“Could this be used for that purpose?”

“Yes.”

Lea answered with a confident tone. Allen’s eyes widened.

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve seen it being used.”

“So it’s not just used for insertion.”

“No, insertion is correct.”

“So just inserting it activates something?”

“Yes. You could say that.”

The d*ldo was more formidable than he had thought. Allen gripped it tightly with one hand, afraid he might accidentally drop it. This was no time to be distracted by Lea’s imagination. They absolutely could not let the d*ldo fall into their hands.

While Allen was seriously continuing his train of thought, the footsteps of the two people stopped right outside the door.

A moment that felt both brief and eternal passed.

Allen swallowed. He had never faced a battle he couldn’t anticipate before. He had always seen through his opponent’s mind and moved one step ahead to strike from behind.

So this situation felt unfamiliar and awkward.

Of course, even in these circumstances, Lea’s imagination continued, and accordingly, his important lower body part twitched inappropriately for the atmosphere, but now was not the time to worry about that.

“Commander, it would be better for both of us to quietly slip away now.”

“What are you saying? We need to stop them immediately.”

“Can you handle it?”

“There’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Then I have no choice. Please stay still for a moment.”

Just before the large door rattled open, Lea moved her hand quickly and fastened something around Allen’s neck. Caught completely off guard, Allen reflexively touched his neck in bewilderment. His fingertips felt the cool sensation of leather. It seemed to be the red leash they had found earlier.

“What are you doing—”

“Shh.”

Lea pressed her index finger firmly against Allen’s lips and pulled back on the chain connected to the leash.

“Ugh.”

Allen was helplessly pulled along by the sudden gesture. When he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, Lea was even closer than before. They were so close that their noses would touch if he lowered his head slightly. Allen’s neck flushed red. His face seemed to be reflected in Lea’s blue eyes.

Just as Allen opened his mouth to say something, the heavy door slowly opened.

“This is the place, oh my!”

Allen turned his eyes toward the sound.

A man and woman with foolish expressions entered his field of vision. The man, holding a bag in his hand, stammered in apparent surprise, while the woman covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes suggesting she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

Allen’s gaze naturally moved toward the bag. Beyond their reactions, the way the man clutched it tightly looked very suspicious. He wondered what could possibly be inside that made the man wrap his arms around it protectively and even try to hide it behind his back, as if it absolutely must not be taken away.

Allen quickly turned his body to check the bag, and with that momentum, Lea lost her grip on the chain. Free from Lea’s hold, Allen ran toward the two people at high speed.

“I’m sorr—eek!”

The two people were terrified by Allen charging at them with frightening intensity and tried to flee, but they were quickly caught by him.

“Why, why are you doing this!”

“Excuse me! Sorry to interrupt your good time, but we reserved this place early!”

“Hand over the bag first!”

Allen snatched the bag from the man without preamble.

「This, this one thing! After all the trouble I went through to get it!」

The man inwardly wailed as he let go of the bag. Allen, with the leash still around his neck, rummaging through his bag, looked like a wild beast freshly escaped from prison.

He knelt down and clasped his hands together.

“I don’t know who you are, but I haven’t even tried this myself yet. Please show mercy and let me be the first to use it……”

“Darling! Why, why are you kneeling!”

The woman embraced the man, sobbing. Allen, sensing that the situation was taking a strange turn, went ahead and opened the bag.

“What’s…… this?”

Allen’s eyebrows furrowed. He pulled out whatever his hand touched first from the bag, but the shape of the object was rather strange. It was elongated with a hole in the middle and had a very bumpy surface. Allen turned it around, examining it from all angles, and even tried slipping it onto his finger, wondering what it could be used for. But like the d*ldo, he couldn’t determine its purpose.

Frustrated, Allen gripped it tightly in his hand. Suddenly, it began to vibrate in his palm. He felt a chill run down his spine. The sensation of it tickling his palm while pressing evenly without pain was strangely addictive and sent shivers down his back. Startled by the strange sensation, Allen dropped it to the floor.

“No!”

The man held back tears and picked it up with trembling hands.

“This…… this precious thing!”

「It’s so expensive with vibration magic built in!」

“What is that thing?”

