Chapter One: The Countess’s Departure

There were humans as far as the eye could see.

Passing through the city may have been a mistake, the young man thought as he pushed through the crowded avenue, the air heavy with moisture.

To pursue an investigation, he had left the elfin’s hidden village—his homeland—but he was already sick of having to maneuver through the throngs of humans.

I haven’t been to the mainland in a while, so I thought I’d come by boat instead of teleporting over, just to be safe but...ugh. I wanna go home already.

Glancing around, he saw a group of people dressed in luxurious and resplendent clergymen attire walk by him. They joined the ebb and flow of the masses as they headed toward the palace.

Those are bishops and priests from the Motar Faith, right? Why are there so many here?

Curiosity piqued, he decided to follow them.

Though there was a cathedral of the Motar Faith in the royal capital, it was impossible for all those people to work there. They’d likely come from somewhere else.

The clergymen seemed to be having an enjoyable time, and they were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn’t notice the young man tailing them.

“Long time no see, Father. I had no idea there was a nation so favorable to the Motar Faith. It really was worth traveling all the way here.”

“Wasn’t it just, Your Excellency? We should invite more brethren over. This place is paradise for us believers of the Faith.”

What? the young man thought, surprised. They want to bring more people of the Faith here?!

For a mana wielder like him, this sounded like a recipe for disaster.

What’s going on here? I was planning to leave, but I guess I’ll have to stay for a little while to see what they’re up to.

He didn’t usually meddle in the nation’s affairs, but this could spell trouble for him and his kin. He had to stop these people.

And so, he continued to trail the clergymen of the Motar Faith through the busy streets.

※

To the south of the continent containing Tête, Lèvres, and Ongle lay the Kingdom of Hanche. As a small island nation, its climate was warm and humid, and its economy primarily relied on the industries of fishing, forestry, and agriculture. Compared to the island’s relatively small size, however, it boasted a large population, with most inhabitants being devout followers of the Motar Faith. Its citizens were such zealous practitioners, in fact, that the island had earned the nickname “Motar Faith’s second base of operations.”

The country was overflowing with churches of the Motar Faith, each attracting a great many devotees every single day. Unfortunately, as a result of the distance between Hanche and the mainland, information often arrived slowly—and now was a prime example.

The kingdom’s ministers were presently in the middle of a session in the royal palace’s council room, listening to one of their subordinates read a report.

“The Motar Faith has been dismantled?! What groundless rumor is that?!” Niesen, one of the ministers, roared, his portly belly shaking as he spoke.

The Motar Faith was a powerful religion, and its influence was deeply rooted all over the world. Its sudden collapse was practically impossible.

The chandelier on the ceiling swayed slightly as if in response to Niesen’s outburst.

“It’s not just gossip,” the subordinate insisted, despite shaking like a leaf. “I’ve seen the situation at the main church with my own two eyes. It doesn’t look anything like it used to—the cathedral has been sealed off, and there wasn’t a single worshipper in sight. From what I’ve been told, it seems that the Holy Father chased them off himself. At first, I was skeptical, so I knew you wouldn’t believe it either, and so I brought a witness with me. He was a priest at the main church.”

A lanky young man stepped forward at the subordinate’s words. Though his clothes were a bit worn, they were unmistakably those belonging to a priest of the Faith.

“He appears to be who you say,” Niesen said. “Fine. We’ll hear him out.”

It would be a huge inconvenience for him if the Faith had truly collapsed.

All financial benefits and favors would come to an end. That’s simply unacceptable.

The Motar Faith’s influence had spread throughout the entire world, and those deeply involved with it were able to enjoy all sorts of perks. Niesen, for instance, had managed to climb the ranks and become a minister of the kingdom, in spite of his incompetence, simply because he consistently promoted the Motar Faith and offered them preferential treatment in Hanche.

But if the Faith disappears, all that will have been for nothing.

Seeing the displeasure on Niesen’s face, the priest from the main church began to timidly explain the Faith’s current situation. “Um, I fled from the Cœur Cathedral in the Dukedom of Brunel to escape danger. I didn’t witness it myself, but it seems that the Holy Father lost his mind and started unleashing his holy powers—the same as those used by the saints—at random, and that the situation was dire... And so I hurried here to plead for help, as I’ve heard that the people in this nation are very much devoted to the Faith.”

“The Holy Father lost his mind, you say?” Niesen echoed back.

That the Holy Father actually existed shocked him more than the content of the priest’s reports—though Niesen didn’t let his surprise show.

A commotion rippled through the room.

“From what I’ve been told, the Holy Father suddenly appeared at the main church and declared that he was dissolving the Faith. Everyone argued against it, but he used his holy powers to dismiss those who resisted. Oh, and prior to that, the saints, cardinals, and most of the holy knights went missing... Everyone capable of ruling the Faith is gone. But I’m willing to do anything to fix the situation.”

If this priest was telling the truth, then things were dire indeed.

“Everyone below the rank of bishop has either fled or is currently waiting on the reappearance of the cardinals and saints. If only Cardinal Epocha would return... He’s the most powerful out of them all.”

Sadly, no one had recently heard from Epocha.

“Where in the world did they all go?” Niesen asked.

“The last place they were sighted was Lèvres. However, we received no further information once Cardinal Epocha vanished. I sent my subordinates to investigate in Lèvres, but they returned empty-handed.”

“If I remember correctly, the king and the first prince of that kingdom are antagonistic toward the Faith, aren’t they?”

“Indeed. We were in the process of resolving conflict when the Faith was dissolved. The bishops and us priests—both those who worked at the main church and those who lived in other regions—are at a complete loss.”

“Goodness gracious. I can hardly believe my ears.”

The ministers began muttering among each other once again.

“Lèvres must have done something to the cardinals and saints, but with no witnesses and no proof, there’s nothing we can do,” the priest concluded.

Niesen himself knew of the bad blood between the king of Lèvres and the Motar Faith—the former having a mana wielder in his family, while the latter despised magic. He’d also heard that the Faith had sent men to Lèvres to overthrow the current ruler.

But after that...? Crickets.

He was just as confused as the priest.

“The only things people talk about in Lèvres are pointless frivolities, like the new breed of hedgehog that lives in the palace. They’re calling them glitzy hedgehogs,” the priest said.

Niesen couldn’t care less about hedgehogs.

“Speaking of Lèvres, the former first prince—the mana wielder the Faith wanted to get out of the picture—has ascended the throne.”

“You mean to say there’s a mage at the head of a nation? What is this world coming to?!”

“I unreservedly share your disgust,” the priest said, and the other ministers nodded in agreement, each criticizing Lèvres one after the other.

We cannot let the people of Hanche learn about this, Niesen thought. Some were already complaining that we favor the Faith too much, and it’ll be a pain if they start to make a fuss.

Hanche might have been a very pious nation, but people were starting to grow irritated with the king and the ministers for letting the Motar bishops do as they please and for using all their tax money to fund the Faith.

After waiting for the ministers’ scathing criticisms of Lèvres to come to an end, Niesen loudly announced, “We’ll impose a gag order on everyone in Hanche! The masses must continue to believe that the Faith still exists. This island is isolated from the other countries, so we should be able to keep the situation under wraps. If you spot someone trying to reveal the truth, call them out and pretend that they’re spreading rumors.”

Fortunately, Niesen knew the perfect way to suppress the people’s freedom of speech. Hanche was an island kingdom, and he had deeply religious believers of the Faith under his thumb all over the nation. Besides, most people who worked for the Faith lived among the general public.

“Get some clergymen, disguise them as commoners, and have them manipulate public opinion,” Niesen told the priest. “As for journalists, we’ll bribe them to support our narrative. Mobilize members of the Faith to sing the praises of the articles and spread favorable things about us through word of mouth. If journalists refuse to cooperate, we’ll disseminate rumors that discredit their work and portray them as delusional freaks.”

Most people in Hanche were so pious they would never believe that their beloved Motar Faith had been dissolved.

Humans had a tendency to twist the truth to justify their beliefs—even when they were fully aware that it was all nonsense.

“We’ll have our people commend the fake news and denounce the journalists who try to tell the truth. The masses aren’t aware of what’s happening; they’ll have no reason to doubt us.”

On the contrary, they would likely join the disguised clergymen and help them propagate the lies.

“Common folk don’t like to think; they just want to kick up a fuss. They’re especially good at turning against those who are under attack and kicking them when they’re already down. They’ll happily do our bidding without even realizing it.”

The other ministers nodded at Niesen’s words. They had all received plenty of assistance from the Faith over the years, after all.

“Heh heh, that’s a great idea,” one of them said. “Well then, if we’re all in agreement...”

With satisfied smiles, the ministers all left the council room, having decided that the Motar Faith would live on—even if it was just in this little kingdom.

※

The children were running merrily in circles around the gardens of the Mercure estate, each holding a long branch and dragging its tip over the ground.

I, Lam Mercure, watched over them with a smile from the middle of the circle, observing the mansion from afar with a long-range vision spell.

These gardens used to be so plain and dreary, but they’re so much more colorful now! The lush green lawn is adorned with all the beautiful objets d’art I crafted with the children, and it looks so— Oh dear, I seem to have gotten sidetracked.

I hadn’t been studying the mansion to admire the incredible artwork the children and I made but to make sure they were drawing the right patterns on the ground.

The little ones could barely use their magic before, yet here they are, drawing magic circles all by themselves. I’m a little moved.

I zoomed my vision in on the estate and was pleased to see a crooked oval shape drawn in a closed loop through the dirt around the mansion. They’d been tasked with drawing a circle that surrounded the estate, and they had done very well.

“You all get a passing grade, everyone,” I announced. “I can use the spell with no issue now. Thank you.”

Their eyes sparkled with excitement upon hearing my praise.

“Madam, what spell are you gonna use?” one of them asked.

“I’m going to teleport everything within the circle somewhere else,” I explained.

This circle was required for the Mercure family’s big move. With my magic, I could take a limited area and teleport it to an entirely different location, so I’d decided to have the kids participate by putting them in charge of the magic circle.

The nation we currently resided in, Tête Kingdom, was hostile to mana wielders, and the House of Mercure was the only family of mages in the entire kingdom. Over the years, the Mercures had been forced by the crown, the other noble families, and the Motar Faith to take on unreasonable jobs. These disparate parties didn’t feel the slightest guilt for pushing the Mercures to their limits, and without batting an eye, they would send them on dangerous missions.

As a result, all the previous heads of the family had died young, and it had become customary to choose the next earl of Mercure while they were still a child. Take Canon for example; Char had adopted him, a boy only ten years younger, to succeed him once he passed away.

Furthermore, the number of mages in the House of Mercure had dwindled each year, and the children had been subjected to grueling training from a young age to hone their abilities. If the earl of Mercure dared to voice any complaints, the king and the bishop of the Motar Faith would threaten to send the Faith’s saints and holy knights—who were far more powerful than the Mercures—to punish them. All in all, most people simply exploited the Mercures as they pleased.

However, now that I had punished the king and the bishop for the way they had been treating mages, things had calmed down a bit. But I still wouldn’t call the Tête Kingdom a good place to live. Those people were all irredeemable, so we ultimately came to the decision to move to another nation altogether, one where we’d be safe. This meant that Tête wouldn’t have any mages to rely on anymore, but that wasn’t my problem. They’d brought it upon themselves. They should have treated us mana wielders better.

“We’re finally moving! I’m so excited!”

“Yeah! It’s gonna be so fun!”

The children seemed just as happy about the move, bubbling over with enthusiasm.

“I know, right?” I said. “Well then, I’m going to teleport us to our new home lickety-split!”

“Yeah!”

I channeled my mana and used it to trace along the circle they’d drawn. Char must’ve sensed that I was using magic, as he dashed out of the mansion where he was supposed to be working.

“Lam! I just felt you use a large-scale spell,” he said, visibly worried.

“Oh, Char. Don’t worry; I’m just using the moving spell I told you about. I’ll teleport everything here, from the land to you and the others, so don’t mind me and return to work, okay?”

I would be moving the entire estate, so he wouldn’t be left behind, even if he was inside the mansion. He didn’t have to interrupt his work for this. Take the twins, for example; they were just doing as they pleased, not caring in the slightest that I was teleporting their home somewhere new.

“Lam, you... You’re really going to just excavate the land and plop it down somewhere else? I’ve never thought of using a teleportation spell to do something like this...” Char muttered, unable to hide his surprise, as he observed my spell.

“Exactly. I’ll be careful not to shake the surrounding land so as not to cause an earthquake.”

“I see. But you shouldn’t use such an intense spell. You’ll overwhelm your body. Let me take it from here,” he said, coming to stand beside me.

It seemed that he’d already understood how to use the spell I was casting just by looking at it. Though he was unaware of it, Char actually possessed an incredible talent for magic, and recently, his abilities had been progressing at impressive speed.

“I’m fine, Char. My health has improved drastically since regaining my memories. As long as I don’t burn through all my mana, I won’t collapse,” I reassured him.

“You should still be careful. What if you make a mistake and your body returns to how it was before? I don’t want to see you suffering.”

While my body was doing much better, it seemed that Char was unable to forget my past feebleness.

I’m pretty healthy now, though. Not as much as in my previous life—but still.

At least I wasn’t getting a fever every time I used the tiniest bit of magic anymore.

“I tell you this won’t have any impact on my health,” I insisted, activating the spell to prove my point. “Here we go!”

Char let out a little “ah” when he realized what I’d done, but it was too late.

The entire Mercure estate, land and all, was instantly teleported to the middle of the ocean—well, we were hovering above the ocean, to be precise, the sun shining brightly above us. A little farther ahead, there was a small island that was about five times the size of the Mercure estate. The person who’d given me the authorization to move here told me we could live anywhere on that island.

“This is our new home,” I announced.

I’d told everyone about the place we’d be moving to, but they still seemed shocked. The children all stood there with their jaws on the ground at the sight before them.

I used my magic to adjust the land of the island so that I’d have space to install the estate.

“First, I’m going to put all the creatures living on this island somewhere safe. Then, I’ll use my favorite ground-leveling spell to make sure everything is nice and even, combine the land with the one beneath the mansion, fix any bumpiness, and release the critters back into their new environment,” I explained.

Before I knew it, Char had begun to help me with the adjustments. And he was being much more precise than me! The ground he leveled out was perfectly even, without the slightest bump. It was so incredibly neat.

Grr! He’s doing so well. I can’t find anything to complain about.

I tended to do things roughly and sloppily just to get them done, but it seemed Char was better suited for this kind of work.

“Well, I suppose we can call this move done,” Char said, looking around with a satisfied expression.

“We’re gonna go explore!” the children squealed, dashing out of the premises.

Up until now, they had never been allowed to leave the Mercure estate. At first, it had been because of the schoolhouse’s rules, but even after I had done away with those, out of concern for their safety, Char and I decided that we couldn’t let them roam around the city as they pleased. Not only were they still young and their magic unstable, but the Tête Kingdom was so antagonistic toward mana wielders that it wouldn’t have been a good idea.

Back then, we’d decided it was better to be safe than sorry rather than to invite catastrophe.

Let’s imagine for a moment that the children were attacked and, in a panic, they accidentally used a spell that was far too powerful for their own good—it could result in the massacre of the century. Char and I had wanted to avoid that scenario at all costs.

But now that we were on the island, we could let them explore to their hearts’ content. I had preemptively cast a detection spell over the entire area just to be safe, and it seemed that there were no dangerous monsters lurking about.

Char’s voice pulled me out of my reverie.

“This is nice,” he remarked as he watched the children happily run around. “The only thing I don’t like is that it’s part of the Lèvres Kingdom and that second disciple of yours is the one ruling over it.”

“Don’t say things like that,” I chided him. “Discrimination against mages is still rampant in the world. This place is far better for the children than Tête.”

Just like Char had said, this island was actually part of Lèvres, one of Tête’s neighbors. Flèche, my second disciple, kept pestering me to move to his kingdom, so I eventually relented and agreed to move to this island for now.

Flèche had been born the first prince of the Lèvres Kingdom in this lifetime and had recently ascended the throne. His goal was to create a nation where mages could live freely without facing discrimination.

The island we’d moved to wasn’t perfect, but it was probably better than Tête. That said, I hadn’t excluded the possibility of further relocation if we found a better place to live.

Although that boy would absolutely try to stop me if we did...

That was my only concern.

Either way, I didn’t have any qualms about living on this island for the time being.

Soon, the twins and the three oldest children came out of the mansion. Perhaps they’d sensed that the moving process was over.

“It seems like we’re done relocating, Lord Char, madam,” Barre commented.

“Barre and I just got done with the paperwork, so we’re going to take a little break to survey our surroundings,” Fouet added.

He was definitely more interested in the “break” part than the actual surveying. Fouet was excellent at his work, but he always seemed to be looking for an excuse to slack off. To my surprise, Barre had decided to join his brother this time. Though, in his case, he was likely curious to scope out our new surroundings.

“Be safe out there, you two,” I said, waving at them as they headed out in the same direction.

Canon came up next to speak with us.

“Father, mother, is there anything I can help you with?” he asked.

“No, it’s all right. All I did was teleport the entire plot of land, so you can just go about your day as usual. Oh, would you three like to go take a look around the island too?” I asked him, Mine, and Bombe with a smile.

“‘All I did was teleport the entire plot of land...’ That’s quite a feat in and of itself, madam,” Mine muttered.

“Your standards are way too extreme,” Bombe added under his breath.

Canon said, “You...teleported the entire estate, land and all...” With that, he looked up at the sky with a resigned gaze.

The next instant, a serious expression crossed his face.

“Um, mother?”

“Yes? What is it, Canon?”

“There’s something strange floating in the sky. What is that?! Did you do that?” he asked, visibly agitated—a far cry from his usual calm and composed demeanor.

Following his gaze revealed an enormous object hanging in the sky. At first glance, it appeared just like an island, but as I examined it more closely, I realized it was a piece of land that had been detached from elsewhere. You could tell from the way roots were jutting out from the bottom that it had been forcefully plucked from its original location.

“No, I did not do that. It’s coming this way...”

“What?!”

“Only a handful of people in the world can use the same spells as me, so it’s bound to be one of them,” I surmised.

That meant this had been done by one of my disciples or an elfin.

I can’t think of anyone else who could perform a similar feat.

Char’s brow furrowed as he observed the large piece of land floating overhead. “They must’ve teleported the entire land, just like you did with the estate—and an enormous piece at that.”

“It really is big.” I nodded.

“Look who’s talking. The Mercure estate is no small feat either,” he shot back.

The land floating in the sky slowly began to descend. I thought it would aim for the island, but it seemed to be heading for the ocean instead.

“It seems that they’re trying to land next to us. Char, let’s go see what’s going on.”

The two of us teleported to the edge of our new home to face the floating island, the white sandy beach stretching out in front of us.

The tide was currently going out, and as gentle waves rolled in from the ocean, they drew rivulets of sand back with them.

I looked beyond the sea and narrowed my eyes. “Hmm? That’s...”

The piece of land that I suspected had been ripped from somewhere else was floating in the water, just off the beach where we stood. Up close, it appeared even larger than it had in the sky. Given that it wasn’t being swept away by the waves, I assumed whoever had teleported it here must’ve used a spell to keep it in place.

“Whoever did this was very careful and deliberate with their actions, so it can’t be Lance. He would have just plunked the land into the water to get it done with and wouldn’t even have thought of fixing it in place. Glacial—Prince Flèche struggles with magic control, so he probably would have accidentally blown the land away,” I mused aloud.

Char’s brow furrowed as if he were picturing those scenarios. “That leaves your rude first disciple, then. The one who abducted you.”

I nodded. “It’s definitely Épée’s doing. He probably learned of our move and decided to teleport his home next to ours. After all, Ongle is currently in the middle of a civil war, and he’s the head of a company. He must’ve done this to keep his employees safe. What a good leader!”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason he moved here,” Char said. “Oh, speaking of that wolf...”

From the neighboring island, a group of rough-looking men was making its way toward us, with Épée at the center, just as I suspected. He was dressed in yet another dazzling outfit; it was predominantly black but adorned with lots of gold and silver accents. As always, he had impeccable taste.

“Heya, Aurora.”

“Épée! It’s been a while.”

So as not to wet his shoes, he used a flying spell to cross the sliver of ocean between our islands.

“You’re the one who teleported that land over there, right?” I asked.

“Yup. When I heard you’d be moving here, I figured I’d do the same. I was starting to get tired of Ongle anyway. The only thing I don’t like is that it’s part of that bastard Glacial’s territory.”

Char remained silent, eyeing my disciple with caution.

I can’t blame him.

They might have stood on the same side against Epocha, but they had once been enemies too.

“Beyond this point is our private property. You can’t come any farther without our permission,” Char said coldly as Épée stepped on our island.

My disciple didn’t seem to care. “Don’t be such a grump. I come in peace, for once.”

“What do you want?”

“I’m just here to say hi to my new neighbors,” he said nonchalantly.

His employees followed his example.

“Hi!” one said.

“Lookin’ forward to livin’ next to ya!” another added.

Right at that moment, the younger Mercure children who’d been exploring the island appeared nearby.

“Wooow, it’s the sea! This is called a ‘beach.’ I learned that at the schoolhouse!”

“There’s a biiig island over there! What is it?”

“Look, Lord Char and the madam are there too! And there are lots of people with sparkly outfits! Let’s go!”

The children dashed over to us with big, friendly smiles.

“Go entertain them,” Épée ordered his employees.

“Whaaa? Seriously?” one grumbled.

“Ye’re tellin’ us to go play with kids?!”

Épée nodded. “I am.”

The children’s grins grew wider. They must’ve overheard their exchange.

“Let’s play, misters! There’s a nice, big clearing over there!” one of the kids said.

“Don’t wowwy, we won’t do human ex-peh-wi-ments on you,” another added.

“Uh, is it just me, or did that little one say something really gruesome? ‘Human experiments’?”

“These kids are unhinged!”

“I guess you could say their futures are full of potential.”

The children grabbed several of Épée’s employees and led them deeper into the island.

“So? Épée, why did you decide to move next to us?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I’m worried about you, and I want to keep an eye on you from close by. None of us knew that bastard had survived all this time, after all. I don’t want anything else to happen to you,” he said.

By “that bastard,” he must’ve been referring to Epocha, the elfin who’d founded the Motar Faith and worked as a cardinal.

In my past life, before he established the Motar Faith, he’d begun dealing with dangerous magic items. And after I died, he did all sorts of evil things: He spread misinformation about magic while hiding his own knowledge of it, sealed people’s mana, and persecuted mages all over the world. Some might argue these weren’t actually that bad, but to me, they were absolutely unforgivable. Because of him, by the time I had reincarnated, mages had become at risk of dying out.

As elfins like him were long-lived beings, over the course of five hundred years, he gradually shaped people’s sense of values to suit his own agenda. Elfin men couldn’t use magic, so all he’d done had been out of jealousy and spite toward those who could.

He tried to reintroduce those dangerous magic items from five hundred years ago into the modern world, but we had risked our lives to stop him...and now we were here.

I refused to let such a similar situation unfold again.

“Because of me, you found yourself driven into a wall in our past life,” I said.

Épée was the one who’d triggered my reincarnation all those years ago. He’d joined forces with my second disciple to use a dangerous reincarnation spell—something he’d never done before—and succeeded...at the cost of his own life.

I don’t want him to have to do something so reckless ever again.

Now that I knew the circumstances of my reincarnation, I couldn’t help but feel overwhelmingly frustrated at myself for not being able to protect my disciples. Because it hadn’t just been Épée who died—Glacial had ended his life to follow me into this one as well. And so, the three of us miraculously reincarnated five hundred years later. My third disciple successfully extended his lifespan to survive until all four of us were reunited in this lifetime.

I felt so ashamed because of what had happened that I could barely look my disciples in the eyes. Besides, the three of them had behaved recklessly in this life as well, all because they wanted to protect me. I was a failure of a teacher. I needed to do some serious reflection.

Though my disciples seemed to have calmed down recently, perhaps they still harbored concerns; they just didn’t voice them. I needed to prove to them through my actions that I was fine so that they wouldn’t fret over my well-being. This was my duty—both as their magic teacher and as their foster parent.

“You don’t need to worry so much about me, Épée. I don’t plan on putting myself in danger again. Plus, with Epocha gone, the world should be a more peaceful place,” I assured my disciple.

“I sure hope so. But if you ever find yourself in trouble, you can always count on me.” He reached out a hand, but Char pulled me back before he could touch me.

“I will help her if she needs it, so she won’t need you. I’ll protect her—as her husband.”

“Huh? Don’t get cocky, little fledgling mage. Besides, you’re only her fourth disciple, so you have to show me respect. I was here first.”

Oh, it seemed that Épée had recognized Char as one of his fellow disciples. This meant that he had no intention of attacking him again. In a way, this was his version of making amends.

Épée’s a tough one to understand. But he’s kind to those he takes under his wing. He still curses at them, but he doesn’t treat them too harshly...I think. Take my other two disciples, for example; he might be a bit facetious toward them, but he always helps them when they’re in trouble.

I looked up at my husband.

“I won’t die again. I refuse to leave you all behind,” I declared.

But neither Char nor Épée seemed to believe me. This was the only thing they ever seemed to agree on—to my dismay.

Char gets along with Lance just fine. Perhaps he’ll become friends with Épée soon too.

At the very least, they weren’t as hostile toward each other as they used to be, which was a huge relief.

As for Lance, Char and he occasionally exchanged letters. My husband had even converted to the new religion Lance had created of his own accord—the Aurora Faith. Apparently, he’d recently asked Char for his input on what mural he should draw on the cathedrals of the Aurora Faith. These two sure seemed to get along on the strangest things.

“Char, Épée, thank you. If I ever need help, I’ll come to you. I won’t keep secrets.”

And I just so happened to have a request for my disciple.

“Épée? Could you and your employees come to play with the children sometimes? Of course, we’ll pay you for your time.”

“Hey...” Char said, looking at me like I had lost my mind.

“The little ones have been feeling a bit lonely since the older kids started working,” I explained. “I’m sure they’d love to have new friends to play with, and they seem to get along with your employees just fine. I also would like for them to learn how to socialize with others.”

“You want us to teach them manners...?” Épée asked, bewildered.

“Yes. Since they’re your employees, I figured they’re probably well-versed in many things. I think we can trust them. The other Mercures grew up without any contact outside the estate, so they don’t know anything about the world.”

I stared at my disciple with expectant eyes, and he begrudgingly agreed to my demands.

The House of Mercure was finally moving in the right direction.

Chapter Two: A Troubled Visitor

It was some time after our move when Flèche—now the king of Lèvres—came to visit us.

I was in the middle of swinging my broom around in the garden under the sun. It shone much brighter here than it had in Tête, and the mere act of stepping out of the mansion to its welcoming rays had put me in high spirits. The weather today was pleasantly mild; not so cold that I would need to bundle up, but not hot enough for me to have to adjust the temperature with my magic.

As I stood there, broom in hand, Flèche suddenly popped into existence in front of me. Char was currently working in his office, so he wasn’t around. Though the Mercures were no longer nobles of the Tête Kingdom and weren’t swamped with work—no more wasting time writing tons of useless reports for the crown—Flèche had made Char an earl of Lèvres. Granted, his territory was limited to the island we occupied, and it was only applicable for as long as we lived here, but he didn’t have to serve in court or anything of the sort. However, just like in Tête, he had to take care of the occasional magic mission: killing monsters and the like. And, sadly, that came with some paperwork.

It went without saying that Flèche never acted as haughty as the Tête Kingdom’s royal family or nobles, nor did he send the Mercures on reckless missions. Besides, the Motar Faith—the root cause of the discrimination against mages—wasn’t around anymore.

Flèche had proclaimed that he would do everything in his power to transform Lèvres into a nation that was kind to mages and treated them fairly. Nevertheless, the Motar Faith’s doctrine was still strongly entrenched in the minds of many who opposed his decision.

The Faith and its fictitious god, Motar, had been around for five hundred years and had spread over the entire world. Lance, the former Holy Father, might have dismantled the Faith, but people weren’t about to change their moral values overnight. It would take time—especially since there were very few mages in the world. And to think, Lèvres had historically been one of the most empathetic nations toward mages. I could only imagine what things must be like in other countries...

“Master!” Flèche exclaimed when he appeared in front of me, spreading his arms as he approached before wrapping me in a hug like he used to back when he’d been my disciple. “Ah, I missed you so much!”

“King Flèche.”

“Aw, stop calling me by my title; it’s like we’re strangers. You even called me ‘Your Highness’ when I was still a prince. I told you to call me just by my name,” he said.

I simply couldn’t. If I started to call him by his name alone, there was a chance I could slip up and forget to use his title in the royal palace. I didn’t want to jeopardize my disciple’s efforts while he was working so hard to rule an entire country. Still...

“Hmm, I suppose I could when no one else is around,” I said.

“Please do! I don’t like that I’m the only one you call by my title. So when we’re meeting informally, just use my name, okay?”

“All right, all right. So what brings you here?”

“I was missing you so much that I decided to come here incognito to see you. I’ve been swamped with work, so organizing a formal visit would’ve taken forever,” he said.

“You’re standing out a lot for someone trying to be incognito...” I remarked, my gaze falling to his flashy outfit.

He was wearing a suit in all three primary colors, the fabric patterned in little marshmallows and moles hugging each other. The goopy arms coming out of the marshmallows’ sides were particularly artistic, I had to admit.

What wonderful fashion sense he has. But isn’t this outfit just a little conspicuous?

That beautiful face of his already made him stick out enough. In my opinion, while it didn’t matter too much here, he should be wearing more subdued outfits when he wanted to travel in disguise, especially to densely populated areas. Such a lovely outfit would make every head turn, after all.

Being king sure doesn’t sound easy. He can’t even wear the clothes he likes if he doesn’t want to attract too much attention.

Actually, now I was really looking at Flèche, I noticed he seemed a little tired, and I couldn’t help but worry. “Flèche, are you taking proper breaks? You don’t seem sick or anything, but you shouldn’t push yourself when you’re tired. Should I brew you some medicine?”

His face twitched for a split second before settling back into his usual calm expression as if nothing had happened. “Master’s medicine... It’s been a while,” he said fondly. “Back then, my body was too weak to handle it without fainting. I loved your cooking, but your potions all had such a stimulating flavor that even I was able to taste them.”

In his past life, Flèche had often been ill due to his excessively large mana pool, and I frequently had to prepare medicine for him. I didn’t recall ever giving any of them a “stimulating flavor,” though...

“I only ever gave you proper restorative medicine, though. I even made them sweeter since you were a child... The taste should have been pretty mild,” I said.

“Ah, yes... You’re right. I probably remember it wrong.” He cleared his throat lightly and looked up at the sky, seemingly wanting to add something but deciding against it.

I led him to a bench in the garden and took a seat next to him. The sun still shone as bright as before, and time gently flowed by.

How tranquil. It’s hard to believe the Mercure estate used to be drab and dreary.

I stole a glance at Flèche.

He said he’s come here incognito to see me, but it seems that there’s more to his visit than he’s letting on.

Was there something on his mind he wanted to talk to me about? Ever since his past life as Glacial, he’d always hated asking others for help. He’d put up a front and endure his struggles alone until he had no choice but to turn to someone. I’d told him off for that bad habit countless times when I was Aurora.

But now, he’d come to find me. Wasn’t it proof that he’d grown up a little? Though perhaps it was the people from the castle and not me who’d prompted that change in him.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked.

“Marry me,” he replied, not missing a beat.

“I’m asking for the true reason you’re here.”

“But it is true that I want to marry you.”

“Flèche, I already have a husband. Bigamy is universally taboo, isn’t it?”

I searched through my memories of my earlier years. If I remembered correctly, the Motar Faith had been overt in their denigration of bigamy. My parents’ copy of the scriptures called the practice “immoral and shameful.”

But Flèche chuckled at my words, visibly amused. “Not in Lèvres.”

“What? No way...”

“I read through all the kingdom’s laws when I became king, and it clearly states that bigamy is legal. The Motar Faith was so critical of it that most people probably refused to practice it, though. But with the Faith gone, I was thinking it wouldn’t be a problem anymore. Of course, I would prefer to be your only husband—but alas.”

Regardless of whether bigamy was tolerated in Lèvres, the king’s wife couldn’t possibly have several husbands. That would be much too scandalous.

The people of Lèvres would never accept a bigamous queen. In the worst-case scenario, it could even tarnish Flèche’s reputation. Besides, I already have Char, and I view my disciples as my own children...

I had to decline Flèche’s offer. It would be better for the both of us. But I knew from experience that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. If anything, he’d likely get worked up, which would cause his mana to go out of control, freezing everything around us. I very much wanted to avoid covering the premises in ice; not to mention, it was dangerous.

So I decided to change the subject. “Flèche, could you tell me what truly brings you here?”

Not only did it seem safer, but I also really wanted to know why he’d come.

“Master, could I call someone over? It’ll be easier for me to explain if he’s here,” he said.

“Of course.”

“Thank you. I’m so sorry for showing up out of the blue and making you deal with all this. This is the only time I could make work.” His shoulders drooped.

It seemed that something truly was up.

“Don’t worry about it. You just became king. I understand you’re busy,” I reassured him.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to drag you into this mess, but I couldn’t think of anyone else who could handle the situation safely and efficiently.”

“Flèche, there’s no need to act so reserved around me. I’m your teacher. If you’re in trouble, I’ll do everything I can to help you. Besides, it’s thanks to you that we’re able to live here.”

“Thank you, master. I love you. I’m going to call over the man I told you about earlier, okay?”

With that, Flèche summoned the man with magic. The spell he’d used allowed the caster to teleport someone else to a location of their choosing. It was a large-scale spell that consumed a boatload of mana.

Hmm... That was an unnecessarily extravagant spell just for this, I thought, feeling a little nostalgic as I gazed fondly at him.

My second disciple had a large mana pool but terrible mana control, so all of his spells tended to be way grander than necessary. Because of this, to minimize the risk of miscalculations, he often relied on magic items when he needed to teleport a person to a precise location. This time, his target was “the Mercure estate garden,” which was broad enough that he hadn’t needed to bother with an item.

After a few seconds, a man appeared in front of us. His hair, tousled as if he’d just woken up, was a light brown, and behind his glasses, his eyes were brown as well. He was tall but rather thin and seemed a little timid. When he realized he was in a completely different location, he panicked, tripped over a pebble, and fell to the ground; he likely wasn’t used to magic, teleportation or otherwise.

“Um...I’d like you to help him, master, but I’m not forcing you or anything. You can say no if you don’t want to,” Flèche said.

“That’s all? You can leave it to me,” I assured him with a smile.

A look of relief settled over Flèche’s face. “His name is Thibault. He’s a journalist who reports on world affairs, and he’s recently fled from Hanche to Lèvres.”

“He fled...? Did something happen in Hanche?”

That didn’t sound good.

Flèche nodded gravely and turned to the man. “Thibault, this is my beloved magic teacher, Lam, the Countess of Mercure.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Thibault,” I said. “Based on that look on your face, it seems like you’re about to tell me something pretty unsettling.”

Flèche nodded. “The Hanche Kingdom is called the ‘second main church of the Motar Faith,’ after all. Whatever’s going on over there might be quite extreme.”

He didn’t hold the Motar Faith in very high regard, which I could understand given all the trouble it had caused him.

“You’ll be more comfortable sitting down. Here, take my seat,” I offered to Thibault and was about to stand up when Flèche scooted closer to me.

“You can sit here,” he said, pointing at the now-empty spot beside him.

There was indeed space for Thibault to sit down now, but...

“If I remember correctly, Hanche is a small island kingdom that doesn’t have much interaction with the mainland, right? I’m not very familiar with it.”

The current me was still painfully ignorant of the state of the world. I more or less knew where each nation was located, but I was still in the process of learning about each of their cultures and histories.

“Yes, that’s right, master. It’s a monarchy, just like Lèvres. But unlike us, they’re in the Motar Faith’s pocket. The entire country favors them,” Flèche explained.

“It sounds like a terrible environment for mages,” I commented.

Flèche nodded. “No question.”

Just as they’d been in Lèvres, it seemed that mana wielders were persecuted in Hanche.

“News travels slowly there, perhaps because it’s an island. The people mainly hear about world events through journalists like Thibault,” he continued.

“I see...”

As Flèche turned toward the journalist, he said, “Thibault, please explain your situation to master.”

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty!”

Thibault jumped to his feet and quickly brushed the dirt off his clothes. His glasses glimmered in the sunlight as he explained the circumstances of his exile.

“I-In the Hanche Kingdom, people believe that the Motar Faith is still active!” he said.

I let out a confused “Huh?” at the outrageous claim. “But it’s been dissolved. How is that possible?”

“It seems that the kingdom’s higher-ups are colluding with former bishops and priests of the Faith to manipulate information...”

I’d heard that the bishops and priests had all left their positions at the various cathedrals and places of worship now that the Faith was gone. Most of them were second or third sons of noble houses or came from wealthy families. Coupled with all the profits they’d made by exploiting the devotion of the Faith’s believers, they certainly weren’t lacking in means to support themselves.

Yet, some still moved to another nation and got involved with the ruling class there... What are they plotting?

There were a lot of people involved with the Faith, and I couldn’t put them all into the same basket. I knew that.

But when I think back on all the wrongdoings I saw them commit...I can’t help but think they’re up to no good.

I now understood why Flèche had sought me out today. I’d been suspicious of the Faith since I’d first learned of them, and if they tried to attack me with magic, I could easily retaliate. Besides, while they knew what Flèche looked like, most of the Faith’s members had no idea who I was.

“So there are people who don’t want the truth to get out, and it’s because of them that you ran away. Is that it?” I asked.

“Yes. I published an article about the collapse of the Faith and had no choice but to flee from Hanche. My fellow countrymen didn’t believe me, and most still believe in the Faith.”

What was the Faith trying to achieve by deceiving the people of Hanche? Their main church, the Cœur Cathedral in the Dukedom of Brunel, had been shut down. It was impossible for the bishops and priests in Hanche not to know of that.

And I’m pretty sure Lance has been going around destroying all the other cathedrals.

Lance, my third disciple, had resigned from his position as the Holy Father of the Faith. Now that Epocha was no longer there to stop him, he was traveling to all the Faith’s facilities to inform them that he had dissolved the religion. It wasn’t easy, and some of the bishops and priests tried to resist. Yet, my disciple didn’t give up and continued his tour of the continent to spread the news.

At the end of the day, the Motar Faith was just a fake religion invented by Epocha. Informing the believers of its dissolution was Lance’s way of taking responsibility for his actions.

That’s what he wrote in the letters he sent Char, at least. He even said he wouldn’t come to see me until he was done. Poor thing. He doesn’t need to torment himself so much over this...

At any rate, the Motar Faith was gone, and the main church was inactive. Perhaps the ruling class of Hanche was taking advantage of their nation’s insular nature to spread their lies. In such a closed environment with little contact with the mainland, it was likely that most people believed whatever the kingdom’s most influential individuals told them.

And if it’s as Flèche said and most people in Hanche are devout followers of the Faith, it makes the situation all the more concerning.

So they were pretending the Faith still existed over there...

With a glance, I urged Thibault to continue his story.

“Let me start from the beginning,” he said. “I was a freelance journalist in Hanche. I mostly wrote articles about world affairs.”

“Did you travel out of the kingdom often?” I asked.

“Yes. Since I wasn’t tied to any newspaper, I roamed the world to gather the latest news. I would write my articles and sell them back in Hanche. There aren’t many ways to learn about the outside world there, so my articles were quite popular...until that day.”

What he told us next was even more disturbing than I imagined.

“Right after I published my article about the dissolution of the Motar Faith, people started calling me a liar. The kingdom’s higher-ups publicly declared that the Faith was still intact. Most people believed them, and they began criticizing me and the other journalists who had published similar articles.”

“I see. The masses don’t know the truth, so the ruling class is instigating their hatred on purpose,” I commented.

“That’s what I believe is happening, yes. Before long, they figured out where I lived, and strangers came to spit insults at me. They began spreading rumors too. Some even stalked me whenever I went out.”

Those who jumped on the bandwagon to punish others at the first opportunity were the worst. They pushed victims to the brink, half pretending to deliver justice, half simply enjoying the chaos.

Sometimes, nations even hide their own agents among the common people to stir the flames.

Of course, I wasn’t claiming that was what was happening in Hanche.

Regardless, I couldn’t stand it when people attacked others without even bothering to verify whether the information they were given was true.

“Other journalists wrote articles denouncing and disparaging us as well. From what I’ve heard, those flew off the shelves. It seems some of my industry peers and certain newspaper companies are working with the government...”

“Things really are getting out of hand,” I said.

“I began fearing for my life, so I decided to leave Hanche for a while. I was afraid that people would be incited by the defamatory articles and come after me out of a misguided sense of justice.”

The government must have orchestrated all this to control the flow of information in Hanche and ensure that their lie wouldn’t be exposed. They hadn’t expected Thibault to publish his article so quickly and had scrambled to get rid of it. It was underhanded, but they likely thought this method was a good way to bury his article without much hassle or cost.

“I knew that Lèvres opposed the Faith, so I chose to come here,” Thibault continued. “I figured that, since we shared a common enemy, there was a good chance we could join forces.”

I nodded. “The Faith has caused much trouble to His Majesty, after all. They laid waste to the kingdom and even tried to take the castle,” I said, making sure to call Flèche by his title in front of Thibault. I didn’t want to undermine my disciple in his presence.

“Y-Yes. His Majesty warmly agreed to hear me out.” It was here that Thibault stopped, and Flèche took over.

“What truly intrigued me was what he told me after all that. Apparently, stragglers from the Faith have begun gathering in Hanche.”

“Stragglers?” I asked.

