***

Suddenly alone among strangers, Jeanne seemed depressed.

As if she missed April, she kept lowering her head and only moved her hands.

Knowing how Jeanne felt, I continued to care for her. Ginia, who had been worried about Jeanne before we went to the dungeon, also paid attention to Jeanne.

But both of us were too insensitive to treat a child.

We didn’t know what to say to her, and we couldn’t open our mouths.

Jeanne and I had known each other in the first round, but we were not that close.

So I didn’t know the slightest bit about what Jeanne might find interesting, which would be a topic for conversation.

‘But bringing up April would be setting fire to straws…’

As Ginia and I were looking at Jeanne, Began approached Jeanne without hesitation.

“Jeanne, do you like dried fruits?”

Then he held out a small package of dried fruits.

It was a neat white linen pocket with a sky blue ribbon tied around it.

I wondered where in the forest he had suddenly gotten such a pocket, and if he had tied the ribbon himself… he had good talent.

However, such an attempt by Began was useless. Jeanne bowed her head and did not answer anything.

Even though it would be awkward to play drums and janggu alone, Began continued to speak skillfully by himself with the momentum of spinning his head.

“The good thing about the Black Knights is that they cook rice well. And dried fruits, you never know how thick and sweet they are.”

Began took out the dried fruit by loosening the ribbon. Then he asked Jeanne, sticking it out.

“Do you want to try one?”

Just looking at the dried fruit, which was covered with a snowy powder of sugar that seeped out of the pulp, made me salivate.

She had to accept the fine stuff as it was thrust at her nose.

Eventually, Jeanne picked up the dried fruit and took a small bite out of the end.

Her eyes, which had previously sunk into melancholy, went wide for a moment.

“Isn’t it good?”

Began smiled and gave Jeanne the whole pocket.

Jeanne raised her head puzzled, but Began, who achieved his goal, moved away from her.

It was a proper hit and fall. I sneaked up on Began and gave him pure admiration.

“That was amazing.”

“The best way to get close by nature is through what you eat.”

Breaking down vigilance with food was really one-dimensional, but it was definitely an effective way.

In fact, the first day I came to the Black Knights, I received the menu and was very satisfied.

“That’s right. She’s 13 years old, but she’s that small… we need to feed her well.”

“I agree. Come to think of it, the leader has closed dungeons since he was 13 years old… I think the leader has managed to grow up well.”

I glanced at Meyer driving a horse from the lead.

Even just a big Meyer wearing armor and riding a huge black horse, he was almost as big as a huge demon.

If Meyer had been shorter, he certainly wouldn’t have been as intimidating as he was now. I nodded my head fortunately.“The Commander is an exception. He is an example of bloodline and lineage winning over nutritional intake.”

Began jumped up. I certainly didn’t consider Meyer to be in the “summit” category either.

I asked, glancing toward Jeanne.

“By the way, when did you pack those dried fruit bags? It wasn’t an existing supply bag.”

“I normally like things like this.”

“We didn’t have this last time when we did the dungeon bang.”

“I took it with me. Just disappeared as soon as I got around the dungeon bang.”

Began complained, saying, “The Vice Commander rolls people too hard.”

At the same time, his eyes were nailed to Jeanne, who began to eat dried fruits little by little. A look of nostalgia crossed Began’s face.

‘Does he think of his child?’

But I only had a rough idea of Began’s past. As I couldn’t ask openly, I quietly shut up.

Looking at that, I could understand that Jeanne was depressed all day after falling from April.

Among the expedition members, the proportion of those who were left alone after losing their families was quite high.

Just as Began tried to project his child onto Jeanne, whom he had just met, Jeanne probably thought of April as her only family, as her own sister.

April also thought of Jeanne as her own little sister, which is probably why she sent her to the Black Knights in this way, to try to avoid a future where Jeanne might die.

It was only natural that the pain of separation would be great since they were more than just expedition companions, they were almost family.

Even after that, Began constantly talked to Jeanne. I was amazed by his tenacity and perseverance.

“There’s a boy your age in our expedition, Sevi.”

“…I know.”

