On the way back to the Kingdom of Prona.

Leslie’s mind was full of Shedia.

‘She is more competent than I thought.’

To be honest, her first impression of Shedia was not very good. Even though she had a possessively cute face, she looked stupid because of her unique blank expression.

But that thought was reversed on the first day of the journey, when she witnessed Shedia emerging from her shadow.

She couldn’t comprehend what principle it was, but Shedia was able to freely move in and out of the shadows.

It was a very useful ability, even from Leslie’s viewpoint, which was naturally very high. It must be the reason that not only Katarina, but also Cloud, appeared to trust her.

Furthermore, it hadn’t been empty words when Shedia had told Katarina she was capable of killing Leslie.

She could jump out of Leslie’s shadow if she ever loosened her guard, meathook her, and drag her dagger across Leslie’s mage physique. And Shedia wouldn’t find it hard to fulfill the exact description.

Of course, Leslie did not neglect this risk factor.

“Hi…”

Shedia turned her head around and crept closer to Leslie. She was hesitant as she got closer, but Leslie spoke to her first.

“Do you want to see magic today?”

Leslie looked carefully after Shedia to eliminate the potential danger of an assassination. And so, Leslie knew that Shedia liked things that were either novel or beautiful. Leslie immediately approached Shedia and showed off the beauty of her magic, and the effect was outstanding indeed.

Initially wary of her, Shedia soon fell in love with sparkling snow crystals and gigantic ice statues.

Leslie smiled as she watched Shedia bob her head, a face full of anticipation.

“Yup. I’ll show you. Just, from now on, please call me unnie.”

“Eh..?”

“You don’t… want to? It’s not a difficult request, is it?”

“That…”

Shedia glanced ahead, over her shoulder, hesitant to answer. Leslie spoke reassuringly, as she knew Shedia cared about Katarina.

“If it’s Katarina’s anger that worries you, then worry not. We are colleagues now, aren’t we? As much as she is fixated with Cloud, Katarina isn’t inherently jealous, now is she?’

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Trust me.”

Shedia was persuaded by her confident tone. She looked ahead once and then closed her eyes tightly.

“Uh, unnie!”

“Not just unnie, Leslie unnie.”

“Leslie unnie!”

“Well done. Shedia is a good kid. Good kids should receive gifts.”

A plume of mist rushed over Leslie’s palms and began to take shape. In less than a minute, a statue of a war horse made of ice materialized. The statue was so delicate that even the mane of its fur was clearly enunciated in minute detail.

“Ahhh…”

Shedia, who was handed the statue, giggled heartily. Leslie said something more to her, and Shedia replied with a smile on her face. Meanwhile, Katarina looked at them with a puffed up expression.

“Traitor.”

“Traitor? Oh, goodness. She’s just bonding with her colleague. Why don’t you also try to chat with Leslie?”

Her dark gaze moved to Cloud.

“Why? Do you want me to get close to her and then allow her to marry you? Goddess forbid, if you have that plan, wake up. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone.”

Katarina leaned her back on Cloud’s chest and stated firmly.

Cloud smiled bitterly.

“I don’t know if you will be able to become friends with my other teammates like this.”

“Your other colleagues who are waiting in the capital, those you mentioned before? Don’t worry about that. It’s not like I’m not sociable, I’m confident that I’ll get along with them just fine.” She cast a dismissive gaze at Leslie. “It’s just stray cats that make me grumpy.”

“I hope it’s as you say …”

“In fact, I’m more curious about what your other colleagues are doing there?”

“Didn’t I ever tell you?”

Katarina shook her head.

“You just said you had colleagues who were waiting, but never said anything about them.”

“Really? I guess, I must have forgotten. Should I tell you about them now?”

“Yes, do. I should know them in advance. Wouldn’t that make it easier to make friends with?”

“Right, then…”

Cloud massaged Katarina’s breasts with his left hand. As she looked at him with judging eyes asking what he was doing, Cloud spoke with an innocent expression.

“What, you wanna touch mine too?”

“…you really like breasts.”

Katarina shook her head, and Cloud smiled and started talking about his teammates.

“Eri is an outstanding wizard who has reached 4 stars despite her young age. She may be a bit prickly, but if she finds you fine, you will face no problem getting along.”

“Four stars? What’s that?”

“Oh, maybe you don’t know. As per the Mage Tower, wizards are scaled based on various criteria, such as spell understanding and mana depth. The result concluded thus is graded. The rating ranges from 1 to 9, and the higher, the better.”

