Everstar City, Dusk Star District.
"Your Highness—Wyatt, please wait!"
Gollor dodged a mule cart hauling cargo toward him and hurried to catch up with Tales, who kept walking without slowing.
"Please forgive me, but have you decided what to do?"
Kohn followed closely behind him. Perhaps because he had realized his work was meaningful, the Alert Officer was in an excellent mood.
"Don't worry. That's Tales—Wyatt we're talking about. Just like in Exeter, he has his own ideas. We only need to do as we're told—"
"I haven't decided." Tales suddenly spoke.
Kohn choked.
Without looking back, Tales continued forward.
"By the way, I hadn't decided in Exeter, either."
Kohn blinked and stared blankly at the Prince's back.
Gollor sighed.
"Your Highness, if I may be frank..." He caught up with the boy. "Whatever you intend to do, perhaps we should follow Lord Marius's suggestion and notify Lady Jinnie first..."
Marius.
Tales remembered something and stopped.
Gollor and Kohn came to a sudden halt, barely avoiding crashing into the boy's back.
Only then did they realize that they were standing at a street-corner intersection, facing Renaissance Avenue, which ran through the kingdom from north to south and teemed with people.
Turning right would take them back to Mindis Hall. As for turning left...
"Zombie," Tales said. "Komuto said Marius had already made arrangements before entering the palace, finding an excuse to send you out of Mindis Hall so you could meet me outside the palace?"
Kohn looked up blankly.
"Marius—oh, the big guy we saw at Mindis Hall last time?"
Gollor ignored him and nodded without hesitation.
"The Lord said that what happened at the banquet was no small matter. Once you entered the palace, anything could happen."
"He had to consider the worst-case scenario and leave you with manpower