By Zephyria 
He felt like he would faceplant into the table any minute now.
“You said the Emperor and I had a good friendship?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So you were confident that even if you got caught, he’d turn a blind eye?”
Abyss didn’t answer. But it seemed like he had thought that way to some extent. That naive thought made Theodore even angrier.
“Abyss.”
“Yes, Theodore.”
“Your words don’t make sense.”
He couldn’t help but sigh.
“When I was on the verge of death, I couldn’t ask my home country for help because I didn’t know who did this to me. Yet, where did you get the belief that the Emperor wouldn’t harm you? If you thought he’d let it slide because of our good friendship, why didn’t you ask him to save me?”
“……”
“These are people I sent out, defying the Emperor’s orders and national laws. If everything went wrong because of your misguided judgment, what face were you planning to show me? Would you have just bowed your head and repeated ‘I’m sorry’ like a parrot then too?”
“……”
Abyss didn’t even say sorry anymore. Then Zero, who had been fidgeting beside him, cautiously opened his mouth.
“Theodore, we all gathered here of our own volition. Going to Actan was also my choice, and we wanted to repay your kindness……”
“Abyss.”
“Yes, Theodore.”
“It’s not strange that they think that way. They’d want to help someone in trouble. There will definitely be people who rush in like moths to a flame, not valuing their own lives. It was your role to restrain them and remind them of the rules. Why are you losing your mind too?”
Abyss remained silent with a heavy expression, but Zero still didn’t grasp the situation and stepped forward.
“It’s not that we wanted to help someone in trouble. It’s not that……”
“Then did you want to die? I desperately saved such insignificant lives that you could so easily throw away.”
“That’s……!”
“Shut up. How dare you raise your voice? Do you want to die?”
An indefinable sense of unease was growing. It was an uncomfortable fear, like everyone would fall off a cliff if they took a wrong step in the darkness.
Theodore sighed, holding his forehead.
“Abyss, Abyss.”
“Yes, Theodore.”
“My memory is still not complete. It’s coming back in bits and pieces, but it’s not perfect. I probably don’t remember much more than I do.”
He looked at Zero, who had his head bowed, and Abyss, who was frozen with a stiff expression, before opening his mouth.
“Is that why you guys are acting like this?”
“……”
“Would you have acted this way even if my memory was intact?”
“……”
Then, tears like chicken droppings fell from Zero’s eyes.
“Why are you crying? If you were so afraid of dying by my hand, you should have listened.”
“It’s not because I’m afraid of dying.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t properly follow the orders you gave me. I will gladly accept any punishment.”
Theodore frowned as he looked at the sobbing Zero.
“Stop crying, it’s disgusting. Don’t make a sound.”
With those words, Zero shut his mouth tightly. Zero was still young and a commoner without any rank or title, so this much scolding was enough.
“Don’t add your own opinions to my orders and act independently just because the situation has changed.”
“I’m sorry.”
Theodore stared at Abyss’s stiff expression and was about to say something more, but he stopped himself.
Come to think of it, it didn’t make sense that he had to explain such basic military law to someone who had become a knight through formal channels. But Abyss didn’t become a knight through normal means, let alone a military academy or knight training……
“……”
Something was about to come to mind, so he reflexively frowned. He thought he would get another headache. But contrary to his expectations, there was no pain. He wasn’t dizzy, just frustrated that he couldn’t quite remember.
“Ah.”
Then, he heard a small voice in his ear. He turned his head and saw Aska putting his hand inside his hood.
“Why?”
He turned and asked, but Aska lightly shook his head.
“It’s nothing.”
That’s what he said, but his hand was still inside his hood. It looked like he was touching his face. It might really be nothing, but Theodore felt uneasy and pushed Aska’s hood back.
Slightly disheveled long hair and the same face as usual were visible. Slender fingers were touching his lips.
“Did you bite your tongue?”
“No.”
“Then?”
Aska hesitated, moving his lips, and then licked the corner of his right lip with the tip of his tongue. Theodore was taken aback by the sudden seduction and paused for a moment, and Aska muttered.
“I accidentally touched it while eating.”
“Touched what?”
“It’s slightly torn……”
His lip? Why would his lip suddenly tear? Theodore frowned, and Aska added.
“It’s not torn now, it was torn earlier.”
“Earlier when?”
There was no answer to his question. Theodore reached out, grabbed Aska’s chin, and carefully examined the corner of his lip. Looking closely, there was indeed a fine crack-like wound at the very end. When he strained his eyes even more, he could see that the surrounding area was also reddened.
It was so subtle that it wouldn’t be noticeable unless you looked closely.
“Why did you get hurt?”
