The village of Poshan, located below the Tritos Mountains, was difficult to approach by any means other than land routes due to being surrounded by mountains and trees.

Arasila and Demian abandoned their plan to use an airship and rode horses and carriages instead.

It took several days of non-stop travel to reach Poshan village. The subjugation team decided to march on without stopping except for one rest break.

While all the mages rode in carriages, the knights were split between riding horses and carriages.

The horses ran surrounding the carriages in a protective formation. Of course, this included the carriage carrying the mages.

“What was the captain thinking, accepting a joint operation with the magic tower? This is so uncomfortable.”

As one knight grumbled, his nearby comrades nodded in agreement.

After the Johnny Patterson incident, relations between knights and mages became extremely awkward. This was especially true for the Red Hawk Knights and the magic tower, who were directly involved in the incident.

In the end, it was concluded that Johnny Patterson was at fault, and even though Arasila and Demian worked together to reveal and resolve this, the uneasiness remained unavoidable.

It’s not like both groups had openly cleared the air between them like Arasila and Demian had.

“Will we really be able to work well with the mages?”

“I just hope they don’t hold us back and become a burden.”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t want to clean up after the mages.”

“But what worries me most is Lady Vandermir. Surely she won’t interfere with the captain again this time?”

Just as they were chattering away on horseback, a window of the carriage right next to the knights suddenly flew open.

“Excuse me, but I can’t help speaking up after hearing all this nonsense.”

The person who poked their head out of the window was none other than Sally.

She had joined this western monster subjugation operation along with Rudy, following Arasila. Sally had talent in offensive magic like Arasila, while Rudy excelled in defensive magic.

She had been quietly traveling, respecting Arasila’s wishes not to clash with the knights, but could no longer hold back after hearing their conversation outside.

“We absolutely won’t hold you back or be a burden, and neither will our senior. After all, our senior is the strongest person here.”

Sally retorted sharply. The knights, who were initially flustered and stammering, bristled at her last words.

“Listen here. You clearly don’t know, but the strongest person here is our captain. Don’t you know our captain is the youngest Sword Master?”

The knight riding closest to the carriage countered. Coincidentally, he was the one who had started the conversation.

“Our senior is also the youngest ever admitted to the magic tower. And she earned four stars at the youngest age in history, even joining the executive council.”

“Ha! That’s not all our captain is. Three years ago, when sea monsters were rampaging along the southern coast, our captain single-handedly took out half of them.”

“But during last year’s monster subjugation, it was our senior who helped save you, right? It was our senior who swept away the monsters and received a first-class merit, wasn’t it?”

Sparks flew between the knight and Sally as they glared at each other.

The two, overflowing with pride and affection for their respective superiors, began to argue in earnest.

“Our captain is recognized even by the imperial family. In a formal match, the difference in skill would be incomparable.”

“Our senior already won indirectly during the hunting festival. And our senior is also a mage commended by the imperial family for her achievements.”

“But in terms of public support, our captain would be overwhelmingly ahead. He’s popular regardless of gender.”

“Things like popularity don’t matter. Our senior has the most beautiful appearance in the empire, but she only competes purely based on her own skills.”

Their argument gradually became more and more childish.

They competed in boasting about how many followers Demian had before marriage, and how much of an idol Arasila was to her junior female mages at the tower.

As the area became noisy, it was inevitable that others would take notice.

Isaac, who was riding near the lead carriage where Demian and Arasila were, sensed the commotion behind and quietly slipped away.

He frowned upon discovering his subordinate arguing with a female mage. He quickly approached before things could escalate.

“How about we see who can catch more monsters this time?”

“If you’re challenging me, I won’t back down. That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”

Isaac intervened between Sally, who looked ready to jump out of the carriage, and the knight who seemed about to fall off his horse.

“Logan, what are you doing?”

“Vi-Vice Captain.”

The knight who had been glaring at Sally turned pale upon seeing Isaac. Isaac scolded him with a terrifyingly stern face.

“Are you mocking the captain’s words? He clearly told us not to fight with the mages.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Why are you suddenly fighting? Explain.”

Logan couldn’t bring himself to answer and lowered his head. He had nothing to say since the fight broke out because of his own careless words.

At that moment, Sally, who had been rolling her eyes around, quickly spoke up in Logan’s place.

“This knight was badmouthing the mages and Senior Arasila, and I caught him.”

“It, it wasn’t badmouthing!”

Logan hastily waved his hands. However, Isaac’s face had already turned cold.

“Go to the back, Logan.”

“Vice Captain, I…”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

In the end, Logan turned his horse around with a gloomy face.

Isaac coldly watched his retreating figure, then glanced down at the carriage window. Sally was smiling with a look of satisfaction.

He let out a light sigh and said,

“I apologize on behalf of my subordinate’s slip of the tongue. I am Isaac Wind, vice-captain of the Red Hawk Knights. May I ask your name?”

“I’m Sally, working in Senior Arasila’s research lab. Please speak casually.”

Sally shrank a bit, as not giving her surname was tantamount to revealing herself as a commoner.

