“Are all the things here finished with sorting? Should I just organize them on the bookshelves as they are?”

“Yes! Please take care of it, young lady Shuria!”

Rumel answered while sorting the garbage pushed into the corner. I grabbed a pile of books and inserted them into the bookshelves according to their size.

“Hmm, good.”

The deep cleaning of Rumel’s clinic was proceeding much more smoothly than expected.

This was because Rumel had originally kept the clinic clean, so there was nothing much to do besides organizing things.

Thanks to that, we were able to exchange various interesting stories with each other in between cleaning.

I urged Rumel while dusting off the books.

“So? Keep telling me the story, Rumel. Someone stole the cookie set that Kiara bought?”

“Yes. But it happened to be a limited edition cookie set sold by a popular bakery in the commercial district. Because of that, Kiara got angry from head to toe.”

“I didn’t know Kiara liked sweets. If I had known, I would have bought a lot for her last time when I went out.”

“It’s not that Kiara likes sweets, but she likes foods that are hard to get. So she often visits popular restaurants where you have to line up to eat.”

Aha, so she does like visiting famous restaurants after all.

I like trying new foods and Kiara likes conquering famous restaurants, so we would definitely make good outing partners. I should suggest it later.

While I was making a small resolution, Rumel continued.

“Anyway… While Kiara left the cookies in the break room and was away for a moment, the only people who came were five royal guards. But all five of them denied the allegations.”

“Oh no. So? Did you find the culprit?”

“Of course, we found them.”

“How? Ah, since Kiara is a mage, did she perhaps read their memories with magic?”

“No, that’s not it. Using magic that accesses memories without permission is prohibited.”

Rumel explained while putting the sorted garbage into a large sack.

“If you use such magic incorrectly, you could turn the other person into an idiot. So it’s only allowed when interrogating felons who have committed a very serious crime.”

Whoa, I didn’t know that.

I should remember that well. So if someone tries to coax me later, saying let me just look at your memory once, I have to refuse and run away.

I shuddered. Rumel chuckled softly.

“But it’s true that Kiara chose magic as a solution. To be precise, she made a magical tool. It was a lie detector.”

“A lie detector?”

“It’s an object that looks like a thick bracelet, and if you wear it and tell a lie, lightning strikes above your head.”

“……”

How extreme.

Rumel shrugged.

“Kiara demonstrated the power of the lie detector in front of the suspects, and those knights got really scared. And they immediately confessed to the crime. It turned out that all five of them were the culprits.”

“So the accomplices had matched their stories!”

“That’s right. In that way, the five cookie thieves received bloody retribution, and the lie detector is still in the drawer of Kiara’s work desk. It’s a story that everyone in Belloy knows.”

“Wow…”

I absolutely must not lie to Kiara.

I swallowed my saliva and picked up the next book. It was a very old book.

The pages looked like they would be shredded from being opened so many times. The cover was shiny with fingerprints.

Just skimming through it, the difficult book that made my eyes spin, it was clear who had made the book this way.

I glanced at Rumel’s expression and carefully opened my mouth.

“You know, Rumel. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“How did you become the Lord’s personal physician?”

Rumel’s eyes widened. I smiled awkwardly while scratching the back of my head.

Although briefly mentioned how Kiara and Canis became Aspeiran’s vassals, strangely, Rumel’s past was not mentioned at all.

Even though Rumel appeared quite a bit since the female lead Bonita had researched drugs. So I had been curious since the previous life.

Rumel’s eyes, having heard my question, became blurry as if looking at something far away. Oh, I hope he’s not offended?

I quickly added.

“If it was an uncomfortable question, I’m sorry, Rumel! I think I asked too lightly…”

“…Ah.”

Rumel blinked his eyes as if waking up from a long sleep. He smiled faintly.

“No, young lady Shuria. Since there have only been people who have been with me for a long time, it’s the first time I’ve been asked such a question. Hmm, where should I start…”

Rumel rubbed his neck and fell into thought for a moment. It didn’t take long for his calmly settled voice to flow out again.

“I first met the Lord when I was fifteen years old. He saved me when I had lost everything at the hands of the deposed king.”

I quietly listened to Rumel’s voice. Rumel continued the story while tightly tying the opening of the sack.

“I wanted to be of help to the Lord, so I became a disciple of the person who was the military doctor in the rebel army at the time. Honestly, it wasn’t easy. I got scolded a lot too.”

“Is that so…”

“But I endured under my teacher until the end. As time passed, the Lord thankfully trusted me, even though I was still weak. Thanks to that, I was able to accompany him wherever he went and look after his health.”

I had already seen Rumel’s achievements in . He was a skilled doctor who saved the lives of the party several times.

The female lead Bonita and male lead Yulisis also received a lot of help from Rumel.

I was completely absorbed in Rumel’s story. My hands that had been organizing books had stopped at some point.

“I traveled to many places following the Lord. Then, after the Lord ascended the throne, my teacher who had become the royal physician of Cronen Palace retired… and I took over that position a year ago.”

