[Leonidas' point of view]

 We spent another half an hour or so in the company of Earl Rupert Levias of Briston. Father entertained him with various political and economic subjects, while mother and the two of us children took part only as listeners to this conversation.

For Cassandra, this conversation wavered between boring and annoying, which was shown on her face. The Earl noticed this as well, but he took it only as a little girl who wasn't used to 'men talking'. It was far from what went on through her head though, most likely only brutish armors and stories of battle heroes.

While listening in on their conversation, I got to know of how pirates were making trouble in Mellios Port. They were trying to take control over the sea trade routes, but the Military Navy was striking back without mercy. The Demon Peninsula showed no signs of activity recently, but the adventurers in Stigma, Cage, and Boundary towns were making a killing from monster parts. There were even rumors of Free Trade City going through a reform of some sort, but the Earl didn't know what exactly they wanted to change just that it was going to improve commerce.

The Free Trade City was located up North past the town of Crysto. Because Briston was also just a town and not a city, whatever was going to happen there wasn't going to affect this area that much. If anything, there was always Nilla City to the West. And it wasn't like all the goods that came from Ashura Kingdom to the North had to pass through Free Trade City. It was just a matter of changing the border settlements the trade caravans passed through, basically choosing between Verdant, which was the current one, and Seevo, which was the alternative.

When I heard the fat Earl say all of this, I began to wonder if maybe despite all appearances he was actually doing his job properly?

Eventually, the conversation came to a halt when we heard the knock on the door.

The butler from before entered the room and announced the arrival of the other esteemed guests.

When they entered, I looked at them both with big curious eyes.

The knight was about 1.70 meters tall, a bit shorter than my parents. He wore a chain mail armor with the chest and hands areas covered in metal plates, making them the most protected parts of his body. The short sword sheathed at his waist was accompanied by a big shield with the crest of the kingdom on it: a gryphon carrying a sword in its beak. Despite how many books described them, this knight's armor wasn't all that shiny, and he wasn't so exaggeratedly handsome either.

Looking at Cassandra, I could read the disappointment on her face.

Well, leaving her aside, there was something not quite right about this knight. I had no idea what it was, but he gave me a really bad feeling. My hair was raised at its end when I met his gaze, and there was a little voice at the back of my head that kept telling me to run away.

If I were to react based on these strange feelings of mine, I would have put my parents in a really bad situation, as such, I decided to ignore the little voice and blamed it on the assumption that this was just the way my body let me know I was in the presence of someone really powerful.

“Good day. I am Sir Alexandre Damascus, a Royal Knight in the service of his Majesty. I have been ordered to act as the escort of this esteemed teacher from Gallyater Royal Magic Academy.” he introduced himself with a respectful bow, but that smile on his face sent shivers down my spine.

Out of instinct, I grabbed Cassandra's hand, and it was then when I noticed that she was trembling. If not for her training and strong will, this tremble of hers would have been more visible and she would have burst into tears. To me, this was a clear proof that this fellow was nothing but bad news.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about everyone else around us. Only the two of us felt that this fellow was dangerous...