“Former bishops and former priests, mostly. They’re reluctant to let go of their former ranks and associated privileges and are apparently working to revive the Faith.”

“Wait, is that true?”

“I have no real proof yet, just Thibault’s word. That’s why I was looking for someone to poke around in Hanche and, if possible, encourage those former members of the Faith to leave the kingdom.”

“I see. So that’s why you came to me. I can get away no matter what happens, so I can safely do some sleuthing.”

“Yes. But you don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Flèche assured me with a bright smile.

“How could I refuse? I’m always happy to help my adorable disciples.”

“Are you sure? I shouldn’t be trying to deter you since it was my idea in the first place, but you’ll have to travel to Hanche. You don’t mind?”

“I’ve never been off continent. I’m curious to see what Hanche is like. I want to see more of the world as it is now.”

Thibault broke into a grin. “Hanche is a beautiful country surrounded by nature, with many uncharted areas waiting to be explored. The food is delicious too. In particular, we’re known for producing high-quality durians.”

“...Can you repeat that last part?” I breathed.

“We grow tons of durians! You’ll be able to enjoy fresh, perfectly ripe ones.”

“That’s...” I gasped. “I’ll go! I have to go!” I said without a hint of hesitation.

Durians were my absolute favorite food. Well, I’d only ever tried durian juice, but given how delicious that was, there was no doubt the fruit itself would be just as good.

The durians exported to other nations were harvested when they were still unripe, and we had to wait for them to ripen before enjoying them. But if I were in Hanche, I’d be able to eat freshly harvested, perfectly ripe durians to my heart’s content. Setting aside the issue of the Motar Faith, a place with so much of my favorite food must’ve been an incredible place!

“Thanks, master. Let’s go over the details of your investigation, okay?” Flèche said.

He was smiling. Maybe my happiness had rubbed off on him.

“The royal palace of Hanche isn’t as easily accessible as the one in Lèvres. Outsiders are completely forbidden from entering. Only those who live there, nobles, and the kingdom’s honored guests can set foot inside. Oh, and I believe members of the Motar Faith are allowed in as well.”

“In other words, I won’t be able to just waltz in there to investigate. Can’t I just use my magic to teleport myself inside, though?”

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to secure the precise coordinates of the rooms inside, and you’d risk being spotted if you teleported to a random location. The people of Hanche don’t like magic, and most are fervent believers of the Faith. It would cause a huge uproar if they saw you teleport into the palace.”

“I could erase the memories of anyone who spots me,” I suggested.

“That spell’s difficult to gauge, isn’t it? In the worst-case scenario, you might make those people forget the last ten years of their lives,” Flèche pointed out. “Don’t you remember that time you used that spell on some ruffians who came to bother you, and you accidentally made them regress to infancy? It would be a disaster if you caused dozens of people to forget everything.”

“Now that you mention it, that did happen... I could try to see into the palace from afar or use an illusion spell to distract the guards?”

“It’s likely most people inside the palace don’t have mana, which is what long-distance viewing spells rely on, so that’s not feasible. As for an illusion, not only would you need to create a large one, but it would also have to be detailed and convincing. I know you, master—you’ll get bored halfway through. You’ll spot something interesting and immediately forget about the spell. I don’t think you’d be able to focus on maintaining an illusion for that long,” Flèche said.

He knew me so well. That’s my second disciple for you!

“I...can’t deny any of that.”

“I know.”

“Plus, it’ll cause diplomatic issues between Lèvres and Hanche if they catch me snooping around.”

It would be a huge scandal if word got out that Lèvres was probing around Hanche. It really wouldn’t be good for Flèche’s reputation. Most nations were still under the Faith’s influence, so Lèvres couldn’t risk attracting criticism for now.

“I know you’d find a way to handle it if something were to happen. But I think it’d be best if you didn’t do anything too showy—just this once. I’m really sorry for making you go about things in such a roundabout way,” Flèche said apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it. I suppose I have no choice but to try going there undercover. It seems like fun!”

Flèche and Thibault both nodded vigorously. It seemed they approved of my plan.

“There’s only one possible way for an outsider to visit the palace. By joining one of the kingdom’s chivalric orders, you’ll be assigned to duties that could take you inside, and you’ll get to investigate without anyone suspecting a thing,” Thibault explained shyly.

“A chivalric order?” I echoed.

Thibault replied, “Yes. There are several in Hanche. First, we have the Order of the Eagle, which has been created to prepare for conflicts with other nations. Then, there’s the Order of the Lion, whose role is to enforce law and security in the kingdom. Last is the Order of the Royal Knights. It’s permanently stationed at the capital and responsible for guarding the royal palace—that’s the one we’re planning for you to join. The Royal Knights’ duties include participating in training drills, defending the castle, escorting important guests during events, and other similar responsibilities.”

“Can I really join it just like that?” I asked.

“Yes. The Eagles and the Lions are considered to be the most prestigious chivalric orders; anyone who hopes to join them must first pass a rigorous test. But the Royal Knights are basically where all the rejects end up... They’re constantly short on people, so they can’t afford to reject anyone who wants to join. The application guidelines state that they welcome both men and women into their ranks, and they have indeed hired female knights in the past.”

“Let me make sure I understand... The Order of Royal Knights has a shortage of personnel?”

There used to be similar chivalric orders five hundred years ago, and those who were stationed at the royal capital were usually the most well paid of them all. I would’ve thought things would be similar now, but...

“Yes.” Thibault nodded. “Most Royal Knights don’t stick around for long, so they’re always on the lookout for new recruits. The order has a reputation for not being a great place to work. The leaders are always cozying up to the ruling class and the Motar Faith. Whenever a problem occurs, they just throw money at the Faith to have them handle it.”

“I see. They’re not doing their jobs properly.”

“Exactly. The top brass consists mostly of second and third sons with no prospects of inheriting their houses’ titles, and most are completely useless. The truly capable ones join the Eagles or the Lions. The Royal Knights are basically where young nobles with nowhere to go end up. The rest are commoners who passed the entrance examination and now work under them. As you can see, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to sneak into the mix. If you succeed, you’ll be allowed within the palace for your duties.”

I nodded. “Tell me more.”

“I believe most tasks will be relatively safe. However, as I mentioned earlier, the working conditions are terrible. I only looked into the Royal Knights a little bit, and I already noted several issues—the biggest of all being the current captain.”

Since Thibault was a journalist, it made sense he would be well-informed on most matters. I gazed at him, waiting for the details.

“He’s the second son of a marquis and has a habit of flaunting his status and his house’s authority to commit all manner of misdeeds.”

“Is there no one who can stop him?” I asked.

“No. Not many people have the authority to tell off the son of a marquis. Besides, he’s the kind of man who will do anything to justify his actions. From what I’ve heard, anyone who’s dared to admonish him in the past has ended up in dire straits. No one has the courage to stand up to him anymore. Most royal knights have decided to just not get involved with him anymore. If they leave him alone, he takes care of his main duties, at least.”

“My, my, it seems we have a little troublemaker on our hands. I suppose I’ll try to change his ways while I’m in Hanche.”

“Huh? Y-You can’t! We just need you to snoop around a little. Please don’t put yourself in danger!” Thibault exclaimed, panicking.

“Master is strong,” Flèche assured him. “She can beat anyone in a fair fight. But I agree with Thibault; I’d prefer it if you avoided any unnecessary risks.”

“She’s...strong, you say?! Far be it from me to refute your words, Your Majesty, but she’s a dainty countess. I find it difficult to believe she’s as powerful as you say.” Thibault eyed me with an incredulous stare.

“I see where you’re coming from, Thibault. Master is adorable, after all. But she’s also an amazing woman whom I trust with all my heart. I urge you to put your faith in me on the matter,” Flèche said.

“O-Of course. If you say so, Your Majesty.”

It seemed that Thibault had no objections to my doing some sleuthing in Hanche. He held out a hand to me, an earnest expression on his face. “Miss Lam, I’ll be relying on you for this mission. Please do not do anything rash.”

It appeared he still held some reservations toward me. But that wasn’t a problem; I could prove my worth to him little by little.

“Rest assured, you can leave it to me,” I said, exchanging a handshake with him.

After that, we began ironing out the details.

“Miss Lam, let me say it one last time to make sure we’re all on the same page: Your mission is to head to Hanche to gather information discreetly.”

“I am to join the Order of Royal Knights, take advantage of my position to infiltrate the palace, figure out the Faith’s objective, and try to clear your name. Is that right?”

Flèche and Thibault nodded in confirmation.

“I will be joining the knights with you. I believe I should be able to assist you using my knowledge of local and domestic affairs. I cannot possibly ask you to risk your life alone while I do nothing,” Thibault said.

Flèche smiled at him as if to commend his resolve. He must’ve had an idea that Thibault was this kind of man, and that was why he’d introduced him to me.

I flashed Thibault a smile as well. “Thank you, it’ll be reassuring to have you with me. It’ll be a huge help if you could share your knowledge with me when we’re in Hanche. I sadly know very little about the state of the world.”

“Leave it to me!” he replied enthusiastically, his cheeks reddening.

Flèche cleared his throat. “You know more about the world than you think, master.” He sighed. “I wish I could come with you.”

“Let’s go on an outing together when you have more free time, Your Majesty,” I offered. “You must be too busy right now, since you’ve just become king.”

“Thank you, master. The promise of spending time with you should give me the energy to deal with all those annoying tasks waiting for me.”

It never failed to surprise me how much more mature he was in this life.

“You’re doing such a good job. You’re a great king,” I praised him.

He immediately pushed out his head toward me.

He’s expecting head pats, isn’t he?

It seemed this habit of his hadn’t changed, even now that he was king.

“Rest assured, Your Majesty. I’ll join the Royal Knights in Hanche, as promised, and conduct a thorough investigation. This will also give me a chance to learn more about the world. Two birds, one stone.”

I’d always been gung ho about magic throughout both of my lives, so knights had never interested me.

Even five hundred years ago, they didn’t use magic—only magical weapons. And in this life, they probably don’t even have those...

By going to Hanche, I might be able to experience new things I never would have been able to here at the Mercure estate.

And! I’ll get to eat fresh durians.

It was a win-win situation, really.

“Master, please don’t put too much pressure on yourself, okay? Of course, the best-case scenario would be you successfully carrying out your investigation, but things may not go that smoothly. Prioritize your safety, and don’t hesitate to use magic if you have to,” Flèche said.

“Huh?”

“If Hanche figures out your intentions and makes this a problem between our two nations, I’ll just freeze anyone who complains. So don’t worry about that and conduct your investigation freely.”

“That’s... All right, I’ll do that.”

I wouldn’t. Because of what he just said, I absolutely could not let my guard down while I was in Hanche. Why? Because I knew for a fact that he would follow through on his threats.

Sometimes, I really hate the fact that he has so much mana.

I would conduct my investigation methodically and carefully so as not to get Flèche involved.

As the three of us discussed our plan, Char emerged from the mansion. He must’ve finished his work for now.

“Oh, Char. You came at the perfect time,” I said, looking up at my husband from my seat on the bench.

He was eyeing Flèche and me with suspicion. “What is happening here? Lam, did you get involved in something troublesome again?”

“What gave it away?” I asked.

My husband didn’t reply. Instead, he let out a deep sigh. “Your health has finally stabilized. Please don’t tell me you’re about to go do something absurd again.”

“Nothing of the sort, no. His Majesty has just entrusted me with a little mission. I’ll be traveling to Hanche for a while.”

Char turned to Flèche. “Could you please not assign jobs to my wife without notifying me? Also, you’re sitting too close to her.”

“I’m just here on an unofficial visit. Besides, why would master need your permission to do something?”

Char’s mood soured, while cold air began radiating from Flèche. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Thibault froze like a statue, his face as pale as a sheet.

“Don’t fight in the garden, you two. I’ll get very angry if you do,” I said.

Char and Flèche had the worst compatibility out of all of my disciples. Lance seemed to see him as a like-minded comrade, and, despite mocking him and calling him a “fledgling,” Épée had accepted him as a fellow disciple. As for Flèche, I didn’t think he flat-out rejected him; he had let us move to his kingdom and had given Char a peerage. But...

They simply don’t get along.

The two of them were too prickly and overly suspicious of each other.

“He just asked me to do a bit of snooping in the royal palace of Hanche,” I said.

“I-I apologize for asking for the countess’s help,” Thibault interjected, seemingly unable to endure the electric tension any longer. “B-Basically...”

He went on to explain everything he had just recounted to me. Despite seeming a little unreliable, there was no doubt Thibault was a good man.

“The Faith again?” Char grumbled. “They sure are a tenacious bunch.”

“Epocha is gone, and Lance has been going around the continent to inform all members of the Faith that he’s dissolving it. Other than Chaos and Néant, all the saints and holy knights are currently hedgehogs. In other words, the Faith is a lot less of a threat than it used to be. But I’m still a tad worried about their scheming in Hanche. If this turns out to be a false alarm, I’ll come home immediately,” I assured my husband.

“Do you really intend to go? No matter what?” he asked.

“Yes. Besides, I’m a little curious to see what kind of place Hanche is. And I’d prefer to take a look at the situation with the Faith before Lance learns about it and causes a huge stir. That boy can be a little unpredictable at times.”

“Fair point. Some of his letters do contain pretty violent details...”

Thanks to the letters the two of them exchanged on the regular, Char had a rough idea of what Lance was up to.

“Anyway, I am worried about what the Faith is doing, but I’m mostly interested in doing some sightseeing, really. Thibault told me that there are plenty of uncharted regions in Hanche, so I’m thinking I might be able to find clues about my master’s whereabouts. Don’t you think it sounds like there could be a hidden village in its wilderness?”

Lance had previously told me about a hidden elfin village. Elfins had always been reclusive, even five hundred years ago, preferring to keep to themselves. They were said to be the founders of magic and had always been shrouded in mystery.

My master, Finis, was an elfin, and even though I’d lived with her for years, I knew little about elfins beyond the basics of their culture and spells. She had always been considered an oddball even among her own kind, so it was safe to say I understood very little about their true ways.

Elfins preferred to keep their distance from others, not just from humans but even from their own kin, and Finis had been no different. Each of them traveled alone, conducted research alone, and practiced magic alone. As such, I was especially intrigued by the idea of a village where several of them lived together. Very, very intrigued.

Lance had still been a bit shaken by our battle with Epocha when he’d told me about the village, so his information had been a little vague. I’d had Char write him a letter asking for more details about the hidden village, but unfortunately, he hadn’t replied.

In the end, I’m back to square one. I still have no idea where my master could be.

The fact that Lance had called it a hidden village meant that it wasn’t just far from civilization; there must’ve been some system in place to prevent regular people from finding it. They likely used magic to control who could come and go. It definitely wasn’t the kind of place one could just wander into.

I have no idea how Lance even found it in the first place.

I knew that there was no guarantee that going to Hanche would lead me to Finis. But I just wanted to make some progress on my quest to be reunited with the woman who’d taken care of me all those years—especially since I was still frustrated about the way she’d suddenly left.

“Lam, if you really want to go, I won’t stop you,” Char said.

“You won’t?” I asked.

He paused, then added, “But I’m worried—for several reasons—so I would like to come with you.”

“We should be able to bring one more person along, right?” I asked Thibault.

Not only could Char use magic, but he also had exceptional physical prowess; he was the perfect type of person to infiltrate an order of knights.

Thibault nodded enthusiastically. He seemed to think that my husband was more reliable than I was.

“Lam, you don’t mind if I invite the twins too, do you? Things have been so peaceful lately, Fouet has been slacking off even more, and Barre seems to be on the verge of causing a riot out of boredom.”

“Now that you mention it...”

I reflected on the twins’ behaviors over the past few weeks. Fouet had been sneaking out of the mansion more frequently, spending time in his favorite spot on the island, while Barre often vanished for hours at a time, sometimes not returning that day at all. The two of them were adults, so it wasn’t like we needed to intervene, but it was clear they were growing restless with how calm things were now. I supposed it was a given, considering they’d never had this much free time in their lives. Perhaps Char was right, and going to Hanche would do them some good.

He’s worried about the twins, huh? Char truly has matured as the head of the family.

I told him I agreed with his proposition. “But who will take care of the mansion if all the adults are gone?” I asked.

“Canon and the other two can. They need to practice managing the estate in preparation for when I retire. They did a good job house-sitting while we were fighting Epocha, so they should be all right,” Char said.

I nodded. “Good point. They managed to protect the mansion well then.”

“Canon is my heir; he needs to be able to run a household by himself when I’m not around.”

“Oh, I get it now! You want to retire young, don’t you?”

Realizing he’d been found out, Char awkwardly averted his gaze. “I just want him to get used to his position. You know, to prepare for the worst.”

“Well, that’s a good point. I agree with you; it’ll be good practice for him,” I said before turning to Thibault. “Can we bring two more people with us? Char would like his aides to accompany us.”

“O-Of course. I’ll... I’ll figure something out,” Thibault replied.

How reliable!

And so, it was decided that Char, Barre, Fouet, and I would travel to Hanche together.

With that out of the way, Flèche turned to me. “I have to go back to the palace, master. My subordinates must be looking for me as we speak.”

I nodded. “I’m so proud of you for doing your best with your duties as king.”

A smile as radiant as a blossoming flower spread across his face. He seemed truly happy with my praise.

“Come to see me next time, okay? I’m going to get jealous if you keep spending so much time with Épée and none with me.”

Ah, these were his true feelings.

It wasn’t like I was seeing Épée all the time, but Flèche clearly hadn’t expected him to move right next to us. Since we were neighbors, we did occasionally run into each other, and Flèche must have felt a bit left out.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll come to watch you work hard at the royal palace next time.”

His face lit up. “Really? You’re welcome to drop by at any time, so you have to come.”

With that, he stood from the bench, clearly in a good mood, and teleported back to the royal palace with Thibault.

After waving goodbye to them, I took a moment to reflect on the mission ahead. Infiltrating a chivalric order didn’t sound easy, but I was very excited to give it a go.

“Well then, I suppose I should try learning how to behave like a knight before we leave,” I said in high spirits.

Even if it wasn’t perfect, it would still be better than doing nothing at all.

“Lam, have you ever swung a sword?” Char asked.

“I have plenty of experience with brooms!”

Even though I hadn’t clearly said I’d never used a sword, Char seemed to guess based on my response.

He sighed. “I expected as much, but it seems that the road ahead will be tough.” Gazing up at the sky with a distant look, he muttered, “Why did he pick you of all people?”

Chapter Three: The Countess Joins the Chivalric Order

A month after Flèche visited with his request, Thibault, Char, the twins, and I teleported over to Hanche. Flèche had forged our identity papers and had taken care of all the procedures for us: We were now “officially” commoners from Hanche. Fortunately, the people of the island had no distinct features separating them from those of the mainland, and they spoke the same language as well. No one should suspect us of being outsiders.

We landed in a deserted corner of the capital, Oval, and walked for a bit until we reached the main street, where we mingled with the bustling crowd.

“The capital seems to be doing well,” I noted, taking in the sights like I was a tourist on a trip. “There are far more people here than in Tête.”

Thibault, who was leading us, glanced back at me and explained. “There isn’t much habitable land, so people tend to cluster in the capital. The kingdom could technically develop new areas, but since most of the island consists of mountains and valleys, there aren’t many people who want to live there.”

“I see. People can’t use magic in this day and age, after all.”

“I’m not familiar with magic, so I don’t know how that would work, but developing land is certainly tricky. Since the capital is on a plain with a nearby river, they’ve managed to make it work. Most of the kingdom’s population lives either in the city or on the outskirts of it.”

Thibault’s words explained why the capital was so busy. Behind me, I heard the twins complain that the crowd was making them feel nauseated.

“It seems like a lively city,” I remarked.

Though the stone paving under our feet had a few cracks and the buildings around us seemed rather old, the people traversing the street had some pep in their step. From behind the counters of the stalls randomly dotted along the path, the owners were animated as well, calling out to passersby with enthusiasm. While most people here believed anything their ruling class told them, it didn’t seem like they were behind as a civilization.

“Ah! Durians! They’re so big, they look delicious,” I exclaimed when I caught sight of my favorite delicacy.

“Lam, we won’t make it to the entrance exam if we don’t hurry. We’ll buy some later,” Char said.

I kept goggling at my surroundings as we progressed. Soon, below a towering, beautiful cathedral, a large plaza came into sight.

It’s still active.

One by one, devout believers of the Motar Faith entered the building, as if being sucked in. None of them seemed to suspect anything was amiss. As Thibault said, they truly had no idea that the faith had been dissolved.

I suppose Lance hasn’t been here yet.

He must’ve still been spreading the news around the mainland. Perhaps this was why the former members of the Faith had chosen Hanche as their refuge.

“All right, everyone, we’ve almost reached the examination grounds. Before we get there, I want to quickly go over our roles,” Thibault said, doing one last check to make sure we were all on the same page. “As we decided in Lèvres, Miss Lam and Mr. Char, you will act as total strangers during this mission. Mr. Fouet and Mr. Barre, you won’t be Mr. Char’s subordinates either, just twins of commoner origins, since you look too similar to pretend not to be related. Is everyone clear on their roles?”

“Yeees!” I replied enthusiastically.

“I have prepared all the documents you will need for the examination—your papers, an overview of your finances, and proof that you’re members of the Faith, among other things,” Thibault continued. “Oh, and try to hide the fact that you’re mana wielders if possible. The people in Hanche aren’t kind to mages.”

“Yeees!” I repeated.

I would refrain from using magic as much as possible...unless one of us was at risk of getting hurt, that was.

“As I told you before, the test often features a sword, spear, or horse-riding portion. Do you have a strategy in place for that?”

The Mercures all turned to stare at me.

“Wh-What is it?” I stammered.

“I’m against putting a sword or a spear into my wife’s hands,” Char told Thibault, a grave look on his face. “We tried to have her practice in the garden, and the weapons kept slipping out of her grip and flying in all directions.”

“Yeah, and they’re too heavy for her to wield without magic,” Barre added. “She has no stamina, so she gets exhausted right away.”

Even Fouet chimed in. “She didn’t fare much better at horse riding. When she tried, the horse refused to take even a single step forward.”

The three of them had exposed all of my struggles.

“I can just use magic to hide my shortcomings,” I grumbled.

Thibault had just told us to hide our identities as mana wielders, but my physical abilities were so abysmal, I wouldn’t be able to do anything without magic.

The Mercures are just too good at everything! Even the children are athletically talented.

Of course, I would feel down, watching them excel where I couldn’t. I was utterly useless at anything that wasn’t magic.

“Um... Can I continue?” Thibault asked, acting as if he hadn’t heard what my husband and the twins had just discussed. “As I told you before, though there’s an entrance test to join the Royal Knights, it’s a mere formality. Please try to get a decent score, but it’s fine if you don’t, since everyone will get in either way. But whatever you do, do not stand out.”

Apparently, the Royal Knights were so short-staffed that they accepted anyone who wanted to join their ranks.

“They hold this examination twice a year, but they still cannot manage to keep up with all the knights resigning. Our first objective is to blend in among the knights without attracting attention. That’ll make it easier for us to carry out our investigation.”

The twins cried in protest at his instructions.

“Seriouslyyy?” Fouet whined.

“That means we’ll have to hold back quite a bit. We can’t win too much or lose too much... What a pain,” Barre added.

I thought Thibault had every right to get angry at them for being so unruly, but he simply explained his reasoning to them. “If you’re too good, the other knights will be jealous of you, and you risk incurring their enmity. On the other hand, if you perform poorly, they’ll bully you. Aim for slightly above average, all right? Remember, the key phrase is: Play it safe! No matter what you do, try to avoid drawing anyone’s eye.”

“Seriouslyyy?” Fouet repeated.

“Yeah, dunno if we’ll manage that. Sorry if we fail,” Barre said as if he’d already given up.

It seemed that they weren’t exactly on board with Thibault’s plan.

“Don’t worry, everyone. If something goes awry, I’ll fix it with my magic. Let’s just do our best, okay?” I said to try and cheer the twins up.

Barre looked in turn at Thibault and me. “Well, Lord Char and us will be fine, but you two...”

“Especially you, madam,” Fouet said, jumping on the bandwagon. “You can’t even wield a sword without using magic to cheat.”

By cheating, he meant the spells I’d put on my sword during practice to make it lighter and increase its offensive power.

“Lord Char has tried several times to teach the madam the basics of sword fighting and spear fighting, but for some reason, their practice sessions always turned into magic duels with weapons in their hands. They never managed to fight properly,” Fouet continued.

Char and I both averted our gazes at his words. He was right. Whenever Char tried to teach me how to wield a weapon, I would get so frustrated by how quickly I lost that I’d resort to imbuing my sword or spear with mana to counterattack, and Char would immediately respond in kind. It was fun...but I hadn’t learned much from it.

I can’t exactly refute his point... I just couldn’t bear losing against Char, and he would never pass up a chance to practice new spells. In a way, our goals aligned—but not in a productive way.

“Wait, you didn’t tell me that!” Thibault exclaimed, throwing a panicked glance in my direction.

“Don’t worry. I’ll... I’ll cheat a little with my magic and clear the examination with no trouble,” I replied.

It was just as the twins had said, wasn’t it? I did feel a little sad to admit I would, indeed, be cheating.

Speaking of the twins, they were eyeing me with obvious distrust.

“I doubt that,” Barre said.

“Me too,” Fouet added.

They had no faith in me whatsoever...

“It’ll be fine. If push comes to shove, I’ll step in to help Lam myself. I’ve become much better at illusion spells recently,” Char said.

His words didn’t make me feel any better.

Unable to endure it any longer, I turned to Thibault. “What about you?” I asked. “Are you good with swords and spears?”

“Not in the slightest. I trained while I was in Lèvres, but... Oh well.” He chuckled evasively. “Anyway, I’ll do my utmost to get an average score.”

“Oh, at least I won’t be the only one struggling.”

It seemed that the outcome of the entrance exam rested on the shoulders of Thibault and myself. We crossed the plaza and arrived at the royal palace, making our way to the Royal Knights’ training grounds where the test would be held.

The grounds were hidden from view, located behind a large garden. To enter them, we had to go through the back gate, which was right in front of the Royal Knights’ barracks.

“I’m a little nervous,” Thibault said, a stiff look on his face.

There were already several prospective recruits gathered at the training grounds.

“Oh my, I didn’t think there would be this many candidates,” I commented.

“Only one or two will still be knights come next year. The others won’t be able to endure it and will quit. Some might even get badly injured,” Thibault said. It was as if a dark cloud had settled over his face.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” I reassured him. “You’re only joining temporarily for the sake of our investigation. I’ll come save you if you get in trouble.”

But my words did little to lift his mood. It seemed that he still didn’t trust my capabilities.

“Just leave him alone, Lam. Like it or not, the test will start soon,” Char said. He clearly didn’t care about relieving Thibault’s nerves.

I nodded and resumed my previous pace, walking alongside him.

“We came early just to be safe, but I’m surprised to see so many people have arrived even before us,” I said.

They were all doing warm-up exercises, perhaps in preparation for the test. Some were doing push-ups, while others were running laps through the training grounds.

After leisurely heading over to the reception area, we showed the identification papers Thibault had given us.

We had barely finished when a booming voice yelled at us, “You’re late!”

Our group turned toward the source of the voice with a start. A large, muscular middle-aged man was lumbering toward us, his shoulders squared.

I assume he must be a member of the Royal Knights.

His black hair was styled in a crew cut with a squared-off top, and a menacing look was etched on his suntanned face. He scanned the five of us and narrowed his eyes.

“When do you think the examination starts?! Huh?!” he bellowed.

“Huh?”

Thibault immediately slipped in front of us to reply, as if to prevent us from saying something we shouldn’t. I was impressed by the swiftness of his reaction.

“I-In twenty minutes, sir,” he replied.

“Exactly! In twenty minutes! Is that how lightly you treat this test?!” the unknown man yelled, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke.

Why was he so mad?

“Isn’t it obvious you should arrive at least an hour early?! Do you think this is a game?! Huh?!”

I had no idea what he was on about.

Why should we come an hour early for no good reason? What would we do for that extra time? Warming up doesn’t take that long.

The instructions said that we should arrive “five minutes before the start of the test, if possible.”

I thought we’d be fine as long as we got here on time.

But seeing how irritated the man was, it seemed I’d been wrong.

I don’t get it. If you want candidates to get to your test an hour early, then why not just state that clearly in the instructions?

“We’re incredibly sorry!” Thibault said before turning to us. The twins, Char, and I were gaping at the man. “C-Come on, you four, apologize!” he added, a frantic look on his face.

We did as he said, bowing our heads to the large man.

I was still just as confused as before.

“As punishment, you’ll be doing push-ups until the start of the test! And I’d better not catch you slacking off, got it?!”

With that, the man turned on his heels. Perhaps he’d had his fill of yelling...or not, seeing as he headed straight to the people who’d arrived after us.

“Just what is his problem?” I muttered.

I now understood that the people who were doing push-ups weren’t voluntarily warming up for the test; they’d been instructed to do so by the burly man.

“Should we all do the push-ups?” I asked Thibault, who nodded vigorously.

He likely believed it was our best course of action if we truly wanted to blend in. However, Char seemed to have something to say.

“Lam, you can’t do push-ups, can you? You can barely swing a broom.”

“I keep telling you I’m fine, Char. I’ll fall to the ground with every single one, but I’ll still do them.”

“It’s not push-ups if you just fall.”

Annoyingly, he still seemed to see me as a frail countess who couldn’t do anything, no matter what I did.

Seeing that my irritation was about to boil over, he tried to placate me. “Well, you can use magic to make it look like you’re doing them, I suppose. If that man sees you collapse on your face with every push-up, he might come yell at us again, and that’ll be a pain.”

“Yes, Miss Lam, please do that. I would prefer you refrain from using magic, but I suppose we don’t have a choice.” Thibault nodded, resignation playing over his face.

As for the twins, they were happily chatting beside us.

“Push-ups, huh? How nostalgic. It reminds me of the schoolhouse,” Fouet said.

“And we only have to do them for twenty minutes. That’s child’s play. When we were kids, we’d have to do them for two hours with no break.” Barre laughed.

The lighthearted delivery of their words contrasted sharply with their contents. Just how harsh had their training been?

“It still sounds like a pain, though. Madam, can you include Barre and me in your illusion too?” Fouet pleaded.

He was always incredibly resourceful when it came to slacking off.

I nodded. “Sure.”

Using my magic, I created an illusion of us doing push-ups and temporarily hid our real bodies with another spell. I also made it so that no one else could hear us, so we were free to converse to our heart’s content.

“By the way, who’s that man?” Char asked Thibault. “He seems a little...unstable.”

A grave look registered on the journalist’s face. “I’m not familiar with him personally, but I believe he’s Gahariet, the captain of the Royal Knights. Consider him the man in charge of the order we’re trying to join. To put it simply, the captain is the person appointed by the king to oversee the order’s operations.”

“He’s the one in charge?” Char asked, voicing what we were all thinking.

“Yes. He may not look the part, but he’s actually the son of a marquis. I would advise against crossing him.”

A chivalric order’s fighting power and political strength were heavily influenced by the leadership skills and abilities of its captain, and from what I’d seen so far, Gahariet’s seemed questionable at best.

“His Majesty named him captain of the Royal Knights several years ago. He may have a terrible personality, but rumors say no one dares challenge him because of his status,” Thibault added.

“So that’s why people don’t stay Royal Knights for long, huh?” Barre said, sounding amused. Yet, despite his lighthearted tone, his green eyes narrowed.

“If he were to quit, the order wouldn’t have a shortage of hands anymore, would it?” Fouet added, using his Wind Magic to lie down midair.

I’d made it so no one else could see us at the moment, but I was still taken aback by how unabashedly he was using his magic while there were so many people around.

They’re right, though.

I found myself agreeing with their observations. But I assumed convincing Gahariet to quit wasn’t as easy as it sounded, which explained why the Royal Knights’ situation was so dire.

Twenty minutes later, it was finally time for the examination to begin. A booming voice rang out, ordering us to gather at the center of the training grounds.

“Those who want to join the Royal Knights, come here! Hurry along! Stop being so sluggish!” Gahariet yelled—again.

He doesn’t need to be so angry all the time. What a strange man.

We followed the other candidates, running toward the center of the grounds.

“Let me announce the test you’ll be undergoing today. This time, it’ll be a jousting tournament!”

Thibault had told us that the examination would test our practical skills. Apparently, there used to be another to evaluate the candidates’ scholarly abilities, but the order’s higher-ups found it annoying to grade, so they decided to scrap it. As for the practical exam, it was simply to judge our combat and horsemanship abilities.

The other candidates already looked completely exhausted from the push-ups Gahariet had them perform.

The poor things. Perhaps I should’ve included them in my illusion too.

Or perhaps not. There were still many people in the world who were against magic, and Thibault had expressly told us not to use spells if we could avoid it. It was a tricky situation.

I should at least reverse time on their bodies to relieve their pain and fatigue.

I sneakily used a Dark Magic spell to do just that. As long as no one noticed, it would be fine.

“A jousting competition, huh? They’ll be testing both our spear-wielding skills and our horse-riding abilities. Good thing Thibault told us in advance so we could practice,” I said with a relieved sigh.

“What’s good about this? You’re terrible at both,” Char whispered dryly from beside me. “You had to grab a spear with both hands, and even then, you could barely hold the lightest one we had without toppling over. And don’t get me started on your horse riding...”

“I-I’m just not used to it yet!”

I couldn’t even get on a horse without using magic. My skills were nowhere near Char’s or the twins’. But it wasn’t my fault! I’d never had to ride a horse before—why would I, when I could just teleport everywhere?

“It’s fine. You’re just not cut out for this—not for swordsmanship, spear fighting, or horse riding.”

All I could do was let out a frustrated groan. Char was being unfair. I could hold up a spear and thrust it forward! He should give me a passing grade for that. Granted, I had a habit of letting go of the spear when I tried to attack...

My husband sighed. “I’m worried. Lam, I’m going to use a spell to make your skin harder. As hard as orichalcum, I’d say. That should be good. We can’t have you fall from your horse, so I’ll add another one to improve your equilibrium, and while I’m at it, I’ll make it so that others’ attacks on you will reflect back at them,” he said and did just that, casting all sorts of spells on me.

Char, if you make my skin as hard as orichalcum, my opponent’s lance will bend. Plus, if you make their attacks bounce back, I risk hurting them.

I’d used similar spells myself before at a party, but I’d quickly realized it had been a little overkill. The hand of the noble lady who had slapped me had become all swollen and red because of how hard I’d made my skin.

But I’m happy that Char is so diligently casting spells on me to make sure I don’t get hurt.

I could feel how much he cared about me, and that made my heart flutter uncontrollably.

“I’ll be all right, Char,” I assured him with a smile. “As Thibault said, I’ll do my best to get a decent score on the test. Besides, we’ll only be fighting people of the same gender, so I’m sure it’ll go just fine.”

Including me, there were four women among the knight candidates. This meant I would participate in at most three matches, and all I needed to do was place second overall.

I just have to win once or twice. That should be enough.

As for the men, there were over ten prospective recruits, so Char and the others would have a bit more competition.

“Lam, I’m not asking you to do anything crazy. Just don’t get hurt, all right?” Char told me, always the worrywart.

The twins looked at him, amusement written on their faces.

“You’re acting like her dad, Lord Char,” Fouet said.

“Well, the madam is a handful,” Barre added.

That last comment was completely unnecessary.

I refocused on the knight examination. The jousting duels would be one-on-one, with each candidate aiming to make the other fall from their horse using a lance. Of course, the tips of the weapons had been flattened so that no one would die.

Falling from a horse must be quite painful, though.

I couldn’t help but think that this seemed a bit challenging for new recruits.

As it was a test and not an actual battle, we were only allowed to attack the rider—targeting the horse was against the rules. According to Thibault, horses were precious assets to the knights, so harming them just for the sake of a test was absolutely out of the question. That was a relief, as I would have felt terrible about hurting an innocent horse that had done nothing wrong.

Gahariet explained the rules of the tournament, and we all listened intently. Everyone looked so serious.

“Anyway, women are exempt from the test this time! You all pass!” he concluded.

Huh?

All the women exchanged glances, confused.

Well, that was easy, but...

Was that really okay?

Seeing how bewildered we all were, annoyance took over Gahariet’s features. “This test is just a formality, so there’s no need for us to waste time on your matches. Female knights are all useless, anyway.”

Huuuh?

The women—me included—were even more taken aback by his words. If female knights were all “useless,” what was the point of hiring us in the first place? I didn’t understand.

Oh well. At least I won’t need to joust with a lance; that’s good news. As long as he doesn’t get in the way of our investigation, I don’t care what that man says.

However, he wasn’t quite done yet.

“Instead, you’ll be cheering for the men from the sidelines. That’s the only thing y’all are good for, anyway. Be sure to work hard to boost their spirits.”

Seriouslyyy?

Though Fouet hadn’t said anything, his catchphrase from earlier rang in the back of my mind.

Needless to say, the other women were as baffled as I was. It seemed the Royal Knights didn’t value women for their abilities, but rather viewed us as eye candy for the men. Certain nations had had a similar culture five hundred years ago.

Oh well. I suppose I’ll just cheer for Char and the others. I don’t want anyone to start suspecting me, after all.

For now, my main priority was to get through this without making waves.

Before long, it was time for Thibault’s first match. His opponent was another young man. This was a single-elimination tournament, meaning only the winner would advance to the next round. The participants had all been lent armor to ensure they wouldn’t get hurt too badly, and Thibault’s was way too big for him. He likely had never mounted a horse before his brief training session in Lèvres, as he seemed a bit unsteady astride one when facing his opponent.

“What, he can’t ride a horse?” The other candidates laughed mockingly as they watched him falter with every step his mount took.

Personally, I think he’s doing great for someone who hasn’t even trained for a month.

As someone who couldn’t ride a horse to save my life, I was genuinely impressed. But of course, the others didn’t know that Thibault had never trained to become a knight in the first place.

“Do your best, Thibault!” I cheered.

I didn’t know if my encouragement reached him or not, but although he was still staggering, he raised his lance, ready to charge.

That weapon looks heavy, I thought.

The match soon began, with both opponents thrusting their lances at each other, but they both missed their first strike.

“Hang in there!” another woman cheered.

“Too weak!!!” a deep voice boomed behind us.

“Huh...?”

I turned around in surprise. At first, I didn’t understand why he was yelling at us.

“Too weak”? What does he mean?

Gahariet crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at us, displeased. “That’s no good at all! You’ve got to encourage them with your whole heart and soul! What the hell are you all here for?!”

I very much wanted to reply, “To take the entrance test,” but I decided against it. I had to stay as inconspicuous as possible.

Nothing this man says ever makes sense.

Besides, cheering wasn’t something that could be forced; it had to come from the heart. No one would feel genuinely encouraged by someone who was coerced into cheering for them. They’d just feel sorry and awkward.

“Start over!” Gahariet yelled, deciding to take the reins.

What exactly are we supposed to “start over”? We’re just cheering!

I really struggled to understand this country’s culture. Or maybe it was just the order of chivalry that was strange.

Either way, I don’t like it here.

I didn’t think I would ever get used to this.

In the midst of all this, Thibault lost his balance and fell off his horse without even getting hit.

“We have a winner!” a male knight—one of Gahariet’s subordinates—announced.

Thibault had lost.

Good grief. He urged us to try to get “decent results,” yet he bombed it.

I decided to use my magic to make his equipment lighter for his next round.

After that, Char and the twins had their own matches and managed to get good enough scores. They let two other candidates take the first and second places, with Char ending up third overall and the twins sharing fourth. I thought they did a great job following Thibault’s instructions.

As for the women, me included, we had been forced to cheer without respite for the entire tournament, Gahariet’s watchful eye never leaving us. We were all exhausted.

I don’t want to do any kind of cheering for a while.

Gahariet, on the other hand, was brimming with energy. “You all pass! However, those who lost at everything, including their revival matches, will have to do a hundred laps around the grounds!”

Thibault looked like he was on the verge of passing out. I had made his weapon and armor lighter, but he still hadn’t managed a single win. Even when I’d used my magic to soothe his horse, he’d lost by either dropping his lance or falling from his mount. Beyond using a spell to take direct control of his body, there was nothing more I could have done to help him.

Oh well. I’ll just use an illusion spell to make it look like he’s running the laps.

I approached a teary-eyed Thibault. “Are you all right?”

“Miss Lam, what should I do? I can’t run a hundred laps,” he said.

I nodded. “You definitely can’t.”

“I’ve always been terrible at sports. I did train before coming here, but...”

“Yes, I know you’ve worked hard. Don’t worry, I’ll use an illusion spell to make it look like you’re doing the laps. Get some rest.”

“A-All right...”

“Are you sure you’re fine?”

“Yes. I won’t give up on my investigation just because of this,” Thibault said. The glimmer of determination in his eyes hadn’t faded yet. He was much more resilient than I thought.

It was clear that he took pride in his work as a journalist.

After consoling him, I joined Char and the twins. “Good work, you three.”

Complex expressions crossed their faces as they noticed how exhausted I was from the relentless cheering session I’d been forced into.

“You didn’t have it easy either, Lam. Is your throat all right?” Char asked, gently brushing a hand against my nape.

“I’m fine, thank you for your concern. My throat is just a little tired, that’s all,” I assured him.

But despite my words, it was evident I was drained. Even the twins noticed.

“That captain is insane. He’s even more irrational than the former Mercures,” Barre said.

“I’m glad we had to take the test. I would have hated just standing there and cheering with that man watching me from behind. How awkward,” Fouet added.

It seemed that even they had noticed how unreasonable Gahariet had been.

Glancing at the training grounds, I saw the illusory Thibault I’d created with my magic hard at work running laps.

Yup, looks great!

