At that moment, I refrained from greeting Innis. The revelation that she was an 'Imperial Mage' left me stunned, even though I couldn't completely grasp the implications. What I did comprehend was that the Imperial Mages were directly accountable to the Mideron Empire's King. They had been dispatched from the capital to track down and apprehend, either dead or alive, the individual behind the gruesome massacre at Azalea Village — Shizu, to be precise.

I wasn't dumb enough to risk our isekai lives by waltzing through the crowd and over to Innis to say hi, when she could very well respond by slaying Shizu and I on the spot. 

"Cover yourself with your hood," I whispered to Shizu, keeping a watchful eye on the knights. "Do it now!"

"Eh? Why?"

"Please, just trust me!"

"A-alright, Ryuji..."

Camouflaged among the other civilians queuing to be screened for entry into Lunaris, I discreetly moved us further away from Innis and the knights.

"Hey, you guys!"

I froze dead in my tracks, then slowly turned around. 

"What a coincidence to see the both of you again!" the familiar face with golden brown hair looked at us with an amiable grin.

To my surprise, it wasn't Innis but Catherine, the knight captain who had visited my house back in the village.

"Oh, Catherine," I laughed weakly, keeping a watchful eye on her while maintaining my guard. "What a coincidence indeed! What brings you to Lunaris? Weren't you stationed in the village?"

"We were," Catherine sighed, glancing around at the other knights patrolling past the gates. "It's a long story. Do you recall that incident near the village?"

"Which one are you referring to...?" I asked, narrowing my eyes and feigning confusion.

"Come on," Catherine chuckled. "You can't have forgotten so quickly. It was a gruesome scene we discovered you guys in."

"Ahaha, yeah, I remember..."

"Well," Catherine hesitated, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "The truth is, me and my fellow knights were actually taken off the investigation..."

"Sorry..." I said.

Catherine shook her head, "It's not your fault, Ryuji. You don't need to apologize," then she added with a grumble, "it's those darn higher-ups..."

I laughed lightly, then asked, "So that's how you got re-stationed to Lunaris from the village?"

"Well, actually, and keep this to yourself..." Catherine leaned in and whispered, "I've got a lead on the suspect and I'm still following the case on my own."

"R-really...?"

"Yeah," Catherine leaned back and grinned. "It's top secret though, so make sure not to tell anyone!"

"Understood..."

Catherine glanced at Shizu, who was hiding behind me, and waved. "Hi there! Shizu, right? Do you remember me?"

Shizu retreated further behind me, eyeing Catherine warily. She was likely following my instructions to stay hidden, which is why she didn't speak up.

"Shizu's just really tired," I told Catherine. "We've had a long morning, sorry about that."

"I see," Catherine said, frowning in disappointment. She must have really enjoyed talking to Shizu previously.

"By the way," I mentioned, glancing in the direction where Innis was now being guided by some of the knights through the gates. "The earlier commotion, they're saying that the girl over there is, uh, an 'Imperial Mage'?"

"That's right!" Catherine said, her eyes lit with excitement following where I was looking. "Can you believe it? An actual Imperial Mage! This is my first time seeing one in person too, and she's so tiny and cute!"

"What is an Imperial Mage?"

Catherine stopped and looked at me as if I had just suddenly asked her what planet we were on.

~x~

Around a decade ago, the King of Mideron embarked on a mad journey. Travelling across the farthest reaches of his vast empire, and venturing into the deepest, darkest corners of his realm, in pursuit of power. 

Possessed by his vision, people feared that the King had lost his sanity, and the two other Empires, that ruled this world alongside the Mideron Empire, had begun planning to seize the Mideron Empire from underneath the hands of the mad, vacant King.  

However, reality was often stranger than fiction.

To the shock of his doubters, his relentless search eventually bore fruit. Returning to the throne at the heights of the battle, the King brought back with him a handful of extraordinary individuals who would forever change the course of the Empire's history. 

They were known as the 'Imperial Mages'.

Thirteen prodigy mages, each one uniquely gifted and possessing an exceptional affinity for magic. They were trained, re-educated, and breathed new lives into to become the shining beacons of the Empire's might. They represented the best of the best, embodying the pinnacle of magical prowess and expertise within the realm.

Simply instructing her on what to do worked out to be a far more effective solution than trying to explain the rationale behind our actions. As the saying goes, you can't teach a fish to climb a tree.