'Oh dear. Did I bring up an unnecessary topic?'

Jangcliff was quick-witted, unlike a typical knight.

As an oddball who actively participated in all kinds of social gatherings, he had to be different from other knights.

Of course, even with that wit, he couldn't realize that others wanted him to shut his mouth a bit, but he could notice that the students were uncomfortable talking about their studies.

'I should change the subject!'

"Don't worry too much. Being good at arithmetic or language doesn't make you a great person. The top student in such lectures is surely a narrow-minded person with no social skills at all."

"..."

This time, Yi-Han became gloomy.

Bagdugul, the empire's evil anti-magic extremist, gritted his teeth and inspected his blade.

"I heard the knights are gathering."

"Very well done. Very well done."

Not only Bagdugul but also the eyes of the other anti-magic extremists sitting around him flashed with venom.

"To think our grand plan would be ruined because of those guys who only know how to act pompous at gatherings, calling themselves knights...!"

One of Bagdugul's strengths was his innate dignity.

Even wearing shabby clothes, his movements and intonation that couldn't be hidden made Bagdugul respected wherever he went and helped him infiltrate easily.

However, right now, Bagdugul had thrown off his mask to the point where such dignity couldn't be felt at all.

It was natural.

Their plan had been completely destroyed because of the knights.

'I will never forgive them.'

Rockgrass mushroom.

This mushroom, which had the property of dispersing mana, was the root of everything.

Originally, it was a mushroom used by dark mages for curse potions, but one of the anti-magic extremists found a way to enhance the effect of this rockgrass mushroom and make it easy to use.

Naturally, the anti-magic extremists were excited about this new discovery and gathered as many rockgrass mushrooms as possible.

If a sufficient amount was gathered, it would become a dagger that could attack mages.

However, it was not easy to obtain a large quantity of rockgrass mushrooms.

In the first place, a reagent used only a little by dark mages couldn't be released in large quantities. If they openly recruited a large amount, it could arouse the suspicion of mages.

That was why Bagdugul hired mercenaries and headed to the undead realm.

To gather a sufficient amount of rockgrass mushrooms.

No one thought Bagdugul would fail in such a simple mission, but...

Surprisingly, Bagdugul failed.

It was because of the local knights.

They cited regulations that Bagdugul had never even thought of, arrested and imprisoned the mercenaries including Bagdugul, and while they couldn't grasp the situation, they called the mages of Einroguard to prevent them from escaping.

Before he knew it, Bagdugul was arrested and dragged to the capital's prison.

Fortunately, he wasn't discovered to be an anti-magic extremist and was able to escape, but he couldn't bring out the mercenaries under him.

On top of that, all the secured rockgrass mushrooms were confiscated.

The anti-magic extremists, who were only waiting for the rockgrass mushrooms Bagdugul would secure, had wasted the opportunity, and Bagdugul's reputation was ruined.

Burning with a desire for revenge, Bagdugul went to confirm how this absurd situation had happened.

And he found the culprit.

Surprisingly, the culprit was the Chestnut Tree Knight Order.

These damn bastards had some unknown grudge against the mercenaries, so they caught them for ridiculously strict reasons and called the Einroguard mages!

"What the hell were these cursed dimwits thinking, doing such a thing?"

"It's obvious. They must have looked down on them because they were mercenaries. They probably just wanted to hand them over to the mages since there was a bounty."

"They will pay the price. Those worthless knights."

The anti-magic extremists gnashed their teeth and threw their gazes out the window in the dimly lit log cabin.

In the distance, on the hillside shrouded in darkness, brilliant lights could be seen. It was the place where the Chestnut Tree Knight Order's gathering was being held.

Since they had destroyed the anti-magic extremists' grand plan for such a trivial reason, they would pay the price today!

"Another carriage is passing by."

"Those knight bastards are even riding carriages..."

"They're completely off guard!"

"Don't underestimate them. They're still knights, after all."

Bagdugul restrained his subordinates.

Although he confirmed that the knights were off guard, there was no point in being arrogant.

No matter how much the knights were just for show and far from actual combat, a knight was still a knight.

Their basic combat power was incomparable to ordinary people.

"The signal will come soon. Wait for that signal."

Bagdugul's eyes burned sinisterly as he waited for the signal to be sent by the spy he had sent to infiltrate.

"...Uh, isn't this too extravagant?"

Yi-Han asked, looking at Jijel.

The carriages around them were adorned with all kinds of luxurious decorations as if they belonged to noble families, the temporary camp set up on the hill was brilliantly decorated with various flags and banners, and...

'No. Wait a minute. Those are merchant carriages.'

In addition to the knights' carriages, there were also many merchant carriages.

Looking around, porters were sweating and piling up chests like mountains. Judging from the clinking sound of bottles inside, it was definitely alcohol for the knights to drink.

There were even porters bringing live fish in a large copper tank.

Although Yi-Han was from a high noble family, he had never lived so extravagantly, so he was even more surprised.

"..."

"..."

Jijel and her friends turned their gazes and shut their mouths as if they were embarrassed.

"Moradi? Moradi? Didn't you hear me? Isn't this too extravagant?"

"...Shut up!"

"No. Why are you getting angry? I just asked."

The White Tiger Tower students also felt it.

The Chestnut Tree Knight Order's gathering was quite different from a typical knights' gathering!

Even the Moradi family, a powerful family in the north, never held such an extravagant gathering. It was the same for Anglago and Bartreck.

"Is this how knights' gatherings usually are?"

"That... Wardanaz. Stop provoking Moradi."

