"I... Inferno...!" Loby-kun shouted at the top of his lungs as he made a desperate attempt to free himself from the ice.

I planted my sword into the ground before I knelt on one knee and leaned against it.

It took a few minutes before the steam scattered and left the arena.

I found Loby-kun lying face-first on the ground, and that his fingers were somewhat red.

While Amai-san on the other hand, went down on all fours as she tried to breathe properly.

For Lord Zereschrute, he... what in the name of Eris-sama was he doing?

He waved his arms frantically and run around the arena.

"Um, excuse me, Lord Zereschrute, but may I ask a question?" I asked with a slightly embarrassed tone as I raised my hand weakly.

"Sure, what is it?" The noble in an odd bird suit answered nonchalantly as he regained his composure.

"How did you manage to get enough energy to prance around? Since you are frozen in the ice moments ago as we fought." I began to raise my doubts against him.

"Oh, that? I saved some energy in there as I was in some sort of hibernating status back then. Not to mention the fact that the scrumptious emotions of fear from that boy were amazing! UNLIMITED... PAWA!" Lord Zereschrute continued to dance and run around with flushed cheeks and drunken tone.

I flipped the communication device outwards to get this on the magic camera. I am going to get Guardian to take a look at that.

Meanwhile...

"Stand still!" The masculine voice shouted as the cloaked figure went after us.

Oh my, what a tenacious person Volras has there! He must have good subordinates.

I mean, I would be glad if I was in Volras' position - learning the fact that my subordinate was going through the trouble for the sake of the civilians. Yet, it would have been nice if that person just gave up.

The cloaked figure closed in and attempted to slice my head off.

A shadow flit past me, which was followed by a clanging sound.

Of course, I looked back like anyone would do in my situation.

It was a teenager with somewhat messy orange hair, wearing an outfit consists of a brown cowboy hat, a black outfit with orange sleeves and a red scarf, grey pants and black boots. A large chakram was hanging on the right side of his belt, with the bladed bow and arrows stored in the quiver, which was on the opposite side.

"Run, Magic Swordmaster! This is no place to look, nor die." He yelled as he pushed the figure away with his swords.

"Karu! But what about you? We can't just leave you here!"

"Run! I will be right after you!"

...

"Thanks!" I shouted as I ran towards the Royal Castle.

"Curse you..." The cloaked figure muttered.

"Now, I shall give you a fight to finish!" Karu blocked the path as he pointed one of his swords at the cloaked figure.

An hour later in the Royal Castle...

"Where am I...?" Iris rose from her bed as she looked around in confusion.

"You are back at where you live, Your Highness." Karu spoke as he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Where is Onii-chan?" Iris asked as she looked around for me in a flustered manner.

"Here I am." I let out a small smile as I entered with the pizzas.

"I guess you have heard a thing called 'Breakfast in Bed'. But have you ever heard of the term 'Lunch in Bed'?" The small smile on my face expanded into a large one as I saw the happy expression on her face.

"Enjoy the pizzas for now, Karu and I have some business to attend to." I left Iris in her bedroom and I went out of the room with Karu.

We walked down the corridor after I closed the door.

"Thank you for stepping in and fight against that mysterious man, Karu." I thanked the teenager who fought the cloaked figure in our place.

"You don't have to thank me. I am just performing my obligation as a citizen." Karu responded like a robot as he spoke formally.

"Why are you here?" A familiar voice rang as footsteps stopped.

We looked forward and found a girl with orange hair and dark blue eyes.

She looked a lot like Alicia, except that her hair took a warmer colour instead of its original colour - blonde.

"Is that Alicia? It has been quite a long time." Karu spoke nonchalantly as he greeted Alicia rather casually.

"And you. What in the name of Eris-sama were you think you were doing? How could you bring Iris-sama at a time like this-" Alicia turned her attention on me, albeit the fact I think I did nothing to make her mad.

