Chapter 1: A Formal Introduction and a Reunion with an Oddball

“I did NOT see that one coming.” Worn out from running, I braced myself against the stone wall, panting as I caught my breath.

We were currently west of Évrard—or more precisely, at Delphion’s Fort Inion, which we had just recaptured in order to save a group of hostages. Until a few minutes ago, I had been looking for Reggie because I had something to ask him; I wanted to know how he was going to deal with the ex-Delphion soldiers who had been working inside the fort.

I’d found Reggie in one of the towers. Cain, my bodyguard and a knight of Évrard, was there with him. The prince had been in the process of interrogating Cain about how he and I had jumped into action without any prior warning.

It was no surprise that Cain had gotten yelled at.

I did it because, at the time, I thought the captives were in danger of getting killed before we could go save them. If we had waited until after the Farzian army had broken down the gates and stormed the fort, it would have taken a good bit of time to reach them. In the meantime, there was the risk that the Llewynians would realize they were at a disadvantage and kill the girls.

However, if I had said I wanted to charge in alone, someone certainly would have objected. Cain likewise had come to the conclusion that our only option was to go ahead without notifying anyone—hence why we had stealthily charged in all by ourselves.

I assumed that Reggie had gone toCain with his grievances simply because it had taken me forever to wake up, what with all the mana I’d used up during the battle. If that had been all they talked about, I would have cut into their conversation and explained that