* * *

“Ugh, what an *sshole! What kind of human being is that? I mean, is there no such thing as human emotion?”

“Calm down, Leader.”

“Do I look calm to you? ‘I have no intention of catering to a young man’s young thoughts, so you should waste your time improving yourself’? It must be nice to be old, I’m so jealous!”

Out of the restaurant and back to the castle. Unable to control his frustration, Cadel gritted his teeth and kicked at the trash on the side of the road. Beside him, Lumen was doing his best to keep his Leader’s social graces intact.

Pulling Cadel into a hug from behind, he whispered calmly, as one might soothe an angry animal.

“There might be a member of the Heaven Time Knight Order somewhere. Unless you’ve completely given up on persuading Moritol Anak, it’s best to keep your anger to yourself outside.”

“……I’m pissed.”

“Me too. When he was talking sh*t to Leader, I just wanted to slice him up like a rat or a bird. If it was Van or Lydon, they’d have done it in a heartbeat.”

As Cadel imagined the scene with Van or Lydon in the room, his anger subsided and he felt a strange sense of relief. Quickly regaining his composure, Cadel stood and leaned against Lumen’s chest, grumbling.

“I know it’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s worth considering the possibility, right? And then you leave without even finishing the explanation. It’s a waste of food.”

“That’s just the way he is. He prioritizes safety even in small battles. Not to mention in a major war. He’s willing to take the trouble rather than gamble.”

“…… How do you convince someone like that, I have no idea.”

“Convincing is secondary; first, you have to get him to see your point of view.”

“How?”

At Cadel’s questioning look, Lumen gave a small laugh.

“Humans of that nature go insane when they lose control of their lives. If he wants to stay sane, he’ll have to take Leader’s opinion into account.”

In any case, there was no mission assigned to them for the rest of the day. The only thing left to do was to use everything at their disposal to distract Sir Moritol.

There was a faint glimmer of madness in Lumen’s eyes as he spoke.

That was Lumen’s plan: to invade Moritol Anak’s daily routine and cause him enough stress to break his stubbornness.

Even in wartime, Moritol’s schedule was very tight. It would take a large number of people to disrupt all of that, so Lumen decided to enlist the help of his comrades.

“Sir Moritol rises at 6:00 every morning, eats his breakfast, and takes an hour-long reconnaissance walk to check for trouble. Lydon, you’ll stay by his side during that time and do what you do best.”

Lydon rubbed his still-bleary eyes and yawned in reply.

“And my specialty is…… being pretty?”

“Being annoying. Do that.”

“Hmph, isn’t that Lumen’s specialty?”

“We’re running out of time. Sir Moritol’s favorite restaurant is about to open.”

Lydon sighed heavily but didn’t protest. Not to grant Lumen’s request, for, according to his visit to him last night, Moritol Anak had given Cadel a hard time, but to see the man’s face.

“I’m sleepy. I’m tired. Haa, I just want to sleep with Cadel until the afternoon.”

Lydon wandered off to the restaurant, his mind wandering to Cadel’s warm, soft arms. The stew restaurant was open early in the morning, and his lethargic body was about to collapse, but the savory aroma wafting from inside the restaurant gave him a little strength.

Lydon casually walked through the door and immediately caught the attention of the staff and chef. Even the patrons, noses buried in their plates and inhaling stew, were surprised by the sudden appearance of a giant fairy. Lydon shrugged off their attention and quickly found the human.

He was diligently dipping bread into the spinach stew, completely oblivious to Lydon’s presence.

The corner of Lydon’s mouth turned up at the sight of him.

“Give me the best you’ve got. If it’s not good, I’ll freeze it all.”

“What? I don’t know what you mean, what do you mean by freezing it all…….”

“I’m asking for the sweetest and tastiest. I hate people who can’t understand me. They’re annoying, really.”

Lydon slid across the table to Moritol’s other side, casually blurting out the truth. Moritol looked up at the long shadow on the table. Moritol’s face twitched at the sight of the fairy in front of him.

“……You must be Sir Lydon of the Scarlet Scales Knight Order.”

“You know my name?”

“I have heard of you in many ways. We happen to be in the same restaurant, so I hope you enjoy your meal…….”

“How offensive.”

“……?”

Moritol’s eyebrows rose at Lydon’s comment. He met Lydon’s stare and set his spoon down with a short intake of breath.

“What do you mean, you’re offended?”

“I’m offended that you remembered my name. Even if you did remember it, don’t you dare spit it out. Only my darling can call me by my precious name.”

“……My darling.”

It was a strange way to start a day, to start with a hot bowl of stew, and to end it with an argument.

Moritol considered expressing his discomfort and shooing the fairy away, but he doubted that complaining would make Lydon go away. Instead, he chose to ignore Lydon. People with screws in their heads only make fools of themselves if you don’t take them seriously.

“I apologize if you were offended, I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Moritol thought that Lydon would go back to his seat and eat. He was the commander of the Imperial Knight Order, and Lydon’s superior, who was presumed to be ‘my darling’, was also in the same position. If Lydon were to exert himself further here, he would only embarrass Cadel.