"Hey. Keep it quiet will you? Here I thought you are going to talk to Iris, considering the fact you are heading towards her room." I whispered as I pulled her ear.

"Ow, it hurts, it hurts!" Alicia cried as she grabbed my arm to tell me to stop.

"By the way, what happened to your armour? Wasn't it supposed to be purple and cream coloured? Also, where did you go a few days before? Where are Loby and Amai right now?" I asked a few questions.

"Ah, that?" Alicia pondered as she put her index finger on her lips.

"Hey! Please don't throw that many questions at the same time!" Alicia spoke in a flustered tone as she massaged her ear.

"Let's talk all of that over tea and snacks, with Iris-sama. It has been a while since we last met." Alicia sighed in resignation as she told us her plans for today.

"Not for me, I am not good with etiquettes and stuff like that, so count me out please. Besides, I want to go to the toilet, so excuse me please." Karu declined in a somewhat polite tone as he... turned off to a wrong corner and bumped into a wall.

"Actually, the toilet's is the opposite side." I pointed out with a blank expression as I pointed backwards with my thumb.

"Is that so? Thanks." Karu headed off at the other side of the corridor in a hurried manner.

...

...

I turned around and have my attention back onto Alicia.

"Well, that means only three of us chatting over tea and biscuits today." I broke the silence as I shrugged my shoulders.

"I guess so. Unless he is not reluctant and did somehow manage to find his way to us that is." Alicia agreed as she nodded.

We stopped in front of Iris' bedroom and opened the door as we did not hear voices coming out of the room.

Hence, we walked to the room where she would have lessons, and as expected, there was a feminine voice rang within the room.

I think it was Rain's voice.

"Ah shit, I forgot Iris have lessons today." I muttered as I facepalmed myself.

"Language!"

"Since when did you became Captain America?" I asked Alicia as I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. It's an Isekai joke." I dismissed the topic nonchalantly as I decided to knock the door and enter the room.

"What is isekai? You would have a lot of explaining to do if you keep spouting random things like that." Alicia warned me as she covered her eyes.

"Ok, ok, I got it." I replied in resignation as I opened the door a little bit.

"My apologies, Guardian-san. But we are having lessons right at the moment. Could you leave the room and close the door please?" Rain asked as she looked at me, who opened the door a little and took a peek inside.

"I am a bit interested in the things you were talking about. May I join in the lesson please? After all, as the saying goes, the more the merrier." I smiled as I let out a simple request.

I glanced back at Alicia and her expression wrote: "Are you kidding me?".

"Uh, about that, Guardian-san... I am sorry to inform you that I would have to turn down your request-"

"I don't mind, Onii-chan. Please have a seat." Iris interrupted Rain as she gestured me to sit next to her.

By the way, the desk and chairs looked like the ones I used in my previous life, or rather, my secondary school life.

"I understood, Iris-sama. But Guardian-san, please try not to disrupt the lesson. Is it fine with you?" Rain spoke with a resigned tone as she began to acknowledge the fact I am going to participate in the lesson.

"And we will be back for you, Alicia!" I called out as she nodded and walked away.

"Let's go back to the lesson if you two are fine with that." Rain spoke after she cleared her throat.

Then, Rain talked about the history of the Belzerg Kingdom, its founders and politics for like an hour.

I took a piece of paper and scribbled on it with haste then passed it to Iris right after I folded it.

Iris unfolded the piece of paper and read it silently.

She then wrote an answer and passed it back to me.

Ah, I should tell you what I wrote on the paper as well. It wouldn't be right if I didn't disclose it.

So in that note, I wrote "Would you join me in chatting with Alicia over tea and biscuits?", and Iris gave the green light as she wrote "Yes" on the note.

I brought out a book and we started to take turns writing on different pages as a means to chat without getting busted.

This right here, reminded me of my school life back then, where I passed notes and chatted with my friends using simple sign language or doing charades during lessons.

Such good times, if I have to comment on that.