After that, we were all dragged—ahem, led to the barracks. Just like the schoolhouse in the Mercure estate, they were located in a separate building outside the castle grounds. The ashen color of the timeworn walls reminded me of the old schoolhouse as well, and I felt an urge to repaint them a pastel yellow.

“It looks like the schoolhouse,” Char said, seemingly sharing my thoughts.

A scowl settled over his face as he glared at the building. The sight seemed to bring back some bad memories for him.

“Are you okay? You don’t hate it too much, do you?” I asked, concerned.

“Lam, stop treating me like a child. The twins and I are grown adults. We won’t let old memories drag us down just because of a building.”

He was putting on a brave front, and I couldn’t help but worry about him. The longer I spent at the Mercure estate, the more I learned about the horrible environment Char had been forced to endure as a child.

It had been even worse than when Gourdin was in charge of the schoolhouse.

He’d never told me directly about his childhood, but I couldn’t imagine that a little boy—especially the sheltered son of a duke—wouldn’t have found the situation distressing. Yet, he had never uttered a single word of complaint and worked with more dedication than anyone else to learn magic and combat. Even after becoming earl, he continued to risk his life and endured all the hard work that was foisted onto him. It was no wonder he had no energy left for anything else.

I can only imagine what he must’ve gone through. That doesn’t excuse the way he treated the former Lam, though. But from his point of view, she must’ve seemed like a lazy, spoiled little lady...

Either way, I wouldn’t have been able to break the vicious cycle the Mercures had been stuck in without Char’s help. Thanks to him, the schoolhouse’s children were now growing up freely and happily.

Back when I first reincarnated, I’d thought he was nothing more than a coldhearted, inconsiderate man.

But when I actually talked to him, I realized that he was not only much gentler than I thought, but he valued my opinion as well.

He occasionally acted bossy, yet at other times, he was as candid as a child who knew nothing of the world. I often found myself confused by the dichotomy of his personality.

He may seem like a coldhearted perfectionist to others, but he collects Aurora merch in his spare time. Sometimes, he even falls for scams and ends up buying counterfeits...

He likely just didn’t know how to interact with others outside of work and outside of his role as the head of the Mercure family, which I could somehow understand.

He’s actually nice; he just doesn’t know how to express himself.

Now that he’d gotten rid of the warped views that had been ingrained in him, I believed he would be able to thrive more in the future. As for his magical abilities, they were more than satisfactory.

I can teach him more spells, but I can’t help him process his emotions. I’m not very good at it either. It’s frustrating, not being able to do anything for him.

Even now, I’d tried to be considerate of him, and I’d failed.

“Char, if you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to tell me, all right? I want to help you,” I said.

“What about you? Are you going to be okay? Men and women sleep on different floors. You’re going to be all alone...”

I’d attempted to cheer him up, but I’d made him worry about me instead...

It was true that it would be my first time living in a dormitory, even counting my past life. But as long as I had my magic, I knew for a fact I would be all right.

“I’ll be just fine. Who do you take me for? I’m the witch of legends!” I declared.

Yet, my words seemed to do little to ease his concern. It was like worrying about me had become his default state.

“That might be true, but...listen, if anything happens, come to me immediately, all right?”

Fouet chimed in, “Lord Char worries about you just as much as you worry about him, madam.”

“Yup. You two are husband and wife, it’s only natural you’d be concerned about each other’s well-being,” Barre added.

As always, the twins were of the same mind as each other.

I finally began to understand where Char was coming from.

“I see... So Char feels the same about me as I feel about him.”

“You really are dense about the strangest things,” Barre commented.

“What are you talking about? The madam is always dense,” Fouet quipped.

Ah, it seemed that on this, they disagreed. Well, they both seemed to think I was dense, just in different ways.

I didn’t hold it against them—thanks to them, I could finally understand Char’s feelings.

“Thank you, Char—for worrying about me. Um... You can also come find me if anything happens, all right?”

Char’s face finally relaxed. “I will. I’m counting on you,” he said before reaching forward and ruffling my hair.

“Hey! Here, payback!” I extended my arms and tried to tousle his hair too as revenge, but he was much too tall.

All I managed to do was flap my hands uselessly in the air.

I’m too...short...!

Char watched with amusement as I hopped in place, unable to touch his hair. The only part I could reach was the tip of his ponytail, but he nimbly avoided my hands.

“Th-That’s not fair!” I grumbled.

“Is it not? Although I have to admit, I can’t help but worry about you when it comes to everything except magic.”

He likely meant my body’s constitution. It was true that I’d spent most of this life without much physical exertion, so I was a bit weak. I’d stopped collapsing as often as I used to, but I had very little strength and nearly no stamina. My motor coordination was just as bad. Compared to the Mercures, what with their incredible physical prowess, my combat abilities were abysmal—excluding magic. I was even worse than the little children.

“Plus, your fashion sense is atrocious. I still can’t believe you wanted to wear potato-patterned training clothes today,” Char continued.

“Why are you bringing that up now? Plus, I’d prepared that outfit especially for today, yet you confiscated it from me.”

Thibault’s voice interrupted our bickering. The four of us were currently the only ones able to see him. I had made it so that once his illusory clone returned to the barracks, the original Thibault would reappear. “Um... I don’t know if you remember, but you’re supposed to be strangers. You should probably stop flirting...” he said timidly.

“F-Flirting?!” I exclaimed.

That hadn’t been my intention at all! I began panicking, but Char remained perfectly calm.

“They do look like a couple playfully teasing each other, don’t they?” Fouet interjected. “Barre and I are used to it, but the other recruits might think you just got together right after joining the order.”

“The madam is so dense, she probably had no idea that was the impression she was giving off. But you were absolutely doing it on purpose, Lord Char, weren’t you? Anyway, why is it so bad if they flirt, Thibault?” Barre asked.

The journalist glanced around to ensure no one was listening in on us before replying, “Two recruits getting involved right after joining the order will definitely raise eyebrows! I told you we can’t stand out!”

The twins nodded in understanding. “Ooh, I get it. Some people don’t like seeing happy couples, after all. They’d be like, ‘You two should burn in hell!’”

“Yeah, some guys get really upset over that kind of thing.”

With the twins on his side, Thibault grew a bit more confident and stepped in between the two of us. “Exactly! So, Miss Lam, Mr. Char, please stay away from each other!”

We eventually made it to the knights’ barracks. I was led to the women’s floor, and this was where I parted ways with Char and the others—for the time being, at least. Alongside the other women who had been cheering during the entrance test, I climbed the stairs, only to be greeted at the top by a group of women I assumed were our seniors. They didn’t appear particularly strong or robust like I’d been expecting; in fact, they were all heavily dolled up and draped in extravagant clothes. They didn’t even resemble knights.

One of them, a woman with slanted eyes, stepped forward—she must’ve been the one in charge. Her attire and makeup were even more showy than the others’. “Why are you coming up the stairs so slowly?” she asked us. “I can’t believe it. How dare you express such nonchalance when you’ve made us wait here all this time?”

The knights around her were quick to chime in.

“Exactly! Our squad leader’s right! You should all be running up to us!” one said.

“You’re just rookies! Are you looking down on us, is that it? What impudence!” another added.

They came to that assumption from us walking instead of running up the stairs...? Now, that was just a persecution complex. Besides, no one asked them to wait for us in the first place. In fact, we didn’t even know they would be there.

Oh, dear. They seem just as troublesome as that knight captain from earlier.

The other women with me tried to blend into the background, clearly terrified.

“As punishment, you won’t be eating today. Oh, and you’ll be sleeping in the storage room for the time being. We can’t give a bunch of rookies their own rooms—it’d be a waste,” the squad leader declared loudly.

Her posse ushered us down the hallway toward the storage room. I didn’t understand why it would be “a waste” to give us proper rooms when they seemed to have so many empty ones.

This feels a little nostalgic.

These women reminded me a bit of the former Lam’s maids and ladies-in-waiting.

Thibault had insisted we not make a stir, so I decided to obediently do as I was told for now. But then...

“You, with the strange hair color. Stop right there!”

For some reason, they decided to single me out and make me stay behind. The other new recruits shot me concerned glances. What considerate girls.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” I assured them with a smile.

“What are you smiling for?” one of the senior knights spat. “It’s only your first day, but you’re already getting way too cocky!”

Why in the world did me smiling mean I was getting cocky?

I want to eat durians. I didn’t have time to buy any in town earlier... I was hoping we’d get served some for dinner, but now I’m not allowed to eat...

Just the thought of getting served durians at the dining table filled me with excitement.

The squad leader’s shrill voice jolted me from my daydream. “You were flirting with a man earlier, weren’t you?!”

“Oh, that’s what this is about,” I said.

It seemed that Thibault’s fears had been confirmed, causing me to reflect on the twins’ words. Just by being with Char, I had inadvertently stood out and drawn the ire of the other female knights.

“She probably thinks that Char and I should ‘burn in hell,’ per Fouet’s words. Barre did say that ‘some people get really upset’ seeing a man and a woman interact,” I muttered to myself.

One of the women in the squad leader’s entourage let out a strident cry. “Who do you think you’re talking to?! Do you really think you can disrespect our squad leader and get away with it?”

Thibault had told us to avoid causing a scene, but I refused to sleep in a storage room and go without food!

And I really, really want to eat durian!

There was no way I would let these girls force me to skip a meal. If it meant resorting to magic, then so be it!

“You heard that? Stop looking down on us, rookie!” another woman said, stepping forward. She seemed especially aggressive and quick to anger. After marching over, she tried to shove me, but the moment her hands made contact with my body, she let out a pained scream. “Aaah! I-It hurts!”

I hadn’t budged an inch.

“Oh, how nostalgic,” I said.

Because of all the spells my worrywart of a husband had cast on me—the one that made my skin as hard as orichalcum, the one that prevented me from being shoved, and the one that reflected all attacks against me—anyone who tried to hurt me would find themselves suffering the damage instead.

Let me see exactly what these spells do.

The one that sneakily reflected attacks against me didn’t return the attack to my opponent, per se; instead, it converted it into pain. Whoever tried to hurt me would find themselves suffering the pain from their own attack, but without taking any sort of damage. I surmised Char had made it this way so that I wouldn’t stand out...though I questioned whether that had been a smart decision or not. There was nothing inconspicuous about that spell.

Oh, and he’s even made it so the pain my opponent feels is a hundred times stronger than the original force of their attack. I hadn’t even noticed him adding that to the spell!

As a result, the woman who’d tried to push me had found herself in quite a bit of pain. It appeared that Char had made it so it wouldn’t last for too long, but it must’ve still hurt a lot.

The other female knights didn’t understand why their friend was yelling. To them, it must’ve appeared like she tried to push me, then began screaming for no reason.

“Why did you shriek so suddenly? You look fine.”

“Uuugh, she... She...” The woman pointed at me, tears pooling in her eyes.

Despite not fully grasping what had just happened, the squad leader reassured her, “It’s all right. Leave the rest to me.”

Her words didn’t seem fueled by concern about her friend as much as a desire to teach me a lesson.

“What did you do to my cute little junior?” she asked, her tone accusatory.

“Nothing.”

I technically didn’t do anything. Char had.

“Look at how much pain she’s in! You can’t possibly have done nothing!”

“She’s the one who pushed me. You saw it too, didn’t you?”

“Don’t talk back to me!” the squad leader snapped. “And mind your manners! I’m your superior, and they’re your seniors.”

Now that she mentioned it, I realized I had been addressing them just as I did everyone else. I’d never really spoken politely to anyone in either of my lifetimes. The old Lam had, back when she lived with her parents and shortly after marrying Char, but as soon as I regained my memories, I had slipped back into my old habits.

I made a mental note to be a bit more careful from now on, to avoid standing out.

“As punishment, you’ll be doing chores for the rest of the day! First, you’ll do everyone’s laundry, then you’ll clean and organize the entire place, and finally, you’ll weed and maintain the training grounds. You’d better finish everything before nightfall! If you don’t, you’ll be sleeping outside!”

That volume of work was physically impossible to complete in a day—well, without magic, that was.

It could technically be done in no time, but I know these women don’t actually want me to do chores for the sake of doing chores; they just want to punish me.

They’d find something else to complain about as soon as I finished, and that cycle would likely continue until they found a new target.

I’ve attracted their ire, and it’s already proving to be a challenge.

As it turned out, Thibault’s warnings about life in the Royal Knights had proven to be all too accurate.

These girls will get in the way of my investigation... How annoying. What should I do?

As I stood there, weighing my options, the squad leader’s goons returned with buckets, dumping the contents right in front of me. Kitchen waste, mud, and muck splattered across the floor.

I can’t believe they’re willing to dump filth all over their own living space like that. These girls really are something.

The women snickered at the shock on my face. This scene really reminded me of the old Lam’s life before I regained my memories. How nostalgic.

“You’d better hurry up and start cleaning!” one said, cackling.

“You have to wipe everything off, you hear?” another added.

Glancing at her followers, the squad leader smiled triumphantly. She observed me in silence, waiting for my reaction.

I decided to deal with the muck later. First, I needed to deal with these women.

“Are you the one with the highest rank among us?” I asked the squad leader.

“I am. I have the most power out of all the female knights!”

“I see. That makes things much simpler, then.”

Avoiding the filth on the ground, I walked up to the squad leader and enthusiastically patted her shoulder. Her face twisted in pain. It seemed that the spell Char had cast on me activated whenever I made any kind of physical contact with someone who harbored ill will against me.

“O-Ouch!”

“Hmm? Is something the matter, ma’am? Are you hurt anywhere?” I asked, feigning worry as I began patting her arms and hands as if looking for injuries.

I’d even called her “ma’am.” See? I could be polite when I wanted.

Unable to take it anymore, the squad leader let out a loud cry. “Agh... Gya! Aaaah!”

She staggered before eventually collapsing to the floor.

“Ah, ma’am, that’s—” one of her minions tried to warn her, but it was too late.

The squad leader fell to her knees right in the middle of the mess the other women had created earlier. She screamed again as she stood back up. “Aaah! What the hell?!”

“Oh, dear. What a pickle. Your clothes are all dirty, ma’am,” I said.

“Y-You little...! You did something to me, didn’t you?! Every time you touched me, it hurt like crazy! You’re just like those mana wielders! Disgusting!” the woman shouted as she glared at me, not even bothering to hide her true nature anymore.

Just as Thibault said, discrimination against mana wielders was still rampant in this country.

“Are you sure you’re not feeling unwell, ma’am? I will clean up around here, so please get some rest in your room. Besides, you keep yelling. You must be under a lot of stress,” I said with fake concern.

“You bitch...!” The woman narrowed her eyes; she was ready to pounce on me at any moment.

However, she must have recalled the pain that surged through her body whenever I touched her, as she abruptly turned on her heels without another word.

“You’d better clean this all up!” her minions barked at me before trailing after her like shadows.

“All righty, now I’m just going to teleport all this filth to the squad leader’s room, then obediently pluck out the weeds from the training grounds and send those to her room as well. I’ll do the same with the laundry after cleaning it with magic. It’ll land in the muck and get dirty again, but that’s not my problem now, is it?”

From what I’d seen, these women’s solidarity was only surface level. They weren’t friends; they were simply sucking up to the one in charge, so if I managed to calm the squad leader down, the others should follow suit.

I’ll break her spirit so thoroughly that she’ll lose the will to pick on me.

This was a strategy Épée had taught me in my past life, when I became a court mage and had to travel to the royal palace. He’d been worried the court would try to bully me. I never would’ve thought it’d come in handy here, but I also never would’ve been able to come up with something like this on my own, so I was very thankful to him.

“I’m hungry. I suppose I’ll use a detection spell to find some food,” I muttered, doing just that. “Ah, it seems that the cooks from the mess room prepared enough for everyone. I’ll teleport four meals over and share them with my fellow rookies.”

They must’ve been exhausted—both mentally and physically—after the cheering session, so I couldn’t bear to let them go without food. I used another detection spell to find the storage room the three girls had been led to and briskly made my way over there, the food I’d teleported from the kitchen floating beside me.

Unfortunately, there was no durian on the menu today.

※

Char, the twins, and Thibault ran up the stairs to the men’s floor once they’d parted from Lam. They’d originally been walking, but the other knights had heckled them, yelling that they were being too slow, so they had no choice but to pick up the pace. As it had once been at the Mercure estate, it seemed there were a ton of incomprehensible rules in place too—they were just different.

Only three of them were currently heading to their assigned rooms. Thibault was taking advantage of the invisibility spell Lam had cast on him to trail behind the other knights and eavesdrop on their conversation.

Char couldn’t help but feel a sense of hatred toward the barracks. Though it was pure coincidence, it had the exact same construction as the schoolhouse: Each floor featured a storage room for household goods. The women resided on the third floor, while the men’s quarters were on the second. The first floor housed the communal facilities like the mess room, armory, infirmary, common room, conference room, and even a small prayer room. And Char found he harbored discontent not just toward the building itself but the people within it too. It all reminded him of his past.

And Lam is all alone in here... Is she really going to be fine?

Char knew that his wife wouldn’t be bothered by something like this. She was the witch of legends—the strongest in the world, and she didn’t need anyone to protect her.

But...

“The madam looked a little sad, didn’t she?” Fouet commented.

“She did. She always acts tough, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t like being alone,” Barre confirmed.

Their conversation only made Char’s urge to rush to his wife’s side stronger.

“She’s just putting on a brave face.”

“She should just be honest with her feelings. But then again, I bet Lord Char finds that side of her adorable.”

The twins had seen right through him.

“That’s none of your business,” Char replied sourly.

As they finished speaking, screams echoed from the women’s floor above, with an “ouch!” mixed in every now and then.

The spell I cast on Lam has triggered. I can feel it.

Someone must’ve tried laying a hand on her—and had suffered the backlash of it.

“I can’t believe they’re already trying to hurt her. Good thing I made the spell reflect the pain of their attack a hundredfold,” he muttered.

Meanwhile, the twins eyed him with sparkles in their eyes. “Ah, true love.”

These two always poked fun at Char whenever Lam was concerned.

“And just like that, Thibault’s plan had flown straight out the window. The madam has already caused a huge uproar,” Fouet said.

“The women’s floor seems like perilous territory. Good thing you’re so overprotective, Lord Char. Your spells turned out to be rather useful,” Barre added, amused.

Behind them, Thibault was clutching his head. “You’ve already made a scene, and we’ve just arrived!”

“If those women hadn’t tried attacking her, nothing would’ve happened. I was just protecting Lam.”

A year ago, Char never would’ve imagined he’d be this worried about his wife. He’d been so busy that there had been no time for him to feel anything, and he hadn’t been able to bring himself to care about her. Not to mention, his body and soul had been tainted by the previous generation of Mercures and their terrible practices.

In fact, he had had no time to worry about anyone else, so the question of whether he’d ever care for his wife hadn’t even crossed his mind. Only recently had he realized how immature and small-minded he’d been. It was no wonder Lam had wanted to divorce him back then; any woman in her position would have felt the same.

The knights here all reminded him of his past self, and he couldn’t stand it. If his wife had been anyone other than Lam, he would’ve still been just like them. She had changed House Mercure for the better and freed Char and the others from their shackles—all by herself. She’d even shown Char the kind of things he ought to do to follow in her footsteps.

I still can’t hold a candle to her.

Both his magic and his spirit still weren’t at her level, and he sometimes worried whether he had truly managed to escape the cage of the Mercures’ rules and prejudices.

Yet, Lam had accepted him as her husband despite his flaws.

Is there anything I can do to repay her?

Char never hesitated to lend her his powers when she needed them, but that didn’t come close to matching everything she’d done for him. She was the strongest, standing alone at the top, and always felt the need to protect others. Char wanted to continue being someone she could rely on. He’d admired her his entire life, and now, his goal was to be able to match her magical strength and prowess. If he could see the world she saw, if he could go where she was—she wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

I’ve had enough of being protected.

They finally reached their rooms. Fortunately, they were bunked right next to each other.

“What was next, again? Dinner? I’ll go check on Lam until we have to go,” Char declared.

“Be careful not to let the other knights spot you, or they’ll say the two of you are in an illicit relationship,” Fouet warned him, amused.

How could they be in an illicit relationship? They were husband and wife.

After making sure only he and the twins were in the vicinity, Char teleported over to Lam.

As it turned out, his wife was just fine. She was sitting on the floor of a storage room, completely unperturbed, as she ate dinner with the other new recruits. Where had she even gotten the food from? Knowing Lam, she’d probably taken it from the mess room without asking.

“Do you want some, Char? It’s pretty good,” she offered.

“I’m fine. More importantly, what in the world was that commotion earlier?”

“Let’s just say there was a bit of an incident. Some annoying seniors tried to pick on me, but it’s all right now. And don’t worry—I didn’t do anything too conspicuous!”

“I can still hear screams coming from the other rooms,” Char pointed out.

Lam listened carefully and heard the squad leader shriek in horror. “Indeed... Who knows? Perhaps weeds fell from her ceiling or something.”

It seemed that she’d done something else, on top of the spells he’d cast on her.

But...oh well.

“As long as you’re fine, that’s what matters. If you ever need to use more heavy-handed methods during your investigation, don’t hesitate to do so.”

No matter where they went, Lam was still Lam—she’d proven to him once again that he needn’t worry about her. Of course, Char had been aware of that fact from the start.

Call him arrogant, but he still couldn’t help but harbor the wish to one day become her equal.

※

Inside the uselessly huge storage room, the other female recruits and I ate dinner. I’d taken the food from the mess room without permission and teleported it over to the women’s floor. Of course, when I’d entered I had made sure to carry the plates in my hands so that the other rookies wouldn’t see me using magic.

Though we’d only known each other for a few hours, we had already reached the stage where we could chat comfortably. Of the three other girls, I got along best with a commoner called Ahn—she seemed pleasant and genuine, and she wore her red hair twined into braids. Coincidentally, her name was the one I’d had in my past life, so I felt a sort of kinship between us. In my village, it had been a common name for firstborn daughters. Perhaps a town in this nation had a similar tradition.

“I meant to ask, but why did you all join the knights?” I inquired.

“My family needs money,” Ahn replied.

The other two nodded in agreement, saying that their reasons were the same.

“It’s the highest-paying job a woman can have in Hanche,” one explained.

“It’s still only half of what the men get paid, but it’s better than the other places,” the other added.

Ahn nodded. “It makes sense, since we don’t do the same thing as the men. And based on the entrance exam, we’ll have really different duties.”

The three of them seemed to consider that it was a matter of course they were paid less than the men.

Well, I suppose they have a point. It makes sense that those who risk their lives in battle would be paid more than those who are just there to cheer for them. Besides, the men must also receive hazard pay and compensation for working late at night.

As a former court mage, I could more or less understand. But the female knights’ duties were still completely unclear to me.

Surely, we’re not going to just be cheering for the men the entire time, are we?

I wouldn’t be able to handle it if every day from tomorrow onward was a repeat of the exam, with Gahariet watching us like a hawk from behind.

As I was lost in thought, Ahn turned to me, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “More importantly, Lam! Who’s that hottie who came to visit you earlier?! He seemed really worried about you.”

“He’s the reason the seniors picked on you in the first place, isn’t he? So, who is he? Your boyfriend? When did you two get together?” one of the other girls asked.

“I’m so jealous! He sneaked all the way up here just to see you, didn’t he? How romantic. I want a hot boyfriend too!”

Since I hadn’t been alone, Char had hidden the fact that he’d used magic. He’d teleported in front of the storage room and entered the room normally. When leaving, he’d done the same, exiting the room through the door before teleporting back downstairs. Because of this, the other girls hadn’t noticed that he had used magic.

“It’s as you said. Char is my hus—I mean, my b-boyfriend.” I felt my face flush just from uttering the words. Thank goodness Char wasn’t there to see it.

The three girls squealed excitedly, their cheeks turning red.

Do they like talking about these sorts of things, perhaps? They remind me a little of Mine.

She also liked to talk about romance and the like, and she would often ask me questions about love. I was probably the worst person to ask, but then again, it wasn’t like there were many options at the Mercure estate.

“So? How did you two start dating?!” one of the girls asked, bending forward eagerly.

“Um...”

I hesitated. I couldn’t possibly tell them that my family had all but sold me to Char in exchange for money.

Fortunately, Ahn came to my rescue by changing the topic. “It’s such a shame that the seniors started targeting you. Are you all right, Lam? I’m really sorry for not coming to your rescue earlier.”

“Oh, I’m fine. It’s no big deal,” I replied.

They hadn’t witnessed the senior’s pathetic attempt at bullying me since they’d been ushered to the storage room before it’d happened.

“How horrible of them, harassing you just because you have a boyfriend. I’m sure they’re just jealous. It’s on them, though; who would want to date nasty women like them?”

The three of them grimaced.

I’d never really talked with women my age like this. It was a fresh and rather pleasant experience. In my past life, I’d mostly spent my time with my teacher and my disciples, so I hadn’t had any opportunities to form friendships with other women. And in this life, I’d been isolated pretty much from birth, so I couldn’t even have made friends if I’d wanted to.

I like this. It’s nice.

While I was here, I resolved to do everything in my power to ensure that nothing bad would befall these girls.

When we were done eating, I left the storage room, claiming I would take our plates back to the mess hall. From the other side of the hallway, we could still hear the senior female knights screaming.

I feel bad for the cleaning staff, so I’ll make sure to tidy up later.

I used my magic to quickly clean up the plates and teleported them back to the kitchen before returning to the storage room. But then I spotted Gahariet coming up the stairs with his own minions.

What brings the knight captain to the women’s floor? I wondered.

I hurriedly stepped back into the room, cracked the door open, and peered out down the hallway to the staircase to see what was happening.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” Ahn and the others asked, craning their necks to peek through the gap in the door.

“The knight captain has come up. He’s heading to the senior knights’ rooms.”

It would be a hassle if he started causing a fuss over the muck in the squad leader’s room, so I teleported everything to the garden for the time being.

“Where are you all?” the knight captain asked, surprised.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway, and the squad leader eventually appeared. “C-Captain. We’re very sorry about the wait,” she said, bowing her head.

She had acted with such self-importance around us, yet in front of the captain, she seemed like a completely different person.

“I can’t see anything from here. I’ll try getting closer,” I whispered to the others.

“Don’t, Lam. It’s dangerous!”

I left the storage room and scurried down the hallway; Ahn and the others trailed behind me, perhaps out of concern. I would’ve felt bad if something happened to them because of me, so I used an illusion spell to hide us all.

“Oh, there they are—the squad leader and the captain,” I said when we rounded the corner.

The two of them were standing there, chatting, flanked by their respective minions.

“...and so, we’ll be holding a welcome party for the new recruits after dinner,” the captain declared.

“Understood. However, the new girls won’t be able to attend. They’re presently under detention for breaking the rules,” the squad leader replied.

“What bullshit is that? It’ll be one dull party without any young women around. You’d better bring them along.”

“Huh...? Ah, y-yes, captain.” The squad leader nodded timidly.

The four of us exchanged glances.

“A welcome party? I can’t believe they’re actually holding one for us,” Ahn whispered, puzzled.

We all shared her bewilderment.

“But it just sounds like the knight captain wants to ogle us the entire evening. I have a bad feeling about this...”

“Me too.”

Looks of apprehension spread across their faces.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll come to your rescue,” I assured them.

“Good grief, Lam, you’re going to attract the seniors’ hate again,” Ahn replied. “Don’t do anything rash, okay?”

“Ahn’s right.” The other two nodded, offering me smiles.

With that, we made our way back to the storage room. A short while later, the squad leader arrived to fetch us, and we all headed to the mess hall together. We adopted meek expressions as we tried our best not to provoke the seniors again. However, every time our eyes met, we nearly burst into laughter.

This is...nice.

My interactions with Ahn and the others were enjoyable in a way I’d never experienced before.

We eventually arrived at the mess hall on the first floor, where it seemed that all members of the Royal Knights had gathered. The old, worn tables were covered in snacks and bottles of alcohol. These had all been arranged by the servants who worked at the barracks, not the knights themselves.

Oh, dear, there are a lot of people here. I had no idea there were so many Royal Knights.

The overwhelming majority of them were men, and Ahn’s and the others’ faces stiffened when they took in the crowd. The poor things were scared. All of these men were bigger and stronger than they were, so it was no wonder they’d panic. Besides, the knights all had a violent and vulgar air to them. There were likely nobles in the crowd as well, but I wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.

Where are Char and the others...? Ah, over there.

The new male knights stood in a corner, blending into the background. Thibault was no longer invisible.

“Hey, isn’t that the man who had to run a hundred laps? I wonder if he’s all right...” Ahn asked, eyeing Thibault with concern.

“He didn’t win a single match, if I remember correctly, right? I hope he’s not feeling too defeated,” one of the other two said.

My fellow rookies all seemed worried about poor Thibault.

All of a sudden, the squad leader’s shrill voice echoed from behind us. “What are you doing, standing there and chatting?! Get to your positions, and make it quick!” she barked, two of her minions flanking her.

“Our...positions?” I asked, confused.

The squad leader pointed at a table. “Over there! The knight captain especially asked for you rookies, so you’d better be grateful!”

We were told to sit at the same table as Gahariet, with two of us on each side of him.

Four new female recruits sitting on either side of the knight captain...? That’s a little strange, isn’t it?

The squad leader shooed us toward the table, and we did as we were told. Once we were seated, she and her two minions took their places in the chairs arranged behind us, like they were watching us.

Why are they sitting there and not at the table?

We’d already spent the entire examination test with Gahariet breathing down our necks, and now, the squad leader would be doing the same. I was sick of it. Meanwhile, the remaining female knights settled into their seats at the other tables, each one placed among groups of men.

This seating arrangement is so odd, I thought, confused.

“What are you doing, rookies?! Hurry up and serve the men drinks! It’s almost time for the welcome toast!” the squad leader barked from behind us.

“Huh...? Ah, y-yes, ma’am!” Ahn, who sat behind me, all but jumped out of her seat. She grabbed a bottle and poured what seemed to be red wine into the captain’s glass.

Following her example, we served alcohol to the nearby male knights and the three seniors behind us, before returning to our seats.

Well, I suppose this is our job as new recruits. Oh, but hold on a minute... The male knights are still sitting down. Aren’t they going to get in trouble?

Looking around, I noticed that the female knights were the only ones bustling about. Our seniors were working, yet the new male recruits were just lounging at their tables.

When everyone’s glass was full, Ahn turned to our squad leader and asked timidly, “Um, I can’t drink alcohol... Could I go get some water for the welcome toast?”

The squad leader immediately burst into exaggerated laughter, making a show of mocking Ahn. “You can’t drink alcohol, you say? Trying to be cute, are you? You know, that kind of thing isn’t exactly popular these days.”

“N-Not at all. It’s just, I feel sick when I drink...” Ahn tried to explain herself.

“How dare you make demands when you’re just a rookie?! Be grateful for the alcohol, and drink what you’re served! We went out of our way to get these bottles just for you all!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am...” Ahn muttered, visibly dejected.

“You’re not ‘making demands,’ though,” I whispered to her.

Some people’s bodies just couldn’t process certain components in alcohol. When they drank, they would feel unwell, and in worst-case scenarios, they might even collapse and have to be taken to a doctor. I assumed Ahn must’ve suffered from that type of constitution.

“Don’t worry—I’ll swap out the wine in your glass for grape juice. Don’t tell anyone, okay?” I whispered to her.

“How are you going to do that?” she asked.

“I’m actually a mana wielder.”

Her eyes shot wide open at the confession.

When I teleported our plates back to the kitchen earlier, I had used my magic to search the room and saw that they had several different types of fruit juices in the pantry, including grape juice.

I’ll sneakily return the wine in her glass to the bottle, then pour in some of the juice instead.

Hiding her glass so that no one saw what I was doing, I used my magic to make the transition seamless. Wine and grape juice were the same color, so no one would be able to tell the difference at a glance. Ahn stared at her glass, complete befuddlement written over her face.

Oh, right... This nation is full of devout followers of the Faith, and most people here hate mana wielders.

I’d used my magic to help her, but I began to worry I may have done more harm than good. I considered her a friend, so it truly would be a shame if she started despising me because I was a mana wielder.

But to my surprise, Ahn offered me a little smile. “Thank you, Lam.”

“You’re not upset?” I asked.

“Of course not. I’m surprised that you’re a mana wielder, but I would never hate you for helping me. You almost made me wish I could use magic myself,” she whispered to me so that no one would overhear our conversation.

“You can,” I assured her.

“But I don’t have mana.”

“You do. It was just sealed by the Faith when you underwent their blessing ceremony. Oh, the welcome party is about to start, so I’ll tell you more about it later, all right?”

I had been so engrossed in my conversation that I’d completely lost track of my surroundings...and didn’t realize the squad leader had been eavesdropping on us the entire time.

Finally, Gahariet stood up, raising his glass high. “Today, we welcome fourteen new members to our ranks! Let’s celebrate by drinking the night away!” he announced.

“Yeaaah!”

“Cheers!”

Ferocious roars erupted from the crowd.

Glancing at Char, I saw that he was sporting a look of displeasure. He hated loud places. As he took a sip of his wine, his expression soured even further. I assumed he didn’t find the taste pleasant.

Well, he is used to fine alcohol.

He was an earl, after all. House Mercure was a bit of an odd one, but the food and drinks were always high quality. However, the wine served here was clearly cheap, meant only to get the knights drunk. Fouet and Barre hadn’t even deigned to sample it. Too good for it, huh?

Wait, the captain is drinking a different type of wine from everybody else.

Taking a good look at the bottle in front of him, I saw that he was the only one drinking expensive wine, as if it were a given.

That’s not fair now, is it?

Throwing him a sidelong glare, I drained my glass of grape juice. I had changed the contents of my glass alongside Ahn’s earlier. Fortunately, it wasn’t too sweet, which made it easy to drink.

Once the welcome toast concluded and things had settled down a bit, the knight captain announced, “It’s time for each of you rookies to introduce yourselves! After you do, you’ll chug an entire bottle of wine to prove your commitment to the order!”

“Yeaaah!”

What in the world was that logic? As far as I knew, drinking wine wasn’t part of a knight’s duties.

Five hundred years ago, some countries had royal and imperial “knights” whose only duty was to keep their masters company while they drank, but Thibault told us that the Royal Knights of Hanche had no such obligations. Well, at least the men didn’t. I was still confused as to what the duties of the female knights were.

Ahn, whom I had narrowly saved from having to drink alcohol earlier, had paled at Gahariet’s statement.

“Don’t worry. I’ll swap the wine in all the new recruits’ bottles for grape juice,” I told her. “I feel a bit bad for those who actually like alcohol, but oh well.”

It wasn’t good to imbibe such a large volume of alcohol at once, even for those with a strong tolerance.

The male recruits began introducing themselves one after the other. All were commoners, perhaps because the working conditions were so bad here that nobles would find it beneath them. They’d definitely choose a more lucrative job.

Thibault said this was the place where all the good-for-nothing noble children ended up.

Each rookie grabbed one of the large wine bottles, a resolute look on their faces, before slamming the contents back and gulping it down their throats. Their expressions would shift after a few seconds, realization dawning in their eyes that the bottles were filled with juice.

It was soon Thibault’s turn.

“M-My name is Thibault! I’m a farmer! I-I’ll do my best...” he stammered, his voice pitching up an octave due to his nerves.

“Gya ha ha, good job! C’mon now, drink up!” Gahariet urged him.

Thibault let out a whine and reluctantly did as he was told. When he was done, he looked at his empty drink in confusion. “Huh... This...”

Realizing that I had fiddled around with the wine, Char immediately stood up to prevent Thibault from saying anything out loud. “I’m Char. I’m a hunter.”

Each of us had come up with our own fake job, and I found myself thinking that, in a way, Char’s duties weren’t that different from those of his cover’s—except that he hunted monsters instead of game.

“I’m Fouet, a, uuuh...a hunter.”

“The name’s Barre. I’m also a hunter.”

That all three of them were claiming to be hunters made them look incredibly suspicious.

Couldn’t they have gone for, I don’t know, fishermen? Or anything else?

Knowing the twins, they were probably too lazy to come up with their own backstory.

The three of them downed their bottles of juice and turned to me in unison.

They know it was me. No surprise there.

I nodded as if to confirm that, yes, I had magically replaced the wine with juice.

The last young man to introduce himself was the one who’d scored first at the entrance exam. He had dark red hair cut right above the shoulders and a rather slim build.

“I’m Ves. I’m a lumberjack.”

He drank his wine in one go and, just like the others, seemed confused at the taste, glancing around in puzzlement.

“No wonder he was top of the exam! He sure can drink!” someone exclaimed, clapping mockingly.

“But don’t let it get to your head, kid!” another said. “You think you can push your way through the ranks just like that, huh? Maybe in a hundred years! Down another bottle! We believe in tough love here, ha ha ha!”

“Huh? No way...” Ves was, understandably, about to protest, but Gahariet didn’t let him.

“Stop mumbling to yourself and drink! You still haven’t had enough, have you?”

The knights all began ganging up on the poor rookie, cheering for him to chug another bottle. Ves, on the other hand, seemed to be having a terrible time.

So this is why Thibault told us to aim for a barely above-average score at the entrance exam... I understand now.

Ves reluctantly finished another bottle of juice, but Gahariet insisted he drink more. And so, he cleaned off a third bottle, a grim look on his face.

The poor thing. In the end, his “reward” for scoring first at the entrance exam was to be forced to drink three bottles of grape juice.

“Women, you’re next,” Gahariet said, turning to us.

Vulgar hoots and whistling erupted from the crowd, and I saw the faces of Ahn and the others contort in a mix of disgust and nervousness.

Well, we don’t really have a choice here.

I decided to go first. “I’m Lam. My parents are farmers.”

It wasn’t technically a lie. When I was Aurora, my parents had really been apple farmers.

“Ooh, how refreshing and pure! I like her!”

“Come sit on my lap, darling. Oh, wait, is that sexual harassment? Bwa ha ha!”

“Yoo-hoo, Lam! I might be a bit old for you, but wanna go on a date with me later? Just kidding!”

The older male knights were getting overly worked up. They were all wasted already.

“Here, Lam! How old do I look?” one asked me.

“Um...?” I didn’t know why he was asking me to guess his age, but I gave it my best shot. “Fifty?”

“Hey, I’m only forty-five! Read the room a little, will you?! You’re supposed to say that I don’t look a day over thirty, even if it’s not true! Women are expected to flatter men, y’know? Jeez, rookies these days are no good, lemme tell you!”

And now his mood had soured, for some reason... I really didn’t understand what was expected of me here.

I answered his question and got yelled at... What did he hope to achieve in the first place, asking me how old he looks?

Would he truly have appreciated being told he looked thirty, even if it was a lie? I sat back down, unconvinced. I couldn’t tell if it was the social norms of this era that eluded me, if I simply didn’t understand how things worked in Hanche, or if it was this chivalric order that was strange.

The female knights poured drinks for the men and served them snacks while the remaining recruits introduced themselves. Now that I was actually paying attention to them, I noticed that the women hadn’t eaten or drunk a thing.

Following my example, Ahn and the other two resolved to do their own self-introductions. No male knight asked them how old he looked, and the relief was clear on their faces as they settled back down.

Once everyone had taken their turn, Gahariet stood up and declared, “All right, lads, let’s drink these rookies under the table! Time for another round of chugging! This time, you have to deliver a one-liner when you finish and come up for breath!”

He wanted us to drink even more? And, this time, we were supposed to come up with a joke too? How unreasonable could this man be?

“If any of you can’t drink, the others will take collective responsibility by doing another round of chugging!” he added.

Gahariet seemed to really like making people drink. It appeared to be the only thing on his mind.

And now he was talking about “collective responsibility.”

I hate that phrase.

At first glance, it might give the illusion of team spirit, which could boost everyone’s morale, but in reality, it was nothing more than a cowardly diversion tactic. By shifting the blame onto the weakest or least capable member of the group, you could avoid being the subject of their ire yourself.

Anyway, per Gahariet’s whim, we were forced to go through yet another round of chugging.

It’s only juice, so none of the rookies will get drunk from this, but I’m starting to feel bloated with all this liquid sloshing around in my stomach.

The senior knights, on the other hand, had been downing glass after glass while watching our suffering and were now completely plastered. They had forgone all pretense of decorum and were being incredibly loud, wandering from table to table and pestering the female knights. In fact, they were so out of it that they had forgotten we were supposed to come up with one-liners after each drink. Some had even started singing.

The knight captain was being just as annoying. “Y’know, things were even tougher when I joined the Royal Knights! You’re all too soft! Hey, are you listening to me?”

The squad leader and her posse were showering him with insincere praises, fake smiles pinned to their faces—a stark contrast to how they’d treated me when they ordered me to clean the barracks. On the sly, they also urged us to flatter him as well.

I don’t get it. Why are they fine with being treated like pieces of meat?

They were prioritizing the captain’s and the other men’s favor over actually becoming skilled knights. It was mind-boggling.

I know I’m only in Hanche to investigate the Faith, but I would like to use my time as a member of the Royal Knights to create a better environment for everyone.

After all, I might very well be able to leave as soon as my business concluded, but Ahn and the others would have to stay.

The drunken knights—including Gahariet—eventually began shedding their clothes and dancing, prompting all the women to avert their gazes lest they witness something very much unwanted. As for Char and the twins, their expressions reflected utter confusion, as though the knights were like strange monsters they’d never chanced upon before. Well, to be fair, they probably hadn’t seen anything of the sort, ever.

As I stood there, utterly dumbfounded, Ahn suddenly cried out beside me.

“No! Please stop!”

I spun around to see that one of the drunken knights had come to pester her. “Oh come on, lemme feel you up a bit, will you? Let’s go have some fun over there, just the two of us,” he said, his voice slurring.

“I-I don’t want to!”

