***

(Casimir Kismet.)

Wah, why are they looking at me as if I am straight out of a horror movie? I did my best to sound as approachable as possible, I even toned down my voice and slightly imitated how Mehrad talked. Maybe it's not a good idea.

There were a total of 15 of them. When I heard that they were a group of knights, I did expect a group of people wearing full-body armors and swords dangling on their waist, but nope, they were wearing tunics and leggings contrary to what I anticipated. A little bit of a letdown though.

They were a little bit cautious around me, I could see and feel it because I could literally feel their Mana perception gawking at me. Maybe they were trying to analyze me, but too bad, my mana manifestation was completely concealed.

I know, right? With enough practice and teaching from one of the best, I could finally hide my Mana Manifestation!

And I'm pretty sure it's giving me a mysterious vibe hehe. However, it's not the reason why I was so eager to learn it. It's not.

Nevertheless, isn't this scenario a little bit awkward?

All of them were frozen as if I was going to kill them if they tried to move even a single muscle.

I need to tone down the tension.

I swallowed the food in my mouth and cleared my throat. "I hope you are enjoying your stay in our town." I gave them the friendliest smile I could make. "I heard that you really are taking your time and asked a lot of people."

At last, Captain Callan moved, but he just shook his head while dodging my gaze. "I guarantee you, first thing in the morning, we will take our leave."

Ha? Why, though?

"No. Your group is welcome here. Take your time to sightsee around the town. You will love this place, the Spriggan faction is now open, so I highly recommend that place for you to visit."

Captain Callan just nodded and took a bite of his food, the other knights did the same but they were still looking at each other while doing so, but at least, they were not as stiff as before.

See? That's how you break the tension.

"On that note, Captain Callan, if your reason for your arrival here was about the slaves I released. What could possibly be the reason why the prince of your kingdom is coming here?" I stared at him and saw how his face instantly frowned as if he just remembered that the prince was on his way here now.

Oh, did he forget?

"He has no reason to come here, he just wants to check the current state of the town."

I nodded. "Based on my scouts' reports, we can expect his arrival tomorrow afternoon. I don't think I'm busy so maybe I can welcome his arrival myself, maybe we can personally talk about the association between the town of Agrona and the kingdom of Inizio. After all, I'm just a recent ruler of this town."

Captain Callan paused for a second and nodded.

Wah, are all the knights this serious?

Isn't he too young to have such a strict manner? I think he's just a few years older than me. What a young achiever.

"The food here is good, isn't it?" I took the last bite of my food and poured a fill of water into my cup. "And, oh, I'm about to leave, so If you still have any questions, rather than investigate, I can save you the trouble and will just directly answer it instead. I'm in a good mood for answering questions right now."

I heard him clear his throat. "I read a lot of stories about your tribe and thought your people were no longer around. Where have you been all those years?" Captain Callan asked while directly looking at my eyes.

Ahm, that's one of a few questions I can't answer because I really don't know the answer.

I crossed my arms. "That's a good question. However, what made you think that we were gone in the first place?"

I answered his question with another question. But seriously, though, I don't even know what kind of catastrophe managed to wipe out the meruems. Because literally no one knows, even Tanya doesn't know.

From what I learned, the world just woke up one day and the meruems can no longer be found and left not even a trace of why behind.

Who knows, maybe they just decided to go somewhere where no one could bother them anymore, maybe deep underground or even on the moon. The hell I care!

As if an epiphany struck Captain Callan, he slowly nodded. "I see."

I see? What do you mean I see? I asked you a question and you answered me with I see? What enlightenment came into you? How about you share it with me?

I exhaled and stood up. "Times up, I need to go. I still have things I have to do."

As I started to walk away, Captain Callan stood up. "Lord Casimir, the ruler of the town of Agrona. Tell me, where did you come from?"

Where did I come from? What should I say? Earth?

I looked back at him and smirked. "Believe me, Captain, you don't want to know."

His chest immediately rose as he gasped as if my answer confirmed something.

No, really, all I did was dodge your question, in the most chuuni way possible. Don't take it seriously!

I cleared my throat. "See you all around, knights of the kingdom of Inizio." And walked out of the restaurant.

The moment I finally reached the carriage parked beside the road and got inside the carriage. I unleashed a huge exhale while looking at the restaurant.

Man, I didn't expect talking to some high-ranking knights could be this terrifying, but I think I did a good job talking to them as the representative of this town. I guess?

I raised my fist as I watched the road on a currently moving carriage. I just hope the prince of the kingdom of Inizio is easy to talk to just like Captain Callan.