The day °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° after Selina left for the Northern Continent.

"Ughh, a morning without Selina feels so lonely......"

Tie got up from the bed with a drooping face.

But soon she energetically threw both hands up.

"But today is the day I meet the Commander in Chief, so fighting!"

Pupu, who had just woken up, also twitched his nose.

Lucarion had already gone somewhere, and Marbas, left on the bedside table, was still sleeping like the dead.

Tie put on the cloak that Lady Marshal had left on the chair last night and stepped out of the room.

"Ah!"

Her face immediately lit up with a wide smile.

"Wow, you are not late. Though you did not have to come."

Papa was already downstairs.

And since early morning, he had been drilling Bale with his gaze.

"Listen, your personality really is terrible. Now that you are together, can you not just get along normally? How long are you going to stay obsessed with trying to devour our squad leader—no, the deputy squad leader?"

"......Ha. Watch how you speak. And that was not said to you, stuffed intestine, so go where you were going."

Lately, Bale had been like a fighting rooster.

The moment he saw members who had come from Tregava, he would immediately glare fiercely and growl.

"Enough noise. I do not know where we are going, but let us just move already."

Tesetan said tiredly among them.

Tie quickly ran downstairs and stood in front of him.

"Mm! Let us go quickly! When we arrive, everyone will be sooo surprised~?"

Even though she did not show it, Tie secretly felt proud that she knew the Luminel family.

'They said mercenaries cannot just be friends with Holy Knights like that.'

But Tie was not just friends—she had dinner every week with the Commander in Chief of Luminel.

And the fact that their friendship was officially a secret somehow made her heart beat faster.

'The Commander in Chief and Tie are secret friends!'

It felt like secretly being friends with the owner of a children's café who held all the power.

And that owner secretly gave only you chocolate and candy.

Tie snorted in satisfaction and walked ahead first.

Opening the door, the first thing she did was place a barrier around the base.

Recently, she had already told Leonardo that he did not need to come pick her up anymore.

Now Tie could set the barrier herself without his help.

Seeing Tesetan, Ribia, and Allerik getting into the second carriage, Tie hurried there as well.

"Hey! Where are you going!"

Bale shouted from the first carriage, but Tie pretended not to hear and quietly turned her head away.

Then she clung to Papa and sat next to him.

"......Ha."

Of course, Papa still avoided her gaze as if he felt extremely awkward.

He shifted slightly toward the window, but Tie did not give up and moved even closer to him.

From the window came the voices of Bale and Nordix arguing in the front carriage.

"Hey, brat, are you seriously not coming here?!"

"Alright, leave her."

The carriage started moving.

Ribia, crossing her legs, asked Tie:

"Squad leader. Where are we going?"

Tie smiled and answered:

"To a very nice place! They give food, and we can talk together."

"Talk? About what? Is it a restaurant?"

Allerik sighed.

"Do you not see that she placed an anti-surveillance barrier, Ribia? You do not go to a restaurant with something like that."

Ribia dragged her voice:

"Aa...... true. Then where are we going?"

Instead of answering, Tie quietly giggled.

If they found out that the Commander in Chief of Luminel and Agavert wore bear hats, they would be so surprised.

At that moment.

Tesetan, leaning his chin on his hand and looking out the window, suddenly froze.

He slightly frowned and pulled the curtain all the way aside.

And began to look more closely at the scenery outside.

"Deputy leader. What is it?"

Noticing something was wrong, Ribia asked.

But Tesetan did not answer.

He simply did not take his eyes off the passing streets.

And gradually, his face became paler and paler.

Tesetan turned and stared at Tie.

"No way."

"Mm?"

"We are not going to the Luminel ducal house, are we?"

Tie’s eyes widened.

'Wow, how did he guess?'

Papa really knows everything.

He just looked at the road—and understood where she was going!

Tie scratched the back of her head and smiled awkwardly.

"Well... actually, the Commander in Chief of Luminel and Tie are bear hat friends, so...... aah!"

At that very moment, Tesetan suddenly jumped up, and the carriage shook hard.

"Stop."

Leaning out of the window, he said, and the coachman stopped the carriage.

Tesetan turned to the door.

"Where are you going?"

Tie froze in surprise, and Ribia reflexively grabbed his wrist.

But Tesetan easily pulled free and unfastened the lock.

"I am not going. I am getting off."

Tie parted her lips.

She completely did not understand what was happening with Papa.

Moreover, his face looked bad.

She had seen him angry, irritated, or frowning.

But such a frightened expression—never.

"But......!"

Tie jumped up and ran to him.

At the moment she was about to grab the edge of his clothes as he opened the door—

"Stay where you are."

Before Tesetan could even press the handle,

the carriage door suddenly opened from the outside.

Tie’s eyes widened.

"Whoa, Uncle Edmund?"

Edmund confidently stepped into the carriage.

Seeing him, Tesetan involuntarily stepped back.

Edmund first gave Tie a gentle smile, then looked at Tesetan.

And quietly, in an unusually subdued voice, said:

"There are too many eyes here, deputy leader."

A short curse slipped from Tesetan’s lips.

He pressed his lips tightly, then sharply turned around and returned to his seat.

After confirming that, Edmund warmly smiled and sat next to Tie.

"Tie. I came out to meet you just in case. That is alright, right?"

Tie’s face immediately lit up.

She tightly hugged his arm and giggled.

But suddenly, as if remembering something, she gasped and stood on the seat.

Tie placed another barrier around herself and Edmund, then leaned to his ear and whispered very, very quietly:

"Only uncle, you must not tell these people Tie’s secret yet."

Edmund widened his eyes and whispered back:

"What secret?"

"Well... that Tie is a child."

"Really? Do the new members not know? Leonardo said they even used a holy artifact." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Mm. But I did not tell the people from Tregava."

Edmund looked at Tesetan, Ribia, and Allerik.

"Why did you not tell them? Is it not uncomfortable?"

"Well......"

Tie answered with a drooping face:

"I was afraid that if I said I am a child... they would leave......"

Edmund was silent for a moment, then softly smiled.

And with a serious face, he raised his thumb.

"Understood. Uncle will keep the secret, do not worry. I will tell the other uncles and the Commander in Chief as well."

Tie smiled brightly.

"Really?!"

And tightly hugged Edmund around the neck.

"Uncle Edmund is the best!"

Edmund laughed.

But at the same time, he quietly observed Tesetan’s profile behind Tie.

Meanwhile.

The closer the Luminel mansion became, the better Tie’s mood grew.

'Hehe, how nice.'

The life of a mercenary together with Papa.

Even if Papa was cold to her, it was already enough for Tie just to look at him all day.

'It is just a pity I cannot hug and kiss him.......'

Tie wanted to show him everything.

What she had done during the time she was searching for him.

How many friends she had made and what amazing things she had achieved.

'The Commander in Chief and the uncles have faces similar to Papa, so they will get along quickly, right?!'

But the smile on Tie’s lips disappeared the moment the carriage stopped in front of the Luminel mansion.

"......Let go."

"Please do not do this. Tesetan."

Tie blinked, looking at the unexpected scene before her eyes.