Sitting not too far from us, Thibault overheard, and he stood up to come to Ahn’s rescue—but was much too scared to speak up and just fidgeted nervously.

Well, I suppose I have to intervene.

I slid in between the knight and Ahn. “Hey, can’t you see you’re bothering her? Stubborn men aren’t exactly popular, you know. Why don’t you step away and try again when you’ve sobered up?”

“Who the hell are you?” he barked. “Back off! I’m talkin’ to her, not you!”

“You’re the one who needs to back off,” I retorted, using a spell to put him to sleep.

He immediately collapsed to his knees, unconscious, his face slamming down into the floor.

“Oh dear, it seems he drank himself into oblivion. Are you all right, Ahn?”

“Thank you, Lam. I was so scared...” she said, shaking.

The other new girls gathered around and tried to console her.

These knights really are unmanageable. They’re all adults, yet they can’t behave in the slightest.

The ones who’d been dancing naked must’ve tired themselves out, as half of their group was now nodding off against the wall.

We should be able to go back to our floors soon, right? If we don’t go to bed soon, we’ll be exhausted tomorrow...

It was already past midnight. As I took in the sight of all the snoring knights sprawled out on the floor, I suddenly felt a presence loom behind me.

“Hic! Guess it’s time t’call it a night. Hic! Everyone! Go back t’your rooms.” The captain was slurring, barely able to articulate the words.

His breath stunk of alcohol, and with a leering grin, he leaned in to settle a hand onto my shoulder.

“You. Come back t’my room with me. I’ll teach ya what it means t’be a rookie here, hic.”

“No, thank you.”

“Shuddup. Rookies ain’t s’posed t’back-talk, hic. Issa order from yer captain. I’ll take real good care ’f ya.”

Despite my refusal, he insisted on his way.

Does he really think I enjoy being talked to like this?

Perhaps the squad leader and her minions had sung his praises so much that he genuinely believed he was that good of a catch.

His hand had barely made contact with my shoulder when it was slapped away. An expressionless Char stood behind Gahariet. “Don’t touch Lam with your dirty hands, sleazebag.”

“Huh? Whoddaya think ya are, ya rookie?!” The captain swung a fist at Char, who effortlessly caught his arm and twisted it. “Ouch! Id hurds! Id hurds!”

“To think that a man with your abilities is captain of the Royal Knights. Something truly is wrong with this country,” Char said.

“H-Hey, y’all! Don’ just watch! Come help me!” Gahariet yelled when he spotted the twins and Thibault coming to stand behind Char.

“Mr. Char, don’t cause too big a fuss,” Thibault said, nervousness on his face. “We won’t be able to do our thing undisturbed if you... Eeek!”

“Shut up. Are you saying I should’ve just sat back and watched that man forcefully drag Lam to his room?”

“N-No, but...”

The knights who hadn’t drunk themselves unconscious had started murmuring among themselves. I didn’t want this to come back and bite us later, so I put them all to sleep.

“Miss Lam, you can’t use such a big spell in front of everyone...!” Thibault said.

“Don’t worry. They’ll just think this was all a dream,” I assured him.

“They won’t! They all saw the same thing! They’ll know it wasn’t just a dream!” he insisted.

“Well... Maybe. But it would be too much of a hassle to manipulate all of their memories to make them forget. Didn’t you hear what King Flèche said last time? I once reverted a group of villains back to mental infancy when I messed up that spell.”

“That... That wasn’t a joke?!”

The only ones in the room who were still awake were the Mercures, Thibault, Gahariet, and me.

Char cranked the captain’s arm further, and he screamed in pain. “For now, I’ll just teleport him to the middle of a nearby forest. Spending the night outside should help cool his head.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I’m a bit worried about his future behavior, so I’ll also cast a spell to make his voice get a tad more high-pitched every time he’s mean to one of the knights,” I said.

“Then I’ll add one that shortens his legs just a little for each improper comment he makes to a woman,” Char added.

“I love that! He should be fine as long as he’s not doing anything questionable. Plus, they’re such small, inconspicuous spells that Thibault won’t be able to complain about them.”

These spells actually had a behavior-assessment element woven into them. For instance, my spell would detect every irrational and outrageous demand Gahariet made toward someone of a lower rank, as well as every instance of violence he directed at them, and would trigger accordingly. I surmised Char would do something similar.

The twins watched our exchange, amused.

“A knight captain with a super high-pitched voice and tiny legs, huh? His authority will drop by half when he yells at us,” Fouet commented.

“Half? I’d say more. I’m kinda curious to see how different he’ll look,” Barre added.

The two of them seemed convinced Gahariet would keep harassing his subordinates, both verbally and sexually.

As for Thibault, he was watching the wall in silence as if he’d abandoned his plan of carrying out his investigation quietly.

※

I awoke the next day feeling refreshed. I didn’t want anything to happen to the other girls while they slept, so I had moved them from the mess hall to an empty bedroom on the women’s floor. There just so happened to be one with enough beds for all of us to sleep in. As for our seniors, they must’ve found their way back to their own rooms at some point.

“Hmm... It’s going to be a bit difficult for us to carry out our undercover investigation after what happened yesterday, but I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I muttered.

Last night, Char and the others had returned to their rooms as well. Thibault aside, I knew for a fact that the others would be able to handle any trouble that came their way with their own skills.

“The weather is beautiful today.” I opened the window and leaped off the sill, landing softly in the barracks’ front yard. The crisp morning air filled my lungs.

But then, I heard an unfamiliar voice call out to me from behind. “Hey, you. You’re a mage, aren’t you?”

Turning around, I saw the young knight with the dark red hair standing in the shade of a tree with his arms crossed.

Did he see me jump out of the window?

There was a little plaza in front of the barracks, with a few trees growing here and there. As he’d been standing in the shadows, I hadn’t noticed him.

I fixed my gaze on the new recruit.

He’s the one who scored first at the entrance exam, right? What was his name again...? Ves, I think?

After debating what to say for a bit, I eventually opened my mouth. “Whatever do you mean?” I asked, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t play dumb. You cast that spell to make me fall asleep yesterday, didn’t you? And you turned all the wine into grape juice.”

It seemed he knew exactly what I had been up to at the party. Someone who couldn’t use magic wouldn’t have noticed any of it. That could only mean one thing.

“You’re a mage too, then? You said that you were a lumberjack yesterday.”

“You also lied about your family’s farm, didn’t you? And your friends definitely aren’t hunters either.”

He had seen right through us. It seemed he truly was a mage—and a skilled one at that, considering he was able to distinguish my spells despite the current state of the world.

“Yes, you’re right. But why confront me? What is your goal?” I asked.

A small smile curled on his lips. Whatever he said, I really hoped it wouldn’t get in the way of our investigation. We were already in a bit of a pickle after the previous night’s events.

But the words that left his mouth weren’t what I expected at all. “I want you to join forces with me.”

I was so confused by his response that the only thing I could say was “What...?”

“Based on what I saw you do yesterday, I think you’re someone I can trust, so I’m going to tell you what I’m doing here,” Ves started without a hint of hesitation in his tone. “There’s something that’s been weighing on my mind, so I’ve decided to infiltrate the knights. I don’t want to get involved in useless fights or else things will get annoying.”

“You’ve...infiltrated the knights?”

I would’ve never anticipated anyone else doing the same thing as us.

“That guy with the glasses seemed a little panicked yesterday, so I take it you’re trying to keep things on the down-low too, right?” Ves asked.

“We are.”

For someone who didn’t want to attract attention, Thibault certainly stood out with all his panicking...

“Me too. So I would like for you to let me tag along with your group for a while. I plan on leaving the Royal Knights and traveling to the continent when I’m done, and I assume you don’t intend to stay here longer than necessary either.”

I nodded. “We don’t. We’re just here to investigate something.”

“Oh, I see. Because the Royal Knights get access to the inside of the royal palace, is that it?”

“Pretty much.”

I was a little wary of him, yet he began telling me his own motivations, completely nonchalant.

He said, “I want to know what those guys from the Faith who came to the palace are scheming. I don’t know what’s happening, but bishops and priests have started flocking to Hanche these days. I don’t want them here.”

“I see.”

“You’re a fellow mana wielder, so I’m sure you understand. If this place becomes the Faith’s new base of operations, we’ll struggle even more to live our lives peacefully.”

“That’s a good point...”

The Motar Faith was a religion that persecuted mages, so those with mana would be forced to live in discomfort if it grew too powerful.

“My village is located in Hanche, and everyone there has mana. They’re all old, though, so I’d like for us to avoid having to move to another country, if I can help it. So the best course of action would be to chase the Faith out of here. Right?”

His reasoning made sense.

“That’s fair. The Faith doesn’t technically exist anymore, though. It’s been dissolved.”

“Huh...? What do you mean?” Ves asked, flabbergasted.

“Right. You said that you’re from Hanche, so you wouldn’t have heard the news yet.”

Despite not knowing the Faith had been dissolved, he had still noticed something was wrong and had joined the knights to investigate that matter. It was a near-impossible task to take on alone, but since he could apparently use magic, he must’ve thought he had a fighting chance. He likely hadn’t imagined the Royal Knights would be in such a horrible state, though.

“I’m from the continent. The Motar Faith doesn’t exist anymore, yet people here still believe that it does. This must be why all those bishops and priests have been ‘flocking to Hanche,’ as you put it.”

“Is that what you came to investigate?” Ves asked.

“Something along those lines, yes. I plan to leave when I’m done. Don’t worry—I have no intention of getting in the way of your investigation. As for whether we can work together or not, I need to consult Char and the others before making any decisions.”

He nodded. “One last question, though. Who are you? I didn’t think there were still people who could use these types of spells in this day and age.”

“I’d like to flip that question right back on you. You were able to see right through the spells I used yesterday, and you know they shouldn’t exist anymore.”

There were only a handful of people in the world who knew that information. Furthermore, Ves had been able to pinpoint exactly what my spells had been. I was incredibly curious—just who was he?

“I’m...a little special. Ah, would you look at that? It’s time for breakfast.”

He’d just evaded my question. But as we were both hiding our true identities here, I decided not to prod further and to play along instead.

“Do you think the higher-ups will get mad at us again if we’re late?” I asked.

“Probably. This place has so many rules, after all. It’ll be a pain if they cause a scene, so we should probably go.”

We each returned to our bunks before heading to breakfast as if nothing were amiss.

The mess hall was very tidy that morning. I had used my magic to clean up after the knights last night, so the tables and chairs were back in their proper places.

Food had been prepared for us, set up like a buffet, and we had to go to the front to dish out our own food. The other girls and I did just that, filling our plates before settling down at a table in the corner of the room.

Though we had claimed a room for ourselves the previous night and had begun eating without permission, the squad leader and her posse didn’t come to pester us.

They might be wary of me now. Either way, I’m glad they’ve left us alone.

Due to all the alcohol the older male knights had drunk, they seemed hungover this morning. Overall, this was what I expected to see...save for one thing.

Gahariet.

“Huh...? That’s the captain, right?” Ahn asked, seemingly confused. Her eyes were fixed on Gahariet, who had just walked through the door of the mess hall.

“He seems a little...different. Are his legs shorter?” one of the other two asked.

“He definitely shrank some,” the other confirmed.

Sporting quizzical expressions, they watched him take a seat at a table in the center of the room. It seemed that the spell Char had cast on him had started working its magic already.

So you’re telling me he’s already harassed women today?

Char had only put that spell on him last night. What a good-for-nothing that captain was.

As though us speaking about him summoned his evil, he announced our plans for the day. “You’ll be going back to your regular duties today. Rookies, you’ll be in charge of the palace’s security in the morning, and in the afternoon, I’ll hold a special training for you at the practice grounds in preparation for the hunting tournament. As for the women, follow the orders of your squad leader. That’s all!”

Ahn had cocked her head to the side as she listened to him. “His voice is weird too. Did he catch a cold, perhaps?”

No... That must’ve been the consequences of my spell. Just as Ahn said, his voice was much higher pitched now, like the buzzing of an insect. Should it get any higher, I was afraid the other knights wouldn’t be able to hear it anymore.

I’ll cancel that spell. Instead, I’ll make it so that his torso grows longer every time he’s mean to one of his subordinates. We can’t have him keep getting shorter, after all; people will realize something is up.

I’d promised Thibault we wouldn’t stand out too much, and I fully intended to keep my word—as much as I could. And so, I sneakily altered the spell I’d put on Gahariet.

As we began to eat, Char and the others approached and took their seats across our table, trays in hand. It was a novel sight, seeing my husband carry his food like this. If it weren’t for this mission, I probably would never have had the chance to witness such a thing.

“Did you manage to sleep last night, Char?” I asked.

“At the schoolhouse, I learned methods to sleep no matter the circumstances. Canon and the others should know them too,” he replied.

“Really? That’s amazing.”

Meanwhile, Ahn and the others were fidgeting nervously as they looked at the Mercures, their faces red. They didn’t seem used to interacting with the opposite sex, and to add to that, Char and the twins were objectively handsome. They probably couldn’t help but feel drawn to them.

“Oh, by the way, Char, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you later,” I said.

“Sure. Let’s talk when we’re done here.”

“Thank you.”

My fellow rookies’ eyes sparkled as they listened to our conversation. “They’re going on a secret date!” they squealed silently.

As promised, Char and I left the mess hall as soon as we finished eating, and we headed for the front yard.

“Have you had a chance to speak to Ves?” I asked him.

“I haven’t,” he replied.

I expected as much. Char wasn’t the kind of person who’d go out of his way to mingle with others.

“I ran into him this morning, and we had a little conversation. He’s a mage too, and he completely saw through my spells yesterday.”

Char’s expression grew grim. “You wouldn’t lie about this sort of thing. If what you’re saying is true, then we need to investigate him to figure out who he is.”

“I agree. He also suggested that we work together while we’re here.”

I started telling Char everything Ves had said that morning.

“Apparently, he’s also here to investigate the Motar Faith. He said that he wants the priests and bishops who have come to Hanche to leave.”

“Well, the Faith is awful for us mages.”

“What would you say about helping him? I think we could.”

“It’ll allow us to keep an eye on him. That’s better than letting him do as he pleases on his own. We’ll agree to his proposal,” Char said.

“Okay. I’ll let him know.”

“No, I will. I’ll probably run into him when we patrol the castle later.”

“Women are also on duty inside the castle today. I can finally start snooping!”

Thibault must’ve been pleased that we could, at last, begin our investigation.

With that, Char and I bid each other goodbye and went to work.

※

When Gahariet stepped into the castle later that morning, he was met with a huge commotion. All of the Royal Knights’ attention was focused on him. The captain, in as foul a mood as always, was glaring at his men, not bothering to mask his true feelings. This had always been his way of doing things: he’d show his displeasure through his actions and let his subordinates scramble to try and better his mood.

This chivalric order was Gahariet’s own little kingdom. He was the king, the one with absolute power over everything. The knights owed him absolute obedience at all times. He’d never been able to achieve much in life and never fit in with his own family; this was his last bastion.

Tch. Why are they staring at me?

Since last night, inexplicable things had happened one after another, and his mood continued to darken. Being the head of the Royal Knights was the most comfortable he’d ever felt, but his peace was crumbling! He knew the root cause of his issues—those impudent rookies.

“You all took way too long to gather here! Do you think you can get away with this?! As collective punishment for those who were late, you’ll all run fifty laps around the practice grounds later!” he barked.

His men scrambled to their positions. Gahariet loved that sight. It reaffirmed that he was the one in charge.

“Rookies! Go clean the toilets!” he yelled in a shrill voice.

The second the words left his mouth, he felt as if his line of sight shifted upward slightly.

That must be my imagination. Or perhaps not...?

He thought back on last night’s events. He clearly remembered going to the barracks’ mess hall, yet he woke up alone in a forest. He’d struggled to make his way back but was hit with another shock: his line of sight kept getting lower and lower. To be precise, it seemed that his legs were...shrinking?

He knew who’d done this to him.

Those damn rookies!

Since he’d been drunk, he didn’t remember anything from then clearly, but he knew he’d had a run-in with some recruits. Even his voice had become odd now, and his subordinates were making fun of him under their breath! He wouldn’t let those upstarts get away with this.

Are these rookies mana wielders? How did such a disgusting bunch manage to get through the document screening? They should’ve been disqualified immediately. Unless they used their magic to cheat their way in? I don’t get it!

Gahariet had no understanding of magic whatsoever, but the rookies in question made his skin crawl. He didn’t know whether he should mess with them or not. He had been jealous that morning when the male and female recruits had dined together but couldn’t muster the courage to go tell them off.

All of a sudden, the female knights’ squad leader ran up to him. She was the daughter of a baron and had a decent face, so he was usually a little more lenient toward her.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“There’s something I need to tell you about the new recruits. One of them is actually a mana wielder—the one called Lam, with the green hair. She keeps making strange things happen and just creeps me out overall.”

“What?! A mana wielder?! So it really was magic!”

Gahariet felt like he’d finally connected the dots. However, this only made him more irritated, and he was slowly losing control of his own emotions. His anger was about to explode.

“Good work, squad leader,” he told the woman, whose eyes sparkled with joy, like a loyal dog.

Good. This is how women should be.

His gaze followed the squad leader until she was out of sight, then he glared at the rookies standing a little farther away. The one with the silver hair got on his nerves the most. He was handsome, had managed a decent score on the exam, and, worst of all...the woman Gahariet had set his eyes on was dating him! That he couldn’t tolerate. His foggy recollections of the previous night supplied hazy images of the man stepping in just as things were finally starting to look promising with her.

I was about to take her to my room.

The fact that Lam herself was a mana wielder had already slipped out of his mind—as if a woman could ever be a hindrance to him.

“Hurry along, rookies! After work, I’ll have you all do five hundred push-ups on top of the fifty laps around the practice grounds!” he roared.

His line of sight rose slightly higher again; he seemed to have grown taller.

Looks like my height is back to normal. I was a tad worried yesterday, but things seem fine now.

Most mana wielders weren’t great at magic, so whatever spell these rookies had put on him must’ve stopped working.

If they’re not that good, then I just need to find a way to get rid of them. And there just so happens to be a hunting tournament next week. I’ll make them regret ever crossing the son of a marquis.

He could easily put them out of business and make it appear like an accident. In fact, he’d gotten rid of many annoying subordinates before. Not by killing them or anything, just forcing them to resign.

This was Gahariet’s kingdom, and his word was law. No exceptions.

Keep acting cocky while you still can.

A dark smile curling on his lips, he barked more orders at the knights. “If I spot any of you slacking off, I’ll shave your head bald, you hear?! Ga ha ha! Only those who can endure my training are worthy of being Royal Knights!”

Unfortunately, his voice was so high-pitched that his threats weren’t nearly as menacing as he hoped.

Oh well. It should go back to normal soon, just like my height. Turns out there was no need for me to be worried about any mana wielder. The spell should fade away soon.

Gahariet truly believed it would.

※

For some reason, all of us new recruits—men and women alike—were presently gathered in front of the palace servants’ designated toilets.

“Why did they bring us all here?” I quietly asked Ahn.

“The captain apparently told the men to come here. Maybe they called us over because we’re also new recruits?” Ahn surmised.

It was impressive how well-informed she was.

A female voice spoke up. “Correct.”

Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw the squad leader standing there, eager to dish out orders, a smirk on her face.

“Your first job today is to scrub the toilets clean,” she declared.

“What?!” the four of us exclaimed, bewildered.

“The captain has ordered the male rookies to clean the toilets, so I’ve decided to have you help them. Aren’t you glad you can be of use to the Royal Knights?” she asked, her expression contorting the curl of her lips into something even nastier.

She’d piggybacked on top of the captain’s orders to punish us as well.

I don’t think we’ll be contributing much to the knights’ cause by cleaning toilets that none of us here use.

Speaking of uselessness, Gahariet had just arrived as well.

“As I told you all this morning, your first order of business will be to clean the toilets! By scrubbing them spotless, you’ll be cleansing your own hearts as well, and only then will you be able to truly approach your duties with sincerity!”

I supposed this must’ve made sense in his mind. However, I couldn’t help but wonder if cleaning the toilets really was a productive use of our time when the Royal Knights were so understaffed. Shouldn’t we be patrolling instead?

Besides, aren’t we stealing work from those whose actual job it is to clean the toilets?

Perhaps because he was a noble, Gahariet was doing as he pleased, even inside the royal palace.

The male recruits all stood in shock, their jaws on the floor. It seemed that it wasn’t just the girls who were flabbergasted.

“Listen well: Brushes will not be allowed. You have to do everything with your bare hands! And when you’re done, I want all of you to rub your faces against the toilet bowl.”

“Wh-What?!” I squeaked involuntarily, too stunned by the absurdity of his order to stop myself.

Based on the look on his face, my question had given Gahariet the perfect opportunity to explain his reasoning. “By diligently scrubbing the toilets with your hands, you’ll be able to calm your hearts and hone your chivalrous spirits. And if you do your job properly, pressing your faces into the toilets won’t be an issue, right?”

I didn’t understand the words coming out of this man’s mouth.

No one in their right mind would want to rub their faces against a toilet bowl—even if it was sparkling clean!

“I’ll come back when you’re done. Be sure to clean the toilets properly, all right? As for the rest of you, come with me!”

Sneering, Gahariet left with the rest of his subordinates and the other new recruits—save for Char, the twins, and Thibault.

“These toilets better be pristine by the time we come back!” our squad leader said, trailing after Gahariet.

It hadn’t escaped my notice that the captain’s torso seemed a bit longer than before.

“They want us to clean the toilets...? What should we do?” I asked, glancing at the remaining male recruits who, fortunately, were all people I knew.

“Eeek! The captain definitely has his eye on us! It’s all because we stood up to him and caused a scene at the welcome party!” Thibault stammered, panicked.

The others, however, didn’t seem to share his reaction and weren’t fazed by the situation.

“I refuse to touch a toilet bowl with my bare hands,” Char said calmly. “That knight captain’s brain truly is an enigma.”

Gahariet had barely left when Char gave up on the task we’d been given.

The twins didn’t waste a second to voice their agreement.

“I agree. I’ll pass too,” Fouet said.

“I don’t want to clean a toilet with my bare hands either,” Barre added.

I shared their sentiments.

After all, filth would come off much more easily if we used a brush, wouldn’t it?

Toilets obviously needed cleaning, but there was no point in doing it with our bare hands; it was both inefficient and unhygienic. I didn’t think anyone should entertain the method.

Besides, the toilets in Hanche look to be the same as in other nations, I thought, peeking inside the women’s restroom.

There were proper toilets in the current era, although they weren’t nearly as advanced as the ones used five hundred years ago. Just like in Lèvres, Hanche had a proper water and sewer system, meaning that the toilet facilities were relatively sanitary, especially here, in the royal palace.

This restroom, used by the servants, didn’t have individual stalls—only a row of four or so sitting-style ceramic toilets. I assumed the men’s bathroom had a similar setup.

Toilets don’t have purification spells embedded in them anymore in this day and age. That shocked me when I first regained my memories.

Needless to say, I had promptly upgraded all the toilets in the Mercure estate into self-cleaning ones. That said, I was aware that, in the rest of the world, people needed to manually scrub them.

But not with their bare hands.

The palace’s servants definitely used something to clean the toilets with. There was even a service closet filled with brooms and brushes.

“But we don’t have a choice... Come on, everyone, let’s do as we’re told. The captain said he’d make us press our faces against the toilet bowls when we’re done. Do you really intend on rubbing your faces against dirty toilets?” Thibault asked, always trying to find ways to avoid making waves.

Char let out an exasperated sigh. “If you want to clean the toilets with your bare hands, be my guest. I won’t stop you. But I think it’s a waste of time.”

“He’s right.” Fouet nodded. “I don’t know why we’d have to rub our faces against the toilets in the first place, but why would we need to bother scrubbing them with our hands when a purification spell can do the job in a fraction of the time?”

“Exactly. And we can always use illusion magic to make it look like we’re pressing our faces against the toilet bowls,” Barre added. “There’s also the option of erasing the captain’s memories. Ah, but since people don’t know we’re mana wielders, we’ll need to be sneaky, so that they don’t spot us...”

“N-No way! We’re finally inside the royal palace! We’re so close to figuring out the truth about the Faith. Please don’t start making trouble again. Magic, magic, magic. It’s always the same thing with you all! Do you want to cause an even bigger uproar? Please do the job I requested you to do!” Thibault exclaimed.

The atmosphere had grown a little tense.

Good grief, could you avoid screaming “magic” in the palace’s hallways, Thibault? Our identity is supposed to be a secret.

I hurriedly used a hushing spell to quieten Thibault, and I turned to the other two new female recruits to distract them. “I’ll clean the toilets, so can you two stand watch near that corner and warn me when the captain and the squad leader have returned?”

“Huh? But...”

They looked at me with concern in their gazes, likely worried they were foisting all the work onto me. Ahn must’ve understood what I was scheming, as she suggested that the other two let me do it. She knew I was a mana wielder.

“There aren’t that many toilets in the women’s restroom, so Lam and I can handle it, just the two of us. Besides, it’d be so cramped inside that we’d struggle to work properly, and people coming to pick on us would make things even more troublesome. So can you stand guard to make sure no one bothers us?” she asked.

“If you two insist...”

The two girls hesitantly went to stand near the corner I’d indicated earlier, and Ahn and I exchanged a nod. She seemed to have an idea of what I would be doing.

I turned to Char and the others. “It’s okay, she—Ahn—knows I’m a mage, so we can use spells in front of her without any issue. Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve decided I’ll tamper with the captain’s memories just a little to make him forget about this whole toilet situation. That way, we won’t have to rub our faces against anything. It’s a bit of a tricky spell, but I’ll take my chance.”

The men didn’t seem to have a problem with my plan, save for Thibault.

I don’t particularly want to start anything with him.

But I had no intention of accepting Gahariet’s irrational demands any longer. The Mercures already had to deal with more than enough of those in the past.

The captain eventually returned, alone. Perhaps the women’s squad leader and the other knights were busy doing something else.

Now!

The moment I spotted him, I flung out my hand in his direction. Since the two other female recruits were a little farther away, they hadn’t noticed that Gahariet was back yet.

Memory erasure!

Before Gahariet could understand what was happening, the subject of toilet cleaning completely disappeared from his mind, the impact of the spell causing him to stop in his tracks, befuddled. His unreasonable demand from earlier had faded entirely from his mind.

“Phew, I’ve erased that man’s insignificant memories. I’m glad it went well,” I muttered.

“Me too,” Char said, relieved. “While we’re at it, let’s get him out of the palace. We should be able to snoop around in peace for a while.”

Without further ado, Char used a forced teleportation spell on Gahariet. The second the magic hit him, the captain disappeared from the spot.

Ahn stared at the now empty air in astonishment. “Lam, was that magic too?”

“It was.” I nodded. “Ahn, we’d like to go look around the palace for a bit. Could you take the other two and return to our room?” I asked her.

Though she seemed a little confused by my slightly odd request, she eventually nodded. “Sure. You must have your reasons. I’ll tell the other two we’re done with the cleaning and leave.”

“Thank you.”

She returned to the barracks with the other two. Despite not knowing anything, she had agreed to help us.

What a good girl. I’ll make sure to thank her profusely later. What would make her happy?

I struggled to come up with an idea, but I enjoyed the time I spent thinking about it.

After making sure Ahn and the other two had definitely left the premises, we began our investigation of the palace. Our goal: find out where the big shots of the Faith were hiding.

It’s only our second day here, and we’re already making some progress, so I’d say we’re not doing too badly. Thibault still looks a little mad, though...

Fortunately for us, the palace of Hanche was built in a way that was quite easy to navigate. There was a huge staircase at its center, and the king and his close relatives lived on the top floor. The story below housed large guest rooms, separated from each other by a long corridor. I had learned all this at the barracks, where a rough plan of the palace had been carelessly left on a table. I was positive it was Gahariet who’d left it there. It had been on his table in the mess hall, stained with sauce.

Thankfully, the map was simple and easy to remember. I don’t think I’ll get lost here like I might in Lèvres’s palace.

And so, we began making our way to the rooms where we thought the upper echelons of the Motar Faith were hiding.

※

That afternoon, priests and bishops from the Faith chatted amicably with one another, relaxing in a guest room in the palace of Hanche. Among them was Avare, the bishop of the now-destroyed Cerveau Cathedral in the Tête Kingdom. After suffering unjust, awful treatment at the hands of the Mercures and the Faith’s Holy Father, he’d narrowly managed to escape from Tête alive, and through great struggle, he had finally made it here. It had been a difficult journey, one in which he’d had to forgo his favorite thing in the world: luxury.

But now, he was able to enjoy a lively conversation with the bishop sitting next to him, a glass of fancy wine in hand. “Hanche may be cut off from the continent, but it is a nice place.”

In fact, the little island’s isolation from the mainland might be a good thing: The terrifying Countess of Mercure and the former Holy Father, who understand neither common sense nor logic, would never find him here. It was a complete safe zone.

The bishop nodded. “Indeed. The food is beyond reproach as well. Besides, most people here are fervent followers of the Faith. They have received us with the hospitality we deserve.”

“Of course! We treat our guests well here in Hanche.”

This proclamation stemmed from Niesen, a minister of the kingdom. He has always been very accommodating to the clergymen in Hanche and, as such, had proven to be very helpful to Avare and the others.

“We have prepared an array of our staple dishes for you to sample, all made with the best ingredients our nation has to offer,” Niesen added, gesturing toward a nearby table, which was laden with extravagant snacks and liquors.

It, of course, included an entire durian—Hanche’s specialty.

Ugh... That damn fruit brings me bad memories. I don’t even want to look at it.

Other than that, everything else seemed wonderful.

The room was filled with bishops and priests from the mainland who had been chased out of their cathedrals by the mad Holy Father. They had chosen Hanche as their base to plot the revival of the Motar Faith.

The Holy Father and the cardinals have disappeared and so have the saints and holy knights. The Faith doesn’t have nearly as much power as it used to.

Avare huffed out through his nose. The Faith had to regain its former influence, no matter what. That religion was the only reason he and the other bishops had been able to shine.

“This land is called the ‘Motar Faith’s second base of operations,’ after all. It is the perfect place to plan its revival. We ought to achieve our goal!” Avare declared.

Together, he and his companions renewed their resolve to bring back the Faith.

“This time, however, we will not have saints or holy knights or whatnot within our ranks. Mana wielders are forbidden from joining the Faith. They have caused us enough trouble. As for the title of Holy Father, I believe that I am the best suited for the posi—”

“No, I am.”

“No! It’s me!”

“As for me, I want to be a cardinal.”

All the Faith’s members who’d made the journey to Hanche were covetous men who wanted two things: power and status. The second Avare had mentioned the position he sought, they had all started arguing, and things quickly got out of hand. However, this infighting was wasting their time.

“Well, well, it won’t be too late to decide on those things once we’ve revived the Faith,” Avare said, temporarily glossing over the matter.

Throwing a smoke screen had always been his specialty.

“Oh, by the way, I just remembered that a hunting tournament is being held here in the near future, is it not?” he added, swiftly switching the topic.

The event he’d mentioned was only for the sake of entertaining the kingdom’s guests. Of course, being a guest, Avare was awaiting that day with anticipation, and so were the other members of the Faith.

Hanche had a strong hunting culture, and physical prowess was held in high regard. The hunting tournament, which was hosted twice a year, was the perfect occasion for the knights to display their strength and for the kingdom’s top brass to show just how powerful their chivalric orders were. It also helped them assess the abilities of the newest recruits. The mightiest of the bunch would be given opportunities for a promotion.

Avare and the others had been invited and would be participating in the hunting tournament with everyone else. As for the knights, they had received orders to prioritize the safety and well-being of the Faith’s members and to put efforts into protecting and entertaining them over showing off their prowess.

Niesen nodded at Avare’s words, a self-satisfied look taking over his face. “We shall provide you with bows and arrows as well as horses. Of course, we’ll also have a fully furnished resting area.”

The former members of the Faith had never hunted a day in their lives, though. It was highly unlikely they’d manage to catch a single quarry. Avare assumed the kingdom would arrange some sort of opportunity for them.

One of the bishops took something out of his pocket, a smug smirk tugging at his lips. “I do not need a bow and arrow. I intend to use this.”

The item in the bishop’s hand was mostly cylindrical, but it was not something Avare had never seen before. When the bishop pulled on it, it revealed a serpentine sword.

“What is that...?” Niesen asked, eyeing the blade in confusion.

“It’s a weapon prototype that one of the cardinals was working on. I took it from the main church’s vault. I believe that it is extremely powerful,” the bishop explained.

“It does not look like a weapon,” Niesen pointed out. “How do you use it?”

“I’ll reveal its true power on the big day. It’s a creepy thing with magic embedded in it, but fret not; I won’t be using it.”

“Then you don’t need to bring it to the tournament,” a young priest said.

The bishop’s lips curled into a smirk. “The saints and holy knights were mana wielders, but I’m a normal person. So I won’t use it—but I’ll make someone else do it. I’ll hire a bunch of mana wielders and make them use this ominous weapon. They’re just as creepy, so I assume they’ll have a good affinity for it. If any of you want to try it, I shall lend it to you—mana wielder and all.”

“I see.”

Avare wholeheartedly agreed with that bishop: Mana wielders were terrifying creatures, especially those pesky Mercures. He hoped he would never have to get involved with their kind again.

Never again. I’ve had more than enough of mana wielders with the Mercures!

What Avare didn’t realize was that the very Mercures he dreaded had been eavesdropping on their conversation from the other side of the door the entire time.

※

I felt my legs give out from under me, and I almost collapsed to my knees right there and then. Char, who was standing behind me, caught me just in time before I hit the floor.

“Th-Thank you, Char.”

We had been listening in on a conversation between the members of the Faith who were staying at the palace of Hanche.

“That bishop... He said that he has a weapon that one of the Faith’s cardinals developed, right?” I asked my husband for confirmation, my voice trembling.

“Unfortunately, that’s also what I heard,” he replied stiffly.

“Could it be the weapon prototype Epocha intended to use...?”

“That’s likely. I thought we’d gotten rid of them all. To think that one of those men snatched it from the main church...”

The weapons Epocha had tried to popularize had caused an enormous disaster five hundred years ago; they altered the mana of the user and released it into the air. More recently, Epocha had hired Épée’s company to manufacture more of them, but my disciple had quickly realized that they were the same weapons that nearly destroyed the world in the past. As such, he’d modified their design so that the weapons wouldn’t release altered mana, adding a functionality that turned the users into hedgehogs, and then he’d sent them to the Faith. Thanks to him, we managed to avoid another altered mana disaster and successfully dealt with Epocha.

“If he found this weapon at the main church, it might be the original one made by Epocha—not the modified version your first disciple crafted,” Char pointed out.

“In other words, this one might produce altered mana...”

“The person speaking mentioned making mana wielders use it. Poor souls. It must be unbearable for them to be forced to use dangerous weapons just because the Faith is a bunch of bigoted idiots.” Char’s tone was heavy. He knew what it was like to be discriminated against and bled dry by the Faith.

“I agree.”

“And if that weapon is the kind that has been altered by the madam’s first disciple, the poor mana wielders forced by the Faith to use it will be turned into glitzy hedgehogs,” one of the twins said from behind us.

That was a good point.

I debated going to confiscate the weapon right there and then. There were many members of the Faith in that room, but I should be able to destroy the weapon with my magic.

“Perhaps I should use a spell to erase all of their memories,” I said.

Shock shot across Char’s face.

“You’ll struggle to manipulate the memories of so many people at once. Are you sure that you can make it so that you’ll only erase the relevant information?”

Spells that pertained to memories required precise adjustments. They weren’t the kind that could be used on many people at once. The result of a mass spell in this case would likely put the members of the Faith into an unpredictable mental state.

“I’m not confident I can. But it’s better than leaving this weapon in their hands.”

That bishop didn’t know the dangers of altered mana. If people in Hanche discovered how powerful this weapon was, they’d probably try to get them mass-produced and round up innocent mana wielders to use them.

“We have to stop them.” I forced some strength back into my legs and was about to barge into the room when Char stopped me.

“Hold on, Lam. What if they’re hiding more weapons? We don’t even have proof that the one they have is dangerous. Let’s grill them for information first, then deal with them.”

“I assume that they will indeed talk if we use enough spells on them,” I said in agreement.

A panicked Thibault intervened. “Please wait! It’s just as Mr. Char said—we haven’t finished our investigation yet. The government must’ve convinced the people of the kingdom that my article was a hoax by now. I need concrete proof to show them that I was speaking the truth. And besides...” He paused, seemingly hesitant to speak, but eventually resumed. “If we cause too many waves without collecting concrete evidence of the Faith’s wrongdoings, King Flèche will be the one dealing with the consequences of our actions. I don’t want that!”

“You...have a point,” I conceded.

I might be able to solve the crux of the issue on my own, but that would mean making my dear disciple suffer the repercussions. I absolutely refused to let that happen.

He and Épée sacrificed their lives to save me. I can’t keep causing them trouble. But I don’t want to leave that weapon in the Faith’s hands either...

What was the best way to deal with this situation?

As I stood there anxiously pondering the question, Char set a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Lam. These people should stay here for some time still. We’ll expose their wrongdoings and make sure there’s no way for them to talk their way out of it. They won’t use that weapon—and any other they may have hidden—until the day of the hunting tournament. We just have to destroy them before then.”

I nodded reluctantly. He was right.

“Until then, we need to see if they have stashed other weapons away. I’ll find out,” Char said.

“You?” I asked.

“I agree that we shouldn’t leave this matter alone. But I’m counting on you to handle these guys on the day of the tournament.”

“A-All right.”

So he was going to carry out the investigation himself yet let me destroy the weapons... I had a feeling that he was looking out for me. Seeing him make so much progress as a person, I forced myself to regain my composure. I had almost lost control when I saw the weapons, but I was slowly managing to cool down.

I need to pull myself together and remember our primary objective.

Things were different from how they were five hundred years ago. Epocha was gone, and there weren’t as many of these weapons as there used to be then. Besides, the Mercures and my disciples were there to help me.

Yes. I’m sure that things will be fine this time.

Having collected myself, I decided to heed Char’s advice and wait until the day of the hunting contest to destroy the weapons.

Chapter Four: The Countess and the Hunting Tournament

A week had passed since the toilet cleaning incident, and the day of the hunting tournament was upon us. We knights were grouped together at the hunting grounds and tasked with patrolling the area to ensure it was safe. However, I was unable to focus on the task at hand.

I need to destroy those weapons.

Ever since we’d overheard the conversation between the members of the Faith, that was all I’d had on my mind.

Standing nearby, Char seemed to notice me fidgeting, and he whispered, “Calm down, Lam. They won’t run away. With your abilities, you can destroy the weapons no matter where they’ve stashed them, right? Although, I am still concerned about your stamina. I don’t want you to expend too much mana at once.”

I felt bad for making him worry about me, and I made a conscious effort to recenter myself. “You’re right. It’s just that I can’t help but panic when I think about those items...”

“Well, they killed you in your past life. It’s understandable. If you don’t want to deal with them yourself, I’ll take them somewhere no one can see and destroy them for you,” he offered.

“No. These weapons are my prey. I want to do it myself.”

Char paused before saying, “Got it. Then I’m leaving that matter in your hands.”

He had agreed to let me handle the weapons myself. I truly felt like he was looking after me.

“Thank you, Char. I may be strong, but I have a tendency to lose sight of the things around me. I need to work on that.”

In fact, I had noticed and learned many things since my reincarnation, but I still had a long way to go as a witch.

Gahariet rounded up all the male knights, and I was left to return to the other female recruits. The hunting ground for the tournament was located in a forest not too far away from the royal palace, and it was brimming with all sorts of creatures.

We’re in the middle of an important mission: We need to expose the Faith’s lies. I will destroy the weapons, but I must see our initial goal through. I made a promise to Thibault.

From what I’d heard, this tournament was being held for the kingdom’s important guests. In other words, the organizers’ goal was to entertain them.

The Faith’s big shots should arrive soon.

I would be able to see them face-to-face.

Still, I’m confused about Hanche’s concept of entertainment. I know it used to be a nation of hunters, but...

I didn’t think the bishops and priests of the Faith could hunt game. Then again, the only bishop I knew was the overweight, ill-mannered one from the Cerveau Cathedral, who was always adorned in shiny accessories. As for the priest I had turned into a hair ball, he was the exact opposite: skinny and weak.

I’m pretty sure neither of them can hunt.

Perhaps we would have to adapt the tournament to their abilities and make it easier for them.

It seemed to have been a while since the Royal Knights were assigned to such a large-scale activity, and Gahariet was in high spirits.

“I feel like his legs look even shorter than before...” Ahn pointed out.

Our other two fellow rookies nodded.

“Isn’t his torso longer too? His height definitely shot up since we joined...and so did the pitch of his voice.”

“Oh, I thought I was going crazy, but you noticed too!”

Everyone in the Royal Knights was baffled by the changes in Gahariet’s appearance; they just weren’t voicing their surprise. But other than Ahn, no one knew that Char and I were the ones behind his transformation.

Ves must’ve connected the dots too, but as long as he doesn’t say anything out loud, we should be fine.

Speaking of, Ves was currently with Char, Thibault, and the twins. Thibault truly wasn’t cut out to be a knight—he kept attracting Gahariet’s ire with everything he did. In the end, none of us managed to achieve our initial objective of staying inconspicuous.

As we stood there, awaiting orders, a lavish carriage carrying the kingdom’s guests of honor—the priests and bishops of the Faith—arrived in the forest.

Finally. Now, I just need to keep my cool.

I braced myself as I watched the members of the Faith climb out of the carriage. But then, I spotted a familiar figure wearing way too many glitzy accessories.

Hmm? Isn’t that Avare, the bishop of the Cerveau Cathedral? I didn’t know he’d made the journey to Hanche.

