“What about the other one?”

Gemvil approached without batting an eye.

“Horas is playing guardian at the banquet hall.”

“I’ll clean this up, so go ahead.”

“Yeah, thanks. But are we known as easy targets? Their tactics never change. Our poor Percy, always being used as the first choice.”

“Their goal is to cut off limbs.”

“They’re here for ‘that’, right?”

“They might want a deal.”

“Should I have asked more?”

“It’s fine.”

Gemvil hoisted the man onto his shoulder with one hand, rolling his shoulders as if his neck was uncomfortable.

“They couldn’t even enter the guild before, but now they manage to get this far. It seems they’ve changed their methods, but we should be more careful. The banquet hall should be fine, right? I was planning to have some fun today, but this trash got in the way.”

We can’t let the kid be startled.

After muttering with concern, Gemvil gestured with his eyes for him to go ahead.

***

Horas looked at Rodi with interested eyes. He didn’t seem particularly surprised by her words.

“Why did you think that?”

“When I went to see the boss earlier, the secretary’s notebook and sword were on the right side, but just now it was flat like he wasn’t carrying anything. Nothing in the back pocket either.”

“And?”

“And what’s strangest is that all the swords switched to the left side and there are so many more now. He’s wearing a necklace too.”

Horas smirked.

Though her reasoning was simple, Rodi had easily pinpointed the correct answer.

After suspecting Percy earlier, she immediately checked if there was anyone suspicious inside.

‘This ability is really top-tier.’

Usually, they would have needed to check personally or send trusted people, but this was so simple.

“Well then, is Ekision in danger or not?”

“Danger?”

Rodi’s face showed surprise at those words.

Her expression showed she hadn’t thought that far.

Though she hadn’t received any training, Rodi had instantly understood and absorbed the concept.

“Yes, the correct answer is ‘Ekision is the most handsome.'”

Ekision said cheerfully, making bunny ears with his hands behind Rodi’s head.

“That’s wrong.”

With Horas’s response, Rodi’s head whipped around.

Deep sea-colored eyes met hers.

“Rookie, was the cake delicious?”

“Ekision.”

“You missed me, rookie.”

“Weren’t you in danger?”

Rodi asked with somewhat tense eyes.

“Hm?”

Ekision, who had been wearing a touched expression, turned to Horas.

Horas shrugged.

“Nothing happened though?”

“Thank goodness!”

Only after hearing Ekision’s answer did Rodi’s expression relax.

Ekision muttered “Oh, my aching body” and plopped down in an empty seat.

“Are you hurting, Ekision?”

“Rookie, wait until you’re my age. Every day my body aches more. My joints hurt when it rains too.”

“How old are you, Ekision?”

“Me? Well, how old do I look to you?”

Ekision turned his body completely and brought his face close to Rodi’s.

After examining him thoroughly from various angles, Rodi’s brow furrowed.

“Umm… thirty?”

“Bwahaha!”

Horas, who had been listening nearby, burst out laughing while clutching his stomach.

Ekision pouted.

“Rookie, how could you?”

Rodi fell into deep thought again.

Her eyes sparkled as she offered a different answer this time.

“Then… twenty!”

At that, Ekision’s face brightened.

“Right? I do look young. Handsome face, youthful appearance, great body. I’ve got it all, don’t I?”

When Rodi nodded, Ekision giggled and pinched her soft cheeks.

In truth, guessing adults’ ages by their faces was too difficult for Rodi.

While she could see objects under clothes, she couldn’t see age.

Unless it was written down somewhere, that is.

Especially the employees of Cheiles were so exceptionally good-looking that it seemed they only hired attractive people, making it even harder to guess their ages.

Still, seeing Ekision humming cheerfully, she must have guessed close or correctly.

As Rodi looked around while eating enthusiastically, her eyes fixed on a particular table.

“Huh?”

“What is it, rookie?”

“What’s that?”

Rodi pointed somewhere with her fork.

Horas, Ekision, and Lexiard’s gazes simultaneously followed the fork’s direction.

“Chocolate.”

“It’s chocolate.”