After that, we talked or exchanged sentences on the notebook about various topics, starting from her swordsmanship, how my previous life is, and talked about how obnoxious nobles and their etiquettes could be.

I guess Rain thought we were taking notes for the lessons, so she didn't look offended when we talked to each other by writing on the notebook.

Right before the lesson ends, Iris asked me what my goal would be as I was reincarnated in this world.

You may think this ain't that big of a question if you were in my position. Yet, that question actually got me thinking: What am I fighting for? For whose sake am I fighting for? Why am I sided with the Belzerg Kingdom?

I mean, I like Iris, I found her cute and was attracted to her romantically. And it could not be more obvious that I am fighting for her safety. But what is the motivation of doing so? Was it because a sense of obligation or was it something else?

The one thing I am absolutely certain is that if it wasn't for her, I would probably be aimless, wandering between the three factions as I was trying to find out the purpose of coming here.

"Onii-chan...? Onii-chan?" A gentle voice called me as I returned to my senses.

Iris shook my arm as she called me with a concerned tone.

"Huh? Is something the matter?"

"The lesson has ended for about fifteen minutes. Now, let's go and chat with Alicia." Iris spoke with a soft smile as she took my hand and dragged me back to her bedroom.

"It feels great to have a non-combatant chapter once in a while, don't you think?" I started a conversation with Iris as we walked down the corridor.

"Onii-chan, what do you mean by 'chapter'?" Iris asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

"I mean 'day'. Even though we got hunted down unknown people, it was a nice day nonetheless."

"Ah."

"What great timing, Karu. Let's chat for a while." I said with a relaxed tone as I waved at him.

"I am sorry but I would have to decline-"

"Don't worry, I promise it wouldn't be boring. Not to mention..." I interrupted Karu as I shook my head gently with a smile.

"You might even be able to gather some classified intel of the Belzerg Kingdom. Isn't that a good thing for you and for whom you have pledged your loyalty to? Your master has a higher chance to take us down, and you will be his trusty right-hand man." I leaned forward and whispered in a barely audible voice.

I have my doubts on him being the spy for quite a while, so I figured it would a good chance for me to get to the bottom of this. It would be absurd if he gave an affirmative response, so my guess on his reaction would be-

"I don't know what you are talking about." Karu's expression stiffened a little bit after he heard what I have said.

The stiffened expression is a sign of me being right, but one can not be certain that he must be the spy among us. His tone remained calm and steady, which is counter-proof in my book.

I will have him stay in the Royal Castle for a few more days for further verification.

"Anyway, just join us, it isn't like you have any other things to do." I pushed him towards Iris' bedroom, with Iris on my left, breaking into giggling fits.

A few minutes later...

"Good afternoon, would you like to have a cup of tea?" I asked as I mimicked the tone a noble would speak.

Iris, Alicia and Karu gave out different responses of giggling, rolling her eyes in annoyance and facepalming himself respectively.

"Yes please." Iris spoke between giggling fits as she moved the teacup towards me.

"Thank you." Iris took a sip from the teacup elegantly after I poured some tea on her teacup, then helped herself to some biscuits.

"Anyway... Where did you go a few days ago? I fell into a coma while you were away." My smile turned in a poker face as I put down the teacup.

"Are they going to be fine...?"

"There is no need to worry about them. They were like siblings in arms, so they would not do anything irrational."

"Well, uh. I took your Soul Jar to a rather high-ranked noble and took Amai-san, Yunyun and Loby-kun with me. However, it seems like Yunyun cast Teleport and left us for no particular reason." Alicia averted her gaze as she began to fill me in with information.

"Then, we reached the noble's castle, which we went through tons of trials and we got to fight the noble himself."

"Excuse me but hold up a second, who is this noble?" I interrupted Alicia as I tried to get my facts straight.

"The noble is Zereschrute."

"Is that so? Please continue your story."