Anglago whispered in fear.

At first, Jijel was grinding her teeth, but at some point, she had passed a threshold and became coldly quiet.

"Anglago. I'm really just asking out of curiosity. Have I ever attended a knights' gathering?"

"I've only attended gatherings of my peers or family, not a knight order's gathering... Uh..."

"It's not for nothing that there are rumors of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order being rich."

Yi-Han looked around with an admiring expression.

The more he saw, the more favorable it seemed.

How much money could he get if he became close to them?

'I heard that obtaining investment and sponsorship is also an ability of a mage.'

Of course, there were some bad pre... precedents of receiving investment and not being able to repay, but basically, investment and sponsorship were positive systems.

Mages could conduct research they wanted to do but had given up due to lack of funds, and investors and sponsors could gain appropriate profits and honor.

In Yi-Han's case, he was more interested in business than research.

'Isn't it fine as long as it looks like research?'

Jangcliff, who had guided the group, had gone ahead to meet the knights.

After looking around roughly, Yi-Han called his friends.

"Shall we go in?"

"Ye, yes."

The White Tiger Tower students seemed a bit discouraged by the overly extravagant appearance of the gathering.

Yi-Han didn't pay much attention and stopped in front of the main gate. Then he dusted off his shoes.

A knight who was about to enter next to him saw Yi-Han and quickly dusted off his shoes with an expression of 'I see!'

Creak-

The inside was as splendid as the outside. Judging by how much gold coins they had poured into a single gathering, from the carpet on the floor to the furniture they brought, it seemed like they could live here.

When Anglago and Bartreck were about to carelessly throw their coats on a chair, Yi-Han said.

"Wait. You can't put them there. This isn't Einroguard."

"Uh... Then where?"

"There should be a space used as a reception room. Put them there."

The two knights sitting in front flinched. They quietly got up, quickly looked around, picked up the coats they had thrown on the floor, and patted them.

"...?"

At that point, even Yi-Han began to feel something strange.

"Wardanaz. Can I just sit anywhere?"

"Don't sit at the head table near the fireplace."

A knight dressed splendidly flinched and got up from his seat.

"Can I take off my gloves?"

"No. Keep them on."

A knight wearing lots of accessories quickly put on his gloves.

"...Uh, sirs. I'm sorry. You can sit comfortably, but..."

"No!"

"I was originally going to do this, I was just taking a short break!"

The knights waved their hands and strongly insisted, "I'm not usually this rude person, I just made a slight mistake."

"It's a knights' gathering, and knights can act a bit more comfortably, can't they?"

"Hey. We're also knights..."

The White Tiger Tower friends whispered as if it was unfair.

Why are you only pointing it out to us??

"Will you act the same way when you attend a nobles' gathering later? You should learn in advance."

"Ah, no... That's true, but..."

When hit with a valid point, the friends couldn't refute.

While the White Tiger Tower students were being tormented, the knights hurriedly tidied their attire and began checking.

"Do I look okay? Wait. Is this the right order for the vest?"

"You said you know etiquette well!"

"I, I do know well, but I'm just asking in case."

The knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order, who had prided themselves on acting nobly before Yi-Han arrived, began to waver in that belief when the real deal appeared.

"Can I... wear the sword here?"

"Wa, wait. Could I wear this many accessories? I don't think I could."

"What's the fuss about? Why?"

"Actually, the boy from the Wardanaz family..."

"Ah! He said he was coming! But why?"

"I had thrown my coat on the floor."

"You can't throw it on the floor??"

"You originally can't! Do you know how much nobles ridicule that!"

"No, then why did you throw it on the floor? You originally said it was okay to throw it, so I believed..."

"Shut up and hurry up and clean it up! Don't nitpick!"

Even the knight who had been praised among the knights for being dignified and well-versed in etiquette blushed with embarrassment.

Jangcliff, who returned belatedly, was startled by the hall's appearance, which was different from the usual loose and sloppy atmosphere.

'What on earth happened?!'

"Ah. So that's what happened."

Jangcliff admired.

There was no one among the knights who excelled in etiquette like the Chestnut Tree Knight Order.

But just like swordsmanship, there was always a sky above the sky.

"It must have been a very good experience to learn from the real thing. They will also grow to another level. Haha!"

"...What the hell are they growing in..."

Jijel, who had been gritting her teeth and trying to endure, couldn't hold back and blurted out.

If you're a knight, you should just swing a sword, what the hell are you doing...

"Shh. Moradi. This is a gathering of other knights."

"..."

When Yi-Han made a valid point, Jijel trembled with a sense of humiliation.

She almost lost control of her emotions and made a mistake...

Why did it have to be that Wardanaz guy!

"It's alcohol!"

"Can't we take some of that?!"

Jijel felt dizzy at Anglago and Bartreck's dignified conversation.

'I never thought I'd miss Einroguard.'

"Wow. It's really expensive alcohol."

"Right? Wardanaz?"

"Let's take a few bottles together later."

"Hahahaha! What a joke... ...It's not a joke."

"Yeah."

"..."

"Wardanaz... Please... Unlike you, I'm from a knight family, so if rumors spread..."

Anglago pleaded.

Even if they got caught together, Yi-Han might be fine, but wouldn't Anglago get a title like "alcohol bottle thief" among the knights?

"No... I wasn't saying to steal it, I was saying to tell them and take it. They'll give us that much."

"Ah. Is that what you meant?"

Anglago's face brightened. Bartreck also swallowed his saliva.

Jijel closed her eyes tightly because she couldn't stand the sight.