The door opens when you knock, and after Began talked to her several times, Jeanne began to tremble and answer.

“Do you know? Have you met him already? When?”

Jeanne nodded her head small when Began asked back in surprise.

The two of them then continued their conversation, albeit in a slightly different manner.

The specific gravity of Began’s remarks was such that Jeanne could only say a few words, but it was clearly a noteworthy achievement.

Come to think of it, even when Sevi was mumbling cheekily, he answered shrewdly. Should I say it was patience? He was really good with kids.

Began murmured as if he were happy.

“So Jeanne will be joining the special forces after all?”

“I’m thinking about doing that.”

I drove my horse toward him and answered. I couldn’t leave her to another unit as I was asked by April.

Began made a fuss.

“Wow, Jeanne, you’re lucky. The special forces have a lot of support. The Vice Commander is the captain of the unit and is very frugal and delicate, so she supports the members a lot.”

“Hmm. It sounds like the captain of the Red Wolf unit doesn’t.”

Axion suddenly intervened. Began asked back as if he was absurd.

“Then, is the captain frugal and delicate? He’s only crazy about magic and is likely to drive his troops to the limbs.”

“I believe in the abilities of the troops.”

“If the Vice Commander rolls people hard, the unit captain rolls people rough. There’s a subtle difference.”Jeanne smiled softly at the appearance of Began and Axion grumbling. I was relieved because she seemed to adapt well to Began.

Just because Jeanne had suddenly decided to join the Black Knights from a expeditionary force of the middle and lower regions, there had to be some people in the Black Knights who were not mature enough.

Still, it was good to know that all of them who came to the dungeon this time were competent and had enough common sense not to think badly of a child for something like this.

“But Jeanne. I’m curious about something.”

“…”

“With ice magic, how much temperature can you drop to? In the case of flame magic, the magic is triggered by selecting the ignition point within the range of mana… Is ice magic the same? Can you freeze not only moisture in the air but also other things?”

I’ll take back what I just said about common sense people.

If you put magic in front of him, I forgot for a moment that he could not see age, situation, or back.

Jeanne, embarrassed by Axion’s sudden conversation without a clue, showed reluctance.

However, Axion kept asking Jeanne whether she was shy or not.

“Among the magic used in the dungeon, there is a magic called absolute zero. Is that magic consumed as much as the temperature lowered?”

“Uh, that…”

“Have you ever frozen a flame wizard’s ignition body?”

Even before Jeanne could answer, no question mark killer went out first.

Everyone there sighed. I shook my head and stopped Axion.

“Be in moderation, Axion….”

***

It didn’t take long to get back to the imperial palace. As soon as we entered the capital, people cheered.

As it was a dungeon held in a forest near the capital, everyone seemed nervous and anxious.

Upon arriving at the imperial palace, Meyer and I immediately visited the emperor.

“… So we completely wiped it out.”

“Hmm… as expected of the Black Knights. I’ve always had faith in you, but you’ve always shown more than trust.”

“I’m flattered.”

Meyer nodded his head curtly.

Even though his mouth was overly complimentary, his face was nonchalant, and his true feelings came to light.

“By the way…. I didn’t know the expedition I chose would hold you back. I believed that the expedition leader came out boldly, but… If you hadn’t gone, something big would have happened.”

The emperor lamented.

Not that Meyer had said or done anything bad about Fabian to him.

He was just reporting the facts.

What Fabian had committed was really trivial to say, just an objective phenomenon with no personal feeling.

‘It wasn’t to that extent in the first round… Rather, I think in the first round he was calmer and smarter. What made Fabian so foolish?’

I clicked my tongue low.

They say that when people become self-conscious, they don’t look at their surroundings, and that’s exactly what happened.

It was such a bad yoke that he just kept burying himself in the fact that he was the chosen hero and had no choice but to win and fall into the quagmire…

“I’ve been holding onto you for too long. Go and rest.”

After such public work, Meyer and I returned to the accommodation where other expeditions were waiting.

The conclusion was that the training menu went well as I asked Robur.

As soon as I was satisfied with the children’s whining, I heard an unexpected story.

“What? Julieta’s brother came to the training ground?”