"That was one heck of a hard battle. Amai turned into a life-size ice statue at the beginning of the fight. Zereschrute also got caught in the crossfire, he froze in ice as well. Loby-kun and I fought against the monster, but its power was overwhelming, it is a one-sided battle. There was a better phrase to describe that, but-"

"Do you mean a curb-stomp battle?" I suggested a trope for her and see if it works with her.

"Yes, that is a good way to say it. And during that, Loby-kun was in a predicament - the monster was after him and unleashed barrages of ice towards him. He was trapped under the ice spikes after trying to resist against the monster's ice beam. So in order to save him, I released a special power of mine. However, the monster almost got me while I was focusing on summoning a magic circle. After that, I skipped the procedures of utilising the power and transfer the power to Loby-kun directly. Later on, I tell Loby-kun to make an attempt to free himself from the ice. He did and he was injured as a result. Amai has some cold burns on her body, hence they are currently receiving treatment in my house." Alicia stopped thereafter she finished memorising her fight against the noble and his monsters.

"Then, Alicia, what about your armour?" Iris raised a question as she eyed the blue and white combat outfit up and down.

"My armour was somewhat damaged in the battle, so I figured I should improve it further."

"Is that so..."

"But why was Amai frozen in the ice that fast? She is a skilled yet level-headed swordswoman, so it doesn't sit well with me that she would be the first to be taken out without any proper explanation." I asked as I sipped the cup of tea.

"Ah, that."

Five hours earlier...

"There. You should be fine two or three days later."

"Thank you..."

"By the way, Amai."

"What... what is it?"

"Why did you lost your cool when you saw the greyed Saki-san?"

"Because... she is like an elder sister to me."

"What do you mean? I don't understand."

"I was shunned by everyone I met on my journey. I had to fend off monsters on my own because they feared the extent of my abilities. I was disliked among my fellow adventurers as a result."

"One day, I was tired of facing these things every day, so I decided to leave the Belzerg Kingdom and find a place where I belong. As I was about to reach the borders and leave the Kingdom, I was hunted down by monsters and encountered a flock of male orcs. So I tried my best to fend them off. Exhausted from fighting monsters and fleeing from a horde of male orcs around the border of Norse and the Belzerg Kingdom, I ran out of energy and collapsed. I was supposed to be caught and killed by the orcs. Until... someone cast Bottomless Swamp around me."

"By the time I opened my eyes, I found out Saki-san took good care of me. She took me under her wing just before I left. She was the one who gave me a home, by which I am deeply grateful from the bottom of my heart. She should be well-respected. That greyed monster is a disgrace of Saki-san's reputation. Which was why... I must do something about it."

"...And that's what she said." Alicia drank some more tea after recalling her conversation with Amai in the morning.

"I see now. Who would have thought Saki has an important place in Amai's heart because of that?" I muttered to myself.

"Precisely. One would have the perception that Saki-san is admired for her right-hand lady status for a God. Yet, I have no idea they have this kind of chemistry."

"But then... What happened after the battle? What did the noble say?" I raised a question to get a better understanding of the situation.

"Lord Zereschrute looked like he was drunk after he felt Loby's emotions of fear. But as the saying goes: 'A drunken mind speaks a sober heart'. So I believe what Lord Zereschrute said afterwards that we will have to fight a harder version of the monster is true. Also, the Soul Jar was... not quite needed when we visited Lord Zereschrute's castle."

Wait, can devils get drunk with pure negative emotions? That's something new to me.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Lord Zereschrute said that the Soul Jar was not needed for the visit, the only reason he said to bring the Soul Jar is that... he has never seen one of them. He has heard of it... but he never saw one."

...

...

"...Awkward, this is."

"...I know right?"

I facepalmed myself as I try my best not to laugh.

Seriously, what kind of reason is this? Try harder and think of a better reason, could you? You can't just throw in a dumb reason and expect that would work.

I guess I am going to let this slide and have a good laugh at that. After all, it's said and done.

