"Be at ease, my kind mister, we are here just to pass a message to one of your passengers. There will be no blood spilled here today – you have the word of the vice-commander of the Light Order.

"

"…

"

The tall man in full armor raised his hand and loudly announced to the anxious coachman, who didn't seem to particularly believe the declaration.

Sill, a carriage wasn't exactly a means of transport that could back up fast without the proper u-turn and the group of fourteen men led by the so-called vice commander of the Light Order blocked the road right in front of the horses, so the coachman didn't have much choice.

It wasn't like the knights in front of him were just some common magicless bandits whom he could try to trample and make the dashing escape – those here were light magicians with active enchantments – the carriage would stand no chance in the contest of durability, not to even mention the innocent horses.

"Sir, sirs, as you can see I am…

"

"We know who you are transporting, kind mister. Stay put and you will be able to continue your work after we will pass the message.

"

The coachman tried to speak up but was instantly turned down by the dismissive scoff of the man at the front of the group of knights.

—-

"…Light Order…? Who are those supposed to be, some insurgents?'

Inside the carriage, the green-haired Reo furrowed his brows while peeking through the window and asked his black-haired companion in a hushed voice.

"…pffft…!

"

…but his particular choice of words had made Zoemi snort, barely able to hold back a burst of hearty laughter.

"No. Nothing like that – I've heard that they are something like a group of bodyguards that the king allowed his wife to create. The queen is also the one who selected each of the members herself, so their ego is insanely overblown.

"

The black-haired attendant managed to hold himself back properly and explained properly after a brief moment o weakness.

"The group of bodyguards…? Alright, that makes sense – but what are they here then? The guy in the front said something about a message, but bodyguards aren't supposed to be messengers or errand boys the last time I checked.

"

Reo tilted his head, moving back to his seat and looking at Zoemi with a confused expression.

"Unfortunately, that is a question more suited to be asked the queen herself, as I, a faithful follower of the first prince cannot comprehend her ways.

"

"…hmmm…

"

The black-haired boy smiled while shrugging and sighed – making the green-haired boy in front of him frown with concern.

|…that's why I like him…|

Zoemi smirked to himself seeing the captured target's expression.

Although Reo could be accurately described as childish, easygoing, and free-spirited, none of those traits were connected with being stupid.

He clearly understood what Zoemi meant, and could very well connect it with some facts that he himself was aware of.

"Zoemi, there is something that I have to tell you – you see, the queen might have…

"

After some consideration, Reo raised his head and spoke looking into the black-haired boy's eyes.

"You don't have to hurry, it's always a pleasure to talk with you, and I'm ready to entertain you at any time.

"

"!!!

"

Zoemi nodded and sent Reo the refreshing smile that almost knocked out the poor capture target, sending him leaning back into his seat with a crimson red face.

This time Zoemi had done it on purpose, after all…

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Roun Vevesti Lutroan, the vice-commander of the Light Order requests to have a talk. Open up.

"

…the moment after Reo became too embarrassed to talk, the armored man approached their carriage and knocked on the door, speaking as loudly as he was confident in himself.

The green-haired boy wasn't stupid, but his timing was ofter particularly bad – that was how things were for his character in the game, so Zoemi knew that he should be extra careful and act to preemptively shut down any sensitive topic just as he did this time.

…but the black-haired attendant made sure to make a mental note to ask the green-haired boy what was he going to say about the queen…

"What do yo…

"

"Shh…

"

Just as Reo managed to clam down enough to call out to the man outside, he was shushed by Zoemi tapping his knee and putting his index finger to his mouth.

"…?

"

The green-haired capture target raised his brow questioningly – at which the black-haired attendant responded with a cheeky smirk.

"Lutroan family barely counts as high nobility. Reo, you are a Moyena. As long as you are in this carriage, that guy has no right to demand anything in such a rude way and he knows that – that is why he didn't open the door himself. He also stopped the coachman from telling him exactly who is in there because of the very same reason. The hidden rules of noble etiquette are a funny thing. If he doesn't see you, he can act all high and mighty under the pretext of not knowing that you are here, and if you respond to him first, he is in the clear. But we can use it against it – because as someone of a higher social position, you have no obligation to respond.

"

Zoemi snickered and whispered conspicuously to the shocked green-haired boy.

"Wait… what…? But what does this achieves?

"

Reo gasped, shaking his head clearly not understanding what was the point of the seemingly silly back and forth.

"Nothing much, just a small scale power struggle that some old guys came up with a long time ago – but the fun part is – if he actually tries to force his way in, or make you or anyone accompanying you out, we can use force against it because that will count as an attack. Although, I don't actually believe that he thinks that we are aware of that part. It's an old rule that hasn't been in active use for years but was never outright crossed out from the rulebook.

"

Zoemi shrugged his shoulder and grinned kind of evilly, leaving Reo wide-eyed.

"There is a rulebook about those… wait, no! You want to fight him?! Why?! Are you out of your mind?!

"

The green-gasped in disbelief, looking between the black-haired boy and the window.

"No, no – of course, I don't want to fight. Even if I would be justified, actually harming any of them would be giving ammunition to the wrong people. I just want to have an excuse in case I will get caught.

"

The black-haired boy immediately changed his expression into a completely innocent one and waved his hand, dismissing the audacious idea.

"…in case you will get caught – doing what exact…?

"

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Hey! Are you deaf? I told you to open up!

"

At his words, Reo furrowed his brows and asked in confusion but was interrupted by the increasing impatient vice-commander of the Light Order.

"…

"

"…shhh…

"

Reo glanced at the door and then back at Zoemi – who ended up pressing his index finger to his lips again and winking mischievously at the green-haired boy.

The two of them stayed silent for another few seconds, and then, just as it was expected…

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"I am the vice commander of the Light Order, Roun Vevesti Lutroan, open the door immediately!

"

…the armored man on the outside slammed his fist against the carriage's door so much that the glass window vibrated, and shouted on the verge of blowing up.

"Ah, that's right. Reo, why don't you come over here?

"

Foreseeing that Roun's patience would soon run out, Zoemi took into consideration the way the carriage door would open and ended up reaching for Reo's hand, grabbing him and pulling him over to sit right by his side, making sure that the capture target would be the first person the armored man sees – using the green-haired boy as the barrier just in case.

"…!

"

The rather bold act ended up making Reo completely speechless, setting up his timidness to the maximum level.

"THAT'S IT! I have an important message from the q…!

"

And then it finally happened, Roun couldn't stand being ignored any longer as his pride was getting hurt in real-time while his underlings were sending him rather obvious glances, so he opened the door – and immediately froze when he met face-in face with the blushing Reo.

"…o-oh…! Lord Moyena! I… I had no idea that you were on the carriage too!

"

He tensed up and leaned back with his hand still on the carriage's door and mumbled awkwardly, doing his very best to cover up the minimum of etiquette while boiling over with anger and shame over being outsmarted by some kid…

"…shadow connect…

"

….and that was exactly why he had completely missed the clump of hair-like shadows bursting from the inside of the carriage and homing at him and every single one of his men, as the black-haired attendant reached out and latched his shadows onto their active spells and began slowly draining their mana and converting it into his own, all while grinning wildly from behind the green-haired capture target's back.