As questions continued to pile up, Lea slowly walked over to them and said,

“It’s an expansion ring.”

“Expansion ring?”

“Yes. Looks like they thoroughly prepared for their deed.”

“Ah, ah no! Aren’t you the knight!”

The man, who had been secretly putting the expansion ring in his pocket while lying on the floor, suddenly shouted upon seeing Lea. She nodded, speaking as if she had already anticipated this.

“I thought I recognized the voice. So it was you, merchant.”

“It was too dark earlier to see your face properly. Could it be that you, knight……”

「Were doing that with a man…?」

Allen, feeling confused, interjected between them.

“Wait, vice commander. Do you know this person?”

“Yes. He’s the owner of a shop I frequent.”

“Why would a shop owner be carrying out a deed here……”

Aside from being surprised that Lea was acquainted with this merchant, Allen couldn’t understand why she remained so calm when this man was supposedly planning to commit some deed with rare items.

‘The deed…… was it not that kind of deed? If so…’

As he pondered while listening to their conversation, Allen’s face gradually turned ashen.

“Merchant, if you carry out your deed in a place like this, you’ll get sick. I’ve seen several people who fell ill from doing this before.”

“Oh my, so that’s why you tried to stop us by taking the bag.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“But I heard this is a place where even those whose s*xual desire has cooled can feel org*sm again!”

“If you want to gain an illness along with your org*sm, I won’t stop you.”

“I understand. Then I’ll heed your advice, dame. But who exactly is that person……”

The merchant timidly pointed at Allen. Following his finger, everyone’s gaze turned to Allen, who, frozen in place, avoided their eyes. Lea, oblivious to Allen’s feelings, answered,

“He’s our commander and the Grand Duke of Braeton who has come to the North.”

Allen had just created the most embarrassing incident of his life.

“Gasp, G-Grand Duke?”

The merchant tried to stand up but sat back down. Judging by Allen’s manner of speech, he had assumed he was a knight of some rank, but he never expected him to be a noble. The problem seemed to be that he hadn’t thought Lea would do such things with a noble in a place like this. Looking at him now, Allen was undeniably exuding nobility. Despite being covered in dust, his well-groomed hair fluttered gently, and his clothes were clearly expensive.

The merchant gasped like a dying man and prostrated himself flat on the ground.

“Oh my, oh my goodness. I failed to recognize such an esteemed person. How dare I, how dare I!”

He raised both hands in an embarrassingly submissive manner and began apologizing profusely. The woman beside him collapsed like a puppet with broken strings and kept her eyes fixed on the floor.

“G-Grand Duke? I truly failed to recognize you! I, I misspoke.”

Allen still hadn’t recovered from his awkwardness. Receiving such inexplicable apologies was another source of embarrassment for him. The “deed” Lea had mentioned meant something completely different from what he had imagined. He could hardly believe that he had just realized this now, along with the fact that he had needlessly accosted and searched innocent people.

He had always understood perfectly when people said potentially misleading things because he could already hear their thoughts. But now he felt like he had become a complete idiot.

Allen cooled his heated neck with his hand and tried to speak nonchalantly.

“It’s fine, please get up.”

“B-but—!”

The merchant continued trembling. He recalled his past.

His main merchandise was medicinal herbs. He had started his business at a young age, but it had been an extremely difficult path. His typical customers were knights and commoners who regularly got beaten up, and dealing with these two customer bases was no simple task.

Back then, many knights were unreasonable. They would buy products, use them thoroughly, and then demand refunds with half-empty containers, claiming they didn’t work. If he irritated them even slightly, they would routinely beat him up.

Commoners often entered his shop with pitiful expressions. When these poor people with no money clutched their injured legs with miserable eyes, the soft-hearted merchant couldn’t help but give them herbs for free.

As those days flashed through his mind, he felt grateful to the rumored Grand Duke who had freed the North from the corrupt king and nobles.

But regardless, he couldn’t help fearing nobility.

「There’s no greater sin than interrupting a noble’s lovemaking! Gulp.」

To think he had become the person who suddenly barged in while this noble was doing ‘important’ business. Considering the nobles he had encountered before, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Grand Duke chopped off his head right now.