“I didn’t know that wizards had ranks like dancers. Then how many 9 stars wizards are there in the world?”

There were three first-class dancers in the Kingdom of Alitia.

Concludingly, 9 stars for a wizard and first-class for a dancer were the peak summit of their profession. Since the continent was larger than a Kingdom, more than three, perhaps?

Katarina asked with such a simple thought.

However, what she was returned with, was an answer different from her thoughts.

“No? According to rumors, the Mage Tower Master of the Empire is a 7 star. Unless there is an archmage hiding somewhere on the continent, there won’t be any wizard higher than 8 star.”

Katarina opened her eyes slightly wide.

“Is it that hard to become a 9-star wizard? Even harder than becoming a first-class dancer?”

Cloud chuckled.

“If you say that to another wizard, their spiteful glare will burn you to ashes.”

…wizards sounded grumpier than her roused self.

Katarina’s expression lightened slightly.

“Uh… um, that’s right. So, is Eri a great wizard? The Mage Master is 7 star, and she is 4 star. Young, too.”

“I told you. An outstanding wizard.”

“If we already have such an outstanding wizard, then isn’t she unnecessary?”

She pointed a thumb behind.

“I think, Leslie is also on the same level? And the two types of magic they wield are different.”

“Tsk.”

“…Neria is a knight. Because she uses her shield and one-handed sword, she specializes in defense rather than offense. She’s sturdy, so in case of emergency, hide behind her back.”

Pretending not to hear Katarina click her tongue, Cloud continued speaking.

“Finally Ophelia. She is a Saintess candidate chosen by the goddess. Her main job is to heal wounds and bestow blessings.”

“I see.”

Katarina muttered to herself, trying to memorize the three people in order.

“Wizard Eri. Knight Neria. Saint Ophelia… Huh? How come all the names are feminine?”

“Because they all are, you know, female?”

“…?”

Katarina’s body stiffened.

As if the imaginary puzzle fit into the place.

Her stiff body began to tremble.

“Oh, isn’t it…?”

She was crying.

“No, no… no. There’s no way, right?”

In a voice dripping with sorrow.

“Please say no. Please. Please?”

Shaking her head wildly.

Cloud was meanwhile appalled as Katarina looked like as if she were possessed. His wide-eyed silence made Katarina motion it as the truth, rendering her hysterical.

“Why, why don’t you say anything? No way… is it real? Is that so!?”

She moistened her eyes and grabbed Cloud by the collar.

“You, you, you, you… Had you and me been enemies in our previous lives? Why are you doing this to me!? Why are you like this..!”

She grabbed him by the collar and started shaking him.

“What are you talking about? What’s wrong, what previous life are you talking about? What does that have to do with my colleagues…”

Cloud stopped speaking, and Katarina also stopped shaking him. He spoke, confused, looking at her teary-eyed yet expectant face.

“No. You don’t think I had an orgy wi—”

“You, you… You cheater!!!”

Katarina shook Cloud so strongly that he winded like a fan.

“Stop, stop! I didn’t have any orgy, stop shaking me, Katarina. I will fall from the horse.”

“Liar!”

“I’m telling no lie. I haven’t even held hands with them.”

“Sure! You must have held the chest, not the hand!”

“No, really not. We share a healthy colleague relationship.”

“Then tell me! How do you explain your bed techniques?! Why are you so good at it!”

“…Talent?”

“Are you kidding me right now!?”

“Why would I kid you? If you don’t believe me, you can ask them directly. They are all there. Cresting this hill…”

Cloud suddenly scrunched his brows. He tilted his head as if he were looking at something bizarre.

“What, say what? There’s no use changing the topic… Huh?”

As if freezed, Cloud no longer responded, and she turned her head to follow his gaze, embarrassed, and her eyes widened and froze at the scene before her.

“Mr. Cloud? Why are you like that? Do we have any problem…”

Leslie, who followed behind, also soon stiffened.

Only Shedia exclaimed, “Wow.”

“…Cloud, is that… the capital of the Kingdom of Prona?”

“That’s right, but…”

Cloud scratched his cheek as he looked at Lupus, the kingdom’s capital.

“It definitely doesn’t look like that.”

Hovering above the city, a giant purple octopus was slowly devouring the palace with numerous tentacles lashing.

‘What had been those three doing?’

He had left them behind to stop something like this from happening.

* * *