You never walk you never run, you're a win- Ah, sorry, I shouldn't be singing at the moment.

Ahem anyway, I found it a bit funny, so I shouldn't retort it.

"With all that, we should strike when the iron is hot. We can do this-"

"Calm down, Alicia. I think we should stay back and prepare our equipment to revive Saki. Since if we take a look at the situation objectively, my Core System is under repairs currently, Loby and Amai were injured. And you are unable to utilise your power- By the way, what is that power of yours?"

"My power? I can give buffs to increase my allies' power that would be my special power. However, I need to take a few steps to use my power. However, I was incapable of using this power as I did not concentrate in balancing myself."

"What is that supposed to mean? What are you trying to say here?" Karu asked as he finally joined in the conversation.

"I don't remember... But doing that improperly affected my body in some way. It is going to take a few days for me to recover."

"I guess even Eris wants you to take a break, Alicia. It is going to be two to three weeks before everyone recovers and gets prepared for the upcoming battle."

"Is that so...?"

"Also, the thing is there isn't a large number of Priests in the Belzerg Kingdom. So we would have to find one and ask that priest to heal Amai and Loby." I mentioned as I remembered healing magic can also help people recover from cold burns.

"How about seeking help from the Eris Church? I am sure they can be of service-"

"No. As much as they are well-known for their effective healing, I refuse to use their services." I rejected the idea as I shook my head.

"Why?"

"They always charge high prices for exorcising the undead and healing people. One might argue that the healing magic from Eris Church is useful, yet every adventurer is important in protecting the Belzerg Kingdom and fighting against the forces of the Demon King. And the civilians are just doing their jobs, trying their best to earn a living. They got to give up their life savings just for recovering from injuries so that they can work again? This doesn't sit well with me."

'Besides, the more the adventurers, the larger the power is there for Iris to take down Demon King's Army.' I thought to myself as I stopped myself from speaking out my mind entirely.

'Heat is needed to treat cold burns, if I remembered correctly. So what if I go there and use the Fire Core- Ah, I forgot I don't have the Core System.'

"Iris-sama, it is time for your dinner." Claire opened the door as she found four pairs of eyes staring at her.

"What?"

A few moments later...

"Onii-chan, you are doing this wrong. You should the utensils from the outermost ones..." Iris whispered to me as I took the wrong ones.

The nobles, namely Claire, who gave me a harsh glare; and Rain, who sighed and silently wished me luck in understanding the dining etiquette.

By the way, Alicia went to the archives to search for more specific information while Karu on the other hand, stated he wasn't hungry and went off wandering around the Royal Castle.

As for me, I was quite hungry so I thought I would tag along and eat some high-ended food once in a while.

If you want to ask my comments on the dining experience, I would say the food, is fantastic. But the overall experience on the other hand, is a total nightmare. I mean, why do the nobles have to go through a number of procedures before eating when you can just do so directly? I mean, the ingredients were chosen carefully, and were treated and cooked with care.

If this isn't called extreme paranoia, I don't know what is.

And it took like half an hour before we could actually finish our dinner.

The next day...

"So, how was it like being a noble for one day?" Karu asked with a mocking tone.

"It was a pain in the ass. And I can't help but wonder what the guy who created all this was thinking." I said dejectedly before I sighed in resignation.

Alicia and Karu laughed after hearing the story. Iris on the other hand, just stood there and did nothing but smile.

"Never mind that. Let's visit Loby and Amai for the time being." I changed the subject abruptly as I planned to have a check on them.

"Follow me." Alicia stopped laughing as she walked towards the entrance of the building, with us after her.

A few minutes later, we have reached the infirmary.

Amai sat up and smiled as Loby on the other hand... still shivering in his sheets.

"Okay... What the hell happened here?" I sighed before I asked the aforementioned question.

...

...

"Hm...?"

"Hey, Karu. Do me a favour." I glanced at Loby's blanket and figured something is wrong with it.

But I am not going to touch it, instead, I will ask Karu to do it. Better him than me.

