"Grrr..."

Watching Lynn walk ahead beside Brandon, grumbling in a bad temper as they moved through the castle grounds—escorted by a pair of wolf-kin demi-human knights and a group of guards—Arezu finally decided to ask the question that had caused Lynn's sour mood.

"You really held back her promotion to silver-rank, Ms. Kurea?" he asked, directing his question to Kurea, who was walking beside him on his right.

Arezu's question earned him a dumbfounded look from Kurea—one that told him he was asking a very stupid question—followed by a long silence, as if she were waiting for him to realize what was wrong with it.

Even with his lack of knowledge about mages and mystic spells, Arezu could at least tell that Lynn was among the strongest in the capital of the Eileen Kingdom.

She could cast basic-level mystic spells of five elements: fire, water, wind, earth, and ice. She could cast intermediate-level spells of three elements: water, earth, and ice. And advanced-level spells of two elements: earth and ice.

When he overheard the conversation between Leo, Cliff, Senna, and Casey—the four mage students under their care—they said Lynn's abilities as a mage were equal to those of the highest-ranking instructors at the Magic Academy.

Not to mention, Lynn was a capable scout and a self-proclaimed priestess. She had a high success rate as an adventurer, and she donated most of her income to an orphanage and the adventurers' insurance.

With all that in account, Lynn certainly deserved to be a silver-rank.

However, even Arezu could understand that Lynn's accomplishments weren't the problem.

"Tell me, Arezu," Kurea finally responded, still wearing her dumbfounded expression, "how do you think that girl would act if she became a silver-rank mage adventurer?"

So it really was her audacity. Arezu grumbled internally, easily understanding what Kurea meant.

Not only her rudeness but her vanity as well—her excessive admiration of herself, along with her tendency to make fun of, mock, and use others however she pleased.

Give her more acknowledgment, and all of that would rank up together with her adventurer rank.

Seeing the realization on Arezu's face, Kurea continued with her confession.

"As long as I can hold back her promotion, Lynn will never become a silver-rank."

"You should just take away her adventurer license. That would be much easier to teach her a lesson," Liz added, prompting Arezu and Kurea to look back at her.

"She'll probably demolish the entire Adventurers Guild building if you do that, though," Beatrix added from beside Liz, causing everyone to feel stressed as they remembered past incidents caused by Lynn's tantrums.

Their group, heading to meet the Beast Lord, included Brandon as the commander of the cavalry; Lynn and Arezu as his escort; Liz representing the ducal house of Von Envier; Kurea as the stand-in Adventurers Guild Master; Beatrix as the temporary leader of the remaining crafters at the caravan; and the temporary leaders of the merchants, the Church, and the Magic Academy.

"If Ms. Lynn can't be an adventurer anymore, the Magic Academy will be delighted to have her as a mage instructor," said Anwir, the mage instructor who issued the escort quest for the students and was the temporary leader of all remaining students and instructors from the Magic Academy.

"You don't know what kind of trouble you're putting the Magic Academy into if you hire her," Liz said, and no one could disagree.

"Grrr... Stop bullying me behind my back!"

---

By the time Arezu had pampered Lynn enough to calm her sour mood and bad temper—patting her head and promising to explore the city with her after the meeting—their group had arrived in front of the throne chamber.

The guards standing outside opened the large double doors, and without even confiscating their weapons or armor, their group was allowed to step inside the wide hall, where the leaders of most beastkin clans were waiting, standing beside the throne.

From the familiar wolf-kin, bird-kin, lion-kin, rabbit-kin, ox-kin, horse-kin, and serpent-kin—even the rare dragon-kin.

It was a sight that even Arezu found amazing, despite having seen them before as a temporary member of the beast-kin adventurers party Aiden Alfa: a gathering of beastkin clans that formed the foundation of the Beastkin Nation.

However, despite the astonishing display of their demi-human races, what surprised—or rather, caught—their attention was the empty throne.

Until Lynn told them not to look in front of them but above.

"A bit of a show-off, isn't she, Mr. Arezu?" Lynn said loudly and clearly for everyone inside the throne chamber to hear, especially the Beast Lord resting in her nest above the high ceiling.

Despite their growing anxiety over Lynn's rude and disrespectful behavior, including the arrogant tone of her voice, everyone in their group turned their gaze toward where Lynn was looking—toward the source of light reflecting in the two colliding black pupils of her eccentric blue eyes.

Above the high ceiling was a glowing, massive nest, as if it were a burning chandelier. Sitting at its edge, looking down at them with a serious glare in her glowing vermillion eyes—matching the color of her flowing long hair and magnificent wings—was the current Beast Lord who had held the title and throne for almost two hundred years: the Vermillion Phoenix Cyra.

—Snap!—

Their mesmerized thoughts were snapped back by a single flick of the Beast Lord's finger, creating bright sparks in the air.

In an instant, the leaders of the beastkin clans surrounded their group, baring their fangs and claws.

"My, my… Is the Beastkin Nation finally challenging the Eileen Kingdom?" Lynn said with her usual audacity and vanity, flashing a smug grin while glaring at the Beast Lord.

What she said next made everyone glare daggers at her—not just the beastkin but even her own group.

"Remember who's the master that holds the key of your cage... Umm... Umm..."

"That's enough of your mischief, Lynn," Arezu said, restraining her by embracing her from behind and covering her lips with his right hand.

"You just can't stay quiet, can you?" Liz grumbled, directing her anger at Arezu even though she was clearly mad at Lynn.

"You're dragging us into trouble again," Beatrix added, complaining just like Liz.

"After this, I'm confiscating your adventurer licenses—both of you," Kurea followed, clearly including Arezu in the punishment.

"Why am I getting punished as well?"

—"Because it's your job to stop her from causing trouble!"—

"Umm... Umm..."

While the young ones squabbled, blaming Lynn and Arezu for the trouble they were facing, Brandon calmly dealt with the situation, directing his intimidating aura at the strikingly beautiful lady despite her being three times older than him.

"What's the meaning of this aggression, Lady Cyra?" he shouted, intimidating the leaders of the beastkin clans surrounding them yet still speaking with respect to the Beast Lord, making it clear he had no intention of backing down.

A prideful grin crossed Cyra's lips, satisfied by Brandon's intimidation. She finally descended from her nest, leaving a trail of vermillion light in the air.

However, it wasn't Brandon she came down to confront, as she hovered just above the floor before her feet touched the ground.

"It's been a long time since I've seen the likes of you, bearer of the cursed eyes."

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