A bright morning perfect for sleeping in. Five gloomy men gathered around a long table at an inn in Futowa.

“As you know, our financial situation isn’t great due to the heinous theft incident.”

Dion solemnly spoke, interlocking his fingers and resting his forehead on them in the center.

Immediately, a response laced with laughter flew at Dion, striking him.

“Because of a clumsy aide.”

With that, the serious atmosphere he had tried so hard to create instantly shattered.

Dion raised his head from his interlocked fingers and shot a glare at Elai.

“I sometimes think it would be nice if you had a sense of tact, sir.”

“Is that so? I sometimes thought it would be nice if His Majesty’s aide had some flexibility.”

“Unfortunately, it seems you had tact for breakfast this morning.”

“Yes. It was quite delicious. Next time, you should join me, sir.”

At this moment, Dion couldn’t help but marvel at his lord’s excellent judgment.

‘How did he manage to gather people just like himself?’

Rubbing his throbbing head, Dion sighed and grumbled resignedly.

“Anyway, put out everything you have.”

Though it sounded like the language of a back-alley thug, Dion was serious.

Though clumsy, the exemplary aide was the first to place three gold coins on the table.

The knights also began to rummage through their clothes and empty their pockets.

Soon, piles of coins began to appear on the table, one, two, three, four……

One was missing.

Dion slowly raised his gaze from the table and said,

“Sakin, don’t try any tricks, you too, hurry… uh… huh?”

Dion abruptly stood up. The pushed chair fell over with a loud clatter.

He frantically began counting, checking each knight’s head.

“Elai, Eden, Samte, Odyssey, Sa… Sa……”

In just a few seconds, his mouth went dry.

“Where did Sakin go!”

It was an extremely urgent cry. However, the knights remained unmoved.

Among them, Elai was by far the most composed. Sitting diagonally close to Dion, he feigned surprise and answered.

“Didn’t you know? He’s been gone for a while.”

As he spoke, he hooked his foot on the fallen chair’s backrest and swung his long leg to right it.

The continued nonchalant attitude, not even removing his hands from his pockets, only made Dion’s head burn hotter.

“What?! Then why didn’t you look for him instead of just sitting there!”

“Oh, were we supposed to look? I thought we only needed to find His Imperial Majesty.”

“What if he ends up in some strange place and we never see him again…!”

“He’s not a child, he’ll manage on his own.”

“Aaaaargh!!”

Dion suddenly let out a shriek and began tearing at his hair.

Dion versus Elai.

It was an event that occurred like an annual ritual, and since the outcome was always predictable, the knights who had been ignoring it began preparing to leave.

Eden quietly pushed up his glasses and closed his book first. Samte draped the robe he had taken off over his large frame, while Odyssey began gathering up the money he had put out.

Only Dion, whose originally pale green hair now seemed on fire, continued to jump up and down.

“You and I are settling this today!”

“You won’t win.”

“Ha! I’ll have you know I was once known as the Iron Fist of House Cedric-”

While Dion was rolling up his sleeves, Elai placed the sole of his shoe against the leg of the chair he had just righted and pulled it forward.

Dion’s knees hit the pulled chair, and he naturally sat down with a thud.

“Oof.”

“You should take care of yourself at your age, sir. You suffered for two months after breaking your arm last time, didn’t you?”

While Dion was adjusting to his suddenly lowered view, Elai stood up.

“Well then, I’ll be off to look for our emperor again today~”

The drawn-out ending, accompanied by a smirk, grated even more on Dion’s already frayed nerves. He desperately wanted to pinch that upturned corner of Elai’s mouth.

……Of course, that was only possible in his imagination. Feeling even more miserable, Dion took out his communication device, whimpering as Elai and the knights left the room.

Click, the loading light went off, and the face he had been waiting for appeared on the screen.

Dion reached out as if he could grab the person in the screen.

“Your Highness… my beloved Your Highness… sniff, I miss you…!”

The screen flickered and crackled where his fingertips touched. Haidi shook her head as if to say ‘hopeless’.

“You had another round with Elai, didn’t you? You always confess to me after that. You’re in a far-off land, try to get along.”

“It’s impossible with that guy, even if I die and come back to life. Do you even know what situation I’m in? Sob…! I miss you so much, Your Highness…!”

“Sorry, one-sided affection is too much for me. Why don’t we try to find a match that can be mutual for us?”

“Y-Your Highness?”

Click.

The screen disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Only the sound of ugly sniffling rolled around pitifully.

“Uh, um… Did it break down?”

He didn’t want to accept reality. But nothing was closer than reality.

Dion hugged the turned-off communication device and banged his forehead on the table.

“Oh God, why do you give me such trials! Even if I sold out the country in my past life, this is too much!”

It was a peaceful morning.

Except for the fact that the aide to the Emperor of the Rihalt Empire developed circular hair loss.

As soon as the screen of the communication device disappeared, Haidi collapsed onto the sofa.