But Isaac, who had several commoner-born fellow knights, had no intention of looking down on her because of her status.

“Miss Sally, if my subordinates make any mistakes in the future, please tell me.”

Looking down at Sally’s eyes, which were as pale green as young leaves sprouting in early spring, Isaac added gently,

“And don’t try to engage in reckless competitions.”

Sally blinked her eyes quickly three or four times before replying boldly.

“I appreciate your concern, but it wasn’t really reckless. Because I would have won.”

“…?”

“Well, I’ll be going back inside now. My friend keeps tugging on my clothes.”

Unable to resist Rudy’s urging to step back as it was dangerous, Sally politely bowed her head and closed the window.

As Isaac watched her through the curtain gap, talking to her male mage companion inside, he thought:

She looks soft but unexpectedly has quite a spirit. No wonder she’s Arasila’s direct junior.

The subjugation team halted their march in a small village. It was to regroup and rest.

Arasila got out of the carriage and stretched. Her body felt stiff from sitting inside for so long.

‘Where’s Demian?’

Demian, who had originally been in the carriage with her, had gotten out midway to ride on horseback.

Arasila wandered around looking for him. Then she spotted Isaac and asked about Demian’s whereabouts.

“Lord Wind, do you know where Demian is?”

“The captain is in that carriage over there.”

Isaac pointed to a large cargo carriage parked under a tree.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Oh, but…”

Suddenly remembering something to add, he tried to stop Arasila, but not hearing him, she had already turned and walked away towards the carriage.

Isaac scratched the back of his head and muttered quietly.

“Well… they’re married, so it should be fine?”

Of course, not hearing this either, Arasila strode briskly towards the carriage.

The cargo carriage, large and tall enough for a grown man to stand in, was surrounded by cloth.

“Demian, are you in here?”

There was no answer, but she could faintly hear movement inside through the cloth that served as a door. Arasila unhesitatingly pushed aside the entrance cloth and stepped inside.

She had lightly thought that if he was in the cargo carriage, he must be checking the supplies.

But the Demian she encountered upon entering was not checking supplies.

To be precise, he was standing there with his upper body bare. He was holding a shirt in one hand, as if in the middle of changing clothes.

His body, covered in tightly woven muscles, was clean-cut and solid without any excess. This must be what people commonly refer to as a sculpted body.

However, the scars scattered here and there indicated that this was a human body, not a smooth sculpture.

‘There are… so many scars.’

They were especially numerous on his back, shoulders, and around his sides.

Some would be from wars and monster subjugations, but those were probably traces left by the countless assassins sent by the Duke’s family.

Arasila, who had been staring intently at his body without realizing it, soon met Demian’s gaze.

And after a moment of silence.

“…Ah, I’m sorry.”

Belatedly flustered, Arasila apologized and hurriedly turned to leave.

If she had known he was changing, she would never have entered.

Why didn’t Lord Wind tell me?

Blaming Isaac out of embarrassment, she was lingering around the carriage when Demian, now fully dressed, opened the door and came out.

“My lady, it’s alright now.”

“I’m really sorry, Demian. I didn’t know you were changing clothes.”

“It’s fine. But why were you looking for me?”

At his polite question, Arasila hesitated and answered with an awkward expression.

“No, I just… wanted to check if you were alright.”

Not knowing how Demian would die, she had been on high alert, keeping her senses sharpened since they set out.

Even now, she had sought him out as soon as they stopped, worried that he might have been injured somehow while riding.

Demian let out a small laugh at Arasila’s attitude, treating him like a young child left by the water’s edge.

“My lady, you don’t need to worry so much. Please be at ease. I’m also being sufficiently cautious and alert to my surroundings.”

“Is that so…? Alright. But when we set off again, ride in the carriage with me.”

It made Arasila extremely anxious when Demian was out of her sight.

Demian was about to refuse, saying it was excessive worry, but seeing the faint anxiety in her expression, he nodded.

It wasn’t a difficult thing to ride in the carriage together, and he didn’t want to make Arasila fret over nothing.

“I will do so.”

Arasila’s face brightened at getting the answer she wanted.

She was still in high spirits as she boarded the carriage again with his escort.

But once the door closed and they were alone in the carriage, something started to bother her. While reading a book, she kept glancing at Demian over the pages.

Perhaps because he had hurriedly dressed due to her sudden intrusion earlier, Demian was in a somewhat disheveled state.

His shirt buttons were undone to the third one, and his tie was extremely loose.

For some reason, this bothered Arasila immensely, and she lowered her book and gestured.

“Demian, come here for a moment.”

He obediently leaned towards Arasila. She reached out her hand and fastened his buttons herself.

She was about to fix his sloppily tied tie when the carriage suddenly jolted violently as if hitting a rock.

Demian lost his balance and lurched forward, while Arasila’s body was thrown back.

After the shock subsided, she saw that Demian had barely prevented a collision by bracing against the wall behind her.

As a result, Arasila found herself in a somewhat awkward situation, suddenly trapped between Demian’s arms.

Still gripping his tie, Arasila looked up at Demian, who was right in front of her face.

‘His face is… too close?’