I stared into Adriel’s eyes, forgetting even to breathe.

It was the first time I’d seen Adriel’s eyes this close.

Burning like a red sun…

No, what am I thinking?

I quickly came to my senses and hurriedly tried to separate from him.

“I’m, I’m sorry. I’ll get up right away,”

“Ugh…”

My frantic movements halted at Adriel’s faint groan.

“Knight?”

As I slowly raised my eyes, I saw Adriel covering his bright red face with his hand, turning his head to the side.

“Um, are you… are you hurt somewhere?”

“My lady.”

For some reason, he spoke through gritted teeth with difficulty.

“Please, stay still…”

Stay still? No, what did I do…?

I naturally followed Adriel’s gaze and looked down.

“Ah, no, why is this…”

And I discovered it. My knee pressed firmly against Adriel’s abdomen.

Oh God.

As soon as I quickly rolled to the side, he sat up as if he had been waiting and slightly hunched his body.

An awkward silence settled between us.

“Guild Master, is no one home?”

Just then, Daniel’s voice came like a rope descending from heaven.

I opened my mouth awkwardly.

“Um… I’ll be going then…”

I mumbled something about going to see him and quickly closed the door before rushing out.

Through the closing door gap, I could see Adriel still hunched over.

I must have pressed too hard with my knee. It must have hurt a lot. I hope it doesn’t bruise.

…I’ll have to apologize later. What else can I do?

I shook my head to clear my mind while putting on my robe.

When I opened the front door wearing my silver mask, I saw Daniel with his impressive physique.

“Ah, you are home. That’s good.”

“Oh, yes… but what brings you here? I remember we agreed to have future consultations at your home.”

“It’s sick.”

I opened my eyes in surprise.

“Who is? Charles? Where is it hurt? No, if the animal is sick, you should go to a doctor, why come here…?”

Just then, I heard a “meow” from Daniel’s arms.

At the same time, Daniel carefully took Charles out of his arms.

“Thanks to the Guild Master’s advice, I’ve been able to get a little closer to Charles. At least he doesn’t bite me anymore.”

I painfully looked at Daniel’s arms, which were clearly marked with claw marks.

Perhaps the one who’s sick isn’t Charles but Daniel?

“That’s why I came here. I’ve never met anyone who knows as much about cats as the Guild Master.”

I’m glad I watched a lot of animal-related videos in my previous life.

Hiding my bewilderment at the sudden compliment, I asked:

“So what’s wrong with Charles?”

“Would you look at this?”

Daniel pulled out a bag with his hand that wasn’t holding Charles.

“Charles, with his mouth… Ahem. Forgive my rudeness, but I have no better word for it.”

Inside the transparent bag was…

“Charles defecated from his mouth.”

“……”

I quietly stared at the bag.

Well, it is brownish and mixed with saliva, so it does look a bit like that.

“No matter how little I know about cats, defecating from the mouth isn’t normal.”

“This isn’t feces.”

Daniel looked puzzled.

“Then what is this that Charles vomited?”

It’s what they call “coughing up a hairball.”

Wondering how to explain this, I calmly said:

“Well. To put it simply, cats lick their fur with the papillae on their tongues, right? When they can’t digest the fur that goes into their stomach, they throw it up.”

Daniel held up the bag and looked closely at its contents.

“You’re saying this is hair?”

Daniel’s eyes widened as he saw me nod.

***

That evening.

After visiting Daniel’s house to give various advice, I returned completely exhausted.

By the way, that cat was definitely upset.

I learned one fact today: apparently, Daniel had once stepped on Charles’s tail.

With that huge body, on a delicate cat’s tail…

Come to think of it, that makes sense. Without a reason like that, a cat that was normally affectionate wouldn’t suddenly change its behavior, would it?

“Kekeke. Master, did you earn a lot of money today too?”

“Oh, yes… Wit, did you guard the house well?”

“Wit watched Adriel carefully! I did well, right? Right, Master?”

“Yes. You did well.”

When I asked Wit, who was flying in front of me, to bring me some water, he flew off to the kitchen with a bright face, saying he would.

By the way, where is Adriel?

“You’re late.”

Ah, you startled me!

Speak of the devil.

My heart nearly dropped at the voice coming from right behind me.

“Ah, you scared me. Why do you always appear so silently?”

When I glared at him, Adriel blinked with a surprised face.

And what? Late, he says? Good grief.

I laughed incredulously and said:

“And what, you said you couldn’t eat alone… but your Captain told me you ate perfectly well by yourself at the temple?”

“……”

Huh? There he goes again. Always looking away when caught in a lie.

“Why did you tell such an easily exposed lie? Really.”

Despite my pointed gaze, Adriel ignored it and changed the subject.

“Aren’t you hungry? I prepared food before you arrived, so please eat first.”

He naturally guided me to the dining table.

No wonder I smelled something delicious as soon as I entered the house.

Looking at the well-prepared dishes neatly arranged on the table, I felt my appetite returning.

When I returned after washing my hands, I saw Wit already sitting at the table. I was about to sit down on a chair to prepare for the meal.

“…?”

Why is that man just standing there again?

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you sitting down?”

“…May I sit?”

“What?”

When had I ever prevented Adriel from sitting?

As I stared at him in bewilderment, Adriel awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and sat across from me.

I really can’t understand what he’s thinking.

While I was looking at him strangely, Wit called out to me.

“Master. How was today’s request? Kekeke. Still don’t need Wit’s help?”

“Huh? Oh, well…”

Still, I did make some progress today, didn’t I?

Daniel followed my advice and stopped giving Charles attention.

Then Charles began to stare at Daniel, and eventually even came over to eat the snacks placed near Daniel.

‘…!’

At that time, Daniel, who couldn’t move but showed his excitement only through his expression, was so funny.

I had only thought he was terrifying based on his appearance, but it was another moment when I realized he was actually very soft-hearted.

As the memory came back to life, I couldn’t help but smile.

“The Captain of the Holy Knights seems like a good person.”

At my words, Adriel looked at me intently.

“The Captain treats everyone equally, regardless of their status or rank.”

“Yes. He seemed that way.”

“He readily gave me an opportunity to join the knights when I was wandering outside. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t even have been able to function as a proper person.”

In other words, Daniel was the person who extended a helping hand to Adriel when he was at his most difficult moment.

Hearing that, I could somewhat understand Adriel’s exceptional loyalty.

“This is the first time I’ve met the Captain of the Holy Knights, but I think I understand what you mean.”

Well, they say there are no mean-spirited people among those who like cats, right?