"Can you do a quick check on Loby?"

Karu pulled off the blanket and we found out some ice was placed on Loby's limbs.

"Aw man, we almost got somebody with that." Amai whispered to Alicia.

"It was too obvious. Better luck next time." Karu spoke nonchalantly.

"So... how are you two right now?" I asked.

"We are fine, thank you." Amai spoke as she tried to get off her bed.

Of course, she failed as her legs could barely withstand her weight. She managed to sit on the bed and not to fell on the floor.

"Please do not move! You are still under recovery!" A nurse positioned Amai back onto her bed and covered her blanket.

"The blood flow in your legs were slowed down due to the cold burns you received in the battle, so you will receive further damage if you move like this!" The nurse continued with an anxious tone.

"Guardian-sam... san!" A knight ran into the room as he had something to report.

"What is it?"

"There is a letter for you."

"This isn't a love letter, right? I already have someone in mind and I plan to stay loyal and dedicated to her only." I whispered to the knight as I pointed at Iris without her noticing.

"What?" The knight looked at me as if I am crazy, with an expression that wrote visible confusion.

"I am sorry, but could you open the letter for me please?"

"But Guardian-san, that's-"

"Say no more. This is an order." I showed the knight my coat of arms.

"Yes... Yes sir." The knight brought out a knife and removed the wax seal of the envelope.

"Let's see here... It is a love letter...!" The knight spoke up after he skimmed the contents of the letter.

Holy fk, is that a flag?

Everyone turned their heads towards our direction.

I glanced at Iris to take a look at her expression, and I didn't expect she would pout. The look in her eyes was a worried one, as if she was afraid I would be taken away by a random girl.

She has made my heart skip a beat once again.

An unexpected pout from a cute girl... This feels... amazing! Cute girls are definitely the best! Change my mind.

At this point, you can say Iris is my kryptonite.

"Actually no, this is a letter from the blacksmith."

Most of the people present in this room rolled their eyes or snickered.

I stole a glance from Iris once again, this time she sighed in relief and put on a relieved expression.

To be honest, I was relieved too, not gonna lie.

I think I also did the same thing, if I remembered correctly.

"Oh, good to hear that. Could you please hand me the letter?"

"Sure-"

"Iris-sama, Guardian-san, Alicia-sama! Bad news! There was a dead body in the Royal Castle!"

"Yeah, and?" I asked as I shrugged my shoulders, thinking that it should not be a big deal.

"What are you saying, Guardian?! We should-"

"The victim was a rather high-ranking knight! It means there is at least one skilled saboteur in the Royal Castle! Iris-sama could be in grave danger!"

...

"Say no more. Lock the area down and start investigating. Call the knights to collect and store the evidence properly." I turned to the knight instantly after realising the fact it could be a serious threat to Iris' safety.

"Y... Yes sir!"

"Alicia, your house acts as law enforcement, right? Get some of your subordinates to the Royal Castle and prepare to do some statement recording." I turned my attention to the stunned noble.

"You don't have to tell me that!

It would be another long paragraph if I describe the details of the investigation, so allow me to conclude this simply.

The Astroraia House recorded statements from those who were nearby, and began the search for the culprit.

As the matter was quite serious, the king assigned me as a close bodyguard to Iris, like I need to sleep on one of the couches in her bedroom.

Before he returned to the frontlines, he left me a note and wished me good luck in strengthening the relationship between us and said he couldn't wait for me to be his son-in-law.

Your Majesty... I appreciate your fondness of me and the enthusiasm of being my wingman and pairing Iris and me together, but that's a bit too much...

Three weeks later we caught a person who was suspected to the one who murdered the guard.

However, the suspect kept his mouth shut and refused to say anything.

So I was requested to assist with the statement recording process a week after.

But... since the King decreed that I could not leave Iris alone, she went to the prison with me as a result.

