I pulled my hood down deep and got off the carriage.

The lord who came out to greet us held Cedar’s hand and spoke at length about something, then went inside without saying much else.

‘Cedar seems like the lord.’

While the actual master was bowing and scraping, Cedar was as dignified as a king of a country.

‘That man would probably remain this calm even in a life-threatening situation.’

As I was looking at Cedar with curious eyes, he suddenly turned his head and our gazes met.

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, I lowered my head. Perhaps because the hood was thick, my face felt hot.

After the lord went in, room assignments were made by the castle steward, and that’s when the problem arose.

“I apologize, but we are short one room. There is plenty of space to pitch tents, so it seems you’ll have to sleep in tents.”

The castle doesn’t have many rooms, so not everyone can sleep in the castle.

Usually people sleep in tents pitched in the castle garden, and only important people sleep in the castle, but there weren’t enough of those rooms.

Since we hadn’t requested many rooms, Cedar questioned once again.

“There are no rooms?”

“Yes. We have an unexpected guest today…”

“Oh dear.”

Cedar clicked his tongue and looked back.

By chance, his gaze fell on me. Of course, I was among those who had requested a room.

I was the only woman among the group of knights.

Cedar slowly opened his lips.

“Then…”

I also tensed up for no reason and listened intently to Cedar’s words.

Just then, an unexpected answer came from behind.

“My elder brother and I can share a room.”

“Huh?”

It was a welcome voice I never imagined I’d hear here. I turned around with a bright smile.

“Grisha!”

The tall, slender young man waving his hand as he approached was definitely Grisha.

That’s why the lord couldn’t chase away the unexpected guest. Because he was Cedar’s younger brother!

Cedar didn’t seem to know Grisha would be here either, as his face contorted unpleasantly.

“Why are you here?”

Grisha shrugged nonchalantly with a bright smile, as if there was no problem.

“I came right away when I heard about seeing the magic beasts. I’ve always been interested in magic beasts, you know.”

“You? More importantly, how did you know about the magic beasts?”

Cedar’s gaze turned directly to me.

I quickly shook my head to indicate that I hadn’t said anything. The culprit was Jack.

He answered Cedar with a solemn expression.

“Elves do not lie to their brothers.”

“…Enough.”

So Grisha had asked Jack about the subjugation, and Jack, who had become sworn brothers with Grisha in return for lifting the curse, had told him everything about the current situation without holding back.

It might be complicated from a military standpoint, but I was very glad to see Grisha from my perspective.

I quickly approached Grisha and took both his hands in mine.

“Grisha! It’s so good to see you! I was worried because I left in such a hurry without leaving a message.”

“I read the letter you left at the mansion. Don’t worry, I know you didn’t intentionally leave me behind by moving in a hurry.”

Grisha smiled brightly and said to Cedar.

“We should give up the private room to the lady, even if it’s a bit uncomfortable for us. Don’t you think so, elder brother?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

I thought I heard a cracking sound from Cedar’s jaw.

Dinner was a banquet with the lord. The dining hall of the lord’s castle was very large, able to seat everyone.

Cedar and Grisha had to sit next to the lord in the seats of honor, and I, who needed to avoid standing out, decided to sit next to the knights at the end of the table.

That was the plan, anyway.

‘How did it end up like this?’

Because both Cedar and Grisha came to the end of the table, I ended up sitting between the two of them.

At this point, isn’t my side the seat of honor?

‘The lord seems visibly uncomfortable too.’

It was clear he didn’t know what to do, unable to confront Cedar about the seating arrangement that violated etiquette. In the end, before the appetizers were even finished…

“I, I’m feeling unwell. My apologies to the guests, but I’ll retire now.”

The lord fled the dining hall as if escaping.

‘I understand. I’m uncomfortable too.’

If they’re going to sit wherever they want, they could at least talk well. For some reason, Cedar and Grisha just continued eating silently.

Unable to bear the silence any longer, I spoke first.

“I was really surprised. I didn’t expect to meet Grisha here.”

“Me too.”

While answering me, for some reason Grisha looked at Cedar with a triumphant smile.

Once again, there was a cracking sound from Cedar’s jaw.

‘No, no way? Was I caught in some kind of competition over who I would speak to first?’

They’re not children, would they really do something so childish?

But no matter how I looked at it, that seemed to be the case. I turned to look at Cedar with an expression asking if this was real, and he gave me a resentful look.

‘Seriously!’

No, Cedar and Grisha aren’t this kind of people, why are they acting like this?