“So you became the royal physician after 7 years? That’s amazing, Rumel!”

“I was just lucky. Since my teacher was a very strict person, I was the only direct disciple left.”

“Then you persevered under that strict person and eventually gained recognition. You’re really amazing!”

“D-don’t praise me too much.”

Rumel blushed and covered his face with both hands. Hehe, how cute.

I inserted the last book into the bookshelf.

The huge bookshelf covering one side of the room looked nice filled with books. Looking back, Rumel had also finished cleaning up the garbage.

I pointed to the window I had left open for ventilation and asked.

“Now that the cleaning is done, should we close the window?”

“Yes. I guess because it’s almost evening, it’s getting a bit chilly now. At this rate, we might catch a cold.”

Only now getting a bit chilly. Despite looking like a lush forest fairy, Rumel was also an unavoidable person from Roakin after all.

I, who had become a citizen of Roakin but had not yet become a perfect Roakin person, quickly approached the window. The white garden of Cronen Palace could be seen outside the window.

I closed the window and was about to close the wooden shutters, when I saw some black dots wriggling in the snow field without a single footprint. I narrowed my eyes.

“…What is that?”

I don’t know what it is, but the more I look at it, the more, ugh, creepy it seems. It also looks like a bunch of unspeakably horrible centipedes huddled together.

“Is something wrong?”

Rumel had come to my side before I knew it. I pointed to the wriggling black dots with my finger.

“What does that look like to you?”

“What… Ah.”

“Is it bugs? They’re too big to be bugs. If bugs of that size really exist, it’s a disaster. But why are such things in the royal palace garden in the first place? I think I should go and check…”

Saying that, I looked at Rumel. And I was startled. Rumel’s face had turned pale as if he would collapse at any moment.

“Rumel? Why are you…”

Rumel, who had been standing blankly like he was broken and staring at the black dots endlessly, began to breathe roughly. Sensing that his condition was unusual, I hurriedly closed the shutters.

“Rumel. Don’t look. Come here.”

I grabbed Rumel’s hand and pulled him. His skin that touched my hand was cold as if all the blood in his body had drained out.

I supported Rumel and helped him sit on the sofa.

“Haa…”

Rumel collapsed onto the sofa. Lying askew and covering his eyes with his hand, cold sweat dripped from his face.

“Rumel, are you okay? Should I bring you some water?”

“…No. I’m fine. I’m sorry, young lady Shuria. You must have been very surprised. I don’t really like bugs… That’s why. I’ll be okay if I rest a bit…”

His voice was weak. I crouched down in front of him and patted his back rhythmically. I could feel Rumel’s trembling gradually subsiding.

I said carefully.

“You rest, Rumel. I’ll go and check what those black dots are and come back.”

“Don’t, young lady Shuria…”

“I think it’s good to assess the situation. I’ll just check from a distance, so don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

I tapped the back of Rumel’s hand assuredly. Then I immediately left the clinic.

Leaving the clinic and heading towards the garden, I soon encountered those ‘black dots’.

“Wh-what the hell. What is that.”

I covered my mouth with both hands and hurriedly hid behind a large tree. I couldn’t believe what I had just confirmed with my own two eyes.

What I thought were bugs were, upon closer look, moles the size of my palm.

It was strange enough that moles were walking around on the ground in broad daylight, but there were also a staggering number of them. Moreover, they kept swarming in from somewhere.

The sight of the moles gathered together, spinning around, wriggling, and biting each other was so creepy it made my stomach churn.

‘Calm down, let’s calm down.’

Accurately assessing the situation is the priority now. After steadying my breath several times, I poked my head out to check on the moles.

First, there are no people around here. The moles aren’t showing any special behavior other than biting each other.

I want to check where they came from, but it would be too dangerous for me to move recklessly alone.

‘No matter how you look at it, they don’t seem like ordinary moles. …They might be monsters.’

I think it’s best to contact Aspeiran as soon as possible.

After reaching a conclusion, I raised my gaze to check on the moles again.

It was at that moment.

All the moles gathered in the garden simultaneously looked at me.

“……”

Aspeiran, who was leaving the knights’ training grounds, suddenly turned his head. A frown forms on Aspeiran’s brow as he looks towards Cronen Palace.

“My Lord? Why are you doing that?”

Canis, who was following behind, asked with his eyes wide open. Aspeiran tapped his forearm with his finger and then spoke.

“…Somehow the flow of mana seems strange.”

“You mean the flow of mana?”

Canis tilted his head and looked in the direction of Cronen Palace. It was right then that Aspeiran received a communication.

Aspeiran allowed the communication connection with a nonchalant face.

“What is it.”

「My Lord. It’s an emergency.」

Kiara’s voice, heard through communication magic, was urgent unlike usual.

Aspeiran found it strange for a moment, but soon understood the reason.

「Monsters have appeared within the castle.」

…Monsters?

Aspeiran’s eyes opened wide. It was literally an emergency situation.