Henry walked straight towards the closed wooden door, but he stopped again about two or three meters away from it.

A big question mark popped up above the girl of the Loan people, and she was clearly puzzled by what the man who called himself a sage was doing again.

But then the sage turned around and looked somewhere, and Mira followed his gaze and immediately got her own answer.

- That's a dangerous guy.

He was dressed in bright full-body armor, and he was tall with flowing blond hair. To sum it simply, it is the kind of personable dream lover that a noble lady who is accustomed to hearing knightly legends will imagine when she commits a nymphomaniac.

But Mira is not one of those vases, and the weak nature of seeking advantage and avoiding harm makes her instinctively wary of those who pose a threat to her. At the moment, this person belongs to that kind of character, even if he has a gentle smile on his face, but as soon as he pairs of dark blue pupils that are not as calm as the surface of ice, the girl understands that this person is something she can't afford to mess with.

She subconsciously shrank behind Henry, a move that was seen by the man opposite, making the corners of his mouth smile even more.

The atmosphere was a little tense, and two men with a height of about one meter nine stood face to face without saying a word.

They didn't make any moves, but the momentum alone seemed to Mira to the side as if two evenly matched beasts were facing each other - just standing, and the whole air was filled with tension.

It seems that in the next second, the giant beast represented by gold and silver will pounce on the black giant beast and start a shocking battle. But the sage didn't reach out to touch Krammer behind him, he didn't even make any posture ready for battle, he just stood quietly, just like that.

"Right choice," the man across from him said in a very pure Avenella accent, and then he waved his hand, and a large group of elite soldiers wearing full-body plate armor and holding spears came out of the alley behind him.

"......" Mira shrank deeper behind Henry's back, clutching the corner of the sage's coat tightly, revealing only half of her small face to look out.

"Forgive me for my rudeness and for this position, Mr. Sage, let me introduce myself first—" The blond-haired man gave a slight chest stroke as a sign of politeness, but before he could say his name, Henry interrupted him.

He said in his usual slightly formal tone.

"Your name is Edward, Edward Chester Shulfaga"

"Lord of Chester City, Commander of the First Guards Infantry Legion, Two-time Champion of the Knights' Tournament, and First Prince of Avenella. Henry said unhurriedly, and Edward, whose real name was given on the other side, reacted very flatly: "Is it an accent? Or does my hair color reveal me, because I obviously don't wear any royal or knightly insignia, or have you seen me?" He looked a little frivolous, but Henry understood that this was just another man's way to test himself.

Judging from the other party's vigilant but defensive rather than offensive posture, the sage could tell that this person had a request for himself, and he intended to refuse, but in connection with the current matter, Henry felt that he might as well make good use of the other party.

"Let's show how good it is," he tilted his head, Edward couldn't have followed him with nearly 50 soldiers from the beginning, so Henry assumed that he had seen the whole thing from the sidelines, and did not explain anything.

"Go tell the City Lord's Mansion," Edward commanded one of his soldiers, who nodded and ran to the other side with a small group of soldiers.

The matter was solved so simply and clearly, far more concise than his original plan. With a slight lack of substance, Henry glanced back at the still-closed wooden door of the abbey. In any country on the continent of Rigal, the power possessed by the nobles is unimaginable to ordinary people, and what an ordinary person cannot do with his life's efforts may be as easy as breathing for the nobles.

He fell silent, which made Edward's eyes narrow.

Mira behind Henry was a little uncomfortable with the atmosphere, her small body was a little tired from the tense posture she had been maintaining, and the sage reached out and touched her head, signaling to relax.

-- This person is playing psychological warfare. Edward easily made such a judgment.

Facing the royal family, and there are two dozen heavily armed elite guardsmen, if it were an ordinary person, I am afraid that at this moment, out of fear or flattery, he would have taken the initiative to start saying whatever the other party wanted to hear, but this person is different.

He is fighting for psychological literacy, fighting who can't hold his breath first and take the initiative to speak.

