"Are all these clothes?"
"That's what they say."
"From here to there?"
"Yes!"
As soon as Cellinne received Yurik's permission, she dragged him along and ran.
The dressing room of Yurik they arrived at was the most splendid clothing room he had ever remembered.
First of all, it was far too spacious for a place storing just one person's clothes.
There were spacious sofas and tables where one could sit and rest, and even fresh, fragrant flowers in vases.
The three-panel partition had mirrors attached instead of the usual paintings, serving as a large mirror.
The servants guided them to the sofa, and as soon as they sat down, light refreshments and drinks were brought out.
Then they asked carefully and politely.
"We understand what His Highness the 3rd Prince has instructed, but could the mage and the lady give us a hint about what kind of clothing you're looking for?"
"That's what they say, Yesung. Think of anything. What do you want to see?"
What did she mean what did he want to see? He had no complaints about his clothes, but they were the ones who brought him here saying he needed to change.
Finding it absurd, he looked at Cellinne but just vaguely covered it up.
"Clothes that are comfortable to wear. And also something to wear when going out."
"Yes. I'll select and show you a few items for outdoor and indoor wear."
The servant who answered like that entered the room connected to the waiting room where they were, along with other people.
This was probably where one tried on clothes, and there seemed to be lots of clothes hanging over there.
As he stretched his neck to look around the waiting room, Cellinne asked him.
"You heard earlier, right? Dardin says to act arrogantly."
"Why are they deciding my image however they want?"
"But I agree with Dardin too. There are expectations people have for the teacher of a Grand Mage."
"Hmm."
He knew that well.
That was exactly why he had imitated Yurik from the previous cycle in front of the knights and soldiers who came to capture him.
But even so, it was a bit much to completely root himself in that image.
When he scratched his nose bridge, Cellinne slapped his thigh.
"Don't worry too much. Once His Highness ascends to the throne, won't Yesung be able to hide quietly?"
"It would be nice if that could happen. If Yurik becomes king, will Cellinne receive a title?"
"No. Those noble bastards make me sick to my stomach. There's no way I'd become a noble."
"I see."
"I hate nobles. Should I say I detest their high-handed attitudes, or should I say I despise their view that sees everyone who isn't a noble as insects. Ah, except for His Highness the 3rd Prince."
Cellinne, who added that he wasn't "Your Highness" when they first met, put her legs up on the sofa and sat comfortably.
When Aphoom-Zhah had borrowed his body,
He who had entered together into her psyche while she was fused with Shub-Niggurath's kin could only nod.
If she was the captain of the border guards, she would certainly be part of forces belonging to the royal family.
If she had achieved merit there and been promoted, there was a possibility she would have returned to the capital and taken on other duties.
She leaned back against the backrest and tilted her head back before speaking quietly.
"If His Highness, no, if His Highness becomes king, even if I don't ask for anything, there's definitely something I want to request."
"What's that?"
"Protection of immigrants from outside the kingdom."
"Aha."
"The Rom people, the people of my origin, continue to wander. Because of that, no matter which country we stay in, the national laws cleverly avoid us... We're considered wanderers. We're treated as lower than kingdom citizens."
"Yes."
"So, after all this is over. I won't ask for anything, so I'll just ask for that one thing."
"That's a good idea."
"What about Adonis? Have you thought about anything? You've become the lead in such a big lie, wouldn't His Highness grant whatever you ask for?"
"I haven't really thought about it yet."
He couldn't ask Yurik to create Leandros for him.
If he did that, it would be world destruction retry.
Just as Cellinne was about to probe further, the door the servants had entered opened wide and people began filing out in a line.
The person at the front was pulling what looked like an enormously large and heavy tray,
Which was packed full with various small boxes.
Behind him, other servants were similarly pulling heavy, heavily gilded mobile clothes racks.
Some people just came out with their arms full of clothes.
Everything that came out was displayed neatly and swiftly before him and Cellinne.
A total of seven giant clothes racks and boxes of unknown purpose filling the table.
The servant with sweat flowing down his forehead spoke without losing his dignity.
"Is there anything you want among these?"
As he was flustered and couldn't say anything, Cellinne covered for him.
"Thank you. Can we look by ourselves for a moment? If you gentlemen could go out for a bit and wait while having something delicious or drinking something cool."
