lankly to look at Carglise.

Merial had a rarely seen golden hair, long enough to go past his shoulders. His eyes were as blue as the ocean and appeared to be someone from the north, but his attire was similar to Brendel— A suit of male Kirrlutz traveling clothes. His body was lithe and his face soft, appearing to be an androgynous person.

His actions and response were so elegant that Brendel thought he was actually a noble’s daughter at the first glance.

“I think I understand. You were defeated along with your father.” Merial took a moment to gather his thoughts before he parted his lips slightly and spoke.

“Haha.” Carglise merely laughed as he looked at his old friend.

“I thought you didn’t come, but to think that Lord Macsen was defeated even with you around,” Merial’s eyes were fretful and his brows were slightly pinched: “did you join them?”

“Yes,” Carglise nodded as though he did not care that he joined the rebels, “but what are you doing here?”

He was surprised to find his friend in this place.

“My squire and I were passing through the lands when we saw the four carriages, and the mercenaries captured us because of that. We had to lie.” Merial’s face turned slightly red.

“More like you ran out secretly?” Carglise saw through his friend’s lie immediately.

“N-no.”

“Fine, fine, I know your secret so you can stop pretending. Don’t worry, I will protect you. But I must say you’re in considerable danger,” Carglise pulled in close to him and whispered so that no one else could hear him, “my lady, you’re entering the Dark Forest, are you prepared?”

Carglise’s expression was one of mischief.

“Don’t call me that!” Merial immediately glared back at him, before her eyes widened: “I’m entering the Dark Forest?”

“Why else would do you think you would be here?” Carglise raised his head up to look at the forest before looking back at her: “It seems like you don’t know this, and I also forgot to tell you, this is the edge of the Dark Forest—”

Merial paled and her body shook but Carglise supported her by grabbing her up: “What are you doing? Isn’t it just a forest? Besides, I’m also here to protect you!”

He warned her and cast his eyes towards the mercenaries around them. Her actions might cause them to realize that she was masquerading as a man.

“H-how can I enter the Dark Forest. You must help me, Carglise!” Merial was a little delirious.

“Well, I actually think that this is a chance.” Carglise disagreed.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Didn’t you say that you always wanted to escape from that damned father of yours? This is a chance! Based on my judgment, my new lord isn’t likely to care what your father says—” Carglise’s evil laughter came out as he felt his idea was pretty good.

“But what I can do in this place? The monsters within the Dark Forest are terrifying enough that even the lords avoid it! We will perish if we enter!”

Carglise held his forehead and continued to speak in a low voice: “My lady, you’re the next stand-in bishop, how can you be so timid—”

He suddenly looked around vigilantly and whispered next to Merial’s ear. At first, she appeared puzzled, but her eyes quickly lit up and she nodded.

Brendel saw that Carglise and the boy next to him pull away from the crowd, and their voices became smaller and smaller. He did not try to listen to their conversation as a courteous gesture. Even if the two were to scheme something they would not be able to cause any huge trouble when they were in the Dark Forest. Furthermore, he had the time to observe that person’s details all he wanted later.

[Given how familiar Carglise is with that boy, he must also be from a noble family. I am a little curious as to how the mercenaries managed to recruit the gentry’s offspring though.]

Brendel was not arrogant enough to think that families of higher social status in Firburh would support him, unless they were not interested in keeping their heads. Count Randner’s revenge would be more than enough to keep them in check.

“Are they......” He turned around and cast a questioning look at Amandina.

“The scions from the noble families. I heard that their families live in the upper-class districts within Firburh.”

“You mean there are more than a few who joined us?” Brendel felt that the situation was becoming bizarre.

Amandina nodded.

He did not want to have any people joining his group of knights with an unclear background. These youths had a clean background, and perhaps the higher ranking people in Firburh would support him eventually, but it was still something odd.

“How did they come to join us?” He asked.

“The mercenaries said they secretly came to join us because of your fame.”

“That’s interesting,” Brendel rubbed his cheeks and was unashamed of his brazen acts, “have I become so famous?”

Amandina merely looked back with considerable disapproval.