This may seem naïve, but in fact the reasons are very profound.

If the sage took the initiative to ask if there was anything he needed help with, it would be nothing. But if the prince took the initiative to ask for help, he owed the other party a favor.

It is good to owe money and things, and as a person of the royal family, he owes someone a favor, and when someone is in need one day in the future, out of dignity and glory, he must do his best to help the other party.

And this was something Edward tried his best to avoid.

"Alas......" the blonde-haired prince sighed, after all, he was the one who had to ask for it. However, the fact that the other party knows how to play this hand also proves to a considerable extent that he is a true sage. The prince comforted himself and began to speak.

"A week ago, our people were briefed on an incident in a hunting town in a remote mountainous area"

"If you report it literally, there is nothing noteworthy about the incident itself. The death of several mercenaries, and the mayor's stern demand that the murderer who had intimidated his magically gifted son be caught and hanged, were not worth mentioning. ”

"What really caught our attention was the name of the only surviving blue-card mercenary to the murderer - the Sage. Edward's eyes narrowed to a slit, and he stared at Henry, but he couldn't see anything in the ordinary-looking man.

"Other than that, he couldn't give any explanation as to what the title should be, and he couldn't even tell the other person's gender, age, or even the weapon they used."

"It's as if all of his memories have been erased except for the name"

Henry remained silent, and Edward continued to himself.

"What made our curiosity even stronger was the results of the investigation of the corpse by the kingdom's investigation team"

"All of them are killed in one hit"

"Judging from the large wound and the simple and efficient traces of the battle, it was caused by a weapon of great size, larger than a two-handed sword, but it was not a Dansola battle axe, nor was it an iron greatsword that had never been sharpened at all. ”

"It's a weapon that is quite old, and only a few who know history can barely recognize it. Ordinary people, not to mention owning it, even recognize it—so when you first entered the city, we caught our attention."

"But no matter how good our scouts are, every time, they miss their target."

"......" Edward paused briefly, as if to observe Henry's reaction.

"The term "sage" is given to wise men who are almost omniscient and willing to use this knowledge to help others. ”

"Even if there are various differences in race, gender, and age, it is definitely not the best choice for a person to sign up after a killing, because most people who hear it will only find it inexplicable. ”

"Mostly" Edward's half-narrowed eyes flashed a gleam as Henry, who was standing across from him, finally had a slight reaction.

"I have only one question for you, Mr. Sage"

"Are you still human?"

The first prince of Avenella asked Henry in a nonchalistic tone, in a language commonly spoken on the west coast of Mobigas, and that speaks it from the Soladin Heights all the way to the Strait of Ansicipe - Mira could understand every word he spoke, but when all of this was combined, the meaning was only understood by the two parties.

“...... You're trying to say that you've done your homework to investigate me, aren't you?" Henry looked up, staring earnestly at the blonde-haired Prince.

"You're looking for me, what's the matter?"

Edward smiled, this time staining even his icy dark blue pupils - he finally got the words he wanted.

"But ......" but before Edward could speak, Henry interrupted him again.

"If you wish to inquire about how you will secure your position in the next battle of succession so that you can truly become a king, I advise you to pay less attention to this, Your Highness. ”

"You are a good heir, and I think the king of Avenella understands that. So the real problems you have to face are not from the country. Henry reminded, and Edward's eyes twitched.

"The contemporary king of neighboring Sivaliers, if memory serves, is the cousin of His Royal Highness the Prince."

"Your father seems to have been vocal about this, and has publicly stated on several occasions his displeasure with his succession to the throne of Sivalier. Henry took Mira's hand and turned to leave, but continued: "Avenella and Sivalier have always been peaceful and friendly, thanks to the severing kinship between the royal families of the two countries, which has been maintained since the founding of the country 191 years ago, but all this has been crumbling under the untimely remarks of the great Ashibon II."