Could he have been scratched by a claw when he was scolding the beasts earlier? But even then, the size of the wound was too small…… It felt like a small bird, smaller than the palm of his hand, could scratch this much if it pecked with its beak.
He waited for a moment while thinking about that, but Aska didn’t answer. Rather, he put his hood back on and avoided Theodore’s touch.
“It’s nothing.”
Theodore didn’t like that he couldn’t see his face, so he hesitated to take it off. He turned his head and said to Abyss and Zero.
“First, both of you go and wash up quickly. We’ll have a meal.”
“I……”
“Don’t make me say it twice. It’s an order, go wash up quickly.”
“Understood.”
Abyss stood up with a sullen expression. But Zero remained sitting in his chair. Theodore frowned and was about to tell him to go quickly too, but Zero spoke first.
“Could I eat and then wash up?”
“What?”
“Eat…… No, never mind. I’ll go wash up quickly too.”
Zero, who had been muttering, jumped up and ran off. Theodore stared in disbelief at the place where Zero had disappeared, then took off Aska’s hood.
“Just take it off and eat. It’s uncomfortable.”
“It’s not uncomfortable. And if I take off my hood, everyone will see.”
“The people here are okay.”
“……”
At Theodore’s words, Aska stared at him blankly. Theodore reached out and touched the wound on the corner of his lip, which was now invisible, and asked.
“Does it hurt even if you stay still?”
“……Why did you scold them so much earlier?”
It was a strange question.
“Because they didn’t listen?”
“That’s true, but it was for your sake.”
“If they were going to be for my sake, they should have listened to me. And if they don’t get scolded when they do something wrong, they’ll develop bad habits.”
As he spoke, Theodore felt strange. What did it matter to him whether he scolded someone or not? And wasn’t Aska not on good terms with Abyss?
“Are you upset that I scolded them?”
“It’s not a matter of being upset or not, I was just curious. It seems like you’re worried about them, but you just keep getting angry.”
It seems like he’s worried about them? Of course, he was worried. He was worried that they would lose their sense of judgment and do something stupid. Just looking at the fact that he was here with all those people who couldn’t fight and didn’t know how to do anything, the answer was already clear.
If they were discovered, everyone except Abyss and Zero would be massacred without being able to put up a proper fight. Moreover, the security issues were serious.
“What’s with the name of the inn, ‘Blue Desert’? It’s like advertising that we came from Actan.”
It was naturally not a problem for an Actan person to run an inn called Blue Desert. But it was a big problem that the name of the hideout of a group of fugitives who had escaped from Actan was Blue Desert.
As he thought about it, he became more and more annoyed. And after all that, they were talking back to him? He would have to say something more to them when they came back after washing up, he couldn’t let it go.
As Theodore frowned, Aska put a small piece of torn bread into his mouth and said.
“Isn’t it because of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your eyes are blue.”
“What are you talking about? Why did you hurt your lip? When? You’ve been with me the whole time.”
Aska didn’t seem to want to answer, and he put something else in Theodore’s mouth. He couldn’t spit it out, so he chewed it and kept asking, but Abyss and Zero came back, already washed up.
It didn’t seem like even five minutes had passed? Did they just splash water on their faces like Aska……
In that moment, the image of a small girl washing her face like a cat with her fingers flashed through his mind. Her face wasn’t clearly visible, and only her overall appearance briefly flashed through his mind.
Theodore looked at Aska with a puzzled expression, then put it aside for now and called Sakira. And so, Theodore, Aska, Sakira, Abyss, and Zero began their meal together.
“Who named the inn?”
“I did.”
Abyss answered with a nervous expression. He knew it, he knew it. Sakira, seeing Theodore clicking his tongue, elbowed Abyss repeatedly.
“I told you we should have named it Oasis.”
At those words, Theodore was dumbfounded. He took a deep breath to say something, but he couldn’t get angry. The young and small Sakira, who was only as big as his forearm, came to mind.
After finally calming down, he said calmly.
“Take out anything related to the desert.”
“Then how about Sapphire?”
Zero, who had been quiet, offered his opinion. It wasn’t bad, but he didn’t particularly like it either. Theodore asked Aska, just in case.
“Do you have anything in mind?”
He had named his name well, so he might be surprisingly good at naming things. But the Pipi Pepe something was a little concerning……
Aska thought hard and then said.
“Sky…….”
“Sky?”
As Theodore looked at Aska nodding, Zero stammered and muttered to himself.
“Sky Inn? So, so corny…….”
Then Abyss kicked Zero’s chair. Theodore ignored the two of them and said to Sakira.
“Change it to Sky.”
“Understood.”
Zero pulled his chair away from Abyss and asked Theodore.
“But who is that person?”
“Mind your own business and eat.”
“Yes…….”
Zero lowered his head sullenly and picked up his spoon.