* * *

It had been a long time since he had had a break. No more worries about being targeted, no more quests to complete. Cadel just let it all go and fell asleep.

It was dark when he woke up. The large window at the bedside let in a faint moonlight, and the candle on the nightstand swayed gently.

He didn’t remember lighting a candle. Stumbling to his feet, Cadel looked around through half-closed eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, the objects around him gradually became more apparent.

Then, a few feet away, Cadel spotted a familiar figure in a rocking chair.

‘……Garuel, when did he get back?’

He had something to ask in return for the favor, so Cadel thought Garuel would wake him up when he got back. Garuel was asleep with his body buried in the rocking chair. Cadel, who suddenly became a shameless person who stole the bed from the owner of the room, stood up.

Was it better to wake him up and let him sleep comfortably, or wait until he woke up? While hesitatingly approaching, miscellaneous objects on the table caught Cadel’s eye.

“Huh……?”

There were many things to see, but the first thing that caught his eye was, of course, the bouquet. The darkness made it difficult to make out what the flowers were, but it was clear that they were large enough to fill Cadel’s arms.

‘Did he buy this to flirt with someone again?’

Perhaps Cadel had disrupted Garuel’s nightly routine. Now that he had been associated with a troublesome figure, it was going to be difficult for him to act recklessly.

‘Well, not that it’s any of my business.’

Cadel’s attention was quickly drawn away from the bouquet, and his stern face quickly turned to surprise when he spotted the object on the other side. A ragged gasp escaped his open mouth.

‘This, this is……! Where did he get it? How did he get it? Why does he have it? Who is he giving it to?’

A trembling hand instinctively reached for ‘it’. A black liquid in a tan-colored glass vial. This familiar object was definitely a [Potion of Circulation].

An attribute point reset potion. They were hard to come by and expensive, and all Cadel had was a gift from Mamil, and even that had been used against Sellev, so now he was just an ordinary magician who could only use the ‘Fire’ element.

He thought he would be stuck with just one attribute until he got another [Potion of Circulation]. Cadel’s eyes trembled at the unexpected discovery.

‘Seeing him with a bouquet of flowers, it looks like he’s trying to seduce a magician. Should I drink it up before he gives it to someone else? If I pretend that I thought it was water because it was dark…… Will it be too obvious? No, I already drank it. What is he going to do then? Is he gonna flip me over and make me vomit it out again?’

An unconscionable impulse began to take over his mind. Cadel greedily glanced at the [Potion of Circulation] in his hand.

But before Cadel could put his unconscionable behavior into action, a low voice came from the direction of the rocking chair.

“What are you doing?”

Cadel’s body shook violently at the voice’s owner’s sudden appearance. He was so startled that he almost dropped the [Potion of Circulation] and quickly turned his head, his eyes wide open.

The now-awake Garuel set his jaw and stared observantly at Cadel. Facing his purple eyes that shone brightly even in the dark, Cadel put the potion back down with a shy smile.

“I’m, I’m just looking around…….”

“Looking around……. At the bouquet?”

“Pardon?”

“Why aren’t you looking at the bouquet?”

Why? What would you do by looking at useless flowers? Cadel, who was about to give a dry answer, changed his mind and spoke as calmly as possible.

“What if I touch it and a petal falls off? Isn’t this a gift for someone else? You would better give it to them before it wilts.”

Garuel looked at Cadel in disbelief, then slowly pushed himself to his feet and walked to the table. Approaching leisurely, he took the bouquet with a gentle touch, and bowed his head over it.

The plentiful petals tickled the bridge of his upturned nose and his lips curled into a faint smile. Breathing in lightly and enjoying the scent of the flowers, Garuel’s eyes curved into a fine arc.

“Thank God. It’s still in bloom and smelling good.”

With a relaxed lift of his face, he held the bouquet in front of Cadel. When Cadel stared at it, he pushed it into his arms.

“A gift for Sir. I found a pretty flower shop while walking by, so I picked out a bunch of flowers for you, and while I failed to adjust the size, they don’t look bad visually.”

