* * *

Cadel stepped into the room where Garuel was staying. He clung to his side the whole time, so no one gave him a suspicious look. It was also a great virtue that Cadel’s face was not well known.

Once in the room, Garuel pulled out a chair in front of the table and sat Cadel down, then rummaged through his cabinet, bag, and coat until he returned with a small vial.

“Let’s put some medicine on the wound first.”

“……Me?”

“First of all, I don’t have a single wound on me, so that’s right, Sir Cadel.”

Garuel smiled and opened the cap of the medicine vial and scooped the white ointment with his fingertips. His gaze landed on Cadel’s bewildered face. It must have been a fairly urgent situation, and it seemed that Cadel did not even notice that there were scratches on his face.

“Your face is a mess from being scratched by rose thorns. It’s not a bad cut, but it won’t heal unless you put some medicine on it.”

“Ah, that’s okay, it doesn’t even hurt.”

“It breaks my heart to see my favorite face disfigured.”

Garuel made an exaggeratedly sad face, and Cadel’s irritation was palpable. Of course, since he was in the position of being helped, his expression quickly relaxed.

With careful fingers, Garuel spread the ointment over the raw wound. Watching the gentle face accept his touch, he said jokingly.

“You’re not asking me to use healing techniques or something while I’m applying these things?”

“……I don’t recall using such a cheeky tone with Sir, and there’s no need to waste mana on such petty wounds.”

“Well, that’s commendable.”

With a small smile, Garuel tossed the capped vial roughly onto the bed. He didn’t ask any questions, except that he’d dragged him in for an explanation, and instead of questioning Cadel, he quickly reached for one of the flasks of liquor that filled the table.

He pulled the stopper and tilted the flask in a familiar fashion. Even as he emptied half the bottle in one swift motion with a loud rise and fall of his throat, his gaze remained fixed on Cadel. His expression hardened as if he were trying to figure out what to say.

The atmosphere became rougher than Garuel remembered, perhaps waking up from the hardships. His cheeks, which had looked plump, also lost weight and became sharper. The unique docile impression was still the same, but rather than being cute, the feeling of sorrow became stronger.

Garuel brushed his wet lips lightly with the back of his hand and muttered in an inaudible voice.

“You’ve become more beautiful than I’ve ever seen.”

“……Huh? What did you say?”

Facing Cadel, who looked at him questioningly, Garuel shrugged lightly. Then he pulled a new chair across from Cadel and sat upside down with the backrest in front of him, his arms draped over the backrest, his eyes twinkling as he sipped at the flask in his hand.

Garuel still didn’t press for an explanation, but Cadel felt himself growing impatient. He didn’t know how this was going to play out, and he wanted as many allies as he could get.

“Actually, I was imprisoned in a prison just a short time ago. With the help of others, I managed to escape, and while being discovered and chased by the knights, I met Sir Garuel.”

“……That’s weird.”

Taking a sip of the rest of his alcohol, Garel frowned.

“I’ve heard that the Scarlet Scales Mercenary defeated a High Demon that was targeting the gate of the Empire. Would you normally reward a hero with a prison sentence for such a feat?”

“I was imprisoned for a different reason.”

Cadel chose his words carefully. How much information to give Garuel here, what butterfly effect it would have, what could be expected, and more.

At the end of that long deliberation. A steady gaze turned to Garuel.

“Lytos. It’s the name of the family I was born into. It’s also the name of the traitor to the Empire. Normally, I would have been exterminated without a trace of blood, but as a half-blood illegitimate son, I managed to escape. ……I thought I could cover my face, but in the midst of a fierce battle, it’s hard to keep my identity hidden until the very end. Eventually, I was spotted by the battalion captain of the Guardian Knight Order and dragged away.”

It was an abbreviated explanation that only included the main points, but Garuel seemed to have understood it to some extent with just that.

It would be surprising to learn that the man he saved was a traitor to the Empire, but there was no embarrassment or distress on his face. As if contemplating something, Garuel just kept drinking alcohol.

Garuel, who soon emptied the remaining alcohol, pointed to Cadel with the mouth of the empty flask.

“So your full name is Cadel Lytos, right?”

“Pardon……? Yeah, well. That’s right.”

“That’s amazing.”

“I’m sure you’re surprised to learn that I’ve put you in an awkward position…….”

“Your face is beautiful, and now, even your name is pretty? How far will you continue to fit my taste so perfectly? I’m afraid I might steal your soul at this rate.”

What the hell kind of bullshit was that? It didn’t sound like the kind of thing a person with a serious face would say, and Cadel didn’t know how to react.

