“Are you stupid? How could you say you’ll do it there?”

Karina asked Mikhail accusingly as he prepared for the duel.

“If you want to be a guard, you have to prove your skills first, don’t you?”

Karina swallowed a sigh at his nonchalant attitude.

“Even so, that’s too much. Do you know who your opponent is right now?”

“A knight, isn’t it? From what I saw, it seems to be the same knight who was escorting the Duchess earlier.”

That’s right.

The problem was that the knight named Gilford was an extraordinary skilled fighter.

‘To begin with, it wouldn’t be easy to fight anyone here…’

This was the North, known as the end of the world.

It was a land of snowy fields where frozen eternity stretched endlessly.

The knights of the North, hardened by the terrible monsters and harsh cold of this hell-like place, were strong.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them the strongest on the continent.

To have a duel with one of those knights.

“It’s not too late. Why don’t you give up now?”

“Why? Are you afraid I’ll lose?”

“These aren’t ordinary knights. An average mage wouldn’t even have time to cast a spell. It might not end with just minor injuries.”

“An average mage wouldn’t stand a chance, huh…”

Mikhail looked over the knights gathered in the training ground, then showed a confident smile.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone strong enough to worry about.”

Karina frowned at his calm demeanor.

“Useless stubbornness…”

“Please call it confidence instead.”

“If you get hurt… Haa, never mind. Let’s stop this.”

Karina sighed once again.

“Don’t worry and trust me for once. After all, this is about guarding the Duchess. I wouldn’t lose to some mediocre knights.”

The atmosphere around them became serious at his provocative words.

‘Why would he say such things in this situation? This man…’

Karina felt both flustered and frustrated by Mikhail’s boasting.

How did things end up like this?

‘I just wanted to escape Jeremiah’s surveillance.’

Karina pressed her hand to her head as if she had a headache.

Then she regained her composure and said seriously,

“If it seems dangerous, just surrender and come down. I’ll take care of the rest. Understand?”

Mikhail smiled at her words, raising the corners of his mouth.

“Are you worried about me now? That feels nice. Sometimes this kind of thing isn’t so bad.”

“…”

Karina had said that because she was worried he might die or get seriously injured.

But he brushed it off so lightly, as if it were a joke, which upset her.

“Remember what I said and hurry up there. And we have other things to discuss separately, right?”

Karina added, recalling when Mikhail revealed he was from the Magic Tower.

“That thing you said you’d explain in detail later. Don’t forget.”

Karina gave him firm instructions and sent him to the dueling ground.

[This is the timeline separator]

Mikhail stepped onto the dueling ground with leisurely steps.

The quiet surroundings began to stir.

As expected, the atmosphere was not ordinary. No, it was far more serious than expected.

“Didn’t you say there didn’t seem to be any strong people here?”

Gilford, who had stepped up as the opponent, looked very displeased, as if he had heard Mikhail’s words.

“I hope your skills are as sharp as your tongue.”

As soon as the match started, Gilford fiercely pushed Mikhail back.

His momentum was terribly fierce.

Whether surprised by his opponent’s skill, Mikhail was barely able to dodge without making any proper counterattacks.

‘This won’t do.’

Karina clenched her fist as she watched Mikhail’s back.

He was still dodging well for now.

But it looked so precarious that it wouldn’t be strange if he collapsed at any moment, spilling blood from a sword wound.

No matter how you looked at it, this was an unwinnable fight.

The wall of a Northern knight was too huge for a novice mage to even try to overcome.

‘I need to stop this fight.’

Having made up her mind, Karina walked over to Jeremiah.

He was talking with the knight commander.

She thought they might be talking about Mikhail, but they were actually discussing the prison break incident.

It seems some escaped prisoners still hadn’t been caught.

Karina bit her lower lip at his attitude of not even caring about Mikhail.

“I need to talk to you for a moment.”

“…What is it?”

“A one-on-one duel between a mage and a knight. Don’t you think it’s unfair?”

Generally, in close combat, mages are no match for knights. For a mage to use magic, they need to chant spells, but against a knight, there’s no allowance for such leisure.