“That’s chocolate.”

The same answer came back as if rehearsed.

“…But the chocolate is, is falling?”

How could something like that exist?

Brown chocolate was falling on one side, and something white was falling on the other.

People had been eating from it all this time, but Rodi hadn’t noticed it before.

“Rookie, is this your first time seeing it? That’s a chocolate fountain. You dip fruit in it and eat it.”

“Dip and eat?”

“Want to try?”

Rodi’s eyes sparkled as her mouth gaped open.

To think such food existed in the world.

“Cheiles is amazing.”

Cheiles was definitely the most amazing group in the world.

They had lots of money and many fascinating things.

Instead of answering, Rodi stood up holding her fork.

It was a movement of absolute determination to try it.

“But you need to sleep soon. Is it okay to eat?”

Horas scratched his cheek.

“I, I want to eat!”

When Rodi’s eyes sparkled brightly, Horas wrinkled his nose with an “Ugh.”

“Then just eat a little, and don’t get sick. Don’t touch anything beside it. They’re all alcohol.”

“Okay!”

“Rodi, I’ll go with you.”

Lexiard stood up from his seat.

Ekision followed behind like a guardian.

“Now then, let’s go explore the chocolate. Ta-da~ And you don’t need to hold the fork so seriously, rookie.”

While it wouldn’t matter with Lexiard there since everyone would avoid them anyway, it was still his duty as an adult.

“Ah, okay!”

Rodi quickly put down the fork and followed Lexiard and Ekision.

As expected.

As Lexiard approached that area, the employees quietly stepped back.

By the time Rodi got close to the chocolate fountain, the surrounding area was already cleared.

Whether or not she was aware of her surroundings, Rodi just stared at the fountain in wonder as Ekision handed her several wooden skewers from the side.

“Here, use these to pick what you want and dip it in the chocolate. Put used skewers here.”

“Like this, Rodi.”

After Ekision’s explanation, Lexiard demonstrated.

When he dipped a ripe strawberry in chocolate and held it out, Rodi opened her mouth wide like a bird.

Her eyes sparkled again as the delicious treat entered her mouth.

Ekision giggled.

“Tasty, isn’t it?”

“It’s really delicious! Ekision, Lexiard, you eat too!”

Though Rodi wanted to serve them herself, the table was a bit too high for her to do so.

So Rodi would choose, and Lexiard would dip it in chocolate and diligently deliver it to Rodi’s mouth.

While Ekision watched this scene contentedly, he also found it fascinating.

Although Ekision usually teased Lexiard, Lexiard was typically so emotionless that he seemed like an old soul.

To put it coldly, he lacked humanity.

But now he was not just actively moving but even fussing over a single word from Rodi.

Among the many changes that began when Rodi came to Cheiles, Ekision thought this change was fortunate.

Above all, it was nice to see Lexiard’s biggest change – finally starting to act his age.

Excited about trying different foods, Rodi was receiving food like a bird from Lexiard and then started eating other desserts from different tables.

As Rodi was peering at another table, a rather thin man passed by her side.

“Ah!”

Unable to withstand the impact, Rodi fell backward and landed on her bottom.

Lexiard, focused on looking after Rodi’s food, hadn’t managed to summon his smoke in time.

“Rodi, are you okay?”

“Ah, yes! It hurts…”

As Lexiard helped Rodi up by her hand, he briefly turned his head.

The man with short brown hair was busy chatting and snickering with his colleagues without offering an apology.

The moment Lexiard saw the man’s back, black smoke shot out like a stem from behind Lexiard.

“Ack!”

Crash!

The man fell backward helplessly.

The black smoke wrapped around his neck and dragged him over.

“Ugh…! Urk, h-help!”

Irritated by even those sounds, the black smoke enveloped the man’s face with crushing force.

Nearby employees were either shocked or screaming, retreating almost like they were fleeing in fear.

“Lord Lexiard.”

Ekision approached to stop Lexiard.

Lexiard looked up at him with indifferent eyes.

Ekision flinched.

“He didn’t apologize to Rodi.”