As I walked through the castle corridors, I spotted a familiar face. It seemed they had been waiting for me.

"Saijar. You've been making quite a spectacle of yourself."
"Taking down a Red Dragon earns you the Flame Jewel Medal, huh? Seems pretty easy to me."

It was my grandfather, Indias Digo, a baron.
As a noble, he must have been invited to the ceremony for the Grand Flame Orb Medal.

"I made the effort to come all this way just for this."

If traveling is so difficult for him, he should just retire already.

"What's with that look? Are you telling me to retire?"
"You’ve got it right. That way, you’d have time to take Grandmother to the hot springs."
"As long as I live, I’m staying active."

Grandfather gave a sly grin—one that suggested trouble. What now?

"I hear you treated the queen."

He abruptly changed the subject, revealing his true purpose.

"Earning the royal family’s favor is no small feat."

However, the King had no intention of provoking conflict with the Church.

"The royal family will likely handle this discreetly. They'll settle it by cutting off a scapegoat."
"That’s the royal family’s concern. The favor you’ve earned is separate from that. Heh heh heh."

With that cryptic comment, Grandfather walked off.

Despite his inscrutable nature, Grandfather is the one who built the Digo Barony into what it is today.
Even though he’s often ridiculed as a "merchant noble" and faced humiliation, he established a massive trading company. That’s no easy feat. Despite his lecherous tendencies, I respect him for that.

I headed to my destination: the award ceremony.

When I entered the grand hall, it was filled with nobles.

I walked down the center of the hall with confidence. There was no need to be nervous at this point.

When I knelt before the King, who sat on his throne, his voice rang out.

"Sai has slain the Red Dragon. For this achievement, we award him the Grand Flame Orb Medal."

The minister read out the citation.

During the recitation, I felt a jolt run down my spine, like an electric shock.

It felt like someone cast a skill on me. Most likely, it was the prime minister standing closest to the King, using Appraisal. The way his eyes widened as he looked at me confirmed it.

The prime minister is known as one of the kingdom’s top appraisers, a skill that helped him rise to his current position.

The King received the medal from an official and attached it to my chest. The minister then announced a monetary reward as part of the honors, marking the end of the ceremony—or so I thought.

"Sai’s accomplishments go beyond slaying the Red Dragon. He also played a key role in calming the Blackface Plague and even treated the queen."

The King, now seated once more, caused a stir among the nobles with his unexpected words.

Even I was curious about what he would say next.

"Therefore, we grant Sai the title of Sen’i."

Sen’i? I had never heard of this title before.

"Sen’i, meaning ‘a healer with a thousand hands capable of all manner of treatment.’"
"Ohhh!"

The King silenced the murmuring nobles with a gesture.

"From now on, Sai will serve as a Special Imperial Healer. This position is reserved for treating ailments or injuries that the Imperial Healers of the Inner Palace cannot handle. However, Sai may continue his work among the common people as before."

I had heard that after I treated the queen, the palace physicians who had previously attended to her were arrested.

The charge was poisoning the queen.

While the accused denied it, only someone involved with her meals or medical care could have administered poison over such a long period. Their arrest was inevitable.

Furthermore, failing to recognize such a poison demonstrated incompetence as an Imperial Healer, a failing that itself constituted a crime in this role.

"I am deeply honored to receive the title of Sen’i."

The King nodded graciously before rising from the throne. As he exited, the nobles straightened their backs to see him off.