While it might be different on a battlefield or open field, in a narrow dueling ground, the mage was at an overwhelming disadvantage.

“…He wanted this.”

“Even so, it’s too much. Pitting an inexperienced wandering mage against Gilford? This is going too far.”

Gilford was one of the top fighters in the knight order.

However, Jeremiah didn’t even raise an eyebrow at Karina’s protest.

“He said he would guard you in place of my knight. Then naturally, he should demonstrate that he has the skills to do so, shouldn’t he?”

“Are the knights here ordinary people? You know he absolutely can’t win.”

“…Then my knights can take charge of guarding you.”

“Why are you going this far?”

“I should be the one asking. What exactly is the problem with my knights guarding you?”

“It’s not about the guarding, it’s that I don’t trust you.”

“What did you say?”

Jeremiah’s face contorted at Karina’s words.

Just then.

BOOM!

“…!”

Suddenly, an explosion loud enough to burst eardrums rang out.

Startled, Karina turned her head towards the dueling ground where the explosion had come from.

However, she couldn’t see the situation on the dueling ground because of the broad back of the man blocking her view.

‘Jeremiah?’

The man who had been emitting a cold aura towards her just moments ago was now standing in front of her, as if shielding her.

‘What? When did he…’

Come to think of it, when there was an explosion in the city due to the prison break.

At that time too, she seemed to have seen his back blocking her view just like now.

For a moment, a small question arose.

‘Could it be, he was trying to protect me…?’

Karina quickly shook her head.

“That can’t be.”

She firmly reminded herself, pushing away unnecessary thoughts.

Then she focused on the situation at hand again.

‘I hope Mikhail didn’t get hurt in the meantime?’

She was even more worried because the explosion had come from the dueling ground.

Karina poked her head out from beside Jeremiah’s broad back.

The dueling ground was filled with a hazy smoke.

A man was stumbling out of it.

“Cough, cough. Did I use too much magical power?”

Karina’s eyes widened in surprise.

The one who appeared, fanning away the smoke, was surprisingly Mikhail.

Karina asked him,

“Are you hurt?”

“Well, he did pass out, but I don’t think he’s seriously injured.”

“Passed out?”

‘He walked out on his own, so why is he suddenly talking about passing out?’

Karina frowned as if asking what nonsense he was talking about.

Finally understanding her question, Mikhail answered,

“Ah! Were you asking about me? I’m perfectly fine, of course.”

“Then, the person who passed out is…”

“That person over there.”

Mikhail gestured with his chin towards the dueling ground.

In the place he pointed to.

A person was lying as if dead.

It was Gilford, Mikhail’s opponent.

“…Huh?”

Karina’s eyes widened at the sight.

Mikhail, who she had thought would surely lose, had won.

And overwhelmingly at that.

“H-How did you do that?”

To her bewildered question, Mikhail answered with a slightly sulky voice,

“Strictly speaking, this is all because of you, Duchess. You kept saying how incredibly strong the knights here were. I got worried and ended up using too much magical power.”

“What?”

Karina looked at Mikhail with a complicated expression.

While everyone was frozen in shock at the unexpected situation, Mikhail grinned.

Then he looked straight at Jeremiah and asked,

“Is this sufficient?”

“…”

“I think this should be enough to verify my skills to some extent, don’t you think?”

In a situation where he was directly facing Jeremiah.

It would be natural to feel intimidated, but Mikhail didn’t seem affected at all.

A heavy silence fell.

The prolonged silence was easily broken by Mikhail’s single remark.

“Then, from now on, I’ll be in charge of guarding the Duchess.”

At his confident words, Jeremiah reluctantly gave permission with a stiff expression.

“…I’ll entrust it to you for now, but if you make even one mistake, I’ll cut you off immediately.”

His low voice and tone were filled with a fierce aura.

“That won’t happen.”

Mikhail retorted confidently.

[This is the timeline separator]

“I’ve gotten a job as a guard.”

“…Pardon?”

A dumbfounded voice came from the communication crystal.

“What did you say you’re doing?”

“You heard me. I said I’ve gotten a job as a guard.”

