Meanwhile, the knights uncorked the wine bottles and frantically poured the alcohol into their glasses.

When servants appeared with plates of steaming roasted whole boar, the knights couldn't wait and stood up from their seats to snatch the plates.

"???"

Before Yi-Han could even be surprised, the knights who snatched the plates drew their daggers and deeply cut the meat. The knight swallowed a chunk of meat dripping with grease in one bite.

'Huh?'

Yi-Han was taken aback.

The order was different from a typical gathering.

Usually, at a gathering, the people who gathered would greet each other a bit, chat, enjoy some games, and then share the prepared meal together...

But here, they were going straight into the meal and alcohol.

Looking to the side, Anglago and Bartreck were also hurriedly taking plates and piling food on top.

"Moradi. Don't get angry and listen to me. I'm really asking because I don't know... Are knights' gatherings usually like this?"

"...Yeah. Why."

"No. I was just surprised. They eat heartily."

"..."

Although Jijel didn't show it, she felt embarrassment rushing in.

The Chestnut Tree Knight Order, who acted like dignified nobles to some extent, couldn't help but reveal their true colors as knights when it was time to eat.

She had never been ashamed of herself as a knight, but the behavior of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order, who had been pretending to be nobles, made Jijel embarrassed.

'If they were going to eat this comfortably, why did they do such annoying things earlier?'

Yi-Han thought inwardly.

If the knights had acted this comfortably from the beginning, Yi-Han wouldn't have needed to follow those unnecessarily numerous etiquette rules outside, would he?

"Then do you chat after eating and drinking?"

Jijel nodded.

"This is much better. It would have been nice if it was like this from the start."

"...?!?!?!!"

While Jijel widened her eyes and looked at Yi-Han, Jangcliff returned.

Jangcliff, who had finished greeting the knights, was holding a bottle of wine in one hand and a glass in the other.

"I'd like to treat you to a drink! For the one who helped the knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order!"

"Ah. Thank you."

Yi-Han received the glass. The swirling wine filled the glass to the brim.

Jangcliff's glass and Jijel's glass were also filled. The three tilted their glasses together.

At that moment, Jangcliff's face contorted and a shout burst out.

"It's poison!!!!!"

Clang!

Jijel reacted the fastest. As soon as she heard Jangcliff's words, she threw the half-drunk glass to the floor.

'Impossible!'

Jijel's eyes were filled with shock.

It was surprising that poison was put in this gathering of knights, but it was even more surprising that Jijel didn't sense the poison at all.

Unlike the knights here, weren't Jijel and the White Tiger Tower students being educated as mages?

Considering the heterogeneous nature of the poison, there was no way they couldn't have noticed.

How on earth?

'What kind of poison is it?'

Jijel quickly turned her gaze for a moment. She saw Anglago and Bartreck, who were already drunk and shaking empty wine bottles, frozen in place. Jijel quickly gave up and turned her gaze to Yi-Han.

'If it's Wardanaz, he might have noticed...!'

However, Yi-Han's glass was completely empty. Jijel was dumbfounded and let out a sharp scream.

"You drank it all!!"

"I had no choice because of etiquette..."

"Are you joking now? Are you loosening up because you're outside the academy or what?!"

Yi-Han honestly felt wronged.

If the poison was well-made and well-administered by the maker, it was much more disadvantageous for the drinker.

"Everyone, don't move and put down the alcohol! You there, put down the alcohol!"

Jangcliff threw a knife on the table to shatter the wine bottle. The knight who was about to drink it whole was startled.

"Sir Jangcliff! What's going on?"

"Isn't it a misunderstanding? Poison... There's nothing wrong with our bodies."

The drunk knights were perplexed by Jangcliff's shout.

They also knew about poison to some extent.

But they had never heard of a poison that had no effect on the body like this.

Could Sir Jangcliff have been mistaken?

"Damn it, I heard from an alchemist I met in the capital. Right now, there's no effect, but when the reagents put in the food and the reagents put in the alcohol mix and time passes..."

Jangcliff, who had a wide network, had been introduced to a recently created poison when he went to the capital.

It was a poison based on rockgrass mushrooms, and the alchemist excitedly introduced it as a very unique poison.

-The various reagent components have no effect when they are separate, but when they mix and time passes, they turn into poison, so it's rare to find such a clever poison.-

To detect such a poison that mixes inside the body in advance, one had to be familiar with all kinds of reagents or know about the combination of poisons.

Fortunately, Jangcliff had heard the story from the alchemist and remembered the tastes of all the reagents.

'He remembered all that?'

Yi-Han was dumbfounded by the knight's crude method.

It would have been less surprising if he had known about all the reagents that went in and felt something off.

"I'll call a healing mage!"

The knights, who realized the situation was no joke, shouted with pale faces.

Poison was a race against time.

If they were even a little late, there could be a large number of casualties.

However, Yi-Han was calm.

'Such a poison won't have a strong effect.'

A poison made to avoid being detected by knights or mages had to be composed of weak ingredients.

There was a high possibility that it wasn't a life-threatening poison.

"Sir Jangcliff. What is the effect of the poison?"

"It temporarily makes you unable to use mana."

The knights let out a sigh of relief for a moment.

If it was just mana being dispersed, it wasn't that dangerous.

"Who could have...?"

"Servants, don't move! I'll investigate one by one!"

