* * *

After closing his eyes just long enough to relieve his fatigue, Cadel went straight to find Garuel. Cadel forced the person who said he was fine to take a break and monitored Lumen’s condition on his behalf. There was still no noticeable change. It just felt wrong to see him sleeping like a dead man.

Sitting down in the chair beside the bed, he looked up into Lumen’s well-groomed face. When he woke up, the first thing Cadel wanted to do was tell him thank you for your service, that you were the reason we all got out of the tower safely, and thank you for protecting us.

“……Wake up quickly.”

The mumbled voice ended with him talking to himself. Cadel shook his head, rubbing his tired face. A deep sigh escaped his parched lips. He closed his eyes tightly, as if to hold back his depressing feelings, and opened them when he heard footsteps on the other side of the door.

Could it be that Garuel, whom he just sent away, has returned? As Cadel stared at the door, ready to send him away again, the source of the footsteps appeared.

“Lydon……?”

“Huh? Darling, were you alone with Lumen? That’s disgraceful. I guess I should scold you with my lips.”

Lydo, who had appeared out of nowhere, held a bunch of unidentified herbs in his hands as usual. Cadel grabbed Lydon’s face as he lunged for Cadel’s lips and pressed his cheeks together.

“Where the hell have you been pulling this bunch of grass out of the ground, and why do you look like this again?”

Dirt smeared across his innocently smiling face. Cadel rubbed Lydon’s cheeks together, narrowing his eyes. Despite the roughness of Cadel’s touch, a smile tugged at the corners of Lydon’s mouth.

“I brought it to feed Lumen.”

“I told you not to feed Lumen things like that carelessly. At least you should have gotten permission from Garuel first.”

“Even if the worst comes to worst, is there anything better than death?”

“Watch what you say, man.”

After roughly wiping Lydon’s face, Cadel pushed him away lightly, then forcibly snatched the herbs from Lydon’s grasp. Perhaps because he had been holding it the whole time, the leaves were crushed miserably.

“I know you’re doing this for Lumen, but feeding him something like this.…… won’t do much.”

The bitterness in Cadel’s voice caught Lydon’s eye as he looked down at him. Lydon rolled his eyes and considered for a moment, then pushed Lumen’s legs out of the way and sat down on the bed.

“Hey, you can’t just treat a patient like that……!”

“I’m not doing this for Lumen alone.”

“What?”

“I did think it would be nice for Lumen to wake up. But that’s just because I’m in a bad mood.”

“Because you’re in a bad mood means…….”

“I’m in a bad mood when I see him lying there after being beaten by a mere demon! It’s pathetic. I’m embarrassed to go around with him. So I want him to wake up soon.”

Lydon seemed to be aware that Lumen was a patient, and clicked his tongue as he patted the comforter over Lumen’s head. Then he looked at Cadel again.

“But more than that, I hate seeing Cadel depressed even more. Just focus on me, Cadel. It’s annoying that you’re glued to Lumen all day.”

“……Are you a kid?”

“Cadel will be fine as soon as everything returns to normal. So I’m working hard. Isn’t it amazing?”

Though it was one-sided and greedy, Cadel could feel the sincerity in it. The immature fairy, who had always sought only fun, was now able to think of others. How could it not be amazing?

Cadel gave a small smile and lowered his eyes. He could sense Lydon’s effort in the herbs he’d taken.

“It’s amazing. But you don’t have to go through the trouble of finding this every time, Lydon. Lumen’s condition isn’t something that can be fixed by popping some herbs.

“It’s worked.”

“……Huh?”

“I’ve seen it before. One of the fairies was unconscious in a similar way to Lumen, and Grandpa Melphis had given him some herbs. Then he opened his eyes right away. I was curious and asked about it. I was told that it was a magical herb that would restore consciousness at any time as long as the soul remained.”

Lydon assured Cadel that his memory was spotless. But an herb that could restore consciousness at any time, as long as the soul remained. If only there were such a handy herb in the world…….

‘……Wait a minute. I don’t know if it exists in other places, but this is the game world. If it’s not resurrection, it’s an herb with a similar effect…… Don’t tell me, the herb he’s talking about is the [Grass of Opportunity]?’

Grass of Opportunity. It was a ‘retry item’ of sorts, allowing you to revive all of your knights to a minimum health to continue the battle if you failed to clear the stage due to annihilation.

It’s a necessity when trying to forcefully clear a difficult stage, and is only useful when the enemy is in trouble. Of course, it can only be used once per stage, so overuse is impossible.

“Lydon. Do you remember what that herb looks like?”

“Hmm, roughly? Those herbs all look alike.”

