"This is just a misunderstanding, Mr. Breen!"
With a swish, the Centaur Elder Horn leapt between Amosta and the Druid who had rashly attacked him, moving with an agility utterly at odds with his age. He cried anxiously,
"Fromid doesn't know why you've come! He mistook you for an intruder!"
Druids clad in coarse linen robes and holding staffs of all different shapes arrived in an endless stream, taking their places behind Fromid.
Most of the Druids showed intense hostility toward Amosta, who had entered the Secret Realm, but a small number noticed the strange expression on Fromid's face. Their looks held more surprise than anything else.
"Mr. Breen is not an enemy!"
Horn was terrified that some hotheaded Druid might recklessly attack Breen again and bring catastrophic ruin upon this secluded paradise.
Facing the Druids, he spread his arms and stood in front of Amosta, urgently telling everyone,
"Mr. Breen is the castle's guardian. He has come to see you on the castle's behalf."
Not knowing Amosta's true purpose, Horn turned to look at him, hoping for some indication.
"All right, Horn. I know this is just a misunderstanding—"
Amosta said calmly. He stepped out from behind Horn and looked at Fromid, who had just attacked him.
This Druid knew him.
That was not particularly strange. Long before the Druids migrated here, he had already become famous in the wizarding world. It was hardly unusual for Druids who kept an eye on the wizarding world to know him, but Amosta felt that it was not that simple.
"You know me, don't you?"
Amosta did not hide his confusion and asked directly.
After Amosta asked that, the deeply accomplished Druid's expression became even stranger. The hostility radiating from him vanished completely, while traces of gratitude and embarrassment showed in his