‘More importantly, what’s the point of this pointless competition?’

What does it matter who I speak to first? I couldn’t understand why this battle of wills had even started in the first place.

‘I just spoke to Grisha first because it’s easier to talk to someone I’ve known for a long time.’

I wondered if I was the only one feeling this strange atmosphere, as the knights sitting near us moved away with their plates, leaving the three of us as an isolated island at the long table.

Grisha smiled gently and asked me.

“By the way, what should I call you? We can’t use your name in this situation, right?”

“Just call me Magician, I guess. Or elder sister, like at the academy.”

“It must be inconvenient to hide your identity.”

That’s not what’s really inconvenient! Feeling a sense of duty, or rather obligation, to mediate somehow, I forced an awkward smile and spoke.

“It seems the knights are uncomfortable.”

You two are freezing the atmosphere of this dining hall. Even I can tell, and I’m not usually good at reading the room.

So hurry up and lighten the mood!

But instead of lightening the mood, Grisha poured ice on the frozen atmosphere.

“It’s probably because my elder brother and I are on bad terms.”

“What’s there to be on bad terms about? Isn’t this entirely because of someone who suddenly joined the mission without saying anything? Honestly, I didn’t expect you to follow us all the way here.”

“Every citizen of this country has the right to go wherever they want. And isn’t it beneficial for the knights to have one more magician? I can’t just let my dear senior get involved in dangerous things like hunting magic beasts alone.”

“What’s there to be dangerous about when a Sword Master is with her?”

“If it wasn’t dangerous, the subjugation wouldn’t be repeated every year. The magic beasts would be wiped out.”

“One person is enough.”

“So isn’t it better to have more? Think about it rationally?”

“I am thinking rationally. We’ve already allocated manpower to protect one magician, what good is it to suddenly have one more?”

“Can’t you improvise that much?”

“…”

I felt like I was going crazy from the suddenly rapid exchange between the two. My lips parted in a round shape without me realizing.

‘Were they both always this good at arguing?’

This was truly a sight I never imagined I’d see in my life.

‘But I’m not particularly happy about it.’

Rather, I felt anxious and uneasy. The professionalism of the servants who continued to bring food even in this situation was the only impressive thing.

I kept my head down and focused only on my plate, not wanting to get caught up in their argument by nodding accidentally.

I even missed the plate full of vegetables at this point. At least then I could have pretended not to notice while picking out the vegetables.

‘Ah, everyone looks troubled.’

The argument didn’t seem like it would end easily. And I couldn’t move away with my plate like the knights did.

I beckoned to a maid who was serving food.

“Excuse me, can I have some beer?”

I felt like I needed to drink something to clear my throat.

But when I took a sip of the dark yellow liquid in the large glass the maid handed me, I immediately wrinkled my face.

‘Ugh, it’s bitter.’

Somehow, I felt like the beer I drank at the academy was much sweeter. It also had a stronger herbal taste.

‘What’s different?’

I took a bite of the meat in front of me to get rid of the bitter taste, and suddenly the meat tasted very tender and flavorful.

‘It goes well with the greasy meat.’

I didn’t know there was such a harmonious taste. Did they make the beer bitter on purpose to go well with the meat?

‘It really goes down smoothly.’

A bite of meat, a sip. A bite of meat, a sip.

How many times did I repeat that? Grisha snatched away the nearly empty glass.

“Ah! What are you drinking?”

Cedar also frowned in surprise.

“Alcohol? Did you drink all of this yourself?”

All of this? I tilted my head in confusion and saw that several empty glasses had already been placed under the table.

‘Huh, when did I drink so much?’

For some reason, I kept laughing. My mood was excessively good, as if I was floating on clouds. I giggled and waved my hand.

“Why are you surprised? Grisha, you too. We drank a lot of this at the academy, didn’t we?”

At my words, Grisha grabbed my shoulder this time. Only then did I realize that I was leaning towards Cedar as I laughed.

‘Huh, or not? Is the world tilting?’

Am I tilting, or is it the world? As I was pondering this somewhat philosophical question, Grisha shouted.

“What we drank at the academy was root beer! This is real beer!”

“Huh? That was different? It’s the same beer.”

“It’s different! Root beer is boiled! It doesn’t make you drunk!”

“Really?”

So this makes you drunk? But what does it mean to be drunk?

As I tilted my head in confusion, suddenly everything started spinning. I blinked my eyes and said.

“I think I’m dizzy.”

And then I collapsed forward.

Everything went dark.