“This, this is my gift?”

“Of course. Who else in the Osma Empire deserves a bouquet of flowers from me?”

Cadel couldn’t believe he got a bouquet like this. This colorful bouquet was his and no one else’s, and he could smell the fresh scent of the flowers as he moved it.

It was a gift he had never received before, except for various graduation and commencement ceremonies, so if you asked him if he was happy, he was pretty ambivalent.

First, because the giver of the flowers was a grown man, and second, because the intent of the gift was obvious.

Cadel swallowed dryly, his gaze fixed on the bouquet.

‘The magician he’s trying to seduce, don’t tell me, it’s me.……?’

Garuel was helpful, but they hadn’t known each other very long, and Cadel figured that if their relationship ever progressed, it would be after he recruited him to join the knight order. Garuel was a light-hearted guy, so Cadel was sure the nasty things he said were in good humor.

‘What should I do with this? Match the rhythm? Or just behaving normally?’

If Cadel followed his heart’s lead, he would put down the bouquet and tell Garuel to stop doing this irritating thing. However, he also wondered if it would be better to be polite in moderation if he had future recruiting or immediate plans in mind.

Looking down at Cadel’s tiny head, which was calculating the favor he had just given him, Garuel smirked. The chuckle, once started, grew louder and louder, unabated by Cadel’s bewildered gaze.

“What, what is it? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”

Cadel’s bewildered question was not answered. Garuel laughed heartily for a long time, then wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and reached across the table. In his hand was the [Potion of Circulation].

As he held the small vial in front of Cadel’s eyes, a bewitched gaze followed.

“As expected, I also thought Sir would like this more.”

“……Pardon? No, not at all. The scent of flowers is so good, but what kind of potion is that…….”

Cadel lowers his head to the bouquet, but his eyes continue to stare at the potion. After a moment’s hesitation, Cadel cautiously opens his mouth.

“By the way, is that my gift too?”

Did the person himself know that his expression was clearly revealing what he thought? Garuel, who tightened his lips, placed the potion vial on top of the beautifully blooming flowers.

“Did I score some points with this?”

* * *

Five days later. A round table meeting, attended by ambassadors from six great countries, began.

The six great countries sent their respective commander of the Knight Order as ambassadors, while the Empire was represented by Emperor Derek Osma, who personally presided over the meeting.

In front of the round table that took center stage in the spacious meeting hall, Molev, the ambassador of the Devon Kingdom, was ranting about the demon that had invaded the Kingdom from a document handed to him by his aide, and Garuel listened with interest.

“As it turns out, the demon that attacked the Devon Kingdom was a High Demon named ‘Zeniff’, who was notorious in the past Demon War. Although at that time, no body was found, the demon was presumed dead based on the traces left behind. The Devon Kingdom succeeded in capturing Zeniff, but no information was gained as she committed suicide on the second day of interrogation.”

After Molev’s presentation, a chilly silence fell over the round table. This was because all the information that ambassadors from five out of six countries have brought so far had been in this context.

Demons had invaded, and they had managed to repel them, but they didn’t know why, where, or how they got out. The most important information was not learned.

Emperor Derek, too, had been unable to discover a definitive use for the magic circle that remained a scar on his Empire. Derek sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Demons attacked countries around the same time. Most of these demons had been missing or presumed dead since the Demon War, so their appearance couldn’t be a coincidence.

He was certain that something had gone wrong with the Demon Realm’s seal, but there was no clear evidence to support that conclusion. It was difficult to gather the will of the great countries without good reason.

A sharply sunken gaze turned to the other side. Garuel Monzasi, ambassador of the White Kingdom. Derek hadn’t heard his story yet. He didn’t expect much, but he had to hear it.

The Emperor’s gaze shifted, and Garuel rose from his seat as if he’d been waiting. Behind him, a man, presumably an aide, stepped forward and handed him the papers.

The hooded aide’s drab attire on such an important occasion was unnerving, but Derek chose not to dwell on it, instead focusing on the information Garuel had brought him.