"Yes, please call us whenever you need us. We'll be waiting over there."
After sending the servants back to the clothes room, they were slightly panicked.
Could they see all of this within a day?
Wouldn't it be better to just wash the clothes he was wearing well and keep wearing them?
While he was thinking about trying to persuade Cellinne, she suddenly clenched her fist, stood up, and began rummaging through the clothes racks.
"Cellinne?"
"Yesung! Get up! Try going up on that platform there."
"Oh, okay."
When he awkwardly climbed up where Cellinne pointed, his view became even higher.
She selected a few items from the clothes rack, held them up to him, then hung them back.
"Since His Highness has such splendid beauty, anything would suit him well, but Yesung has his own atmosphere... Ugh, this is terrible."
"What atmosphere? What exactly do you want to dress me as?"
"A mysterious figure who isn't luxurious but gives off an unapproachable atmosphere."
"Is that an atmosphere I can create?"
"Tsk tsk. Trust your noona, Adonis? The saying 'clothes make the man' doesn't exist for nothing."
How many times had he heard this since yesterday?
Cellinne didn't lose her will and continued repeatedly holding up clothes and discarding or selecting them.
Even he, who was just standing still, was gradually getting tired,
But far from being tired, she seemed to be burning with renewed energy.
"Both His Highness and Adonis have bright skin, but unlike His Highness, white suits Adonis better. Black for His Highness."
"That's fortunate. But when will this end?"
"Instead, red or flashily glittering things don't seem good. Aren't there any plainer designs?"
"Cellinne?"
"We could just remove the jewels from this. This and, ah, maybe it would be better to have a belt with no decorations at all. If possible, to look similar to mage attire... But it needs to look more elegant. Hmmmm."
"Cellinne."
"It would be better if the top draped down to cover the legs a bit, right? Adonis, what do you think? It would look ridiculous to cover halfway, so if we open the front like this, in a slightly robe-like shape. Now to finish the edges, patterns would go in, right?"
"I don't really care either way."
"Ah! I got a good idea! If we make the outer robe roomy so it can flutter when moving, and then just make the sleeves and inner pants fit close to the body!"
"Cellinneeeee!"
"Ahahaha! I'm a genius! Let's see, this and, this and, this too!"
* * *
He was only able to leave the dressing room he had entered in the morning well after lunchtime.
Moreover, as soon as he came out, Dardin, who had been waiting at the door, caught him.
"You finally came out. Did you look at some clothes? Now please spend some time with me."
"What? I want to rest! Cellinne is going to eat!"
"Cellinne has fulfilled her duty in the dressing room. Now we must go fulfill our own responsibilities."
"Then at least until I finish eating!"
"Don't worry, Yesung. I've had simple food prepared in my room. Then shall we go quickly? Following His Highness the 3rd Prince's words, I've decided to focus more on the current era. Let's start with the founding of the capital's noble families."
He even tried using the excuse of a meal he wouldn't eat, but there was no escape from Dardin's clutches.
In the end, he was captured by him and had to continue studying until the moon hung in the middle of the sky.
Was this right? Was it?
Though it was a disaster he had brought upon himself, no matter how he thought about it, wasn't this a bit much?
But he couldn't possibly say such things to Dardin, who watched with gleaming eyes until he had memorized all the names of 43 families including Aquilonia's 12 great noble families, the current head of household's titles, branch families derived from them, their territory locations and main sources of income, and the history of unions between families.
When he barely passed the test and was released, it was already night.
When he went to Yurik's bedroom with trembling legs, there was already a guest there.
"Eva!"
"Ah, Yesung. I don't know why, but you look incredibly tired."
Eva, who nodded her head, looked relatively fine unlike Cellinne or Dardin.
That made sense, as she had originally been in a state fused with a magical beast, and the time she had been active with human consciousness after encountering Shub-Niggurath was short.
Of course, the aftereffects of the madness from seeing a god still remained, giving her a considerably unstable impression.
"Is it okay for you to walk around now?"
"I wasn't injured like Grandfather Valter in the first place. It seems it will take some time for Grandfather to get up, so I came to His Highness the 3rd Prince's palace first."
"I see."
