The knight smiled kindly, met my gaze, and replied.

“The Dragon Knight Order strangely doesn’t provide much magical support. So I’m counting on you.”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry. I’ll do my best.”

And I have plenty of magic stones too!

I clenched my fists and answered vigorously. The knight nodded with a pleased smile.

Another knight who had been listening to our conversation chimed in with a playful tone.

“Why are you speaking informally to the mage?”

“Because she’s like my daughter.”

“Your daughter is seven years old!”

“S-seven years old?”

I was taken aback by the daughter’s age. The knight, oblivious to my feelings, continued with a fatherly smile.

“I hope my daughter grows up to be as capable as this young lady.”

I couldn’t just smile along.

‘He must think I’m a teenager!’

I’ve been an adult for over 10 years…

After Cedar briefly greeted them, the knights immediately set off. I didn’t do much.

I slept in the bumpy carriage, or thought about magic I might need to use. Sometimes I felt anxious.

‘What if we get attacked by someone trying to steal these magic stones?’

It wasn’t anxiety about safety or magic, but from carrying expensive diamonds.

If there was time left, I imagined the magical beasts we’d soon encounter.

‘The baby magical beast I saw at the academy looked like an eagle. What kind of magical beasts will we meet here?’

I hoped to see a male-female pair of any species.

Just learning the differences between males and females is a great achievement in magical beast studies.

The carriage that had been running for about half a day finally stopped in the late afternoon. It was to rest the horses and for people to have a meal.

Since there were many people, food ingredients were loaded separately in a luggage carriage.

The knights, who had already handled such external schedules many times, looked very skilled in preparing meals.

As I was curiously looking out the window at such a scene, the carriage door swung open. The person who opened it was none other than Cedar.

“Is the carriage ride bearable?”

I obediently grabbed Cedar’s outstretched hand and got up from the carriage seat.

But what’s this? A sharp pain shot up from my buttocks to my spine.

I grabbed the carriage doorframe with my free hand and groaned, “Ugh.”

“Ugh, it’s fine except for my sore bottom.”

Cedar smiled very slightly at the corner of his mouth, as if he had expected this.

“If it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to get out. I’ll bring the meal here. You might feel uneasy with only men around.”

“No, it’s fine.”

If I didn’t get out here, I’d be stuck in the carriage for another few hours, so I shook my head and quickly got out of the carriage.

Then I silently followed behind Cedar, slowly crossing the rest area.

There were servants who had been riding in the luggage carriage, but what surprised me was that the knights were also actively helping with meal preparation.

‘I thought the knights would be sitting solemnly and guarding their posts, but this is unexpected.’

Several pots were hung over fires, and people were busy lighting fires here and there.

As I was curiously observing the many people moving efficiently, I bumped into Cedar’s back with a thud. Cedar had suddenly stopped walking.

“Ouch!”

“Huh?”

The tip of my nose immediately stung.

Before I could rub it with my hand, hard fingers grasped my chin and lifted it up.

Caught off guard, I blinked blankly with my head raised.

‘C-close!’

Mirror-smooth silver-gray eyes were right in front of my nose.

Recalling how I had been mesmerized by his eyes earlier, as if being drawn in, I hurriedly lowered my gaze.

Thump. Thump.

Perhaps because I was so startled, my heart was beating loudly. Cedar carefully examined me for any injuries, then slowly released my chin.

“I thought you were playing around, but your nose is red.”

I quickly took a couple steps back and pulled my hood back over my head. For some reason, I didn’t want to show my reddened face.

“How could I play around like that?”

“You’re so light. I thought you were poking my back with your finger.”

“Pft.”

I pouted at the absurd response. It seemed he also thought I was a teenager.

Cedar spread out a seat on a leisurely rock at one end of the wide open space and said,

“Sit here.”

“Is there nothing I can help with?”

“It’s too much for your stamina.”

It was true that my stamina was too weak to argue.

As Cedar said, I sat quietly with my legs together and watched the busy people coming and going.

A cool breeze ruffled my bangs as it passed. The occasional distant bird calls sounded unfamiliar.

‘Sitting like this feels like a picnic.’

Looking closely, the spot Cedar had designated for me was in perfect shade, which made it feel even more so.