“Ah, my head’s throbbing… We should really put a bell on his mouth and stand him in a barley field. He’d go down in history as the legendary strongest scarecrow.”

Despite the scathing content, her voice lacked strength. Mrs. Zimmer, Haidi’s close lady-in-waiting, approached her side, which was crying out in impoverished lethargy.

She quietly moved to put away the turned-off communication device and chose a soft velvet cushion from the sofa. As she carefully propped it under Haidi’s neck, she said,

“Why did you even bother to answer the call?”

Haidi closed her eyes and wriggled to find a comfortable angle.

“My ears might hurt, but it makes me feel better. Seeing that he’s fine, it seems they haven’t found each other yet over there.”

Ugh, after a groan passed, a wheezing cough erupted. Haidi curled up, trying to suppress the cough.

However, her trembling body wouldn’t settle easily. The concern on Mrs. Zimmer’s face deepened.

She watched a bit longer, then turned to fetch another communication device. As a brother before being the emperor of Rihalt, he needed to know his younger sister’s condition.

But no sooner had she taken a step than Haidi grabbed her.

“It’s not like I’m dying, what’s the point?”

Haidi tugged on the hem of Mrs. Zimmer’s clothes that she had grasped to stop her.

“Just get me a glass of whiskey.”

The shadow that had covered Mrs. Zimmer’s face was instantly lifted at this unexpected request.

“How can you ask for whiskey when you’ve just nearly been poisoned?”

“I spat it out right away, and I didn’t die. My tongue is the world’s greatest loyal subject, you know.”

Haidi managed to swallow another cough that was about to burst out while putting on quite an act. Mrs. Zimmer exhaled a troubled breath. These siblings never seem to listen properly.

She gently detached Haidi’s hand that was tightly gripping her clothes, held it, and sat on the edge of the sofa.

“…Could it be that Chesher has returned? He’s known to be active at night, and there were testimonies of seeing a masked figure last night.”

It was a fairly reasonable assumption, but Haidi furrowed her brow. She looked at Mrs. Zimmer with half-open eyes.

“No, it’s that Belze bastard’s doing. He must have tried again since there was no reaction last time. If it had been poison made by Chesher, you’d be preparing my shroud by now.”

“How can you say such things?”

“So, just one glass, quickly. Don’t you want to be a loyal subject on par with my tongue?”

Haidi shook her captured fingers as if whining. Mrs. Zimmer propped another cushion behind Haidi’s back and stood up.

“Is a loyal subject someone who just puts sweet things in your mouth? Seeing you talk nonsense, it seems the poison hasn’t fully left your system. I’ll brew more medicine.”

“You want me to drink that vomit-inducing stuff again?”

“The bitterer the medicine, the better for your body.”

“Right now, the bitterest thing to me is your disrespectful words.”

Haidi waved her hand again, trying to grab Mrs. Zimmer. Mrs. Zimmer dodged her with a gentle movement, then approached the door and turned around.

“Didn’t you say to be a loyal subject?”

The guild was located at the edge of the village. It was to prepare for immediate defense against beast invasions.

The scale seemed to be about the size of a small district in a rural village. It was quite systematically equipped with most facilities including shared dormitories divided into sections, a dining hall, training grounds, an open space, and a blacksmith’s shop.

“Since that’s all your luggage, there’s not much to unpack, I guess.”

Gelda, who had come out of the room assigned to Helena, immediately moved on. She continued her rude yet kind guidance, pointing here and there.

“Still, if you need anything, let me know. Angry is going down to the central district tomorrow, so I’ll tell her to buy it.”

Helena followed behind her, listening quietly.

Her room was in the same building as Gelda’s. It seemed to be an arrangement considering that the guild was mostly male.

A few minutes later, Gelda stopped at an open space. She pointed to the forest beyond the wooden fence that was raised high like a fortress.

“See that green forest over there?”

Helena nodded, and immediately she felt a presence beside her. Ian, who had also been assigned a room and come out, approached and focused on Gelda’s explanation along with her.

“It’s right next to here, but don’t worry. Where the trees are green isn’t a beast habitat. Just be careful of the Black Forest. It’s always dark there because of the pheromones and body fluids that beasts release to mark their territory.”

Gelda added as she moved on,

“Of course, not all beasts leave traces with black body fluids. So you have no choice but to get used to specific smells. Even that varies slightly depending on the habitat, so it’ll take quite a while to distinguish them clearly.”

Come to think of it, there was a strange smell when passing through the Black Forest. A smell that wasn’t foul, which made it even harder to be wary of.

Helena glanced at Ian.

‘Then, did he sense the danger by smell at that time too? Hunting beasts… was it already familiar to him?’

She had heard that some merchant groups hire skilled knights to break through trade routes occupied by beasts, and that their members also train in swordsmanship.

Considering the scars engraved on his body, he might be leading that kind of merchant group.

Helena stared at Ian’s hand, covered in small scars, for a moment before turning away.