But this fairy was not as normal as rumors had suggested.

“……What are you doing? This is my seat.”

“You call that a question? I’m joining you.”

“There are plenty of seats left.”

“I like it here.”

Lydon confidently took the seat across from Moritol and sat down. Lydon gave Moritol a brazen look, undaunted by the bewildered stares he was receiving as if he planned to stare until the food was served.

‘How in the world does he manage his subordinates?’

There was a hierarchy among knights of the same empire, even if they belonged to different orders. A sharp rebuke from a fellow Knight Order commander might help redeem him, but Moritol had no desire to be associated with the Scarlet Scales Knight Order. Whether he liked it or not, he had a feeling it would be exhausting.

“Then I’ll excuse myself.”

Moritol picked up his bowl and moved to the next table. Lydon nonchalantly moved as well and sat back down to face Moritol.

“…….”

“What’s with the look? I know I’m handsome, I don’t need to be reminded.”

“I prefer to eat alone. If you’ll excuse me.”

“No.”

“N……!”

He couldn’t even get the words out. Moritol clenched his jaw, barely controlling his rising temper. What the hell was wrong with this guy? How could he be so ignorant, even though they were of different races?

He closed his eyes and took a breath to calm himself, then slowly lifted his eyelids and spoke.

“Did Sir Cadel tell you to torture me until I told him I supported his opinion? I didn’t think he’d stoop so low, but I guess he doesn’t have even the most minimal expectations.”

“Hmph, one more word. I’ll make sure you never open your mouth again.”

“……Do you realize how dangerous your words are?”

“It’s not my words that are dangerous, it’s your life.”

Despite the smirk, the murderous intent was clear. Moritol was stunned by the obvious hostility. How could he threaten a fellow Knight Order commander so openly?

As Moritol contemplated how to handle this situation, Lydon’s stew arrived. He took a bite of the stew and gave the trembling chef a casual thumbs up.

“……I’ll let you off the hook once, considering Sir Cadel has a subordinate like you, but not twice.”

Now, Lydon’s attitude could have been a big problem. But this was war, a strategy meeting of the commanders was about to take place, and Lydon’s presence would surely be useful in the war effort, and the immediate issue was nothing more than a matter of personal resentment.

So Moritol, being the common sense, rational person he was, chose to take a step back and call it a warning. Of course, Lydon completely ignored him and continued to enjoy his stew.

After quickly finishing his unannounced meeting, Moritol patrolled outside the gate to check on the events of the pre-dawn hours.

On a normal day, the knights would have bowed with their weary faces after a night of traveling. But today was different: they started to bow as usual, but instead reflexively looked up at Moritol’s head and gave him a blank look.

“Ahaha! What are you looking at? I’ll freeze your eyeballs out if you keep staring at me, I’m not at all happy to be stared at by an ugly human!”

The presence of the fairy fluttering and flying above Moritol’s head caused him to look back at the group solemnly and try to ignore Lydon’s raucous laughter.

Neither telling the fairy who had followed him from the restaurant to go away nor telling him that this was his last warning, would work. Unless he wanted to go to Cadel immediately and settle the score, ignoring Lydon was the only answer. But even that was not easy.

“Commander Moritol!”

“Yes. They say there were a lot of goblins attacking the gate last night. Are there any injuries?”

“No knights were seriously injured, and we took care of all the goblins.”

“Good work. Where is the goblin…….”

When Moritol had a proper chat with the knights.

“You have some gray hair here. Is it because it’s mixed with the blonde and you can’t see it? Or maybe you just left it there for style? If that’s the case, then stop it, it’s lame.”

“Where is the goblin…….”

“You want me to pluck it? No, I’m done. It’s gross.”

“……Where is the goblin infestation located?”

“It’s annoying! I’m looking at it from above and it’s bugging me! I’ll tell you, you pluck it yourself.”

Lydon continued with a steady stream of small talk that served no purpose and undermined the commander’s authority. Just because he ignored the fairy didn’t mean he could ignore the members of the group, and business as usual was nearly impossible.

Eventually, the impatient Moritol slipped away from the group and spoke up.

“How long are you going to bother me with this chase? If you want something from me, let Sir Cadel come to me himself.”

“Cadel has nothing to do with this.”

“What?”

“I’m just following you because I’m bored, and you happened to be in the middle of it. No real reason.”

“Does that make sense……!”

“But I’m tired of it now. I’ll go.”

Realizing that Lumen’s time had expired, Lydon abandoned Moritol without hesitation and left. Moritol, still furious with him, watched the fairy’s retreating back with a despondent face.

“……I’ll have to say something later.”

If Cadel thought this petty bullying would make Moritol agree with his outrageous opinion, he was sorely mistaken. In fact, it made Moritol feel even more motivated to crush his ideas head-on.

Moritol regained his composure and returned to the group. But his tribulations were just beginning.