Ferrel Coaste

They finally made it to a room that didn't seem any different from the other rooms.

『...How do you even tell where anything is in this place?』[Mune]

Edwin looked at the two of them, with a twinkle in his eye.

He slowly raised his finger to his lips.

『...It's the decorations. They tell you all you have to know.』[Edwin]

He slowly opened up the door a bit, revealing Sarena, who sat up tightly, trembling in place.

『...Why does she look so scared…?』[Nova]

Edwin opened up the door the rest of the way and revealed someone who sent shivers down Nova's spine.

Sitting there on a couch in a completely relaxed pose was Reagan, with his wife Raina holding hands with him.

The worst part about Reagan showing up here was the fact that he had an irritated face, despite his relaxed pose and Raina holding his hand.

Once he looked over, he saw the three of them and seemed to almost have a heart attack, clutching his chest with a look of fear on his face.

『W-W-Why the hell are these devils here?!』[Reagan]

Mune cheerfully raised his hand in greeting.

『Yo! How have you been, Reagan?!』[Mune]

『No-no-no-NO! WHY ARE THEY A PACKAGE DEAL?! I CAN BARELY DEAL WITH ONE OF THEM! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN INVOLVE A FIRST YEAR?!』[Reagan]

Nova suddenly connected the pieces.

『...Edwin… Did you take Reagan and his wife away from their vacation for this?』[Nova]

Edwin shrugged.

『It's an emergency that warrants it. Nothing I can do.』[Edwin]

Raina stroked his hand over and over until he calmed down from a shouting level.

『Haah…. Why are these two involved? I understand Mune. Why Nova?』[Reagan]

Edwin maintained a serious face as he replied.

『Nova and Mune were the first ones to engage the threat.』[Edwin]

Reagan suddenly got off the couch he and Raina were sitting on, and shakily walked over to the two of them.

『You…. YOU ENGAGED A THREAT THAT THE KINGDOM WOULD TAKE SERIOUSLY?!』[Reagan]

He shook the both of them back and forth with an overwhelming amount of force that they couldn't resist.

He smacked Mune roughly on the shoulder.

『Why are you even getting involved with this first year?! He's a maverick, and you're cursed! How do you even find yourself in the same place and time as him?!』[Reagan]

Mune held his shoulder in pain while laughing off Reagan's lecture.

『He's my junior, you know! We're fellow knights of the Flowering Sun!』[Mune]

Nova looked over in shock.

『Knights…? That's a pretty serious thing to say, Mune… That's a rank of the Kingdom, after all...』[Nova]

『Hahaha! Maybe after this operation, you'll be considered knights!』[Edwin]

Nova looked over seriously.

『...Really?』[Nova]

He nodded his head.

『Really.』[Edwin]

Nova suddenly felt his body heat up.

『...I'll do my best.』[Nova]

He hadn't even noticed the others in the room.

Next to where Reagan was sitting were a few other familiar faces.

A voice came from behind him.

『...Nova.』

He turned around to the source of the voice and saw some other people he had not wanted to see.

Standing there were Oswald, Derenne, and Hanzo.

...

After being scolded a while for not running away, they laid off of him after he explained the circumstance.

『Right. There was a group of civilians who was involved in the report, if I recall correctly.』[Oswald]

Nova slumped back on a chair with a tired expression.

『...Did they pull all of you from your vacations?』[Nova]

Oswald nodded his head.

『Me and Hanzo are direct descendants of the main houses, so we must serve- whereas Derenne tagged along with Hanzo. I'm glad we didn't end up excluding Sarena from the mission, though.』[Oswald]

Speaking of Sarena, she seemed to be nervously fidgeting on her chair.

『...I sure wish I was excluded from this mission...』[Sarena]

Mune looked up with a confused look.

『Hm? Weren't you the most excited one?』[Mune]

He put his hand on his chest and made a confident gaze.

『"Sarena Night. Lady of House Night."』[Mune]

He promptly broke out into laughter as everyone else struggled to suppress their giggles and chuckles.

She seemed to shrink though, covering her face.

『...Geez. I got caught up in the heat of the moment...』[Sarena]

Nova regained his composure and looked over to Edwin.

『Ha...Did you say something about someone who could clear contracts?』[Nova]

Edwin nodded, just as the door behind him opened up.

He quickly turned around and saw a slightly intimidating, yet tired looking man with a goatee who was wearing a newsboy hat.

Upon further inspection, he had heavy bags under his eyes, as well as an unkempt brown hairstyle, yet kept a posh black suit with blue suspenders and a red tie.

He also had a brown cape over him, reminiscent of a detective.

『Oh. Just in time.』[Edwin]

The man took off his hat, revealing messy hair that gave him a sort of wild look.

He then put it to his chest and bowed slightly.

『Good afternoon.』

He returned the hat to his head before giving a quick look around the room and nodding to himself.

『My name is Ferrel Coaste. I'd like to thank you all for looking after my daughter.』[Ferrel]

Mune raised an eyebrow.

『Your daughter? Who?』[Mune]

He walked across the room and put a hand on Sarena's head, limply.

『This one.』[Ferrel]

Most of the room's jaws went limp, and Sarena began to nervously sweat.

『...You...You..'re… Sarena's father?!』[Oswald]

He turned to Oswald and nodded.

『That's right.』[Ferrel]

He concentrated a little bit more on Oswald for a moment.

『Ah… you're the boy that Sarena has a cr-』[Ferrel]

Sarena got up and held his jaw, stopping him from talking.

『Please stay quiet, dad.』[Sarena]

Mune had an inquisitive look, as if sizing up Ferrel.

『Ferrel Coaste… the "Truthseeker". You shouldn't be able to nullify contracts...』[Mune]

He looked over to Mune with his tired eyes and nodded.

A feminine voice popped up behind Mune.

『That would be my job.』

Nova was stunned, as he saw an enigmatic figure that he remembered vividly.

Standing there smiling was Mariya Inna, the mysterious blind girl from the Association.