As is to be expected of a ceremony that His Majesty presides over in the name of His Majesty, the way he handled the large number of people backstage was also superb.

　The candidates for knighthood are moved to the waiting room one after the other in the appropriate flow, and from there they are sent to the hall of the main auditorium in the scheduled order.

　How many knight candidates are in here?
　It's a hunch, but I have a feeling that it's likely to lightly reach the triple digits.

　Even if the average number of new recruits this year was about ten, the total number of the twelve knights' corps amounted to one hundred and twenty.

　Moreover, all but one of the four senior knighthoods included the entire continent in their area of activity, so the number of new recruits should not be contained to ten or so.

　With such a large number of people moving incessantly to the right and left, there was no time to stop and chat with each other.

　-- it was only after being moved to the hall of the main auditorium and sitting down in their assigned seats that the attendees, including me, were finally able to catch their breath.

'' (Phew ...... I think I'm finally going to be able to calm down. ......)

　Nearly all of the attendees are younger than me, and it's not unusual for them to be under 20 years old, and most of them have a nervous look on their faces.

　Of course, a very small number of people, some older than me and some considerably older, are mixed in.

　I'm sure you'll find a lot of people who have been recommended for knighthood because of their accomplishments, just like me, rather than doing menial jobs as a knight's squire.

The most important thing to remember is that they are not the same as the young guys. They seem reasonably accustomed to the big stage.

　The chairs were still only half full, and it would be a while before the ceremony began.

　I decided to take advantage of this gap to somehow observe the interior of the main auditorium.

　Nearly all of the space about two-thirds of the way from the main entrance is allocated for seating for guests.

　The place where we are now is the remaining one-third of the space, and the high place between the two is the center of the ceremony for the appointment.

　If we compare it to a music theater, the audience seats are the space for guests, and we are lined up like an orchestra facing the guests, with the ceremonial altar set up where the conductor should stand.

　Furthermore, the seats for guests seem to be divided into several grades, and the place near the altar is said to be allocated to the people involved in the order.

　The relatives of the knight candidates from civilian backgrounds are behind them.
　The entire structure is sloped, so even if you are seated at the back, the view is not bad, and you could see the guests at the rear from here as well.

　All of my relatives and everyone else in Green Hollow who had been invited from my home village must be in there somewhere, too.

　Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the people I was looking for among the vast number of guests, but if I stood at the altar, they would be able to see me clearly from the other side.

　Just thinking about it made me cringe.

''(The guys at the front of the guest's table must be in a high position in the Knights' The Knight Commander class is ...... naturally attending?)

　William of the Knights of the Dragon King, a white-haired old knight with a strong sense of intimidation.

　A young man whose behavior is usually devoid of emotion, Gilbert of the Order of the Golden Fang.

　The female knight leader, Angelica of the Knights of the Rainbow Scales, with her sightless eyes closed and her squire girls with her.

　And my most closely related knight leader, Carmine of the Silver Wing Knights, who is also Garnett's brother.

　Since it's called a ceremony to welcome new knights, the four captains of the senior knight corps are also all present.

　By any chance, other knight leaders might have come too, but since I didn't know the faces of all but four of them, I couldn't distinguish them from the other members of the group.

''(...... ah)''

　I looked a little further back and saw my eyes meet those of a girl I would never mistake for a girl.

　Garnett was in the front row, a little further back than Carmine.
　Next to her was Abigail, who was also dressed modestly in black formal wear.

　When Garnett noticed me looking at her, she gave a small wave with a neat smile appropriate to her current attire, and then smiled, showing her white teeth with a grin as she casually covered her profile with her hands.

　It's an appeal to me not to worry about myself and an unspoken tease that I'm nervous again.

　I can't believe they had a seat so close to me.
　It's not very nice, but I don't think I can show you how uncool it is.

Silence, please.

　Without warning, the voice of a man standing at the altar echoed through the main auditorium.
　Even though it was a raw voice released directly from his throat, it was a voice that carried well to every corner of the main auditorium.

　I noticed that all the seats for attendees were filled.
　That man must be the one who was in charge of presiding over the joint investiture ceremony.

I will now conduct this year's investiture ceremony. Wait for His Majesty's arrival for now.

　The presiding man began his lecture on the significance of the joint anointing ceremony, the role of the knights, and preparation for the king's arrival as a stopgap.

　No one reacted with boredom to the lecture.

　This was not because the lecture was interesting, but because His Majesty the King was coming soon, and it seemed to be due to the tension.

''And since there is--''

　After a few moments, the presiding man abruptly broke off his lecture.

　Then, after descending one step down the altar, he turned to the side of the hall and made a high-pitched declaration.

'His Majesty the King is here.

　The attention of everyone gathered in the main auditorium was drawn to a single point.

　From the side of the hall, from the entrance connected to the altar by a red carpet, a large figure wearing a crimson ceremonial cloak emerges.

　Alfred, King of Westland.
　He wears a dignity befitting the name of the champion who rules the continent, as if it were a supreme adornment, and ascends the stage to the place of the ceremony with an imposing gait like a lion.

　--It's big and far away.
　That was my honest opinion.

　I've had the opportunity to see His Majesty up close on two occasions and have exchanged not a few words with him.

　But that doesn't mean that I've become close to His Majesty - I'm reminded of that commonplace fact.

　His Majesty Alfred stood in the center of the altar and first took a sweeping view of the guest's table, then turned his back to it and looked straight at the knight candidates.