And while Cadel’s mouth twitched in a dumbfounded expression, Garuel slowly pushed himself to his feet.

“Whether Sir Cadel is a traitor of the Empire or a rebel, it doesn’t really matter to me, which is just as well, because I was getting tired of the whole thing.”

He adjusted his eye patch out of habit and said with an easy smile.

“Say what you want. Since I was weak to Sir Cadel’s request from the beginning, I will do it without much resistance this time as well.”

What were his current priorities?

Rejoining his subordinates? Escaping the castle? Neither were bad options, but unfortunately, they were only temporary.

‘No matter how hard I try, there is only one goal. If I can’t be promoted to the knight order, everything I’ve built up until now will be nothing.’

「Analyzing recorded achievements. It will take ??? hours until the quest results are available.」

The system was still analyzing the quest results and didn’t even tell him how long it was taking. At first, Cadel had thought it was simply due to the complexity of the analysis procedure, but now he realized there might be another reason.

‘That the analysis is complete only when you meet a specific person.’

He had to think of it as a reality, not a quest. In the first place, if he wanted to be promoted to knight order, he had to find someone who could make it happen.

Derek Osma, Emperor of the Empire. Cadel had to meet him.

‘But I can’t just go there blindly. As long as the Emperor holds the power of life and death over me, it would be suicidal to show up first. I don’t think he’d be willing to meet with me, so I’d like to force him to confront me in a safe environment…….’

Cadel, immersed in deep thought, suddenly found a fingertip touching his glass. As he moved his gaze along the well-groomed fingers, he met eyes with Garuel, who was drinking his share of alcohol. Garuel, who raised his eyebrows lightly, put down his empty wine glass and said.

“Well, you’re finally paying attention. No drinks the whole time, no conversation. Can I call that a masterpiece?”

“……I’m sorry. I’ve got a lot to think about.”

“To be pushed back like this again. This is what it’s like to be someone’s ‘second’.”

“Don’t make me sound weird.”

Cadel’s brief glance was met with a roar of laughter from Garuel, who filled his empty glass, and in the toast gesture that followed, Cadel followed suit.

The glass clinked and rang clear. Cadel gulped it down without a second thought, his tongue burning from the bitter taste.

“You’ve been drinking this poisonous liquor like it’s water. Sir is really incredible.”

“I’m experimenting to see how much my body can take. So far, so good.”

Did his demonic energy cure hangovers too? That was a little enviable.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Cadel set down his barely-empty glass. Instead of refilling his empty glass, Garuel gave him a wry smile.

“Have you thought about what to ask? Whatever Sir Cadel asks of me, there’s only one thing I want in return.”

“What on earth is the price? Since I’m the one who needs favors, I will try to listen as much as possible, but it is difficult to ask me to go out and die.”

“It’s no fun to spoil it for you, but don’t worry, no lives are involved.”

Despite his suspicious glances, Garuel only gave him an abominable smirk and ultimately refused to reveal the identity of his price. Cadel gave up trying to probe further.

‘Forget it. At worst, it would be a kiss. Just close your eyes and do it.’

After having his life threatened so many times, he had a heart of gold that he could give up his lips again and again. Rather, if it ended like that, this was an advantage.

Cadel said in the face of a meaningful Garuel.

“For now, I’d like you to remove these bracelets that are blocking my mana because I’ve never seen them before and I don’t know how to do it.”

Shackles from the prison. As Cadel raised his arms on the table, Garuel glanced at the silver bracelets around his wrists.

“This is a magic tool produced only in the Imperial family. If you have grown up in Lytos’ family, you should have seen it often.”

“……It, it was a long time ago, and I wasn’t really interested in Imperial stuff.”

“……Hmm. I can’t solve it right now, but we can figure out how to solve it. If you need a specific item, I’ll do my best to get it.”

Mana was the least defense mechanism. If Cadel met the Emperor while his mana was blocked, he wouldn’t be able to cope with unexpected situations. The beginning of the plan was to release this magic tool.

“And why is Sir Garuel in the Empire now? I heard they invited ambassadors from various countries to discuss the seal of the Demon Realm. Is Sir here as an ambassador?”

“That’s right, it’s a temporary title. The Emperor wanted the commander of the Knight Order to represent each country. It’s a matter of course. Well, by now, in the White Kingdom, Modeleine is diligently leading the Twilight Knight Order in my stead.”

“So they will have a meeting as soon as they get all the commanders together?”

“I bet it is. It’s urgent, so there will be no procrastination.”

Good. That was good enough. Cadel nodded, his eyes shining as he withdrew his arms from the table.

“Please take me there.”