"I just heard the general story. I don't remember well, but I heard you did something incredible."
The incredible thing was just killing Shub-Niggurath.
No, was it actually a great feat? Eva slightly bowed her head to him.
"If it weren't for you, everyone wouldn't be here. I owe you my life, so I don't know how to repay it. After the situation is sorted out, I'd like to formally express my gratitude once more then."
"No. I didn't expect such things, so don't worry about it."
Somehow hearing this made him feel a bit embarrassed, so he answered hastily.
Eva smiled for a moment, then returned to her original neat and stiff face.
"More than that, you... What did you do at the royal castle? You're gutsier than you look. Eibon's teacher?"
"I had no choice given the situation."
"If Dardin and His Highness approved, there shouldn't be any problems. I just hope you don't make mistakes. The people of the royal castle are more perceptive than you think."
Ugh. He would have been satisfied just being Yurik's hidden backing.
When had the weight shifted to him like this?
As he was silently crushed by the burden, Eva, who was looking at him, said teasingly.
"It seems like you're making an effort though. If Dardin bothers you too much, tell me. I can give you a general overview of the capital's political situation."
"Really?"
"I lived in the capital too. My father was a physician at the royal castle."
Having said that, Eva spoke to Yurik again.
"Anyway, let's return to the main point. Your Highness, my opinion remains the same. That we must hurry as much as possible. As Dardin mentioned, we don't know what suspicions the Queen's side might have."
"You must know it's reckless to open the Leng Plateau with injured people."
"That's right. Among us, only Cellinne and Your Highness can fight. However, we can't wait until the Queen sets a trap, can we? If that happens, it would be a big problem to change plans then."
"Even if I can control magical beasts, we can't avoid conflict. Battle is battle."
"We'll have to take the risk."
Eva and Yurik seemed to be exchanging opinions about when would be good to open the Leng Plateau.
Yurik wanted to delay considering the condition of Eva, Valter, and Cellinne.
Eva, on the contrary, wanted to do it quickly since they didn't know when or what the Queen might do.
Well, until now it had been a situation where Yurik was running away avoiding the Queen.
Moreover, because of the assassin sent by the Queen, Bailies had died and the door to the Leng Plateau had gone out of control.
Her honest feeling would be wanting to minimize such variables while dealing a blow to the Queen.
But Yurik was equally firm.
"When Dardin exposes the location of the Leng Plateau, forces will move. Can you fight prepared for injury in front of them? Even if you're not a combat personnel, you need to show achievements that can be displayed to others. But in that condition?"
For Yurik to make statements that seemed to care for others.
It was amazing and at the same time made him feel a bit like he wanted to clean his ears.
But if the problem was delaying because Eva, Cellinne, and Valter's bodies couldn't withstand fighting, wouldn't it be solved if that was resolved?
"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but ultimately the problem is whether to go after fully recovering despite the risks, or to strike quickly now and get out?"
Eva nodded.
"Right. The other side will gather more forces as time passes. We need to move quickly and catch them off guard. Since the Queen will still be watching you, Yesung, now is the opportunity."
"But I understand Yurik's position too. What if we send you to become heroes and you return as corpses? Do you think Yurik would be comfortable with you getting hurt?"
Eva shut her mouth tightly as if hurt by those words.
Yurik just tilted his head silently. He had his arms crossed by himself.
An uncomfortable atmosphere flowed for a moment.
"Yurik."
"What."
"Honestly, Eva's words aren't wrong. I don't know anything about politics, but I think we need to take advantage of being able to move quickly now."
"So?"
"Ultimately the problem is whether we have the skills to face the demons of the Leng Plateau."
"Right. It's already too much for human bodies, let alone injured ones."
"What if I help?"
Red eyes began to stare at him intently.
He suddenly frowned.
"You..."
"Help? How can you help us? Did you really recruit a mage?"
Eva asked. He smiled a little at her puzzled face.
He leaned slightly toward her and called.
"Aphoom-Zhah."
"Aphoom, what?"
When Eva asked back, a gust of wind blew in the room.
From behind the parchment that was lightly fluttering on the desk, someone shouted.
[This body, entrance!]
What did she mean, had he recruited a mage? What kind of hurtful words were those?
He had something much better than a mage.
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