Red watched as Letia stood up, placed her hand on his head, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.
He had good reason to suspect she was trying to pull rank on him, and he had pretty solid evidence, too.
After moving her hand off his head, Red spoke to Letia.
“My thoughts back then weren’t that complicated. It was mainly because you looked like a stray cat, so pitiful, that I went over to ask. No other meaning. Besides, the team really did need a priest back then.”
“Hmm?”
Letia said with a meaningful tone.
“So, you were planning to wait until you found a better priest and then kick me to the curb?”
“That’s not quite it. Even though you never revealed your true strength back then, from what I could see, your abilities were definitely not inferior to Liz’s. That’s also why I let you stay.”
Red knew that, perhaps because she came from the Holy Tribunal, Letia was always very low-key.
When it came to her strength, she was the type to hide her abilities well.
Even after spending so much time with her, Red wasn’t sure of her full capabilities.
He only knew one thing: as a Battle Priest from the Holy Tribunal, Letia was far more formidable against people than against monsters.
“But talking about this now is pointless,”
Red shook his head and said to Letia.
“Now we’re both unemployed drifters. No one should laugh at the other.”
Letia stuffed the last of her hamburger into her mouth and mumbled indistinctly.
“That’s true…”
While the two were eating, Red’s handnotes suddenly rang.
He took out the communicator crystal and glanced at the name on it.
“What’s up, Mason?”
“That Nicholas guy deleted all the files and intel I sent him,”
Even though he couldn’t see Mason’s face, Red could tell from his tone over the crystal that the other party wasn’t too happy.
“That guy has run off to who-knows-where now.”
“Is that so?”
Red thoughtfully stroked his chin, his gaze involuntarily shifting to Letia sitting across from him.
Seeing Red look over, the latter immediately put on an expression of complete innocence.
Now, Red had a pretty good idea of who was behind this.
“Him leaving shouldn’t hinder our plans. In fact, with him gone, no one will stop us from posting that monster intel on the Adventurer’s Guild bulletin board.”
“That makes sense,”
Mason suddenly sighed.
“But I have a feeling he won’t just give up that easily. Back in the Capital, he was exiled to this place because of some major mistakes. He has no way back. If he gives up his position as Adventurer’s Guild President, it’s pretty much the same as death for him.”
Red was silent for a moment.
He understood the nature of those nobles all too well.
After listening to Mason, he also began to recall and analyze as much as possible.
Soon, Red pinpointed a crucial question.
“What’s the reaction over at the Knight Order?”
“The Knight Order?”
Hearing Red’s reminder, Mason also began to ponder.
“That side… shouldn’t be a problem, right? At least, nothing seems off for now.”
Compared to adventurers, the Knight Order’s strength was more significant.
And in times like these, any force was precious.
Mason didn’t want any surprises cropping up here either, so he added.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“You… Wait, isn’t it bad for your identity to be exposed here?”
In all of Nightbright Town, the number of people who knew Mason was the First Prince could be counted on one hand.
If Mason went to liaise with the Knight Order, his identity would inevitably be exposed.
Red didn’t want to put Mason in a difficult position, so he offered a small suggestion.
“Perhaps you could let Liz handle this, communicating with the Knight Order Captain.”
“Liz?”
Mason weighed the idea on his end.
“That’s not a bad idea. Liz has indeed matured a lot compared to before. She should be able to handle this.”
“What’s wrong?”
Letia, who had been eating with her head down, looked up at Red.
“If you don’t eat, I’ll finish it all.”
“It’s nothing…”
Red looked at her somewhat helplessly, though the corner of his mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.
“Go ahead, eat. If it’s not enough, I have more here.”
He had wanted to talk more with Mason, but Mason had clearly heard Letia’s voice.
Consequently, his tone took on a teasing note.
“Alright, alright, you’re right!”
Mason drew out his words.
Having the nobles handle their own convoluted messes through internal communication was indeed more convenient and less troublesome.
Here, his tone shifted dramatically, becoming utterly playful.
“But… I won’t continue to be a third wheel and disturb your lunch date with Letia. See you later!”
Before the words had fully faded, the call was decisively cut off from Mason’s end!
He didn’t even give Red a chance to retort.
Red held the communicator, frozen in the calling posture for a full ten seconds before slowly lowering his arm and letting out a sigh mixed with helplessness and a touch of indescribable awkwardness.
“These guys… really know how to stir things up, one after another.”
“Hehe~”
Letia had, at some point, shifted her attention away from the food.
Propping her chin on her hand, she watched Red’s flustered expression with great interest, a mischievous and sly smile on her face.
“It seems… everyone has already defaulted to… us being in a relationship, huh?”
She deliberately mimicked Mason’s tone, drawing out the words “in a relationship.”
“Yeah, right…”
Red responded grumpily, as if trying to stuff the topic away with food.
He picked up a piece of golden, crispy fried cutlet, put it in his mouth, and bit down hard.
Crunch.
Chicken flavor.
Juice bursting with rich meaty aroma instantly exploded in his mouth.
The taste was truly impeccable.
He really didn’t know how Letia managed to hone her cooking skills to such perfection.
Even if he tried to make this fried cutlet now, it probably wouldn’t be as good as Letia’s.
Ding-dong~
Just as the two were eating, the doorbell suddenly rang.
“Huh?”
A sense of foreboding suddenly arose in Letia’s heart.
She stood up first and said to Red.
“I’ll go see who it is outside.”
Although she seemed a bit flustered, he still let her go answer the door.
Letia walked to the door, opened it cautiously, as if she were a thief.
Outside, the blue-haired girl Ymir stood holding a large stack of files.
“Holy Maiden… these are the unfinished tasks from yesterday, um!”
Before the girl could finish, her mouth was immediately covered by Letia’s hand.