The three men gathered once again at Charles’s Beer.

Not a hint of intoxication remained in them.

It was thanks to their respective abilities, which they had used to drive out the effects of the alcohol.

Running a hand through his hair, Leonhart let out a sigh.

“What are you thinking, Ruspell? Are you really going to help that woman?”

“Yeah.”

“Lord Ruspell, is there a reason you changed your mind?”

Instead of answering Owen’s question, Ruspell called over to Charles.

“Charles. While we were drunk… did anyone come by?”

“Yes, she had her hood pulled down so I couldn’t see her face, but the voice was a lady’s. She said she was a friend of the three of you.”

“Did you see what she did here?”

“She just sat there. I felt sorry for her, so I gave her a glass of beer.”

“Dark beer?”

“Yes… W-Wait, wasn’t she really your friend?”

“Our Friend? Don’t make me laugh.”

“She wasn’t? But she sounded so sincere when she said she was your friend… I completely believed her. Oh dear! I let her disturb the three of you. My apologies!”

“It’s not your fault. She would’ve gotten her way one way or another.”

“No, but who on earth is she…”

“Now that I’m sober, I’m a bit hungry. Do you have anything we can snack on?”

“Ah, yes! I do! Just a moment! I’ll bring something out right away!”

Having received a new order, Charles headed into the kitchen.

Once they were alone, Ruspell spoke in a low voice.

“It was her. Adrianne Ivrante.”

Owen tilted his head.

“How do you know?”

“She smelled like this tavern’s dark beer.”

“Ah… then it must’ve been her.”

The boredom vanished from Leonhart’s eyes, replaced in an instant by a sharp, dangerous glint.

‘I had a feeling, but did she really follow me all the way here?’

She’d watched him while he was dead drunk…

…and even sat there drinking with them.

Leonhart’s skin crawled, and his expression hardened.

“She brazenly denied it. As expected, it was a lie. How on earth did she find out I was here?”

“That’s the strange part. No one knows that we meet here once a year.”

Owen toyed with his rosary and gave a cold sneer.

“It seems our fallen sister has a remarkably competent informant. Competent enough to follow us in secret and pinpoint our location.”

“I think so too.”

Leonhart pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose, looking exhausted.

Adrianne, who had been quiet for the past five years, was up to her strange antics again.

When would she ever give up on him? He was truly sick and tired of it.

“Since when has she had someone following us? Honestly, I never sensed a thing.”

“That’s why I’m going to meet her tomorrow. If I plant a paper doll, I’ll find out how she managed to fool even a sword master’s senses.”

The paper doll was a magic device created by Ruspell.

It had originally been created as a means of communicating with allies over long distances, but it could also be used to observe any location where a paper doll had been planted.

It was a shame that it couldn’t move or transmit sounds, but confirming who Adrianne was meeting would be no problem.

“But…”

Leonhart shook his head.

“Is there really any need to go that far? Who knows what kind of trick she’ll try if you meet her again?”

“I may be a wreck, but I’m not an idiot. I know she’s after Your Highness. I’m not going to fall for her tricks just because we meet.”

“Back at the Academy…”

“That was different. I ran into her without knowing anything beforehand, so she caught me off guard. I’ll just plant the paper doll and leave. I won’t be facing her for long.”

Owen and Leonhart were still worried about Ruspell, but in the end, they couldn’t bring themselves to stop him.

It had been a long time since Ruspell had shown any initiative.

A faint spark of life had returned to eyes that had been dead for so long.

Ever since Adella’s death he had done nothing but drift through life in utter listlessness.

That was why neither Owen nor Leonhart could stop him.

They knew just how fragile his state of mind was.

If Ruspell could regain his will to live through this, the two decided they would bear whatever cost came with it.

‘I hope Professor Ruspell regains his spirit.’

‘I can’t lose another friend.’

And so, Owen and Leonhart made a decision they would regret for a long time.

Because neither of them ever imagined that Ruspell, the prickliest of the three, would be the first to be won over by Adrianne.