“I don’t know because it’s all crushed. I’ll give you a piece of paper, so draw it.”

Cadel hurried to get paper and pen and handed them to Lydon. Lydon began to draw the herbs, slowly rummaging through his memory.

‘The Grass of Opportunity itself could only be used during battle, and its purpose was to heal the knights so they could kill the enemies, so I never thought that it could also be used that way.’

At the sight of a glimmer of hope, his motivation skyrocketed. And that motivation quickly swelled as soon as he saw Lydon’s finished drawing.

“Yes, this is it!”

“Is this an herb that Cadel knows?”

“Yes! ……But I don’t know where it is from. Have you ever seen it while flying in the Forest of Enchantment?”

“It doesn’t grow there. I just used what Grandpa Melphis had saved.”

In the game, the [Grass of Opportunity] is usually sold in the paid store or can only be exchanged for special goods.

‘But this isn’t a game. The system doesn’t have a store function, and even if a paid store exists in this world, I don’t know its location. Is there any way to find the Grass of Opportunity other than that…….?’

As of now, only one thing had come to his mind. The representative item exchanger in ‘Hero of Knights’ and Cadel’s only teacher.

‘He might have it.’

Mamil Kipa. He had to find him.

* * *

“You two are going back to the Empire together?”

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Van looked back and forth between Cadel and Lydon, confused. Garuel, too, had a questioning look on his face.

“If we’re going to go back anyway, wouldn’t it be better if we all go together? If you combine the mana of Knight Commander, Sir Lydon, and myself, we will be able to use traveling magic to move the entire Knight Order.”

“That’s because there’s no need for everyone to go together. The person I’m trying to meet is my teacher, and he doesn’t like crowds of people. And I don’t want the Empire to know that I’m back.”

Mamil’s old [Scroll of Fate] had marked his location wherever he was, so as soon as it occurred to Cadel that Mamil might have the [Grass of Opportunity], he went looking for the Scroll of Fate. And on it, he found Mamil’s current location. Surprisingly, he was in the Osma Empire.

“I have already sent a letter to His Majesty saying that I will wait near the Principality of Snivec until Lumen is recovered. Since Lumen is a foreign noble, it would be difficult for even the Emperor to touch him. They’re probably hiding Lumen’s injury as well. If the entire Knight Order went back, Lumen’s condition would be exposed, and the story could reach the Mainue Kingdom. I don’t want this to become an uproar. Lydon and I, just the two of us, are enough.”

It wasn’t like Cadel wanted to protect the Empire from foreign criticism. He just didn’t want to give Lumen’s father, Froch Dominic, something to chew on. He was also worried that the imperial court might give the Knight Order a new mission, one that excluded Lumen, instead of focusing on his treatment.

The goal was to get the herbs from Mamil, so it was best to be as stealthy as possible.

“Lydon can hide himself using illusion magic in an emergency, and since he is a magician, the burden of traveling magic is reduced. It’s perfect.”

“Of course, I am the perfect person to be the other half of Cadel!”

Van glared at Lydon, who was showing off, but Lydon paid no attention and clung to Cadel’s side.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do about it. Sir Van and I will be here to nurse Sir Lumen, and I hope you two can get some herbs.”

“……Don’t tire Commander, fairy.”

Cadel left a few words of encouragement to the remaining subordinates and then immediately began preparing the traveling magic.

“I’ll do the traveling magic this time, Lydon. As soon as we arrive, cast an illusion spell nearby to change our appearance. Got it?”

“Okay, how about a good old couple?”

“……Just make it two ordinary guys.”

The traveling magic had already failed once. The probability of failure was zero. Cadel, who carefully inspected the magic circle, called Lydon inside and looked back at Van and Garuel who had come to see them off.

“It won’t take long. I will be right back!”

“Take care, Knight Commander.”

“Be careful, Commander.”

Turning away from the two worried-looking men, Cadel channeled his mana over the circle.

“When we come back, there will be a beautiful baby that looks half like Cadel and half like me! Bye, everyone!”

A blinding flash of light spread along with Lydon’s outrageous words, and Van’s loud swearing slowly faded away.

The destination was the Osma Empire. It was the southern gateway where the battle with Sellev took place. Upon arrival, Cadel and Lydon hid themselves in the forest a short distance away.

‘Let’s see where Mamil is.’

When he first checked, Mamil was in an inn with an unfamiliar name. If he was still there, Cadel would have to ask people to find it. Cadel took out the Scroll of Fate next to Lydon, who was counting the number of guards and preparing the illusion technique.

Then what he saw was.

“……What? He’s in the castle?”