‘He looks gruff, but he’s quite attentive.’

When did he think about the shade while preparing the seat?

‘It’s just a fleeting contractual relationship anyway.’

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain near my heart at that thought.

“…?”

Not knowing what had happened, I tilted my head in confusion.

After a while, one of the knights approached with a wooden bowl.

It was the knight who had said I reminded him of his daughter earlier.

“Wow.”

I couldn’t help but exclaim as I received the bowl he handed me.

I thought I’d be eating dry jerky at best, but the bowl was filled with vegetable stew.

“Thank you for bringing this. I’m surprised to see proper food. Do you always cook meals on the road during subjugation missions?”

“We have to when the schedule is long, right? We’ve just started out now, so we’re just reheating stew.”

“Ah, I see.”

No wonder. I was wondering why I didn’t see anyone chopping vegetables, but it seems this stew was already made and just brought in pots.

Still, it was amazing. As I kept exclaiming “Wow, wow,” the knight held out something else.

“Here. A sandwich for the young mage lady.”

It was wrapped in paper so I couldn’t tell what it was, but it’s a sandwich.

As I was about to reach out with both hands to receive it, a large figure suddenly came between us. It was Cedar.

Cedar said in a gruff voice,

“I’ve taken care of it, so you don’t need to worry.”

“You have, Commander?”

“The young mage lady has a picky palate. She can’t eat hard things well.”

“This is very surprising. To think the Commander would take care of such small details for someone else.”

The knight’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed as he whistled, seeming to have some thought.

“Aha, I see. We’ll need to have a man-to-man talk later.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go away.”

“Yes, yes. Fighting!”

“I said go away.”

What on earth were they both talking about?

After chasing away the knight, Cedar plopped down next to me.

Then he handed me something different from the paper package the knight had given earlier.

“I prepared yours separately. Don’t eat that one, I’ll eat it.”

When I opened what Cedar handed me, there was a sandwich made with soft white bread inside.

‘It looks like a regular sandwich though?’

What could the sandwich the knight offered be? As I was puffing my cheeks and staring at Cedar’s hand, I saw that the sandwiches given to the knights were made with hard multigrain bread.

What an unnecessary fuss! I protested loudly to Cedar, feeling exasperated.

“I can eat that too!”

“Really? Try taking a bite then.”

“Chomp!”

I thought bread was just bread, but after taking one bite, my confidence quickly shrank.

“…Is this how hard the bread everyone eats usually is?”

“Eat this. I told you so.”

Cedar handed over the sandwich nonchalantly, as if he had expected this.

I obediently held the white bread sandwich with both hands, without arguing further.

‘I should listen to Cedar’s words from now on.’

But what should I do with the one I took a bite of?

Belatedly remembering, I looked to the side and saw Cedar crunching away at the sandwich with my bite mark, as if there was nothing wrong.

“…?”

“Ah, no! Enjoy your meal!”

It feels like I’m the only one being conscious of him since earlier!

I focused again on the sandwich in my hands.

But my heart was pounding so much that I couldn’t even taste the sandwich.

We sat side by side like that for a while.

Cedar finished his portion much faster than me, but he naturally stayed by my side.

If it weren’t for the people passing by in front of us, I could have mistaken this for a meal at the mansion.

But we weren’t the only ones here.

Knights who finished their meals quickly like Cedar passed in front of us with curious eyes, making comments.

“The young mage lady looks just like a baby rabbit.”

“Yes, the lettuce is disappearing little by little.”

Unfamiliar with the situation, my face turned apple-red and my head kept lowering.

Cedar shooed away the knights curtly, waving his hand as if chasing away street vendors.

“You all have strange interests. Hurry up and finish your meals.”

“Come on, Commander, act like you usually do. Since when have you been this talkative?”

The knights grumbled but left with oddly mischievous smiles on their faces.

I tilted my head at their protest.

‘Is Cedar usually quiet?’

I glanced sideways at Cedar.

My gaze was drawn to his straight nose, smooth wide forehead, and thick neck in turn.

‘He’s actually quite nagging when you get to know him.’

Well, I suppose it’s hard to imagine someone with that appearance nagging while cooking.

The fact that only I knew this other side of Cedar made my heart flutter again, for a different reason this time.