「Knight ‘Yozen Vardikta’ ’s favorability has increased by 3.」

「Current favorability: 67/100」

He brushed a warm cheek in front of his nose, his fears momentarily put aside.

“……Yes. I won’t run away.”

* * *

His memory of last night was fuzzy. After finishing his conversation with Yozen, he returned to the tavern to get some food for himself. He was caught trying to sneak out and was held back by his subordinates and Ector, and then joined by Yozen, who arrived unable to wait, and a drinking brawl ensued.

Though the drinking was inappropriate in the midst of war, Ector threw caution to the wind, claiming that the best drinking was done in times of war.

After refusing a few times, he made a mistake by falling for Garuel’s cunning tricks. He started out saying he’d drink a little, but eventually got carried away and drank all the way to the end. At some point, his memory stopped. He vaguely recalled seeing the faces of his subordinates freaking out.

It had been a long time since he’d been drunk, and he couldn’t remember if he’d even seen the system window that had been waking him up. Instead, a memory flashed through his hazy mind. It was so out of the blue that he couldn’t believe he’d remembered it.

‘Hero of Knights said they were working on a balance patch to add more stage difficulty. I think it was Hell Mode, and I’ve been collecting and farming unused cards because of it, so maybe the patch will be done when I return to the original world.’

He couldn’t believe he was in a game and still thinking about games. He couldn’t help but chuckle, feeling pathetic.

Cadel turned his heavy body to the side and slowly lifted his eyelids. The slightest movement of his head and the pounding in his ears. All he wanted to do was lie there until his hangover passed, but he couldn’t afford to be lazy, not knowing what might have happened overnight.

He opened his eyes with superhuman mental strength and saw.

“……What the heck?”

Lumen’s face loomed before him. Cadel’s eyes widened in puzzlement as he stared at the long lashes, well-groomed eyebrows, and sharp bridge of the nose.

The fluffy feel of the material against his body told him this must be a bed. They’d all had a lot to drink, and they’d probably gotten confused and slept wherever they could. He might have gotten a good night’s sleep with Lumen, whose paths crossed.

But why was Lumen giving him an arm pillow? Why was he sleeping with one hand around his waist? What was the point of this unnecessary proximity?

He felt like he was going to lose his mind in this intimate position. He wasn’t sure if the heat on his face was from Lumen’s warm breath or from his desire to deny the absurdity of this situation.

‘First…….’

Swallowing hard, he gingerly moved his hand to lift the blanket that covered him up to his neck.

‘Good, we’re dressed properly.’

His whole body was throbbing, but it was obviously a hangover. Lumen was dressed properly, so his fears were unfounded. Thank goodness, and rightly so. His subordinates would not be unscrupulous enough to strip their commander of his clothes just because he was drunk.

With a silent sigh of relief, Cadel lifted his head and heard Lumen’s voice, who had been awake for who knew how long.

“What are you worried about upon waking, Leader?”

“Argh!”

“……My ears hurt.”

Lumen grabbed Cadel by the waist and pulled him toward Lumen, who squirmed in surprise. The two men’s legs tangled as their helpless bodies pressed together. Cadel jerked his head back, trying to pull away somehow, but it was futile as Lumen bent the arm around his neck inward.

“Why is your face so red? Did someone harass you?”

“Dis, distance yourself.”

“Why? It’s warm and nice.”

“I’m overwhelmed!”

“What’s there to be overwhelmed? You were the one who suggested snuggling up and insisted on sleeping warmly.”

“What? When did I ever say that…….”

Why did the remnants of his disconnected memories come flying at him like an onslaught? As he struggled to free himself from Lumen’s embrace, Cadel’s mind flashed back to last night’s long-forgotten encounter.

“Come over here quickly. It’s cold.”

“If it’s cold, just put a duvet over…….”

“It’s warmer to hug you than that. Come on, Lumen. I’m so sleepy.”

“……Okay, stop fiddling with it instead. If you want to wake up in the morning with dignity.”

‘What the hell were you talking about, crazy me…….’

He was sure he hadn’t had such a nasty injection in the past. A cold sweat broke out. Cadel tried to play it off as if the memory of last night hadn’t occurred to him, but Lumen had already seen the tremor in his eyes and understood what he was feeling.

“You’re touching other people’s bodies……. Did it feel so good to touch? Because Leader made it so hard for me to sleep.”

“What, what and how much did I touch……. I’m sure it was just a touch in my sleep.”

“Hmm, does Leader slip his hand between someone’s legs in his sleep? If so, I’d be careful.”

“What? Hey, no matter how drunk I am, I wouldn’t do something like that……!”

Cadel, who was furious, suddenly stopped talking. Why did his memory only pop up when things were unfavorable?

