The next day.

The second base of Tregava—no, Agavert.

"Good morni-i-ing~!"

At the bright voice echoing through the mansion, Tesetan snapped his eyes open.

Rising from the stiff chair, he opened the door with a doubtful expression and stepped out.

Trying to move silently, he stopped by the railing—and a view of the lower floor opened up below.

"Oh my, my. What a mess. You don’t see this kind of chaos every day!"

A middle aged woman was walking into his mansion.

Behind her came five or six more people, their noses and mouths wrapped in cloth.

"Let’s start by cleaning the kitchen~? It’s a good thing Miss Selina lent us workers, otherwise I’d be at it all day alone."

At the woman’s words, a clear voice rang out right beneath the railing.

"Aunt Mashal, can Tie he-elp too?"

"Oh my, no need. Our squad leader should go have breakfast~?"

"Hiiin, but still......."

For a brief moment, the King of the Dead’s gaze flicked toward the second floor.

Tesetan instantly pressed his back against the wall.

"Ha."

A short breath escaped him.

'Right.'

Yesterday, he had agreed to join forces with the King of the Dead and the mercenary squad.

He had slept so strangely well last night that he had almost forgotten.

Even so.

'Why are they already here this early in the morning.......'

"Alright, alright! Everyone to the kitchen first~!"

The loud shout soon scattered his thoughts.

"Did you clean up well, Kim Astie?"

The moment Tie entered the base, Bale approached her.

Tie rolled her eyes, dodged him, and ran to the kitchen.

"Mhm, the deputy leader uncle’s house was ve-eery dirty."

"......What did that bastard even do to deserve a life like that? No contribution to Agavert, yet he gets the deputy position for free. And the King of the Dead herself comes to clean his house."

"Uss, Bale oppa! Tie said not to call him a bastard!"

"What? Because Tie likes that uncle~?"

Bale mimicked her words from yesterday.

Tie flinched and tried to cover his mouth.

But Bale, out of spite, continued.

"So just because you like him, you wanted to be on the same side as him? Oh, so you didn’t like your old side this whole time? That’s why you needed a new one, huh, our little King of the Dead!"

"Nooo......!"

"What do you mean no. Tesetan Veronio, that damn bastard—no, that guy!"

Tie puffed her cheeks.

Bale shook his head and sat across from her.

"So what now with the siege? Planning to keep the neighbors in that house?"

Tie fell into thought.

The girl stared toward the window beyond the kitchen, to where her father’s house could be seen.

'Keep them in that house?'

In truth, Tie could call Papa and his subordinates here, to this base.

The new members lived two per room, so there were still empty rooms in the mansion.

But if she told them to move, would Papa like it?

'He probably wouldn’t like it at all.......'

Tie lifted her head.

"Tie thinks it’s better to just leave the deputy leader uncle alone."

"Leave him?"

"Mhm! When kids move to a new kindergarten, they need time to get used to it, right? Tie thinks the deputy leader uncle needs that too."

Bale’s lips parted slightly.

He sighed and replied.

"......Do as you want. When has it ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ ever been different. Go eat."

"Aren’t you going to, Bale oppa?"

Bale, with a sour look, ruffled her hair.

"We already ate. While you were running around cleaning that house since morning."

Muttering, he left the dining room.

Tie froze for a moment with a puzzled expression, then hurriedly picked up her spoon.

And broke into a wide smile.

"Waaah, eggs and chicken!"

Today’s breakfast was a warm broth with egg and potatoes.

Tie scooped up a piece of soft potato and put it into her mouth.

"Mmm, yum. So refreshing."

At the moment she lifted the bowl and started drinking straight from it,

Enzo and Raul came in from outside.

"Squad leader. What’s going on with Bale?"

"What about Bale oppa?"

"He’s in the garden pulling weeds. And muttering something like, ‘if the squad leader is busy with someone else’s household, then at least I’ll take care of mine.’"

Raul lightly nudged Enzo in the shoulder, as if telling him to stop.

Then he smiled awkwardly.

"A lot has happened lately. Seems like he’s a bit unsettled."

Tie fell silent.

She kept eating, but her spoon moved slower than before, while the twins who sat across from her kept talking.

"And is Basto like that for the same reason?"

"Well. The fact that he hasn’t said a word since yesterday?"

"Yeah. It’s strange, he talked when we were alone......."

Enzo hesitated and glanced at Tie.

"But in front of the squad leader, he doesn’t say anything at all."

In the end, Tie let out a heavy sigh and shook her head.

And seriously explained the reason for their behavior.

"Bale oppa and Uncle Basto are acting like that because they’re upset with Tie."

However, neither Raul nor Enzo looked surprised.

As if they already knew Bale and Basto were upset.

The twins even leaned forward, as if about to reveal something even more shocking.

"They do have a reason."

"Hm?"

"Until the day before yesterday, they were competing with each other."

"Competing?"

"Yeah. Standing there silently, staring each other down."

"Ohhh."

Tie had no idea that Basto and Bale had been having those staring duels!

"You saw how they kept creating tension even in front of the new members."

That was true.

She remembered seeing them glare at each other a few times.

Still,

"Why......?"

Their personalities didn’t quite match, but they rarely had serious fights and generally got along.

Enzo let out a small laugh.

"A few weeks ago, they made a bet. About who would become the deputy leader."

Tie’s eyes widened.

"A bet for deputy leader?"

"Yeah. Bale was sure the squad leader would give the position to him,"

"And Basto seemed to think he’d become the deputy too."

Finishing, Enzo added with a smile:

"But the squad leader invited Tesetan Veronio to take the position. They definitely didn’t expect that."

"Ohhh......"

Tie lowered her spoon.

So that was it.

Now that she thought about it, Basto hadn’t spoken to her even once since yesterday.

Normally, he would come over and ask if she had slept well, if she had eaten.

Even this morning, when he helped her put on her outer clothes, he had kept a sulky face the whole time!

"No wa-a-ay......"

So the saying that you could please everyone—

was a lie.

'You can’t make everyone happy......!'

Realizing a new truth of life, Tie couldn’t recover from the shock for a long time.

"First place! First place!"

From early morning, the Central Branch of the Rewards Bureau was buzzing.

With a tired face, Remi watched Ornel running around the office.

"I told you! Agavert would overtake Tregava in three weeks! Alright, alright! One gold each, quickly!"

Ornel enthusiastically collected gold coins from the staff.

They muttered regretfully.

"Ahh, I thought Tregava would hold first place. Who knew they’d be absorbed by Agavert."

"Ha ha, didn’t you see the official document from the association?! It said the squad leaders fought a duel! I knew right away the King of the Dead would win!"

"Why is the director rooting so hard for the King of the Dead?"

Ornel froze for a moment.

"Uh, well......"

Then he laughed loudly.

"Didn’t they work hard enough? They held sieges almost five days a week. At first it was scary, but then I thought—no one has worked this hard before."

He scratched his head.

"Before I knew it, I was already rooting for Agavert to take first place. Anyway, Remi! Why aren’t you handing over one gold?"

Remi slowly raised her head toward the hand extended to her.

"......Director. I did not participate in the bet."

"Ah, I see?"

Ornel asked, confused.

Remi nodded silently.

Then, rummaging through the stack of papers on her desk, she pulled out not a coin, but a single sheet.

"By the way, about this state commission."