The half-elf girl who appeared before his eyes was still as extraordinarily beautiful as ever.
Beside her stood a peculiar sight — a one-armed shirtless man in a rust-spotted knight's helmet. His muscular upper body was bare, his pants tattered, and most notably, he was missing his left hand.
His name was Aldebaran — Al for short — Priscilla's guardian knight.
Like the minotaur warrior who never removed his mask, Al kept his knight's helmet firmly in place, hiding the indelible scars that marked his face to avoid frightening others.
"Yo, Emilia, long time no see."
"Adam, it's been a while. Say... what are you doing?"
The sight of her knight carrying two people on his shoulders naturally piqued her curiosity. Seeing Natsuki as one of them only added to her confusion.
"Well, it's a long story..." Though reluctant to explain the troublesome situation, Adam shared the truth.
"I see." As a fellow Royal Selection Candidate, Emilia knew Priscilla well, and the scene before her stirred concern.
Not romantic jealousy, but worry about the trust between master and knight.
Yet once Adam explained everything clearly, her concerns melted away.
"Young lady, could you please not run off? I worry about you." Al said with a sigh, "It makes things quite difficult for me, you know."
"Hmph, it's clearly because Al was too slow — it has nothing to do with me!"
"Yes, yes, yes, I was wrong, I was wrong." Well aware of Priscilla's unreasonable nature, Al quickly admitted fault to keep the peace, "By the way, young lady, what are you holding?"
"About that apple..."
"It's my trophy, I won it."
Seeing Priscilla's proud expression, Al suspected his master had given the young man carrying her some trouble.
"Well, how should I put this... anyway, thank you for saving my young lady, brother." Al gave Adam's shoulder a friendly pat, "I imagine our young lady must have caused you quite some trouble. Well, that's just how she is, I hope you can forgive her, brother."
"Mm, I had fun playing with Lady Priscilla, and you too, Senpai. No need to apologize."
"Ah. Senpai became Lady Priscilla's guardian knight much earlier, right? I only recently became Lady Emilia's knight, so I should call you his way."
"Hmm — is that so?" Al's brows furrowed beneath his knight's helmet.
He sensed there was something more to Adam's words.
Noticing Priscilla trying to provoke Emilia, he intervened, "Young lady, we should leave now, we're running out of time."
"Ugh... how boring. Al, you really don't know how to read the mood."
"It's precisely because I can read the mood that I'm stopping you."
"You, did you do that on purpose?"
"Hmph, mere Al, you think you can control me ?"
"At least, I believe I can."
Their playful banter revealed the strong bond between master and servant.
After finally convincing Priscilla, Al said, "So that's that, we'll be taking our leave now. Lady Emilia, we'll see you tomorrow."
He waved goodbye to Emilia and prompted his master to do the same.
"Very well, I had fun today." Priscilla closed her folding fan and pointed at Adam, "You, what's your name?"
"Huh? I remember introducing myself to Lady Priscilla when we first met."
"I never remember the names of people who don't interest me." She said arrogantly, "However, you're quite interesting, so I suppose I'll deign to remember you."
'Deign to... huh, what a proud and tsundere young lady.' Adam shook his head with a smile, "Lady Priscilla must remember my name, after all, you still owe me a favor."
Reminded of his trick, Priscilla said huffily, "Hmph, you don't need to tell me, I'll remember anyway."
Their interaction visibly unsettled Emilia.
Noticing this, Priscilla flashed a mischievous smile and asked Adam, "You, would you consider coming to serve me? I could offer you a position as my guardian knight."
Though clearly a jest — even Natsuki could tell—
"No way!" Emilia strongly objected.
"In any case, I'm better than you, aren't I?"
Perhaps just for fun, she refrained from mentioning Emilia's infamous title of "silver-haired half-devil" — leaving room for reconciliation between them.
"No means no! Adam is my knight, and I won't give him to you!" Emilia stared directly at Priscilla without backing down.
This past month, it wasn't just Natsuki who had grown — she had worked hard to gain the villagers' acceptance.
"Oh? What if I insist... well, never mind." Priscilla clearly wanted to say more but held her tongue.
"Alright, alright, this topic ends here!" Adam quickly intervened to prevent an argument, "It's getting late, we should leave. So, we'll go this way, Lady Priscilla?"
"Then I shall go this way too."
"Uh... in that case, we'll go the other way..."
"Then I shall go that way too." Priscilla declared before Adam could finish, pointing in the same direction.
She was clearly being difficult.
Adam stared at her intently, saying nothing as he tried to make the willful young lady back down.
"Tch, what a boring man. Let's go, Al." Just as he'd expected, she left after deciding he wasn't worth her time.
She departed majestically with her knight, her unwavering steps showing no pretense.
"Well, that's that, I suppose." Adam said, stretching after watching her leave.
"Indeed, what a troublesome person." Natsuki nodded in complete agreement.
This was just a small episode, and neither side took it too seriously.
Afterward, the three returned to the hotel where Natsuki's group had made reservations, meeting up with Roswaal and Ram.
"Oh my~, if it isn't Carter~, it's been so long~."
"Yo, Roswaal. Seeing your clown makeup really makes me want to punch you."
"That really~breaks my heart~, when I was so~looking forward to seeing Carter~"
"Is that so? I was looking forward to punch you too, Roswaal."
The two exchanged veiled hostilities in their war of words.
Meanwhile, Ram welcomed Adam back.
"Welcome back, Adam."
After their brief greetings, Roswaal dropped his usual clownish manner and said seriously, "Well, let's end the small talk here. Let's discuss tomorrow's Council of Wise Men meeting matters."
The meeting arrangements were simple: Natsuki would not attend, while Adam would go along.
Though the kid protested loudly, his complaints fell on deaf ears. He was still required to stay and watch the hotel.
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