11. What We Do Best

The cozy atmosphere quickly turned icy.

It was deeply unsettling to see men they’d never met—men clad in the sort of heavy armor you’d expect to see on a battlefield—stomping toward them.

The prince pulled his hood over his head, subtly concealing his face. The others, too, watched the approaching men with uneasy expressions.

As Tarmin had expected, the Knights of the Sun finally stopped in front of them. The blond man at their head smiled kindly and spoke.

“Excuse us for a moment. Would that be all right?”

“Who are you? I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Renzo held his pipe in one hand and rested the other on the table as he answered the man calmly.

He acted as though the other man’s intimidating attire didn’t concern him in the least.

The man’s eyes gleamed with interest, but he quickly composed himself and smiled brightly once more.

“Hahaha, my apologies. We’re priests from faraway Hujadil.”...