Chapter 146 – Things That Changed and Things That Didn't

Entering the living room, Ted was helping Master slip into the jacket of a gray uniform.

Master straightened his back after threading his arms through the sleeves, then noticed me and broke into a smile.

“How’s it look?”

“It suits you perfectly!”

Ted circled around in front of Master, backed up a few steps while walking backward, and nodded.

“Perfect.”

“Starting today?”

“Yeah. I’ll still drop by the guild from time to time.”

Master had joined the church too, surprisingly. Officially, he was there to instruct the Fifth Holy Knights—the covert unit—and assist my guard detail.

Gain had pushed for it, since the ramped-up security made it inconvenient for Master to be the only outsider.

Thanks to Lily… or because of her?

Either way, security in the capital and at the church had tightened up considerably. Those status-forging pendants might as well have been toys now.

It was so intense that even the capital’s thieves had gone completely to ground.

They’d probably sniff out new backdoors soon enough.

“Fernet. Let’s go.”

“Right.”

“Marie, Ted—take care out there.”

“Yes, Grandfather.” “Yes.”

With Grandfather peeking out from the living room to see us off, the four of us left the house together.

Fernet was enlisting in the Fifth Holy Knights today as well.

Or more accurately, it was a joint role with my guard duty.

Apparently, since Master was handling the instruction, Fernet had requested it himself.

Which meant the two of them would be church-bound every day from now on.

“Isn’t the covert unit cool?”

Even as an adult, Fernet hadn’t shaken off his chuunibyou phase.

He sized everything up by “cool” or “not cool,” which made him pretty straightforward.

“I think it’s cool.”

“Right?”

Morning put Fernet in high spirits—he was practically stepping to his own beat.

“Ted, you were in the assassination unit, right?”

“Apprentice level, yeah. Lots of covert ops there too, so we did joint training with the Fifth pretty often.”

Watching them chat, Ted came off as the calmer, more mature one—the elder despite the years.

Ted was on guard duty today.

Heart had headed out early that morning.

“Fernet joining the covert unit, huh…”

Master narrowed his eyes, gazing at Fernet with a look of deep sentiment.

Holy Knights—even apprentices—required at least C-rank caliber skills. Their knowledge, education, and background got scrutinized down to the bone.

In other words, only the elite of the elite could even apprentice.

Maybe Master had always wanted Fernet to become a Holy Knight.

“Alright, this is where we split.” “Master—good luck!”

“Yeah, thanks.” “Catch you later.”

We parted from the pair after they cleared ID and status checks at the main gate first. Then it was our turn.

This new ID system was part of the upgraded security.

Each one registered a person’s magic power signature, making fakes next to impossible.

As we passed through the main gate and headed down the connecting corridor toward the lab, lively voices drifted over from the hallway one branch away.

“Evas, could you hang back there?”

“No, let me handle this properly…”

I knew it right away. These voices, this back-and-forth.

Katriona and Evas.

They’d stopped dead in their tracks, locked in some argument.

Ted glanced their way, stifling a laugh.

“Same as ever.”

I gave a wry smile and picked up the pace just a touch.

“The herb smell’s clinging—gotta air it out.”

“Heh heh. Yeah. I’ll brew some nice tea.”

Our steps quickened more and more until we were in a near-jog by the end.

I fumbled the key from my pocket in a hurry and unlocked the lab door.

“Whoa, yep.” “Ugh… this is rough.”

Ted threw open every window—the ones now reinforced with exterior iron bars.

“Here goes!”

I worked my wind magic to swap out the room’s air.

“Over in a flash.”

“Brr, chilly. Can’t we stash the dried herbs somewhere else?”

Ted shut the windows and headed for the kitchen. “No dice.”

“This room’s got the tightest security setup around.”

The hiss of boiling water rose, followed by the scent of cherries wafting from the kitchen.

Kirue tea—the stuff Gain picked up for me last time. Supposedly all the rage in the capital lately.

“We’ve got some dangerous herbs in here too, after all.”

I wiped down the table with a cloth, then ducked into the kitchen to pull tea cakes from the cupboard and plate them up.

As I loaded the tea set onto the tray, voices sounded from the door.

“Saintess. Got visitors for you.”

“Marie? You in?”

Katriona, scoping things out.

“Yeees~.”

I poked my head from the kitchen. In came Katriona and Evas.

The black priestess had her back turned, so I called out quick. “Hang on a sec.”

“Thank you!”

I handed over a bag of snacks and tea leaves. She lit up and headed out.

“Always so thoughtful.”

“Katriona, that’s Marie for you—every time.”

As a former black priestess myself, I knew exactly how much little treats meant.

Getting recognized like that? Pure bliss.

“Sit, sit.”

Leave these two alone, and it’d devolve into bickering again.

I scrambled to offer chairs.

Right on cue, Ted came in carrying the tray I’d prepped.

“Oh, Ted. You too?”

Ted shrugged at Katriona’s words—”Obviously”—and passed out tea to everyone.

Then he hauled in a chair for the butler’s vantage point, with a full view of the room, and took a seat.

Heart pulled the same move during visits.

“So? What’s up with you two showing up together?”

They exchanged glances, jabbing elbows at each other.

“You said you’d say it.” “No, you said Katriona would.”

A peek toward the back of the room showed Ted and the butler exchanging awkward looks as they watched.

Wait… were these two an item now?

Heart swelling with anticipation, I waited for them to spill.

“Actually…”

“You say it.” “But you said you couldn’t!”

In the end, Katriona took the reins on the story. Evas straightened up beside her.

“Truth is… we copied you, Marie. Set up our own herb gardens on the castle grounds.”

Not even close to what I’d imagined.

“…Congrats.”

Katriona flushed pink. Evas looked away, all bashful.

Heh heh. These two were as peaceful—and unchanging—as ever.

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