"I'll check the porters too."

"Who would put such a poison here? Could it have been mixed by mistake?"

The entrance was closed off and the investigation began, but the situation was chaotic due to the circumstances.

The anti-magic extremist disguised as a porter sneered inwardly.

'No matter what, they won't be able to find it.'

Their preparation was truly meticulous and persistent.

A few weeks ago, they had checked the ingredients and alcohol for the gathering and divided and injected the components of the poison based on rockgrass mushrooms.

It was a fitting revenge for the knights who had ruined their grand plan.

'The signal has already been sent!'

The porter had sent the signal as soon as the knights started eating and drinking.

Although it was unexpected that a knight named Jangcliff noticed, it didn't matter since they had already drunk it...

There were a few students invited besides the knights, but they were still green rookies.

Moreover, they were mages who had also consumed the poison and had their mana dispersed.

In a way, they were even easier targets than the knights.

The plan could already be considered 80% successful.

"Arise, emotions."

"???"

One of the students suddenly waved his staff and cast magic on a servant.

The anti-magic extremist almost snorted in absurdity.

'He's digging his own grave!'

As mages were the most versatile talents in the empire, naturally, such interrogation was also possible.

However, even such magic was not almighty. The anti-magic extremist knew well what kind of magic it was.

It was a type of magic that had to be used on a narrowed-down suspect of one or two people because it consumed a lot of mana and mental strength.

Using it recklessly in a hurry like this, he was indeed a student.

"Arise, emotions."

"Arise, emotions."

"Arise, arise, arise..."

"????"

The anti-magic extremist was puzzled.

What the?

'Is it a trick? Ah. I see! The guy is bluffing! The cunning...'

Pretending to chant fake spells to gauge the other person's reaction.

He was quite clever for a student.

However, the anti-magic extremist was not shaken.

'Go ahead and try.'

Sneering inwardly, the anti-magic extremist managed his expression.

"Arise, emotions... ??"

Yi-Han looked at the porter. And then he said as if it was absurd.

"It's this person."

"Seize him!!!"

The enraged knights rushed in like mad. The anti-magic extremist screamed.

How on earth!?!

The knights were masters of interrogation. The tattered anti-magic extremist spilled everything about the gang waiting outside.

"What nonsense...!"

"Blaming us for doing our duty as knights! This is why mercenaries are...!"

The knights of the Chestnut Tree Knight Order, who didn't know the details, were very angry.

If it was an understandable grudge, they would at least respect them as enemies, but wasn't this venting an unrelated grudge on them?

"Anti-magic extremists are always like that! The seeds of evil that taint the empire!"

"..."

Yi-Han broke out in a cold sweat.

Not because of the poison, but because he grasped the situation.

'...Was it a mistake to ask the knights for help?'

He had sought the knights' help to make things easier, but it seemed to backfire like this.

If the knights got hurt, Yi-Han wouldn't feel at ease.

"Now is not the time to be doing this. We need to prepare for the attack."

"I know."

Jangcliff's face turned serious.

"It's dangerous. The knights here are not used to such chaotic battles."

'He knew?'

Yi-Han was surprised to see Jangcliff coldly evaluating the knight order he belonged to.

The Chestnut Tree Knight Order was bound to be even more disadvantaged in this situation, as their main purpose was friendship and socializing.

"Wardanaz. Mana is..."

"Not gathering."

Anglago and Bartreck's faces were also dark. The other knights were the same. The poison of the rockgrass mushroom was slowly completing and starting to spread.

Jangcliff was also fiercely circulating his own mana to endure, but his complexion didn't look good.

"I see. I understand. Wait. I'll make an antidote. I don't know how many I can make before the attack starts, but..."

"...What?"

"What did you say?!"

Not only Jangcliff, who was pondering how to prepare for the fight, but also his friends were shocked.

He knows how to make an antidote?!

"Ho, how!? Did you know about this poison?"

"No... I don't know. And it's not a complete antidote either. I'm making it with holy magic, so I'll have to see how effective it is."

Yi-Han picked up his staff and prepared holy magic.

He never thought that Priestess Siana's half-coercion would be helpful in this situation.

If the holy magic Yi-Han had awakened from the Aphar Order was white flame transformation, the holy magic of the Flameng Order was antidote creation.

"Holy magic... Were you a devout believer... No... Wait... You're from the Wardanaz family...? That's not important right now... Wait, wait. You shouldn't use it forcibly when you lack mana!"

Jangcliff, who was muttering, hurriedly stopped Yi-Han in a fluster.

No matter how urgent it was, it was dangerous to use magic with high consumption like holy magic in a situation where there was no mana.

However, before he could stop him, Yi-Han had already created the antidote. The wine inside the wine bottle had turned transparent.

"Sir Jangcliff first!"

"Al, alright."

Sir Jangcliff gulped down the colorless and transparent antidote.

Then, surprisingly, the mana that was about to disperse was felt to be maintained again.

"Then I'll make the next antidote."

Anglago stood next to him to drink the antidote as soon as it was completed.

Then Yi-Han slightly pushed Anglago away and pulled Jijel.

In this situation, the vicious Moradi was much more reliable.

Anglago shouted in surprise.

"Moradi drank less, so her condition is still fine, right?!"

"...No. Anglago. As the top student in alchemy, I think Moradi's condition looks worse."

"??!"

Is... is that so?