During our investigation in the royal palace, we hadn’t looked into the room we’d been eavesdropping on, so I hadn’t realized he was part of the group. If I had, I would’ve lost it; I couldn’t imagine what I would have done. In the end, Char’s suggestion to leave the members of the Faith alone until the day of the hunting contest had proven wise. I didn’t know exactly why Avare was here, but I imagined he would have a lot to reveal once we confronted him.

We haven’t made much progress in our investigation yet, but I have a good feeling we’ll secure some concrete proof of the Faith’s intentions here.

Gahariet’s voice boomed, pulling me out of my thoughts. Standing a short distance away from the members of the Faith, he barked his orders.

“Men, patrol the area, and put some back into it! You’re here to ensure the safety of our guests from the Faith!” His voice really had gotten high-pitched. “Women! You know what your duties are, right? That’s what y’all are here for.”

The squad leader nodded, a tense look on her face.

“I won’t tolerate failure, you hear? You’d better make our guests happy,” Gahariet added.

“Yes, captain...”

I stared at them, failing to understand what Gahariet meant.

That’s what we’re here for? What is he talking about?

We hadn’t been told anything beforehand.

Ahn and the other two appeared just as puzzled as I was.

The squad leader eventually gathered us together to give us our orders. It seemed we would each be assigned different tasks.

Scanning our group, she began speaking, her expression even sterner than usual. “Our duty is to entertain the guests. Focus on the task at hand, and whatever you do, do not disrespect them!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the senior female knights replied enthusiastically.

Huh? Entertain the guests? That’s our job?

The thought made me panic a little. We were knights, not professional entertainers. The members of the Faith were state guests; surely, people whose actual job was to entertain should have been hired for that purpose. I knew the profession still existed, just like it did five hundred years ago. For instance, I’d heard that the Tête Kingdom hired prostitutes from high-end brothels to entertain the Faith’s big shots.

Char had told me he had witnessed such a thing several times. Those prostitutes knew how to treat guests well to ensure banquets and other events proceeded smoothly. While I did find it questionable that the government had hired courtesans to entertain the members of the Faith—a sacred entity, albeit only on paper—the royal family and the nobles, all devout believers, didn’t seem to have an issue with it. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Do they not have prostitutes in Hanche? I wondered.

“Um, why is it our duty to entertain the guests?” I asked the squad leader. “Aren’t there people more qualified for the job?”

Her response was instant. “To cut costs, of course! Don’t you even understand something so basic? Sure, prostitutes would do a better job, but they’re expensive! We, on the other hand, will do it for free.”

“I-It’s just to save money?!”

I didn’t know the kingdom’s coffers were in such dire straits. Given how highly the Faith was revered in Hanche, I wondered if this was really the place to cut corners.

“The captain is the one who decides our budget. We just work with what we have.”

Something clicked inside my brain: The captain was definitely pocketing the Royal Knights’ entertainment budget, wasn’t he? That was why he was so hell-bent on having us perform for the members of the Faith.

“Besides, we’re knights; we’ll at least be able to act as shields if the guests are attacked.”

“Sh-Shields?!” I exclaimed, goggling at her.

So now we were expected to fight? What in the world was this position? It was so different from what I expected.

Ahn and the other two appeared bewildered as well. At least I wasn’t alone in thinking this was completely unreasonable.

I really hope they won’t start to accept these absurdities as everyday occurrences. Are the squad leader and the senior knights beyond redemption?

There might still be hope so long as they developed this mindset after joining this chivalric order.

Is there a way to steer them back to who they once were?

Too much was wrong with the current state of the Royal Knights. My plan was to leave immediately after achieving our goal, but I was much too worried—especially for Ahn and the others.

“Rookies, you’re with me! You’re all useless anyway, so just stand near the guests and smile,” the squad leader said.

Though she might have stopped with her over-the-top harassment, she still treated the rookies like garbage—me, in particular.

“You, with the green hair! You’ll be entertaining the bishops.”

“Huh? Me?” I asked.

“Yes, you. Is there anyone with a weird hair color like yours here?!”

It wasn’t the first time people had something to say about my hair. Épée and I both had very distinctive hair colors that drew attention wherever we went.

“If you’re so able to captivate the captain, I’m sure you must be good at that kind of work, no?”

“What kind of work?” I asked, confused.

The squad leader ignored my question. “You filthy little vixen! The captain only thinks of you as a passing fancy. Don’t think you’re better than me just because you’re a mana wielder!”

Disregarding her first sentence for now, I concluded that she disliked me so much because I was a mana wielder who used magic. I had an inkling that she’d discovered my true nature when she stopped outright tormenting me.

I don’t understand what she meant about the captain, though. There’s no connection between us; he just tried to assault me.

She turned on her heels with an indignant “hmph” and led the way, her pace brisk.

Perplexed, I trailed after her.

Does she like the captain? Is that it? People’s hearts sure are difficult to understand.

To be fair, being considerate of others’ feelings had never been my forte.

I will help anyone who seems troubled or obviously suffering, though.

Understanding more subtle feelings was something I’d always struggled with, even five hundred years ago. Perhaps this was why Char and the twins called me “dense.” As a child, I deliberately avoided thinking of other people’s feelings.

Back when I was Ahn, the other villagers hated everything about me. If I had tried to be considerate of all their feelings, my own heart was the one that would’ve broken. That’s why I made a conscious effort not to think about it back then.

To survive in that village where no one wanted me, I’d had no choice but to bottle up my own feelings.

To this day, I still don’t know if that was the right decision. But I simply couldn’t bring myself to put on a mask and pretend to be “normal,” like they wanted me to be. It was too painful.

Then, I’d met Finis and, through many twists and turns, became who I was today: the me who was still painfully ignorant of others’ feelings. I had made some progress, but it seemed I was still too out there for most people.

“Hey, Lam?” Ahn’s whisper jolted me out of my thoughts. “Do you think that the squad leader likes the captain?”

She had reached my same conclusion.

“Or maybe there are no romantic feelings involved, and she simply wants to keep the rank she’s secured by suiting the captain’s fancy. That might explain why she’s so tough on us,” Ahn added.

“I-I see...”

The other two nodded in agreement with Ahn. They all seemed quite reassuringly insightful.

“Do you think the captain is the one who made her the squad leader?” Ahn mused.

“I think so,” one of the other two recruits replied. “She probably feels threatened by Lam since the captain has taken a fancy to her. Besides, Lam is a mana wielder, so the squad leader won’t retaliate, even if she wants to.”

The three of them were getting increasingly excited, gossiping about the squad leader.

That was when something they’d said stuck out to me.

Hold on a minute. Do the other two know I’m a mana wielder?

I hadn’t told them. Yet, they were talking about it as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“Lam, there’s no use trying to hide your true nature. It was obvious from the start. I’m sure the squad leader realized immediately too,” one of them said with a smug grin, folding her arms across her chest.

“Yup. Weird things have kept happening since your confrontation with the squad leader and the welcome party. The wine turned into juice, the captain’s legs are getting shorter and shorter... When we had to clean the toilets, you definitely did something, didn’t you?” the other said.

They knew all along!

The Motar Faith hated mana wielders, and most people in Hanche were followers of the Faith. Did they not mind me standing beside them?

“Um, are you all right with talking to me when I have mana?” I asked.

“I was surprised at first, but you’ve used your magic for our sake, and I know that you’re a good person—mana wielder or not. You even put that drunken knight who was sexually harassing Ahn to sleep.”

“Exactly. Besides, if you weren’t a mana wielder, perhaps we would be sleeping in a storage room and forced to fast by the other knights.”

The two of them smiled at me.

“I would hate that,” Ahn chimed in, and they burst into laughter.

It seemed I was the only one who was struggling to wrap my mind around things.

Seeing me gawking at them, they each extended an arm forward and flipped up a thumb from closed hands. I had learned this gesture meant “It’s all good” in this country.

“Don’t worry about us, Lam. You can use magic to your heart’s content. There aren’t many mana wielders who are as proficient as you, are there?”

“We’ll help you keep it under wraps, if that’s what you want!”

“Today’s guests are from the Faith, so it’ll be bad if they find you out. Worst-case scenario, they might arrest you for being a heretic. We can’t let that happen! We might be believers of the Faith, but we don’t think they should harm you, regardless of what the scriptures claim.”

It seemed that this was the conclusion they had reached after considering my true nature. Their words truly reassured me, and a wave of happiness washed over me. They had accepted me as one of them.

I gave them a big smile. “Thank you. I’m really glad.”

Knowing that some people were willing to accept me for who I was left me unable to contain my joy, and I was pretty sure it was impossible to not notice my reaction.

Feeling a little embarrassed, I purposefully made my tone chipper as I declared, “Well then, we have guests to entertain. Let me know if they do anything inappropriate to you, all right?”

“Yeees!”

“We’re counting on you, Lam. Although, the guests are clergymen. I’m sure they must all be good people.”

That wasn’t the case at all. I’d run into my fair share of unhinged bishops and priests since my reincarnation. I wouldn’t label any member of the Faith as a holy man, beginning with the Holy Father and that one cardinal.

I won’t say anything, though...

The girls were believers of the Faith. I didn’t want to crush their dreams if I could help it.

The four of us followed the squad leader’s quick march, and we eventually reached the fancy tents in which the priests and bishops were relaxing.

The squad leader began doling out orders to the senior knights. “I’ll leave that tent to you. Who knows? If you play your cards right, a high-ranking member of the Faith might take you as his mistress. You’d live a far more lavish life than if you married a knight.”

For reasons that I definitely could not understand, the other knights seemed happy with her words.

But the Faith doesn’t exist anymore... I thought, watching them with mixed feelings.

I didn’t know who these men were and what they were doing in Hanche yet, but one thing was for sure: They were all jobless former clergymen clinging to the remnants of a dissolved Faith and its past glory. Some might be nobles, but the fact that they had traveled to Hanche made me believe they were all desperate. I wouldn’t advise anyone to get involved with them.

I get it now...

Based on what Ahn and the squad leader had said, I finally understood why the female knights were acting the way they were. Everything clicked into place. The Royal Knights had a notoriously low employee retention rate, and the women were viewed as the bottom of the barrel. No one wanted to remain in such an environment if they could help it. Most would give up within months to go find a new job. But perhaps the female knights were purposefully staying in the hopes of securing a marriage to a well-paid knight. I didn’t know why—maybe they were doing it for their family or had circumstances that had brought them. Maybe this had been their goal from the start.

Some might be aiming even higher, seeking unions with nobles or clergymen from the Faith. And all the knights—both the men and the women—are aware of this.

Female knights were never assigned any proper jobs; instead, we were relegated to pointless tasks like chores, cheering for the men, and entertaining the guests. I had found it strange at first, but now that I understood the female knights weren’t actually expected to work, it made sense. The male knights didn’t see the women as colleagues but as potential marriage candidates, and the female knights did everything they could to meet those expectations.

Perhaps this was why they relentlessly bullied new recruits—to eliminate anyone who might pose the threat of competition. Opportunities to entertain important guests, like today, were rare chances for these women. If things went well, they might secure a position far better than just being a knight’s wife and truly turn their lives around.

But is that really what they want? Will they be able to live the rest of their days buttering these men up and pretending to be someone they’re not?

I had a feeling that Ahn and the other two hadn’t been aware of this before joining the knights. Had there been others like them? They weren’t like the women who had their eyes set on marrying the captain or another noble. Yet, the kingdom’s higher-ups were using them like pawns.

If the female knights truly want that sort of life, I won’t judge them for it, nor will I try to stop them. But if they’re simply doing all this out of desperation, thinking that it’s their only option, I refuse to stay silent. Besides, today’s guests are jobless former clergymen. I can’t encourage the other women to curry their favors. Of course, that doesn’t excuse the terrible way they treated the four of us. I still plan on taking my revenge for that.

“Come on, Green Hair! Come with me! And the other rookies too!” the squad leader barked as I stood there, glancing around.

“Yes, yes,” I replied breezily.

She seemed not to have liked my response; a deep crease formed between her eyebrows. “Watch your tone!”

We stepped into the largest tent and were welcomed by men whom I assumed were former big shots of the Faith. As clergymen, they were expected to uphold good morals and adhere to their religion’s teachings. But that wasn’t what they were doing right now.

“Ooh, young women.”

“I wanna touch them...”

All of them were leering at us, save for one—an overweight middle-aged man decked in showy, sparkly clothes, sitting back with an air of superiority.

“Ah...”

My eyes met his.

It was Avare, the former bishop of the Cerveau Cathedral, whom I had spotted before.

His eyes widened in shock.

“Y-You! Y-Y-You heinous witch! What are you doing in Hanche?!”

“Long time no see, former bishop of the Cerveau Cathedral,” I said.

“Wh-What are you doing here?! You plan to thwart our efforts to reach our goal, don’t you?!” Avare exclaimed so loudly that the people nearby all spun to look at us.

Well, he seemed to remember me, at least.

“Your goal? How convenient for you to bring that up. I was actually curious as to what it was. Could you tell me more?” I asked.

“Throw her out! She’s a witch! And a terrifying one at that!”

The people around us were perplexed by his statement. No wonder. Right now, I simply appeared to be a female knight from Hanche—not the dreadful being Avare was claiming I was.

“Um, Mr. Avare? That girl is just a knight. She doesn’t look ‘terrifying’ in the slightest. If anything, I’d say she’s rather adorable...”

“Don’t be fooled! She’s a monster playing the part of a weak human girl!”

The people of the Faith started arguing, but I couldn’t have cared less. I took advantage of their distraction to survey the resting area, and my eyes landed on a certain something.

Th-That’s...!

Enthroned upon the central table was an enormous fruit with a thorny rind, surrounded by cut pieces that were arranged neatly on fancy plates, their distinct aroma wafting into the air.

A durian!!!

I dashed toward the table at full speed and grabbed a plate of my favorite fruit.

“Oh! This is it! I’ve been dreaming of this for days!”

I never expected to be reunited with my beloved durian on the day of the hunting tournament, especially since we hadn’t been served any at the mess hall. Overjoyed, I began stuffing my face with pieces of the fruit.

So rich and creamy! We should stock this delicacy at the Mercure estate!

The matter of the weapons had been weighing heavily on me these past few days, but I suddenly felt that weight lift from my shoulders.

All right, now that I’ve calmed down, I can do what I came here for. I just need to take out that thing and...

Having had my fill of durian, my original goal returned to mind, and I made my way toward Avare, the magic item I had crafted especially for this occasion in hand.

The squad leader yelled at me to come back, but I paid her no mind.

“It seems to me, Avare, that you and your little friends have come to Hanche to plot the revival of the Motar Faith, despite it having been dissolved, haven’t you? You’ll tell me exactly what you’re scheming, yes? Oh, and I have another question...”

Avare let out a panicked cry, his gaze darting between me and the durian. His face was sheet-white, his entire body trembling.

Eventually, he hung his head and replied, “Fine...”

It seemed the durian scent spell I had cast on him in the past must’ve traumatized him quite a bit.

“What are you even doing here in the first place?” I asked. “I thought Lance had dealt with you.”

“With everything that was happening, he didn’t have the leeway to ‘deal with me’ right away, so I had time to leave Tête and make my way here,” he replied.

“In other words, you took advantage of Lance’s confusion to run away. How shrewd.”

“Sh-Shut up!” he said, panicked. It appeared I had hit the nail on the head.

“Now, tell me about your plan to revive the Faith.”

“This kingdom is known for being the Faith’s second base of operations. The king and his ministers were overjoyed to lend us a hand here. There, I told you everything you wanted to know, so get the hell out of here! I don’t want to see your face ever again!”

“That just won’t do. I can’t let the bogus religion Epocha started spread again. Besides, Lance is currently hard at work, traveling from nation to nation to announce the dissolution of the Faith.”

The Faith’s big shots began stirring when I mentioned Lance and Epocha.

“That woman is looking down on Mr. Avare, and she’s impudently called the Holy Father and one of the cardinals by their names! You’re just a knight! How impudent!”

“You dare to mock us, knight?! Guess I need to teach you what happens to the bad girls who cross us, heh heh!”

The guests were seemingly growing more and more worked up... However, I had no idea why they looked so smug.

“Stop right there! If you do anything inappropriate to Ahn or the others, I’ll turn your arms into weeds for three days!”

“Huh? The hell’s that woman talking about? Stop messing with us—”

My words seemed to have angered one of the Faith’s men. He marched toward me, fist raised, but I didn’t falter for a single second before launching a spell at him.

“Shining Weeds!”

“Wha—?!”

A gust of green wind swirled around his arm. When it dissipated, what remained from the elbow down was a tangle of overgrown weeds.

“Phew. I’ve transformed that insignificant louse’s arm into weeds.”

“Gyaaah! My arm! It’s all bushy and green! That woman’s a mana wielder!”

Chaos erupted inside the fancy tent. It was as if someone had kicked a hornet’s nest. Everyone tried to rush outside at once, fighting to escape first.

“I’ll just build a wall outside the tent so that they can’t run away,” I said to myself.

Not wanting to look conspicuous, I used Light Magic to create an invisible wall that spanned the entire perimeter of the tent—imperceptible to anyone outside. Avare moaned in anguish as he curled up on himself in a corner and covered his face, his body shaking like a leaf. The senior female knights, however, pounded at the transparent wall to break it.

“You’ll all tell me exactly what you’ve been scheming since arriving in Hanche!” I declared. “I want to know everything, including all the crimes you’ve committed!”

Using Wood Magic to bind their arms, I restrained all the Faith’s members.

“Oh, right. There’s one last thing I meant to ask. One of you has a corrupted weapon, don’t you? Give it to me. Or else, I’ll turn everyone in this tent into weeds.”

“She’ll turn us all into weeds! Not just our arms!” Avare yelled from his corner.

A young, lanky bishop was pushed forward by his comrades, able to approach me as the Faith’s members’ legs remained unfettered.

“Do you have the weapon on you?” I asked.

He let out a whine and nodded. “Yes.”

“Good. I’ll free your hands, so take it out and hand it to me.”

I did as promised, and the trembling man took out the weapon he was hiding under his outerwear and made to give it to me like I’d asked. But he shifted to point it at me!

I gasped. Now I was sure of it: That twisty, glowing, sword-looking thing was the same item Epocha had tried to popularize before we’d dealt with him.

Though he had previously mentioned having a mana wielder use the weapon in his stead, he hadn’t had the luxury to stick to his plan under these circumstances.

“Die! You heretic, heinous witch!” the bishop yelled, aiming the weapon at me point-blank.

He waited. And waited. But no matter how much time passed, the weapon remained inert. Silence fell over the tent.

“What?! Why is nothing happening?! According to the documents I found, this should be a weapon of immense power!”

“Only a mana wielder can unleash that weapon’s full powers,” I said matter-of-factly. “You didn’t know that?”

The magic item in the man’s hand was made to react to mana, meaning the user needed to channel a bit into the weapon to activate it. In a way, it had been a good idea for him to stick the sword into a mana wielder’s hand. I was glad to see whomever he’d planned on using for the job hadn’t arrived yet.

At this unexpected turn of events, the bishop started to panic.

Most people have their mana sealed as children, so this type of item won’t react to any of them at all.

Of course, there were also items that didn’t require mana to function and could be used freely. However, the weapon the bishop had tried to activate simply wouldn’t work unless the user had access to their mana.

The soldiers Epocha had gathered in Lèvres all had traces of mana in their body, which had allowed them to use the weapons, although I had no idea if they had been mana wielders to begin with or if Epocha had sneakily unsealed their powers himself.

“Too bad. You can’t use it,” I said, snatching the weapon from the thunderstruck bishop. “Time to destroy this thing.”

With that, I transformed the corrupted item into a tuft of weeds using a compound Wood, Light, and Dark spell. It worked by altering matter and turning anything I wanted into grass. The magic weapon’s components disaggregated from each other, and just like the man’s arm earlier, the entire thing metamorphosed into a bundle of weeds. Once I was sure it had been rendered completely harmless, I handed it back to the bishop.

“Now that this is out of the way, I’m going to have you all confess your plans! And don’t even think about lying to me if you don’t want me to retaliate with magic,” I declared.

The Faith’s big shots all paled at my words.

One by one, they confessed their schemes, and I was able to finally start gathering the evidence I needed.

※

Thibault nervously patrolled the forest, supervising the perimeter of the hunting tournament. The woods were difficult to navigate; tree roots jutted out of the ground which unexpectedly sloped here and there. Thibault had never been the athletic type, and just putting one foot in front of the other demanded all his focus.

“Phew, this is tough... I’m really impressed you all can walk so fast,” he said to the rest of his group, comprising the other men posing as new recruits. There was the noble and dignified Char, the enigmatic twins Fouet and Barre, and the peculiar Ves, with whom Thibault hadn’t yet exchanged a single word.

Why are they so obstinate? Are all mages like them?

He was grateful to them, as they had pulled him out of more than one tight spot, but it unnerved him to witness their habit of causing full-blown chaos to resolve issues when things could’ve been dealt with quietly.

I hope we can get our hands on some concrete proof of the Faith’s wrongdoings soon...

With each passing day, his urge to pull back from the Royal Knights grew stronger. He struggled to perform even the simplest tasks and had drawn the captain’s ire on his very first day—Thibault didn’t think he could keep this up much longer. To stay out of trouble, he decided to stick close to the strongest rookies. He couldn’t quite understand why, but Gahariet never interfered directly with Char and the others.

Suddenly, he realized he had been lost in his thoughts. Jerking back to reality, he looked up and yelled, “Wai— Don’t leave me behind!”

Char and the twins were hiking through the forest as if they did this every day. Ves was just one step behind them, like he was used to this environment as well. He might actually have been, since he was a lumberjack.

They managed to get even farther away while I was lost in my thoughts. I’m doing my best to walk as fast as possible here...

Unfortunately, there were some gaps that couldn’t be bridged through sheer effort alone.

Would Thibault even be able to expose the truth about the Motar Faith? The more information he learned, the more anxious he grew. Lam and Char were just here to help him investigate—once they were gone, he would be fighting this battle all alone. With that gloomy thought in mind, Thibault chased after Char and the others on shaky legs.

I... I can’t do it. I can’t keep this pace up.

Completely out of breath, he came to a stop in the middle of the woods, a stitch in his side. The forest around him was well maintained, and there was even a fairly wide path for horses to traverse.

If I head this way, I’ll catch up with them eventually. After a quick break, I’ll push on.

Taking a seat on the ground, Thibault leaned against the trunk of a large tree. There was still time until the hunting tournament started, so no one else was in the forest. At least, no one should have been.

Suddenly, the presence of another approaching caused him to instinctively duck into a thicket nearby. Gahariet and his posse appeared.

I would’ve been in a terrible pickle if they had seen me strolling through the woods leisurely. Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to hide, he thought, setting a hand on his chest in relief.

As he knelt forward on the ground, he peered through a gap in the short bushes. The earth was damp, and he could feel the water soaking into his pants.

Disgusting... But I don’t have a choice. I’ll suffer an even worse fate if they find me here.

With Char and the others so far away, he was the only one who could protect his own hide. Completely unaware of Thibault’s presence, Gahariet walked right up to his hiding spot and stopped directly in front of it.

Why did you stop here?! I can’t leave like this...

Thibault tried to shrink into himself as he held his breath. Luckily, Gahariet didn’t notice him.

“These impudent rookies will get what’s coming to them today! I can’t believe they dared to disrespect me this entire time. I’ll make them regret crossing me. Mark my words!” Gahariet declared, seemingly in high spirits.

Thibault unconsciously released a gasp at the mention of the word “rookies.”

“They’ve made my legs so short that I struggle to walk. From what I’ve noticed so far, it seems that they’ve cast a spell that makes my leg shrink every time I say something ‘improper’ to a woman. Good grief. Sexual harassment isn’t real! It’s just a persecution complex invented by delusional women! I refuse to entertain even the thought of it. We all know they secretly like the attention!”

His underlings nodded at his words, rubbing their hands together.

“It’s just as you say, sir! Everyone knows that, when a woman says no, it means yes. Just look at our female knights. Jeez, women are such annoying creatures!”

“They are!” Gahariet crossed his arms, a scowl settling on his face. “Anyway... We can’t let these damn mana wielders keep doing as they please. They need to disappear. No one will miss a handful of mana wielders.”

I knew they’d get themselves into trouble! Thibault lamented.

Gahariet’s understanding was formed out of several misconceptions. Mana wielders were pretty much considered the bottom of the barrel in Hanche—a result of the Faith’s influence. People felt free to treat them however they wished, knowing there would be no repercussions for their actions. And heaven forbid the mana wielders tried to rebel; most of the kingdom’s citizens would retaliate. The kingdom’s knights didn’t even consider them a threat because regular mana wielders weren’t as proficient with magic as the Mercures.

That’s why I told them not to use their powers. But...

Thibault thought back to the times when Lam and the others had used magic to save him. He’d been shocked at first, naturally, and had panicked that they would cause too much of an uproar.

But the more I listen to the captain, the more I realize that I may have been mistaken. Perhaps they had been right to use magic.

If they hadn’t stood up to injustice and tried to protect themselves, the captain would’ve kept taking more and more from them until he ultimately claimed their lives.

Things have to change. I need to do something.

Lam and Char were much kinder people than Gahariet. It was only thanks to their help that Thibault had made it thus far.

“Fortunately, we’re in the middle of a forest, and the hunting tournament will start soon,” Gahariet resumed, still unaware of Thibault’s presence. “A couple stray arrows finding their way into their bodies isn’t at all implausible. Our guests aren’t experienced hunters; it would merely be an unfortunate accident.”

As it turned out, it seemed that Gahariet was plotting to harm Char and the others and make it look like an accident.

“Are you really going to do this, sir?” one of Gahariet’s subordinates asked.

“I am. I’ll get rid of every rookie who defies my orders—under the guise of a tragic hunting mistake. No one would blame the big shots of the Faith for shooting a couple of rookie knights. We’ll rally all the other knights to carry out this plan.”

The words coming out of Gahariet’s mouth were nothing short of outrageous. Thibault was frozen in place, unable to move.

O-Oh no! The others are in danger!

Gahariet was about to commit a terrible injustice.

I don’t know how strong the Mercures are, but they’re going to find themselves completely outnumbered. They might get killed! I don’t want that!

He couldn’t waste a single second. He had to find Char and the others and let them know of Gahariet’s plot.

But if I come out of here, the captain will notice me...

The sheer dread of being discovered paralyzed him.

Waaah! What should I do?

Thibault had always been a stout believer in the philosophy of not rocking the boat. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve just stayed hidden in the thicket, quivering in his boots. Perhaps his warning Char wouldn’t even change a thing.

But...

He stood.

I have to let them know they’re in danger! They’ve done so much for me. I can’t do something as cruel as abandoning them!

Gahariet’s and his men’s sights converged on him.

Eeek! They really spotted me!

Tripping over his feet, he began running in the direction Char and the others had disappeared.

“Hey! Catch him!” Gahariet’s voice boomed behind him.

At his words, his underlings immediately pursued Thibault. The journalist did his best to outrun them, his pace not slowing even the slightest.

Ah! I just realized that I’ll be taking them straight to Mr. Char! That’s no good! B-But I have to let him know that he’s in danger. Uuh, what should I do?!

Thibault was at a complete loss.

I can’t breathe. My sides are starting to hurt.

A sob escaped him as he fled. Sadness and frustration washed over him. He felt so miserable, he didn’t know what to do. Just how incompetent could he be?

I kept relying on their sympathy and having them save me. I yelled at them every time they used flashy spells, but I would never have been able to protect my own hide.

Worse, he had never given anything back in return. He’d been the one who requested they help him with his mission, yet he hadn’t been useful to them even once, nor had he tried accommodating them or assisting them.

I even briefly thought of staying hidden while knowing they were in danger. I truly am the world’s biggest coward. A true good-for-nothing.

Who would ever trust someone like him?

As he ran, one of Gahariet’s men grabbed him, causing him to lose his footing.

“Aah!”

He tumbled to the ground, mud clinging to him as he rolled. His hands and legs throbbed with a sharp pain. Had he scraped them?

Uuh... Waaah! I can’t do it!

Would Gahariet kill him and make it look like an accident as well?

Trembling and teary-eyed, he peered at the knight pinning him down.

I’m going to die just like this... Unable to do anything...

Was that truly how he would meet his end?

I don’t want that. If I’m going to get killed anyway, I’m at least going to try to slow him down.

Deeming that Thibault wouldn’t be able to oppose him on his own, the knight loosened his grip on him.

Now!

Thibault flapped his skinny limbs in all directions, doing everything in his power to resist his captor.

“I... I... I’m not a good-for-nothing! I’ll buy them some time, even if just a little!”

The knight holding him down guffawed. “What the hell is he talking about? Has he done a single useful thing since joining the knights?”

“Didn’t he just get depressed all the time? He was basically just deadweight,” another said, ridiculing Thibault.

“Hey, quit it. He’s at least good for one thing,” Gahariet said.

The knights let go of Thibault. “What do you mean, sir?”

“He’ll make a perfect hostage for us to get to those pesky rookies. What other use could he have?”

“You’re so right, sir!” his subordinates exclaimed, clapping and laughing.

Ah... Even now, all I’ve managed to do is get in the others’ way... Thibault thought, his mind going blank.

※

With brisk steps, Char delved deeper and deeper into the forest. Someone was out to kill him—he could feel it.

People from the Royal Knights, for sure. I’ve sensed this same ominous presence at the barracks numerous times.

If he was going to fight back, it was better to do so in a desolate spot where no one would notice. He was pretty sure they were going to make their move soon. Since he had faced similar threats at the schoolhouse as a child, his instincts around this were sharp. The time he’d spent at the Royal Knights had unearthed many memories from his youth—ones he didn’t particularly wish to revisit.

This place really reminds me of the schoolhouse.

Ever since Lam came into his life and reformed the House of Mercure, he’d found this kind of atmosphere incredibly unpleasant, more so than he ever had before. He’d been much more numb to his emotions as a boy. Perhaps the fact that he was feeling anything at all now was proof that he had regained his sanity.

He’d left Thibault behind on purpose, since Char had sensed he wasn’t being targeted by those stalking him. If Thibault was in the vicinity when the knights came for Char, he might get caught up in the attack, and Char very much wished to avoid that—he was far too defenseless.

He couldn’t believe how anxious he felt about someone else’s well-being. It was almost like Lam had rubbed off on him.

This thought would never have even crossed my mind before.

It clearly was one of the many changes Lam had brought into his life. The old Char would’ve just thrown Thibault to the wolves, claiming it was his own fault for being unable to defend himself despite being a knight.

Then again, it wasn’t like Char’s current conduct didn’t come with its own set of issues. He had endeavored to drag as few people as he could into this dangerous situation, but...an unexpected guest had decided to join them.

Char glanced beside him and let out a sigh. A slim young man with red hair and suntanned skin was following him enthusiastically. He was none other than Ves—a lumberjack and the man who’d ended up first overall at the Royal Knights’ admission test.

I can’t believe he can keep up with the twins and me. I have to change my plans because of him.

He’d initially intended to leave him behind with Thibault. Since he didn’t know the man yet, he wanted to remove as many uncertain variables as possible from the situation. Sadly, things hadn’t gone to plan.

Seriously, how can he keep up with us Mercures? I’m walking at pace on purpose here.

His and the twins’ physical abilities were a result of the grueling training they’d gone through as children. It wasn’t something anyone could easily replicate.

Char surreptitiously observed Ves.

Lam told me that he was informed about old magic like hers. As I thought, I need to keep my guard up around him.

Though they were more or less working together at the moment, Char still had no idea what Ves’s true motives were. He didn’t seem to harbor any malicious intent toward him or the twins, but he had deftly dodged all of Char’s attempts to figure out why he was so familiar with Lam’s spells.

“Lord Char, the knights are going to make their move soon, aren’t they?” Fouet mused from behind him.

They had just reached a clearing in the woods where they could move about freely. It was the perfect place to take a stand against the knights.

“We can fight them if they attack first, right?” Barre asked, eager for a fight.

Given his personality, he must’ve built up quite a lot of pent-up frustration since joining the knights. But he was right; they needed to deal with the knights—and the sooner, the better.

“Let’s intercept them here.” Char nodded.

However, there were still a couple of issues to deal with first.

“What should we do with him?” he whispered to the twins, throwing a glance in Ves’s direction.

This had nothing to do with him, but if he stayed, he would undoubtedly get dragged into the scuffle.

“I’m not sure how to deal with the knights either. I’m not that good with discreet spells, and things might get out of hand if we overdo it,” Char added.

They were currently undercover in Hanche, so this time, they couldn’t rely on large-scale spells to wipe out their opponents, lest they cause an international incident. The best course of action would be to use smaller spells to deal with the throngs of knights one by one, but Ves might accidentally become collateral. Char didn’t know what his true abilities were yet, and he hadn’t used a single spell so far, so he couldn’t count him as part of their combat force.

“Fouet, keep Ves safe. Barre and I will do everything we can to thwart the knights without causing a fuss.”

“Yeees, Lord Char. I completely agree; ensuring our friend over there is safe is crucial,” Fouet replied, delighted at the prospect of taking it easy.

All of a sudden, Ves—who had stayed quiet all this time—spoke up. “That’s nice of you. Thanks, but I don’t need protection. I can handle myself just fine. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’m stronger than all of you.”

“You heard us, huh?” Char said, turning to face Ves.

They had been speaking as quietly as possible and shouldn’t have been audible to the young man from where he stood...unless he had magical assistance.

He definitely used a spell.

Yet it had felt so natural that Char hadn’t noticed it.

Barre, always quick to lose his temper, glared at Ves, a glint of challenge sparking in his eyes. “Oh, you’re that confident in your magic abilities, huh? I’d love to see what you’re capable of.”

He had a tendency to stir the pot. Incidentally, he also seemed to have forgotten all the times Lam had kicked his tail when he’d challenged her.

Then again, most mana wielders aren’t particularly talented, so I can’t blame him for being curious, Char thought.

But now wasn’t the time to fight one another.

“Stop it, Barre. We need to deal with the knights first,” he gently chided his aide.

Discontent crossed Barre’s face, but he nodded reluctantly. “Yes, yes. Can we knock them all out? It might interfere with our duty to keep the guests safe, though.”

“The ‘guests’ are self-proclaimed big shots of the Faith, so who cares about what happens to them? In fact, the Faith doesn’t exist anymore. They’re nothing more than a bunch of frauds taking advantage of their former position to stay in Hanche for free.”

“Oh, wow. They’ve swindled an entire country. That’s impressive!” Barre exclaimed with fake enthusiasm. “They really are the scum of the world!”

“More importantly, I’m worried about Lam,” Char said. “She was calm when I last saw her, but we can’t ignore the possibility that she might lose her composure depending on how things go on her side.”

“And if she does, she’ll definitely go over the top with it. I still haven’t forgotten about the stinky hair balls and the durian stench she cast on the bishop.” Barre grimaced.

“The Tête Kingdom kept her rampage under wraps, but there are still rumors circulating about it among those who know. She risks doing much more than just causing a fuss here.”

All of a sudden, a new mana signature appeared in the air. The next instant, the very woman they had been talking about materialized in front of their eyes. She turned toward them, clad in her Royal Knight uniform, her hair fluttering in the wind.

“Ooh, it’s the madam,” Barre commented.

“Is something the matter? Do you have an urgent message for us?” Fouet asked.

“Nope. I just came to report that I did my part,” Lam replied with a smile. It seemed that things were already settled on her end.

Char noticed that her mouth was moving as if she were eating something.

That smell... Is it durian?

Perhaps the guests of honor had been served durian, and Lam had snatched it from their tent. As it was considered a luxury fruit, they had never been served it at the mess hall, and Lam had been very disappointed. Char was glad she could finally indulge in her favorite food.

“Sorry to interrupt your snack, Lam, but what about the weapon...?” Char asked.

“Oh, I’ve taken care of it. I was worried about you, so I came to see how you were faring,” she replied.

“Well, that was quick. Did you find proof of the Faith’s plot for Thibault?”

“I did. The female knights’ duty was to entertain the people of the Faith, so I was able to get close to them much more easily than I anticipated. It went even better than I expected.”

“Entertain...?” Char echoed.

“Apparently, the female knights take on the role of entertainers to cut costs—or something like that.”

“That’s...strange. Hanche isn’t supposed to be that poor a country. Could it be that the captain has been embezzling the funds allotted to the Royal Knights and pocketing them for himself?”

Now that Char thought about it, Gahariet had been the only one drinking fancy alcohol during meals. Apparently, he often went out into the city to gamble as well. Being the son of a marquis, it was likely that no one had been able to do anything to stop him.

“Anyway, how are you three doing? Barre seems oddly murderous...”

“That has nothing to do with the situation at hand. Don’t worry,” Char replied. “But it’s just as I suspected: Some knights have been making unusual moves today, including the captain. They seem intent on taking their revenge on us.”

“That captain never learns.” Lam sighed.

“Well, I’ve been more or less expecting that he would try to retaliate. I left Thibault behind so that he wouldn’t get tangled in this chaos. I seem to be their main target.”

“Because of what you did at the welcome party, perhaps? The captain’s legs have become awfully short, after all. Well, that’s on him, though.”

“Truly. If he had behaved around women, he wouldn’t have ended up like that.”

Lam nodded. “His legs shouldn’t be this short unless he was very aggressive with his sexual harassment.”

“He must’ve been,” Char replied after a pause. “If I had known, I would’ve adjusted my spell to make the changes a little less drastic.”

Gahariet’s appearance had reached the point of absurdity. His legs now began where his knees used to be, and because of Lam’s spell, his torso had grown longer and filled in his lost height—he was as tall as he’d been before. But as a result, he currently had a really, really long trunk and really, really short legs, to the point where he struggled to walk. His voice was also as high-pitched as that of a small bird—courtesy of Lam, once again.

And yet, he hadn’t tried to improve his behavior in the slightest. His determination was impressive, in a way.

“Perhaps he’s just unaware of his flaws,” Lam suggested.

Her words struck a nerve in Char. He, too, had once judged everything through the lens of his own worldview, unconsciously assuming that the Mercures’ sense of values was the standard. It wasn’t until Lam pointed it out that he understood how skewed his perspective had been.

But Gahariet wasn’t the type of man who could easily be reasoned with, even if someone laid his flaws out at his feet. To be fair, Char might have completely disregarded his wife’s advice as well if the timing had been different.

“Char, I’ll help you deal with the captain and his men. Ah. I can hear hooves approaching.”

Just as Lam said, it seemed that several horses were trotting their way.

“They made their move sooner than I anticipated,” Char commented. “We were just talking about Gahariet, and look who’s coming at us.”

As there was no tree coverage around, both parties would lay eyes on each other at the same time. Their enemy would make their move soon, no doubt about it.

Char purposefully went to stand out in the open so that the knights would spot them. After a few minutes, several sharp whistling sounds pierced the air.

There they are.

Right as Char detected their opponents’ hiding spot in the nearby bushes, something nudged into his side before dropping to the ground. Crouching down, he picked up the object, which turned out to be exactly what he’d been expecting.

“Arrows—and not just any arrows: special ones that have been made specifically for the hunting tournament. I protected myself with magic, so nothing happened, but I assume they were trying to kill me and make it look like an accident caused by their guests of honor.”

Barre and Fouet, who had also repelled the arrows, seemed to have reached the same conclusion; annoyance was plain on their faces.

“How cowardly of them to conceal themselves and launch an ambush. They could at least give us the courtesy of showing themselves,” Fouet said.

“I know, right? They’re all bulky and rugged, yet they settle for sneaking around.”

“Mm-hmm. You’re so right.” Lam nodded.

Either way, Char knew what they had to do. He glanced in the direction of the bushes from which the arrows had come, and, sure enough, members of the Royal Knights emerged from them, Gahariet standing in the middle of the group with his arms crossed. Before him, bound with ropes, was Thibault. The knights pushed him forward, and the journalist stumbled to the ground.

No way... They caught him? Good grief; what a pain that man is.

The twins must’ve shared his thoughts as they both winced and let out exasperated groans.

“And here I thought knights were supposed to be noble and chivalrous,” Char said. “A hostage, really? Are you that desperate?”

Gahariet burst into laughter, as if he were mocking Char.

“You’re still green, rookie! How do you expect to make it as a Royal Knight with such an immature mindset? If you value his life, don’t even try to resist. The second I spot you or your friends trying to use your creepy powers, I’ll make his head roll!”

Still restrained, Thibault paled at Gahariet’s threats.

“Keeping that deadweight around was a huge mistake on your part! This is where you die!”

Die? Char couldn’t even fathom how they could lose this fight. Hostage or not, they still had their magic.

There must’ve been a million better options for him to gain the upper hand in this fight. He’s the one who made a mistake by settling for taking a hostage. What a sad, sad man, Char thought.

All of a sudden, Thibault stood up despite his restraints.

As they didn’t try to stop him, the knights must’ve deemed he wasn’t a threat, but then Thibault did something that no one expected: Despite being unable to move his arms, he hurtled headfirst toward Gahariet.

“I’m not deadweight! Rrraaah!” he screamed as he ran without stopping.

His head rammed into the captain’s long torso. With Gahariet’s legs being so small, the force was enough to push him off-balance.

“Aah!”

The man careened backward with a loud thud, but Thibault wasn’t done just yet. Using the excess momentum from his charge, he jumped onto Gahariet’s stomach, thrashing as much as he could.

“Ugh!”

“I... I... I’ll prove that I can be useful too!”

Gahariet attempted to stand up, but the proportions of his body made it difficult, and he struggled to right himself.

Good work, Thibault, thought Char.

Speaking up for the first time since the knights arrived, Ves stepped forward. “See, Thibault? You can do it if you try. It’ll be a pain to deal with the others all at once, so I’ll handle it, all right?”

