"What do you mean by 'forced'...?"
The bronze dragon keenly caught the most crucial part of Joshua's words.
"It meant we were enemies. Ciri saw me... as a dangerous demon, the kind where someone might die the moment we met."
Joshua was not particularly good at lying or arguing, and now that they were talking about the past, he could treat it as an amusing story.
"Back then, Ciri was my prisoner. Messiah, stop glaring at me. It was exactly the kind of 'demonic' behavior you're imagining."
Joshua glanced at Messiah among the crowd. The truth had probably hit this Holy Knight the hardest.
Over all these years, Messiah had gradually come to believe that Joshua was a good person—good in every sense of the word.
"But Joshua actually... saved me back then." Ciri spoke in a tiny voice. "The people in that village too. They all survived."
"Ai Liana can testify to that!"
The little girl beside Zennas spoke up while gnawing on a slice of watermelon.
The girl Zennas had adopted had already grown into an adult, but she probably would never forget what happened back then for the rest of her life.
"There's no need for anyone to testify. There's no point dwelling on the past," Joshua said.
"Mr. Joshua and Miss Ciri's first meeting was even more exciting than I imagined."
Though the bronze dragon wanted to keep asking, he had far too many questions to get through today.
"Today's interview is actually meant to focus on your... interpersonal relationships, Mr. Joshua."
As he spoke, the bronze dragon glanced at the people below. The birthday banquet was not particularly luxurious; it was more like an ordinary family gathering. Yet every person present could be called a pillar of the world.
"Our Flower of Falosi also seems