Leon’s busy eyes looked full of the desire to celebrate today.

He started looking for gifts, be it hairpins, ribbons, earrings, or necklaces.

Then, finally.

“Wow, cute!”

“Right! Let’s buy it with what we got today.”

“No way, we’ll get scolded!”

A small stall that little girls were watching and laughing at.

“Lucia, let’s go check that out!”

“?”

Observing the joyful faces around her, Lucia realized Leon had gotten quite engrossed in his disguise.

The stall they approached was filled with various inexpensive brooches.

Among them, one brooch caught his eye.

He pointed it out to Lucia.

It was a black cat brooch with blue buttons for eyes.

The uneven buttons made the eyes look quite fierce, but its laidback atmosphere looked very much like her.

It would be a perfect gift for Nia, who loved their mother the most.

“It resembles you a lot.”

At his outoftheblue comment, Lucia pointed at herself.

“…A pet?”

“No, no, that’s not it…!”

“Then this resembles Commander Leon.”

What she pointed at was a light gray cat brooch with yellow buttons.

“…Ah.”

Unlike him, who had compared her to a pet, she was rather childish.

Yet, the brooch she pointed out startled Leon.

A brooch resembling him given to Lucia and Nia?

Although it was a stretch to call it a couple’s item, having something meaningful between them was certainly delightful.

He clenched his fist as if making a decision.

And he didn’t miss the opportunity to grab them.

Just when he quickly reached out,

The brooches scattered at the touch of his hand.

Brooches of various colors that fell to the ground got dirtied, mixed with soil and street food waste.

“Hey! You’ve pushed me twice now, you must pay the stall fee this time.”

“Ah, ah! Why, why are you doing this! I have to sell to make money!”

A menacing man grabbed the brooch vendor by the collar.

There were only two of them, but their large build and muscular bodies were enough to deter any resistance.

But that was of no concern to the two.

To subdue the suddenly appearing culprits, the moment she approached from behind, the men were sent flying.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

They were already pinned against the wall behind the collapsed stall, groaning.

As Lucia looked back at Leon, could it be due to his changed black hair?

His gentle deerlike eyes seemed frosted over, filling the air with coldness.

“He’s a wizard!”

“He’s a bad person!”

“Right! He’s been extorting us for half a year!”

“Go for it, wizard!”

However, his cold demeanor did not match the cheers for a hero.

Applying such force that cracks appeared on the wall behind them,

“Ah! Ahh! Spare, spare us! We just… Uh!”

“Ahhh! Spare us!!”

Blood began to gather at their mouths.

Seeing this, Lucia blocked Leon.

It was not out of concern for them, but to gain information.

Of course, the flashy onthespot arrest had little meaning.

“Stop it.”

“…”

She stepped into Leon’s line of sight, which had been focused solely on their agony.

Then, as if waking from a dream, Leon withdrew his magic in an instant.

Observing this, Lucia speculated that there might be something more behind him.

‘…He’s very possessive. Did he want it that badly?’

It was a similar yet slightly different direction.

After transporting the unconscious men from the noisy night market to a quiet place and waking them up, they turned out to be bandits who had stolen mercenary IDs.
So it was a problem that would end once those guys were dealt with, a fact very fortunate for the clients and merchants.

But not for the Knights of Black.

Due to the collapsed walls and the nearby stalls, it was clear that the cost of spacetime would exceed their reputation, so they credited the effort in the name of the merchants.

Thus, the awkward duo who had changed clothes walked toward Gate 1.

Lion was ashamed.

Far from being helpful, he had ruined the work due to his inability to control his emotions.

He couldn’t look directly at her face.

“Lucia, I will take my leave now. I’m truly sorry for today’s events.”

“A small token, in return.”

“……What?”

Lucia’s hand unfolded into his trembling sight.

There was a gray cat brooch, chosen because it resembled her.

While he had left the riffraff to the merchants, Lucia had bought it while pondering how to express her gratitude.

Only then, raising his head to look at her, a black cat brooch sparkled on her chest.

“So.”

Lucia thus distanced herself.

Somehow, Lion couldn’t move a single step from that spot.

And slowly, his hair turned silver again.

Exhausted of the strength to even maintain his magic, he covered his reddened face and only now took a deep breath in the bright starlit street.

A woman with a rare short, green hair cut.

Just like Lucia, the lady with a stoic face was the youngest Sword Master, Ilisha Verte.

Of course, the title had changed now, but she had been requested for a special demonstration since she came to the empire.

“Ah, the youngest Sword Master, Ilisha, you’ve arrived.”