In the blink of an eye, he teleported Thibault over to their side.

“You...” Char began.

The spell he had used was the same one that Lam had taught Char and the others.

Not only can he recognize spells from five hundred years ago that have been lost to time, but he can also use them? I had my suspicions, but still—I can’t believe that someone other than Lam can use these spells in this day and age.

Utterly flabbergasted, Char couldn’t look away from the scene in front of him.

You’re kidding me...

Who in the world was Ves? Char definitely would need to stay alert around him.

Without Char and the twins having to lift a finger, Gahariet had been defeated, and Thibault had been secured under their protection.

We just need to deal with Gahariet’s minions now, Char thought.

But before he could follow through on his plans, Ves raised a hand and unleashed a flurry of sparkling spells at the enemies. Each of their weapons bloomed into a blossom.

“What the hell...? Flowers?!” the men squeaked pathetically.

A spell that transforms matter. It’s a complex compound technique made by combining Wood Magic with Light or Dark.

The only reason Char was familiar with the spell was because Lam had taught it to him. It was incredibly difficult to cast, requiring precise mana control to retain the flower form of the objects.

Lam said that she learned that spell from her teacher. So why can he use it?

Char couldn’t wrap his head around anything that was happening.

Gahariet attempted to stand up again, but Ves leaped forward, closing the distance between them.

He set a hand on Gahariet’s shoulder. “Checkmate.”

The captain’s legs all but disappeared beneath him, shrinking until his ankles met his hips. With Gahariet’s current proportions, supporting his long torso was impossible; he couldn’t even take a single step forward. He grabbed at Ves but tripped over himself, falling to the ground. Unable to get to his feet, all he could do was screech in his unnaturally high voice.

Ves said, “In this type of situation, the key is to render the strongest opponent powerless first. Might as well deal with the minions too while I’m at it. I’ll make it so none of you can ever misbehave again.”

He must’ve felt quite indignant about the way Gahariet and his posse had treated him so far. A smirk tugged at his lips, and an eerie atmosphere enveloped the forest. The ground under the knights’ feet began swelling, and the nearby trees squirmed and wiggled, seemingly about to swallow up the knights, causing them to squeak in terror.

“Ooh, looks fun,” Barre said as he began helping Ves. He sure was fast to switch gears; he’d been arguing with the man mere minutes ago.

He used magic to transform the ground beneath the knights into viscous sludge, effectively locking them down and preventing escape.

“I’ll lend a hand too,” Fouet chirped, happily jumping on the bandwagon. His usual lazy self had vanished into thin air.

Just like Ves, the two of them must’ve been quite irritated by the knights’ behavior, especially Fouet. He really was the type to hold grudges; Barre, not so much.

“H-Help us!” the knights shrieked as the trees encroached on them, engulfing Gahariet along the way.

“Well, you heard their request. What should we do?” Barre asked, exchanging looks with Fouet and Ves.

“Let’s see... If they promise never to commit any mischief ever again, I suppose we could grant them mercy,” Fouet replied, purposefully putting on airs.

“Agreed.” Ves nodded.

“Good. Let’s use this opportunity to reform the Royal Knights, then, shall we?” Lam interjected from behind them.

Barre pouted, as if the mere thought of it was a hassle. “You say that like it’s nothing, but...”

“Can’t we just change things like I did at the schoolhouse?” Lam asked.

“It’s not that we can’t, but this is on a completely different scale altogether. It’ll likely take much longer than it did for the schoolhouse, and we won’t be there to make sure things go without a hitch,” Fouet said with an awkward smile.

“You make a good point,” Lam said. “Ves doesn’t plan on staying either... Then I suppose I will cast a punishment spell on these knights for the time being.”

“A punishment spell? I’ve never heard of that before,” Ves said, a puzzled look crossing his features.

“Let me give you a demonstration: Shining, uh...Dance!”

With that, she replaced the sludge spell with one that compelled the knights to dance uncontrollably for a set amount of time.

She just came up with that name, didn’t she?

Char didn’t know why, but his wife liked to unnecessarily name her spells.

Lam’s magic slammed into the knights, and they began dancing all at once, their limbs writhing to perform strange gestures. Even Gahariet was forced onto his tiny legs to join the performance.

What kind of dance even is this...? Char thought, speechless, as he watched the spectacle.

The moves weren’t something one would witness at a royal ball or any formal gathering. It was more reminiscent of the way commoners danced during celebrations. Knowing Lam, it might even have been an actual dance from five hundred years ago.

“I’ll have you all turn on a new leaf,” Lam said. “Today, you will stand before the people of the palace—no, the entire kingdom, and confess your sins. If you refuse or lie, I’ll make it so that your body is compelled to dance for three hours at noon every day!”

As always, Lam’s ideas went way beyond Char’s wildest expectations.

“Lam, everything will be resolved if you use the item you’ve prepared, won’t it?” Char asked.

“Oh, right.” Lam nodded, producing a magic tool from the pocket of her knight uniform.

A box-shaped object that could comfortably fit in Lam’s palm floated in the air above her hand. Apparently, this was an item from five hundred years ago that was used to record events. It could then project them as images in the air and play the sounds for everyone to listen to. Back then, people used it to record council sessions at the royal palace as well as for other things, such as enhancing dramatic performances in plays.

Lam hadn’t really made any items at the Mercure estate so far, but she’d claimed that she would get down to crafting more of them from this point forward. She had diligently been working on this one since she heard about the Faith’s plans to use Epocha’s weapon prototype, hoping to use it to capture proof of their schemes—she had barely made it in time for the hunting tournament. From what she’d told Char, she had contacted Épée and Flèche in a hurry to ask them to prepare the necessary materials for her. With one of her disciples being the king of a nation and the other the head of a so-called “company,” they had managed to immediately teleport the supplies over to Hanche.

“I’ll undo the dancing spell on anyone who confesses their wrongdoings here and now. Come on, tell us what you’ve been up to since joining the knights,” she called out to the dancing men.

While reluctant at first, they eventually spoke up, and Lam broke them free from the spell one after another.

“I was against the captain’s methods at first,” one started. “But he’s a noble, so I couldn’t risk crossing him.”

Another nodded. “The things he orders us to do are crazy. Even when I manage to meet his demands, he never acknowledges my efforts; he just expects me to replicate them the next time.”

“Same here. At first, I hated following his commands, but I had to adapt to the way things are done here.”

Seeing their comrades confess their wrongdoings and be freed from the spell, the other knights eventually admitted to their own transgressions as well. All save for one: Gahariet.

Lam used her magic item to record her questions and the knights’ answers. Though a crime was a crime, Char would be lying if he said a part of him didn’t feel a little bad for them. But as the target of their assassination attempt, he refused to let them get away scot-free.

Once she had gotten a confession out of every knight except Gahariet, she proudly held up the magic item in front of Char.

“I already recorded proof of the Faith’s schemes earlier. Now all we have to do is show it to the people of the kingdom. We’ll use this opportunity to raise awareness about the Royal Knights’ evil deeds as well.”

“Good idea. But it’s Thibault’s job to spread the news, not ours,” Char pointed out.

That was their agreement, after all.

“You’re right... But I wonder if we can really let him handle it.”

“I get what you’re trying to say.”

Thibault was a frail and unreliable man, so it was only natural for Lam to doubt whether he could deliver on his word. Char, however, firmly believed that he would pull through.

“I was concerned he wouldn’t manage to perform his role when we first joined the knights, but now I suspect he’ll be fine,” he said.

If he had the resolve to stand up to a group of knights all by himself, he likely had what it took to achieve his goal.

“If someone as critical as you puts their faith in him, I’ll trust your judgment,” Lam said, squinting as if it were suddenly too bright outside. Then, she looked up at Char and gave him a smile.

Char was very, very weak to Lam’s smile.

Suppressing the instinct to reach out and pull her into a hug, he nodded. “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” he said, making a conscious effort to maintain his composure.

They had barely finished their conversation when Gahariet began shouting curses in his shrill voice. He hadn’t stopped performing the strange dance moves enforced by Lam’s spell, not even for a single second. In contrast to the other knights who all stood there with glum looks on their faces, as if their spirits were broken, Gahariet was still full of energy.

As she glanced at him, a look of resentment registered on her face. “Good grief, captain, you still haven’t learned your lesson? Well, if you don’t have any intention to correct your behavior, I need to think of what to do with you.”

Char agreed with her assessment that Gahariet would be back to his usual shenanigans if they let things be as they were.

After a moment of contemplation, a spark lit up in Lam’s eyes as she exclaimed, “I’ll send you to learn about the world at my friend’s company! You’ll discover how to cooperate with others!”

Char was speechless.

She just said something absolutely crazy. That “friend” of hers is her first disciple, right? He’s absolutely not running a company; he’s a mafia boss.

Char knew Épée would immediately agree to help if Lam asked.

But we can’t just throw Gahariet to that pack of thugs... Actually, that might not be such a bad idea.

Having to survive in a group of people much stronger and more brutal than him might knock some sense into him. Maybe.

While Char was lost in thought, Lam used her magic to arbitrarily teleport Gahariet to Lèvres without further ado.

Thinking over the magic he’d just seen, Ves pensively studied the knights. All of them were crouching on the forest ground, looking as if they had lost the will to live.

“A spell that makes others dance under certain conditions, huh? I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said.

Apparently, that was the part that caught his attention the most.

Lam, on the other hand, seemed to be gazing intently at the swollen forest floor, curiosity clear on her face. She appeared a little shocked.

“I’ve seen this spell before...” she murmured.

“Aren’t you familiar with pretty much all spells?” Char asked, puzzled by his wife’s reaction.

“That’s not it. This spell, it’s...” She paused and nervously turned to Char. “It’s one that my teacher invented herself. I was there when she came up with it, so I’m sure. I’ve never met anyone other than her who could use it.”

According to Lam, her teacher, Finis, was an elfin—a tribe of long-lived people—with an incredible knowledge of magic. However, she had disappeared once Lam had reached what was considered adulthood in her past life.

After defeating Epocha, Lam had declared that she wanted to go look for her teacher, and Char had promised to help her.

But I never expected that we would stumble upon a clue so early on in our journey.

Lam seemed quite disturbed as well.

“H-Hey, Ves? Could you tell me where you learned that spell?” she asked, her voice trembling.

The young man stayed silent for a moment before saying, “If I tell you, will you answer my question? How did you learn all these things about magic in this day and age? The Motar Faith erased nearly all useful spells from the world centuries ago. No mana wielders except the Faith’s saints should be able to use powerful magic. But you all don’t look like saints. If anything, you seem to be against the Faith.”

So Ves did know that magic had declined in the past centuries and that the spells Lam could use weren’t common knowledge.

What should we do? Char hesitated.

Beside him, Lam simply replied, “Sure. I’ll answer your question.”

Char began, “Lam...”

“It’s not something I have to hide, and if it causes any issues, I’ll deal with it when I have to.”

“But—” Char tried to argue, but she wouldn’t hear it.

“I might learn a hint about my teacher’s whereabouts. I would like to hear what Ves has to say.”

Char wanted to grant Lam’s wishes as much as he could, and she seemed to really want to see her teacher again.

I won’t stop her, then. If something bad happens, I’ll be there to protect her.

He gave Lam a nod. Ves seemed satisfied with their arrangement as well.

“You might not believe me, Ves, but my magic teacher was an elfin. Ah, do you know what elfins are? Perhaps people don’t know about them nowadays.”

“I do know about elfins,” Ves confirmed, a serious look on his face.

“Oh, so they’re still around these days? My teacher taught me magic five hundred years ago. After that, complications happened, and I was reincarnated through magic five hundred years later. That’s why I can use spells from back then.”

“I see. My lie-detecting spell didn’t react to your words, so it looks like you’re telling the truth. Although I suppose you could have overwritten my spell and erased it,” Ves said.

When had he even cast a spell on Lam?

Char truly couldn’t underestimate this man.

“I would never do something as tedious and roundabout as overwriting your spell. From what I’ve seen so far, you would have noticed anyway,” Lam said.

“Fair point. Then I’ll assume you’re telling the truth. Still, I’ve never heard of a reincarnation spell succeeding before. I’m really curious about it. Could you tell me more?”

“First, I want to know how you learned the spell that you used earlier. Your magic really reminds me of that used by elfins.”

“That’s probably because my teacher is an elfin,” Ves said.

“I se— Wait, what?! Is it common for elfins to take humans as their disciples? Did I just never know about it all this time?!”

Lam’s eyes had shot wide open—an understandable reaction.

Elfins almost never showed themselves to humans, and there were very few of them. It was said that the last sighting of an elfin by a human was an age ago.

It’s just like Lam’s third disciple said: Some elfins are still alive in this day and age. Perhaps Lam truly will be able to meet with her teacher again.

Char glanced at Lam, and she met his gaze with a nod. Then, she raised her voice, acting as if she had suddenly remembered something. “Oh my! It slipped my mind, but we need to get back to the guests’ tent! I left them in there before rushing over here. They’re probably still dancing as we speak...”

“Did you use that weird spell over there too?!” Char exclaimed.

“Yes. They started kicking up a fuss after giving me their testimonies and tried to behave indecently toward the female knights. They’re supposed to be clergymen, for goodness’s sake. What a troublemaking bunch.”

“I see...”

Why hadn’t she used a more sensible spell? He could easily picture the chaos inside that tent.

Well, there’s not much point in me saying this to her. For now, let’s get out of these woods.

Temporarily pausing their conversation, Char, Lam, and the twins teleported to the resting area where Lam had left the Faith’s big shots.

※

When we returned to the tent, things inside were a mess. The Faith’s big shots were being rattled about, forced to dance without stopping, their arms flailing thick bunches of weeds. The squad leader of the female knights and her posse were trying their hardest to help stop them. There were even a few people from the royal palace standing outside the tent. I assumed someone had gone to inform them of the situation at hand. They were peering inside through the transparent wall blocking the entrance, looks of pure befuddlement on their faces.

“Oh, wow.”

“Such chaos.”

The twins made little comments as they observed the dancing knights from a corner of the tent.

Upon noticing that I had returned, the female knights came to grab me.

“Hey! Where did you disappear to?!” they exclaimed.

I had made it so that only they could walk out of the tent, but it seemed that they had chosen to stay regardless.

“Stop messing with us, and do something about this! What in the world is going on here?! I’m the one in charge here, so I’ll be held responsible for that mess you caused!” the squad leader yelled in a strident voice, her long hair now a complete bird’s nest. “Do you want to ruin my future, is that it?! I finally became squad leader... Do you have any idea how much I struggled to get to where I am now?!”

I really didn’t, so I had nothing to say to her outburst.

“I’ll have to leave the Royal Knights now! What are you going to do about this?!”

She was even more agitated than usual, desperation carved into her features.

I felt a little bad, so I said, “This won’t be your sole responsibility, though, will it? These people are in the wrong here. They tried to swindle the kingdom.” I pointed at the fake clergymen.

“Who cares?! In these types of situations, the ones who take the fall are always the female knights! After all, who cares if we’re here or not? They can just pin the blame on us and kick us out! I’m squad leader in name only; they’ll find a replacement in no time!”

Several of the other female knights nodded deeply at the desperate squad leader’s words. It seemed that what the squad leader said was common knowledge among them.

“She’s right,” one said. “We keep our mouths shut while forced to do all sorts of absurd things so that we can survive here. This is the only way to stay in the Royal Knights. We worked so hard to be liked by the kingdom’s elite and the male knights, so why did you cause such a commotion?! You have to make an effort to get used to your workplace. Do you not want to stay here?!”

The other female knights nodded in full agreement with their friend. Meanwhile, Ahn and the other two new recruits were staring at me with confusion in their eyes, which was soon replaced by determination as they began making their way toward us together.

“Y-You’re all wrong! You never put in effort!” one said, turning to our seniors.

“It’s because you keep pushing others to accept that kind of treatment that the working conditions here have never improved! Also, just because you’ve endured the other knights’ mistreatment doesn’t give you the right to bully the new recruits!”

The senior female knights countered sharply, “You’re speaking from a place of naivety because you’ve just arrived! We were once in your shoes. Those who make such immature claims get ostracized. If you want to remain with the Royal Knights, you have to conform to expectations—”

“Exactly! I used to believe I wanted to work for a living, but I decided to spend my days here quietly, so I can eventually marry someone with money. But if this accident tarnishes my record, no one will want me as a wife! What am I supposed to do?!” another lamented.

I listened to their gripes with mixed feelings.

I wonder if they were also suffering but chose to remain silent. Then again, bullying one’s juniors is a big no-no, and I don’t think that they should get away with it... But if I just leave them behind, I know for a fact I’ll feel like I’m the one who ruined their lives, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

The ones truly at fault here were those who had used them like tools, ready to dispose of them once they didn’t have any apparent use anymore. Yet, once the schemes of the Faith and the transgressions of the kingdom’s elite were exposed, all eyes would fall on them, and the female knights would end up as nothing more than an afterthought.

By the time someone extended a helping hand to them, some might have already found themselves on the streets. Actually, knowing how things were in Hanche, it was entirely possible that the people would overlook the Faith’s and their leaders’ wrongdoings. In that case, the female knights would be harshly criticized for failing to fulfill their duty to protect the guests.

Used, discarded, and verbally abused. This was far too unfair. While I couldn’t alter the sense of values of Hanche’s citizens in one day, I still wanted to help these girls to the best of my ability.

Some regions in Tête are similar to Hanche. Actually, women might have more job opportunities here; at least, they can become knights.

Working women were exceedingly rare in Tête. Those who did pursue a job served as domestics for rich families, helped at their families’ mom-and-pop inns and stores, or worked as farmers or certain types of artisans.

We might have had more freedom five hundred years ago.

This was largely because magic had been more common back then, and it minimized the differences in strength and stamina between men and women. People who could use magic had the freedom to do whichever job they fancied.

In the current world, the only place where women have more freedom than in Hanche is Lèvres, I think.

There were female knights in Flèche’s kingdom as well—way more than in Hanche, in fact. And unlike here, they actually trained as knights, guarded the royal palace, and kept the country safe. Furthermore, when Flèche ascended the throne, he created a new division called the “magic knights” that accepted both men and women among its ranks. This chivalric order was mainly centered around mana wielders and people who had agreed to get the seal on their mana removed after the Faith’s downfall.

“You seem to have a lot of complaints, but in short, you’re unsatisfied with the way you’ve been treated since joining this order, aren’t you?” I said. “If you truly want to be a knight, what about joining a chivalric order in a different nation? I know someone involved with the knights of another country, so I could put in a good word for you at the entrance exam.”

There were fewer than twenty female knights here in the Royal Knights, so Flèche probably wouldn’t mind letting them sit through the exam at the very least.

“Huh?!” The squad leader’s shrill voice pierced through the air. “And what guarantee do we have that things will go well over there? Stop making it sound like it’s such an easy option! Some of us ended up in the Royal Knights because we had nowhere else to go. Young women are pretty much accepted by default here. We can at least save up to pay for our own food.”

“But some places let female knights perform the same duties as the men,” I pointed out.

“There’s no way we’d travel so far just to—” the squad leader started when one of the other female knights stepped forward.

“If such a place truly exists, then I want to go. The squad leader is the daughter of a baron but unlike her, I come from a family of commoners. If I get kicked out, I won’t be able to sustain myself anymore. I don’t think I have enough savings to last me until I land a new job.”

“You’re betraying me?!” the squad leader yelled.

“I only joined the Royal Knights last year, but I’m getting tired of the peer pressure here. I was planning to quit anyway, so if I can have a similar job somewhere else, I’d like to try my luck,” the female knight said.

The moment one of them spoke up, the others joined in.

“The only reason I stayed quiet this entire time is because I couldn’t afford to disobey the nobles,” one said. “I figured that as long as I had room and board, I could endure the terrible conditions here and that my efforts would eventually be rewarded. But if I had known I would just get used and then discarded like a broken tool, I would have just lived the way I wanted to from the start! Hanche has little contact with the mainland, but I might just go and find myself a husband abroad!”

“I’m too scared to travel, so I’ll remain in Hanche, but not in the Royal Knights. If I can’t land a good marriage opportunity, there’s no point in staying here any longer!”

They all spoke their mind, a hint of desperation in their voices. Just as I thought, the solidarity between these women had been weak from the start. They were all aiming for different things in their lives.

Seeing that all of her minions were abandoning her one after the other, the squad leader began to panic. “I can’t believe you betrayed me when I treated you so well all this time. You won’t get away with it!”

There were only a handful of people left by her side—the ones who had picked on me with her on my first day here. These must’ve been the women she’d favored the most out of the entire group.

“The only ones you’ve been ‘treating well’ are the noble ladies and the daughters of wealthy merchants—the very women who are still by your side now,” one said. “You’ve never been particularly nice to me. But oh well, thank you for your help so far, I guess. We’re out of here.”

These women had lived together for so long, yet it only took a moment for everything to collapse. Even I was taken aback by this turn of events.

The squad leader, on the other hand, had burst into tears.

“I’ve never wanted to be a Royal Knight either! No matter how hard we try, there is no future for women here! The best thing we can hope for is to be named squad leader, that’s it! But the competition for lady attendant positions is fierce, so I didn’t have any other choice!” she said, sobbing. “My father might be a baron, but we’re not rich by any means, and I have so many sisters that my parents don’t have enough money to pay all of our dowries. Other than my three oldest sisters, we all have to work for a living! I just wanted to marry into a good family; that’s why I cozied up to the captain. Who in their right mind would willingly try to get close to that bully of a man under any other circumstances?!”

I had found the squad leader’s behavior odd since joining the Royal Knights, but it seemed that she had her own agenda as well.

She was only after the captain’s nobility title—she wasn’t in love with him at all.

As it turned out, I had been wrong all along.

I couldn’t help but think that her life would’ve been even worse after marrying Gahariet. She would have to live with the man, after all.

At any rate, all I could do right now was show the female knights that they had other options.

“If any of you are interested in taking the knights’ examination test in another nation, let me know later, all right?” I said.

With that done and dusted, I shifted my attention to Avare, who had been kicking up a fuss behind me since earlier.

Still dancing, he noticed my gaze and yelled, “You evil witch! You’re just a mana wielder, so how dare you make a fool of us?! We’re the upper echelon of the Motar Faith, I’ll have you know! Don’t think you can get away with it! Gentlemen of Hanche, it is her—the root of all our suffering! Capture her at once!” he barked at the big shots of the kingdom who stood near the tent’s entrance.

“She’s the fiend who enticed the former Holy Father and forced him to dissolve the Faith! If you let her get away, she’ll turn the world’s order upside down and—”

“What in the world are you blabbering about? You’re the heinous one,” I retorted.

He clearly had no idea how much suffering his irrational demands had caused the Mercures. It truly was a shame that he still hadn’t reflected on his wrongdoings.

Breaking the transparent wall blocking the tent’s entrance, I turned to the palace’s people amassed at the opening.

“Do you truly believe these men’s claims?” I asked. “You know that the Faith has been dissolved, right? Why are you hiding it from your people?”

There seemed to be important noblemen among the mix, with one looking like he could very well be the king, and another whom I assumed was a minister of some sort. Speaking of the latter, his clothes were incredibly showy, making him stand out more than the king.

Are these the people who orchestrated the rumors about Thibault being a liar?

The people of the palace were glaring at us with eyes full of reproach. It seemed that they were going to side with Avare over us.

“The Motar Faith hasn’t been dissolved. Stop with your lies!” the minister said, stepping to the front of the group.

“Exactly! Lord Niesen’s right!”

As it turned out, everyone from the top brass of Hanche seemed to agree with him. Then again, they were the ones who’d decided to pretend that the Faith hadn’t been dissolved, so they probably didn’t care much about the truth.

“What are you saying? The Faith is no more. You know that. You’ve been lying to your people this entire time, haven’t you? You invited these priests and bishops here, hoping to turn Hanche into the new headquarters of the Faith, and you ruined the careers of every journalist who exposed your lies. Am I wrong?” I added, deliberately provoking Niesen.

He took the bait, immediately retorting, “You talk too much, woman. No matter what you do, we will reestablish the Faith here in Hanche. Who cares if it has been dissolved? As for those journalists, we don’t need people who refuse to follow our orders. A reporter’s job is to write only what’s convenient for the government to manipulate our stupid citizens!”

“Exactly!” The king nodded behind him.

Oh, dear. I’m worried about the future of this kingdom.

Char looked just as dumbfounded as I was.

“I understand. You don’t want to admit that the Faith has been dissolved, huh?” Letting out a small sigh, I turned back to Niesen and the others. “Fine. I’m going to teleport you to what was once the real base of operations of the Faith. Go see with your own eyes how things are over there.”

The main church had been shut down and abandoned. Lance had assured me that it was the case, and I trusted him.

I undid the dancing spells on the Faith’s big shots, then teleported them all to the former Cœur Cathedral, along with the top brass of Hanche. Having never been there myself, I chose to teleport them in the general direction where the former main church was located. My coordinates might have been slightly off, but eh, they’d be fine. The squad leader, having just witnessed a bunch of people disappearing at once, was shaking in her boots.

“Phew. I swatted these insignificant insects away,” I said. “And with that, the case is closed.”

“What are you saying? No, it’s not!” Thibault—whom we had teleported to the tent along with us—screeched as soon as the words left my mouth. “Miss Lam, this goes way beyond investigating the Faith!”

“Well, I resolved the issue, didn’t I?”

“You teleported the king away! I’ll never be able to resume my career as a journalist after this!”

“Don’t worry—I secured proof of their wrongdoings. Here.” I handed him the box-shaped magic item. “I’ve recorded the confessions of every single one of the Faith’s bishops and priests, as well as the knights, and the conversation I just had with Niesen. Just press this button, and it will project everything into the air with sound.”

“Huh? Th-Thank you...?” Thibault stammered, staring at the magic item in confusion.

He eventually regained his composure, closed his mouth, which had been hanging open, and turned to me with a meek expression on his face.

“You and your family helped me a lot. Thank you. You have my gratitude for protecting me from the captain and his goons and helping me reveal the truth to the people of Hanche.” He loosely bowed his head to us.

“Oh, no need to thank us. We merely did what you requested of us. Don’t worry about it,” I said.

“But still...”

He had changed a little during our time in Hanche. Before, he had been unable to do anything by himself, always relying on others to help him, and believed that everything would be fine as long as he didn’t rock the boat. But earlier, he had finally shown his mettle and fought Gahariet despite being unable to use magic, just to prove that he wasn’t a burden. Even Ves had acknowledged his efforts. Perhaps he had grown as a person—just like we had.

“Once the people I’ve teleported away come back, you might get even juicier information to include in your article,” I said. “Actually, if you manage to write to the former Holy Father, you’ll have everything you need.”

I glanced at Char. He regularly exchanged letters with my third disciple.

My husband must’ve guessed what I wanted to ask him, as he let out a resigned sigh. “I know what you’re about to say, Lam. Fine, I’ll send that wannabe lover of yours a letter.”

“Thanks, Char.”

“Don’t mention it. Actually, now that I think about it, he should be in the Dukedom of Brunel as we speak—where the former main church is located.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah. He told me that he wanted to renovate the Faith’s former main church to turn it into a cathedral of the Aurora Faith. He might have crossed paths with those men you just teleported, who knows?”

“Good grief, that boy... I told him to stop starting strange religions left and right,” I grumbled.

“He received donations for the Aurora Faith from the Lèvres Kingdom and a certain mafia—ahem, merchant company boss, so he’s not about to stop anytime soon,” Char informed me.

“Wait, Flèche and Épée sent him donations?! They’re usually like cats and dogs; why are they helping him with that?”

My three disciples only got along when it came to the strangest things. I made a mental note to scold them for supporting Lance’s new religion the next time I saw them. It was one truly bogus faith.

“Well, since we’re done with our investigation, we should return to the barracks soon,” I said.

No one else had touched the durian on the table, so I sneaked in a few bites while discussing our next course of action with Char and the others.

※

When Avare regained consciousness, he found himself in a familiar building with a high ceiling. He took in the white walls with their gold accents and the painted fresco and large chandeliers above him. The windows were made of stained glass, each representing a scene from the Faith’s scriptures.

This is the Cœur Cathedral, isn’t it? I came here once, when I was consecrated a bishop.

Back then, live choirs singing the praises of Lord Motar had filled the vast space.

Is this the second floor?

They stood in front of a large staircase leading down. Peering over the landing, Avare’s gaze fell on the worship area below, with its rows of pews where followers of the Faith would regularly gather. However, it was currently deserted. The last time he’d been there, the cathedral had been teeming with people eager to offer prayers to Lord Motar. Avare couldn’t help but find the sight of the empty pews a little sad.

The other priests and bishops who had been teleported here alongside him began moving about, and so did the king and his subordinates. Based on the confused looks of recognition on their faces, they, too, had been here before.

“Mr. Avare, is this...?” Niesen asked in a shaky voice, followed by a very audible gulp.

“There is no mistaking it. This is the Faith’s base of operations—the Cœur Cathedral in the Dukedom of Brunel,” Avare explained. “That heinous witch teleported us here.”

“How terrifying... I cannot believe that she actually made us change location. But why is the cathedral so empty...?”

Niesen seemed shocked by how different the building seemed.

“Oh... The Faith truly doesn’t exist anymore,” he whispered weakly.

Like him, the king looked around the building in a stupor. Both of them technically knew that the Faith was gone, but that truth had only just started to sink in. Avare couldn’t let them get demoralized over this. He needed their help to revive the Faith in Hanche.

“Your Majesty, Lord Niesen, this is merely temporary. We shall restore the Faith and return this cathedral to its former glory!”

If anything, the fact that there were no other clergymen around was a good thing; it meant that Avare could be involved in the Faith from its rebirth and secure an even better position for himself.

Once I become the new Holy Father, I will organize a witch hunt, he thought, a cruel smirk curling on his lips as he descended the stairs.

That was when he noticed a boy with purple hair leaning against the wall, a spot from where he couldn’t have been seen from above. It seemed that this cathedral wasn’t actually deserted.

He’s just a kid, though, so he likely isn’t a member of the Faith... An intruder, perhaps?

“Hey, you,” Avare called out to the boy. “What do you think you’re doing, entering a place of worship unauthorized? Go home.”

The boy turned around, eyeing Avare in confusion. “Are you talking to me?”

“Is there anyone else in the room, you scoundrel?”

“Oh, wow! You must be a really important person to talk to me that way. That’s perfect; I’ve been feeling a bit stressed recently, so you can help me let off some steam!” the boy said as if to tease him.

His tone made Avare’s blood boil. How dared that plebeian talk to him like that? He would pay!

“How insolent! I’ll let you know, I’m the bishop of the Cerveau Cathedral in the Tête Kingdom. Mind your tone!”

“Oh, yeah? And? If you want to flaunt authority, I win: I’m a former saint of the Faith. So are you sure you want to yell at me when you’re just a bishop?”

“Wha...?!”

Saints ranked higher than bishops in the Faith’s pecking order. There was no way for Avare to tell whether the gloating boy was telling the truth, but if he was, this was bad. The Faith’s saints had a reputation for being dangerous people with no common sense whatsoever.

Avare shuddered, and the boy burst into laughter. “That’s no good, Mr. Bishop. I’m your superior, so you need to treat me with more respect.”

An eerie presence slowly crept from behind the boy—his mana, no doubt.

Th-This sensation... It’s the same as when that heinous witch is about to use her magic. Is he really a saint...?

A chill ran down Avare’s spine, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

If that kid is telling the truth, he can likely use magic. It’s said that the saints can use holy spells—although I’ve never witnessed it myself. But this boy’s powers feel no different from those of the Mercures... Is it truly holy magic...?

This boy was bad news. Avare looked for an escape route, but there were none.

This is not good!

Just as despair threatened to engulf him, the door at the back of the worship hall swung open, and two young men stepped inside. One of them, a person with black-and-white hair, Avare could’ve sworn he’d seen before, while the other resembled the kid who had introduced himself as a saint—though this newcomer was wearing glasses.

“Is something the matter, Chaos? It’s awfully noisy in here,” the familiar-looking young man called out to the kid.

Avare had to stare at him for a moment, but it finally occurred to him where he’d seen him before.

Crap! This one’s the most dangerous of them all!

He had traded his robes for lighter clothing, but there was no mistaking it: That young man was the Holy Father of the Motar Faith—the very one who’d given up on the Faith and sided with that vicious witch.

“Oh, we have guests over, I see—and quite a large group at that. Hmm? I recognize you...” the young man said, eyeing Avare.

The bishop stiffened and hurriedly went to hide behind the king of Hanche.

That man is dangerous. I can’t let him see me. It’s fine; I’ll use the king as a shield.

“Ah, you’re the bishop of the Cerveau Cathedral!” the young man exclaimed, having finally recognized him.

The other members of the Faith all turned to look at Avare.

Crap! He found me out! Why did he have to remember?!

The former Holy Father was wearing a gentle expression, but Avare wouldn’t be fooled again: He was the kind of deranged individual who would blast you into the ceiling with a smile.

“You took great care of me in Tête. Now that I think about it, you vanished just before I could deliver your punishment, did you not? I see you have returned for your penance. That is quite commendable.”

“N-No, I...” Avare stammered.

Being punished by the Holy Father was the last thing he wanted. That, and for the others to know that he had offended the former head of the Faith.

“Aw, man. I thought I could finally have fun, but turns out he was your prey all along, Mr. Lance,” the boy from earlier said, puffing out his cheeks in disappointment.

Upon hearing the boy’s words, the men who had been teleported alongside Avare began to stir. Niesen seemed especially flustered.

“Lance? That’s the name of the Holy Father, is it not?” he asked.

“Wait, isn’t the Holy Father called Saint Argent the First? You’re saying he’s that young man? How young!”

Saint Argent the First was the Holy Father’s official name. The Faith’s rules stipulated that every Holy Father had to take on a fitting name once they were elected. As for why he was “the First,” that was simply because he was the first Holy Father with the name “Argent.”

Not that it matters, since there has been no other Holy Father after him.

Avare didn’t know if that young man truly was Argent the First or if they had secretly switched Holy Fathers along the way.

“The Holy Father has never made any public appearance before. That’s likely an impostor,” one of the men said.

“What a blasphemous accusation!” the young man with the glasses yelled as soon as the words reached his ears. “A group of bishops and their subordinates calling Mr. Lance an impostor? Do you all wish to be punished?!”

He was absolutely furious, a stark contrast to his blank expression from earlier.

What a strange man.

Avare made a mental note to keep his distance.

These three are all loose cannons! How is it possible that they hold a higher rank in the Faith than I do?!

No matter. Right now, Avare’s priority was to escape this place with his head still attached.

As he tried to devise a plan to safely flee the cathedral, the king of Hanche spoke up. “You plebeians. I do not know who you are, but you ought to show me more respect! And stop impersonating the Holy Father of the Motar Faith. How utterly insolent!”

Other than the king, everyone in their group was either a government official or a member of the Motar Faith. Needless to say, they were all in positions of power, and the king was very much aware of that fact.

However, he really should not have voiced his thoughts in front of these three individuals.

What are you doing, you stupid king? Don’t try to pick a fight with a lunatic like the Holy Father! He’s not the kind of man who can be reasoned with!

Things were taking an even worse turn, and Avare began to panic. He needed to find a way to change the subject—and fast.

“Y-Your Holiness, might I inquire what you are doing here?” he asked in an attempt to defuse the tension.

The smile on the young man’s face grew. He was definitely up to no good—Avare was sure of it!

“Thank you for asking! We have just returned from our tour of the continent, where we spread the news of the Faith’s dissolution. I’m currently in the process of creating a new religion, and the three of us were discussing how to renovate this cathedral,” the Holy Father said.

What, just the three of you? Avare wanted to ask but was too afraid to.

Taking no notice of the bishop’s confusion, the Holy Father cheerfully resumed, “I want to make this place the holy site of the Aurora Faith!”

“What?!”

What in the world was the Aurora Faith? Avare had never heard that name before.

“To put it simply, it’s a religion where we celebrate, laud, and hail the praises of the witch of legends, Aurora.”

Avare felt himself grow dizzy. Was that why that lunatic dissolved the Faith? To create this new bizarre religion of his?

Of course, Avare knew of Aurora. She was touted as the most powerful mage in the entire history of mankind. Despite being a mana wielder, she had been revered for generations.

But what about Lord Motar? She can’t take his place! Besides, I don’t want the Motar Faith to disappear. It’ll be awfully inconvenient to me!

But once again, Avare was too scared to voice his thoughts. What suffering.

“Oh, right, we have just finished remodeling that room in the back. Would you like to tell me what you think about it? We’re still a new religion in search of believers, after all.”

Without waiting for an answer, Lance teleported them all to the room in question. Flabbergasted, Avare took in his surroundings.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the reliquary behind the worship hall...?

The sacred atmosphere of the room had vanished completely. The white walls and their tranquil, solemn frescos had been painted over in pastel colors and now featured drawings of eerie creatures.

What in the world are those?

They seemed to be animals with enormous eyes. For some reason, a lot of them seemed angry. There were also a few drawings that Avare simply couldn’t recognize.

This looks like a sea cucumber... Is it some sort of monster?

Strange chandeliers shaped like the sun, stars, and the moon hung from the ceiling, and the luxury rugs and their intricate geometrical patterns had been replaced by a pale, fluffy carpet.

Lance chuckled proudly. “We’re still in the middle of the renovations, but my idea is to cover this entire place in things that Aurora likes. The three of us have been working together to make this vision come true.”

The room was a horrendous hodgepodge of styles and colors.

And the crowning jewel in the center of it was a pure-white stone statue. To Avare’s horror, the woman the statue was modeled after looked in every part like that heinous witch.

Wh-Why is there a statue of her here?! Her hairstyle is different, but it’s definitely her...isn’t it?

Avare did everything he could to stop himself from screaming.

“The King of Lèvres has donated this statue to us as a present. As for the patterns on the walls, Néant and I drew them ourselves. I was in charge of the bunnies,” Lance said, pointing at one of the drawings.

So the strange, unrecognizable creatures were the work of the Holy Father?!

I can’t see a bunny at all in that drawing. It just looks like a sea cucumber!

Avare wasn’t the only one in their group who couldn’t seem to wrap his head around what was happening; the other bishops and priests were quaking as they glanced around.

“What repulsive decor. I cannot believe you dared to expose the statue of a witch in a holy building of the Motar Faith,” Niesen said, shuddering.

I wholeheartedly agree, thought Avare.

Replacing beautiful frescos with ugly doodles—the Holy Father wasn’t right in the head.

“This is heresy! Heresy, I tell you!” one of the oldest men in their group, a bishop from another nation, exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock as if this were the end of the world.

“Yeah, he’s right!”

“We won’t let you get away, you heretics!”

“This is a disgrace to the Motar Faith!”

The people of Hanche had started voicing their anger as well.

Lance suddenly stopped in his tracks and stared at them. Although he was smiling, his eyes looked like two bottomless pits of darkness. The depth of his stare made Avare shiver, as if a cold hand had gripped his heart.

“You’re calling my Aurora Faith heresy? Huh?”

He was clearly furious.

I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared, I’m scared!

Avare immediately bolted toward the door in an attempt to escape the cathedral.

But it was too late.

“Oh, right, I still don’t know why you were all teleported here,” Lance said. “I can actually feel the remnants of teacher’s mana on you. Surely, you didn’t anger her, did you?”

It was exactly as he said.

Overwhelmed with dread, none of the former members of the Faith dared to answer his question.

A look of recognition registered on Lance’s face, like everything had fallen into place, and he turned to the boy from earlier. “Chaos, you can go play with these men outside. Just don’t kill them, and, of course, be careful not to drag anyone else into your game, all right? Teacher will be sad if we hurt innocent bystanders.”

“Really? Can I really go play?! Yaaay! I’ve been wanting to test these new spells I just learned! What should I do? I know! I’ll conduct an experiment to see how far people can fly!” the boy exclaimed, as innocent as a child.

What do you mean, “how far people can fly”?!

Avare was speechless.

“I just remembered that I forgot to tell teacher about the elfins’ hidden village. Should I wait until the next time I see her to mention it, or should I write to her husband? What a thorny dilemma this is.”

Lance seemed to have completely lost interest in Avare and the others and had started muttering to himself. Without further ado, he left the room, the man with the glasses in tow. However, Avare didn’t even have time to see him walk through the door before the boy with the purple hair forcefully teleported them elsewhere.

It went without saying that the saint’s “playtime” was nothing short of hellish.

Chapter Five: The Countess Is Reunited with Her Benefactor

Having finished our investigation of the Motar Faith in Hanche, we all gathered in the barrack’s mess room—Char, the twins, Thibault, and me. We had fixed the biggest of the Royal Knights’ issues and teleported the Faith’s big shots to the former main church. Now, all we needed to do was wait for Thibault to write his article. After that, we had to find a way to make it public, along with the evidence I had recorded with my magic item where you could clearly hear the members of the Faith confessing to their wrongdoings.

“Here, Miss Lam!” Thibault said, laying out the article he’d spent hours writing on a table, using the recordings as a reference.

“You wrote a lot,” Char said, scanning the documents, visibly amazed.

“It’s time for the truth to come to light.”

If the strained look on his face was anything to go by, he was quite nervous.

With Thibault’s article in one hand and the magic item in the other, I offered him a smile. “I have one last thing to give you, Thibault. When I told my disciples about my plan, they both sent me tons of the same items as the one I made.”

They truly were good boys, always willing to help their teacher.

“I copied the recordings and transferred them to the new items.”

This way, the evidence of the Faith’s machinations could be played from any of the magic items.

“Char also came up with another magic trinket. This one can project a scene in real time.”

He had said that it would be more convenient to have something like that on hand.

My husband always made me very proud.

