their own holdings might have been attacked by the demons, it was far more sensible for them to protect their own property instead.
During this incident, the noble faction, which favored their own defense, maintained that the King's announcement of his identity was a mistake and stemmed from arrogance. Meanwhile, the royal faction strongly asserted that the King should have hidden in a safe place and not gone to the frontlines. In this way, the power struggle between both parties intensified.
And the residents of the royal capital who had no stake in this struggle were unhappy. "Why did these puffed-up nobles only care about protecting themselves and not us?"
As such, their respect for the ones who had actually fought for them grew, and criticism continued accumulating for the already disliked nobles. It turned into a vicious cycle, and in the end, the nobles ended up blaming the adventurers for it.
"In the end, they were simply hired battle maniacs who fought until they died," and so on.
And in this incident, Momon, the most highly-regarded of the Kingdom's adamantite-ranked adventurers, became a target. As a result, it was only obvious that none of the nobles would come to send him off. Even if some of them were friendly to him, they would be in a difficult spot because of the power struggle.
The whole reason that Raeven was able to be here was because he fluttered back and forth between factions like a bat.
"This is a letter of appreciation from the King, the second prince, and the third princess. And this is a plaque exempting you from all taxes on the land of the Kingdom. And also, the shortsword bestowed by the King. Please accept them."
As a noble, Lakyus could not help but sigh, and Evileye knew exactly why.
Being awarded a shortsword by the king had the same meaning as being presented with a medal as a knight or winning battle spoils as a noble. In the intense power struggles, the gift of the shortsword would cause a lot of trouble if the nobles found out about it. Even so, all she could say was that the King's gift of the shortsword was a brilliant move.
And here I thought the King was a pitiful nobody who didn't dare rock the boat. My opinion of him has gone up quite a bit.
Momon accepted the shortsword in a nonchalant manner and handed it to Nabe, who stood behind him.
"No, giving it as praise would be sufficient, but wouldn't the nobles have something to say about this?" Evileye said quietly.
From the nobles' point of view, someone with charisma and power becoming a noble would not be a laughing matter. It would be especially troublesome if a warrior mightier than Gazef Stronoff joined the royal faction. As such, if the king decided he wanted to award Momon a lordship, the nobles would use the gift of the shortsword as an excuse to criticize him. Although the King was the one who awarded the shortsword, it was too great a gift even as praise.
The nobles would not take it lying down.
Evileye mused this out loud, but was denied by the person next to her.
"...You're too naive, Evileye."
"Naive. The royal faction is a step ahead this time."
"Why?"
"...Because that shortsword is something awarded to nobles and knights."
"So in future, when the need comes to promote Momon-san, they can use the shortsword to shut the nobles up. It would never be awarded to commoners, you do know that, right? A lordship's been set aside for him, or at least that's what they're insinuating."
"I see... To think you put so much thought into it."
"Of course."
"Don't look down on assas— don't look down on ninjas."
"Then we should be going, Marquis Raeven. Thank you for everything."
"You're welcome. I hope we will continue our cordial relationship in future."
"I feel the same way too. And to Blue Rose, my fellow adamantite ranked adventurers, I hope we will be able to remain in close contact. I'll be counting on you if anything happens."
"We should be saying that, Momon-san. After seeing Momon-san's power, we are almost ashamed to call ourselves adamantite-ranked adventurers like yourself, but we will do our best to catch up with you. Looking forward to working with you again."
Lakyus and Momon nodded to each other.