“…A guard? For whom?”

“The Duchess of the Northern Colsberg duchy.”

“…”

There was no response from the other side for a while to the cheerful answer.

Mikhail had contacted the Magic Tower as soon as he had time after the duel ended.

When he was told there might be an issue with his identity, he said to contact the Magic Tower directly to confirm.

If the Magic Tower was contacted, his whereabouts would be revealed anyway.

He needed to coordinate with the Magic Tower in advance, and contacting them first seemed like it would result in less nagging later.

“…Have you lost your mind?”

Or maybe not.

“Anyway, that’s how it is, so if the North contacts the Magic Tower, please handle it at your level…”

“Have you really gone mad?! A few months ago you disappeared leaving just a single note!”

Before Mikhail could finish speaking, a shout came from the other side of the magic communication crystal.

“I barely managed to find you after a lot of hard work, and you just threatened me not to tell anyone! Suddenly saying you’re short on funds so send money, or catch the real culprit behind the Northern prison explosion, using me as much as you want! Do you know how much I’ve been sweating in the middle of all this!”

Mikhail’s adjutant, Max, vented his pent-up frustrations as if they had finally burst, gasping for breath as he ranted without pause.

“And now what? Guarding a Duchess in the North? Where do you have time to waste uselessly in such a place right now!”

Mikhail, who had been silently listening to Max’s outburst, thought,

‘This guy. Seems like a lot has built up.’

Mikhail knew how to deal with situations like this.

He began to soothe the other party with a gentle voice.

“I know, I know. But it’s because you’re capable and competent that I’m asking you like this. I couldn’t do this without you. You know that.”

“I won’t fall for those words anymore! Come back to the Magic Tower immediately!”

Mikhail’s attempt to coax with a carrot didn’t work today either.

‘Ah, this brat. He’s really upset. What should I do?’

Mikhail scratched the back of his head.

“Max, calm down and listen to me. I’m here strictly for investigation. Investigation.”

Even at the mention of investigation, Max narrowed his eyes and gave a distrustful look.

“What investigation? You just want to play around, don’t you? If you’re going to waste time like that in the North, come back to the Magic Tower right now! Do you even know how much work has piled up?”

Despite Max’s outburst, Mikhail ignored it without batting an eye and continued speaking.

“I’m getting a familiar and recognizable feeling from the Duchess here. It seems similar to what we’ve been looking for.”

“…!”

At the mention of ‘that’, Max finally showed signs of calming down a bit.

“…Is that true?”

“It’s true. You know I’m quite accurate when it comes to that kind of thing.”

Max made a sullen face at Mikhail’s boast but didn’t refute it.

“I’m planning to stay here for a while and observe the Duchess. To confirm exactly what I felt, it’s best to stay by her side all day, right? I’m working hard, you know.”

“Sigh, I understand if you put it that way.”

Max sighed and pressed his temples with an exasperated expression.

Mikhail smiled with satisfaction at Max’s reaction.

But that smile quickly faded with Max’s next words.

“But this time, I’m going to report everything to that person, so keep that in mind.”

“What? Wait…”

Before Mikhail could react, the light of the magic communication crystal went out without hesitation.

“Ah…”

Mikhail pressed his forehead as he looked at the darkened communication crystal.

“Oh no… I’m going to get an earful this time.”

Mikhail swallowed a sigh inwardly and retraced what had led to this situation.

Naturally, Karina’s image came to mind.

He had told his adjutant Max that it was for investigation, but that wasn’t actually true.

Accepting Karina’s proposal to become her guard was an impulsive act.

‘Why did I do that?’

Even he couldn’t understand why he had so readily agreed to do it.

The investigation excuse was something he came up with later as a pretext.

He recalled Karina’s face looking at him with wide, surprised eyes when he knocked down the opposing knight in the dueling ground.

“Haha.”

A laugh escaped as if it was ridiculous, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.

No. It was closer to a good feeling.

Mikhail put the darkened communication crystal back into his pocket.

“Well then, shall we go back?”

A small smile lingered on his lips for a long time as he began to walk.