“So that’s what this pile of crates in the corner was—magic items. I’ve been wondering what their contents were. Miss Lam, Mr. Char, thank you so much for the wonderful items. I’m ready to fight for my cause now,” Thibault said, grabbing his article and glaring at the empty air, having steeled his nerves.

“Leave the items to us,” I assured him. “Meanwhile, um... Could you talk to the people of Hanche about your article? My disciples sent me voice-amplifying items as well, so we can project your speech throughout the entire capital.”

“P-Public speaking really isn’t my forte, though!” Thibault exclaimed in a panic.

Throwing him a sidelong glance, I used an illusion spell to make copies of his article, which I reformatted to look like something you’d find written in an actual newspaper. Then, I teleported them in the middle of the sky above the capital so they’d scatter throughout the streets. That way, most people should see them drifting by.

“Now, all we need to do is project the recordings.”

Not only would this grant the article more credibility, but it would also allow those who weren’t literate to understand the situation with the Faith. But I couldn’t help worrying that this might be too shocking an experience for the citizens of Hanche. People these days weren’t used to magic, after all.

Right now was the perfect moment to carry out our plan, as most people were currently out shopping for dinner. Like I’d done with the articles, I teleported all the magic items into the sky to project the recordings above the city.

Meanwhile, Char began preparations with his own item. His was made of two boxes: one that he teleported into the sky alongside mine and another that he placed in front of Thibault to project his speech in real time above the city.

“I’ve imbued an enlargement spell into the item,” Char explained to me. “I didn’t have time to make more than one, but I figured that if I made it big enough, people would be able to see it from afar.”

Though he had only just learned how to perform an enlargement spell, he’d already incorporated it into his creation.

Char’s talent never ceases to amaze me. I didn’t even teach him how to make items, but he’s started making his own inventions. Now that I think about it, five hundred years ago, we used to have a similar tool to the one he made. Back then, when the king had to make important announcements, he would project his image through a mirror to the entire city.

Char’s item was very useful, indeed.

He and I teleported to the city square to make sure that our items were in working order. Rectangles of light appeared in the sky, and the images I had recorded earlier began to play out above the capital.

First up were the confessions of the bishops and priests of the Faith, with each member confessing their schemes.

We can hear them loud and clear. Thank goodness.

Next, the recording I had taken of the king and his minister admitting that they were aware of the Faith’s dissolution began to play, followed by the knights coming clean about their own wrongdoings.

Exclamations of shock and confusion reverberated throughout the city. Most people had stepped out of their houses to watch the images playing overhead, and from my vantage point in the city square, I could see their reactions quite clearly.

“They’re watching the recordings,” I said, relieved. “I was a little scared that they would refuse to even look at them, since they’re unfamiliar with magic.”

Char nodded. “That they didn’t run away is already a win.”

Once the recordings had played through and the light screens disappeared, Char’s item turned on. An enormous, clear wall appeared over the Royal Knights’ barracks, so big that I was positive people could see it from miles away. Thibault’s face appeared in the rectangle of light.

“Um... Hello, everyone. Hi. I’m Thibault, a blacklisted freelance journalist!” he announced, forcing himself to sound as cheerful as possible. “I have borrowed a magic item from some very special people, and I will use it to make a big announcement!”

The commotion in the city grew even louder.

“All right, then. Let’s start, shall we?”

To me, Thibault sounded pretty eloquent, despite this being his first time addressing such a large audience.

“I never would have guessed he had such strong public speaking skills,” Char commented, clearly as impressed as I was.

“Let’s see... First, let me start with a quick explanation for those out of the loop. A few months ago, I published an article detailing the dissolution of the Motar Faith in a newspaper. But then—!” He paused for dramatic effect. “Rumors began spreading across the kingdom, branding me a liar, and I was forced to seek temporary asylum in another nation. For those interested in the details, I recommend looking at the ‘Overview’ section of the article that rained down from the sky earlier.”

I was in awe. The stuttering, timid man from earlier was completely gone!

“As you can imagine, I was pretty desperate to prove my innocence and to make you all aware of what was happening, so I projected the images you saw earlier in the sky. Everything said in these recordings is the truth! And— Whoa! H-Hey, what are you doing?!” Thibault exclaimed, suddenly starting to panic.

A group of noblemen wearing fancy clothes appeared beside him on the screen. They looked like important people.

“Huh? Wait, aren’t these the kingdom’s big shots we saw earlier? The ones we didn’t send to the Faith’s main church?” I asked in surprise.

“They are.” Char nodded. “They must’ve come to prevent Thibault from divulging the truth about them.”

“Oh, no! We have to go help him!”

Flustered, I began to prepare a teleportation spell, but Char grabbed my hand to stop me. “It’s fine. The twins are with Thibault, remember? If they haven’t stopped these men...”

“Then they must have a plan,” I said, finishing the thought for him.

“Most likely.” Char was perfectly calm. He must’ve held a lot of trust in Fouet and Barre.

While we’d been speaking, one of the government officials—a man with a sturdy build—had seized Thibault. The back of the man’s head took up the entirety of the screen, causing the crowd to stir once again.

The nobleman appeared completely oblivious to the magic item on the table. In fact, he probably didn’t even know that an object capable of projecting images in real time existed.

“Hey, you! What is that weird rectangle of light in the sky?! Stop this charade at once!”

“No!” Thibault fought back. “The people of the kingdom will hear the truth! They need to know that the Faith doesn’t exist anymore!”

As he flailed around, his hand knocked the item over, causing the images to flicker. With the device’s current position, the only image we had was a close-up of the government official’s nostrils. Beyond his nose, we could hear the two of them tussling with one another: The nobleman wanted Thibault to stop the projection, while Thibault refused to comply. The perspective whirled once again, as if the item was rolling across the floor, before settling in a position that captured both Thibault and the noblemen.

“Oh, we have a great view now,” I remarked.

“Perhaps the twins sneakily designed the item to stop there,” Char surmised.

It was definitely too good an angle to have happened naturally, so he must’ve been right.

“Your efforts are futile, you fool! No matter what you say, we’ll cover everything up again!” the government official yelled, his voice thundering throughout the city.

Too angry to process what was happening, he clearly had no idea that his words were being broadcast for everyone to hear—especially since he wasn’t familiar with magic items.

“You won’t get away with this!” Thibault yelled in response, glaring at the man and fighting back.

“Oh, but we will,” another nobleman interjected. “We’ve silenced countless journalists before. All that’s needed is to just call you a liar again! You’ll be done for! The citizens will believe us, not you!”

The man’s shrill laughter echoed through the streets. He and his friends were the only ones who hadn’t noticed.

Char and I watched over Thibault through the light screen. After a few minutes, more people appeared in the mess hall.

“There he is! It’s him! Thibault, the blacklisted journalist! We’ve found him!” one exclaimed, pointing at Thibault.

“Wow, he really was in the knights’ mess hall! There are some important folks from the palace too!”

Citizens of the capital surged into the room.

“You’re right! That’s Lord Menteur, the minister. And the prime minister, Lord Cacheur, is here too!”

Some of the common folk seemed familiar with the government officials and revealed their names to the public. More onlookers poked their heads through the door frame, trying to see what was happening in the mess hall.

“Uhhh, anyway, we’re done here! Thank you for listening until the end! If you have any questions or comments, please send them to the Royal Knights’ barracks. If you enjoyed this reporting, please subscribe to the magazines publishing my articles and tell your friends and family about them! Thanks!”

With that, Thibault’s chaotic announcement came to a close.

The broadcast caused a huge uproar throughout the entire kingdom. In the following days, the people in charge of the nation’s public information admitted in a panic that, yes, the Faith really was gone. The public opinion of the three government officials who had come to stop Thibault—two ministers and the prime minister—plummeted so badly that they were fired on the spot. As for the Royal Knights, they were temporarily dissolved, then reformed under a better structure. The knights would now be treated like proper human beings. However, the exam to join the organization would now be much more difficult.

Either way, I could now rest easy knowing that we had achieved our objective.

※

A few days after Thibault’s announcement, we were finally free to return to Lèvres. I teleported myself and my three fellow rookies to the room we shared at the barracks and informed them of my departure.

“Anyway, now that I’m done here, I’ll be leaving the Royal Knights. Thank you for everything.”

They didn’t seem surprised by my statement. Perhaps they had already guessed that I wouldn’t stay in the Royal Knights forever.

“A lot happened, and I’m still processing the shock of it all, but I’m glad that you accomplished your goal, Lam. I could tell from the first day that you didn’t want to be a knight.”

“You found me out. I initially came to Hanche to investigate the Motar Faith, but things got a bit out of hand. The members of the Faith and the government officials I teleported to the former main church must’ve witnessed for themselves that it’s gone for good. It’d be nice if that made them reconsider their schemes, but I don’t have much hope.”

A grim look appeared on Ahn’s face. “Based on the way things were all this time, I doubt that they will.” She paused then added, “So the Faith really is gone, huh? That came as a huge surprise to me.”

I had told them everything before teleporting them here. At first, they had doubted me, but Thibault’s speech and article convinced them.

We’ve done what we had to do, so I have to go home. But I’m a little sad to say goodbye to them...

These three were the first women my age with whom I’d been on good terms. In all truthfulness, I never expected us to grow as close as we had. It was my first time getting along so well with other women, and it made me very happy.

I didn’t want to be separated from them just yet, so I hesitantly offered a proposition. “Um, if it’s all right with you, would you like to come work in Lèvres?”

“Lèvres? Oh, like the seniors who left?”

“Yes. I’m originally from Tête, but I’ve recently become a countess in Lèvres.”

“Wait... Lam, you’re a noble?”

“Technically, yes. Char is an earl, so...”

“Oh, your boyfriend? Yeah, I can see it. He does have that sort of refined air about him. His table manners, for example. I was shocked by how good they were,” Ahn said.

She truly had a good sense of observation, didn’t she?

“Are we even allowed to talk to you like this? You’re a noble lady. Won’t we get arrested for lèse-majesté or something?”

“Of course not. Besides, my father was a commoner before he became a baron.”

More importantly, I didn’t want our friendship to become strained because of my title.

“A-Anyway, what jobs are available in Lèvres? Could we join a knight order there like our seniors?” one of the girls asked proactively.

“That’s one option. They have much better chivalric orders over there, although I’m sure you’ll be able to find something else if you want to change professions. Oh, I can also teach you magic, if you’d like.”

They all leaned forward in excitement.

“Wait, that sounds too good to be true. Are you sure we have all these options?”

“The king was one of my magic students, you see. If I ask, he’ll definitely help you find a suitable job,” I replied.

“Wait, the king was your disciple?! That sounds impossible...yet I believe you. We haven’t known each other long, but I trust you. You saved us countless times, after all. If it wasn’t for you, I would have quit after only a few days, but I’ve been here for two weeks already,” Ahn said.

The other two nodded in agreement.

“It’s all thanks to you that I made it out of there,” Ahn continued. “So I would love to go with you to Lèvres. Of course, I would have loved to have actually protected the royal family and guarded the palace here, but that doesn’t seem to be within the duties of female knights in Hanche. While I would like to take pride in my job here, I can’t—not with the silly things we have to do. I don’t want to stay here, especially if you leave.”

She looked at me with eyes full of determination.

“Come with me, then,” I said. “Oh, and if you can’t immediately find work at a chivalric order, you can stay at my house.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“I’d love to have you around, especially if you’re willing to chat with the children from time to time. There’s an overabundance of men at the estate; the girls don’t have anyone to talk about girly things with.”

Undoubtedly, Mine would enjoy gossiping with other women.

“I love children, so that sounds like a dream. Since there aren’t any roles like that in Hanche, I might look for a position like that in Lèvres,” Ahn replied.

The other two started fidgeting. “Um... I would also like to work in Lèvres. This time, I want to join a proper chivalric order,” one said.

“I-I’d love to move abroad too,” the other added timidly. “But I’ve realized that I’m not cut out for fighting, so I would like to find work as a maid, if the conditions are good. In Hanche, domestic laborers are treated terribly.”

I gave them a big nod. “That sounds like a great idea! If you can’t find a satisfying offer in Lèvres, we’ll hire you to work at our mansion. Some houses treat their domestic workers well while others, not so much, but I can guarantee you that the conditions at both the royal palace and the Mercure estate are perfectly fine.”

It was a bit of a relief that they were all thinking of changing jobs. In all truthfulness, I’d had my fair share of concerns about them staying in the Royal Knights. It was evident that this wasn’t a good workplace for them, so I was glad that they would come with us to Lèvres.

“Well then, would you like to go to Lèvres now? I’m going to write a letter to my son to explain the situation, and he’ll let you stay at the estate until you find a job.”

“Huh...? Now? Hold on...”

They stiffened.

“Lam, you have a son?!” they all exclaimed at the same time.

“Yup, I do. Well, he’s my adopted son, but still. His name is Canon.”

“Ooh, your adopted son,” they said, all nodding in relief.

“I was confused about how you could have a son old enough to understand the situation,” Ahn said.

That made sense; if I had given birth to Canon, it would imply that I had him when I was only five!

“He’s fifteen and a very dependable boy,” I explained.

Then, I quickly penned a letter for Canon with my magic and handed it to Ahn.

“I’ll see you three at the estate, then. Oh, and I’ll teleport your luggage with you, don’t worry. When you get to the estate, give that letter to Canon, will you?”

“Wait, Lam! Isn’t it all too sudden?!” one of them exclaimed.

“We’re going...now? I’m not mentally prepared yet!” another added.

“We’re still wearing our uniforms!”

They’d started panicking, but I decided to teleport them to the Mercure estate regardless. We could iron out the details when they got there.

“Phew, that’s a relief! Now all I need to do is check in with the female knights who told me they wanted new jobs, then regroup with Char and the others.”

As I had promised the other women that I would help them with their career change, I decided to tackle that first. To my surprise, I discovered that many more of them were interested in moving to Lèvres than I had initially thought. Even the squad leader, who had called the others “traitors” for wanting to quit, told me that she wanted to take the entrance exam to become a knight in Lèvres.

I was so surprised by her about-face that my curiosity got the better of me.

“You’re going too?” I asked her.

“Sh-Shut up! You made such a mess here that I don’t have anywhere left to go in Hanche! My family kicked me out, so you’d better take responsibility and find me a job!”

“I don’t mind, but I’d like to ask why you have to sound so harsh every time you speak. I understand that you have your own issues to deal with, but if you keep lashing out, you’re going to push everyone away and end up all alone,” I said.

She snapped her mouth shut. As it turned out, she was worried about being isolated.

“Well then, I’m going to teleport you all to the Mercure estate now. I’ve already informed the people there of our arrival, so follow my son’s instructions when you get there, will you?”

“Wai— Your son?! You’re marri—” one of the senior knights started, but I whisked them all away to the Mercure estate before she could finish.

The rest was up to them—but I would teleport them back if they didn’t like Lèvres.

With my business done and dusted, I headed down to the second floor of the barracks.

I gave a passing thought to the king and the ministers I had sent to the Faith’s main church, then shrugged it off. There were still other government officials, so things in Hanche should still run smoothly. Probably.

As for the Royal Knights, now that Gahariet’s and his goons’ offenses had come to light, they would likely be fired from the organization. I made a mental note to cast a little spell on the Royal Knights’ higher-ups to make them dance for three hours every day at noon if they attempted to conceal Gahariet’s crimes.

It would be nice if the working conditions at the Royal Knights improved in the future.

They would likely face a sudden loss of personnel, but I truly hoped that the bullying and irrational demands would gradually come to an end.

Feeling refreshed, I made my way down the second floor’s sunlit hallway when I spotted Char standing in the middle of the corridor, alone.

“Sorry for the wait, Char. Where are the others?” I asked.

“They’ve gathered their things already. They’re waiting for us on the first floor.”

“I’m really sorry it took me so long. Let’s go join them, then, shall we?”

I was about to turn on my heels when Char stopped me.

“Wait. There’s something I want to tell you,” he said, his head hanging down slightly.

He was struggling to find the right words, which was rare for him, considering how straightforward he typically was.

“Is something the matter?” I asked.

Averting his crimson eyes, he mumbled, “I know it’s a little late for this, but I realized something when we got here. This place reminds me so much of the schoolhouse that it made me reflect on a lot of things.”

“O...kay?”

I still had no idea what he was trying to get at.

“Um, I personally think that House Mercure used to be much worse than it was here. Although I suppose that things were indeed similar—they were just on another level at the schoolhouse.”

In both the old schoolhouse and the Royal Knights, the people at the top tyrannized the weak and the powerless. I assumed that this was what Char meant.

With a nod, he resumed, “While we were here, I... I thought of you. Of the you before you regained your memories, specifically.”

He was talking about my clueless, timid old self—the Lam from before I awoke to my past life as Aurora. My personality had since done a complete one-eighty.

“I realized just how horrible your situation was back then. I don’t understand how I never noticed until you spelled it out for me.”

“I went a little too far when I criticized you back then. You were completely clueless about the world outside the Mercure estate, after all,” I admitted.

It had been unreasonable of me to impose my own morals from five hundred years ago on him without considering his situation. Yet, he had still listened to my concerns and tried in his own way to improve himself.

“No, I believe you did the right thing. You pretty much saved us. But I regret not having done anything to fix the situation beforehand. If I had stopped the servants from bullying you, perhaps the old Lam would have felt free to act more like your current bubbly self.”

“Probably not. My old self had always been an apathetic, timid, naive coward, ever since she was a child. She’d given up on life and lived in constant fear. Although, I suppose the way her parents treated her and the aftereffects of the reincarnation spell might have played a part in shaping her personality. Either way, you don’t need to concern yourself with it so much,” I said.

“I also realized that I never properly apologized to you,” Char said, fixing his gaze on me.

His demeanor conveyed far more about his emotions than his words, and from reading it, I could feel how much he regretted his past behavior.

“I know it’s a long time coming, but I’m truly sorry for the way I treated you back then.”

I blinked and felt myself grow flustered. “Um... Don’t worry about it?”

Honestly, there didn’t seem to be any need to bring up this matter now. While it was true that the old Lam had suffered tremendously, Char had made incredible progress in correcting his attitude, rescuing me more times than I could count. I wasn’t sure what had sparked this newfound introspection in him, but it seemed he had gained some insight during his time at the Royal Knights.

Leaving the estate had helped us broaden our horizons, which was a good thing. We had both been raised in unique environments, so we often struggled to wrap our heads around matters that others considered obvious. Despite our differing values, I didn’t want to stop reaching out to new people.

“If you had told me back when I first regained my memories that you would apologize to me like this, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

“I can see that you don’t really care about the past, but I didn’t want to pretend that it never happened,” Char said, averting his gaze in embarrassment.

He had been born the son of a duke and then went on to become the top student at the schoolhouse. Needless to say, he never had to be humble before. The fact that he was now able to understand his own mistakes and apologize for them showed just how much he’d grown as a person. While he had seemed hopeless at first, I could tell just by looking at him that he was doing his best to better himself.

He seems to worry about the past, but he really doesn’t need to. Besides, he doesn’t need my help to become a better person; he’s doing great by himself without me needing to hold his hand. If anything, I’m the one who ends up relying on him for a lot of things.

Char was the type to speak through his actions rather than his words.

But it’s a good thing that he chose to talk to me about it. The fact that he’s trying to become a better person is already progress. I shall keep watching over his growth.

Char was the first person since Finis who didn’t need to rely on me.

But it’s not quite the same as her...

As Finis was my master, I had been the one relying on her. But with Char, things were different. To me, Finis was my mother, my disciples were my children, and everyone else in the world was a vulnerable, delicate being who needed my protection. But Char didn’t fall into any of these categories. As such, I still struggled to this day with navigating our relationship.

“You’ve got a lot of stuff on your mind, don’t you?” I whispered without meaning to.

“Of course I do. However, there are still many things that I don’t understand.”

“Like what?”

“You like me, but I honestly don’t understand why. It might sound strange to say this about myself, but while I see how I can be easy to hate, I don’t think that I’m particularly lovable.”

“I-I disagree...” I stammered.

While it was true that I had wanted to divorce him at first, I didn’t feel that way anymore.

“You refuse to let me protect you, don’t you? You don’t even let me take care of you,” I said.

“Why would I? I’m your husband, not your child. How could I let you take care of me?”

“Well, you have a point, but...I’ve noticed that you always try to protect me—even though you’re not that strong.”

“The last part was unnecessary,” Char huffed sullenly, but he let me continue.

“What I’m trying to say is, you’re so different from everyone else that you make me lose my bearings. I’ve never met anyone as obstinate as you, so...”

Before I knew it, I had found myself being affected by Char’s personality and actions, and by the time I became conscious of it, he had become someone I couldn’t stop thinking about.

“By the way, what do you like about me?” I asked.

I knew I sounded like a nagging girlfriend, but I was just too curious to stop myself from asking.

“What I like about you...?” An annoyed look crossed Char’s face. “Pretty much everything, I’d say.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. You’re the one who made me say how I feel about you first, so you don’t get to be vague about it,” I argued.

“But I did answer your question,” he retorted.

“Be more specific,” I insisted.

As I studied Char, I noticed that his eyes were darting around, his cheeks flushed. He might have been playing it cool, but he was obviously flustered. Actually, this might be the first time I’d seen him in such a state.

“Your personality...” he muttered.

“Still too vague!”

I marched up to him and peered closely at his face.

“Do we really need to continue this conversation?” he grumbled. “With everything that happened between us, it would be more odd if I weren’t interested in you.”

“I won’t move from here until you give me a proper answer.”

A look of resignation settled on Char’s face. Despite how reluctant he was to continue this conversation, he finally leveled his gaze at me.

“I know you don’t feel like you’re protecting me, but if it weren’t for you, I’d probably have worked myself to death by now. I’ve just grown fond of the woman who saved my life... It’s not that strange, is it?”

“It’s not?”

“It’s not. We only started talking properly after you regained your memories and, um... That’s when I took a liking to you. It was quite early on,” he confessed.

He had indeed said these exact words to me soon after I’d regained my memories. At the time, I had thought he was being condescending, so I had brushed it off. But it turned out he had truly meant it; he was simply terrible at expressing his feelings—perhaps Char just struggled with conveying his emotions, in general.

He’s probably never been very good at it. I can’t imagine he had many heart-to-hearts with the people of the schoolhouse.

But he was gradually improving on that front as well.

“I like how much of a hard worker you are,” I said out of the blue.

“Wh-What?!” he exclaimed, taken aback by the suddenness of my comment. What a refreshing reaction.

I just told him how I truly feel, though. Why is he so flustered? Perhaps he’s not used to having his feelings reciprocated in such a direct manner?

That sounded plausible, especially considering how red his face was—although, part of the reason for it was likely because I’d caught him off guard.

Perhaps I should consider showing my affection to him more proactively. Still, I’ve never seen him shy away like this before. It makes me want to tease him a little.

I mischievously found myself thinking that I would like to see him even more flustered. I placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it firmly over his clothes. The spells he cast on me a few days ago had already dissipated, so my touch wouldn’t hurt him. Not that they would have activated anyway—these types of spells only triggered when the other person harbored malicious intent.

“Wh-What is it, Lam...?”

“Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering why you were preparing to run away,” I said airily.

“Uhhh...”

He tried to step back, but my grip on his shoulder prevented him from moving. He seemed even more bashful than earlier.

What should I do next?

But as I plotted my next move, I suddenly felt a presence behind me. Turning around, I saw the twins walking up to us.

“You’re both still here?” they asked.

It seemed that the two of them had come to fetch us.

“We were worried about how long you were taking, but you were just flirting in the hallway all along?” Barre said.

Behind him, Fouet was sporting a knowing smirk. “Please don’t mind us and keep enjoying each other’s company to your hearts’ content.”

Char’s eyes began darting around again. He was even more embarrassed now that the twins had started teasing us.

“Wha— You... You were watching all along?” he stammered.

“It was quite a change of pace seeing the madam push you around for once. How adorable, Lord Char,” Fouet said.

“You’re more of a pushover than I thought,” Barre added.

“Quiet! Shut up, both of you!” Char exclaimed, visibly overwhelmed.

He cleared his throat and schooled his face back into its usual neutral mask.

“Lam, we’re leaving.”

With that, he turned on his heels. His ears were still bright red. He hadn’t managed to hide his turmoil at all.

“Coming!”

Grinning from ear to ear, I used magic to change into my usual clothes. Char did the same, and we teleported to the first floor with the twins.

※

Thibault and Ves were waiting for us on the first floor.

I first addressed the bespectacled journalist. “Thibault, you’re going to see King Flèche, aren’t you?”

“Ah, uh, yes. I want to tell him what happened and thank him for his help. This all became much bigger than I anticipated, and I’m sure there will be problems in the future, but things have settled for the time being, at least. Thanks to your items, I should be able to walk around Hanche and resume my job in peace,” Thibault said, his eyes wet with what I assumed were tears of relief.

I couldn’t tell whether it was the fact that we had stopped the Faith or the prospect of finally quitting the knights that gave him the most peace of mind.

“We’re giving you these items, so use them as you see fit. That reminds me, I thought that your speech was great. I watched from the city square. You’re really made for public appearances.”

“D-Do you really think so?! Thank you! Your words have given me some much needed self-confidence!” he exclaimed, his hands balled into fists.

I fully believed that he would become a famous journalist known for his great articles.

“Good luck. Well then, I’m going to send you to the Lèvres palace. I’ll drop by to say hi to King Flèche once I return home.”

“A-All right. Thank you so much for everything.” Thibault bowed to us with a smile, and I teleported him away.

Perhaps he had gotten used to the feeling, as he seemed perfectly calm even as light engulfed him and he disappeared from the barracks.

Next up, I turned to the twins. “Fouet, Barre, do you mind going home before we do? I’ve teleported the other female knights to the Mercure estate, but I feel bad about having Canon deal with them all by himself.”

“Oh, wow, poor Lord Canon. So you ended up helping the female knights too, madam? Well, I suppose I can see why. They would have struggled here,” Barre said.

“It would indeed be best if we returned home immediately,” Fouet agreed.

With that, the two of them headed straight to the Mercure estate. Ahn and the others knew the twins a little, so I believed they’d feel relieved to have them around.

“Last up is...”

I looked at Ves.

“We have both achieved our objectives, haven’t we?” I said.

We had worked together specifically because he told me that he wanted to get rid of the Faith in Hanche. Seeing as their plot had been revealed and the priests and bishops were currently at the main church, I assumed he was pleased with the results. Even if the king and his ministers returned to Hanche, they likely wouldn’t attempt to help the Faith again.

People would follow Thibault’s example and spread the news throughout the entire kingdom, making it impossible for the government to manipulate the truth again. And seeing as the king was away, he wouldn’t be able to stop them until it was too late.

“Ves, a lot happened, so the two of us weren’t able to talk properly earlier, but I have many questions for you,” I said.

Just like us, he would be leaving the Royal Knights once we wrapped up here.

Ves, leaning against a wall, glanced my way. His dark red hair swayed in the breeze flowing in through the window.

“Me too. I want to ask you about the elfin you mentioned the other day.”

“Looks like we want to talk about the same thing, then.”

“Seems like it. You can go ahead first.”

Since he had given me permission to ask my questions, I explained my situation to him.

“I’m currently looking for my former teacher, an elfin, although I’m not entirely sure if she’s still alive. Since your magic teacher is also an elfin, I was thinking that I could perhaps ask them if they know anything about her whereabouts. Could you arrange a meeting between us? I know that elfins don’t like to mingle with humans, and that they’re not close with one another either, but I desperately need a clue to begin my search.”

“The elfins I know live as a group in a hidden village. I won’t tell you where it is, but I can ask around to see if they know about your teacher.”

“That would be a huge help, thank you. My teacher’s name is Finis.”

“Huh...?”

Silence fell over the room.

“Finis? You’re kidding, right? Finis?” Ves repeated, astonished.

What could possibly have shocked him so much?

One thing was for sure: Based on his reaction, he definitely knew something about my teacher.

“Do you know her? Is she alive? Is she in good health?” I pressed.

“Alive? She...” He paused, seemingly deep in thought. “You said your name was Lam, right? And that you were alive five hundred years ago?”

“Yes. Things happened, and I died once, but my disciples triggered my reincarnation. I told you all that before, didn’t I?”

A troubled expression on his face, he still looked like he was pondering something.

“I was still dubious about your claims,” he said. “Was your name different in your past life, perhaps? Could it be...?”

A glint of hope and anxiety flickered in his eyes.

I didn’t know what had prompted this reaction, but I nodded at his question. “It was. Back then, my name was Aurora.”

He gasped, and his eyes shot wide open.

My name definitely rang a bell in his mind.

“No way... But if she lived five hundred years ago, it would make sense. Her name’s the same, and her spells...” he muttered.

“Is something the matter?” I asked.

Ves looked back at me. “Your name in your past life was Aurora Ibrusus, right?”

I was surprised that he had figured out my full identity with just my prior first name alone, but I didn’t feel the need to hide it, so I nodded. “Y-Yes.”

Ves took a deep breath, his gaze still fixed on me. “I don’t detect any lies in your words, so it looks like you’re telling the truth. I’ll be honest with you too, then. My true name is Vesper Ibrusus. Finis is my teacher too. We’re fellow disciples, you and I.”

It was my turn to be astonished. “Fellow...disciples?”

“My real mother’s an elfin, but she left when I was a baby. She entrusted me to Finis who became both my mother and my teacher.”

He brushed aside his hair, revealing pointed ears that looked just like my teacher’s.

“No way... You really are an elfin? But how can you use magic?”

Male elfins couldn’t use magic. Case in point: Epocha.

“I’m only half elfin; my father was a human,” he explained. “I might not look the part, but I’m actually 120 years old.”

“What?! I had no idea elfins could have children with humans!”

“My lifespan is probably shorter than that of a normal elfin. Then again, I’ve never met anyone else like me, so I can’t be sure of it.”

Elfins didn’t even marry within their own race, which led to a constant decline in their population. So, it must be extremely rare for one to have a child with a human.

“If what you’re saying is true, then Finis must live in that hidden village you spoke of, right? Where is it?” I asked.

“Here, in Hanche. That’s why I needed the Faith to leave.”

I was too stunned to speak.

“Hanche has barely any contact with the mainland, and there are many unexplored areas on the island. It was the perfect place to build a hidden village,” he explained before preparing a teleportation spell at his feet. “If I just bring the two of you over, they probably won’t be too mad at me. Would you like to tag along, Char? You’re Aurora’s husband, after all.”

Char took my hand in silence and nodded. “I’ll come. I want to know what kind of person Aurora’s teacher is,” he said, his own motivations subtly revealing themselves in his words.

Is that hidden village the one that Lance mentioned? I wondered.

I suddenly remembered something Vesper had told me when we’d first talked.

“Um, Vesper? Are you really okay with taking us there? It’ll add a detour, and you said that you wanted to head to the mainland as soon as you were done here.”

“I’m not in a hurry, so it’s fine. I just need to investigate a little something on the continent. We elfins can sense when one of our kin dies, and it seems one of us has recently passed. I’d like to know what happened.”

Uh-oh. I was pretty sure I had been involved in that case, and I couldn’t help a little “Ah...” escaping my lips.

I know what happened...

Beside me, Char eyed Vesper with caution. He, too, must’ve understood what the elfin was referring to.

“What’s wrong? Do you know who died?” Vesper asked.

Turning my head to look at Char, I whispered, “What should we do? Do you think he’s going to get angry if we tell him?”

“But if we hide the truth, it might come back to bite us later...” my husband replied.

“You’re right. Let’s tell him.”

Our resolve made, we turned back to Vesper. We did have a valid reason for doing what we did, after all.

“Um, Vesper...” I started. “I’m incredibly sorry to say this, but um... We’re the ones who killed Epocha—the elfin you’re referring to. We didn’t have a choice. He was a threat.”

“A threat?”

While I couldn’t say with certainty that Vesper would understand our circumstances, I still decided to tell him everything—from my death to the creation of the Motar Faith and all the horrible things Epocha had done. He listened to my explanation in silence.

“And so, after creating the Faith, Epocha kept trying to disseminate his dangerous items in the world. He even turned his own body into a magic item. Now that I think about it, becoming a magic item while still being alive must’ve required a lot of skill,” I mused.

An indescribable expression settled on Vesper’s face.

“Did you know Epocha?” I asked tentatively, peering at him. “Were you two friends?”

“Nope. I’ve never even met him. But I was always wondering why Finis hated him. I can hardly believe an elfin like him even existed.”

“Huh? My teacher hated him?”

That revelation came as a shock to me.

I’ve never seen her express strong feelings toward anyone before.

Most elfins had no interest in other people. They didn’t really get attached to anyone either. While they did like some people better than others, an emotion like hatred was rarely felt among them.

“Finis never really told me the whole story, but she knew that you died,” he said.

“Really? She must’ve been worried...”

How had she felt when she’d learned about my death, I wondered. While she didn’t form deep attachments, I couldn’t imagine her being completely unfazed to hear that the disciple she had raised was gone. I refused to believe it.

“Perhaps she even knew the circumstances behind your death—that it was Epocha’s fault,” Vesper continued.

That did sound possible. When she put her mind to it, Finis could uncover the truth behind anything and everything.

“Elfins are forbidden from harming each other, and Finis doesn’t like to mingle with humans, so I assume that’s why she didn’t kill that Epocha guy herself. Her reaction when we learned of his death was so unusual that I wondered what he’d done to anger her.”

Finis had indeed told me that elfins couldn’t fight among each other. The reasoning behind that rule was simple: Battles involving magic often spiraled out of control. Take Finis, for instance; she had lived for an incredibly long time, and her mana pool was enormous. As such, she could perform much bigger spells than I could. I’d always been jealous of her abilities, but the reality was that some races were simply more powerful than others. And if someone like Finis were to fight another elfin with similar abilities, they could accidentally blow an entire nation to bits. For that reason, elfins weren’t allowed to fight among themselves—men and women alike. Although I didn’t know how many elfins were left in this day and age...

Master was angry at Epocha on my behalf?

Finis never expressed any feeling other than annoyance. While she had raised me from a young age as both her daughter and her disciple, she had never shown me any direct affection. Hearing that she had been so overtly upset made me a little happy.

“I don’t think she knows you’ve reincarnated,” Vesper said. “But I’m sure that if she did, she’d want to meet you.”

“I want to see her too. There are so many things I need to ask her.”

Our parting in my past life had been so abrupt, it had left me unsatisfied. I’d been wondering if she would be willing to see me again, but based on Vesper’s words, it seemed that she wouldn’t mind me going to visit her.

“All right, then. If that’s settled, let’s go.”

Activating his magic, he teleported us over to the elfins’ hidden village. A faint green light enveloped us and when it faded, I felt the give of damp grass under my shoes, and the scent of fresh verdure filled my nostrils. I opened my eyes, which I had closed to protect from the light, and was met with a row of huge, moss-covered rocks, surrounded by enormous trees.

“What is this place?” I muttered.

“Somewhere deep within one of Hanche’s uncharted territories. These trees are older than elfins. This way.”

Vesper navigated through a gap between the rocks with nimble steps. As I scrambled to follow him, I slipped on the damp grass, but since Char was standing to my back, he was quick to catch me.

“It’s hard to walk here. Don’t run, Lam. You’ll fall.”

I grudgingly accepted the hand he held out to me, feeling like a child who had to rely on their parent for support, and Char followed Vesper through the rocks, his steps perfectly steady. He probably wasn’t even using magic.

“W-Wait, Char...”

My athletic abilities in my current body were quite poor. With no other choice, I activated a floating spell to hover over the grass, Char’s hand still gripping mine. At least I wouldn’t fall this way.

The stillness of the forest was incredibly pleasant. This must’ve been the type of place elfins felt most at home.

After weaving through the gaps between the rocks, we arrived at a living tree gate, which had obviously been created with magic, and Vesper stopped in front of it. Magic lanterns flanked the looming entrance, casting a dim glow over the shadowy woods, pinpricked by pale blooming flowers. There were thinner parts of foliage that let the sun stream through, peaceful and bright, but the canopy here was so thick that a gloom and slight chill crept in instead.

“Were you raised here, Vesper?” I asked.

“Yep, surrounded by elfins. But Finis often let me tag along on her travels when I was a kid. She said that, since I was half human, I needed to learn about their world as well.”

“I see.”

Since I had been a regular human in my past life, Finis had lived with me in the royal capital of the Ventre Kingdom. But with Vesper having a mixed heritage, I imagined that Finis must’ve gone through some trial and error to figure out the best environment to raise him in.

“There are only a handful of other elfins apart from Finis and me in this village. Well, ‘village’ is a strong word—it’s really just a small forgotten settlement.”

I peered through the gate. Though everything beyond it was still, as if time had stopped, I spotted several objects that looked like magic items: lanterns that resembled mushrooms and tree nuts, moving staircases... Surrounding them were enormous trees, big enough to fit entire houses inside, and I noticed that they also had additional items installed nearby.

“We live inside the trees,” Vesper explained. “With magic, you can create living spaces in them that aren’t half bad. Oh, and the decorative stones around the village are actually tools to control the temperature and humidity, so don’t touch them, okay?”

As we spoke, a blue bird jetted overhead and landed in a tree beside the gate.

“This guy here is the village sentinel. It’s actually an item that will teleport any suspicious individuals away from here. We’re not short on male labor, so we’ve got a bunch of magic items.”

“Male labor?” I echoed.

“Yeah. Since male elfins can’t use magic, a lot of them work on magic research and item-making instead. They make a ton and install their creations around the village. They say that without humans around to annoy them, they make good progress.”

I nodded. “That makes sense.”

Apparently, whenever elfins tried to do their work in human towns, people would always try to interfere.

They’d come to pester them to craft things to make their lives easier or to help them garner further authority.

While the former wasn’t too bad, the latter was nothing but trouble for the elfins. And the most powerful people were especially determined to surround themselves with those knowledgeable in magic. Even in this day and age, where mana wielders were shunned by society, there were probably tons of people trying to take advantage of magic users—just like how the royal family of Tête and the Faith used the Mercures for their own gain before I stepped in.

Some humans just exploited mana wielders to benefit from them, while persecuting them at the same time.

They could even lock them up and force them to craft magic items without rest...

Obviously, this kind of treatment would be considered repulsive, and there was no way the proud and haughty elfins would put up with it. As such, in their opinion, the smartest thing to do was to avoid getting involved with humans altogether. This might be the reason they’d stopped appearing in front of us entirely.

Well, Finis used to do these things five hundred years ago when she worked as a mage for the crown, though.

But she was an outlier among outliers. Even back when mages weren’t being persecuted, she had been the black sheep of the elfins.

“They also stay in the village because it’s safe—on top of being a good research environment,” Vesper continued. “If push comes to shove, Finis and I can protect them, so they have a higher chance of surviving here than on their own. In exchange, they craft items to make our lives easier and share their new inventions with us. While everyone keeps interactions to a minimum, the settlement functions more or less like a proper village.”

“Shouldn’t male elfins be able to craft items to protect themselves, though?” I pointed out. “They could literally make it so that no one can approach them.”

Vesper seemed to agree. “They totally could. These guys’ items are incredible. But... Okay, so this is just my theory, but I think that some elfins unconsciously crave the company of people who share their sense of values, especially in the current world where almost all magic has disappeared. And those elfins are the ones who have come to live in this settlement.”

“So in your opinion, your village, which is more or less led by Finis, is a gathering of such elfins?”

“Well, I’m half human, so I don’t know everything about elfins, but sometimes, it seems that way to me. I couldn’t really tell you why, though.”

“Can elfins even feel lonely? I’m struggling to picture it,” I said.

“It depends on the individual, I guess? I’m not sure... But as far as Finis is concerned, I think that she understands the concept of loneliness,” Vesper said, fixing his gaze on the ground at our feet.

He seemed concerned about Finis’s feelings, if his expression was anything to go by.

Well, considering that she abandoned me without so much as a goodbye five hundred years ago... I wouldn’t go so far as to say that she’s heartless, but I certainly don’t think that she cares that much about others.

She might have some level of emotional attachment to certain people, but I didn’t think that she could fathom the concept of “loneliness.”

Unless something changed in the five hundred years while I was dead?

I had a hard time wrapping my head around Vesper’s claims. He must’ve noticed my inner turmoil because he offered me an awkward smile.

“I don’t know how Finis was five hundred years ago, but I know the current her. She definitely cared about you back then.”

I’d be very happy if that were true.

Because I love her.

With a spark of hope in my heart, I followed Vesper down the path to the strange little village. Every magical detail that caught my eye seemed both fresh and nostalgic. There was a different feel to this place compared to the towns humans I’d lived in, even those from five hundred years ago.

When I glanced at Char, I saw that he was just as captivated by our surroundings. His hand still gripping mine, he stared with intense concentration at the enormous trees adorned in magic items. He’d always loved magic and had an enormous collection of old grimoires—some of which weren’t even related to Aurora. He was just a hardcore magic enthusiast. This place must’ve been like a treasure trove to him.

“This is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life,” he whispered.

“Me neither; not even five hundred years ago,” I said.

The magic items scattered all over really were tugging at my heartstrings. I wanted nothing more than to disassemble and analyze them all.

Seeing as Char and I hadn’t budged in a minute, too busy gawking at our surroundings, Vesper urged us forward. “Come on, you two. Let’s enter the village.”

He put his hand over one of the ornaments on the wooden gate, and the trees shuffled around, revealing a passage.

“This door only opens to those whose mana it has recorded,” he explained. “If you try to force your way past it, the bird sentinel will react and teleport you somewhere else—though I have no idea where that somewhere is.”

That was concerning. If it were anywhere within this world, I would likely be fine, considering I’d be able to teleport myself somewhere familiar, but being teleported to a different dimension or an alternate universe would be a pain to deal with. I’d never been to such a place, after all.