“Well, I didn’t want to blow out the candle this way.”

Garuel shook the stack of papers he’d been handed lightly, then set them down on the table. The laid-back smile that stretched across his flawless face was quite pleasing to the eye, but it was not the kind of demeanor that would be welcomed in a meeting of such gravity.

But despite the lack of laughter around the table, Garuel was unfazed.

“If I share the information from the White Kingdom, I’m afraid it will only be the sixth round of the same nature. I’m sure Your Majesty the Emperor is tired of hearing it, so I’m going to try something a little different. With your permission, Your Majesty?”

Derek’s eyes narrowed. His insightful gaze flashed coldly at Garuel, as if trying to read his mind. After a brief silence, he nodded, still. It was a sign of approval.

Garuel thanked him briefly and continued.

“All of a sudden, old demons that had disappeared from different countries are popping up, which of course means that the Demon Realm has begun to move, as I’m sure you’ve all guessed. Unfortunately, the demons that have appeared are either missing or presumed dead, and there are no records of them being sealed, so it’s hard to attribute the invasion to a crack in the Demon Realm’s seal.”

Deep purple eyes swept over each of the men around the table. Most of them looked shaken, as if they hadn’t guessed what he was about to say, but the Emperor’s gaze held a hint of interest as he turned to Garuel, as if he had gleaned some context from the story.

“If the cause is not in the seal, we have no reason to help the Osma Empire and check the seal within the Empire. It’s better to be stationed in our own countries to prepare for the demons that may invade at any time, rather than diverting our precious forces outside to check for inaccurate problems. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Even if the Empire is the center of the Demon Realm’s seal, wouldn’t it be difficult for foreign powers to act to prevent an unknown threat?”

“Isn’t that why I summoned all of you here to carry out that difficult task? Now that I know what you want to talk about, let’s get to the point. I hope there is a solution to the preceding task.”

Garuel and Derek’s gazes met, and the air around the table grew pungent. The figures at the table remained steadfast and unperturbed by the rising atmosphere, but the aides who followed them were busy watching each other.

It was Garuel who broke the flow of the heavy atmosphere.

“Only one. There is a country where a High Demon who is certain to have been sealed has appeared.”

Sellev, a High Demon who appeared in the Empire. She was one of the demons whose records had been sealed. When Derek stared at him without saying anything, Garuel didn’t hesitate to ask.

“I’ve heard that you haven’t finished analyzing the magic circle where the demon first appeared, and I suspect that the course of action for each country will vary depending on where that magic circle originated.”

“Unfortunately, we’re not making much progress in our analysis. It’s already been destroyed, and the escaped High Demon is in hot pursuit.”

The corners of Garuel’s mouth twitched upward at the slight irritation in the reply. He nodded in agreement, his voice full of confidence.

“I don’t have the ability…… to uncover the source of the magic circle, but I do have the connections to bring in someone who does.”

“……My magicians are very capable. Are you suggesting that they’re having trouble analyzing the magic circle because they’re incapable?”

“No, Your Majesty. No magician of genius can easily analyze a magic circle that has never been seen, much less one that has already been destroyed, so the person I’m referring to has knowledge of the magic circle before it was destroyed, is knowledgeable about demons, and is highly skilled.”

“Knowledge of the magic circle before being destroyed……?”

For the first time, agitation flickered across Derek’s expression. Gently, Garuel looked away and gestured toward the back. Then his aide, who had been standing back the entire time, stepped forward.

With all eyes on him, the aide slowly removed the hood he had been stubbornly holding on to.

“Your Majesty may recognize his face. This person is the commander of the Scarlet Scales Mercenary, who contributed greatly to the battle against the High Demon, and was the one who destroyed the magic circle.”

A gasp went through the room at the sight of Cadel’s face. The ambassadors were shocked to see the real commander of the Scarlet Scales Mercenary, whom they had only heard rumors of, while Emperor Derek and the captain of the guard were shocked to see Cadel Lytos, who should have been locked in the prison. All of them were in shock.