“You know, handsome guys like you need to be a little shorter for the balance of the world, right? You’re tall and handsome, but when you’re this big, you’re too much of a conscience.”

“Le, Leader. Hold on.”

“Why? Let’s check it out! After all, we are all guys here.”

“Even if Leader says something like……!”

That was right. The unscrupulous one, trying to get the better of his drunken opponent, was himself. Unable to avoid his shady past any longer, Cadel muttered to himself.

“I’m sorry…….”

“Sure, feel free to apologize all you want, I carried you voluntarily, but if I’d known I was going to be tortured like that, I would have handed it over to the others.”

Of course, while Lumen was quite content to spend the morning fondling a shy Cadel in his arms, last night was not. If he hadn’t been a well-educated nobleman from a conservative family, he would have thrown reason aside and given in to pleasure.

Lumen spoke softly as he gently stroked Cadel, who was shriveled up like a mimosa.

“I’d love to stay here forever, but we have a lot of work to do. Sir Ector came to see us at dawn.”

“……Sir Ector? I’m sure I didn’t say anything strange to Sir Ector, did I?”

“Luckily, you were sleeping at the time, Leader.”

Thank goodness. If he’d done the same thing to Lumen in front of Ector, he might have been forced to resign his position and live in seclusion for the rest of his life.

“Why did Sir Ector come to see us?”

“Apparently, there’s a summit today, but it’s not face-to-face like before because of the war, so I guess they’ll be using telecommunications.”

“Looks like we’re close to solving the magic circle fragment.”

“Now that the fire has been put out, we need to discuss the next plan. Anyway, it is said that as soon as the summit is over, the Emperor will summon the Knight Orders’ commanders.”

It felt like a hangover getting worse. Cadel sighed, unconsciously burying his head in Lumen’s chest. Lumen rubbed the nape of Cadel’s neck as if massaging him.

‘Now that we’ve stopped the great magic circle from activating, all that’s left is to reseal the Demon Realm. I don’t know how they do it, but it must be annoying.’

He shudders at the thought of the hardships ahead. Cadel kept his eyes open and tracked the progress of the main quest.

「Demon Realm Summoning Progression: 01%」

「Human Realm Invasion Progression: 06%」

The progress of the Demon Realm Summoning was only 1%. If he could just remove a couple of magic circle fragments, the summit would be on its way.

The problem was the progress of the Human Realm Invasion. It was also a representation of the number of demons remaining in the Human Realm. The system wanted both of them to be zeroed out. He would have to destroy all the remaining demons before he could move on to the next quest.

‘It would be hard for us to find all the demons that are spread everywhere. If we wait, the other countries will take care of it, but if it takes too long, the story will suffer. That’s a problem.’

While he was pondering what to do, someone knocked roughly on the door where he and Lumen were staying.

“Sir Cadel! Please come out!”

The gravelly voice and tone were unmistakably Ector’s. Cadel lifted his head, locked eyes with Lumen, and started to stumble to his feet, but Lumen was faster. He slid off the bed first and opened the door for Cadel. Ector paused for a moment at the appearance of the man he hadn’t expected, then laughed heartily and patted Lumen on the shoulder.

“Well, I guess this Knight Order was chosen based on their faces. How can you look like that even when you’re drunk or just waking up? If I were you, Sir, I would have received a lot of love from my wife.”

“What is it again, Sir Ector? If it’s urgent, I’ll call Leader.”

“Please do, it’s urgent.”

As Lumen was trying to stand in front of Ector, who was glancing around the room with a somewhat amused expression on his face, Cadel came up behind him. When Cadel appeared after lightly pushing Lumen, Ector raised his eyebrows.

“You were very entertaining last night, Sir Cadel, and I marveled at how you managed to fit so much alcohol into such a small body.”

“I know it seems small in the grand scheme of things, but what’s so urgent, is there an accident?”

“No, there were no accidents. I had a safe night for the first time in a while.”

“Then why…….”

In front of a puzzled Cadel, Ector confidently displayed the black bag he had been holding in his hand the entire time, piled high with countless mana stones and high-grade potions. He struck first before Lumen and Cadel could make any sort of comment about the bag.

“His Majesty is looking for knights to help clear out the remaining demons before the summit is over, so I’ve applied with your Knight Order and mine. It’s a good way to warm up. With this many mana stones, I’m sure we can get through the gateway to foreign lands.”

“Pardon……? Our Knight Order has no intention of signing up for such a chore.”

“Kahaha! It’s better to move around and exercise your muscles than to sit idle for the duration of the summit. Knights need to roll around periodically to stay strong. So, with that in mind, I’ll leave these mana stones in your care.”

Ector tossed the heavy bag at Cadel and walked away, ignoring his protests. Cadel just stood there, shocked by the absurdity of the situation and the weight of the bag.