“Um... Are we allowed to pass the gate?” I asked.

“Yeah, you’ll be fine since you’re with me. As long as the door is open, anyone can come in.”

“Good to know.”

Gliding past the gate, we entered the small settlement on a path lined by enormous trees. I studied each one with great interest.

“Part of the trees’ sides have been carved in the shape of a door,” I remarked. “So these are the elfins’ houses, huh? They’re a little strange, but it seems like living in one of them would be fun.”

“Finis’s house isn’t among these ones, by the way,” Vesper supplied. “It’s on the other side of the bridge.”

In the direction he indicated sat a small pond. Faint little lights danced over the water like bubbles, illuminating the surrounding landscape. The village was completely silent save for our footsteps, the burbling of the water, and the rustling of the leaves overhead. There were no signs of life otherwise. The roots of ginormous trees grew into the pond, each of the tree trunks linked to one another through thin wooden bridges.

“Finis’s house is the big one in the middle after the bridge,” Vesper explained. “The tree is super old, but since Finis has used magic to arrange it, it’s pretty comfy inside.”

I could tell from his words just how fond he was of this place.

We walked up to the house, and Vesper swung the door open.

“Finis! I’m home! I’ve brought you a souvenir!” he called out.

There was no answer. Knowing Finis, she must’ve been working on something somewhere deep within the house, like she often used to five hundred years ago.

“Lam, Char, come in,” Vesper urged, and we followed him into the large tree.

It was much larger inside than I had been expecting.

“An expansion spell, magic to adjust the temperature and humidity, and Light Magic for the interior design, huh? Now, that’s my master for you,” I said.

“She did this using that dreadful spell you cast on the study at home?” Char asked.

“Stop complaining. I made that creepy room much cuter!”

“I won’t stop. Plus, I can’t believe you cast a second spell on it to prevent us from lifting the first one. That’s just malicious,” he grumbled.

I couldn’t believe that he wanted to get rid of the adorable room I’d created. I’d had no choice but to stop him.

“Although unlike our study, this place isn’t half bad,” Char said. “I’m curious about all these apparatuses everywhere. Were these made five hundred years ago?”

“There are some that I’ve never seen before. They must’ve been invented after my death. Ugh, I want to disassemble them so bad!”

Char nodded. “Me too. I’d love to dissect them.”

That was my husband for you. The two of us were both equally fascinated by magic.

“This way, you two.” Vesper ushered us toward a magic-powered lift.

It was a bit cramped for the three of us, but we managed to squeeze in, and the lift slowly ascended. The tree house had several rooms, arranged vertically.

A magic-powered lift like those from five hundred years ago... How nostalgic.

As I reminisced about the past, the elevator came to a stop, and we arrived in what looked like a living room that was furnished with an old-fashioned table and chairs, an unlit fireplace sitting in the back.

Someone’s on the sofa in front of the fireplace!

They seemed to be reading. From where we stood, we could only see their back and their long, black hair.

“I’m home, Finis,” Vesper called out to them.

The person closed their book and, not moving from the sofa, replied, “That was awfully quick. Did you already manage to determine the cause of our kin’s death?”

“Yup. And I’ve brought someone with me—someone I want you to meet.”

Finis paused before saying, “I haven’t given you permission to bring strangers into this house.”

“She’s not a stranger. She’s basically your daughter.”

“Huh?” Finis said, annoyed, as she turned to look at us. “What in the world are you...”

Her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on me.

“Aurora?”

Despite the slight changes my body had undergone during my reincarnation, it seemed that she recognized me.

“Hi, master. It’s been five hundred years. I’ve missed you,” I said, feigning composure. But despite my best efforts, my voice still came out shaky.

I stepped forward and walked up to her. Finis stood from the sofa but remained rooted in place.

“So this is where you were all along,” I noted.

Ever since she’d left me in my past life, I’d always been yearning for her. Her sudden disappearance had left me so miserable, I hadn’t known how to deal with my feelings. I had just really wanted her to stay by my side.

“Aurora, didn’t you die?” Finis asked, staring at me with trembling green eyes. I could see that she was slightly shaken. “If you’re here, then there must have been magic at play. Did you use a hibernation spell? No, that’s not it. Reincarnation magic? Or a spell to extend your lifespan, perhaps...?”

She promptly walked up to me and began inspecting my body. Perhaps due to her nature as an elfin, she was quick to adapt to abnormal situations.

“Hmm... There are traces of the spell on your body. Let me take a better look.”

“Um, master?” I said, but she ignored me, patting me all over to try and understand how I was still alive.

It’s our first reunion in five hundred years, and that’s what she’s choosing to do? Is she that curious about the reincarnation spell?

That side of her hadn’t changed at all.

“It’s a reincarnation spell,” I told her, unable to suppress a smile. “Épée and Glacial worked together to make it happen.”

I gave her a quick summary of the events leading up to my death, including Epocha and his items.

“And so, my disciples triggered my reincarnation, and here I am,” I concluded.

“I see. The little bunny and the prince used a forbidden ritual to save you. Well, they were both very attached to you, so I can understand. Did they forfeit their own lives in exchange? From what I know, reincarnation magic doesn’t work unless one pays the price for them—and most still fail even with a proper sacrifice. The spell isn’t perfect, but it seems to have been a success for the most part.”

Finis nodded, a satisfied look on her face.

“Your disciples did a good job.”

“I never thought that they would sacrifice their own lives for me so easily. I don’t want them to do anything of the sort ever again. Lance even went as far as to extend his lifespan to look for me all this time.”

“I don’t think that the little bunny, the prince, and the attributeless one would agree to that. But, oh well. This type of incident shouldn’t happen again, so they likely won’t have to perform such a ritual a second time.”

Finis always referred to Épée as “the little bunny,” because I had named him after the pink rabbit I had as a child. Needless to say, my first disciple absolutely hated it. As for Glacial, she called him “the prince,” since he had been the second prince of the kingdom back then. She had simply taken to calling Lance “the attributeless one,” in reference to his mana. The poor thing. She could’ve made it a little less literal, at least. Then again, this was probably the extent of how elfins differentiated between humans. It was a miracle that she actually gave me a proper name.

“I’ve missed you so much, master. You gave me a big shock by disappearing all of a sudden.”

“You became independent as a mage when you were twelve. I believe that I taught you enough magic to live by yourself with no discomfort,” Finis said.

“You could have at least said goodbye, though,” I retorted.

She seemed to ponder my words for a moment before nodding.

“You’re right. I may have been a little hasty. What happened to you afterward was far beyond what I could have imagined.”

If she had remained in Ventre, perhaps Epocha wouldn’t have caused such tremendous trouble. And assuming that he’d tried, Finis likely would have managed to nip his schemes in the bud before they escalated too far. But I had been much too inexperienced to deal with him properly.

“When I learned that you took over the job of court mage from me and lost your life almost immediately, I regretted my decision. I’d wondered if things would have been different if I had stayed a little longer.”

“I didn’t intend to sacrifice myself for the kingdom, but in the end, that’s what happened.”

I regretted my decisions too. Perhaps I could have dealt with the situation in a better way.

However, while things hadn’t gone as planned, I did gain something valuable in return.

“Oh, right, master. There’s someone I want you to meet.” I walked up to Char, who stood next to Vesper, and turned back to look at Finis. “This is my husband in this lifetime. His name is Char.”

“Your husband?” she echoed.

“Yes. He’s been a huge help to me ever since I regained my memories. He even helped me defeat Epocha.”

It was Char’s first time seeing an elfin, and he was slightly flustered. As for Finis, she seemed shocked to hear that I was married.

“I never imagined that you would have a husband. And if you did, I would have expected it to be one of your disciples. Those boys worship the ground you walk on.”

“Worship...?”

Lance’s Aurora Faith flashed in the back of my mind.

No, no, no. These boys look up to me as their mother and their teacher. They just tend to go in strange directions with certain things.

A pensive, albeit hard to explain, expression had settled on Char’s face. He, too, must’ve been thinking about my third disciple’s new religion.

My master eventually turned to him. “Nice to meet you. I’m Finis. I’m Aurora’s foster parent and former teacher.”

Char briefly hesitated before replying, “I’m Char Mercure. I’m an earl in the Lèvres Kingdom.”

“A noble. I see.”

“Only on paper, really. Lam’s—I mean, Aurora’s second disciple is the ruler of the kingdom,” he said.

Finis asked, “Lam?”

Seeing how confused my master seemed, I hurriedly supplied, “It’s my name in this life. I was born as the daughter of Baron Ivoire in the Tête Kingdom, and Lam is the name my parents chose to give me.”

“I see. So you were born as a noble this time.”

“Yes. However, that house seems to have fallen by now...”

After our last debacle with my birth parents, the Ivoire House lost its status. Given how much they had struggled with finances, I wasn’t surprised to hear about their decline.

All it took was a single glance at my expression for Finis to understand the situation.

“I see you don’t have a relationship with your birth parents in this life either. And the prince has been born as royalty once again? Life truly is unpredictable. I would be interested in studying the factors that determine where one is reincarnated when they haven’t specified any conditions, as well as the likelihood of their new life mirroring the previous one. Unfortunately, with so few successful reincarnation cases, it would be nearly impossible to draw any definitive conclusions.”

“Though we didn’t get to decide the conditions of our reincarnations, all three of us are doing great in this life,” I assured her. “My disciples have matured so much compared to five hundred years ago. I’m glad they grew up so well.”

“To think that the disciples of my disciple are all still alive... I have lived for a long time, yet you keep entertaining me, Aurora.”

The faintest hint of a smile appeared on Finis’s lips. It was our first meeting in five hundred years, yet this was the extent of her reaction. It might have seemed cold, but then again, elfins weren’t big on showing their emotions. This was what had been written in my books from five hundred years ago and also what Finis herself had told me.

Epocha was quite vocal about his feelings, but I assume he must’ve been an exception. Was it a consequence of all the years he spent among humans, or did he just lose all his inhibitions when he saw that his plan was about to come to fruition? Or perhaps he messed something up when transferring his personality to his new body made of magic items...

I only knew two elfins, so I couldn’t be certain. All I could say for sure was that, at this moment, Finis was showing a wide range of emotions. I had almost never seen her smile before.

“I see you have met Vesper too,” Finis noted.

“Yes. He told me that he’s half elfin and that you took him as your disciple too.”

“Yes. He’s a hundred and twenty, if I remember correctly. That makes him my youngest disciple.”

“Your...youngest?”

Had she taken other disciples, then?

She seemed to feel my confusion and nodded. “Perhaps it’s a consequence of the years I have spent with you, but I have grown to find perfectly silent places to be dull and insipid. So I took two other disciples between you and Vesper. I have had enough of meddling in human affairs, so I picked up an abandoned child and spent my days traveling from one quiet place to another.”

“Were they human...?”

“The first one was. But he died of old age three hundred years ago. The second one was an elfin boy. He’s currently traveling around the world, and I haven’t seen him in around a hundred years.”

Only an elfin would be able to say something like that with a straight face.

“Oh, wow. It’s like I’m their big sister, then.”

It would be great if I could meet my elfin little brother one day.

“Oh, this reminds me, would you like to come visit us in Lèvres, master?” I asked.

“The world of humans doesn’t have anything of value to offer any longer.”

“Oh, but master, things of value are something one has to find for themselves. Our estate is located on an isolated island, so there are only members of the Mercure family living there. It’s much quieter than the royal capital. Well, save for the children, that is.”

“The children? Did you birth them yourself, Aurora?”

Everyone always came to that conclusion whenever I mentioned the kids.

“No, no, they’re not actually related to me by blood. I’m sure you know that mana wielders are being persecuted in this day and age. Well, all the children with mana in the Tête Kingdom were sent to the Mercure estate,” I explained.

“I see. So that is why you are staying with that family. You must have taken a liking to the children and chose to remain with them. You’ve always liked picking up strays, after all. I see that hasn’t changed.”

She wasn’t far off the mark.

“I did choose to stay for the children, yes.”

However, they were no longer my sole reason for remaining with the Mercures.

“In any case, what matters is that you’re doing well. I trust that you will have a long life this time around.”

With that, Finis offered me another smile.

※

Vesper was a little surprised to see Finis smile. She pretty much never did. He was still struggling to wrap his mind around the fact that Lam, a girl he met as the result of a series of coincidences, was Aurora, Finis’s first disciple.

What are the odds?

Vesper knew of reincarnation spells, but they were so risky that he’d never attempt one. It was the kind of magic one would try as a last resort in case of an emergency.

He’d only met Finis’s other disciple once. Being a male elfin, he was unable to use magic, but he had produced countless advanced items. It had been so long ago that Vesper’s memories of their meeting were a little hazy, but he remembered the man’s expensive knowledge leaving an impression on him. Both of their goals were similar: They wanted to find a way for male elfins to be able to use magic. Most elfins had grown tired of looking for a solution and had given up on it, but Finis’s disciple hadn’t. Then again, perhaps that had only been because he was on the younger side.

My goal is to become an elfin. Not a half elfin like I am right now but a full elfin.

Vesper’s reasons for it were simple. First, elfins had a much longer lifespan. Being half human, Vesper would likely only live for about half as long as his brethren. He’d never met anyone else like himself before, but the elfin men in the village had told him that his development was twice as fast as theirs.

My body currently looks like that of a human in his early twenties, but it took me half as long as them to reach that stage. That’s why I can safely assume that my lifespan is probably much shorter as well.

But Vesper wanted to live a long life—and without the need to rely on spells to lengthen it if he could help it. He wanted to learn even more things about magic. He wanted to keep pursuing knowledge with the elfins. He wanted to truly become one of them.

That’s not all...

He also wanted to stay by Finis’s side forever.

Lam’s her first disciple, and her second disciple is a human I never met. The third one is an elfin, and the fourth one is me, a half elfin.

Neither her third nor her fourth disciples had been human. Vesper surmised that Finis was purposefully avoiding forming relationships with those who would die far sooner than she would. While part of it might stem from the fact that she disliked the mundanity of the human world, she seemingly didn’t want to be involved with humans whatsoever. As such, Vesper wanted to stay with her until the end of her life. Who knew when that would be?

However, there was an issue with his plan.

Male elfins can’t use magic.

Vesper wanted to keep his ability to use magic and become a full elfin.

While we’re at it, Aurora should become an elfin too.

That sounded like a great idea. Vesper had always felt like he was inadequate as an elfin, yet he’d never managed to get used to living among humans. He didn’t belong in either world. But with his mother figure and the woman who was basically his older sister by his side, Vesper had a feeling that his life could become much more enjoyable than it had been so far.

Chapter Six: The Countess Returns Home

Char and I eventually said goodbye to Finis and Vesper and teleported back to the Mercure estate. It felt good to be back home, especially after all this time.

We had discussed some things with Finis and Vesper and decided to install teleportation devices on both our island and in Finis’s house. The elfins’ village was hidden from the outside world, and they didn’t want humans constantly coming to and fro, so we’d chosen to just directly link our homes together. With the devices, there were no risks of us messing up the coordinates, and we’d always land where we intended.

We could also use a more precise spell than the rough teleportation one...but those are a hassle, so I never really gravitate toward them. It’s usually not an issue if my coordinates are a bit off. But I don’t want to disturb the elfins, so it’s a good thing we have these items.

We had barely arrived than I began strolling around the garden, the teleportation device in hand. On the outside, it simply looked like a white, rectangular stone, but there was a proper spell imbued inside it.

“Well then, where should we put this thing?”

As I made my way toward the main mansion, Char, who was walking alongside me, said, “I’d rather avoid giving anyone the ability to teleport inside our home at all hours, so I’d prefer putting it in the garden.”

“You have a point. Finis is my teacher and my mother, but you don’t know her, after all. Besides, Vesper is probably going to come visit us as well. We should make a designated landing pad in the garden and install an item to inform us whenever someone teleports over. That way, we’ll be able to greet them as soon as they arrive.”

“An item?”

“Ah, but we might struggle to find the materials for it in this day and age... Perhaps I should ask Épée. He may be able to get them through his company.”

“Good idea. If you’re the one asking, that man will go to the end of the world to get you whatever you want.”

“You’re exaggerating. But yes, he’ll likely find what I need. He’s a shrewd boy, after all.”

“That’s not what I meant. Oh, well.”

The two of us strolled around the island, basking in the warmth of the sun, when my eyes landed on something: the large gazebo in the corner of the garden.

“This could be a great spot for the item,” I said.

Not only was it easy to find, but we could safely install the device within it. And if I cast a spell to shield the entire gazebo from wind and rain, we wouldn’t even get wet when we teleported back.

“We don’t really use that gazebo, so you can do whatever you want with it,” Char said.

“Thanks! I’ll take you up on that offer and make it all colorful and pretty on another day, then.”

Char’s response caught in his throat. He had given me permission to do “whatever I wanted” with the gazebo, so he couldn’t stop me. He did seem a little bitter, though.

“Aaand...installed,” I said, dusting off my hands when I was done. “I thought it would take me much longer to find Finis, but it looks like I’ve accomplished my objective already.”

With only the two of us in the garden, we fell into a comfortable silence.

Oh, right!

There was something I’d meant to tell Char.

I decided to take advantage of our little moment together, and my words poured quickly from my mouth, “Um, Char? I was thinking about what you told me in Hanche, and I realized that I struggle to understand other people’s feelings. I don’t know if it’s because I was raised by an elfin, but I’ve always been terrible at it... Looking back, I just kept blaming you for everything when I regained my memories.”

“Well, you had every right to feel that way.”

“I still think I was a little overbearing. While I can fix pretty much anything with magic, that doesn’t mean it’s the case for you and the other Mercures. I’m sorry for dunking on you from my safe little bubble.”

“I’m not really in a position to criticize others’ social dispositions. But I know you’re always doing everything in your power to help others. That’s a fact. Although, I hope you won’t sacrifice your life to save someone in this lifetime.”

I looked up at my husband, the two of us still walking alongside each other. I had no idea he had been thinking that way about me, and it touched me.

He continued, “Seeing all the things you do made me think that perhaps I could start helping others too, in whatever way I can. For instance, I could hire people in need to work here at the mansion.”

“Char...”

He was always so cautious—this was very unlike him.

“I was thinking of expanding our team of cooks, in particular. With more people to take care of food, the likelihood of you needing to handle meals will decrease, and the kids won’t have to dread mealtime any longer.”

“Hey, that was unnecessary to add.”

I had already been cooking five hundred years ago; I was a veteran, so to speak. Yet, no one ever liked my food—except for Flèche.

I said, “Well, whatever. We should both work on learning more about the world. That sounds like a good idea. And our new home seems well suited for it.”

“It does. I’ll work hard too. So far, I’ve done nothing but rely on you. I need to become the kind of man who can return the favor.”

I disagreed. He had already helped me countless times since I regained my memories.

Isn’t he too harsh on himself?

As I gazed at him from the side, he suddenly turned to look at me, and our eyes met.

Ah!

My heart still skipped a beat whenever we made eye contact like this.

“What is it, Lam? Why were you staring at me so intently, hmm? I’m curious.”

Oh, he knew what he was doing.

He’s even smiling a little!

He saw that I was flustered, and he was teasing me about it. I understood that, yet I couldn’t help but grow even more embarrassed. Char might have been easily teased, but he certainly knew how to push my buttons.

“I wasn’t looking at you!” I lied. “You’re just excessively self-conscious—”

The end of my sentence escaped me as I fell backward. I had stepped on a pebble, and it threw me off-balance. How awkward.

I-I’m going to fall!

Seeing me about to topple over, Char hurriedly reached out to steady me.

“Whew, that was close,” he said, his face much too close to mine.

It might have been a case of force majeure, but our lips were only inches away.

“Lam...” Char whispered, so close I could feel his breath on my face.

My ears were burning.

“Ah, uh, I’m fine. Thank you for catching—mmh?”

Something warm pressed against my lips. It took me a moment, but I eventually understood what it was. The heat from my ears spread to my cheeks.

“I really do like you,” Char said, as forward as ever, when he released me from our kiss.

“R-Really? Thank you, Char,” I stammered, unconsciously lowering my gaze.

I wish I could have given him a better response.

We both struggled with communication. Our feelings for each other were real, but our way of expressing them often fell short.

No, that’s not true. Char can do it just fine. I’m the one who struggles to respond.

I needed to show my affection for him more proactively without feeling embarrassed. I wanted us to become more like a proper married couple, even if it was a bit haphazard. I truly did.

All of a sudden, as I squirmed and fidgeted in Char’s arms, the door of the mansion swung open, and the twins came out, their expressions indicating they had a lot to say.

I panicked.

“Fouet! Barre! Th-This isn’t what you think, we, uh...”

They ignored my stammering as they stared at us.

“Come on, Lord Char, madam. You should have let us know you were back,” Barre said.

“Why are you two flirting in the gardens? You didn’t even show your faces inside. We were starting to worry that something had happened to you. Are you playing hooky?” Fouet asked.

Unlike me, Char was completely calm as he shot back, “I don’t want to hear that from you, Fouet.”

He had a point; Fouet was in no position to admonish others about slacking off.

“As I told you through the communication spell, we went to the elfins’ hidden village with Ves—Vesper. As it turns out, he’s pretty much a relative of Lam,” Char explained.

“Ooh. I knew there was more to him than meets the eye. His magic is just too good,” Fouet said.

“We’ve been meeting a lot of people with a connection to the madam lately, huh?” Barre added.

We hadn’t told them the full story about Vesper yet, so I quickly filled them in on our trip to the elfins’ village.

“And that’s the gist of it. As it turns out, Vesper is also a disciple of my master. Our meeting was a complete coincidence, but still, what a surprise. I didn’t even know half elfins existed.”

I still couldn’t believe what a stroke of luck it had been for us to meet at the Royal Knights.

“This string of coincidences led to me reuniting with my master. I’m so happy, I...” I was so moved that I couldn’t even finish my sentence, and I leaned into Char’s embrace.

These past few hours had been a succession of events that had left me with my heart overflowing with joy.

“By the way, where are Canon and the others?” Char asked the twins.

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Canon appeared at the mansion door and began walking down the stairs. He must have caught sight of us from a window.

I spotted Ahn and the other two behind him, as well as the other female knights, including the captain. It seemed that they had successfully explained the situation to Canon. For some reason, though, the squad leader and her posse were all pale and shaky.

“I had no idea this girl was a countess!” I heard one of them moan.

“Welcome home, mother.”

“Hi, Canon. We’re back. How are you doing?” I asked my son.

“I’m well and so are things at the mansion. I was a bit surprised when you teleported all of these women over, though,” he said.

“Sorry about that,” I replied sheepishly. “It’s a long story. Did you read my letter?”

“Yes. They’re your friends and seniors from the chivalric order, and they’re here to look for work in Lèvres. Is that right?”

“Yep. I was thinking that they could work for Flèche.”

Canon nodded, although he still seemed a little confused by the situation.

“That’s what I believe will happen, yes. Most of them want to take the exam to join a chivalric order in Lèvres, and the others will be searching for jobs in the city. Um... Except for one. Miss Ahn is saying that she wants to work for us.”

“Huh?”

I looked at Ahn for confirmation, and she nodded. It seemed that this was true.

“She asked to work as a maid,” Canon continued. “She said that she likes children, so I was thinking that we could perhaps make her the dorm mother for the schoolhouse. What do you think? I believe the little ones would feel more reassured with an adult in charge of exclusively looking after them.” He glanced timidly at Char.

“I’ll allow it,” my husband said.

“Then it’s settled. We’re looking forward to having you here, Miss Ahn,” Canon told her.

“Thank you so much, Char, Canon.” I beamed at my husband and son. “Also, all three of my fellow rookies told me that they want to learn magic, so I’ll be teaching them.”

I used a quick spell to remove the seal blocking their mana. Most people had their powers blocked off unknowingly as children during a ceremony organized by the Faith called a “blessing.” Even the clergymen conducting the ritual in churches and cathedrals were unaware that they were sealing the children’s mana. According to Épée, the tool supplied by the main church for the ritual was actually a magic item, which was responsible for the sealing.

As such, for Ahn and the others to learn how to use magic, I first needed to free their mana.

“Aaand, done,” I announced.

The three of them nervously inspected their bodies. They must’ve noticed that something was different.

“It feels...strange,” one said.

“It’s like something is circulating within my body.”

“Yeah. It feels warm and soft.”

At least, they seemed to enjoy the sensation of the mana within their bodies.

“I’ll be teaching all three of you magic from now on, but there are also a lot of mages in the palace of Lèvres. It might be a good idea for you to get advice from all sorts of teachers. Oh, and the people on the next island over can also use magic, so if you befriend them, they might agree to help you too.”

“The people on the island? That sounds lovely.”

Their eyes sparkled with excitement.

“I still can’t believe I might be able to use magic... I’m really looking forward to it!” Ahn exclaimed.

The three of them were so honest and upright; I could somehow tell there was a great future ahead of them.

※

The next day, Flèche and Thibault teleported over from the palace of Lèvres. I was the one who’d invited them. The former female knights, Char, and I watched as they appeared in the gazebo. My new handy-dandy magic device made it so that anyone who teleported to us would land there.

“Master, here I am,” Flèche said by way of greeting.

Today, he was wearing a rainbow jacket with prints of oversized durians scattered about the fabric. It was breathtaking.

“Oh! A durian pattern! Your fashion sense is getting better and better with each passing day,” I commented.

“Thibault told me of your love for durians, and I just so happened to have purchased a jacket with that exact pattern some time ago. I’ll send you some real durians soon, okay, master?”

“Oh my, thank you. I’m proud to have such a wonderful disciple.”

Flèche tilted his head down, and I gently petted his hair. That habit of his hadn’t changed since five hundred years ago; it was a little childish but utterly adorable.

But then, Thibault cleared his throat, bringing our fashion talk to an abrupt halt.

“Oh, right,” Flèche hurriedly said. “We did a little investigating in Hanche, and it seems the false accusations against Thibault have been completely cleared up.”

Thibault bowed his head to us. “Thank you very much for your help in Hanche. Things got out of hand, so I was a little worried about the future of the kingdom, but it looks like things are heading in the right direction.”

Despite his numerous warnings to avoid standing out, we couldn’t help but attract attention. Fortunately, we’d managed to resolve the problem safely, and I felt a little relieved.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I said.

After we left, Thibault wrote several more articles denouncing the Faith and the government and spread them throughout the entire kingdom. He met people who shared his intentions along the way, and they helped spread the news of the Faith’s dissolution. As for those who had attacked Thibault when he was falsely accused, they’d fallen silent.

“It looks like Lance did something too,” Flèche said. “The king and the ministers you teleported to the Faith’s former main church confessed to their crimes in front of the citizens of Hanche with tears streaming down their faces. He must have threatened them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yup. And then, Lance himself appeared during one of Thibault’s speeches through the magic item to confirm the dissolution of the Faith,” Flèche added, seemingly a little puzzled by his fellow disciple’s actions.

“Oh my, Lance did? I wonder if he caught wind of the situation in Hanche. Or perhaps he ran into the king at the main church?”

As we spoke, I had no idea where Lance was, but it seemed like he’d decided to take things into his own hands. I truly was blessed with three very smart disciples.

“Well, it’s only natural. I’m still not really sure how that happened, but he was the Holy Father, after all. It’s his job to clean up his subordinates’ messes,” Flèche said.

“I’m just moved to see him work for the sake of others. He never used to care about anything before.”

To Flèche, it might have seemed like nothing, but Lance had always struggled with communication. This must’ve been difficult for him. At least, I thought it was. He had never trusted anyone in five hundred years, so I was happy to see he’d grown a little.

“You’re too soft on him, master. He’s just doing the bare minimum. It’s because you keep acting like this that he’s grown so impudent,” Flèche grumbled.

He was just as harsh with Lance as Épée was with both of them.

But my third disciple’s testimony had given some more credibility to Thibault’s article, and more people in Hanche began to open their eyes to the truth. It might take some time, but they’d eventually all learn to accept it.

With that settled, I told my disciple about the other reason I’d called him over.

“Flèche, I need your help with something. These women would like to join the knights of Lèvres, so could you let them take the exam? Also, are there other positions available in the palace?”

“If you’re recommending them, I can hire them as knights, maids, or whatever else they desire,” he replied.

“Th-Thanks...”

I had been worried that it would be difficult to find jobs for all of them, but Flèche had immediately agreed.

“They’re all former knights from Hanche. These two are my friends; we joined the order at the same time. They’re nice girls, so treat them well, okay?” I said, handing my precious friends to my disciple.

“Yup, I will. I’m glad you made friends, master.”

“Me too. I’m happy I met them.”

The other two were visibly flustered, unsure of how to behave in front of the king of Lèvres. They were both staring at Flèche’s jacket.

Ah, women of taste, I see. They must also appreciate his incredible fashion sense.

I was a bit sad to be separated from them, but I wanted to support their new lives.

“Work hard, okay? And when you want to learn some magic, use the items I gave you to teleport here. You remember how to use them, right?” I asked.

“Yep!”

“You showed us countless times already.”

Flèche grumbled under his breath that he wished he could stay longer, but he was busy with work, so he immediately teleported away with the female knights. With many fewer people around, silence fell over the garden.

“The noisy ones are gone at last,” Char said, not bothering to hide his feelings.

“I’m glad that they were all able to secure new jobs.”

They would be working under Flèche, which should be a much better environment than the Royal Knights of Hanche.

I reflected on our journey. I actually learned quite a few things this time around, the biggest one being that I was still very immature as a person. Despite being the witch of legends, I still lacked in quite a few departments. I ought to strive to improve myself.

With that resolve in mind, I looked up at my husband. “Char?”

“What is it?”

“I have an idea. Would you like to come see more of the world with me?” I asked.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? As usual, you’re much too abrupt.”

“I had a realization while we were at the knights. I’ve always been so obsessed with magic, even five hundred years ago, that I’ve never really formed any meaningful relationships other than with my teacher and my disciples.”

I understood that now. Despite living in the royal capital, I had led the same kind of life as the elfins—in my own little bubble. Of course, I hadn’t spent all my days completely shut away, but I hadn’t become friends with anyone save for those close to me. My interactions with others had all been shallow.

Thinking back on my childhood in the village where I’d been born as Aurora, I realized now that I’d never been all that good at communicating with others. I had always suspected that the adults there rejected my very nature, and I never got rid of those feelings even as I grew up. That was why, despite always striving to help others, I never expected anything in return. Back when I was Aurora, the only strangers I talked to were the customers who came to buy my potions and the clients who commissioned me. I could only interact with people when it came to magic-related matters.

That was part of the reason I had taken in my disciples. Of course, I had willingly saved all three of them from their old lives, but I’d been so intent on them living with me because I was lonely. They had also gotten in trouble because of their powers, so I knew that they wouldn’t repudiate me for mine. Yet, I had never realized my motivations until I was reincarnated into this life. How horrible of me.

“My world grew a little when I met Ahn and the others.”

After being reincarnated and meeting the Mercures, I had taken my first step into the outside world, and I wanted to see more of it.

Good thing I know a certain someone needs to broaden his horizons as well.

I fixed my gaze on Char. He had pretty much never left the Mercure estate either and had pushed others away his entire life.

Just like my disciples and me, he too was persecuted because of his magic.

The two of us hadn’t gotten along in the slightest on our first meeting. But after many twists and turns, we finally reached a point where we could trust each other.

“What’s wrong, Lam?” Char’s voice pulled me out of my reverie.

“Huh...?” I blinked and realized I had unconsciously grabbed his sleeve. “Uh, it’s nothing,” I said, quickly removing my hand.

What in the world had I been trying to do?

Who just goes and grabs someone’s sleeve without thinking?

I couldn’t just tell Char I just wanted to touch him. It was embarrassing and made me seem pathetic.

My husband stared in confusion at the spot on his sleeve I had been clinging to.

“If you want to hold hands, just tell me,” he said eventually.

That was the conclusion he’d come to based on my actions.

Does he know how I feel or not...? Well, I’ll just pretend that, yes, I wanted to hold hands.

Taking my husband on his offer, I slotted my palm into his. Our relationship wasn’t exactly that of a husband and a wife; I didn’t know precisely how to express it, but we were more like kindred spirits.

Besides, neither of us really knew what it meant to be a married couple. Regardless, being with Char made me feel both calm and flustered at the same time. It was evoking emotions within me that I had never experienced before. Strangely, I didn’t dislike it.

Clutching my husband’s warm hand, I slowly headed toward the mansion.

Side Story 1: The Countess, Her Friends, and the Neighbors

A small gathering of young women met in the rear garden of the Mercure estate. Well, a “gathering” was a grand word for it; it was just me, Ahn, and the other two. I would be teaching them some magic today. The three of them periodically came to visit to learn something new, which also gave us an opportunity to catch up.

Having just had their mana unsealed recently, they weren’t at a level where they could use proper spells yet. So far, I had mostly given them lectures on how to use certain magic items, as anyone could operate those as long as they had mana.

“All righty, today we’ll move on to actual spell learning,” I announced.

The three women seemed ecstatic to hear that they would finally perform actual magic.

“Cool! We can finally use our powers!”

“I want to learn that spell you used to turn alcohol into juice!”

“And I want to learn techniques to repel perverts in the streets!”

I gave them a big nod.

“Noted. Then, today, we shall work on spells to transform liquids, as well as how to make shock waves using Wind Magic.”

I didn’t know if they would be able to perfect either today, but we would still give it a try.

The little ones eventually mastered them when I made it look like a game.

It was always easier learning spells when one was interested in them, after all.

I was looking forward to seeing how Ahn’s and the other two’s talents would blossom.

“First you do this, then this, and lastly, this!” I explained, giving them a demonstration of the antipervert wind spell.

I’d teach them the spell to transform liquid later, once we moved indoors.

“Wow, that’s so cool! We could even have sent that pervert of a former captain flying with that spell!”

I chuckled. “You could’ve.”

As we laughed and worked on the spell, I suddenly spotted three of Épée’s subordinates making their way over toward the mansion from the next island over.

Did Épée send them on an errand? I wondered.

His men often came to gift us magic items or rare food and to play with the children. Despite their scary exterior, they had been quite nice and well-behaved so far.

“Oh, ma’am!” they said by way of greeting when they spotted me.

“Hello. Did Épée send you here?” I asked.

“Nah, we’re just here to bring candy to the kids. We promised ’em we would the last time we came over to play, and...” The man froze in the middle of his sentence when his gaze landed on Ahn and my other two guests. “G-Girls! Girls other than the ma’am and the little ones at the Mercure estate!”

Oh, right, the two groups had never met before.

“They’re my friends. I’m currently teaching them magic.” I gestured toward Ahn. “This is the new head of the schoolhouse dormitory. She looks after the children. As for the other two, one of them is a maid at the Lèvres palace, and the other is a knight in training.”

For some reason, the men let out ecstatic roars at my explanation. What could have made them so happy, I wondered.

“Ma’am, are your friends married too?” one asked.

“No, they’re all single. They’re from Hanche, and they’ve come to Lèvres to look for work.”

Another roar. I truly didn’t understand what was causing them such excitement.

“Um, can we introduce ourselves to them?”

“Of course. I’d love it if you could get along and teach them all sorts of spells.”

“Hell yeah! Thanks, ma’am!”

In high spirits, the three of them went to introduce themselves to Ahn and the others. I noticed that they were acting much more courteous than usual. My friends seemed a little wary at first, but it didn’t take long for them to relax and lower their guard. Épée’s men even agreed to let Ahn and the others test out the wind spell on them—using magic to protect themselves, of course.

After that, they accompanied us indoors and volunteered to act as taste testers for the wine transformation spell. Overall, this lesson went much smoother than I expected. During the class, I took it upon myself to teleport the snacks they’d brought to the children.

My next lesson with Ahn and the others saw even more of Épée’s men joining in, and it wasn’t long before I had a full house during my classes.

Sometimes, Épée himself came to visit me during my lessons, perhaps out of concern for his underlings who regularly went missing.

“You’d better not bother Aurora or I’ll kill you all,” he warned them.

“Of course not, boss!”

“We won’t, boss!”

He even helped me with my lectures sometimes. Perhaps because he was my first disciple, Ahn and the others seemed to look up to him quite a bit.

All in all, I was getting along quite nicely with my friends and neighbors.

As a sidenote, these days, I often came across subordinates of Épée taking care of odd jobs around the schoolhouse, who claimed to be there to “Help Miss Ahn.”

Side Story 2: The Neighbors and the Knight Captain

A newcomer had arrived at the base of operations of the Ongle Empire’s infamous mafia. His name was Gahariet, and he had a very unusual appearance, with a long torso and tiny legs. Lobo, one of the higher-ranked members of the organization, listened to Épée’s introduction of the new recruit. As Épée was the boss, Lobo respected him a lot.

“Aurora asked us to drill some discipline into him. We’ve got to meet her expectations, guys.”

Everyone clapped to welcome Gahariet.

“The ma’am referred him to us, huh? Got it. Leave him in our hands, boss!”

Lobo knew Aurora. She was their next-door neighbor, and Épée was in love with her, although she didn’t reciprocate his feelings. Lobo thought that she was a good-natured woman.

“Yeah, we’ll take good care of him!” said another member of the organization, one who had the same rank as Lobo. “But uh... Aren’t his legs a little too short?”

He had spoken aloud what everyone else had been thinking.

“That’s probably Aurora’s doing,” Épée said. “Which means he must’ve behaved in a way that warranted that punishment.”

The corner of his lips tugged upward, but his eyes weren’t smiling.

“She wants us to turn him into a respectable man.”

Similar expressions appeared on the faces of all the organizations’ members. Just like Épée, their smiles didn’t reach their eyes.

“She’s such a nice woman. To think that she’d even show sympathy to those hostile to her,” one said.

“S-Screw you!” Gahariet screamed in response. “I won’t accept this! I... I...”

“Hmm? What did ya just say? Do you have a problem with Master Épée’s decision?” Lobo asked.

“I do!” Gahariet replied, spittle flying from his lips. “I’m the captain of the Royal Knights of Hanche! And the son of a marquis! Do you think you’ll be able to get off scot-free after disrespecting me?! You’re just a bunch of petty thugs!”

“Oh, he’s a lively one, isn’t he? Looks like he’ll be a ton of fun to discipline. We’ll do our best to retrain him, boss.”

“I’m leaving him to you, then,” Épée said before leaving the room.

With that, the newcomer’s introduction ceremony had come to an end. Yet, Gahariet was still complaining.

“I won’t accept this! Don’t make decisions for me, you scum!”

Perhaps he thought that he’d get his way by screaming his discontentment. He must’ve been quite spoiled to have grown so impudent.

That old man’s like a baby. He doesn’t know a single thing about the real world, Lobo thought.

He needed to make him understand his position: Here, Gahariet was at the bottom of the food chain. Épée had high hopes in their training, and Lobo couldn’t possibly betray his boss’s trust, after all.

Paying the man’s indignant screams no mind, he decided to kick-start things into gear.

“Huh? What did ya just say? Your voice’s so high-pitched, I can’t even hear ya.”

He gave the man’s torso the tiniest of pushes, and Gahariet immediately went flying.

“Wha...?” Lobo whispered.

How...weak. He was way too weak! The ease with which he’d sent the man soaring had left Lobo shocked and appalled. Seeing as the man was a knight captain, Lobo had thought he would be strong. What a letdown. He must’ve just been a knight on paper, huh?

“A-Anyway. From today onward, you’ll be working as the lowest of grunts, ya hear? Don’t worry; we’ll help rehabilitate ya.”

“That’s absurd— Ah!”

One of Lobo’s own subordinates yanked Gahariet down to the floor.

“Hey! Who gave you permission to speak, huh?! Stop disrespecting Mr. Lobo, ya punk!”

Another grabbed Gahariet’s hair and forced him to bow his head. The former captain tried to fight back, but he had no chance of succeeding.

“Gahariet, we’re going to drum proper manners into yer skull. Yer stuck here until you manage to become a new man,” Lobo said.

“C’mon, newbie! Bow your head to greet your seniors or I’ll crush your tiny legs!”

“Eeek!”

Gahariet hurriedly prostrated himself on the ground.

“Well, well, where did yer attitude go, sir knight captain? Ya’re a noble, aren’t ya? Should ya really bow to us so easily?”

Lobo’s lowest underlings were very happy to have a junior of their own. At this pace, it wouldn’t take them too long to rehabilitate Gahariet.

We’ll make him into the perfect fit for our mafia. Lobo grinned in satisfaction as he watched his underlings torment Gahariet.

Afterword

Thank you so much for purchasing the fourth volume of The Countess Is a Coward No More! This Reincarnated Witch Just Wants a Break. (I’ll say it again: This title is way too long).

This volume was a completely new story that wasn’t part of the web novel. It starts with the Mercures’ move to Lèvres and then details Lam’s adventures in a new environment, where she deals with a bunch of “insignificant” enemies—as she always does.

For this volume’s “Coward Fashion,” I can only recommend Flèche’s outfit with the moles and marshmallows hugging, as well as his rainbow jacket with the giant durians—although, Lam’s potato-patterned sportswear was a strong contender.

If I have the opportunity, I would love to introduce more “Coward Fashion” in the story. It would be a lot of fun! I’m very grateful to TCB-sensei for drawing beautiful illustrations of all my nonsensical patterns all the time, like the dress with the legged lemons (volume 3) and the one with the ugly mice, squirrels, and bunnies (volume 2). Thank you so much!

In this volume, I have introduced a plethora of new characters, and Lam even made some friends her age. I have a bad habit of creating way too many characters and ending up with a mess of a story. This time again, I had to cut three or four of them. Now, the story feels much liiighter.

I’m incredibly thankful to everyone who was involved with the creation of this volume, especially my editor. Thank you very much! And of course, I am grateful to you, the reader, for sticking with me all the way to volume 4!

I hope to see you all again soon!

Ageha Sakura