I almost forgot to mention that Claire and Rain still have lessons with Iris, so I lost a ton of free time by looking over their lessons... is what I thought at first, but it wasn't that bad if I can witness how much Iris has grown. She started to improve in her swordsmanship, by which on some occasions I almost saw my shadow within her.

Well, as the saying goes, the most dangerous place one could find is the safest place.

On top of that, Karu volunteered to assist me in statement recording by taking a close watch at the suspect, to ensure that the suspect has no accomplices to break him out.

Well, that's what he said, to say the least.

"Good afternoon."

"You aren't getting anything out of me."

"I thought you would be honoured to get your statement recorded by the Magic Swordmaster. But oh well, let's get to the details." I spoke as I brought out a bottle of wine.

"Onii-chan, I thought you hate drinking." Iris whispered softly as she looked at the wine bottle.

"Yes I do. But I have no choice. I need to drink with him and get him drunk since he wouldn't be able to lie." I whispered back.

A few moments later...

"I was just there performing cleaning duties, like I said, I have nothing to do with this."

" *hic* Holi Kuck, I kant ake zis... iz so iter... Baver ell mi two dwink ageyn... (Holy fk, I can't take this... It's so bitter... Never tell me to drink again...)" I muttered barely comprehensible speech as I lied on Iris' lap.

According to Karu, I was drunk after drinking two to three cups of wine. So he drank in my place and held on until the suspect was in a semi-drunk condition.

The suspect was taken custody after the statement recording.

And as a result, we returned to the Royal Castle after I became sober once again.

Currently, at this moment, knowing that Alicia's birthday was right at the corner, Iris and I were making a present for her.

"Onii-chan, what present should we get for Alicia?"

"Let's see... Her new armour doesn't have the visor, right? How about something that replaces that? Maybe a laurel wreath?"

"Yes, it is a good idea!"

Hence, we collected the evergreen leaves from olive trees and formed a crown.

The next day...

"Hey, Alicia."

"What is it?"

"You looked excited today. What is it?"

"Eh?"

"Did anyone remember what is it today?" Alicia said dejectedly as she lowered her head.

"Enough jokes. Here you go." I spoke as Iris showed up, showing her the laurel wreath.

"That's-"

"Precisely it is. I remember you lost your visor, right? So we made you this." I continued with a smile.

"Alicia von Astroraia!" Iris called Alicia's name with a rather stern voice.

"Yes!"

"On the behalf of the Belzerg Royal Family, I hereby thank you for your services. Please accept this as a token of gratitude."

"And as a birthday present. Happy 17th birthday, Alicia."

"Thank you very much!"

And at the end, the rest of the party gave Alicia presents as well, however Yunyun. A large party was held in the palace as well, which is one of the traditions of the aristocrats. Alicia has received blessings from various noble families in the party as well.

But she looked like she had a lot of fun when we cut the birthday cake.

I guess she has never experienced that before, but still...

It is good to see her being happy.

A/N: I still couldn't believe how I manage to finish another chapter with a slightly tight schedule. Phew!

Today is 28th Nov, which is Alicia's birthday.

To be honest, I have thought about Guardian drank with the suspect until the latter was in a semi-drunk state, but that doesn't fit the original info. as Guardian hates drinking and has a low drinking capacity, so that idea was abandoned and Karu did Guardian's work in his place.

In the next chapter, it would be about various things like Guardian and Iris sniffing out the mole in the Royal Castle, the fate of the Core System, and the process of reviving Saki. I mean, our adventurers should be fully recovered from their wounds, whereas the Core System should have been repaired, right? Well, I have zero interest in spoiling the story, so please wait for the next chapter~ :P

I don't know how many people are still reading my story, but thank you nonetheless for showing your support by favourite or following my story. Sometimes, an occasional favourite or follow actually meant a great encouragement to me as I know people are still enjoying my story. There are some supported me by giving me positive reviews and some pointed out where I lacked. By which, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart for the different ways of support.

m(_ _)m

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one.