“...... Are you suggesting that there may be a conflict between the two countries?" Edward's eyes twitched a little, and Henry nodded: "Avenella's main route for exporting supplies crosses the southern territory of West Valier, Inznir, and if relations deteriorate further and the border is blocked, or even just a large increase in tariffs, it will deal a serious blow to the entire country's economy. ”

"So, your Royal Highness, if you have time to worry about brothers who are far inferior to you, you might as well try to repair your relationship with Sivalier. Even then you may anger your father, but you will gain the support of merchants and nobles as a result. ”

"The will of the people is everything" Henry held up a finger, and Edward looked at him, took a deep breath, and then exhaled a long time.

He solemnly raised his feet, and bowed sharply to the sage.

This seemed to Mira who didn't know what was going on, but the soldiers behind them all looked at each other, their eyes full of surprise.

"Taught, Mr. Sage," said Edward, bowing his head and straightening up, waved his hand to signal the soldiers to back away to make way for Henry, and then asked, "But how does Sir know that the rest of my brothers are inferior to mine?"

"Sir can recognize me, I'm afraid it's because I often participate in horse marksmanship competitions, but most of my other brothers rarely show up, how does Sir know that they are not as good as me?" Edward's words changed so much that Henry couldn't get used to it a little, but he smiled and replied one last time before leaving.

"Have you seen any of your brothers around here?"

"Who but you would notice the anomalies in these details and choose to come to me personally?"

The sage led the white-haired girl away without being disturbed by anyone, and in the same place, the blonde-haired First Prince stroked his chin and smiled slightly after a moment of contemplation.

This time from the bottom of my heart.

......

......

On the other side, the two slowly walked towards their original destination, the test site, and returned to the main road after passing through a secluded slum path.

Mira still looked at Henry as she had done at the beginning, but the meaning in her eyes was no longer the same.

"What's the matter?" asked the sage without looking back, and the big Lori shook her head—or rather, her little head, a little frustrated and irritated.

"I didn't understand a word of what you were just saying. She said a little sullenly, and Henry smiled slightly, the same smile as usual in the eyes of the irritable girl, and without warning she stood on her feet, and then took Henry's hand hard to make him stop.

"Hey!"

She shouted, the only name Mira would use on Henry other than Mr. Sage, which was mostly used in mockery.

"I always thought you were just bragging, but what that person said, are you really a sage" she said in a not particularly loud voice, the royal family's travel generally needs to be kept secret, and this kind of little common sense girl who is related to survival is like a treasure. And Henry knew she hadn't finished speaking, so he waited quietly.

"I ...... I'm not reconciled."

"Like today, I couldn't read the words, so I rushed out without a head. And after listening to you for so long, I can't figure out what you're talking about......"

"There's no way to see anything clearly, there's no way to know a lot of important things, there's no way to know...... Her own destiny" her voice became so small as she said the last few words, and she was almost the only one who could hear her.

"I have had enough of having to go with the flow and rely on strong people to survive...... This way"

"The power of words is great, Mom used to tell me about it, and you proved it to me today, and you only used a few words to make that person so respectful of you"

"I want to be like that, too. In the story, it is said that the sage will have a disciple, I want to be your disciple, I want you to teach me that knowledge, I want you to teach me, how to control my own destiny!"

She shouted in a low voice from the bottom of her heart, every word was sincere and simple, and Henry looked at her quietly before he spoke.

"But you're going to let me teach you how to fight?" he said playfully, and Mira replied without hesitation, "Both!"

"So, what are you supposed to call me?" Henry's tone was still playful.

"......" The girl blushed and hung her head.

"Teacher......" said in a very small voice.

"Hmm" a clearly visible smile appeared on the sage's face, "Let's go, we still have something to do"

“...... Mr. Sage is the worst adult."

Mira followed.

She still hung her head in a puff.

But if you look directly at those bright light blue pupils, you can see it.

It's shiny.

Bright, full of longing and anticipation, and for the first time, the emotion called self-confidence.